Sometimes there is some truth to having too much of a good thing. This applies to anything that you like or enjoy, and sometimes because of life events you just experience burnout.This has happened to me personally at various points in my life, and it happened again recently.
As much passion as we hold for video games, and as much enjoyment as we get out of playing games, sometimes it' just too much. Video game fatigue can hold especially true in today's ecosystem, because of the hugely flooded market we have. There's so many games to choose from, that sometimes it can just become overwhelming as you look at your 'pile of shame' twenty games high.
For as much effort I put into this career of becoming a video game journalist, I don't get all that much to to actually play games. With school, a full-time job, a second part-time job, research for a radio show, and my own personal research my life is a blur of business. Not to mention the struggle I have to keep any kind of healthy social life. With this fact in mind, I found solace in The Witcher 3. As a lot of people who might associate with me know, I sunk myself into the game and found utter joy in analyzing it as much as I could. However, some time after beating it I found out the mistake I made.
Sinking yourself wholesale into a game can be a dangerous proposition, you spend countless hours pouring over the games systems, lore, story and whatever else you might be invested in. In my example, I had so utterly sunk myself into The Witcher investing over 150 hours, playing it on every spare chance I had. Upon completion of the game, I felt lost. For almost two months I had played The Witcher, it was my go-to game whenever I had that rare chance of down-time.
Of course there is a caveat to this fact in the truth that the whole time I was playing the Witcher I was escaping from issues in my life. A myriad of issues had assaulted me this summer, from sick and dying family members to confidence and identity issues. The Witcher 3 was the game I needed at this point, a grand fantasy adventure that I could really get invested in, but it also led to my most recent bout of burnout.
Video games as a medium are different than other forms of entertainment. It takes a commitment on the players part, and in one way or another each of us has to take the time to put ourselves in the game and push through the narrative or our character/avatars development. Whatever game it might be, it requires that the player takes and incredibly active role in pushing the experience along. As we know, games have a level of interactivity that other things do not, and when you do a lot of one thing it can become exhausting.
In my case, I had been too involved with games both with playing as well as writing about them. It's important that we all remember there are other things we enjoy doing besides playing games, I know that's hard when you have very little time to relax and games are your favorite past-time in that event. But remember, that sometimes all you need to do is take a break.
There's a second side to this story though, something I wanted to point out that pulled me back into my passion for games. Although this burnout wasn't the worst I've experienced the same thing held true. A few years back, I went through a sudden unexpected breakup with someone I had been living with for a while, needless to say it crushed me. Now I don't want to dwell on this, but the fact is that this even along with others led me to my longest hiatus I had ever had with video games, to the point that I didn't play one game for over six months.
Obviously this was a big blow for me, as it also caused my writing to slow to a sluggish pace considering I had taken some time off of school a while before. Finally I made the push though, going back to college I wanted something to do in between classes. So I popped my copy of Persona 4 Golden into my Vita that I had purchased months before, and my interest became completely renewed. Person 4 would become one of my favorite games of all time, and one of the most influential for my way of thinking. After playing P4, I found a niche that completely drew me in with the indie game scene. Fast forward to now and that very thing is exactly what pulled me out of my most recent slump.
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this at this point, but just last week I finally played The Unfinished Swan and Journey for the first time. I know I should probably be mocked in the street for this, but somehow these experiences eluded me since their release. The point though is that at a time when no game could hold my interest for more than 20 minutes, I found myself getting completely pulled in by these beautiful emotionally impactful games. Leap-frogging from this I played Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and found myself getting hooked by the disgustingly addictive Rocket League.
What this all boils down to, is the fact that video games are at a wonderful place right now. Although I found myself getting completely fatigued by games, the fact that I was able to play a huge expansive experience like The Witcher 3 then turn around and be just as engaged by an artistic three hour experience like Journey shows the wonderful diversity that games have right now. There really is something for everyone at the moment, and if you don't have time to sink into this hobby there are alternatives for you as well. Games that have bite sized chunks in the indie scene among other things are easily accessible for a fairly cheap point of entry. The face of gaming is diverse and colorful, and there are engaging experiences around every corner. Even the unexpected can be incredible surprises, I certainly didn't expect something like Rocket League to come along and completely blow my mind. With my interest and attention span getting renewed, I've also been able to hop back into the Assassins Creed series, which I've had a hell of a time playing for over a year.
The point to remember here is that there's a wonderful breadth of experiences available to all of us, and don't be afraid to drop something for a lighter experience if you need. Conversely, don't feel bad if you can't find it in you to focus on any one game, or any games at all for an amount of time. Even if you take six months or more off, it doesn't mean that you're passion or interest in games has faded or left. It's important for all of us to take a break, especially with a medium that requires such a high level of interaction from us. Video games aren't at their best when they let us forget our lives, theyre at their best when they remind us what we love and enjoy about life, and when they teach us things about how we think and feel. Sometimes, the time just isn't right for us to find this experience, so we can wait until it is.
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