For me it’s a couple
First is GTA. I played a LOT of Vice City and and San Andreas as a kid, but mostly because everyone else played them at the time and there wasn’t really many games quite like it where you could mess around and explore a massive city and find cool vehicles just by exploring. But by the time GTA 4 rolled around other open world games did things just as good and the edgey humor has starting to wear thin on me so I had moved on to things like Elder Scrolls by that time.
Another is Minecraft. Minecraft is the exact kind of game I should be in to, it looks so fun! But I just found the artstyle so damn ugly. It’s so rare for me to avoid something for aesthetic reasons, usually low poly art is charming but for some reason Minecrafts style just looks really unappealing to me. This is coming from someone who likes a lot of games people think are ugly.
Lastly are what I’ll call “grizzled white guy action games” Uncharted, Red Dead, The Last of Us. They just feel too much like they’re trying to be be a blockbuster for for guys that don’t want to be made fun of for liking games rather than games. I know that that probably isn’t the case, but they just seem too normal to me.
However I respect that these are all good series but they just aren’t for me. Are there any game series where this is true for you?
Don’t be afraid to say a series you know I like, I won’t be offended.
I think it’s similar to people who like horror, it’s a way to experience stress or challenge while being perfectly safe and in control.
I absolutely love the souls games and the appeal for me isn’t so much the challenge as it is overcoming the challenge. Beating the Nameless King made me feel good (Malenia less so because I cheesed the shit out of that fight:p)
Overcoming challenge and moment-to-moment decision making is mg primary enjoyment factor in games (really getting into the flow state is). I primarily play games like Monster Hunter (Wild Hearts), the soulsbornes, and arcade racing games (heavy preference to antigrav racers) because they’re the types of games that demand your attention at all times.
I’m hopeful that Onimusha and the Dragon’s Dogma 2 expansion slot in to the MH appeal area soon if anyone else vibes with my game preferences.
I also really enjoy puzzle games because I love unwinding multifaceted problems. Among those Portal Reloaded is probably my favorite but I also really like the QUBE and Talos Principle series.