Is it me or are games really not fun anymore
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.
What types of games are you playing? Sounds like you are describing a generic AAA "live service" game, there are plenty of fun games but you have to search for them in a sea of soulless corporate cashgrabs. I would recommend trying games by smaller developers. If you want to play with friends I would recommend indie co-op games like risk of rain 2 or deep rock galactic. Or maybe you are just burnt out on gaming? Never hurts to take a break, try another hobby for a bit and come back reinvigorated
Live service games, MMOs, gatcha games, and many hardcore multiplayer games are the worst for this. They love to waste player's time on some repetitive grind because they want players to keep playing their game. They usually have either microtransactions (often for cosmetics) or a subscription.
Personally, I love MMOs, but I try to avoid playing any grindy content (or at least as long as I don't think I'll genuinely enjoy it). So I'll usually play a game for a few months (they're really big games) and then quit for years, if not permanently (I have a bunch of MMOs I intend to someday return to, but have not yet).
Single player games are generally much better at being genuinely fun. Especially story driven games. I also love open world games because you largely get to make them your own. It's perfectly valid to beeline the story missions if that's all you care about. Or you could do just the side quests. Or you could additionally explore like crazy. e.g., with Tears of the Kingdom, you really can ignore most of the shrines and largely focus on the story quests. None of the side quests are necessary, either. You don't have to explore the depths except for a tiny few places for the story. The vast majority of sky islands can be ignored. But I personally had a lot of fun exploring, so I explored nearly everything and loved it (except most of the depths -- they were way too big, empty, and repetitive).
Some people don't like long games, though. And that's fine! There's tons of short or more streamlined games out there that you can have fun with. e.g., The Last of Us is a fantastic one. The sequel is about 24 hours long for the story and it felt like it flew by in the blink of an eye for me cause I was having so much fun.
Was going to say this as well. As a long time destiny player it very much feels like checking boxes or doing chores each week.
I've finally managed to break away and play other games and am so excited for my current to do pile. Mass Effect 1,2,3 done, Andromeda is in progress and after that is Control, Cyberpunk and Fallout 4.
To be perfectly honest I don't feel like anything is fun anymore.
You might be depressed my guy
It's not you. I don't find most games, even games I used to really splunk a lot of time into happily, much fun anymore.
I've been watching Yahtzee's Extra Punctuation lately, and he his hitting on the same gestalt - most games, especially AAA games, are really boring now because they are really pretty much the same game repainted now. OK, that's a bit of an oversimiplification, but I'd direct you to his several recent commentaries for the deeper insight.
I can remember when I loved the idea of playing online. After a couple of decades of it, I hate online games now (mostly because I despise online game players now). I still love playing a good co-op game with a couple of friends (but those good games in that class are a bit thin on the ground) and I still love finding a good, immersive single player to sit down with. But I don't care for platformers, or side-scrollers, or jumper-puzzles, or Souls games - at least not anymore.
So what am I playing? Well, I am getting a hell of a lot of bang out of my buck playing small games on my iPad from Apple Arcade, believe it or not. I fire up Steam once in a while and look, chin in hand, at my large library of collected games on a fancy-pants Alienware monster gaming machine, sigh, and go back to playing Spell Struck (basically a Scrabble game) on my iPad, because at least it makes me think of good words to use.
Ten years ago, I would be jittery with the impending release of something like Starfield or Diablo IV. Now I'm like "No rush, buy it in 6 months or a year when it goes on sale and the bugs are ironed out."
I got sucked in by TOTK and Elden Ring so I can't say I've had the same experience. I basically haven't played a multi-player fps since I graduated university though, so that must count for something? I played a ton of those back then.
It strongly depends on what kind of person you are and how you get your enjoyment out of things. If you understand this, then you can find games that fulfill that.
For example, some people get a dopamine hit when they see numbers go up. Be it level grinding, kill/death ratio, optimize builds. Others like the feeling of exploration. Others want immersion/role-play.
It has nothing to do with "today games bad". Part of that is childhood and nostalgia. You won't get that back.
Figure out what you enjoy. If you like social games and making friends, then you need to lean towards that style of game. RuneScape 2007 is still very much alive today.
