Do you know, I find it more and more difficult these days to find that magical feeling in video games? That feeling where you are immersed and thoroughly enjoying yourself, relishing every second of playing the game. The last game to feel like that was Skyrim, but that, alas, lasted but a week.
Ah, in the past that was not so rare an occurrence: I vividly recall reaching that state of being, that zenith of video gaming, many times with many a video game. To name a few such games, I would definitely have to mention Neverwinter Nights, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Morrowind, Baldur's Gate, Fable 1 (on the Xbox, no less), Syphon Filter, Mass Effect 1 and, I think, Fallout 3. There are dozens more, to be sure. Some capable of evoking that enchanting ardor for no longer than a twinkling moment; and some for weeks, even months.
Chasing that childlike enthusiasm is a task of almost gargantuan proportions these days, but to give it up completely would be to bury more than just that feeling: it would be the death of more than only that one thing. A sad state of affairs when contemporary games are more tenuous than those made a decade ago, and that cannot only be blamed on avaricious developers. Certainly, things looks more promising than ever with the approach of Witcher 3 and DA3, among other such titles. 2014 could be the turning point: games with the spirit of old made with the technology of tomorrow. One can only hope that the industry does not recidivate.
There is hope.
