This isn't unique to video games*. It can happen with anything that you spend a ton of time on, and either burn out on or start to develop more refined taste in. I've had it happen with:
novels
board games
movies
people
You start to see patterns, tropes, or just plain get burnt out on something. It's a sign you either need to take a break, or that your tastes have simply become refined enough that you require a higher bar to find something interesting.
I'm in my 40s and definitely don't play games as much as I used to. But there are still times I get sucked in and have a great time. Most recent example: Cosmoteer, a spaceship building game with loads of freedom and creativity. I'm also looking forward to the Factorio DLC and the Dyson Sphere Program combat update.
Edit: case in point that I can still get excited about games: I finally tried Shadows of Doubt and, wow, what an interesting game. It's like a Deus Ex shadowy sneak-around world with detailed voxel simulation.
* though the enshittification phenomenon is a real thing, and why people should play more indie games
Yup. That’s me. I have to have games where it doesn’t rely on you logging on for a few hours a night, every night…. yeah sorry not gonna happen with a wife who doesn’t like video games and a 2 year old to entertain.
I got back into gaming with “bullet hell” games like Vampire Survivor and 20 Minutes till Dawn. All action and no BS, but they do get repetitive after a while.
I recently started playing Diablo4 and that was pretty fun. I am trying to like Baulders Gate 3, but my patience for dialogue and wandering around is not what it used to be, and it never was that high to begin with. It is an impressive game though, which might help me stick with it.
Vampire Survivors is amazing! I can’t believe it’s so cheap. It’s also one of those games that could have easily been microtransactioned to hell and back, but the worst I’ve seen is a few optional ad’s in the mobile version of the game. It’s a bit harder to play on mobile than on PC which is a bummer.
As for BG3, I’ve been very slow to start, and it does feel like a lot up front. I think the problem for me is I’m used to these kinds of games where I’d treat it like the Witcher or HZD and check off every box and complete everything I come across, and exhaust all dialogue options. The beauty of BG3 that I’m starting to realize is I can actually immerse myself in it like an actual role playing game. My last few play sessions I’ve actively been working against my instincts of trying to be the all-star savior of the world, the do no wrong Commander Shepard good guy liked by everyone, and instead choose an identity and play their story out. Having that mindset and treating the game like a marathon and not trying to keep pace with a community (like in WoW or something) is really what I’m enjoying about it.
I guess what I’m saying is, it’s a refreshing change of pace with BG3 to sit back and enjoy the journey, rather than race to the end and inevitably burn myself out in the game trying to min/max everything.
You’re getting older unfortunately. I’ve been watching this happen among my friends for a long while now. They all slowly grow up and leave gaming behind replacing it with other hobbies or interests. Your free time becomes more limited the older you get and the more responsibilities you aquire in life (career, spouse, children, etc.). I’m one of the last hold outs from my childhood friend group, and even I’m slowly starting to lose interest in gaming. I don’t think I’ll ever give it up entirely, but it definitely doesn’t hold the same appeal for me that it once had.
I’m in my early 40’s. I’m still hanging in there, and I do still enjoy gaming, just not with the same passion or levels of enjoyment I once had. Every once in a while a new game drops that will bring it back but only for a little while though.
Good to hear you can still have fun with them, even if it’s muted in comparison to before. I imagine after so long, the reused game mechanics in most stuff would start to feel stale for anyone.
Hope you get some bangers in your favorite genres soon!
Microtransactions are killing, or have killed if you’re cynical, modern gaming. Whether you have disposable income or not, it is viscerally tedius to try to escape into a game just to be pestered to use real money. I play games to avoid our capitalist exploitation dystopia, not further engage with it.
I’ve largely abandoned live games for this reason. I used to be good at online FPS, but it just isn’t worth the “buy this skin or you suck” every single login bullshit. I’ve been modding the Bethesda games and there’s really no getting bored of those world’s with constant new enthusiast content.
I would argue it’s a side effect of getting older.
Not that you’re growing out of games, but moreso that you’re spending more time working, and doing other life related things that gaming no longer feels productive of fun.
I’m working full time and take online classes, but I really love gaming still, I’ve just had to find games that respect my time, since my time is so precious to me right now.
I’ve grown to loath multiplayer match-based games because it’s the same thing over and over again with nothing to show for it, while things like DOOM, Skyrim, Dishonored, older assassins creed games, and various indie titles are all quick, fun, to the point and offer good stories that I enjoy.
I just can’t deal with round after round after round of the same thing. Or an MMO where it’s just “Do this for hours and hours to grind out this skill and that skill”
Like I want to play the game, not click 30,000 times.
There's nothing really "new" anymore, at least not mechanics-wise. Sure, graphics have become pretty good looking. But it's all still the same RPGs, first person shooters, and other shit from the 90s. When I see modern FPSs, I'm still seeing Wolfenstein 3D from 1992. Not a damn thing has changed.
Its not your age, it’s the games you’re playing. There’s a ton of great games out right now, but if you’re playing the same kinds of games you’ve always played, maybe you’ve outgrown them. You could be frustrated with their mechanics, or think their progression isn’t as good as the old games, maybe you cant see as well or grind as hard as these twelve year olds on adderall, whatever it may be.
