To Play Or Not To Play

Elden Ring still tempts me. And I don’t completely know why. There’s no FOMO there. It’s all very self contained and…singular, in a way. It’s something that can be played now or years from now and you likely won’t be spoiled on content or story or, really, anything at all.

The hesitation comes from the history of the studio. I guess it’s a gut vs. impulse feeling. The impulse is to get it right now and start playing it. The gut feeling is that I’ve never enjoyed the kind of game Elden Ring is – just simply based on the studio that made it. They have a type…as it were. They invented a genre. One known for brutal difficulty and constant trial and error.

I have briefly given their previous outings a try. Once with Dark/Demon Souls and then again with Bloodborne. None of these have ever stuck with me. But then you watch reviews of Elden Ring and read people’s impressions and it really wants to pull you in again. But I think I can wait it out.

Something will come along to take its place in the zeitgeist. Something else will lure my attention, but I won’t forget. Because at the right price of entry (for me), temptation will come calling again. And I will give in to it. Maybe to be fooled once more, or maybe to be surprised by how well I take to it.

Either way, I’ll eventually play the game.

Also eventually, I may play another Splinter Cell…Ubisoft, it’s been 3,119 days since the last Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, or VR exclusive).