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[Nando13]

I became a father a few months ago, and I found myself incapable of (and not enjoying) games that require an incredible amount of time to progress. For example, I was playing BG3, but even though I liked it, I could not see myself playing the same game for months just to complete the campaign.

Lately, I have been playing RTS games like Total War and aRPGs (first time!), and I'm enjoying it because I can do a quickie before bed and feel that I have progressed somewhere.

What about you? Any similar experiences?

 

[Guilty_AI]

More like i was forced to change. I used to almost only play GTA-like and driving/racing games, neither genre is all too hot right now.

 

[Superkewl]

yeah, I used to love fighting games back in the 90's. Now, I cant get in to them

 

[SweetTooth]

Yup a little, used to like JRPGs alot and can't stand anything first person, now it kinda flipped.

 

[Antwix]

Yeah I used to be super into mlg competitive shooter games. Cod/halo/cs/etc. I do still play CoD casually with a couple friends but I much prefer single player games now. Just started to get (back) into total war as well (and other strategy games)

 

[Edmund]

Yes. The fighting game genre changed for the better. I'm one is those that enjoys dlcs for fighting games and the constant support it gets by the developers.

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

No, except for soccer games, used to play PES hours a day on PS2, now not at all.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Yes, I was never a fan of crpgs and jprgs when I was young. I only played shooters. Now I dabble in everything.

 

[Fbh]

Not really. RPG's have remained my favorite genre ever since I first played Chrono Trigger back when I was 8 or 9.
The only difference is that back when I was younger I was mostly into JRPG's whereas now I like western RPG's just as much.

 

[od-chan]

I used to loove shooters, especially 1.6 and q3a. Even played the former one in a "league" and everything. Naturally I also played a lot of Battlefield 2 and all kinds of other stuff, . The whole scene and the games themselves just changed too much sadly, so no more shooters for me. I consider single player FPS to be boring (except sth like fallout, where shooting isn't actually the main thing) and modern mp fps just cater to the wrong audiences. We should've gatekept this whole thing a lot tighter ):

 

[Bartski]

I'm the opposite, the older I get the more I love squeezing every last drop of 100h+ games, which is why nowadays I skip so many and play only stuff I really enjoy. I'm pretty sure I'll be playing GTA6 way past the platinum unless my girl threatens to dump me. I also really enjoy games considered very hard and just the overall challenge, and that's also relatively new for me. I used to be all about FPS but there is just nothing interesting going on in the genre IMO

 

[amigastar]

I got into Turn based Strategy games pretty late in my gaming career.
Now i love them (XCom and whatnot)
I missed the original Xcom Ufo Defense back in the 90s but played it in 2017.

 

[bender]

First Person Shooters are mostly dead to me, especially in MP. The days of UT99/2K4, Q3A, Tribes 2, Battlefield 1942 seems so long ago...mostly because they are. Single player titles don't fair much better but every once in a while something will delight me like Dusk or Titanfall 2. The genre went from my favorite to one of my least favorites.

 

[Hookshot]

I haven't played an RTS in years but that's because they don't really make them. Got into card games with Balatro and Slay the Spire which is something I'd never have played as a kid.

 

[Codes 208]

Action rpg, shooters, platformers, collectathons, pokemon

Nah, my taste hasnt really changed at all

 

[Days like these...]

Yup sonic went from not sucking to sucking.

 

[Mayar]

I think it will be the same for everyone and with all genres. Games have always changed over time, adapting to the needs of the market.
And yes, I am a fan of RPGs and yes, it hurts me what this genre has turned into in 2024, but from time to time good RPGs come out and heal the wound

 

[Parazels]

I'm indifferent to racing games and 3d platformers in my 40.

 

[applesaucejaxon]

Absolutely!
When I was a kid, I was big into sidescrollers and platformers. By early middle school, I was all about shmups. High school was the age of the fighting game for me. Racing games and open world games - mostly the GTA games - were the bulk of what I played in early college. Then it was sports games toward the end of college. 3rd person adventure games had their hooks in me back when I first got married. Now, 17 years into marriage, all I feel like playing is FPS games. And I'm terrible at them.

I did the 52 games in 1 year challenge here and I mixed it up a bit, but then I went right back to shooters as soon as I hit 52. I can still destroy my kids in Street Fighter 3, though.

 

[Laptop1991]

No, i still like the genres i always have, open world SP games and immersive sim's and FP Shooters, mine haven't changed.

 

[Mayar]

FP Shooters

Of course, I'm old and I still remember the times, Doom, Blood, Quake, Unreal and I can say, they changed and quite a lot. There were times when in shooters you couldn't sit and restore this HP, and in general shooters were faster, more dynamic and more aimed at the player's reaction. Well, maybe you'll only play Call of Duty your whole life, there really isn't much that changes there. Now there is an attempt to return to the roots of old-school shooters, especially indie (Salako, Cultic, Dusk and others) have succeeded in this. But shooters have changed a lot over time.

