February 2024

Video Game Backlog Chronicles: Little Learnings and Wins

I will be updating this as I play games!

I like tactics games. I wrote about this a bit when I began playing XCOM, but it has only held firm since.

I don’t like Skyrim and that’s okay. I highlight the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim not to bash a game that is beloved by many, many people, but to let it go. When I started this backlog project, Skyrim was the first game I started playing. In an effort to push outside my comfort zone (I typically do not like open world games), I thought I would start with a classic. A game so good people play through multiple times. One that has spawned thousands of modders. A game that is still bought over 10 years after release. It is constantly on top games list and is many of my friends favorite game of all time. How could I not like it?! Well, I don’t. I gave it 15 hours. I tried picking it numerous times over 6 months and it never stuck with me. I have a few truly magical moments (ever walk in on a vampire by accident?), but I got bored by most of the world interactions and frustrated with the combat. A big part of playing the backlog is letting go of perceived prestige or “the gamers games” that are reserved the real gamers. That there are games you have to play or else you aren’t a “real” gamer. To me, Skyrim was always one of these games. Now, I don’t care.