The death of sincerity

[Deleted member 171852]

This is something that kinda bothers me about video-games and modern culture in general. Why being sincere is almost frowned upon nowadays?
I know this isn't something new or something exclusive to gaming, but i believe it's very present in it and it's similar cultures. I'm talking about the apparent necessity to never truly commit to something without hiding a few layers of irony in it. I notice how almost all games now have this sort of quirky ironic mentality to present any topic even if the game has a dramatic story. I notice how most players seem unable to appreciate something as it is without turning it into a memefest, or simply thinking being committed to a feeling is being "cringe".
I think the fear of appearing cringe is something that hinders many thoughtful stories from achieving their potential. I think gaming in general is past the phase of being portrayed as just silly things we mess around for fun, it showed it's capacity to tell good and deep stories, but we kinda regressed in everything being portrayed as ironic in some degree. I never like when developers make a game with a deep dramatic story to just suddenly decide to double down on irony and jokes.
Obviously i'm not against funny games, i think not everything has to be serious sure, and there is some games that did this balancing very well, like LISA or even Cyberpunk 2077, because they implemented the humor in the whole universe of their games, it doesn't feel something forced and unrealistic, it feels like that world is just like this, it's a good separation between the heavy themes and the absurd humor.

I don't know if all of this is a "me" sentiment, i also believe that there is plenty of people that disagree to certain degree and think that games shouldn't have any deep meaning or story, and that they should indeed be just funny little things to mess around, i confess that even i had this sentiment about gaming for a very long time, as being a person primarily raised with retro pc games, ID Software games and their old classic mentality towards gaming.
What could be done to change this? Is there any problem at all? Do you want it to be like that? i never saw much discussions about this in gaming. I think this isn't just a discussion about gaming in general but how modern society behaves too, so feel free to give your opinion about that

 

[OmegaPunch's icon OmegaPunch OmegaPunch]

It's not just you.
I also feel the same about modern culture and media.

 

[Antilocal123]

Family Guy Fourth Wall Break compilations are the catalyst for the fall of the west, duh. /J

 

[OmegaPunch's icon OmegaPunch OmegaPunch]

Family Guy Fourth Wall Break compilations are the catalyst for the fall of the west, duh. /J

Oh, God...
I hope this thread doesn't get political...

 

[Antilocal123]

Oh, God...
I hope this thread doesn't get political...

I was just trying to be ironic lol I doubt this thing’ll turn political.

If it does, I am NOT to blame.

 

[HyperTurboFox]

It's just modern culture as a whole

 

[RustySK]

Absolutely agree.

At least when it comes to big budget entertainment in general, earnestness and sincerity both have become the exception rather than the norm over the years and the result could not feel more insipid.

Any actual point that could be made - whatever it may be - is usually wiped away with a shit-eating grin, a quip and a shrug. Makes your skin crawl. It's simultaneously bad writing and spineless.

 

[IyoTheHelpfulWolf]

I think a lot of people are afraid to expose weakness via what they love, so they beat people to the punch by presenting it with self awareness and irony.

Post automatically merged: Feb 28, 2025

I want people in this thread to do something: express your enjoyment of something people think is cringe for you to like. No qualifiers or making fun of yourself.

I love my pretty Miku figures and gush over anything cute. When I'm playing Palworld or Pokemon, I call all of my animals my babies and spoil them.

 

[pasin7ru]

relations between humans are generally based on deception, rather than earnestness, even among uniformed societies.

 

[Vexicrypt]

Actually a lot of people been saying that we live in an irony epidemic where everyone who does something serious is considered a tryhard and cringe. And yeah, it also influences writing in videogames, movies, music, and basically everything.

 

[Tonberry]

I feel like we’re slowly getting back to more sincere stuff.
Very slowly, though.

 

[Gorse]

I notice how almost all games now have this sort of quirky ironic mentality to present any topic even if the game has a dramatic story.

Is this really such a problem in modern (post-2020 or so) video games, or media at all? I can't think of anything that's come out recently that's overly ironic, even in the indie space. I'm pretty sure we passed peak irony in the 2010s.

 

[Deleted member 171852]

relations between humans are generally based on deception, rather than earnestness, even among uniformed societies.

Yeah but i think this shouldn't be the case of art, or even the action of telling stories. I think there should be a place and time to just be sincere and expose ideas in an unapologetic way, and these places are slowly disappearing, and getting less time. Well, at least if you consider video-games art, but this is another topic that is way more discussed around

 

[Tonberry]

Is this really such a problem in modern (post-2020 or so) video games, or media at all? I can't think of anything that's come out recently that's overly ironic, even in the indie space. I'm pretty sure we passed peak irony in the 2010s.

I think it’s less common in the games themselves, but the bad-faith discussions around some of them are often pretty full of it, because much of it centers around ”owning” someone who likes/dislikes it.

 

[RustySK]

I'm not trying to dodge the assignment here, I swear, but I'm getting up there in years and I don't even really know which of the things I enjoy might be considered embarassing anymore...
I love dancing, painting, cooking... I love reading and discussing books... well-written stories about parenthood or coming of age stories make me cry... every time I see a dog or cat that lets me pet them I get as giddy as a little kid...
Does any of that count?

