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Handholding is Ruining Video Games

Nam’s Compendium

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Marvel’s Wolverine recently released, and people are not happy, but it isn’t for the reason that you might think. Despite being September's hot release, Wolverine’s impact has less to do with its combat and story, and more so with the way the game treats its audience. While this is a game marketed towards players, everything about the game design rings hollow and safe. Like riding a bike with training wheels, Wolverine feels like a game that’s intentionally holding itself back because of a lack of confidence in the audience. Skill Up’s recent review of the game does a fantastic job of highlighting this. Now, Marvel’s Wolverine is far from the first game to feel like this. But never before have I seen a game that works this hard to provide a friction-free experience, and it’s gotten me thinking about just how much worse game design has become over the years. What was once a nice piece of guidance has now been mutated into the most obnoxious trend in modern games. Handholding has become a serious problem, and it’s about time we have a conversation about it.

Now, before we get started, let’s define handholding real quick because most people have different definitions of it. When I say “handholding,” what I’m referring to is when developers intentionally include a feature that’s designed to prevent players from getting stuck. Handholding has always been necessary, as it acts as a way for developers to silently communicate with players. Video games are a complex medium; not everyone will fully understand the language of game design right off the bat. Unlike films or novels, video games gate progression around player knowledge and execution skills. Because of this, developers are forced to include features that make this intimidating art form more digestible. For example, in a lot of older titles, talking to non-essential characters told you the rules and what you’re expected to do. A game like the original Final Fantasy hinges on this, as all of the important information needed to beat the game was tucked behind optional dialogue. This was the case for a lot of old-school games, but as time passed and the medium matured, so too did this method of communication.

Handholding is ruining video games in a very subtle way. Marvel's Wolverine, or just Wolverine, has demonstrated what happens when handholding in video games goes unchecked and becomes out of control. Wolverine is a game that is touted as disrespectful, as it features some of the most aggressive handholding in modern video games. While Marvel's Wolverine is far from the first example of handholding in video games, Wolverine specifically has sparked a lot of controversy. While this isn't specifically a video about the Wolverine controversy, I will be discussing it as part of my " Handholding Is Ruining Video Games " essay. This is also not a Wolverine review nor a video saying that Wolverine sucks. I just want to talk about a growing trend that's been frustrating me lately.

20 Comments

@chopper8209 2 weeks ago

The LEGO Marvel superhero games have more trust in the player than Wolverine💀

@redcoffeemug7537 2 weeks ago

Old games made for children have less handholding then modern games made for adults

@Anthony-co4wz 2 weeks ago

It's weird for a M rated game to have so much hand holding.

@mark.082 2 weeks ago

They dont trust themselves. This just oozes of lack of confidence in their game.

@varia5845 2 weeks ago

Once I saw game devs were using people like DarkSydePhil as a baseline for design decisions I knew things were cooked.

@KuroNoTenno 2 weeks ago

I suspect that this trend is at least partially driven by investors. "If the game is more accessible, the more people will buy it, and we'll get more money". Naturally, investors don't know much about games (or care, for that matter), so of course they wouldn't know how gamers would feel about it.

@SumThingFawful 2 weeks ago (edited)

The funniest thing is that despite the 300million, despite having 3+ Layers of handholding at any time and despite studying DSP for over 10 years.
DSP still managed to die in the intro.
Honestly I think its an amazing metaphor for big budget triple A.

@ElectronCannon 2 weeks ago

And unironically games that cater to a small subset of players end up way more popular and well received than games trying to appeal to everyone.

@immortalflame994 2 weeks ago

The fact Wolverine has scent lines and constant reminders of the main objective, just tells me the map design is badly made or confusing to navigate.

@trawets702 2 weeks ago

The lesson they were supposed to learn from fromsoftware was to give players agency - not difficulty nor turn your game into a soulslike. Developers are still not understanding that.

@zaozao48 2 weeks ago

Regarding handholding in gaming, I think the best way to make everyone happy is to have it as an option that can be toggle on or off. But have it off by default. This way they can have it as an accessibility option.

@RyouShi98 2 weeks ago

Yoshi's Big Babby Book genuinely has fewer tutorials and less handholding than most modern games

@Flutterdark_ 2 weeks ago

a thing that also is worth noting about wolverine. all the guidance WAS NOT IN THE TRAILER

@Ignisan_66 9 days ago

They literally use DSP as an example of the average gamer. No wonder there's so much handholding in games now.

@khadelsnerdo 2 weeks ago

Insomniac only are known for Marvel games at this point, it's so annoying knowing they have a catalogue of other games, but are just stuck to one series of games, same with Naughty Dog

@GordonGman 2 weeks ago

modern gamers are so conditioned by this handholding that when they go back to older games they call them "outdated" and "impossible without a guide"

@deanthomas1900 2 weeks ago (edited)

Listen I almost never agree with Nam on any of his takes, but he is so fucking right in this instance. As a dev myself I find it extremely puzzling as to why many designers decide the default experience should be devoid of meaningful choices, consequences and stress. Its not a sin to make a game stress free, but i think it is a sin to assume every one wants that. I think the issue at hand is more about difficulty balance. Games should include a REAL hard mode that gives that stressful experience while easy should give a stress free one. Every difficulty option in a game should have a design philosophy around it that lets players experience the game how THEY want to. Instead we get one design philosophy centered around the easiest version of the game, and higher difficulties simply add damage modifiers to make the game feel harder, when in reality, they should change the way the game is designed on a fundamental level

@Aktedya1-jt7vw 12 days ago

7:45 I think the mindset behind making these features the default is that the players who don't want them are the type of players who are more likely to bother checking the options menu.

@DigitalStarry 2 weeks ago

Its funny how Insomniacs Spyro games were made for literal children and had less handholding than their M rated game

I think the best form of handholding is something like Breath of Wild. Gives you coordinates for the main objectives and softly guides you through the tutorial phase but otherwise turns you loose and you have to find everything yourself.

@junkszy912 2 weeks ago

It's odd that only a few years ago Elden ring was released with minimal hand holdings and it sold well, but now devs are worried that people won't know where to go in a linear game