When I was younger, I often played video games to 100% completion. It became an obsession: the more complex the game, the more fun it was to find every hidden nook and collect every major item. Nowadays, even when I want to complete a game 100%, I lose patience for it. Only a handful of my favorite games have ever been completed 100%, and not for lack of trying.

Businesses love to pack their games to the gills with features, add-ons, and hidden stories that encourage replayability. Not all games do this, but many try. And most are trying to build to the demands of modern gamers. I’ve never understood the time sinking that some players can do with online games like WoW or Minecraft, but I understand the underlying concept: the game is fun because there’s always something else to do.
Unfortunately, I’m more of a “let’s see what all there is to do and do it” kind of player. I want there to be a reasonable end to the amount of gameplay I can experience. I want the amount of collectible items in a game to be relatively achievable and not a 20-hour chore.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve also had less energy outside of work, my dog, and spending time with friends to enjoy longer games. Instead, I’ve started to build an appreciation for shorter games or for skippable items. When I do want a game that is condensed, I tend to go back to older games like The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask for the 3DS.

I know it originally came out on the N64, and I remember having to pay extra for an expansion pack so that I could play it. However, the remake for the 3DS had a lot of quality-of-life changes that made the game, in my opinion, a gaming juggernaut. It cleaned up issues with their save mechanic, which, although made extremely limited in the beginning to fit the game’s story, was amended with regular save locations scattered across the world map and at the beginning of each dungeon. They polished up the graphics, added some nice moments that fleshed out character interactions (not many, but I always get sentimental when Romani hugs Link after she’s already given him the Romani Mask; it’s a sentimental moment and it feels very comforting for a character that has suffered so much in the game).

One of the things I’ve repeatedly remarked to friends about the Majora’s Mask game is the fact that most of the masks that you can collect will tell a story. The writing for the game and the side quests feels tight without being restrictive. You can choose to play and do everything or you can focus on the main story with little hassle. The game rewards you for exploring and challenges you with unique themes. It has a slightly darker plot that carries a lot of fan theories connected to the stages of grief and the fear of death. To me, it allows you to think more deeply about the story and how it affects you as a person.

I miss games that tell a compelling story in a condensed amount of time. I just recently played one that felt nice and enjoyable, named The Spirit of the North, where you play a fox trying to help clean the mountains of a toxic presence. It was nice, and I enjoyed the gameplay. It didn’t capture me the same way I’d hoped, but for $5 it was a wonderful experience and a worthwhile purchase. I’m hoping that, if I ever feel compelled to build a video game, I can do something similar by injecting the same kind of curiosity, exploration, storytelling without the need for lengthy dialogue, and whimsy that genuinely made playing the game fun. If you have the chance, feel free to give it a try. I wouldn’t say it’s groundbreaking, but it’s a wonderful breath of fresh air. And based on the current climate, I think we could all use one.