How have you stepped out of your comfort zone in games?

[VioletHeaven]

Recently, and mostly with encouragement, I've been really stepping outside what I'd call my "comfort zone" with video games. I tried games I didn't know if I'd like (Slime Rancher, Starsector),  and games that were suggested to me by @JINSBEK (Klonoa, Spyro the Dragon, Starflight...)! I even tried Another Crab's Treasure, even though I had no previous experience with Soulslike games, and... well, I can't say if I enjoyed it, but it was definitely eye-opening to the kind of games I'd enjoy, and the kind of minimum goals a game needs to meet in terms of design, music, and story for it to be enjoyable for me personally.

I've really been enjoying pushing myself like this! I absolutely adore how cute the slimes are and the environments in Slime Rancher, I'm in love with the fleet and combat mechanics in Starsector. I talk a lot (and @JINSBEK can attest to this...) about how much fun I'm having with the level design in Klonoa and Spyro the Dragon (and the music...!), plus I'm using Starflight to make a creative-writing Captain's Log. I didn't even know that I could have so much fun with video games! I used to just play Minecraft, mostly...

I really like the Steam sales to pick up titles that I don't know if I'll like without too much financial commitment to actually playing it. I got Slime Rancher for $4 and Another Crab's Treasure for $11, for reference!

How have you stepped out of your comfort zone recently in terms of video games and how did that make you feel? What games did you try that you would usually never? Did you like them? Why, or why not? ...Do you keep a game journal like I do?

[candycanearter07]

I'll be honest, not really. I'm really stubborn about playing games I wouldn't like, even if free. Probably the biggest "blind leap" would be this game "Chroma Squad" (tactical rpg), and I liked it, but it seems to be one of the easier ones in the genre and I probably wouldn't play another one. Disco Elysum would also be here, but I can't get it to run under Linux for some reason.

[akesi]

Wow, this got me thinking that I haven't really stepped out of my comfort zone in ages. The last game super outside my usual genres was Persona 5, cause I don't tend to play long RPGs, and that was years ago. I really enjoyed it though, the formula of working with weekly time limits is such good design; rather than feeling overwhelmed by the amount of the content, you feel like you're being smart by planning things out to do as much as possible. It's a good loop!

I think, honestly, my experience has been the opposite of yours, where my tastes have really narrowed in, and I don't play nearly as many different games as I used to. There are certain genres I'm just not interested in anymore. Like, for instance, I've played sooo many metroidvanias that usually I'd take a look at a new one (say, Ori and the Will of the Wisps), which I would've been all over in 2016, and go "I can already kinda envision how this whole game goes, probs won't get anything out of playing it".

But it's been a long time since I've just randomly bought a game on steam based on vibes, w/o a specific recommendation or already being a fan of the team who made it. I should buy something random on itch.io that looks interesting :P

I do also have a kind of games journal, I do little retrospectives of the games I've played each year on my website. (for instance, 2023)

[BlazingCobaltX]

Not that much, actually. I have a long list of games to play, including things that don't fall within my genres of preference, but realistically I have very little time to play games these days. When I do, it's either something from my backlog that I've already purchased (aka knowing I'd like it) or the 5000th replay of Pokémon.

Maybe the most uncharacteristic purchase I made was the roguelite Going Under. I immensely dislike the roguelite gameloop but found the premise so funny that I wanted to try the game anyways l. Well, you can tell from my game time how well that went (3 hours). With the limited time I have for gaming, I highly prefer sticking to things I know I'll like or are highly recommended by a friend 

[VioletHeaven]

Not that much, actually. I have a long list of games to play, including things that don't fall within my genres of preference, but realistically I have very little time to play games these days. When I do, it's either something from my backlog that I've already purchased (aka knowing I'd like it) or the 5000th replay of Pokémon.

Maybe the most uncharacteristic purchase I made was the roguelite Going Under. I immensely dislike the roguelite gameloop but found the premise so funny that I wanted to try the game anyways l. Well, you can tell from my game time how well that went (3 hours). With the limited time I have for gaming, I highly prefer sticking to things I know I'll like or are highly recommended by a friend 

Honestly, I tried Aggro Crab's other game, Another Crab's Treasure, and... it sucked. The premise of being a crab in a sea full of trash has potential, but the actual execution and game...? It was bad. The best part was the voice actors. Firth was the most interesting character, because he actually has character development, lives true to himself, and tries to help others. Then he just gets killed off by comedic relief at the end of the game. Ugh. I do want to try actually good Soulslikes, and Bayonetta, but it left an ugly taste in my mouth. I have yet to get around to writing a game journal page specifically for ACT, but when I do, it'll be pretty harsh. I'm happy that you tried to step outside your comfort zone, and I'm sorry that it didn't work at all.

Wow, this got me thinking that I haven't really stepped out of my comfort zone in ages. The last game super outside my usual genres was Persona 5, cause I don't tend to play long RPGs, and that was years ago. I really enjoyed it though, the formula of working with weekly time limits is such good design; rather than feeling overwhelmed by the amount of the content, you feel like you're being smart by planning things out to do as much as possible. It's a good loop!

I think, honestly, my experience has been the opposite of yours, where my tastes have really narrowed in, and I don't play nearly as many different games as I used to. There are certain genres I'm just not interested in anymore. Like, for instance, I've played sooo many metroidvanias that usually I'd take a look at a new one (say, Ori and the Will of the Wisps), which I would've been all over in 2016, and go "I can already kinda envision how this whole game goes, probs won't get anything out of playing it".

But it's been a long time since I've just randomly bought a game on steam based on vibes, w/o a specific recommendation or already being a fan of the team who made it. I should buy something random on itch.io that looks interesting :P

I do also have a kind of games journal, I do little retrospectives of the games I've played each year on my website. (for instance, 2023)

I love your retrospectives page! I'm actually making one myself, on my website (you can click the walking bunny on the bottom), but it's still pretty unfinished.

For me, it's less about going, "What can I get out of this", and more about how much fun I can have. If I don't like a game from the start, I probably won't force myself to finish it, but I'd like to at least try it to see if I might like other games in the same genre. I found that I like Soulslikes from Another Crab's Treasure, I'm just not into ones where the gameplay is jank and the story is bad. Thanks for your perspective!

[Xanoverse]

I usually suck a lot at platformers and they make me really frustrated, overall they stop being fun quickly. At least that's how I used to feel (I still do towards some platformers). But a friend recommended Celeste to me and I was really reluctant at first and did not feel like it was worth my time and was something definitely outside of my comfort zone. But somehow I ended up getting it and playing it. I became one of my favourite games of all time, it's so good, it helped me a lot when I needed it, the message is beautiful and it truly made me push my limits and overcome myself. I completed the whole game! Something I never thought I would have (I mean I'm still stuck in the Chapter 9 DLC but I did reach the top of the mountain sooo) and the OST is a banger. I highly recommend it to well anyone tbh!

[warlock]

I've picked up a few games to play through recently - most notably are a bunch of turn based rpgs and dungeon crawlers to go through. I've put Disillusion and Mary Skelter 2 on my docket for my next two big games once I finish the two I'm working on (Dark Souls 3, currently on my 16th run while watching a friend of mine do his first, and Deus Ex) and I'm excited. Previously I've tried to play Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne, but the length of the game turned me off, so I'm hoping these two will keep me hooked.