One of the main things that has prevented me from completing almost any game that I play all the way to the finish is one major obstacle: I am an adult with a job and other responsibilities and I cannot devote my life to being excellent at a game.
I think that most adults end up this way especially if they have kids or really any sort of responsibilities that take priority in their life as far as their time is concerned.
There are a lot of great stories out there about epic games such as Witcher 3 and RDR2 and many others. While I appreciate these games and recognize them for the masterpieces that they are, I have never come even close to completing them because life got in the way.
When I hear things like "git gud" it is very insulting and infantile to me. I'm not a bad gamer, I just have changed over time as my life takes on responsibilities that children and young adults simply do not have.
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Recently, you might have noticed that I have been writing quite a lot about Nobody Save the World and how this game really appeals to me. The main reason why this is the case is because you don't really ever NEED to "git gud" in order to enjoy it. The controls are simple, it doesn't use all 27 buttons on the controller, and the commands are right there on screen any time you boot the game up. While this likely seems too easy to people that enjoy a hardcore experience - and I hold nothing against you if that is what you like - for me, this sort of game is perfect.
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So any time that I don't play for several days in a row I don't feel as though I need to go through the tutorial again in order to even know what to do. I remember when trying once again to get into GOTY Witcher 3 every time I would take a few days off from playing I would jump back in only to realize that I was mad-button-mashing and had to constantly refer to the controls section to do something simple like summon my horse. I just don't remember this many things because since I have to remember so many things that supersede the importance of gaming in my regular life, things like remembering all the controls to a game get pushed out of my brain.
I recall that in that particular game you had 2 swords on you: one was more effective against spirits or supernatural enemies and the other was more effective against anything "normal" such as wolves or men. I would NEVER remember which was which after taking a few days off.
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This is too much stuff for me to remember unless I am playing this game every single day. Maybe I have sort of mental deficiency and remembering and remembering 17 different buttons is just easy peasy to others out there. To me, and trust me I am not bagging on the game and recognize that it is a great game, this is just too much. This is why as soon as I took a few days off playing W3 I actually started to dread "relearning" the controls when I would fire it back up. Then when I did fire it back up I also had to contend with not really knowing where the hell to go and getting my ass handed to me by enemies because I forgot rather crucial aspects of the game such as locking on to a single opponent. Things like that slip my mind when I have other things that I must tend to in my life.
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This controller setup interface always makes me laugh because if we eliminate the obvious directional buttons, there are only 2 buttons that are the same for each character. The rest of it you would just kind of figure out by messing about for a bit. It's never frustrating because you can literally not play this game at all for months and jump straight back in there like you were never away. Your "learning curve" is very short whereas in other games if you walk away for a long period of time, you probably would be better off just starting the entire game over.
I have done this multiple times with long games like W3 and RDR2 only to repeat the cycle of taking a small break of few days, then getting back in there and being completely lost, then deleting the game again. I am convinced I will never actually complete either of those games even though they aren't actually all that difficult.
There are other difficult games such as Hollow Knight that because of the control scheme, it is actually quite easy to jump in and out even after weeks or even months away.
Maybe I am just not hardcore enough to ever enjoy the more difficult games in existence. When it comes to any "Souls-like" games you can basically just forget about it, I'm never going to "git gud" at something that not only requires knowing a ton of buttons, but also having pinpoint accuracy as far as parries are concerned.
For all intents and purposes, and despite the fact that I own 3 major modern consoles, I simply do not dedicate a huge amount of my life to gaming. In fact, there are many days that I decide to not game even though I definitely have time.
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I am a filthy casual and I am perfectly ok with that. If you are a casual like me, I think you would probably enjoy a lot of the games that I do as well. Am I missing out on an epic journey by not delving more into the harder and more complicated games? Maybe. When I was younger and didn't have responsibilities I probably would have taken the time to get better at them but these days, I honestly don't really care if I am.
How about you?
I understand you completely. There are obviously players that commit more to the game and to them anything less than their performance level or comparable is an insult. I've often struggled to meet others gameplay criteria before realizing that I just have a better time playing a game at my own pace. This often led to a melt down from the other players but it was too much drama to deal with anymore. I started having fun playing the game again instead of 'gitting gud'.
'Git Gud' has become a general phrase. I think, to understand the game mechanics instead of 'mix/maxing' or knowing the exact timing of when an enemy attack swings and the frames to dodge it and do an elevated backhop to instantly chop off their head.
It's also just a simple answer to any gameplay related question on a forum instead of actually trying to solve a problem or provide legible advice for the player.
Playing a game at ones own pace makes for happier gameplay.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about 'Git Gud'! It's a silly Dark Souls term that has invaded other communities and has set a standard that most games don't actually require.
You are absolutely correct. If you check just about any forum anywhere on the internet some jerk is going to say it, it's just cliche now and doesn't even mean anything anymore other than the person that is saying it is an a**hole and not only that, but they aren't very creative either.
I rarely play any sort of online co-op games with strangers because they get so toxic so fast. When I was playing Guild Wars 3 I would get into dungeon groups with people that without telling me beforehand, were speed-running the dungeon and would get upset that I didn't know the protocol for doing this. I had only ever been there a couple of times. They didn't have to berate me for long, i left on my own because it wasn't fun. I don't understand that whole bypassing of almost everything that a dungeon/level has to offer just to get a more rapid chance at the reward at the end - which normally isn't even good anyway.
If that is what "gitting gud" is, I would rather not partake.