The best part of video games back in the day was making memories with your friends, now it all feels like structured fun. “This is how you play the game and this is when you are supposed to have fun” Idk if that makes sense.
The best part of video games back in the day was making memories with your friends, now it all feels like structured fun. “This is how you play the game and this is when you are supposed to have fun” Idk if that makes sense.
This is a common thread and question that I’ve seen pop up all over the internet since I first joined message boards in the early 00s. It’s you and I dont mean that in a judgmental way, but it sounds like you’re probably burned out or being brought down by other factors in your life.
I said it in 2002 on gamefaqs, I said it in 2005 on my small local game message board, I said it in 2010 on reddit, and I’ll say it again. The best time for gaming is now. Because there are still good games coming out regardless of the bad contemporary trends, and the indy revolution of the 10s has only made that more true. On top of that all the classics you know and love are still behind us and playable.
I think you need to take a step back and try to figure out exactly what it is about gaming that you used to enjoy and try to figure out why you may not be enjoying games anymore. It could be the type of game youre playing, it could be that you’re just burned out, and it could be external factors in life.
Did you used to play games with friends and family that have drifted apart as you got older? Does work leave you drained and with little time and energy to play your long playsession single player experience? Is the game that you’re playing one with a toxic community? Do you feel unfulfilled in other parts of your life and feel guilty that instead of working on that you’re engaging in your hobby? Are you experiencing other mental health issues like depression or anxiety that might be tinting your enjoyment of things?
There are a number of reasons you might fall into and out of gaming. I’m in my 30s and I personally go through seasons and times when I play a lot of games and when I focus my hobbys on something else. Ive felt like “maybe I’ll never get that immersive feeling again like I did at 18” a bunch of times in my life and then picked up games I couldnt put down. Once you find out the why you can try and tackle the problem.
I’m not OP, but I feel like I want to add on to this if that’s alright. I think it’s often easy to get into this mindset when a trend seems to overtake a lot of the industry. For instance, personally I’ve noticed a common game that seems to get churned out a lot in recent years: it’s open world, but has nothing in it and is given light RPG elements that don’t really add anything. That doesn’t mean every game is like that, of course, but I think it can be easy to fixate on what we’re tired of seeing. Eventually, someone will come up with a new trend, and the empty open world games will fade out, and the cycle will continue as it always has. It’s also interesting to point out that humans tend to remember the past more fondly, so it’s easy to remember old gems and ignore the flops. Anyway, thanks for entertaining my ramble.