There was a time when you bought a game you were on your own when you played it. You had no walkthrough, no Internet to help, if you were rich maybe you had the strategy guide. When I was younger I was lucky enough to get the game, but never had the funds for the strategy guides. I would have to sneak peeks when we went to the local Wal-Mart or glance a peek when we went to the mall. If I ever got stuck on a game that would basically be my “game over” screen. It was rough back in the day, even thinking back it was also hard in the PlayStation 2 and GameCube era. The Internet had just begun but video games weren’t as prevalent on the web as they are now.
I has been probably about 15 years since I felt the feeling of absolutely no help during a video game. The last time I felt it was when I was probably playing Eternal Darkness on my GameCube. That game was hard back then and I still need to beat it, most likely with the help of a walkthrough. Flash forward to August 30 when I downloaded Blair Witch on day one thanks to my Game Pass subscription. I was super excited to play this title, I had been waiting since E3 to get my hands on it and now, finally was the time. I sat in my chair and enjoyed my little hour or two walk in the woods, when suddenly I didn’t know what to do or how to proceed.
My trusty tablet was sitting next to me so I fired it up and tried to find the spot where I was on YouTube or in a walkthrough. Nothing greeting me. It was like I was eight again playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on my NES and having no idea where the final bomb was in the water! I panicked a little bit then decided to calm down and play another game for a little bit. When I was younger a break in gameplay somehow granted me the power to beat it the next time I fired it up. Luckily that happened after I played Astral Chain for about an hour or so. Bullet and I were on our way once again to find young Peter.
It was weird feeling so helpless all of sudden while playing a game. Like I said before if I ever get stuck I would just fire up my tablet, but this time I couldn’t find help and had to do it on my own. The past two generations have babied us a lot, not only do games hold our hands for awhile but we have access to countless walkthroughs, YouTube videos and help overall. I’m beginning to wonder if this is a bad thing for gamers, I remember when I was 8 or 9 I could beat Mega Man 2 with no help at all, but now I can’t even figure out which boss to take on first. I wish games would be more like Dark Souls, with little to no hand holding and with some punishing but fair difficulty. Every now and then I do like to just play a game for the story, but sometimes I do like a little challenge to make sure I’ve still got it.
Like what you read? Check out more of my Aging Gamer series on BagoGames.