Ennui with gaming.

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I've been a gaming for a looong time. Ever since I was six years old, I've been tearing it up on the gaming scene. As 30 begins to rapidly approach, though, I'm finding myself encountering a problem for the first time in my life: I'm becoming bored of games. Nothing seems to excite me anymore. About the only thing that can keep me hooked to a game nowadays is a really compelling story, and the occasional bit of PvP action. For one, most games fail to challenge me anymore. I got through about 30 minutes of Dragon Age: Origins before I had already set the slider to the highest difficulty. Halo 3 on Legendary? Pffft. Those poor covies never had a chance. It's not that I consider myself some kind of paragon of gaming, but 22 years of doing something and you start to get pretty damn good at it almost by default. Anyone else have any experiences with this? What can I do to get my gaming mojo back? As of now, I've been tiding myself over with chess (A good chess AI can and will hand your ass to you, even if you're a grandmaster).

It sounds dumb, but if newer-generation games are failing to challenge you, try the older ones. They are much more challenging. Back when video games were not quite so big as they are today, devs did not have adolescent focus groups and could afford to piss people off with really difficult design.

I've been there and done that one, though in my case it had nothing to do with too much time gaming, and everything to do with the games themselves changing.

I've been gaming since I was little. Probably since somewhere around 1984-85? I musta been about 4-ish when I was given the ancient Atari 2600 for the first time. I've stuck with gaming ever since, and it's been THE hobby and interest for me all that time. Consoles like the NES and SNES were (and still are) great; lots and lots of variety to pick from, and definitely plenty of challenge and depth. These things easily held my attention.

Fast forward to recent years. Alot of games just werent holding my attention very well. They were too easy, too slow, too BORING. I noticed alot of trends that were taking place in game design, as the games themselves got easier and easier, with infinite lives and regenerating health and LOTS of hand-holding, the overall structures got way more linear (heaven forbid the player actually get LOST), the gameplay tended to get more and more shallow (complexity pushes away consumers!), and so on. The consoles were just getting less and less interesting.

Eventually, I'd had enough, as I was both tired of these trends and also bored. I started using the PC more and more, and I was suddenly finding stuff that was DIFFERENT. Sure, there were some of the "major" games on there, but more importantly, ANYONE could make a game and put it out there, on PC. You dont need a giant publisher of hugeness to do it. This meant that there were about a bazillion different developers out there making whatever in the bloody hell they wanted to, instead of having to follow all of the latest trends in order to stay in business. They were able to get CREATIVE, and do different things, and what's more, they could make their games very difficult if they wanted to, and they'd get away with it. They didnt have these ginormous budgets that they needed to then profit off of, so they didnt have to worry so much about pushing people away with difficulty; instead, they could use it to LURE people in. Same with depth and complexity. I went searching and found game after game that interested and challenged me, from developers of all levels. This includes games of genres that literally never appear on consoles, for that matter, or that appear so very rarely that they may as well not.

Since then I've found myself buying one game after another, as the interesting things just keep coming. It helped that I'd quickly come to the realization that graphics really didnt matter all that much; sure, some smaller developers can still produce stellar-looking games, but many could go back to an older 2D style, or.... whatever they wanted.

And really, it's been bloody excellent since then. Simply dropping that which was getting boring and uninteresting and going and looking elsewhere completely fixed the problem, as it now allows me to avoid all those trends that just bother and bore me.

I have no idea if that sort of thing would work for you, but that's what worked for me.

Ah, yes, the Atari 2600. I never got a chance to play much of it as it was already totally overshadowed by the NES by the time I was old enough to game in earnest. I still remember playing Asteroids and Galaga on it.

I know what you mean about games changing. There's this hilarious pair of youtube videos, If doom was done today, that basically highlights much of what you've said. That said, even a lot of the older games I've revisited since are nonetheless still too easy, I've just gotten too good at games to the point where basically only human opponents stand much of a chance against me. I've checked out a lot of the indie PC games and they're often quite creative, but I think I'm still too jaded with gaming to fully enjoy them.



