I think the biggest thing that has reduced my excitement for new releases is the lack of rentals and demos. When I was a kid, every weekend I would go to Blockbuster to get the newest cool game then go to the corner store to load up on junk food and play the hell out of that game for a weekend.

10-20$ for an awesome weekend of gaming even with a friend sometimes is an amazing value proposition. 80$ or more when I don’t even really have that kind of disposable income for a game that I may not even enjoy? That’s a harder expenditure to rationalize.

Though I do find myself still getting excited for new releases though. Not usually for new games but for new dlc. Every time a new expansion for Stellaris comes out I am super excited, I bought and played Phantom Liberty day 1. I am already invested in those and paying another 20-40$ to be able to enjoy more of them is fantastic. If a dlc comes out for BG3 I will definitely pick it up and another strong example for this are many of the dlcs for the Borderlands games always excited to get them or I will just straight up by the whole complete edition again just to play them all.

I just think as we get older and have other priorities in life the things we look for change you know?

I picked up the remastered trilogy and I was like “yeah I love these games I will try to 100% all three!” After the third stage in the first one I realized that was not going to be an easy task.

To this day I am still yet to get through the monster hunter character creation. That boss is just too strong.

Cyberpunk 2077 and Shadowrun Dragonfall. (Yes I played the first of the trilogy but it wasn’t until dragonfall that they really hit their stride.)For one cyberpunk actually was fine for me on release I didn’t have the same issues everyone else was having. But I honestly live and breath the Cyberpunk genre. I read the books, watch the shows and movies, play the table top RPGs. I even wish the real world would become more cyberpunk( I would be down if Walmart owned my little city). So any chance I get to live in those words I am usually so happy.

For the age I was at the time. Being like 10 years old and playing the forest temple in OOT that temple is actually terrifying, with the hands that drop and grab you from the ceiling. The twisting corridors and many other things that just pop out at you. Also the music of when you start to get close to the ghosts is honestly eerie.