One of the things that bothers me about being an adult gamer is the element of choice. I’m fortunate enough to have the capability to play the latest games in the best settings possible. That’s great. But too much of something good isn’t good at all.

Lately, I’ve picked up Mafia III. It’s a good story marred by repetativeness in many of the missions. Do I continue the game despite the flaws? Do I wait for a patch? Do I just move on?

The Witcher 3 is another good example. Fantastic game worthy of the “GOTY” title, yet recently traded in my PS4 copy for a PC copy to enjoy the maximum quality graphics. The problem is that I also traded in 20+ hours of gametime, forcing me to start all over again. I can’t bare through repeating the story when all the suprises are already known to me. Unlike a good book or a TV show, I can’t just skip chapters or jump to the next season. I’m stuck with starting all over again.

Something I usually bring up in these posts is my fascination of sims. DCS has taken much of my time, as X-Plane, Train Sim, etc. Even Space Sims like Elite Dangerous or arcade-style “sim” War Thunder is a huge thing for me. There’s no story in any of them, yet I can sink 20 hours into doing nothing but target practice in my A-10C Warthog on a bunch of idle low-armored targets.

Yet what of the other games? Why can’t I invest that same 20 hours into Mafia III or Witcher 3? Why am I just so bored? Why can’t I jump into Overwatch for 3 hours and rank to level 100+ like so many others?

I’m not sure I can answer those questions. I cycle interests so frequently that it’s better to not ask and just go with the flow. Maybe, eventually, I will delete some unplayed games from my hard drive. But until then my sims are what brings me a lot of enjoyment…and I should definitly consider cutting back on my normal gaming purchases since they all end with the same story…me not finishing them :(.