Already done that to death. Trust me: I'm a veteran of the original Ghosts 'n Goblins. Giving that game to your kids should count as child abuse.

Yeah, I've already done the "too good at games" bit too, hah. I'm at the point where even most human opponents in multiplayer games (fighting games for me) cant put up a fight anymore. What annoys me is that they then stop trying, feh. I need to find a new multiplayer genre to try. But anyway....

I'll show something here:


I wave that video around whenever I want to give an example of "difficulty".

That's one of the sorts of games I ended up getting into. That is Mushihime-sama Futari, the single most difficult game ever made. It's a bit of an extreme example, but it showcases one of my favorite genres (most of which is only "insanely" hard, as opposed to... that). I've played a ton of these now. So very many. No game I ever found on the NES (and I have *alot* of them) or any old console comes anywhere near the difficulty of the games I often get into these days. That level up there, it took me a *long* time to beat it. This is the second game in the series, you see. The first game was damn near impossible to begin with, in the mode known as "ultra". It takes a seriously absurd amount of skill to beat. It took me bloody forever to get good enough to have a real chance of beating even one or two stages. Once I eventually got to the final boss, it was so freakishly difficult that it then was an additional 10 or so months before I"d gotten good enough overall to beat the horrid nightmare. No continues allowed in all of this (the final boss wont even show if you do, and the unspoken rule of the genre is that if you have to use a continue, you didnt beat the game anyway, it beat you).

THIS game's ultra mode makes that entire previous game look easy. I dont even want to think about how many times I went through this one accursed level in that video before I A: finished it, B: finished it without dying 10 bazillion times, and C: finished it mostly without using any bombs. Level 2 is actually still beyond me, despite everything I did in the video.


So yeah, difficulty of the level that would actually challenge me, I did find. Lots of examples beyond just that one, of most genres, just not as freakishly impossible. Now that's not to say that older games cant still provide SOME challenge, but yeah, they dont provide as much as I'd like in many cases. The indie games I'm usually rambling about arent games I play just because they're creative, but they're games I play because they're actually capable of holding my extremely limited attention-span. They dont have to be all artsy or blah blah blah... I dont care about that. I just want to not be bored. I end up playing alot of shmups, roguelikes, or even things like Dwarf Fortress.

The problem of course is that if you want to REALLY look for something that'll satisfy you, you'll want to take a good chunk of time doing so, particularly if you've never really looked much beyond the "usual" games before. With alot of the bigger titles, THEY come to YOU, as the publishers will do absolutely freaking anything to get you to notice their games. With either indie games, or more niche titles, it's the other way around. Which can be a pain. I personally have gotten used to it, so it typically takes me about 20 minutes to find something new to buy, whenever I happen to feel like it (which is every few days or so). And of course, just because something is "indie" or whatever sure doesnt instantly mean it's actually good. I have tons of games I've bought and loved, but I can also think of some real stinkers out there, that's for sure.

And I remember the original Ghosts n' Goblins, way back when. That game, that game had glitches. But I always liked it, irritating though it could be at times. I miss those games, that could have been a lasting series, I think.



....also yeah, I saw that video series that you mentioned there, those were absolutely hilarious. Depressingly true, but absolutely hilarious nonetheless.


Hm, and out of curiosity, what sorts of games are you into anyway?

Oh lord, yes those bullet hell type games can be hella intense. One of the biggest challenges I last had in gaming was playing DMC4 on Hell or Hell mode. Twitchy reflexes, that! I think by and large I'm just coming to see games as another form of storytelling media. I think I'm "over" gameplay, at least for a few years, and now want something that holds my attention better than movies, books, or comics are able to. It's the interactiveness that I enjoy. One of the things a lot of oldschool gamers complain about are cutscenes and games becoming "interactive movies". Well frankly speaking, I'm not actually bothered by that much, so long as it's good storytelling! And...of course, I get to actively DO stuff.

