Why games today are overwhelming

Davis from Gamespresso explains why current generation gaming is overwhelming with all of the content of today's games.

[Rimeskeem]

Sometimes all I want is a nice straight story with fun character(s) to play as and watch. Maybe a nice simple MP as well that doesn't involve creating classes with easy to learn, difficult to master objectives.

[mikeslemonade]

Games are more underwhelming since the margin of improvement is becoming less and less. Also many of the genres are stale. The next big leap won't be until we see VR and AR. 2D gaming has reached its limit and 3D gaming on a flat panel is approaching the limit.

[spacedelete]

its probably why i couldn't be more bored with games now.

[Kleptic]

^totally agree...

I've bought 2 new games in 1.5 to 2 years...GTAV and BF4...GTAV was great (so great it was the best game of 2013, and 2014, i guess.........)...and BF4 could've been great, but was broken...and on any competitive level; still is...

nearly all of my purchasing has been through steam on stuff i missed last gen...Rage, full game with dlc...$1.50...Alan Wake, all episodes w/ dlc...$2.50...Half life 1, half life 2, both new episodes for HL2 (played all that before but w/e), portal 1, portal 2, L4D 1, and L4D 2...$4.99 for all of them...

still haven't played through all that...but i haven't found anything current gen to be remotely interesting to me...the only games i'm half excited about are fallout 4 and Doom...and definitely uncharted 4, but don't own a PS4...and have never purchased a console based on a single game...

its not that i don't like gaming anymore...its just that BF4, and the non-stop consumer assault w/ new games simply not working...i just wait a few weeks or months for stuff to get fixed...problem is, by then, i don't even remotely care anymore...MKX was a great example, would've been all over that...by the time it was fixed i had watched all the story stuff on youtube and simply didn't care haha...

[darren_poolies]

@Kleptic

If you're a gamer then I really don't understand how you can't have found absolutely anything you're interested in this gen so far.

[nX]

Anyone bored with gaming should play through Bloodborne, best game I played since Skyrimand definitely challenging enough. Witcher 3 is pretty good as well but it'll kill your social life completely and you don't want that happening in summer. Other than that you have to try Rocket League, it's probably the most fun I've ever had with a video game.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

that's why a man liked the Order and replays his cinematic linear games frequently. Nice to have a simple playthrough

[Rimeskeem]

Yah, i enjoyed the game, it was a nice rental, I was actually aiming towards Uncharted.

[gobluesamg]

Sometimes I put in a new game like Inquisition and just don't know where to start. I have to alternate genres. I wanted Witcher but just couldn't face it after Inquisition and GTA V. What's that called open world fatigue?

[spacedelete]

you need a good linear game but obviously not too linear. basically you need a linear game with replay value so something like Resident Evil 4 would do the trick.

[Nerdmaster]

The moment I read the article title I thought about Dragon Age Inquisition. I started playing it this weekend, I've been playing it for a little more than 4 or 5 hours, and I still feel completely lost. If I hadn't spent so much on this game, I would probably have stopped playing it by now.

And this is without mentioning the buggy mess that this game is. Sometimes it just refuses to work for more than 10 minutes and it just closes itself.

[DHagen10]

That's exactly the game that made me write this article. There is honestly too much to do. It's overwhelming haha

[Roccetarius]

Dragon Age: Inquisition is both a poor / good example of too much to do. The content itself is MMO-like and only serves as padding with a short amount of actual story-content.

The Witcher 3 has more story content than the former, but it also has quite a few holes in that story and the way they portray characters that are shadows of their former selves.

What they thought about with the story overall / characters is beyond me, but i do know the world structure damaged the narrative and general content of the game, simply to make something they could say was bigger.

[gobluesamg]

Inquisition takes awhile to get going but eventually the story and battles become very engaging. Some grinding on side quests is necessary to make your character powerful. I liked the game a lot.

[darren_poolies]

You need Bloodborne. Not too long, not too short, not completely open world but definitely not linear either.

[Mega24]

I guess this is a problem concerning console players. I've found enough variation to not get bored. If you think a genre is starting to suck, just check the indie section of your platform, you'll find really fun games that don't overwhelm with content or length like Inquisition, Witcher, and GTA has.

[urwifeminder]

Most open world games are just like looking for car keys in a virtual lounge the size of a city but not all. I still enjoy just finishing a level and moving on unlock a new weapon and is auto equipped .

[Kleptic]

brutal doom v20 released about a month ago and that is pretty much all i've done game wise...for the exact reasons you said...

find a switch...push it...and move on...its like mowing grass, i just turn my brain off and actually still have fun with what is mostly a 20+ year old game...going through the doom 2 levels that i know by heart on UV again is surprisingly relaxing...and still challenging, in a good way...

[franwex]

I was recently thinking the same thing. There's so much to do that I lose interest almost immediately. Kinda backwards. I thought I was in the minority!

