Knoyleo wrote:I know I've been whinging a lot lately about games, as a time sink, and that I don't enjoy them as much as I used to, or that I find too many games do the same things, but I still think, as a medium, they're actually incredible, and I think there's still a long way to go before we fully realise the kind of experiences that can be had.
As a fellow misanthrope I agree, and think you've hit on an important point. I was also whinging (which sparked your whinging
) about games which don't respect your time or earn their bigness or time sink-ness - I absolutely love Yakuza 0, the constant back and forth between serious crime drama and utterly surreal side activities is unlike almost anything I've played before. Every side-activity is unique and has an interesting/sad/funny story to tell, doesn't feel like filler and is part of the game's balancing act between comedy and tragedy
(also no microtransactions). I love games that make me genuinely laugh while also telling a touching story - something Yakuza and Saints Row do very well.
I love that games let you experience things, places and people that are no longer around, you are unlikely to experience in person or in your lifetime, but they give you agency and interaction with those worlds in a way which films and books can't. I will probably never bomb a ferrari around southern italy, the nurburgring or the scottish highlands, but in Forza I can.