Daily Debate: How Have Your Video Game Tastes and Habits Changed over the Past Few Years?
Posted on February 01 2024 by Sean Gadus
Like many things in life, tastes and habits change over time. Whether it is books, movies, visual arts, or video games, people’s interests and opinions about different topics transform as they age. While some core interests may remain consistent throughout a person’s life, other interests may come in and out of focus as the years pass. With the Zelda series spanning nearly forty years, many of its devoted fans have gone through significant life changes as they follow the series. Major changes in lifestyle often have an effect on the way players experience video games and their opinions about different games.
With this in mind, how has your video game tastes and habits changed over the past few years?
In terms of habits, I find myself playing video games less consistently than in earlier periods of my life. The requirements of work, as well as my interest in books, television, and film, leave me with less time for video games. My change in lifestyle has also influenced of one of the biggest changes in my tastes in video games: an appreciation for shorter and more focused games. While I still have fun with sprawling open world games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, I have gotten an incredible amount of enjoyment out of playing smaller scale games that can be finished in less than twenty-five hours. Games like Gris, Oxenfree II, and Firewatch have provided a great deal of happiness to me in efficient five to ten hour playthroughs. Even among major AAA games, two games I adored were Metroid Dread and Control, and they both can be completed in fifteen to twenty hours. In 2024, I prefer shorter games with tighter focuses and strong core mechanics in comparison to sprawling game with many different diversions in them.
What do you think? How has your video game tastes and habits changed over the past few years? Let us know your thoughts on the comments below!
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. He is currently replaying the narrative ghost story Oxenfree, and taking his first stab at playing Dark Souls. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
