I am a very traditional kind of gamer in that I accept the challenge that I am presented with and attempt to complete it to the best of my ability. For this reason, I have butt my head with countless Dark Souls bosses, Arkham series challenge maps, and awful Assassin's Creed fighting mechanics, with nary a complaint. Okay, I complain but I still end up getting it done because I don't have a choice. But what if I did? What if there are some scenarios in which you can reach your objective by partaking in an activity that the developers never intended for? What if you intentionally utilize glitches in order to get ahead? Would you partake in such activities or actively try to avoid it?
Now, for the most part I am someone who will butt his head against that wall until it gives in. Most of the time I will continue to do so even if I'm introduced to a cheaty way around the problem. (And especially if the game offers me a chance to skip to the next checkpoint. What- don't you think I'm good enough, game? Who died and made you the boss of me?) Perhaps that stubbornness is down to that sadomasochism I talk about every now and then, but either way I will put myself through hell before I give in to the easy path. (Maybe I'd make a good Jedi. Nah, the colour red is too cool.) Although, it is a struggle for me to commit to such, and I believe that struggle is due to the basic tenets of game theory. Not the YouTube show, although I do love MatPat. (I'm literally watching their stream as I write this.)
I'm referring to the 'game theory' which details that those who play a game will choose the easiest path to victory if presented with options. Typically this is used to describe situations in which a badly optimized item upsets the balance of the game to a point where most players would rather focus on using it exclusively. (Funnily enough, this is something that I have no issue with.) But I feel that the same applies for glitches that allow players to 'cheat' their way through difficult or uninteresting sections of the game. (So I guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite.) The real question comes down to whether or not you consider that approach 'cheating' or if you think of it as a way of playing the game that the developers didn't consider. And, of course, whether or not you even care.
From my point of view, I see the process of exploting glitches to be an example of cheating myself from the game that I paid for. For example, in 'The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion' there was a famous glitch in which players could pull of some sort of weird mixture of tactics to duplicate items. (Of course this was designed by poor console folk without access to the debug menu.) This required messing with some exploits and shooting an arrow into the sun or something, I never performed it myself, and then it would rain items upon the player. I always thought that this seemed like a weird way to play the game as it robs all the items of their value if you can obtain them without putting in any effort. I come from a belief that satisfaction is bred by the effort that is put into the task, so by performing such glitches I am actively depriving myself of satisfying game time, so why would I partake? But, as with any issue, there are other perspectives.
When it comes to the speedrunning community, glitches are their lord and savior. That's because the ultimate goal of speedrunning to to whittle down a game to it's most clinical and mechanical form in order to optimize your route through it. Doesn't that take away a great deal of the fun, immersion and charm of said game? Arguably. But these are the kinds of people who derive a different type of enjoyment from their games and that is one that can be dependant on the discovery and exploitation of glitches.
When trying to push yourself through a game in as little time as possible, it practically behooves you to find a way around the strict narrative path you've been set on and around developer planned road blocks. Glitches are the methods in which these runners pull this off. (as well as strategic language choice. Some dubs are faster than others.) Sometimes they can shave off a whole few seconds from their time (which is an eternity in speedrunning terms.) and sometimes they can confuse the game's memory management system in order to glitch out the map and complete 'A Link to the Past' in 5 minutes. (That is real and it's wild.) The community around speedrunning is so dependant on glitches that there are sometimes bounties placed upon problem games. The most legendary must be the 'Wind Waker' barrier skip in which people had tried for years to discover a way past an early game barrier that locks off the final section of the game. People went nuts trying to force their way through this wall, which would shave hours off of any speedrun attempt, but it was to little avail. The last I heard about it was in 2017 when there was a rumor about someone who pulled it off. But such claims have been made before and proven to be false, so there was a lot of floating skepticism. Whether or not it's true, it just goes to show you how important glitches are to some people.
Finally I would like to address something that isn't a glitch, but has a similar affect on the playing experience. (It's my blog and I'll cheat if I want to. Speaking of...) Let's talk about cheating. Since time immemorial developers have been putting in little bits of code that allow them to speed through the game, it's kind of a necessary step in the design process. However, sometimes they decide to leave in there shortcuts as cheat codes for their players to discover. In the early days these codes were urban myth shared around the schoolyard but nowadays things have gotten so open that some companies just go ahead and sell those cheats. (Although those that do should rot in hell for doing so.)
Cheats allow for the players to break the rules set by the developers and take a game at their own pace, often with invincibility, unlimited lives and a level select. Personally, I never really got behind the idea of cheats, except for the fun ones. (The Saints Row 3 cheat to turn everyone in the area into zombies is literally the only feasible reason to play that game.) Just like with glitches, I see cheats as way to willingly short yourself out of the experience and ruin the pacing of the game. That being said, some people lack the necessities to get through some games, be it for lack of time, patience or stubbornness; does that mean they shouldn't be allowed to see the later stages of the game. Yes, would be the traditional answer, but cheats open up that accessibility and make games more playable for those who struggle, so I can marginally abide by them in that sense.
Glitches are one of those things that everyone has an opinion on, you either love it or hate it. As one who errs to the latter, I will admit that I hold no ill will against those who partake, just that I feel the art sometimes suffers in my eyes with these displays. Once someone starts to peel apart the walls and show the inner workings, it's hard to put yourself back into the world of the game with the utmost immersion. It's like seeing the band playing the most ephemeral suite of all time, you don't want to believe that humans made this, even if that's an obvious truth, you just want to bask in the glory of what it is. I'll save my adulation for the team in the credits, thank you very much. I'm sure that there is an argument for the otherside but I lack anyone to ask so you're stuck with me and my close mindedness. (Just like always!)
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