Try playing games you enjoyed before. You’ll probably still like them. Branch out into different genres, even if it’s something you don’t know if you’ll like or not. I don’t care for top down games, but gave Hades a try and absolutely loved it. Maybe try to play remakes/remasters/new takes on old games. The REmakes for Resident Evil (particularly 2&4, I liked 3 but it gets a lot of deserved hate), and even the continuation of the RE franchise in Biohazard and Village are fun and scary. Just some recommendations. :)
Definitely changeling taste and enshittification. Don't care to play another million dollars AAA fps-box purchaseing simulator or whatever this years dead horse is.
Get me a chill basebulding and automation game and I will literally risk unemployment from staying up late. Bonus points for boobs or warcrimes.
Probably both. A lot of games really do suck ass. CoD is just comically bad in so many ways.
There’s some cool stuff out there, though. battlebit is aces, better than any CoD or Battlefield in years. Hunt Showdown is unqiue and cool. Darktide is an awesome horde shooter. Warframe… is warframe. Deep Rock Galactic is fun spacedorf action. Splitgate mixes up old school HALO:CE gameplay with portals that let you pull off cool kills or radically change the movement rountes across the map. There’s ARMA3 and Reforger if you like milsim, with varyiung levels of milsimminess from “Sir yes sir” tryhards to people who just try to use basic infantry tactics and cooperate. There’s apparently a huge star wars mod scene right now.
I’m over 40 and finding wands in Noita fills me with joy.
“So, this one homes on enemies, has triple cast and delayed explosions… Hmmm, but what does orbital and bouncy do together?”
shoots near beehive
>Entire screen explodes
And I just restart the game with a grin. I feel like that game made what actual magic would be. Starting the game by silently teaching us about the dangers of fire was a stroke of genius. It’s always fire with magic, just weirder, bigger and wilder types of fire, and both me and my enemies don’t command it, we simply live in a world with it. Nothing but a video game could make me experience this. Nothing but a video game could generate near endless amounts of endlessly unlearnable amounts of raging wildfires to be amused by.
Try Ghost of Tsushima or other great games but only short ones, avoid no man sky for now or other long games. Let it rest for a while and come back to it later.
I’ve legit spent 50 hours modding Skyrim to play for like 9 - 15 hours and then moving on until the itch to play Skyrim come back and I spent another 50 hours modding testing something different.
I’m currently stressing myself out taking time to test mods for skyrim since enabling them all crashes the game so I have to slowly enable them, test, enable some more and repeat
Games (mostly MMO) feel like chores to me now, sometimes it even like a second job. Grinding the same endless tasks for hours, go there, do this, kill that.
I think I’ve been feeling this lately. I’ve always been a huge fan of semi-RPGs and open world games, but there really haven’t been many great ones in a long time (tried Elden Ring, needs difficulty slider).
I’m realizing I should probably branch out into something new, but I don’t even know where to start. I don’t tend to care for turn-based games, and fighting games aren’t my thing because of how long it can take to get decent at them.
Anyone have any recommendations for games that you don’t have to invest too much time into to really enjoy? I just don’t have the time in my life for a crazy investment and focus in a game.
I’ve had very little time to make an investment in gaming lately (not bad, just no time) but what I’ve found are emulators for old retro games and that has filled the itch quite nicely…the bonus is that if you put it down and walk away it’s not as hard on your soul (less guild about spending money or time). plus games are easy to pick up and put down.
Until you end up like me; spending more time messing with the emulator than playing, just to see how good you can get stuff looking and what other cool stuff they can do.
To be fair, Elden Rings difficulty slider is the same as any other RPG… going off and doing other stuff for a bit until you’re OP for the part giving you trouble.
Also summoning people (or even the seamless coop mod that allows coop all the time everywhere) that’s also an effective difficulty slider.
For my money, I’ve found myself fascinated by the inner workings of games. Art directions, concept art, changes from beta versions, sound tracks, music theory of the soundtrack, and coding (panonenkoek, the guy who did watch out for rolling rocks in 0.5A presses). It lets me appreciate games that are pieces of art more richly and deeply. I know every surface texture and midi file of Majora’s Mask. I have artist renditions of video game music on my playlists. Pallet Town on violin, Gusty garden galaxy on violin, song of storms on piano. I have a poster of a Pokemon card.
Do I play many games? No, not really. It doesn’t mean the flame dies out, it just means my interests diverged and morphed. The appreciation never left. The same inner child who would be saddened by the departure would get a kick out of my writing. The same critic who didnt like Tales of Symphonia’s sequel put their money where their mouth is and wrote about an ex-main character from an outside perspective. All of this lets me expect less from games and be able to see the effort that went into the individual parts. The dev team doesn’t need to fill the open world with big laser beams, it can let me soak it in for a while.
Recently been just playing cozy games I used to scoff at. So much I’ve not only played more games this summer than the last few year but felt great joy actually finishing a game. Sometimes short and sweet is best.
Just picked it up with the Whims & Wonder Humble Bundle. I’ve been enjoying the shit out of all those games. I have yet to try A Short Hike but it’s on my list.
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