Recently I played and completed 2 games. One was The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, an extremely long and engrossing RPG, while the other was Gunpoint, a small indie title that lasted only 2 hours. Why is it, then, that I find myself more fondly remembering Gunpoint than a game that I put twelve times the hours into? Personality.
Gunpoint is a concise puzzle/stealth game with a cool jazzy soundtrack. You take on the role of a freelance spy who seems to be doing jobs for parties that are at odds with each other. It's fun, it's great, and it's just plain cool. Gunpoint was challenging in a way that begged to be played again with different tactics, and collectibles that pushed me to think differently. I liked Gunpoint a lot because of it's witty writing and smooth, though pixelated, aesthetic. It was a fun game to play for a night, but a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Witcher 3, on the other hand, is an enormous game with rich lore, and a deep history that makes callbacks to its previous installments. There are characters that are both distinct and diverse, and each one leaves huge impact on your memory. There are different cultures that stand out from one another, and enemies that require different tactics. There are many things to craft and combine to fight said enemies, and lots of different quests that keep players adventuring around the world of Witcher 3 for many hours on end. So, why is it that I was so hum-drum about this game?
I feel as though Witcher 3 had such a great degree of verisimilitude that the whole thing felt too real. I hate reality, that's why I play video games. Though it was a world filled with monsters and magic, the whole thing felt somewhat mundane. CD Projekt Red is a company that has the utmost respect for their games and their fans. The game doesn't treat it's players like children, but like people. The decisions that players must make are hard, and never do they feel like they are the center of the universe, as many other games do. Players have agency, but not everything hinges on their say so. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an amazing game, with an extreme levels of attention to detail that make the world feel like an actual place. There are politics, cultures, and characters that breathe life into its world. It just didn't grab me.
This is just my opinion. I am not saying that one game is better than the other. Gunpoint just attracted me more than Witcher 3. It felt much more lively and fun than Witcher 3. 2015 was a great year of games for many; as for me, it was so-so. There were many games that came out last year that took the world by storm, but none of them captured my interest. During the Steam Winter Sale, I picked up Gunpoint, played it on a whim, and really enjoyed the game. I also played Undertale this year, and I've spoken about it too, but something about it didn't grab me either. 2015 was a weird year for me. There were many highs, but it felt as though there were just as many lows.
Gaming is my passion. I love video games. I live my life with my passion for video games. I fall in love with them. I court them. I spend time with them, and because I spent so much time with these games, I got to know them. I got to know that I was not in love with them, and because of that, 2015 was a very dull year for me.
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