As I get older, I'm finding it more and more difficult to settle into games. This is extremely common, I'm aware, but I seem to have the opposite issue of others. I've played a lot of games. It was always my biggest pastime, but I've also read a lot of books, and watched a ton of film. These two other hobbies spoiled me. Where I used to enjoy a plethora of games, ever since really delving into the other two, any story focused game is basically out the window, as they never hold a candle to the other mediums that simply do story better.
Now I get it, that's a contentious thing to say. There seem to be a large group of people online across the various sites that think games are potentially the best medium for telling a story, and I don't disagree that they have a ton of unmet potential, but it's just that; unmet. It's not to say that every single game out there has a terrible story, or terrible writing, but when I sit down to play a game, I can no longer force myself to even give these stories a chance.
I used to love JRPGs as a kid and teenager. There's a part of me that still has a nostalgic draw to them. I remember warm Summer nights, playing Final Fantasy VII when no one else was awake, and I yearn for that experience, but now, even though I wish I could love them again, I just can't.
These days, I'm kind of stuck. I eventually wound my way around to Devil May Cry 3 in about 2007 and that was really the beginning of this slow crawl towards my narrowed tastes of today. Devil May Cry 3, led to 4, which led to Bayonetta. I found Monster Hunter sometime around then, too. These games became my core, and since then, it's been more and more difficult to find something that truly matches these few. More recently, games like Nioh, especially the second, filled that gap a bit. I NEED depth. I NEED challenge, and gaming has been trending away from challenging the player for quite a long time. (I should have mentioned Ninja Gaiden Black in there too, but I'm not gonna edit it to include it properly.)
I've recently been trying to just make myself sit down and focus on games outside of the challenging wheelhouse. My eyes get heavy, I literally start to fall asleep. I wish I could keep myself invested, but most games don't induce a flow state in me anymore as there's just no challenge.
In a way, I've done this to myself. As I watched more films, or read more books, the same thing happened, but thankfully with reading, there's hundreds of years of books to delve into, but gaming, not so much.
Nowadays, I spend a lot of time parsing through games, looking for those few that hook me, and it does happen from time to time. Sometimes, a game like Genji on PS2 will come along and I can play it through it one sitting. Or something like Parasite Eve, which I missed completely until a few years back. But, ultimately, I'm always searching before falling back to my favorites on repeat. Even nostalgia isn't strong enough to keep most games I played as a kid afloat.
How's it gone for you? Do you find yourself struggling to find games, or are you more open minded than ever?
Now I get it, that's a contentious thing to say. There seem to be a large group of people online across the various sites that think games are potentially the best medium for telling a story, and I don't disagree that they have a ton of unmet potential, but it's just that; unmet. It's not to say that every single game out there has a terrible story, or terrible writing, but when I sit down to play a game, I can no longer force myself to even give these stories a chance.
I used to love JRPGs as a kid and teenager. There's a part of me that still has a nostalgic draw to them. I remember warm Summer nights, playing Final Fantasy VII when no one else was awake, and I yearn for that experience, but now, even though I wish I could love them again, I just can't.
These days, I'm kind of stuck. I eventually wound my way around to Devil May Cry 3 in about 2007 and that was really the beginning of this slow crawl towards my narrowed tastes of today. Devil May Cry 3, led to 4, which led to Bayonetta. I found Monster Hunter sometime around then, too. These games became my core, and since then, it's been more and more difficult to find something that truly matches these few. More recently, games like Nioh, especially the second, filled that gap a bit. I NEED depth. I NEED challenge, and gaming has been trending away from challenging the player for quite a long time. (I should have mentioned Ninja Gaiden Black in there too, but I'm not gonna edit it to include it properly.)
I've recently been trying to just make myself sit down and focus on games outside of the challenging wheelhouse. My eyes get heavy, I literally start to fall asleep. I wish I could keep myself invested, but most games don't induce a flow state in me anymore as there's just no challenge.
In a way, I've done this to myself. As I watched more films, or read more books, the same thing happened, but thankfully with reading, there's hundreds of years of books to delve into, but gaming, not so much.
Nowadays, I spend a lot of time parsing through games, looking for those few that hook me, and it does happen from time to time. Sometimes, a game like Genji on PS2 will come along and I can play it through it one sitting. Or something like Parasite Eve, which I missed completely until a few years back. But, ultimately, I'm always searching before falling back to my favorites on repeat. Even nostalgia isn't strong enough to keep most games I played as a kid afloat.
How's it gone for you? Do you find yourself struggling to find games, or are you more open minded than ever?
