Hello adventurer! I am glad...
[SKIP]
We need you to save...
[SKIP]
Please proceed to...
[SKIP]
I am running to the marked location on the map. Kill and loot the marked enemies. Run back to the NPC that I was talking to earlier.
[FFS SKIP ALREADY]
[Quest Completed]
Ok, thanks! Next!
Does this sound familiar to you?
I am not trying to be nostalgic here, because I am no different.
But earlier, like... 20+ years ago, players tend to actually read quest and story texts. They read the mission description, because otherwise you would have no idea what to do or where to go.
Today, things have changed.
We can skip entire story lines without hesitation, because we know the game will take us by the hand and guide us to the exact spot we need to go to.
And if not?! No problem, we can check out hundreds of guides and walk throughs on the internet.
Back then, when I was playing my first games, I did not even have internet!
Two weeks ago I bought Elden Ring
Famous for two things: 1) A large exciting world and 2) dying
But neither of those was the feature where I figured out that something is different than in any other open world game I recently played.
The point is the absolute lack of guidence in this game. Contrary to any other similar game, you get kicked into the open world with a sword and nothing more than the knowledge how to move and how to swing your weapon.
No quest markers.
No questlog at all.
No explaination of anything.
Only a rough direction is shown where you might want to go next.
Correction: Where you might want to die next. Because you will not get told what level or what gear you should obtain first before you try to kick that huge bosses ass.
Did we got weak?
It exact this type of gameplay that made me think "Damn, I really need to figure things out myself!" (or look it up on the internet) ... but be honest: When did you really need to do this?
This iconic scene from "Call of Duty: Adavanced Warfare" prefectly describes the current mental requirements that games have to the player.
Go there, do this, here is an arrow that shows you the way:
That is how we got used to play games.
Sure, sometimes we want to sit back and just slay some enemies without the need to break our brains with riddles and challenges, but I have the feeling, games are taking more and more the reqirement of "figure it out on your own" out of the equation of gamplay and challange.
And this happens because...
The origin of games was in arcade halls and there one simply wanted your money, therefore make the game heavy, so that you throw in you coins more often. Beating the game was prestige, when at the end in the Highscore your name appeared.
Later these games were published for the home console or PC.Back then, games were also made hard, so that people simply played longer.
There was not much substance behind many games as we know it today in terms of map size or amount of quests or items, so make it hard, and you have at least twice as long of game time.In the past, games were not as popular in society as they are today, and of course you want to reach as many potential gamers as possible and not just the hardcore ones.
You make it easier, so that someone can play a quick round at night, and when work or family calls, you quickly save you progress and continue later.
This, of course, generates more sales for game developers which lead them to stick to making easier or at least more accessible games.
Is this now good or bad?
Yes...
Yes, it is good that more people can come together and enjoy simple games together
Yes, it is bad because "elitist gamers" might not feel challenged enough
There will always be games (or game modes) that will challange your skills, although I think that the trend will continue in making games less complicated, but more so, challeging games will shine.