Get good or, as it then soon became, “git gud” is a mentality that if a game is too hard to play, one should simply “get good” at it. It arose in popularity as Dark Souls hit the scene and players that were struggling with Dark Soul’s style/type of combat mechanics were told to get good rather than complaining about the difficulty. Personally, I’m not a fan of the kind of combat Dark Souls presents. I can understand how it appeals to some the same way that I can appreciate books without enjoying them, knowing that either they have a significance to others or to culture. That being said, “git gud” culture was not a culture of its own but a reactionary force against another section of gamers.
Ever since games became more complex than arcade games, there’s been the discussion of what qualifies a game as a true game. Combat provides a realistic and smooth transition to complex gameplay within story that can be approached from several angles. Within combat are varying styles of mechanics that games choose to adopt. Dark Souls comes in with a difficult type of combat that’s hard to master. The enemies are intelligent and powerful and you have to carefully time your attacks, when you dodge, and several other factors in order to beat them. This is in opposition to what’s perceived as “easy” games or games that prioritize “button mashing” for combat. Assassins’ Creed is well known for being a button masher. For a long time in the franchise’s history, you can hold a button to parry an attack, and there’s not much else besides hitting the “attack” button to damage your opponent. It can be boring combat for some, but it could inversely be difficult for others.
Some gamers that perpetuated the culture of “git gud” may have held beliefs that the best games are those with the best combat mechanics and that games with very basic or simple combat mechanics (and those that have no combat at all) are not “real” games, but it wasn’t until people complained about the game being unplayable for them that it gained public popularity.
This fits into the larger discussion of accessibility in games. Video games are the only form of media that, if you’re not good at it, you are not permitted to continue consuming it. There is the counter argument that if you can’t play the game for whatever reason, Let’s Plays on Youtube and Twitch exist, but that means the would be play is now completely blocked out of the game. If a game contains any secondary mechanics, such as story choice, interacting with the characters, crafting, and so on, then you can’t participate in those due to being bad at the primary mechanic of combat.
However, are game developers meant to make their work accessible to everyone? No. It does limit their viewers and patrons, though, if you block out a portion of the gaming population. What I’m mainly criticizing is the culture around combat in games or a focus on pre-existing game literacy, where games that “hold you hand” are considered lesser and those that throw you in without any help are considered a higher form of content.
Video Games Deconstructed 