[Youngindy21]

You are definitely not in the minority. The other day I rented Far Cry 4 and I didn't realize it was an open-world game. Well, after a while of playing it I kinda got bored. Having to travel from point A to point B just to start a mission makes a game get real old, real fast.

[Fez]

So true. That's why Red Dead Redemption was a chore for me to finish. By the end it felt like endless riding on a horse through barren lands to get to the next mission. There's many other examples of this as well. Open world is what has me worried with MGS.

[ginsunuva]

Like 70% of GTA5's 40-hr story mode was driving through traffic.

[Youngindy21]

I kinda have to agree with this article. Games today are way too large and there are way too many open-world games now. Some of us have lives and while we enjoy gaming we don't have time to explore every nook and cranny of a large game. I want to be able to experience multiple games and multiple genres without my time being completely consumed by some huge open-world game that never seems to end. So, yes today's games are very overwhelming.

[DHagen10]

You basically took my article and made a cohesive message that I was trying to articulate. I 100% agree. It's not even about having lives or jobs. Even if I could play games all day, it would still be an issue more than likely with me. If my friends and gaming sites are telling me I need to play this 100 hour game, and I'm enjoying myself, it's hard to not want to complete it. Unfortunately, these games become monotonous during the middle most of the time because there is so much to do. It really sucks honestly.

[Fez]

Alongside being too much to do, games nowadays are also far far too easy. Since modern games have removed any sort of challenge, the increased longevity attained from a difficult game no longer exists. That means developers feel like they have to pad their game with more easy and meaningless tasks to add to the game's value. Open world games seem like you're getting a lot of content for your money but it is too repetitive to make it worthwhile.

[stavross]

These comments make me sad. Games are overwhelming? Really they aren't, not at all. I'm always saying there isn't enough to do in most games and often they are a copy of each other, same gameplay techniques just different setting and story.

Open world games can't be too big.

Make the time to play them or accept you have no time for those games.

[Rimeskeem]

I honestly feel like No Mans Sky is what games should be aiming for when it comes to simple yet complex open world. You have trillions of planets to explore but you can also trade or do whatever else you get figure out. Everything in the game seems simple enough to do and there is enough to do. But you aren't required to do anything it seems.

I like having option but when I get too many options I actually start getting tired of it.

[Roccetarius]

Open world games can be too big for its own good, because you have to stretch content much wider than a smaller, but more focused experience. Know your limits when creating a world like this, otherwise you just end up damaging it overall.

[OldDude]

I own and manage a large company. It's hard for me to find time for a 40 hour game, especially when you have to spend the first 5 to ten just figuring out what your supposed to be doing. I enjoy a 8 hour or so game that isn't incredibly taxing that is a great weekend experience. I think I might buy another PS4 soon just to play TO1886, it's right up my alley.

[Rimeskeem]

You should, then when Uncharted 4 comes around you can play that, should also be up your alley.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Yes, I quite love The Order.

[Tctczach]

The only games I find a little overwhelming are games like Civilization. Everything else is fine to me. I think shooters are trying to do to much which pushes me away. My favorite shooters were super simple (Halo 3, MW, MW2 BF3). I thoroughly enjoy the open world games lately.

[Imalwaysright]

Go old school. All you need is to pick up the controller and have fun with games that focused on gameplay above anything else.

[CanadianTurtle]

You have no idea how much I relate to this. I'm currently a college student and I view gaming differently nowadays. I used to be the kid that would spend 4 hours straight, playing a JRPG. I would devour video games of all genres. Nowadays, I can barely manage to play 10 minutes of any game. It dis-heartens me to say this because gaming is one of my most treasured hobbies.

I agree that games nowadays feel like they offer more than we can chew. Think Fallout3 or Skyrim. Okay, these games have like 200+ hours of content. But after around 60 hours, I'd just get bored. It's not fun getting 100% in games any more because it feels too much of a chore to get through EVERYTHING.

I pretty much avoid games with steep learning curves and convoluted RPG management systems. It's like, I just want to have fun, not "learn, and then have fun."

[NarooN]

I agree with the article sentiments.

That being said, I find it amusing how the image on this page is of a promo image for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (a damned fantastic game, mind you) yet it has the Fallout 4 logo on it, haha.

[TwoForce]

I argee this article.

[GMW]

I can not say there are too many games but I like the simplicity in depth that Driveclub offers, as an example. You just load up and get right into a race.

Don't get me wrong, I like my Gran Truismos with the length tune ups to get one car just right but for most of my time, I'm just too busy between work and my family. So a 30 minute burst of Driveclub can usually be squeezed in somewhere and I get my quick satisfaction. Then on one weekend in a month I can play something new like Uncharted for a 4 hour burst and finish it over the course of the next 2 months or less dependant on free time.

However, games that require hundreds of hours to complete will not be completed by myself though I may buy them just to get a feel of what they were like. It's this challenge of finding free time that makes me appreciate games I can finish in less than 20 hours or games that can give me a quick round in 30 minutes or less.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Fallout 4 is enough open world for me. Everything besides Fallout can be story driven and linear and I wouldn't care at all.