Another quickie blog I wanted to get out before I forget as usual.
I noticed with at least several franchises this unusual phenomena. I'm not going to mention which games they were because then talk would turn into what you and I thought of each game.
Anyway, so I noticed that the game would release and people would love it. Then a few years later the next game would launch and suddenly those smiles turned into frowns. A few years later the next game in the series released and those frowns turned to smiles.
I found it quite bizaare as to me the games in those series had not really changed much, with superficial changes to the same base experience. They were pretty consistent in quality and gameplay and yet one time everyone (and by everyone I am talking most gaming sites and some users) loved it, the next were 6/10 reviewing the sequels. But then years later virtually the same game is presented and they discover - yeah I like this - they remember why they fell in love with the series in the first place.
So I'm wondering, have the games changed or have we? Has this ever happened to you?
To me recentely I had played Arkham City and pretty much hated it because it did nothing that felt evolved or improved. But then months later I played again with a different perspective and expectations and enjoyed it a lot more than I had. Sometimes I think it's franchise familiarity and that sometimes you should leave a gap between playing games in the series rather than rabbidly consuming each iteration. I think people get fed up, then go away, come back later and remember, yeah this is pretty cool.
If you are talking about Mario Kart Syndrome, I still enjoy Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart on the Game Cube, N64 and SNES, but I did not buy the last one because... well I already have four versions of that game, and any of the four are just as playable and fun as they were on the day they released.
Now that Nintendo has gone HD they give a reason to re-buy... But that damn controller looks so damn uncomfortable, and what's Mrs. Aspro supposed to use to play against me?
Has the pro-controller been supported in all Nintendo first party games?
What I really don't like is when the game media changes their opinions. Here are guys paid to be "honest" in their reviews, their reviews are preserved forever. So if in a year or so they are acting like that review was a mistake, or the rest if the site crew shits on the game it comes off like their original review was a lie.
I don't believe in the whe changing of your opinion thing. Your first reaction to the game is the true one. As time goes on games get better so going back to older games can be frustrating but the original experience is the true one.
Now on mood changes and changing opinion as you play that happens to me all the time. I go through a range of emotions as a play, it usually evens out in the middle part of the game. I always try to make an effort to finish what I start even if I hate it. Rarely do I love a game from start to finish.
Do you think it has to do with tolerance levels? Too much of a good thing and it gets boring, then when they return years later it's like, yeah this is great.
Sometimes it makes the original review seem way off, but I see this a lot anyway with my opinion of a game and a reviewers, there is a disconnect sometimes. For me it's because a lot of games are labeled as GREAT in capitals when they are just great in small letters. And the scoring system is almost all whole numbers now, there is no nuance, if a game is better than a 9/10 but less than a 10/10 it gets a flat whole number regardless.
I see what you mean, definitely but I also feel that returning to an old game sheds light on it. What I try and remember is what it was like at the time, how the other games were. Like Ocarina of Time, it's like a complete masterpiece at the time it released there is nothing else close.