 

[Laptop1991]

Of course, I'm old and I still remember the times, Doom, Blood, Quake, Unreal and I can say, they changed and quite a lot. There were times when in shooters you couldn't sit and restore this HP, and in general shooters were faster, more dynamic and more aimed at the player's reaction. Well, maybe you'll only play Call of Duty your whole life, there really isn't much that changes there. Now there is an attempt to return to the roots of old-school shooters, especially indie (Salako, Cultic, Dusk and others) have succeeded in this. But shooters have changed a lot over time.

i don't play COD, not since Modern Warfare 1, i wasn't talking about the progression in the various games and mechanics, i played Doom,Half Life and Quake and Wolfenstein back then aswell, i'm talking about them being FPS games where you shoot enemies from a First Person View, they all do that, so i still like FP shooters, as i always have done, your arguing a different point to what i'm saying.

 

[kevboard]

yeah, when I was a kid I mainly loved local MP party style games. Cel Damage, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, splitscreen shooters like Perfect Dark, Nightfire, Time Splitters 2 etc.

as I grew older Action Adventures quickly became my favourite genre.
and by action adventures I mean real action adventures, not Uncharted.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Not really. I play mostly the same type of games (and in many cases, literally the same games) as I have for decades.

I think in some cases I don't have a choice and the market has moved away from me, ie they do not make certain style games any longer (though in recent years there is a massive resurge of genres that big business has left to die in bizarre fashion).

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Yeah I used to be the most into JRPGs like Final Fantasy games, adventure games like The Legend of Zelda. FPS like Halo 1 and 2 but now my favorite genre are WRPGs with Fallout and Elder Scroll games thanks to the mods.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

nope, not one bit.

 

[ReBurn]

No, mine hasn't changed. I'm still into what I was into before. Thankfully indie devs fill in nicely where AAA devs have stopped producing.

 

[Hunter 99]

Mid 30s here,used to love PES and online shooters in my late teens early 20s now I don't play either.

I like Survival horror still (will always be my number 1 genre)but enjoy the soulsborne games and imitations.last one being Lies of P which was amazing.

Wukong next for me this month and then nothing until kingdom come deliverance 2 in feb

 

[jshackles]

I became a father a few months ago, and I found myself incapable of (and not enjoying) games that require an incredible amount of time to progress. For example, I was playing BG3, but even though I liked it, I could not see myself playing the same game for months just to complete the campaign.

Lately, I have been playing RTS games like Total War and aRPGs (first time!), and I'm enjoying it because I can do a quickie before bed and feel that I have progressed somewhere.

What about you? Any similar experiences?

I'm not sure if this is an "as I got older" scenario, so much as a "I just had kids and don't have a lot of free time" scenario. When my kids were born, I was in the same boat and didn't have time to play my favorite genre (JRPGs) because they took so much time to finish. I ended up playing a lot of games that could be done quickly. Consoles didn't have suspend functions back then, so I also ended up playing a lot of retro games where I could do save states to quickly save/load my progress on something.

When the Nintendo DS came out in 2004, it was a godsend as I could close the lid and come back later to the exact same spot. This was also around the time my kids started going to school, so I had a bit more free time than before. This also meant my kids were at the age where I was playing a lot of games like Mario Kart that could be finished quickly with them. But, I could also open up my DS and play stuff like Dragon Quest remakes or 4 Heroes of Light.

As the kids got older, I found myself with more and more free time - and found myself inevitably returning to JRPGs. In 2024 alone I've played (and finished) Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, Romancing Saga 2, Visions of Mana, Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeneance, Crystal Project, Unicorn Overlord, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Trails of Cold Steel, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Octopath Traveller II, and Like a Dragon Gaiden.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

I grew up on Quake, enough said. I'm so royally fucked...

 

[reinking]

Yes. I hardly ever play FPS anymore. Especially online. I also stopped playing MMOs. Mostly because IMO they suck these days.

 

[XXL]

Over the last 10 years or so, I don't really care about genres.

I think gaming is the best when you constantly change the genres you play.

Even just design decisions make a difference. For example, sometimes I get burnt out on open world games and when I take a break and play something more linear (or just not open world) I appreciate coming back to open world games.

 

[LectureMaster]

I guess the most stark change is I pretty much lost interests in competitive multiplayer games, due to time constraints, duller reflection, etc.

 

[cormack12]

I can do a quickie before bed....

That's called getting older.

But yes, now I'm mature and self sustainable I find myself enveloping myself in WEGs

 

[mafon2]

Not that much, I think. In 90s/00s I played turn based strategies, point and click adventures and first person shooters, and I continue to do so. Well, maybe less FPSes, and more platformers.

