As an Adult, I Have No Motivation to Play and Finish Games Anymore

After the last Nintendo Direct, I saw a couple people that were upset that Nintendo didn’t announce a Pokémon Generation 4 remake. While I understood the feeling and sympathized as a fellow fan of the Pokémon games, I couldn’t help but feel uninterested in a Gen 4 remake. When they eventually do remake the game, I probably won’t buy it. Hell, I haven’t bought or played a Pokémon game in years.

This might be relatable to some, but do you remember when you were really young and you would read literally every book you could find? That was me as a kid. I had no trouble finding the motivation to read. I used to read nonstop, I would finish 1000 page books in 3 days. Nowadays, it takes me forever to finish a book, and that disappoints me. I feel the same way about video games.

When I was younger, I had no trouble plowing through game after game after game. I was heavily invested in every story I was playing, no matter how good or bad the gameplay was. Unless the game was too hard for me as a child, I would always end up finishing games. Now, I only play a select few games that come out each year, and sometimes I don’t even finish those.

I think the best example of games I just can’t play anymore would be the Pokémon games. I used to play every single game. I would beat the main story, the elite four, the post game, collect all the Pokémon, hunt for shiny Pokémon, EV train, I would do it all. Now, I wouldn’t be able to pick up a game for more than an hour without getting bored and frustrated. Turn based gameplay is the opposite of fun for me. I don’t find the gameplay fun anymore, so I run around trying to avoid getting into battles, inevitably seeing a wild Pokemon, and then being forced to spam the “run away” option. I rinse and repeat this until I get to the next town, if I even get that far.

What happened to me? I used to find these games so fun. Even though I don’t like playing them, I still appreciate a lot about the games. From a more objective standpoint, I love the strategic aspect to fighting, the story-lines of these games, and the cool designs of the characters and Pokémon. I adore the uniqueness of each town and the music track that goes along with it. However somewhere along the way, I lost any sense of motivation to play a turn based game. I absolutely cannot stand turn based gameplay anymore.

I think the same thing that happened to me with books has happened to me with video games. As I started getting older, I got jaded. When you’re a kid, you can’t help but see the good and fun in everything. Now, I have to worry about my future, my mental health, finances, politics, and more. I’m bogged down with schoolwork, internships, job opportunities, while also trying to have a social life. I can’t just sit down in front of a game for 3–6 hours anymore. It’s taken me forever to finish Super Mario Odyssey and that’s not because I think it’s a bad game. I absolutely adore this game, but I’m so busy I only have time to play it for an extended period of time maybe once every 2 weeks.

My time with video games is short now, and my sanity in this crazy world we live in is even shorter. If a game wants to capture my attention, it has to be fun. Like… really fun. The games I’ve found the most engaging in the past year are Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Cuphead, Hollow Knight, and Celeste. All of these games I’ve noticed, regardless of genre or company, have a very specific emphasis on their gameplay. To put it simply, these games are just fun. I love games with a good story, but if I don’t find the actual playing of the game engaging, it’s a no from me. Final Fantasy XV wasn’t my favorite game to come out, and I find it very flawed. However, I’m much more likely to play that over Final Fantasy VII, one of my favorite games from my childhood. That’s because for once in the Final Fantasy franchise, the story took a backseat to the gameplay. The story is much more straightforward compared to other games in the series, and I think this gave the developers more of a focus on the actual gameplay and characters themselves. At the age I’m at with my current situation, this is exactly what I needed to play this game. I didn’t love it, but I actually got to the end. I don’t think you could pay me to ever finish Final Fantasy VII again without going crazy. That’s in the past for me.

There are franchises that still have a soft spot in my heart. Sometimes the gameplay is enticing enough to actually keep me invested in the series (Sonic Mania, Kingdom Hearts 3 hopefully, Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild), while other times I have to say goodbye to a beloved series because the games just aren’t fun for me anymore (Pokemon, Animal Crossing, older Final Fantasy games). Some indie games from the past and present are absolutely stunning (Hollow Knight, Shovel Knight, Hotline Miami, Bastion) and other times I just can’t keep going no matter how good I think the game is (FTL: Faster Than Light). On rare occasion, the atmosphere or story of a game is so enticing that I’m willing to let gameplay take a backseat because it’s just that engaging (Abzu, Journey, Shadow of the Colossus). Multiplayer games are in a weird spot. Most of the time for me, the only thing that makes those games fun is playing with friends. Despite the numerous hours I’ve put into League of Legends, the only actual reason I keep playing that game is because all my friends do. Even though I’ve been playing the game literally since season 1, I’ve never actually ranked up past silver because I have no motivation to play the game unless there’s at least 3 of us in a party.

Of course, there’s always a unique thing to each game that can make it fun or engaging. Sometimes the story is just that interesting, or the characters are just that lovable, or the combat is just that satisfying. Maybe the graphics or the music keep me coming back for a game I would otherwise not touch. More often than not though, I never end up giving a game the time it deserves unless it’s absolutely incredible to me personally. I don’t know what it is that makes games click for me, but sometimes it happens and it’s still magical, like when I was a kid. I’m not saying a lot of these games are bad or don’t deserve to be played. I wish I had the motivation, time, and energy to dedicate to all these different games, but I just can’t anymore. Life and the realities of the world have gotten in the way of a lot of things that used to matter to me. Video games are just the start. I still think a lot of the games I’ve talked about are great, well made games. I will still fight anyone who says that a Pokémon or Final Fantasy game I haven’t picked up in years sucks. I’m just in a different place now. Maybe one day I’ll get that motivation back and be able to play all sorts of games again. Until then, I’m just glad that there are still games that come out each year that absolutely blow me away. This past year I got to play Sonic Mania, Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Odyssey — all some of the best games to ever come out in some of my favorite franchises. Indie games continue to impress me, whether they be Celeste, Hollow Knight, Super Meat Boy or Undertale. I hope that Kingdom Hearts 3 and that Final Fantasy VII Remake impress me the same way these games did. As long as each year I can still find games like these that blow me away, then I won’t be complaining.