Well if you don't even want to install them... Its okay to just run a few quick matches and log off. You've gamed for a long time? Take it easy, its a marathon not a sprint.

I've seen comments making comparisons to old and new gaming industry. They don't do story as well any more. What I find is they don't do marketing the way that appeals to me anymore either. If I want to be excited about a game, I have to read about it slowly and find wallpapers and concept art. I have to lead myself to the water before I can drink. I hype myself up about it!

One really extreme example of this is Runescape special accounts where youtubers like never leave one area, or do hardcore ironman, or play on one square at a time or whatever. I can take one tenth of that energy and make my gaming more interesting.

Nothing sticks in my mind anymore. I tried to reinstall CP2077 and do a replay, but ultimately each time i exit it gets harder to start up and resume. I struggle to bother remembering which part of the story im am at. 20 years ago i would get "tetris effect" from pretty much any game I play; daydreaming about an RPG im playing, see tetris blocks falling into place, etc. Nowadays I don't even get that with literal Tetris Effect.

It may be work life, stress etc. But part of myself just feels gaming is missing that old multiplayer feel where a whole bunch of us are in the Computer Science Lab, installing Doom 3 on the lab machines and playing til they kick us out at midnight. I'm also missing that feel of a whole bunch of us huddled in a McDonalds playing Mario Kart DS multiplayer, screaming so loud when someone triggers a lighting bolt, that the store manager essentially banned us from playing there ever again.

As for games like 2077, the sad realization is that the denouement leaves the me kinda confused more than anything. so many games I finish now leave me checking online to ask "What was that?"

I feel old now.

I've been through a bunch of life phases and gaming has basically been a part of all of them. Definitely, over time, the thrill of a new game is a bit more subdued than when you were a kid because you have done it so many times, and I'll admit, if a game doesn't immediately grab me, I probably will bounce off it. I have a ton of games that I still play from gen 2-6 if I need to feel nostalgic. But I realized that I have trouble committing to games that feel too samey as the most recent ones I've played. If I play a JRPG, I have to follow that up with a platformer, followed by an indie game, followed by a Sony 3rd person shooter. Fighting games are also great pallet cleansers. Sounds like you're depressed, and you should really spend time in nature and remember what and how you found joy in the past with gaming.

I have ADHD and find it difficult to get into new games unless they're multi-player games I can play with my friends.

I find that this only happens to me in relation to AAA titles. I just don't have time to put 60 hrs into a game.

But since I started playing indies I feel like rejuvenated

Currently I'm playing way less and almost refuse to do any grinding activities. I don't play multilayer anymore except local console such as FIFA or Super Smash. When I'm alone at home I do mostly single player and I like short indie games the most. I'd rather pay 20$ for a 10 hour indie game than 50$ for a 150 hour open world grind. I'll not play run around and grind like never Assassin's Creed games but Hades was fantastic.

Takes Two and Cuphead have been great with the wife but I really want to play something like Cyberpunk even though I'll probably never finish it.

For we now it's more Paper's Please and Undertale with occasional Elden Ring and Cities Skylines sprinkled in between.

Great games feel fewer and farther between after this long. Yes, you get a Witcher 3, or Baldur's Gate, or Zelda sometimes. But really, and it sounds fucked up to frame it this way, they're merely excellent. And I've played a lot of excellent games, so unless one is on a tier never before experienced by anyone on Earth, eventually things feel less special for some reason. It's fair to say that some games are innovative, but they are very few. The best we usually get is stuff we've seen before, just insanely well polished/tweaked on ocassion. Ultimately, there's not a lot new if that makes sense. It's sort of a been there done that vibe, and it's probably just a sign you've played too much good shit. Like an addict that has hit the same pipe too many times lol.

There are two things that worked for me when I was in your situation:

• Playing with friends, of course it applies only to multilayer games and scheduling free time for two or more people could be difficult but it works so well for this problem. We have a WhatsApp group to coordinate some gaming nights and play rocket league, age of empires 2, cs go, overwatch and others, recently we are replaying DS3 next will be elden ring when the dlc drops.

• Review games. I know it sounds absurd but I put some effort into creating an excel sheet with all the games I played and I reviewed them on what I think are the most significant aspects (characters design, level design, story, gameplay loop, graphics, sound, optimization just to name a few) I reached several reviews of the sheet and now it's very complete and complex. I like to complete games, fill the form and add them to the list, I usually complete at least the main quest, anyway Icontinue to play the game until I'm satisfied and I've elaborate a score for each category. This helped me reasoning on the game development, what it wants to tell me, the evolution of the gaming industry, I've figured out what I like and what not, all of this combined with the the genuine excitement about starting a new game to add to the list it's what re-enabled my passion when I was stucked like you are.

