Earlier today, I read a thing about Ghost of Tsushima by someone who obviously doesn't play any games outside of the triple-A sector, and I found it quite eye-opening how differently this person feels about gaming than I do. It's Paul "Mr Biffo" Rose's piece that he published today: https://www.digitiser2000.com/main-page/review-ghost-of-tsushima-ps4
I'm not saying Biffo's wrong or anything, I hasten to add — having not played Ghost of Tsushima, I can't comment beyond that — but I just find it interesting how differently people can feel about what is ostensibly the same medium when coming at it from completely different ends of the spectrum.
I guess it's the same with any creative medium. Consider music, for example; there are people who are passionately into pop, rock, reggae, hip-hop and all manner of other subdivisions. When you get into "classical" music, you have people who are especially interested in the Baroque period, the Classical period, the Romantic period, 20th century experimental work and all manner of other things. There's no real reason why gaming shouldn't be the same way.
I suppose the closest comparison would probably be film, in that film is a medium where we also have the distinction between big-budget blockbusters designed to make lots of money, and small-scale artistic endeavours made to fulfil a creator's need to create. And, of course, everything in between.
It's easy to get a bit frustrated when you read or hear things from people who are outside your particular "area" of the medium you're interested in, but it's always important to remember that one man's trash is another man's treasure and all that. I have precisely zero desire to play The Last of Us Part II, for example, while the piece I referred to here at the start made out it was an unprecedented masterpiece of storytelling.
Coming from the other angle, I've found Mana Khemia 2 to be one of the most fascinating games I've played in a long time from a narrative perspective, but I'm probably not going to get someone who focuses exclusively on the big releases of the hour to jump on board with a PS2 game from 2009. (Although I would hope that they'd at least consider reading my coverage of it!)
Anyway, I don't really have a point other than acknowledging that we should all think about where our own priorities lie, and consider that not everyone's priorities are the same. In fact, it's more interesting that way; I've talked a lot previously about how I don't really enjoy engaging with negativity, so in a way it was refreshing to read something that heaped so much praise on the current big games — as well as offering some sensible criticism where appropriate.
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