It's not "just you", but it's simply burnout from the genres you play these days. A lot of people experience it from time to time. Either stop playing for a while, or expand your scope to different genres. Not only are some amazing indies coming out all the time, but you'll also find incredible older games that way.
Depends on what you're playing, and you might have burnout.
Play indie games. There are still a lot of fun games out there. AAA games are all "live services" nowadays and designed to maximize your play time, not fun.
Yeah, it's a golden age for indie development. I struggle to find AAA games I want to play, but when it comes to games as a whole I have far too many I want to check out thanks to the current vibrancy of the indie scene.
Absolutely. This is how I discovered games like Hollow Knight and Spiritfarer, two of my absolute favorites. Can't bring myself to play very many AAA games outside of some multiplayer ones like Mario Party and Mario Kart.
You're just getting old... Same happened here once I passed 25
It's you. I have more fun than I ever had as a kid or teenager.
I might offer a slightly different take on this than you tend to see. Yes, it is very common for enjoyment of entertainment to be based on external factors (free time, friends, family). But the modern gaming landscape has changed overall quite a lot. It is entirely possible that the type of games you truly enjoy have gotten lost in the sauce, and just aren't made as much these days. Likely a combination of the two, but if you're having the feeling, trust it. That feeling is valid, and claims that everything is the same, you just have external differences feels a bit gas-lighty. Good luck out there~
I quite like your answer and tend to agree. Just wanted to add that while popular games have changed over time, the sheer amount of games that get made these days is insane. I would recommend to see what strange indie stuff is being made, this is something that helped me when I had similar feelings. When not bound by large budgets or investors, really awesome experiences are still possible.
Examples: A Short Hike, Vampire Survivors, Outer Wilds, Undertale, Stardew Valley, Rocket League ...
Any imaginable genre is still getting new and interesting stuff IMO, it's just that mainstream gaming has gotten worse (again, IMO).
But it is true that you shouldn't simply discard what you're feeling! I really love that about your answer.
The small indie titles are what is saving my passion for gaming since quite some time now. It's also what's saving my wallet as usually they focus on good gameplay more than flashy presentation which helps in not having to spend a ton on a "competitive" hardware.
shrug I play mostly single-player RPGs and similarly story-heavy games, so while the mechanics are different and the graphics much prettier, the structure is the same as it's been for the past 30+ years: Follow the story to get anywhere, or just wander around in your current area if you want to grind.
Learning about the concept of enshittification (https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/) made me suspect that this might be going on with games too. I mean these always online and monetisation trends seem to suggest so.
Though for me it‘s also the age and work, quest logs remind me of ticket systems and grinding of more repetitive work and it all lost it‘s shine. I enjoy games still, but less often I would say.
Depression has definitely made it extremely hard to enjoy gaming these days. It was so easy to hop on the pc after class in college, and jump into a game with 8 or so friends, playing all night. Now in adulthood, there are no friends to play with, and such little time to actually play. Not to mention games have become about milking whales with microtransactions, and less about a fun experience. Combine that with the world's downward spiral, and it makes it very hard to be a happy gamer.
/rant
Aside from nintendo related products, I have stopped playing most AAA titles for this reason. The only reason I have stuck with nintendo is because I can still get excited and be impressed with what they release, though this isn't as much of a guarantee as it used to be.
I usually play indie games when I'm looking for something fresh, or I play retro titles when I want to revisit my roots and remind myself why I fell in love with gaming in the first place.
I also have a selection of comfort titles I reach for when I'm feeling down and nothing else is bringing me joy. Stardew Valley, Earthbound, Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Skyrim are my shortlist.
Yeah... I barely pay attention to new releases anymore and I stick to older games that I like. This is also why I prefer to play games that can be modded, so I can make my own fun.
What kinds of games are you missing and which ones are rubbing you the wrong way these days?
Maybe try a different genre, or even a different format. Instead of multiplayer fighting games, try a social deduction game.
