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Why Gamers Should Try New Games? Why Take chances?
I have heard some people complain about the state of gaming today, saying that there aren’t as many great games as their used to be. I have also heard the implication that the hobby of gaming itself is something less than it once was.
I strongly disagree.
Gaming today is prolific, not only are there seemingly multiple AAA caliber releases nearly every month these days, the scene for indie and AA budget games is thriving as well.
The double whammy of it all is that there is not only myriad gaming options to choose from, there are also so many ways to access a huge variety of games for free or at extremely low costs.
Steam sales, PS Plus, Xbox Live, Xbox Game Pass, PS Now,Twitch Prime, Epic Game Store, Online retailer sales, free to play titles, clearance bins, ebay. Quality games are available everywhere to anyone who is interested in finding them.
Try something New
As I write this we are at the start of a new year. This is a rare time where game releases are in a kind of lull. Which makes this the perfect opportunity for a gamer to try something different than the games they typically play.
As gamers, sometimes we like to stick to what’s comfortable, what we are used to, and it can get us in a rut. If you find yourself playing some games out of habit as opposed to playing games that you genuinely enjoy or find exciting, give something else a chance.
My eyes were really opened several years ago when I was tired of playing the same kinds of games over and over again. I had lost interest, I barely turned on my Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, when I did, I was bored.
What’s the point of having a game system if it bores you? I was in a rut. Naturally I found other things to occupy that time but I always had the itch to play a game but it never got scratched.
Then I took the advice of couple of gaming friends and tried out Deadly Premonition. The game didn’t seem like much at first, in fact technically, there is a lot of problems with that game, even today with the more refined director’s cut. The story and how the game played was so refreshing though, it was so different to what I was accustomed to playing that it reinvigorated my passion for the entire gaming medium.
Deadly Premonition was a kind of awakening. Here was a game I had zero interest in, I totally wrote if off the moment I saw anything on it. After giving it a shot and playing the game all the way through, it was one of my favorite games of all time.
How did this happen? What other gems have I left unearthed?
From that point on I have tried to make an effort to explore more games. In the last 3 years in particular I have stumbled across more genre’s, game types, and franchises that I have enjoyed and would not have touched in the past than I can hardly believe.
I’ve never been a big fan of traditional Japanese Role Playing games but I bought Persona 5 and relished every minute of it (and that’s a game that has A LOT minutes in it). A few years ago I gave Earth Defense Force 2017 a chance and it’s now one of my favorite franchises in gaming.
My love for games is at an all time high right because I see so many possibilities and different types of games out there that I can enjoy. I still look forward to the typical AAA big budget games that come out all the time but now I am just as interested in many of the smaller scale titles as well.
How to expand your gaming palate
Now obviously, we all don’t have a ton of money to burn on trying new games. I get that and I also understand that no one wants to take a big risk on a new a game they don’t like and waste their time and money.
That’s why I am a proponent of looking into the services and the memberships you already have to find some games that have potential for you. If you are a gamer reading this, you most likely have a PSN, Xbox Live, Steam, Epic Game Store or some other service account that has provided you free or very cheap access to some games.
This is where services like Xbox Game Pass and PS Now really shine. You get a litany of game titles new and old to choose from, some games you have undoubtedly never played before.
Every week the Epic Game store is giving away free games for the foreseeable future. Steam always has a bunch of games on sale for cheap and if you are a PC gamer you have probably bought some games you have forgotten about.
Look through your library, look at what games are currently being offered, and try something that intrigues you even in the slightest sense. Try something new, something you have heard good things about or something that is totally out of your wheelhouse. The goal is to explore, put in a little bit of effort and see if anything connects with you.
I’ve got a couple of games in my sights that I am going to give a really hard look at in the coming months. The Outer Wilds which has been getting incredible critical acclaim and Resident Evil 2 Remake. I have only recently decided to try the Resident Evil games as survival horror isn’t my thing. After a rough early start, I wound up greatly enjoying Resident Evil 1 HD and am anticipating my play through of the sequel remake.
When you do find something different you want to try out sincerely, set aside some time to give these new games a real chance. I’d say at least a couple of hours so you can get past the initial tutorial phases of a game and really start to see the meat of the title. If the game is something that you are really unfamiliar with you will probably come i9nto it with your biases and preferences for how things should work. Fight them.
If you are trying a highly regarded game, try to look at it through the lens of why others love it. Try to see what it is about that game that gets people hooked in. Those same things may not appeal to you in the end but giving them a chance and allowing yourself to experience them can open your eyes.
Sometimes you just absolutely hate a thing, or you know for a fact you will not enjoy, that’s fine, this is a hobby after all so it doesn’t make sense to suffer through something. That said, do try to fight initial negative reactions. Do open yourself up to finding what is endearing about the new game you play.
You may just discover the next great gaming experience of your life or even better, a new game franchise to dive into. Right now if you aren’t tackling your backlog and you are standing around thinking “There isn’t a whole lot to play right now.” Take my advice and try something different, maybe you won’t like it and that’s ok, it happens, but the value of finding something new that excites you and keeps you hooked is so rewarding, that It’s worth making the effort to try.
If you do happen to have Xbox or PC Game Pass and are looking for suggestions we got you covered with the best Xbox and PC game pass game you can play right now.
Have any new overlooked games you think others should check out? Leave a comment and share it with us below!
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