Get Lost in Games Again

Slow Down

When was the last time you stepped into a new area in a video game and took your thumb off the sprint button? Like seriously…when’s the last time you actually loaded into a game to “smell the roses” and enjoy the beautifully crafted world you’ve been immersed in?? Months? Years? This week I took some time to do just that. I loaded into my current playthrough of Dark Souls Remastered and didn’t sprint at all. Walking through Lordran is a completely different experience. All the little things start to stand out and a new appreciation for the artists begin to form. That vibrant pastel flower in the corner amongst the grassy landscape catches your attention as you walk by. The skybox is suddenly filled with more color and detail than you had noticed before. The long bridge with the drake now takes on a grim beauty as you take in the sights on either side of it. Games are full of so much to look at and often we are too busy running to “finish dailies” and “farm mobs” to ever notice all the effort that has gone into creating a world worth being in.

Beauty at a Snail's Pace

For a while I was caught up in the storm of live service, multiplayer titles and I began to wonder why I was feeling a lack of anything for my favorite hobby. So I decided it was finally time to play Cyberpunk 2077. And not just play, I wanted to be immersed. So I walked most places, almost always drove like a normal person would, listened to every piece of dialogue, and read all the lore I could. What happened next saved me from the doldrums I was experiencing. By getting lost in a video game, I remembered what it was like to fully be in a gaming experience again. And because of this profound moment of emotion, I felt this was worth sharing with all of you.

I want to encourage everyone reading this to put aside their trophy list, turn off their phone, and just play something to its fullest extent. Because what is waiting on the other side of your rotted attention span is true art. Video games do what no other medium can: allow us to interact with and become a part of our favorite stories and worlds. Try and focus entirely on what’s in front of you and remember each piece of it. By doing this, I had my first truly amazing video game experience in years.

“Every age has its storytelling form, and video gaming is a huge part of our culture. You can ignore or embrace video games and imbue them with the best artistic quality. People are enthralled with video games in the same way as other people love the cinema or theatre.”

— Andy Serkis, Actor

Let's talk about this quote from Andy Serkis. We are so lucky to be living at a time in which games are given as much artistic care as any other medium, sometimes more. But it is up to us to appreciate that. Cyberpunk 2077, Control, The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Halo Infinite, Marvel Rivals, and Dark Souls are just a few examples of truly incredible works of art we have been given to experience. So please, go show the games you own some love and remember it’s okay to get lost in them just like we did when we were kids.