I’m sure some of you will want to reply to this post and say “don’t you really mean single player games are dying ?” While that’s partially true I think there is more to it than that.
Games use to made with world building in mind. Characters , stories arcs maybe in some cases a message to share. Games did this with a combination of a story and a single player campaign to get you acquainted and a multiplayer component to keep you coming back. Yes in many cases multiplayer was just tacked on but in many cases it added value and further established world building. In the end you’ve at least experienced a cool story.
To me these days most games are made in service of a battle pass or an excuse to release a permanent “early access game”
Oh look a new battle royal survivor game with the unique twist of combining other games mechanics into one. You can play with your friends ! You can farm things and make things ! Does making these things really move any needle in any significant way? Does the farming open up new locations and enemies to fight ? Or better yet special story moments ? Most of The time nope. And the worst of times you just get a shiny new hat!
I see little value in investing time into another game when I can see bar move another 3 percent. I understand there a social aspects but I’d argue the games do little for them and those social aspects can be had without the game to begin with. Or everyone playing their own game. To me all you’re doing is killing time with yet another run of the mill game.
I’d like to see a resurgence of games made with a singular intent and purpose. In service of telling a story and building a world. And seeing profits come in from there. No battle pass no service …
No nothing was ever perfect and there was always junk games. To me now it just feels like it’s getting worse.
Any way I’ll go back into my retirement home now and stop yelling at that cloud…
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1970s: Space Invaders comes out with deep, story-driven world building
1980s: Super Mario Bros comes out with deep, story-driven world building
1990s: Mortal Kombat comes out with deep, story-driven world building
2000s: Counterstrike comes out with deep, story-driven world building
2010s: Minecraft comes out with deep, story-driven world building (this one is funny because you dig deep and build worlds)
2020s: There are no good games that really build a world with a good story! Definitely not Elden Ring, BG3, Ghosts of Tsushima, DOS2, Clair Obscura, etc…
How do you feel about the narrative and worldbuilding in Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, etc?
Donkey Kong was one of the first games that had a story in arcades … was it complex ? No. But it was a draw for people …
If that’s enough of a narrative for you, most of the games you’re complaining about also have narratives with at least that much depth to them.
You could also take it a step further and say “all games are just tech demos”
Like all they exist to do is proof-of-concept type stuff showing off what people can do, instead of making a piece of entertainment for the people.
So true! Remember the good old days with games like Expedition 33, Baldur’s Gate 3, Resident Evil 9? Those were the best. It’s a pity games like that don’t get made anymore.
WTF are you talking about.
Not a fan of those games …
Fuck off then, stop hiding your “I don’t care for the current trends in gaming” behind a boomer-ass “they don’t make em like they used to” take. There’s tons of good games and there’s always been a bunch of low-effort garbage to sift through. We used to call it “shovel-ware”.
So what kind of story driven games are you a fan of?
So are you saying Baldurs Gate 3 doesn’t tell story and has no message it brings across?
Then it sounds like the real issue here isn’t that the narrative-driven games you talk about in the OP don’t exist at all, but that these games just aren’t being laser-targeted at whatever specific and narrow set of tastes you have.
And honestly, to an extent I do get where this kind of frustration comes from. I’ve felt like my tastes have narrowed with age too, and I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about certain genres that have completely faded from relevance. But I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that this isn’t an industry problem, it’s a me problem. Just because my kind of specific niche favorites don’t get catered to doesn’t mean that good games don’t exist at all.
I’ve been contending with this as of late, as well. I had been searching for the types of games I used to like, but not being happy when I tried new ones in those genres. It turns out I’ve been getting bored of gaming in general, and the games that do hold my attention aren’t quite the same as genres I used to like.
Metaprogression is the same, in many cases. You don’t advance because your skill is increasing or because you’ve accomplished anything, it’s essentially “you’ve played for x amount of time, we’re going to create the illusion of progression by allowing you to upgrade your stats”
At PAX 2017, I was disappointed by the overwhelming number of battle royale games. There were a handful of games that stood out for story or in-person party play, but the biggest booths were all for MMOs and battle royale games.
I’ve long said that MMO games are so common because storytelling and world-building are hard. Also, Sturgeon’s Law: 90% of everything is shit.
