Elden Ring has been praised by everyone.

It's one thing if a reviewer says it's good. His livelyhood relies on the video game industry thriveing. If you stop buying this game, the studio won't make the next game. If the studio won't make the next game, the reviewer can't review the next game. If the reviewer can't review the next game, then where does their paycheck come from?

So I'm not saying they knowingly artificially raise scores and sell games. I'm just saying maybe a 7 gets reviewed as an 8 just so the reviewer won't feel awkward when meeting with industry folk at the next industry get together.

But when gamers collectively band together, and say itxs 10/10, and game of the year, I feel rest assured that Elden Ring is as good as people say.

I have not bought Elden Ring. I have not played Elden Ring. In all honesty, I probably won't. Why?

BECAUSE YOU DON'T NEED TO PLAY EVERY SINGLE GAME JUST BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING!!! YOU CAN JUST NOOOOOT PLAY IT!

Don't blame too many games. Don't blame reviewers. Don't blame anything. This is only a problem if you let it control your life. Variety is good for everybody. Some games you can just let others enjoy. I'm glad Elden Ring is so great. I don't feel bad I missed it. I'm happy for you if you loved it.

Isn't that so much healthier of an attitude to have?

This becomes even worse when you also want to play old gems that missed because you weren't even born, or because you had kid taste in your early gaming days, but there are worse things to complain at.

My first two video games that I had were Gran Turismo and Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22, so at my 6 years old or so I already had negative time of hundreds of nice jRPG gems LMAO.

It’s the same with tv. I am very picky with my time. So i play very few games or watch very few shows.

Reviewers rave about a game, I pick it up and play it, and they're raving about a new one before I've finished that last one.

That's why i only wishlist games that i'm interested in. by the time i get around to them, there's usually a sale and/or price drop. Some games have been on my wishlist for years, while I'm working through my backlog, waiting for their price to drop even further.

The problem is the immature critique and not the quantity.

Hmm… newest game in my library is Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes from last year, which is a re-release anyway.

I bought 13 old-ish (pre-2022) games this year for less than $100. I have no reason to spend %60-80 of that on 1 game I probably won't even like, and that's if it clears the seemingly impossible "playable" hurdle.

Let me count upcoming games I look forward to playing/am curious about:

1. Ninja Gaiden 4 (Happy to wait for a deep sale)
2. Onimusha (Happy to wait for a deep sale and may even refund if I don't enjoy it)
3. Okami 2 (Happy to wait for a deep sale)
4. Marvel: Tokon (Will definitely wait for a deep sale—$10 base game)

That's it.

I definitely went to see more new movies at the cinema this year than I played new games. IDK where the industry is headed and I feel for all the underpaid, overworked developers at risk, but there isn't much I can do if publishers collectively decided to abandon my favorite genres.

I've been playing The Binding of Isaac for decades. I've bought it probably 5 times on different systems, for friends, etc, bought the expansions as well. I've probably still spent less on that game than what a current AAA title costs, and I still have new content to play.

The problem with the industry is they are all trying to get the "next big thing" and they stick to the same formula, there's no innovation from the big studios anymore. That's also why I play way more Indie games, I think the last major title I bought was Tears of the Kingdom, and that was probably the last Nintendo title I'll purchase.

Silksong & Hades 2 will probably be enough to last me the rest of the year. Having 1000 games to pick from doesn't bother me because I don't need to play them all.

How is having more options a problem?

I'm playing games that came out 10 hears ago, and I have a backlog of many years and I couldn't be happier with it.

It's better than no having anything to play.

At a industry level we all know that gamedev is not a great career. Specially if you are indie the most common profit is 0. But it's ok. You can do it just for the love of it as I do. I spent time making games just because I love it. No everything have to turn a profit.

This is also a lot of covid era games/funding come to fruition imo