1523: This or That

I’ve said this before, and I’ll almost certainly say it again numerous times, but I’m finding increasingly frequently these days that there’s less of a correlation between perceived/agreed “quality” and things that I actually want to spend my time with, whether that’s in TV, movies, anime or video games.

This isn’t just a simple matter of, say, wanting to play “bad” games, though; as, again, I’ve said before, it’s more to do with the fact that the “highest quality” games (by popular definition) tend to be the ones that play it most safe; the ones that stick to the established rules that will pretty much guarantee them a positive reception, whether that’s mechanically or narratively. There’s a reason why all “triple-A” games these days have very similar feelings and atmospheres about them — it’s because that’s what’s been proven to work.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. Upon reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that the things I’m more interested in engaging with are the ones that allow me to bring something new to a conversation rather than regurgitating the same opinions that everyone else is espousing at the same time.

Take Dark Souls II, for example. A great game, no-one is going to deny that, but one for which your average online conversations about tend to run around and around in circles, usually involving one or another of the participants blurting out “Praise the Sun!” as if it’s the height of wit. I have nothing to add to that conversation — at least partly because I haven’t played Dark Souls II (I didn’t like Dark Souls enough to want to invest in the sequel), but I doubt it would be different if I had.

Contrast with say, something I’ve played that other people haven’t. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an obscure game, just something that people might have passed up in favour of something like Dark Souls II or Titanfall. Immediately I have an in-road into an interesting conversation. “Have you played The Witch and the Hundred Knight?” is, for me, much more likely to lead into an interesting opportunity for a conversation and an opportunity to educate my conversational partner than “Have you played Titanfall?”

I’ve seen in happen in discussions with my friends before. A conversation that begins “have you played [game we’ve all played] before?” generally ends fairly quickly after we’ve done the requisite “oh, what about the bit where [cool thing happens]?” pleasantries. A conversation where I have the opportunity to tell someone about something cool they might not know about at all, however? That’s hugely enjoyable; likewise, when I have the opportunity to learn about a type of game I don’t normally consider from my friends, I relish the opportunity, too. I never would have considered the awesome things about Euro Truck Simulator, Crusader Kings 2 or all manner of other games out there had I not been willing to engage in conversation about them. I might not get around to playing some of those games in some cases — or if I do, there’s no guarantee I’ll like them — but I consider my life to be somewhat richer for knowing that they exist and that yes, there are people out there who love playing them, just as I love playing colourful anime games with big-eyed pretty girls in them.

But I’ve found this feeling extends somewhat to games that are in my wheelhouse, too; Bravely Default, for example. It’s an astonishingly good, PS1-style JRPG, and yet when I think back on the games that I’ve played in the last few months, I look back much more fondly on the stranger, the more quirky and the more flawed titles rather than that, which is “objectively” (insofar as it is possible to be “objective” about the quality of a video game) better. I gave Bravely Default five stars when I reviewed it over at USgamer and I stand by that score, since it’s great; when I come to look back on the most memorable games I played in 2014, however, I have little doubt that other titles are going to be far, far ahead of it.

This is what I like about gaming today, but it’s also quite frustrating at times: there’s a wealth of interesting, exciting and unusual games out there to play, but still the majority of conversation seems to fixate on the same one or two titles at the same time.

Perhaps I just need to make some new friends.