As far as games I'm into, my mainstays have always been action games, FPS shooters, and strategy games, although I'll play and enjoy a large variety of game types (or at least, I used too...). Some of my favorites of all time to give you an idea:

FPS: Halo, Borderlands, Goldeneye 64
Action: Devil May Cry, Contra, Galaga
Strategy: Advance Wars, Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Starcraft

Hm, I gotta say, I'll never understand the viewpoint of the players that get into these for the storylines; I cant remember the last time I found a game with a story that I didnt consider to be bad, or just badly presented (or sometimes both). It was probably back in the SNES era, actually. The more prevalent cutscenes got, the more stretched out the storylines got, and the more exaggerated things got as well. Suddenly it wasnt about good writing and such anymore (not as much anyway); it was about as many flashy effects as possible. And then there's groups like Square, who seem to think that absolute gibberish is the core of all good stories. As the "movie" aspect of these games got worse and worse, the actual gameplay hit the sidelines; this is the reason behind the lowered challenge these days, because it's no longer about "beating" a game, it's about finishing that accursed storyline. If the customer cannot do this, they wont come back to later games from that developer. Even moreso than the bad writing (when bad writing happens, obviously this isnt the case in all games), this is the reason why I hate game stories so very badly. I just read alot of books instead, which is one of my other 2 major hobbies. Movies/TV I cant stand.

As it is for gaming though, I either play games with zero storyline, or games that may have one, but where it's exceedingly obvious that it isnt the focus and doesnt need to be known. This is where I find the actual challenge and depth, because no resources are shoved into movieland, and the devs dont have to worry about difficulty keeping the player from seeing all of the blasted cinematics. Or there's games like Dwarf Fortress or Mount & Blade, where the gameplay IS the story; the narrative is created by your actions, adventures, and interactions with the world/NPCs/stuffs/whatever instead of by a premade script; those I can get into, because the gameplay has to be GOOD for it to work (they cant put the story element above it, or it collapses), and I feel like I"m actually involved instead of just on the sidelines, when the story-ish stuff happens.

Though, I'd probably deal with stories in games alot easier if they were told differently. It's the way they're shoved in the player's face (that "movie-like" idea) that bugs me so much (particularly if the story then ends up being bad). A game like Five Nights at Freddy's is better for me; the game never just blatantly waves the story at you, but there's a ton of lore behind it. Without "normal" storytelling like cutscenes, you have to pay attention to things, as all the little details and things that happen can be pieced together to figure out just what's really going on.


But anyway, it's interesting to hear things from the perspective of someone that understands the value of challenge/depth/complexity as well as older games, yet has the difference from me of being into the story aspect of games as a whole. I'm curious, what kinds of elements of these draws you into that aspect the most? Are there any particularly good examples of games that you think do it right?

Frankly, most games that come out are garbage. It's hard to find one that I really enjoy playing.

Take a break. You'll likely come back later when a title worth playing catches your eye.

The problem for me is that I often struggle to stay focused while reading books. I wanna DO something! I can only sit and read for about 30 minutes before I'm itching for some kind of sensory stimulation or interaction. That said, story doesn't have to come at the expense of gameplay. There's been quite a few games that managed to have both. For example, System Shock had an incredible story, while at the same time also possessing solid gameplay. Other games such as Deus Ex, Parasite Eve, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Alice: Madness Returns, Legacy of Kain, and Metal Gear Solid fit neatly alongside it as well. If anything, I'd say an increasing focus on graphics is doing far more to detract from gameplay than a well-written story.



Say hello and welcome to Sturgeon's Law.

Off topic, but I love Heroes of Might and Magic 3! I like it because I constantly do something in the game.

I play a large variety of games, too. I also enjoy Devil May Cry 4, Borderlands and Halo Reach. I'm getting back into Fallout New Vegas. I started over though because I was supposed to find Sunny Smiles, but I forgot where to go. That's what I get for owning over 150 video games

Do you play fighting games? Dead or Alive Last Round just came out and Mortal Kombat X comes out in April. I should probably pre-order it so I can play as Goro. The Shokan are some of my favorite characters (Goro, Sheeva, Kintaro and I think there's another one??).

