All in the Execution

In looking through same of my old games and looking at the games that I will be getting in the coming year, I've thought about why I am so critical of games and why as time has gone by I've bought less and less videogames.

It's simply that people have become far too reliant upon technology. As a result, games have become very formulaic; not in terms of depth, but in execution. In my opinion, what matters most in a game is not in what it "is" but the execution of what it "is".

Videogames have been around for over 2 decades now. As a result, pretty much all genres have been established, and now people are building those genres up. However, the problem here is that people are trying to build the genres up with too much complexity. Filling games with tons of options doesn't make a game better. What does make a game better is taking those complexities and executing them to make the experience one worth experiencing.

The goal of videogames should be to provide the best experience possible; however, without proper execution, this experience can be terrible, or simply non-existant. Execution is the name of the game, and it seems developers are forgetting this fact all together in this current generation. This simple fact comes from developers over-looking the small things. Look at Metal Gear Solid 3, the ending where the player actually has to pull the trigger was incredible and really helped draw the player into the experience.

This experience is what matters the most. Whether it be experience in story, music, gameplay, or a mix of them. Odin Sphere and Grimgrimoire are great examples of great execution of story, while many old arcade games are great for their focus on gameplay.