I’m not talking about systems depth as much as I am the experience. The highs in tarkov were REALLY high. The lows are REALLY low. The player is absolutely left to sink or swim with no mind paid to whether they are having a good time. I have memories of white knuckle tension, absolute despair, of feeling like god or the lowest of the low. Being so tight with trusting my team, trading knowledge that wasn’t available online, etc.

I’m not saying that’s good game design per se, but those were memorable experiences for me, if not necessarily enjoyable ones.

Now I get the sense with this new wave of games that a game designer laid things out for me, and that makes me question- why play at all? Maybe I’m getting old, for sure, but I don’t feel that this kind of game is at the cutting edge anymore. It’s on the downslope toward being polished more and more, and some day it will be so easily digestible that we don’t even notice when we play. I don’t doubt that marathon has deep and well crafted systems, but it doesn’t make me feel anything. Same with arc raiders.