Throughout the month of May our internet was down for multiple days at a time which meant I couldn’t play my usual “live service” games so I ended up diving into Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart. I haven’t touched the game since it initially released in 2021, not even kidding I only played up to the first 10mins of the game, and I decided to just jump right in and I am SO HAPPY I did. I ended up finishing it after 3 nights, a full 100% including collectibles, and as the credits rolled I sat there and just thought — holy cow, I forgot what its like to play something that has an actual ending.
For some context, the last time I completed a game with a definitive “end” was Assassin’s Creed 2 which was during a play through I was doing on my stream and that was back in 2013 just before I moved to California. Yep you caught that, it’s been TEN YEARS since I completed a single player game. I have realized that since I started working in the video game industry, particularly with live service products, I would feel compelled to spend time only those games – I mean I work on them so I should prioritize them right? Well in doing so I’ve inadvertently taken away a bit of joy from myself in playing and exploring a world that has a defined “end” to it.
That’s not to say all live service games are bad but I’ve come to a point in my life where the places I spend my time (and money) is starting to matter even more to me than it did ten years ago and so thanks to losing internet (repeatedly btw but four days straight has been the longest without it) I have started diving back into more single play experiences. What currently has my attention:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Very late to the party I know BUT this was another casualty to me getting distracted and forgetting. I had tried to play in 2017 – got distracted – picked it up again with a new save in 2020…got distracted 10mins in…and now we are back at it! I l am much further along than I was before and I just finished unlocking the entire map so I can more freely explore, I’m so excited!
- Spyro The Dragon Remastered Trilogy
- I love this cute purple dragon so much. I was working on a play through on stream of the original Spyro before this remaster came out but picking it up fresh with the beautiful new graphics is chef’s kiss
Now me drifting back to single player games definitely doesn’t mean I am done with live service, Disney Dreamlight Valley and The Sims do exist and those who know me know I am all in on them, but it has been just really nice losing myself into some games that don’t feed into my FOMO due to limited time events.
