I was hoping to be more active in the last month than I had been the month before that, but it did not turn out as I had planned. I’d like to say this is is due to a scheduled increase in business, but that’s only partially true. I attended E3 for the second time this year with RPGamer.com, but that was only a week or so of my time. No, my slim output over the past few months is due to the fact that rather than work on my ever-increasing backlog, I went ahead and played through most of Bloodborne. Thoroughly.
I don’t entirely regret it, but it did leave quite a few untouched games in my wake. However, in thinking about getting at least one post out this month, I considered the literal opportunity cost that comes with both having this as a hobby and a hopeful someday profession. I like talking, writing, and discussing video games, but I also enjoy some games more than others.
Bloodborne was my favorite game from last year and this recent replay has only solidified that opinion. If anything, this replay has made me appreciate it even more. This did however lead to a minor revelation of sorts for myself. I rarely ever replay games in a vain attempt to keep up to date with the latest releases so I can try and stay involved with the discussions surrounding said games. I also am guilty of getting caught up in hype cycles like many others, but so far this summer I have kept this under control since May, which was just a really good month for games: Doom, Uncharted 4, Stellaris, and Overwatch. Still, the last full game I have completed was Uncharted 4 and since then it has been on and off on several games that just haven’t maintained my interest enough to see all the way through.
But I still regularly pop in Bloodborne, mostly to try and catch all the things I missed and actually spend a decent amount of time in the Chalice Dungeons, but this has certainly led to a more lackadaisical attitude towards getting writing done. I haven’t been keeping up with new releases and I don’t feel the need to be another voice in a sea of voices about games that have already been written about ad nauseam, so I just didn’t write. Early impressions are fine and dandy but they neither give an in-depth or complete view of what a game could possibly offer.
This leaves me at a bit of a loss for how to progress. Do I write about what I like, even if I have nothing new or interesting to add, or do I write about what everyone else likes even to the cost of some of my own enjoyment of the hobby itself? Not a question I can answer with certainty of conviction, but I would imagine that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I am always still looking for new games and experiences to try, whether it be the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-inspired 35MM or the ever-improving Thea: The Awakening. However, spreading myself too thin can also lead to an under-appreciation or over-evaluation of these titles as well. A quick playthrough of a game just to get it over with only to convince myself that I have a complete understanding of it is poor form. Better understanding comes with familiarity, which can only come from experience.
In my defense, part of this familiarity can come from gameplay mechanics, which are often shared between many titles. It’s easier to review a game like 35MM, which has very light mechanics that nearly entirely borrowed from other walking simulators. Uncharted 4 can easily compare to other cinematic third-person shooting games, so a lot of that leg work is done. But this doesn’t lead to a fuller understanding of the game itself, merely how it relates to genre expectations. The shooting in X is worse than the shooting in Y, the graphics in Z are better than the graphics in A. Obviously nothing exists in a vacuum, but I can’t help but think that some games might have resonated better after continued play than just one completion. One of my favorite games from last generation, NieR, really didn’t all come together until nearly all of the game had completed, something totally lost on someone just looking to beat it and drop it.
Playing for the sake of completion isn’t something that is lost on the viewing public either. A common complaint for modern day games journalists is that they just aren’t very good at what they do. This is a criticism I both agree with and level at myself, as the answer is obvious. Journalists need to keep up with the newest of releases to stay constant with the general public who consumes the media. This means playing a game as fast as you can and whipping up a review for the game based off of however long it took them to play it. This doesn’t lead to better reviews, it leads to lousier ones. Better players are more focused and less well-rounded but are far more qualified to discuss their areas of expertise than a jack-of-all-trades type.
The jack-of-all-trades reviewer it works for most people, who just want to know that the game is fun in the short term before they move on to the next big thing, but most of the time nothing of value is gained. Revisionist history is strong in modern pop culture and gaming is no exception, though the revisionism occurs much quicker due to hype machines deflating faster than normal. Dragon Age: Inquisition is one of the more recent example of this, beloved at launch, considered a disappointment half a year later around the time The Witcher 3 hit.
This whole thing may seem a bit rambling as it is mainly an outlet for letting my frustration at my recent inability to finish any games, but part of me just wanted to get writing again. I have put more efforts into getting things done at RPGamer.com, such as being smack in the middle of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, but that is a more recent development. I do plan to have more coming up soon, such as my impressions of Overwatch, which is from a very casual perspective since I am not usually one for multiplayer games, but I wanted to get something out in my two months of silence. Until then, happy gaming.
The ABC's of Gaming 