Second Chances

Deus Ex is a video-game I still think about to this day. It's world, music, voice acting (granted, that last one's often for silly reasons). However, I wouldn't give it any thought at all, had I quit on my first playthrough... or second... or third.

Deus Ex is a video-game I love, yet, probably attempted to get into a total of eight times before everything finally clicked. That's a lot of times to have the introduction sequence and initial choice burned into one's memory.

It was actually the same for Metal Gear Solid. The original MGS is a game that top loads its difficulty, in-terms of the health of your character, and the amount of vantage points enemies can spot you from, this works in tandem with the obvious lack of experience a player will have, even more so when that someone is an 18 year old used to modern control schemes.

Yet, it's the same story, I quite like MGS, and ultimately binged the rest of the series after completing that original game.

In some ways, I question why I bother giving games a second chance at all. I mean, I've got more games to play than I have time for, why not just move onto the next if one games' initial playthrough isn't enjoyable?

It's not perfect either, there are times I've given games numerous chances and I still don't come around to them. Witcher 2 and Skyrim are the most obvious examples personally. Both are games I devoted hours and hours too, wanting to like them, rather than actually liking them.

I think it's because subconsciously, in regards to Deus Ex & MGS, I knew something was holding me back. It isn't rare to just not be in the right mindset with a particular game, not unlike watching a Family Drama movie in the midst of real life Family Drama.

So when playing Deus Ex, or Metal Gear Solid, and not getting into them because of clunky controls or dated graphics, I knew something else had to be holding me back, because I've completed and loved old games like Half Life and Max Payne before.

And I was relieved when those games finally clicked, because throwing away something you'd actually love is just... sad.