While Call of Duty is a game that many seem to enjoy, I find it super repetitive. The only reason I still have Black Ops 2 is for Zombies. The only reason I have Ghosts is for Extinction. Call of Duty just doesn't hold my attention anymore. When it comes to shooters I prefer games like Borderlands, Resident Evil and Halo. I would play Halo more often if my brother would give it back to me because I let him borrow my copy of Reach.

Anyway, I hope you find some good games!

You're a lot like me MisterXenos.
Until a few months ago my gaming life was resumed to run a Rift on Diablo 3 for something like 20 minutes and then get bored (not that this game is bad, is just that I've been playing it for too long and am finally getting tired of it) and I was only doing that because gaming is my main hobbie and became kinda of a habit to at least play something when I had the free time.
I enjoy the challenge too but I also enjoy a good storyline to keeps me playing. I love RPGs and action games, especially if they have fun fast combat and big open worlds. Put an awesome story combined with these and you have my attention. The problem is that nowadays everything is so generic. Even Final Fantasy that was a serie that I enjoyed mainly because of the storyline had became such a weird franchise that I couldn't be less interested in FF XV.
I bought Dragon Age 2 a few weeks ago on a promotion and was starting to have some fun until I realised that almost the entire game was happening INSIDE of a town, talking to people and solving problems with just "chatting". It will be a while until I'm bored to the point of going back to it.
When december came I started playing Bayonetta 2 and in almost 5 months it was the first game that I was REALLY into it, playing through all the difficulties and actually enjoying every part of the game without think how much better it could be.
This month I'm kinda excited again playing Majora's Mask on 3DS and trying to finally get into a Monster Hunter game, but after I'm done with those two it will be a while before I'm able to get another game that do not bore me to death (since the ones that I'm interested right now will probably not come out soon).

Star Citizen coming 'soon'

Yeah, everyone's been talking about that one endlessly. I personally am not that interested, mostly since it has FPS elements, which for me is a giant "nope" in most cases since developers using that style are usually about as creative as a brick with it. I havent seen a decent trailer for it yet; as in, one that shows the actual game, not prerendered whatever, which I typically ignore.

....that and it's an MMO as far as I can tell, kinda had my fill at this point really. WoW damaged the genre far too much.

I'll be interested to see how it does though, considering the extreme amount of hype.

As space games go, ended up getting into Elite: Dangerous instead, which turned out fantastic. Always I complain about games holding the player's hand too much; that one's the first I've seen in a looooooong time that seems to put an extreme amount of effort into staying as far away from that concept as conceivably possible.

Those are actual in-game assets and animations used (ship, avatars, rover). The only 'pre-rendered' thing was the intro mimicking the 2001 space odyssey opening and the RSI 'monolith' and boot-stamp on the ground.

The devs making these trailers are making them as if they were TV ads made by the in-game companies that build the ships.

You can find plenty of alpha testing footage in youtube showing you the little fraction of the game that is currently in alpha stage (starship piloting). Very soon the FPS module and Persistent Universe module will be available for testing.

Hm, I suppose I should have phrased what I said differently: Typically when I say "pre-rendered stuff" what I actually mean is "story crap". I'm used to calling cutscenes "prerendered" because of the PS1 and PS2 eras. And all cutscenes look pretty much the same to me (like all movies or TV shows tend to), so they gain the title of "prerendered" automatically. It's stuff I ignore or just automatically skip in any game, no exceptions.

As it is, usually when I see a developer putting alot of time into that aspect, I consider it a bad sign, and tend to avoid whatever game they're making as a result. I've seen and heard enough from this game to already know I'll never be touching it.

I'll just stick with Elite, I think. All the piloting I want, without the accursed FPS crap (which is enough to ruin any game for me) or cutscenes that I wouldnt watch anyway.

I was wondering... Does any of those games (Elite or Star Citizen) allow me to just go out there exploring space? Or will I only be able to play them to battle? I would love to play the one that let me do this.