Fear of missing out and not being apart of the conversation
If you’re in the gaming community and reading this, you’re probably very much like me. Always on the hunt for new stories on games, waiting for reviews to drop and there day one on a games release because you want to be apart of the conversation. With games becoming more of a social thing over time, it really becomes a thing of the right time and place to really experience something. It’s a classic watercooler conversation moment that just adds on to the experience. But what happens if not being apart of the “new shiny thing” changes how you view it later on?
I’ve recently started thinking about this topic the past few weeks, but it really came head-on two years ago, but we’ll get to that in a second. I know for a fact I’m not the only one who’s waiting for new episodes of my favorite gaming podcasts daily or weekly to get their insight on the hot topics at hand. I definitely know I’m not the only one anxiously waiting for review scores to drop and see where a game is ultimately going to land in the year’s lineup. (This last fact is doubly so if you’re constantly seeing fanboys duke it out over numbers on X.) Even if it’s something I personally have no interest in, I feel like I need to be sort of “caught up” on things in order to have a full understanding of the gaming community in current times.
Nowadays, there are people and companies that have built their livelihoods on carrying on this idea. People who purely spend their time making content discussing and reviewing games and having deep dive discussions into the ideas behind them. More recently, we’ve seen more and more channels holding “spoilercasts” or spoiler-filled discussions about the game either premiering on the day of release or shortly after. People want to take in as many view points and thoughts as they can as quickly as possible. There’s clearly a very large audience who have formed their own communities around this, so the idea of “FOMO” definitely plays a factor here.
But what happens when you fall behind in that? What happens when you miss out on games that are being well regarded and even go down as some of the best of all time? Does not being apart of the initial wave of hype deteriorate your enjoyment over that thing when you do eventually get to it? Does hearing nonstop praise for sometimes years lead up to a project having unbelievable expectations that just don’t hit? Does the fear of missing out change your overall enjoyment
God of War (2018) and God of War: Ragnarok while similar both have completely different experiences to me
This first crossed my mind years ago when I finally, after 2 years, got around to paying God of War. Now I’ve listened to podcasts, breakdown videos, reaction content—you name it—in the time in between releasing and playing myself. I’ll be honest. I didn’t really care for it. Obviously knowing some of the story beats (managed to stay mostly spoiler-free, on major points) deflates that first impression on you, but it led to other parts of the game standing out for better or worse. I went in expecting this massive game-changing epic that revolutionized how things were back in the day, but instead I got in my eyes at least a pretty by the number action brawler game, which yeah, while pretty and solid and what it does wasn’t blowing me away. I was "whelmed,” not over or under, just played through and never really thought about it again.
Fast forward to the Fall of 2022, and I’m there, day one, Ragnarok preinstalled on my PS5, waiting for that timer to hit 0 and get into the action. Now I didn’t rush through it; it still took me a few weeks to beat the main story, but I was hooked. Everything was fresh and new. The tweaks to combat and overall experience felt like just what I needed to fall in love with this game. Tuning into Kinda Funny or watching videos on YouTube this time felt like I was sharing my thoughts and feelings with others instead of being “told” what my thoughts and feelings should be after the fact. Eventually I finished up my time with the game returning to it when the DLC eventually released, and it sits in my PlayStation catalog with a nice Platinum Trophy next to it while its predecessor sits tucked away with little to show for it.
Would I still feel this way if I were jumping into Ragnarok now in 2024? Would the small changes they made across the board and overall story affect me how it did then if I’ve heard countless stories from others about their time with it? This could really dive deeper into a conversation about influencers and reviewers as a whole, but for now we’ll stick with the topic at hand. Does the fear of missing out alter how I enjoy things?
This past week, as of writing, I booted up The Last of Us on PS5, for you guessed it the very first time. This time, however, was a mixture of reasons. Firstly, it was a lack of resources; I didn’t have a PS3 at the time and got a PS4 shortly before the PS5 launched. On top of that, roughly a year and a half before The Last of Us was originally released, my sister was born and obviously changed my outlook on a lot of things. So the first time I watched gameplay of TLoU, I watched through that opening sequence and immediately “noped” out once “that” happened in the opening hours. Me being a big softie at heart, that scene stopped me immediately from wanting to play this at all. Still thought I’ve spent well over 10 years now hearing how game-changing this is, how this should be one of the top games of all time, and how this changed storytelling as an art form in games. This is quite literally the best PlayStation has to offer! Or was it fear of missing out at the time?
The Last of Us while winning countless awards is something I’m just now experiencing
Instead, I’m met with, at times, anger and frustration. Instead of trying to enjoy a story, I find myself fighting with combat that just isn’t clicking in my head. While I’m still finding charm and reasons to connect with these characters, it’s not to that level where I’ll remember this years down the line. These characters and story beats I’ve been told over and over I should love and appreciate all while doing their jobs don’t emotionally hit me. But what if I was there 11 years ago, playing through with a younger mindset? What if I was part of the wave of pure excitement for Naughty Dog’s latest epic? I guess we’ll never know. Was there ever a chance for me to truly dive headfirst into the beautifully crafted tale of Joel and Ellie, or was it just fear of missing out?
Now I find myself questioning how I should even look at games moving forward. Especially with all the work we’re doing here, is it worth even giving a second glance at older games? Does revisiting lost and forgotten titles hold a candle to being apart of the next big thing? Is there a space where both views can be respected and given proper insight on? It’s definitely a weird spot to be in and has me wondering what other core memories I could’ve had from playing through a game in its prime have I missed out on? Video games are again that special form of media where, as time progresses, the technology you interact with is quite literally advancing and changing out as you personally experience a title. Would the technical limitations of games at their time of release have a change on how I view them?
Thanks for stopping by and checking out our latest article. If you’ve enjoyed this or want to tell us your thoughts on the topic at hand, want to share any games you missed out on, or have a different view, tell us down below or hit us up on X.com/BadlandsBacklog. You can find us elsewhere streaming on Twitch.tv/badlandsbacklog along with our podcast The Download Queue recording live over there each and every Sunday at 4 p.m. PST. Also available on Spotify and YouTube.