Oh! I've just remembered — managing tycoons. I used to love Theme Hospital and Roller Coaster Tycoon, but now I find them extremely boring. SimCity 4 (and 3), though, holds very well, but mainly because of its style and extremely mostalgic music. I love listening to it, while inspecting my city blocks, it brings me 20+ years back.

 

[protonion]

My tastes are the same but I have developed a zero tolerance for mediocrity.
If I feel a game is wasting my time, it is immediately deleted and traded.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Yeah, I just can't do turned based jrpgs anymore. I tried with the metaphor demo and I need either isometric and working with the environment or real time action.

No bullshit, it depressed me that I fell out of it.

 

[Da1337Vinci]

Still favorite genre or one off are jrpgs.
No time nowadays with playstyle

 

[Griffon]

I like some games in many disparate genres, doesn't mean I'll play anything in those genres. For instance I really love Square JRPGs, it's a lot of games but it doesn't mean I'll enjoy much of the other JRPGs.

 

[simpatico]

Yeah for sure. I used to like adventure games, action games, shooters, sports, fantasy, racing. You name it. Now it's just Vampire Survivors.

 

[CashPrizes]

Only real difference is I play a lot less JRPGs then I did in my youth. On SNES/Genesis and PS1/Saturn I played nearly every JRPG that came to the West. Definitely fell off hard during the PS2 generation, I would still play the Final Fantasies and Phantasy Star Online but not much beyond that.

Really like the Persona 3 remake this year and Unicorn Overlord, so maybe I am coming back around to them.

 

[dreamstation]

Loved sport and fighting games back in the day but can't stand what they've become now. Sometimes simpler = better.

 

[kubricks]

My gaming taste remains remarkably similar since my childhood. I have always preferred role playing games of all sorts, open-world or streamlined, action or turn based, Japan or Western.

As now a father of three children, I naturally no longer have the time to indudge in RPGs for any long gaming sections. Nintendo Switch and Steamdeck changed all that with it's instant pause function and portability. I am still able to complete games that takes hundreds of hours by playing 30mins at a time.

I think the only game genre I no longer plays is fighting games. I don't have the time to practices and I have much slower reaction for that kind of thing.
Funny enough though, I took up actual combat sport in real life (Muay Thai and boxing) and it's a much better replacement for that competitive side of me.

 

[DavidGzz]

80% Multiplayer to 99% single player. I was fine and loved first person but now want games in 3rd person way more.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Action Games to JRPGs to CRPGs

 

[cireza]

They changed.

I can't stand anything that is wasting my time. So I skip all bloated games. I also don't enjoy anymore die & retry formulas, because this is basically wasting my time as well. Overall, I have become incredibly intolerant to any type of bullshit.

So right now, I mainly enjoy RPGs and Turn Based games if they have a good pacing and no bloat, politics nor bullshit. And in terms of action games, I will play shorter/older games. Visual Novels are also good. And anything that triggers some interesting thought process, like puzzle games for example.

 

[Danjin44]

For me not so much, I still very much like JRPG like I use to when I was younger.

 

[Cakeboxer]

- I used to love fighting games, but now i can't stand them anymore. Too many ridiculous super, hyper, mega combos and ultimates.
- Over the shoulder Cinematic action adventures almost made me hate anything 3rd person.
- Loved circuit racing games, but today i only enjoy open world Forza Horizon.

 

[Soodanim]

When I was a kid I loved Streets of Rage 2, Tenchu, MGS, and Goldeneye/Perfect Dark. I didn’t like sports games.

Now I love Streets of Rage 4, Aragami 1, Sekiro, and… Perfect Dark because precious few games follow that design. I still don’t like sports games.

The only real change is that I stopped buying fighting games. Smash stopped having great single player content, Tekken never brought back Tekken Force (although they did something not too dissimilar at one point) and MK went off on a weird direction with characters, killed the ones I liked, and decided tons of movie character DLC was a great idea. I’ve dropped the entire genre.

Edit: Cakeboxer this won’t tag you properly but to add to that: MK’s x-rays became ridiculously long and they ruin the flow of the gameplay. I remember timing a bunch of them in one thread just to prove a point and from one game to the next they had increased quite substantially. Bloated game design.

 

[Nando13]

They changed.

I can't stand anything that is wasting my time. So I skip all bloated games. I also don't enjoy anymore die & retry formulas, because this is basically wasting my time as well. Overall, I have become incredibly intolerant to any type of bullshit.

So right now, I mainly enjoy RPGs and Turn Based games if they have a good pacing and no bloat, politics nor bullshit. And in terms of action games, I will play shorter/older games. Visual Novels are also good. And anything that triggers some interesting thought process, like puzzle games for example.

This one hits close to home. The last bloated game I played was Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and I could not finish it. I haven't touched a 40-hour campaign game since.
The only die-and-retry game that I can play now are Souls game, and they take a toll. Otherwise, unless they are very forgiving (e.g., some roguelites like Hades), I have to skip them.