Zelda: OOT Comparison

[PrettyNier]

If developers use it as an easy way out, that is, once again, the developer's fault, not the mechanic.

i think there has been some kind of miscommunication here. i've been saying just as much: in the context of the developer willingly using it as an easy way, it is indicative of the developer being a bad developer. what you're missing is the broader point i'm addressing.

Why is the Super Guide "bad?"

i said alluded to this already: because it doesn't flow with the game as designed. even its simple presence as an option (this can be seen in dkcr) breaks this flow. feasibly, it could, but if one were to put in the effort to do that then it just stands to reason they should just go all the way and devise a system that doesn't awkwardly exist to promote laziness, to promote an experience so utterly passive it becomes totally meaningless. it isn't a good way to achieve the intended result.

And there's nothing stopping a developer from adding some sort of penalty system for using a Super Guide-esque feature.

no, there isn't, but at a certain point doesn't that start defeating the intended point to begin with? if the point of a super guide is to make a game more accessible, adding a penalty is just going to make that feature less accessible to those who genuinely need the help - and in turn, decrease the accessibility of the game as a whole.