I decided to catalog every game I’ve played during quarantine to see what I might be able to take away from my conquests as a whole. Everything on this list was either brand new to me, or I was playing in earnest to some kind of completion for the first time. The list is in near chronological order, with Death Stranding being the first game I locked into during quarantine. An accurate reflection of the months to follow, perhaps.
I definitely took advantage of being home to work my way through BIG games. BOTW and RDR2 were too large to wrap my head around in normal life. After spending 140 hours in BOTW and 60+ in Red Dead I feel like I’ve broken through a mental barrier that used to keep me away from games with lots of systems that I was afraid would take over my life and agitate my ADHD and completionist/hoarding instincts.
There’s lots of tension and release here. Mario always seems to be a pal after spending too much time with zombies and guns. The Last of Us was around the peak of trying to marinate in the reality of the pandemic and Breath of the Wild really pulled me out of that. Looks like now I’ve put the AAA big boys on the backburner and I’m spending my time with quick, fun, smaller experiences.
Digging deeper my mind has wasted a lot of time in life worrying about what’s “good” or the “best”. Playing games “the right way,” making sure I’m not missing anything. I gave control of my own passion over to some imagined judgement about what my gaming behavior might say about my identity. I couldn’t enjoy Death Stranding when I bought it in November because I was probably too caught up worrying about things like “Will this live up to the hype?” “Am I a Kojima guy?” and, most darkly, “Was the optimism and excitement I put in leading up to this game’s release ‘worth it’?” Does anyone relate to that? It’s the kind of negative thought process that might force a casual player to finish a 40 hour video game that they decided was not for them after 2 hours.
I’m now finding myself playing games for ME. I can quit games I’m not enjoying. I can play under any context I want to. I can decide what elements of a game I enjoy and understand why. It’s ok to dislike something everyone else likes and vice versa. More often than not, THAT conversation is where the good stuff is. No one is keeping score.
I used to play a game like Symphony of the Night because I felt I had to to justify my own credibility and check it off of a list. Before now I might have played it without even stopping to consider whether I like it or not. I’m not doing that anymore! It does not serve me.
Comparison is the thief of joy. Be yourself. Believe in the value of your own critical sense.
Death Stranding
Bloodbourne
Super Mario Odyssey
RE2 Remake
RE1
RE4
Red Dead Redemption 2
Super Mario 64
Ocarina of Time
Baba Is You
Last of Us 1
LOU: Left Behind
Last of Us 2
Golf Story
Breath of the Wild
DOOM 93 on Switch
Hotline Miami
Fall Guys
Another World
Thomas Was Alone
Castlevania: SOTN
Silent Hill 2
South Park: The Stick of Truth
A Short Walk
Oddworld: Strangers Wrath