I’m guessing the downvotes are because people fail to see or deliberately ignore the generalization. Of course there are stellar story-driven, single player games still coming out, but 90% shit is to be expected.
My only shred of disagreement here (more of a qualification) is time-wasting. Of course games are for sucking down time. It’s one of the circuses in “Bread and Circuses.” But the same applies to novels, hobbies, and lush green lawns. :D
Another qualification I’ll add: I think we’re just getting more of everything with better coverage and more ubiquitous advertising, so it’s easier to see the shit games. It’s easier than ever to build a game, so of course the tide of garbage rises. But so do the standouts, unfortunately in roughly equal proportions. :D There have some great story-driven games recently as one other commenter noted. For me, “The Expanse,” “Cyberpunk,” and “Become Human” leap to mind (yes, I’m a very late adopter). Two of those are basically visual novels with choices, but the stories hit hard and get into complex moral and social issues.
When you’re ready, I’ll be out on the retirement home patio with a cold one waitin’ for ya. We’ll gripe about it some more.
I’m glad a few people are willing to see through specifics and look at the outright trends. And you are right algorithms and current social media make certain things more apparent then others.
But my general point still stands, it feels like there is more garbage than there has ever been before.
As for the wasting time, I see people are taking this too literally. I’m taking about (subjective) worth for putting time and money into a game. I feel like the ratio of value to time in modern games has drastically gone out of balance at least for me personally.
Yeah it’s a shame how hard lemmy shredded you. The trends are apparent to anyone who has been around for a while
Sorry to get all “ok grandpa time for your meds” on you, but 2017 was 9 years ago. A whole decade has passed in the industry and the art form. XD
It’s also been 50 years since the first home console came out. Your point ?
I’m just pulling the leg of the guy above me. Granted, at their expense, but we’re both “on the retirement home patio” so to speak.
Yes. Games like “Oregon Trail” or “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego” are probably a thing of the past.
I look at the Death Stranding games as a modern Oregon Trail.
What you’re talking about is the movement toward live service games, loot box sales, and ‘friendslop’ in just the last several years, but you forgot about the cynically made sequals created purely to milk nostalgia for established IP. This is the result of the investor class trying to colonize the games space. Start taxing the fuck out of the unproductive rent seekers and I expect things would improve.
I keep thinking that everyone who complains about video games today either has awful taste or only learns about the industry from media outlets. I personally think we’re in something of a golden age. Death Stranding 2, Elden Ring, Balders Gate 3, Zelda Totk, Alan Wake 2, UFO 50, Donkey Kong Bananza, Balatro, Silksong, Kirby Air Riders, Clair Obscur, the Alters.
And that’s only in the last 3-4 years. If you pay attention to all kinds of budgets, there’s a ton of great new games coming out all the time. Get out of your little corner of the Internet and you’ll find PLENTY of great new games.
There was a big boom in games based on movies during the 80’s, 90s, and 00’s. The majority of them were likely a waste of time. For every Goldeneye 007, there were several E.T.'s. (OK, maybe not that bad)
Hotter take. ALL games are designed to waste time.
Games use to made with world building in mind. Characters , stories arcs maybe in some cases a message to share.
My first videogame console was an Atari 2600, there wasn’t even a single thing of your list in any game there
Do you still play those games? A lot?
No, very sporadically, then the nostalgia hits me hard enough. I was just ponting that maybe your nostalgia is kinda skewing your viewpoint too.
Hot take: This post belongs in unpopular opinion. While I don’t agree. You’re entitled to your opinion. If you’re enjoying spent time I don’t think it’s wasted. If you enjoy sitting for hours waiting for fish, even though I think it’s a waste of time, it’s time well spent for the one spending it.
This sums it up perfectly. No point arguing about the objectivity of something that is subjective
most entertainment is about killing time. Some really great stuff has come out in recent time. I think the problem is more stuff overall with about the same amount of good stuff.
Indies still seem to tackle such.
Major games, at least by production value or how much they could spend on ads, are usually bland, and/or if carrying a message, it’s dubious at best.
Meanwhile, indies are more free to do what they want, instead of having to follow orders of someone pushing an agenda or that just cares for profit based on brand.
If you’d be willing to sift through, you can find way too many good titles on places like Steam, GOG, and in a surprising quantity even on Itchio, plus other places, sure.