I'm mostly a single player person, like 90% of the time, so I feel like I don't have a dog in this (I can't say "games aren't fun anymore", because all I need to do is look at Steam to prove myself wrong; I'll find some weird or fun looking indie or AA games in that sea). That being said, I think I know what you mean when you say "structured" fun:
Instead of being left to play the game your way, learn it, master it, even break it by finding some glitch or exploit (which normally get fixed in the name of balance. Understandable, but sometimes having overpowered and unbalanced things ingame makes stuff even more fun), there's a "path" the game clearly wants you to take to succeed (usually meta gear), stuff like "headshot 5 enemies with X gun in 5 seconds" or "kill an enemy player while rocket jumping" are now achievements for you to earn rather than stuff you'd do of your own skill and free will (maybe not the right words for that, but it's what came to mind lol), and like another comment said, the devs are now trying to monotize every move you make, instilling FOMO, and trying to get you to buy boosts so you don't have to do the intentionally harsh grind for the stuff and other advantages to tip the odds in your favor.
....Or I could be completely off base with that second paragraph and you meant something else when you said "structured fun"
I think you've just played too many games. You know how they work now, you have a sense of what's behind the curtain. You can see the way the dev is trying to talk to you through specific camera angles and lighting placements, and you resent it and wish for the days you didn't notice that stuff.
I get it. It's valid. But it's a personal thing. Games didn't get less fun, you just aren't enjoying them anymore. They've always been like that.
May I suggest cheating? No, seriously: Download some mods, cheat tables, or trainers. Play the game the way you want to play it. Break out of the devs' carefully-packaged little box, even if it makes the game easier or makes people sneer at you. Go out of bounds. Give yourself infinite health and see how long it takes to beat the last boss naked and unarmed or using a DDR pad.
Don't cheat in multiplayer though. There's a special hell reserved for those who ruin others' experiences.
This is a good idea! Go nuts for a while, see how you feel.
I started avoiding games that make it hard to play without choosing the meta. I look for indie games where solving mysteries about the game made it more interesting. Its not for everyone but it could be a breath of fresh air for anyone looking to get away from games that expect you to play a specific way or to grind for new stuff.
I understand where you're coming from when you look at the games with the most marketing, but we also live in the age of Minecraft, not to mention the countless games and genres it inspired. The stuff you're looking for is out there.
I feel that certain games can be like that. I’m big time into single player games with good stories where you can get lost in it all. I used to play more multiplayer games like battlefield with friends and it was a great time but it does seem those types of games have gone the way of wanting to analyze every player move and figure out how to monetize the player. Maybe that’s what you’re running into.
Burnout is definitely a thing. Try cutting back, taking a break or switching genres. Dust off that real-time strategy that's been gathering dust in your library, or try something completely new. Take care of yourself my guy.
It does make sense. My friend talks about this alot. It also seems to me from my own experiences ad especially his that everything is made to maximise profit and user experience is the last priority. It's structured that way in order to guarantee their control over your experience and therefore their profits. Nothing is spontaneous, the charm is gone for most modern games, and so it's just not as fun as it was ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
People are going to be pedantic about this one, because it’s not ALL games, but what you’re seeing is real. Game design, especially corporate design, has changed to accomplish two things:
Games are designed to be playable by as many people as possible for as long as possible. Some would say this is just Western AAA games, but lots of anime games have been doing this nonsense for decades - games with 10 hours of baby’s first JRPG tutorial and 80 hours of grinding and filler. Many of them critically acclaimed games that fans would flog me for if I actually named one of them.
There are indie games that help you escape this, but many take that accessibility-first approach that requires everything to be very structured and corral you toward the right direction.
Again, I think people are going to be dismissive, but you’re right. It’s a tough world out there for someone who just wants to play a game and not be suckered into a live service engagement trap, or ladder system that hides your real MMR to keep you grinding up an imaginary points system. It’s not like the old days when you can just pick something popular, you have to discriminate and carefully judge what you buy now.
Define "accessibility", because it sounds like you're describing a game trying to give a certain experience on a budget
I should put “accessibility” in sarcastic quotation marks. Here, it doesn’t mean adding options or features to assist someone with different handicaps or needs. It means making the game so easy that anyone, even a toddler or game journalist, can finish it without having to learn from mistakes or think about what they’re doing.
Particularly with regard to excessive guidance. Varying degrees of “mobile game that makes you click exactly what it says for 30 minutes to prove you played the tutorial.” Those games may be the worst offenders, but less-dramatic hand holding happens in console and PC games too.