I've been playing an insane amount of Destiny recently.  I'm starting to settle into a routine of playing on certain days to get certain activities done, but I fire up Destiny almost every day for at least a little while.  I recently purchased the Special Edition of Skyrim, probably my favorite game of ever and I am pretty excited for the release of Final Fantasy XV this week.  These three long (unending?) games got me thinking about why some gamers play games that go on forever. 



I know, its a subject I've explored before , but I can't help it.  I really like looking at the why...especially my own personal why.

I think this is an easy question to overanalyze.  You can look at it and say that gamers want the most bang for their buck so they look for the most hours of enjoyment for their $60.  You could even take this a step further and add the word "quality." They want the most quality hours of enjoyment for their $60, so they get the game that will give them the most quality hours.  The sentiment is correct, but I don't think gamers are thinking in terms of an equation.  I think most people want to play a game they really enjoy playing and play it for a long time.  It may be semantics, but there is a difference.  It has to do with making a decision with your heart instead of your brain.  Would you rather spend $20 on Dark Souls and play it for 80 hours or spend $5 on Skyrim and play for 500 hours?  The logical part of your brain says you get more hours for your money with Skyrim, but if you love Dark Souls that part of your brain makes an executive decision. The bang for your buck argument has some logic, but in the end, we play what we like and the money is secondary.

Like I said before, I've been playing lots and lots of Destiny lately.  At some point, you have to ask yourself "Why am I playing this game so much?"  I'm not asking in a negative way because I have been having fun the whole time.  It's just that at some point, when you look at the hours you have put in you ask why.  Years and years ago, I played games across many genres and the games that I loved, I kept playing.  Many of these games had "endings".  When Final Fantasy VII was over, it was over.  Sure, you could play the endgame content, grind your Knights of the Round to 5 stars so you could cast it over and over again (if you have that kind of time), race Chocobos, and even get all the Ultimate Weapons, etc.  All of that is fun for a while, but at that point, you are playing a different game, not the one you were playing before you reached the endgame.  One of the reasons I am enjoying Destiny so much is because the endgame is the same as the game I have been playing this whole time, there is just more to do with better stuff.  It's amazing how the grind in one game can feel like such a...grind and the grind in another is just fun.


Now that I'm stepping away from Destiny, though not too far, and returning to Skyrim. I realized that the reason I enjoy Destiny so much is very similar to the reason I love Skyrim so much.  When the main storyline of Skyrim is over, I can keep playing Skyrim.  I can explore a cave, loot an encampment, learn a spell, enchant some weapons, and I can do all of the things that I loved so much throughout my journey through Tamriel's Northern Province.  At first, I was a little disappointed that I would not be able to use my old save file with the Skyrim Special Edition, but getting to start Skyrim over again 5 years after it was first released has been an amazing experience so far.


That brings us to the last game on the list of games I am excited about, Final Fantasy XV. I know that it's easy to scoff at the black leather boy band product you may see before you.  It's also easy to dismiss anything from Square Enix if you haven't been satisfied with their recent endeavors. However, I have always tried to remain open-minded until I get to play a game myself or read some reviews or gameplay impressions.  After playing the FFXV Platinum Demo a few months back, I had very low expectations for FFXV.  The demo is bad.  No two ways about it.  What has me excited about Final Fantasy XV is the Polygon Pre-Review  (http://www.polygon.com/20...s4-playstation-4-xbox-one).  While this is by no means a statement that the game will be great, it excites me about a game series that I haven't been excited about in 6 years.  Final Fantasy is different than Skyrim and Destiny in that once its over, it's pretty much over except for the grindy endgame or just playing the game through again (New Game+ mode, please?) But even though the Final Fantasy games may not have the same longevity for me that other games do, they are still totally worth playing for the journey.


And that's really what it's all about right?  The journey.  Some journeys have one great big overarching story.  Some have lots of little stories that are strung together.  Some have guys with leather jackets and large zippers.  No matter why you love the games you love, it's an interesting journey to explore why we love the things that we do.  It helps us to find other things to love.

Permalink | Comments [9] | Digg This Article | Tweet