I’ve been playing video games for more than 25 years, so I can say I have a pretty decent knowledge of how video games of various genres work. But obviously, this wasn’t always the case. After playing simpler children’s games on an old Sega console, my family got a PC when I was around 10-years-old. This opened the door for a lot more complex and varied games that I had not experienced before. And as a kid who didn’t know English (and games wouldn’t get translated to my native language), this meant I did not know what the hell I was supposed to do in a lot of games. But despite that, I have a lot of fond memories from them.
The first time I truly noticed this was a few months ago, when I picked up Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. I remember playing this when I was maybe nine or 10-years-old. I could only understand very basic English and some gaming terms. With no prior experience in CRPGs or Dungeons & Dragons, I had no concept of quests, stats, specializations, or other complicated RPG mechanics. However, I remember spending hours upon hours in Neverwinter Nights. I would create new characters, try different classes, and go through the game again and again. It was such a different experience from platformers or adventure games I used to play that it became one of my favorite games from my childhood.
Jumping 20 years forward, I pick up the game again. I was excited to relive the nostalgia, this time with my years of genre knowledge and as a veteran D&D player. I create my character and start to go through the tutorial area. The Academy, if you are familiar with the game, takes you through the basics of combat, magic, various interactions, and ends with a simple boss fight where a group of enemies take off with some magical creatures that the mages need to develop a cure against the plague that is ravaging the city of Neverwinter. After these events, Neverwinter Nights truly begins. And to my surprise, this is when my memory of the game ends.
I realize that all the times I played this game as a kid, I never went beyond the tutorial area. From the hours of content that the original campaign offers, I only played through the first 30 minutes over and over again. But funnily enough, I loved it. And it makes sense that I couldn’t progress further. After you leave the academy, you enter the larger city, and the rails are off. You have to explore, talk to NPCs, and do quests on your own. Without understanding the language and knowing the RPG mechanics of the era, the rest of the game just didn’t make sense to me. I played the tutorial over and over again since it was a linear, clear path. I fought against the group of enemies at the end, and that was it. This was my expectation of a video game back then, and I got what I wanted from the tutorial in Neverwinter Nights.
This got me thinking that in today’s gaming scene, I couldn’t really say I played and loved Baldur’s Gate 3, for example, if I only played through the Nautiloid over and over again. And in the darker corners of the internet, like Reddit, my gamer-ness would be questioned if I admit to playing these games “wrong”. But it wasn’t always like this.
When I got internet access as a kid, one of my favorite games of the time was Age of Empires II. I was not really good at it. I played a lot of RTS games as a kid, but I treated them more like a casual city builder. I was intrigued by the idea of playing Age of Empires II online, and while the thought of playing against other players was intimidating, I gave it a try. I vividly remember the game. I started against a random player and tried to communicate with my broken English at the time. They were from Brazil, and I was in Iran, so literally on the opposite side of the world. They quickly realized I suck at the game, but instead of steamrolling me and defeating me in a few minutes, we started to chat more. They taught me about counter units and improving my economy. They just chilled in the game for upwards of an hour, letting me build up on my own pace, guiding me through it, and ultimately, we had an epic fight with large armies. I lost, obviously, but that hour-long game remains as one of my favorite moments of online gaming.
When I was a kid, it was fun to suck at games. But now, it can be frustrating, and even considered insulting in most multiplayer games. I don’t play too many online games now. And those that I sometimes enjoy are older games, such as Classic World of Warcraft, or even still, Age of Empires II, that have a much more welcoming community in my experience. Sucking in modern games is actually harder, too. Tutorials have come a long way. They don’t assume genre knowledge on behalf of the players, explain every mechanic clearly, and guide them every step of the way if they need help. This is obviously an amazing aspect of accessibility in modern gaming, but I do miss the feeling of being clueless and still enjoying a game.
I had never played the original Gothic games back in the day. But I’ve always heard about them. So with the Gothic 1 Remake, I was excited to experience the iconic title for the first time. I started the game, completely fresh, and was surprised and even intrigued by the lack of a tutorial. That’s when I decided I’m not going to look at any online guides. I’m going to experience the game, as I would have as a kid. Except for the language barrier, of course. Scraping for any tiny bit of ore nugget, struggling to fight off the easiest enemies, getting bullied by the NPCs, stuff that could be infuriating for a modern gamer, I started to enjoy them again. It’s fun to suck at Gothic 1 Remake.
It’s a unique and precious feeling in modern games to suck and still be able to have fun. I wish we embraced it and accepted it more. I haven’t been able to put my finger on the secret formula in these games that makes them fun even when you suck at them. But whatever it is, we need more games to be like it. The gaming community’s perception also plays a large part in this. We need more gamers to be like my Brazilian opponent, who, instead of bullying or harassing me, actually helped me learn and get better in the game. Everyone sucks when they start playing games for the first time or start playing a new genre. If we want our hobby to grow, we specifically need those new players to have as much fun as possible.
