I doubt it’d be surprising to anyone if I mention that I am yet again having a dilemma with my video games. One year down the road, and I have to correct myself if I’m wrong, but I don’t seem to have finished any video game since. I started plenty, but nothing has really stuck with me until the credits have rolled. Sure, I was quite busy with work late into last year and early into 2021 as well. Yep, there has been some family dilemma with my mom, too.. but I still can’t imagine that I’ve progressed so little over all. It just doesn’t seem like me to not play games to their fullest.
Let’s look at the things that have gone in favor of the gamer me and what things need to change drastically.
Evergreen Games take the spotlight
Whilst Geralt, Ellie, and many other protagonists have to wait before I get back into their respective worlds, other games have taken the centerstage. #Games that don’t require me to learn certain game-specific controls or mechanics over and over again. Games that have become second nature to me with how they are played. These are also games that I can play for an hour or so and get back to at a later date without missing a beat. The same can’t be said for those full blown RPGs that seem like a strange new world every time I boot them up again after the game has started collecting dust on the respective console’s storage drive.
FIFA 2021 – DIVISION 1
I’ve finally achieved my dream in FIFA 2021, becoming a Division 1 player. Sure, far from being a pro and whatnot… but it’s nice to belong to around the top 100,000 FIFA players in the world. Yeah, I played Seasons instead of playing FUT, but I decline to invest a lot of time and effort into FUT 2021 when #FIFA 2022 is already knocking on the door. Perhaps with FIFA2022, I can finally venture into the FUT game, now that I have confirmed for myself that I am able to stand toe to toe with opponents in Seasons with teams of the same caliber. It will definitely be a challenge moving forward crafting a competitive FUT team without spending any real money… but I’ll worry about that problem when the problem arrives.
MOBILE LEGENDS – GRAND MASTER AND STAR WARS STUFF
Another game that unsurprisingly leads the way in minutes played for me is Mobile Legends. Since the new season, yours truly along with my cousin have been on a journey to rank down. Having arrived at the Grand Master rank, I’m really happy with how things are going there. 8 times out of 10, I beat the crap out of other people and it fills my heart with joy. I still have to rank down further to Master rank and I shall do so once my cousin is back from the wake of another late cousin of mine. At any rate, back to it. I’ve really been enjoying a variety of heroes playing Mobile Legends, my hero pool has expanded beyond the predictable Layla, Granger, Lylia, Cyclops, and Sylvanna picks and now includes heroes like Ruby, Uranos, and most notably Argus along with Popol & Kupa. (We’ve got a new dog! But I’ll write about that little piece of doge in another post)
Aside from having ranked down towards Grand Master, I was able to achieve the Mythic rank as well last season, in the last couple of days before the season expired. It’s really a fun game wherein I get to either have real fun for 15 minutes or get extremely pissed at my random teammates for the said period of time. There’s a set of new skins coming out in Mobile Legends as well, for Cyclops and Argus. These skins are in the form of some iconic star wars characters in the form of Master Yoda and Darth Vader, respectively. I’m still not sure which skin I prefer most, as playing Argus on a more permanent basis would take me away from my usual carry Mage/Marksman role that I’ve become so used to. Either way, both skins will drop this evening at the time of this writing and I hope that I won’t have to spend too much money to claim both.
As you can see, both of these games don’t require too much familiarity or preparation for me to get into it. I’ve played both to an extent that their (rather simple) control schemes are muscle memory to me and I have no problems jumping in and jumping out after a 30 minute session and beyond. Now compare that with games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, The Last of Us 2, and even Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (which to this day, I still haven’t finished!)
All these games require some getting used to again, because they all come with different control schemes. And mind you, mentioning these 3 games are just the tip of the iceberg. I haven’t even included Red Dead Redemption 2, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Squadron, Persona 5, Far Cry 5, Fenyx Immortal, Breath of the Wild,. Watch Dogs: Legions, Death Stranding and so on (you get the gist)
The week taken away by Air Tycoon 4
Another type of game that I have really loved are games that revolve around airline management. Air tycoon 4 has recently cost me quite a lot of time. I luckily got out of the void when I’ve finally gotten the hang of it and it started to get boring because I immediately got the best airline, most passengers, and most cargo delivered.
Now something has to change
I want to finish more games, and while success in the two titles was nice… I feel like I’m missing out on great stories and great gameplay by not finishing any of the other titles. I have to find focus again and narrow down the games that I’ll be playing. It’s only with dedication and focus that I’ll be able to pull through. Playing a game for an extended run and then getting back to it a few months later is just counterintuitive. I have to be really passionate about it. The big question now is, which games will it be?
I’ve decided that I will solely focusing on the following story-driven games until I get to the end of them:
- Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (PS4)
- Mario Rabbid (Switch)
- Dragon Quest XI (Switch)
- Breath of the Wild (Switch)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4)
- Bastion (iOS)
- Fantasian (iOS)
I hope that I can see this through and something tells me that I will be able to eventually pull through with this.
Not just the focus but the mindset has to change
While at the end of the day, it’s best just to enjoy games no matter in what package they come (RPG, MOBA, whatever). I need to acknowledge that I have to be easy on myself as well. Because while I wish to focus on these story driven games, other titles like the upcoming FIFA release, Mobile Legends, and even Slay the Spire are taking away a lot of time without showing “much evident” progress. After all, each game can be 10-20 minutes long and then you start back from zero in the next game. But that’s just it, really. There’s been a shift in me from playing these huge blockbuster titles to enjoying games that can be eaten one piece at a time. I’ve found a love for games where I have to pay extreme attention and focus towards for 10-15 minutes and then have some rest… or titles where I’m not really pressed for time but by the decisions that I make in rouge like games like Slay The Spire.
I guess I am still a gamer after all. Just the kind of gamer that has experienced a huge paradigm shift and one that has adjusted the type of games that he enjoys which are more suitable for the kind of life that I lead. After all, a lot of things ask time from me left and right… Though I am still not stellar in managing time…
I do hope that I do manage the time spent playing better moving forward, and that I do manage my gaming library better as well.
God. This sounds like a huge first world problem that I have on my hand.
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