Video Games Are Fun

After pouring countless hours into games like Destiny, Call of Duty, and Fortnite over the last few months, it seems I’ve forgotten just how fun playing video games can be. While those titles are certainly fun in their own right, it feels like they’re missing something that I love about video games the most.

Pure joy.

The above games are great, don’t get me wrong. But they don’t allow you to really check out and just enjoy the space you’re in. Maybe it’s the nature of shooters, but there’s almost always an element of frustration and annoyance that they bring. Whether it’s wiping over and over in a raid or losing a gunfight you feel you should have won or coming in second place more times than you can count. Almost no gameplay session goes by without immense salt being poured.

Those feelings come in direct contrast with my time playing Super Mario Odyssey last night. Whenever I failed a move or couldn’t complete an activity, I didn’t rage. I was instead motivated to try it again and again until I completed it. I even spent two hours practicing a speedrun technique after I finished streaming and I’ve been itching to get back online to play some more ever since I ended my stream last night. I haven’t felt this jazzed about playing a game in so long.

It’s almost as though playing this game is transporting me back to when I was kid playing my Nintendo 64. I had this same feeling while playing through Breath of the Wild earlier this year. There’s just something about running around in an open world just trying to discover anything and everything.

The one thing these two games have in common is that they’re made by Nintendo, so I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s about time we bow down to our Nintendo overlords and let them take over the world. I’m (mainly) kidding.

At the end of the day, though, I’m just glad to rediscover how fun gaming can really be.

No salt.

No RNG.

Just pure joy.