Where did the unique element of games go?

I remember the good ol’days where you could impulsively buy a new game and be promised a new gaming experience. Back then, during the PS2 era, I would roam through GameStop for a good hour or so looking for the next game to play. I would never do research or look up reviews, because I knew whatever game I played would be a ‘new’ game. 

Now, I spend at most five minutes in GameStop. I know what I want and I get it. There’s not much luster to a lot of the games I see these days. 

Sure, the graphics are better. They have more advanced and fluid gaming systems. But, if things are so advanced, why are the games becoming more similar to each other as we progress?

Not as much Story anymore

Now for those of you who are about to say that nobody plays a game for the story anymore — you can zip it. I am a somebody. I may not have my name known across the world, but I am a somebody. And I love a game that has an awesome story. 

Nowadays, a lot of games have their main story develop through quests. It always feels like its the same old song and dance. You go from point A, to point B, and back to point A. You go from quest to quest and let the story develop through some shallow dialogue. 

Doesn’t feel like much of a story when the entire story is just a series of jobs for you to do. 

Not to mention the story in most games is usually incredibly short. It feels like the story in a game ends before you even get into the deeper mechanics of a good game. It feels like I blew $60 on a short shallow story that may or may not have fun gameplay.  

Side Quests

I remember when these were fun. They actually seemed like they were worth chasing down and doing. Now, they have a similar pattern to the main story. You go from point A to point B-BLAH forget it. Tired of that pattern. 

Side quests used to add to the main story, and would also end up giving you awesome rewards in the process. That is what a side quest should be. Legend of Dragoons, a fascinating game far ahead of its time, had amazing side quests. The story behind each side quest was compelling.The rewards were even more sparkling.

Some games still make good use of side quests such as the Tales of Series. However, a good majority of games make side quests seem like a pointless pass time. Look at Skyrim. It’s got a lot of side quests, but how many of them go outside the pattern that I mentioned earlier? Not many.   

Gameplay

A lot of games have great gameplay. However, you ever notice that nowadays, a lot of those amazing next-gen games have similar gameplay to each other? 

Lets take FPS games, for example. How many of them are actually different? Yeah, the setting and what you shoot is different. maybe the guns look different. However, how many of them offer a unique experience? Is there really any difference between each FPS game other than the skin they wear?

Even fantasy RPGs have similar gameplay. You choose a class, get skills, and attack with said skills and basic combos. How many different games will I play until I get tired of seeing the same fireball spell? 

It’s meant to be an Art

What happened to the sense of creativity? It’s not like there are no unique games out there anymore, but a lot of games just seem to mesh together. There is no characteristic that makes them stand out.

The most unique game I played recently was The Last Story, which came out all the way back in January 27 2011. 2011! It was the first game in a long time that introduced a completely new way to play a game. 

Each game used to have its own unique flare. An element that made it stand out. I feel like games have lately lacked that luster. Games only cost $50 not to long ago, and I felt like I got more out of those $50 games than the majority of the games I play today. 

What do you think? Are games losing the aspects that made them unique? Let me know in the comments below!