I recently dusted off my copy of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. And while I still enjoyed myself, I found I quickly grew tired before reaching its conclusion. I waded through what felt like the exact same wave of enemies without ever needing to change my tactics. The same ennui occurred while playing Destiny. At one point, Ghost was attempting to download some data, and I had to fight off a few waves of enemies. For both of these games, I just wanted to throw my hands in the air – and my controller by accidental association – and shout, “I get it already!”
This is how I feel about most shooters. If all a shooter has to offer are new guns, then I begin to feel like it could stand to be much shorter. If a shooter continually but gradually introduces new elements that I’m free to experiment with as long as I can fall back on the basics when needed, then I tend to enjoy them more. Either way, I’ve noticed that shooters, no matter how action-packed, can be a bit of a grind, which is a description I’ve heard used to describe one of my favorite genres: turn-based RPGs.
I enjoy both genres, but if held at gunpoint and told to choose one, I would go with RPGs. However, I have a difficult time explaining to my shooter friends my preference. Their criticisms of the genre are usually valid. Waiting for your turn requires patience, random battles kill the pacing, and dialogue is too verbose. I usually accept their criticism while attempting to explain the appeal. Likewise, I’ll explain the criticism I noted in the second paragraph, and they’ll explain the appeal. Either way, we both can’t stand certain things about genres because they feel too repetitious.
All games are repetitious. Designers don’t create games based on stories we want to tell; they create stories to complement the mechanics you’ll use over and over again. Gamers grow up with different experiences, and their tastes may be influenced by the type of people they hang out with and what entertainment they like to consume. A certain nostalgia towards our preferred genres might shape how we adapt to the repetition in games. What might feel like a grind to one might be an exercise in meditation to another.
But I think at some point, it’s difficult to not pick up on the repetition no matter how nostalgic you might feel. You play enough Zelda games, and you might be less impressed with each consequent puzzle solved by pushing a block. It becomes easier to notice the longer a game is, and how few new ideas the developer introduces to us. It’s just something we have to deal with.
I’m not sure if there’s a way to resolve gaming’s natural repetition; it’s just something we all have to deal with no matter our preferred genres. This is why I think it’s important to hang on to our favorite games while searching for new ones that could potentially outclass them. After all, the best games are better at disguising the grind.