For the most part, we all love the blockbuster hits and games that deliver superb quality, so why do we spend time with the ones that don’t?

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Chances are if you’ve been gaming even a little bit, you will easily become familiar with the names of game franchises that are known for quality, excellence, and fun. While some people can debate the subjectivity of fun, I think quality is a little more cut and dry. You can tell a polished game from one filled with stiff controls, janky gameplay, obtuse designs and an overall product that just seems to lack any cohesion. So why do we subject ourselves to these games if they don’t quite add up?

Before I get into this discussion, I would like to voluntarily throw my hands up and admit that I am extremely guilty of this. Some people can spot something in a game a mile away; whether it be a feature, design choice, graphics, etc, and they will decide then and there at that moment that the game is not for them. End of discussion. But I do my best to look at games as a puzzle, each piece being a different component of the game itself. You can be missing a few pieces, but ultimately, you can see the image or whatever the final product is. Combat might be a slog, but the writing could be excellent, or vice versa. Perhaps the game touches on some excellent themes, but the characters and their interactions and dialogue seem jarring and out of context. It’s also worth noting that these ‘pieces’ of the game are not always equal.

I’ve played plenty of games and there’s quite a decent amount that aren’t the run of the mill AAA experience or polished as well as they could be. If I’m interested in it, I’ll find a way to take each aspect of the title for what it’s worth, and then at the end, reassess the game. I’ve found a number of titles that some parts are solid, while others are just not quite as strong. I’m not saying they are awful or unplayable messes (which those games certainly do exist), but they are more of a double-edged sword in terms of good and bad. The latest example is a title I am currently playing, I Am Setsuna. An ode to retro JRPGs, I Am Setsuna seems to embody the look and feel of the JRPGs of yesteryear, without the substance and charm. But I take a step back and analyze the world within the confines of the game, and it’s a morose, dreary place (so far, at least), so I can see why it lacks flair. In fact, I find the somber ambience intriguing as I’m curious to uncover the apparent plot twist that is seemingly within my grasp.

Two more examples are Crystar and Death end re;Quest. Both games are similar in that they are clearly AA JRPGs and it shows, I feel each has its strengths and weaknesses, despite the overall product being just OK in my opinion. Death end re;Quest had pretty good writing and did a good job worldbuilding, despite the world and story being somewhat convoluted. Crystar on the other hand, I felt like the writing was lazy, and it did nothing to improve the already lackluster characters and their typical tropes. While they both felt stiff and bland in their combat and super generic dungeon designs, Crystar was better at showing the growth (and alternate twists) that characters experienced by the end, Death end re;Quest seemed to hope you liked the characters as they were, and they rarely broke away from their tropes for growth or improvement. In the end though, neither could be saved from its okay-ness. Are they bad games? No, far from it. I enjoyed my time with each, and they both touched on some good themes, and had some decent music to boot. It just seems like the general consensus is either games are great like TLOU or they are God awful, and the grey area is becoming increasingly thinner.

What’s the point then? Well, the bottom line is…play what you want! Not every game is going to have a GTA V budget (×3, damn you Rockstar Games), not every racer is going to be GT/NFS/Forza, not every PS Exclusive is going to be God Of War or TLOU2, and not every RPG is going to be Final Fantasy or Skyrim. There are a plethora of games out there that are good in some ways, and that are simply just fun but easily get overshadowed.

Battlechasers: Nightwar was AWESOME, and if you asked me a year ago what the hell a Battlechasers was I wouldn’t said I don’t know what on earth that is. Did it do anything new and inventive? No, not really, but it was just a solid game and it was fun to play. And if you are having fun, then screw what the person next to you thinks. But I say if you have the patience and time, give some new games a chance, you’d be surprised at what you may end up enjoying.

Game on.