I think that unless you're a teenager, the assumption of something being embarassing or cringe is rarely founded in reality - unless you're talking to an asshole, of course.
I'm really thinking about it here and I don't think I've ever found anything another person earnestly enjoyed or was passionate about embarassing in any way. I might not share their enjoyment or passion, but another person's interests are inherently interesting to me.

At least as far as big budget entertainment goes, I would lay the blame for this lack of sincerity more at the feet of corporations than anything.
Market research dictates that taking any kind of stance on anything might offend a random assortment of potential target audiences, so they don't want to take that risk, no matter how irrelevant or important.

 

[Tonberry]

At least as far as big budget entertainment goes, I would lay the blame for this lack of sincerity more at the feet of corporations than anything.
Market research dictates that taking any kind of stance on anything might offend a random assortment of potential target audiences, so they don't want to take that risk, no matter how irrelevant

Giga truth.

 

[Antilocal123]

I'm not trying to dodge the assignment here, I swear, but I'm getting up there in years and I don't even really know which of the things I enjoy might be considered embarassing anymore... I love dancing, painting, cooking... every time I see a dog or cat that lets me pet them I get as giddy as a little kid... Does any of that count?

I think that unless you're a teenager, the assumption of something being embarassing or cringe is rarely founded in reality - unless you're talking to an asshole, of course.
I'm really thinking about it here and I don't think I've ever found anything another person earnestly enjoyed or was passionate about embarassing in any way. I might not share their enjoyment or passion, but another person's interests are inherently interesting to me.

At least as far as big budget entertainment goes, I would lay the blame for this lack of sincerity more at the feet of corporations than anything.
Market research dictates that taking any kind of stance on anything might offend a random assortment of potential target audiences, so they don't want to take that risk, no matter how irrelevant or important.

I agree, practically everyone I meet in real life is super sincere and passionate about their hobbies, the only exception being people who harbor self-doubt or dealing with something.

Corporations hate losing an audience because that means profit, if that means butchering a project for the betterment of their wallets they’ll do that.

 

[Deleted member 171852]

Is this really such a problem in modern (post-2020 or so) video games, or media at all? I can't think of anything that's come out recently that's overly ironic, even in the indie space. I'm pretty sure we passed peak irony in the 2010s.

I feel this too. I think society is more anxious and insecure than ever and hiding behind irony makes you feel shielded from society itself. Nothing you say can be taken seriously anymore, you don't need to think too much about defending your ideas, you never state your opinion fully, never think about understanding things, it's kinda detached and nihilistic in some ways

 

[Graw]

I want people in this thread to do something: express your enjoyment of something people think is cringe for you to like.

I legit teared up when I played Dragon Quest VIII recently and went through the Ascantha quest where you have to help the king come to terms with the death of his wife. I know it's a pretty cliché story done a million times by this point but man that one hit me really hard in the feels. Same with Dragon Quest VI and the entire flying bed story.

I never like when developers make a game with a deep dramatic story to just suddenly decide to double down on irony and jokes.

It's not just that. I hate the whole ironic deconstruction of everything in general. I fucking hated Undertale because it's pretty much everything in your op distilled into a single game.

 

[Kamako]

At some point it became "cool" to be aggressively indifferent. It takes bravery to pick a hill. It could be the wrong hill.

I think the internet has enabled us collectively to be incredibly self-reflective and intensely self-critical. It's so painful that people would rather not take a stand on anything, lest they be seen to embody the idea, and become subject to scrutiny.

I think the same is true for media, and the issue is even more of a concern for people/businesses that are trying to make money on a product.

 

[Tonberry]

I want people in this thread to do something: express your enjoyment of something people think is cringe for you to like. No qualifiers or making fun of yourself.

I love my pretty Miku figures and gush over anything cute. When I'm playing Palworld or Pokemon, I call all of my animals my babies and spoil them.

I love children’s fairy-tales. They’re probably my favorite type of literature.

Another one; I can probably be described as a dreaded ”Disney Adult” despite that I can’t go to any Disney park since there are none where I live, but I would if I could. I rewatched Lilo & Stitch the other day and teared up several times.

 

[Kamako]

I fucking hated Undertale because it's pretty much everything in your op distilled into a single game.

Really? I've played through that game a couple of times and it's always felt remarkably genuine to me. Especially compared to something like the newest Saints Row for instance.

 

[Gorse]

I fucking hated Undertale

YOU WHAT????

 

[IyoTheHelpfulWolf]

I legit teared up when I played Dragon Quest VIII recently and (Bunch of spoilers)

Awwwwww!

 

[Antilocal123]

I think a lot of people are afraid to expose weakness via what they love, so they beat people to the punch by presenting it with self awareness and irony.

Post automatically merged: Feb 28, 2025

I want people in this thread to do something: express your enjoyment of something people think is cringe for you to like. No qualifiers or making fun of yourself.

I love my pretty Miku figures and gush over anything cute. When I'm playing Palworld or Pokemon, I call all of my animals my babies and spoil them.

I fucking love Sanrio, I've heard all the jokes and memes about it and I don't care, I like cute things and I like the characters that come with it.