I hope this can help you. Send me a private message if you want to add me on steam and play sometimes or if you want a copy of the spreadsheet!

I was more curious at beginning, then I become addicted to MMOs so gaming become focused, while playing casual other games as break from MMOs. Fortunately I defeat my addiction but now I lost interest in gaming, I see many titles but I don't see any point to play. I remember playing for sharing fun was my deal, PlayStation one with friends then MMOs with guilds and virtual friends. But addiction kicks hard with the needs to grind and grind, to like give at this friends a golden guild-hall, but at what cost? Real life where anything as grow, only misery.

The problem for me is that Im overwhelmed. Theres just too many games coming out. I just got through God Of War Ragnarok after it sat on my shelf for almost a year. Im glad I did though, I liked it. I kinda want to go back to Guild Wars 2 and check out the halloween event but I also just started my first Diablo 4 playthrough. Spiderman 2 looks like its pushing the medium forward so I want to try that too. Oh and Starfield, the game Ive been waiting for 5 years? Forget it. A new Forza game is out and Ive played all the previous ones so...

Its come to the point where I welcome delays and hallipy accept when a game gets shat during reviews because It just means I dont have to worry about it now or even play it when it comes out.

True. However, you’d be getting paid to do stuff like one square at a time, so that’s a job. Not just playing for fun.

Not at all, but I don't buy many games. I try to play demos before purchasing the game, if possible.

Depends on the game...

Really enjoying Gotham Knights currently...

Certainly didn't have any trouble getting into Red Dead 2.

I have struggled to stick with Cyberpunk 2077 though... Haven't tried getting back in since this recent update though.

You are just getting older. You cant expect to keep doing the same thing over and over and get the same high from it. Chasing the dragon. You need to include fresh, new experiences to liven things up. You'll always ennoy games to some degree, but you will never get the aame satisfaction from it that you did when you were tounger and it was fresher.

I mostly play indies now as I can get new experiences with them. I buy an AAA title less than once a year on average now

I find that as I get older, I struggle trying to keep up with players in high competition games...games like CoD, Halo, even Rocket League I simply cannot get better no matter how much I try. I used to enjoy those kinds of games when I was younger but it makes me a little sad to know I can't play them...

So I play single player RPGs or Co-op.....I'm an absolute sucker for Starfield and similar games

I'm totally not interested in the stories much at all anymore. Video game story-telling has always been pretty cringe, but as a kid and teen I didn't think so. Go back and play some games I genuinely liked the story for back in the day and I can't stand them now. I prefer games that are just fun to play. Most popular games these days are simply not fun to play. They are entirely focused on their storytelling and use light gimmicks or have repetitive gameplay that gets boring well before the story finishes, making it a chore just to hear the story.

I have some titles I play a lot and some what often. Other are just for fun to break it up. I don't know if I am going to play it forever or just for a couple of days.

I have been playing games since 1980 or so and never have trouble picking up new games to play. Gamepass is awesome that way, I get to try a host of new games each month and one or two stick for weeks, months or longer. I almost never go back to previous games, apart from expansions of course.

I lost interest in new releases a while ago. I mainly play retro games now but I did try the new robocop and it was great. I will be getting that day 1 and it will be the first time I played a new release in years.

I did for a few years there would try rush through games and didn't realise that's why I wasn't enjoying them. Now especially with story driven games I take my time, shut off my second monitor which usually has YouTube or a series playing and pay attention to the game have enjoyed it more than I thought, maybe I'm just getting old.

I spent countless hours playing games and getting excited as hell with new launches or even just getting on. Nowadays I play maybe 1 or 2 games a year and If I actually finish them it's very rare. I could blame a busy life but honestly there's just no spark and I could speculate for hours why but truthfully I don't know why.

I've played games since the 80s. Time has been my biggest issue with playing stuff. I got a steam deck last year. It has been great. I can pick it up, turn it on and unpause my game and continue during a free moment. This makes it much easier than having to start up a PC and then launch a game.

People grow out of stuff. Maybe try making games. Find a different type like ttrpg.

Yea I wouldn’t bother with games post 2010. Just have a solid RvR open mmo from before 2010.

I haven't gamed for a "long" time, as I got into it when I got my 1st laptop like 5 years ago... And I can't say that I feel the burnout yet, especially with great games like Baldur's gate 3 being released this year