Next Gen fatigue, come on you all knew this was coming right?!

*Also, spoilers about certain games (especially previous gen)*

For those uncertain who I am, “doubt it” I am Nazgoroth, I’ve been playing gamesfor as long as I can remember, though I believe I started somewhere around the age of 8. had a semi pro streak in the early 2000’s though it never really caught on. At this point I just consider myself passionately active in the gaming scene a hobby nearing obsession. I own a gaming pc 3 handhelds 2 retro consoles and 4 “modern” consoles, so you could call me informed to a certain degree but hey that’s just my opinion.

At the start of this year I invested into a Xbox One and a Sony Playstation 4. Both great machines on paper but that’s where it ends as will become clear over the span of this article, which I’ll try to keep as short as possible. I will not going into specs and core performance numbers, if you want those then google away at your leisure. This will be purely about emotion really, how do I feel about next gen, what does it do for me as a Gamer.

Given the fact the article is named next gen fatigue should give you some indication, we’re 6 months into this “new” generation now, and so far the games one after the other have bored the ever living shite out of me. Which is a shame because developers have proven in the past games can be great, better than movies and even books at times. As in some you write the story, you decide where things go. Think “The elder scrolls V: Skyrim” you literally get to choose the outcome of a civil war here, you decide where the balance of power ends up being, and you pay the price for every choice you make.

It’s games like this that this new generation at this point is lacking completely, and okay perhaps I’m getting old and grumpy, perhaps. However after Forza 5 being alright… wolfenstein being sorta okay, the new call of duty being a new call of a duty and titanfall getting dull after 10 hours of playing it you kind off start to see patterns and that is a bad thing. I recently purchased Watch_Dogs for the Ps4 which is the most hyped game ever to be released on a Playstation, and it’s downright repetitive dare I say dull even. Graphically it looks sub-par as well, as if it was being played on a “last” gen system (like the Playstation 3). Let me not even start about Xbox one titles, I owned Dead rising 3… worst piece of shite I’ve ever played. There is an exception however, Assassins creed: Black Flag, was epic… because it’s pretty much a pirate simulator, and we needed one of those oh yarr me matehs we did.

But where are the mindfucks? where are the games that make you question yourself? where are the games that keep you awake at night, the games which haunt you in your dreams, the games that simply grab you by the throat and refuse to let go? Where is the passion?! It’s not there, it’s missing. Every game this gen has had so far has left me cold.

It’s beginning to sound like a rant isn’t it? well then allow me to give you some examples. Mass effect, especially part 2 and the epic conclusion at part 3 often left me with goose bumps and in some cases in tears, I still recall myself screaming at the screen in a state of powerlessness when one of the main characters in the game by the name of Mordin Solus sacrificed himself while speaking the in gaming circles now legendary word “it had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong”. This haunted me, it kept me awake that night and that’s just one example. Now don’t get me wrong, mindless shooters can be fun as well, but only if there’s actual skill involved “think quake / Unreal / Counter-strike” modern shooters seem to lack this responsiveness.

Also let me give you some more examples so it’s completely clear what I’m trying to say here, I felt angry at the controversial attempted rape scene in the last tomb raider, I wanted nothing more than to shoot everything that moved after that… you went from an explorer to a killing machine in 0.1 of a second. Perhaps a bad example that one as it makes gamers look like a violent bunch, and trust me in the games themselves we are absolutely livid. but not as mad as the media likes to make us seem.

Perhaps a better example is The Last of Us a game in which the central goal is to survive a zombie like outbreak (caused by a mutated fungus) At the start of the game you are confronted with severe loss (some prick of a soldier shoots your 10-12 year old daughter because she might be infected) you then get control over the main protagonist, a 40something year old scruffy looking man named Joel, who is forced to team up with a 12-13 year old “Infected yet immune” girl named Ellie, who at first he feels is a burden but ends up loving (like a father loves his daughter) in the climax of the game she is set up for brain surgery to create a serum against the fungus (effectively ending the zombie apocalypse, but killing sweet little Ellie in the process). Joel can’t accept this, goes into a rage kidnapping her from the operating table, as she wakes up he lies to her, telling her there’s thousands like her and that there is no cure. In the final seconds of the game you are confronted with Ellie forcing Joel to swear that everything he said is true… and you guessed it, he lies. The game fades out with Ellie looking into the camera with doubtful eyes. And huzzah we’re left with the emotion of GUILT… and that’s a strong one.

I could go on and on, as there’s a boatload of games like this in the previous generation, leaving me with fond memories of the Xbox 360 in particular. Names that even after I’ve not played the games for multiple years I can still recite from memory, they’ve become part of my brain, they hold a place in there forever. Alyx Vance (Halflife 2), Tiny Tina (Borderlands) Dom Santiago (Gears of war) Jack / Miranda / all the other characters (Mass Effect) Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite) Cortana (Halo) just to name a few.

What I mean is I can vividly recall these games from memory, I can play them in my mind and actually enjoy it… I played wolfenstein new world order and Watch_Dogs last night, and I don’t recall actually enjoying myself more so than just passing time. I don’t dream about hacking cities and shooting nazi’s the idea doesn’t make me smile or question. Hell even the Tech demo for the Ps3 (KARA (which I’ll link below) had more effect on me than these games… it made me question how we declare if something is “alive”

However I do have fond memories of running across the rooftops in Florence, climbing the bell tower of The San Miniato al Monte and the ever charming and sometimes sexist Ezio Auditore da Firenze, banker, ladies’ man, Assassin. To the point where I got an Assassins creed inspired tattoo on my lower leg, with part of the creed above it “Nothing is true, everything is permitted” oh well we’ll see what the future brings, perhaps this generation is yet to reveal its potential perhaps the jewels still need to be cut.

For now however imma play some Assassins creed… someone has got to deal with those bastardi Pazzi.

Naz.

(C)Nazgoroth "Netherlands"