I hold it true, whate’er befall,
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
Lord Alfred Tennyson took a whopping seventeen years to write the poem the above quote originates from, after dealing with an immense loss that took him almost two decades to process. The man was unwilling to let go, so who can judge him for taking so long? Well, me.
Nostalgia is a major problem for our generation, and we see it affecting many aspects of our lives; the tight grip our youth has on our adult years encourages our minds to tap into the longing for a time that won’t come back. But even though we might be unwilling to let go of people, places, or even video games from our past, sometimes it is better to have lost after we loved.
The Early Days Bring A Lot Of Memories
Back in 2011, we witnessed the birth of one of the best single-player RPGs to date:The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, or simply ‘Skyrim’ to its friends. I was fresh out of high school and broke, so video games weren’t abundant in my life. I don’t remember if that played a part in how I chose the games I’d play in those days, but man, did I hit the nail on the head back then.
Skyrim not only cemented what my taste in video games would become as an adult, but it also changed how I enjoyed them. For the first time, I was experiencing a vast world where my curiosity was constantly rewarded with consequences that made my brain go brrr like nothing I had played before, and it took me out of my comfort zone of turn-based RPGs and shooters.
To be surprised by a video game even years after finishing my first playthrough makes me wish every person could experience that masterpiece, but what I don’t wish upon anybody on this planet is to see every single-player RPG that has been released over the last decade be referred to as “the new Skyrim”. Yes, I’m talking about you,Avowed.
Weaponized Nostalgia Hurts Video Games
Like many other open-world RPGs, Avowed is a great game, and this is not a dig at that game but at you, me, and gamers all over the world. When did we all become so complacent with our nostalgia that “This is the next [REDACTED]” has become enticing? I mean, yes, I loved Skyrim, and that first playthrough experience will never be back, but is there any point in repeating the same experiences ad infinitum? How does that pay any justice to my memories of my favorite game?
Avowed,Marvel Rivals,FragPunk. Every new game now gets compared to giants from years past, and it’s not only insulting to the new generation but also disrespectful to what came before. Hell, we have games like Monster Hunter Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Shadows being criticized for not being similar enough to the rest of their respective series, despite them trying to make bold and innovative changes.
So, my question is, what’s wrong with all of us? Those statements are completely disconnected from reality. What’s worse, triple-A companies will take the temporary collective cry as gospel, which often results in us having to suffer a lot of copycats of games that aren’t even that old because nostalgia is now a weapon, and we’re choosing to shoot our own feet with it.
By taking the safe route, studios are now cutting back on creativity, effectively killing innovation. Without innovation, every shooter looks like Call of Duty, every open-world RPG looks like Skyrim, and you can forget about seeing proper sequels of whatever succeeds at bringing something new to the table.Spider-Man 2is just Spider-Man Again, and even though you don’t need to reinvent a series with each entry, finding a middle point between innovation and repetition becomes more important than ever before.
There Is No Future Without Curiosity
Do you want to see what the end point of this pattern is? Look at what happened to XDefiant, to Suicide Squad, to Anthem, to Babylon’s Fall. What the hell happened to Babylon’s Fall? (That’s a joke, it was a very bad game). Refurbishing the same product with a different package could have worked once in the past, but if your game looks, sounds, and plays like a classic from the past, then you don’t have a game anymore, you just have a very expensive Easter Egg.
If we dare to remain curious and let go of our lost loves, then chasing new stories, new experiences, and new games will let us feel that same thrill as if it were the first time. But with live-service games now in a tough spot and the audience growing immensely tired of that kind of approach, what do you think will happen if we keep doing the same single-player games? Where do you think recycling the same ideas over and over will take us?
This is not to say there isn’t a reason for this; the most acclaimed video games rightfully earned their spot at the top by improving upon a foundation that has already resonated with the players, and in fairness, you don’t need to fix what isn’t broken. But if we, as an audience, don’t try to overcome our apprehension and get out of our comfort zone, we might miss out on some really good stuff.
At the end of the day, to have loved and lost is one of the greatest blessings in life, but it doesn’t mean that we need to grieve every time a good experience ends or try to resurrect it just to be able to admire the corpse of our childhood/young adulthood. Cherishing the past with respect and love pays tribute to the memories of what we lost, and by moving on and trying new things, we prove to ourselves that we’ll carry them with pride until our last day.
