Video Games - Some Thoughts
That said however, I can kind of see the appeal. They're bright, they can be fun, franchise games usually pick up quite a large following because people can connect to the characters and most of all, they're the most immersive form of escapism that popular culture is able to give us.
Therefore, whilst I do not play these games myself, below are my thoughts on some of the games I have seen my boyfriend, flatmates and friends play. Quite frankly it was either writing this or regurgitating something about my dissertation and I'm sick to death of staring at my diss, so I hope you enjoy!
Animal Crossing: When this game was made available for the mobile earlier last year, a lot of my friends got very excited. Of course, I had played the Nintendo DS version of the game in my childhood (I didn't live under a rock after all) but I could not remember the game very well, and so my interest piqued, I downloaded the game along with them. Animal Crossing is the definition of bright and innocent fun. The character designs, the dialogue, the simple mechanics of the game itself, all made for a very enjoyable experience. However, I could not play this game every single day. As fun and sweet as it is, catching fish and bugs can get very repetitive, VERY quickly. As such, I believe I only played the game (and other versions of it) for a few weeks, but I do understand its sweet appeal.
Battlefield 1: I love history, especially the history surrounding the World Wars, as such it was a pleasant surprise to discover that something like Battlefield 1 existed, a game that taught its players a little about history while they played. I also really like the style and tone of the game - they perfectly fit the aesthetic of a WW1 battlefield.
Bioshock: Infinite: I think that the game-play is far too difficult for this game, and whilst the graphics and story were very compelling I could not get into it, mostly because I grew frustrated and thus gave up. However, I do enjoy watching other people play this game.
Disney Emoji Blitz: This game only gets a mention because its the only game that's managed to fully ensnare me, to the point at which I actually do play it everyday. I guess its just the bright colours, and the fact that its associated with Disney characters.
Hollow Knight: I adore this game. Of all the games on this list, it has easily become my favourite and the game I would actually play, if I owned my own console. Firstly the accessibility of the game-play is excellent for both extremely inexperienced players (such as myself) and video game connoisseurs. It's made in such a way that you aren't held by the hand through a tutorial level, but you're also not thrown in at the deep end. As well as this, the character design's are adorable! I know 2D platformer games aren't all that popular anymore, but I really can't recommend Hollow Knight highly enough. I am also eagerly awaiting it sequel, Silk Song.
Hue: Another very cute 2D platformer (there may be a pattern there.) Hue is also very easy to play, a puzzle game that gets harder the further into the game you get. The voice acting and storyline are also superb for what I thought was just a simple little puzzle game.
Kingdom Hearts: My boyfriend is obsessed with the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and I can kind of understand why. When he first showed me some f the older games, I immediately thought, 'no this is too complicated,' and remained disinterested. However, since watching him play Kingdom Hearts 3, a game he has been waiting years for, I saw the appeal. I love the integration of the Disney characters/worlds, and I'm even starting to get over the super long cut scenes. Of which there are many. SO MANY CUT SCENES. But as much as I would never play them, they do have great watch-ability.
Lego Harry Potter: I am, as I've said multiple times, a very big fan of the Harry Potter franchise. My boyfriend is a connoisseur of Lego and video games. Put those things together and I got many an enjoyable hour playing the Lego Harry Potter games together (or rather, I was off in the corner of the game somewhere Avada Kedavra-ing every NPC I could whilst my boyfriend played through the levels.) The Lego video games are excellent for beginner gamers, because they are bright, fun and very simple to play.
Overwatch: My flatmates play this game EVERY SINGLE DAY. I can appreciate the myriad of diverse characters that you can play as in the game, and their various skins - they are interesting to collect. I can even appreciate the graphics and the lurid colour schemes of the game. However, it really doesn't have great watch-ability, and once you've seen one game play, you've seen every game play.
Professor Layton: These were the games that I played a lot during my childhood, and I still love them as an adult. The quaint graphics, the intrigue of the storyline and the surprisingly challenging nature of the puzzles you have to solve in order to progress through the game, keep this little game as one of the few that make me even slightly interested in video games as a whole.
Red Dead Redemption 2: I haven't seen or played the first game in the series, however I was told that the second game was even better than the first. While I admit that I was amazed by the graphics, and that the world design was beautiful, I didn't much enjoy watching the game-play. Yes, there is a lot to comment on, so I would say it has good watch-ability but I was interested in the story-line of the game, and my flatmate would insist on fulfilling all of the random side quests he could, as well as exploring the map, before getting on with the main campaign. There's almost too much content in this game.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2: My boyfriend's first love is Star Wars. Therefore, when this game was announced, I knew that there was no way he wouldn't be getting it. In fact, he downloaded the free Beta weekend before the game came out. That's how excited he was for it. For me personally, I haven't seen much of the main campaign and so cannot comment on that, but for the online game-play - of which I have seen A LOT - the graphics are very pretty, particularly the world design. However, again, it doesn't have great watch-ability, and the character designs of the heroes can be vaguely uncanny valley. That said however, it can be fun to just run and gun and see how quickly I die in the game.
As I have probably made abundantly clear from this tiny slice of video game knowledge that I have, I am very much not a gamer. But I hope that this thought piece has inspired someone to try something new. Read a book you didn't think you would enjoy, watch a film/tv series you don't know anything about, try playing a video game. After all, everyday should contain a new experience, and really, that's what pop culture is all about.
-The Act of Writing-
I don't always get the chance to play, but when I do I like the Far Cry Series and Madden
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