The Problem With Comfort Gaming

[@ashortginger]

hope you all enjoy the video and take something away from it! if nothing else, I hope the end montage hypes you up

[@LoordeGG]

Hope you read this, if you like Gris, you'll LOVE Journey, it's a older game, but tells a hell of a story, bare with it, the feeling it gives is indescribable. Thanks for sharing your experience, subbed.

[@ashortginger]

Journey is 100% on my list to play soon! it looks incredible, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@nocapsbb]

love when games completely surprise and delight you. sometimes it really is best to go in blind and let the experience take you for a ride

[@kukukachu]

I play games because I'm looking for something The reason I didn't like Gris is because the danger in it is a LIE. I remember finding this out with the sea monster chasing you and after that, the whole rest of the experience felt hollow.

[@rbruch98]

...I really feel baited-and-switched by wordplay here. Games like Gris, or Ori and the Blind Forest are platformers at heart, but are often referred to as "Comfy" or "Comfort Games" - or, games where it doesn't require a huge amount of effort, knowledge, or time to enjoy. Something simple that you can come home after a long day and wind down with similar to a book, where the most difficult part of it is just *doing* it... Unlike the soulslikes that require a huge breadth and depth of knowledge in addition to mechanical prowess. I mean, I clicked and am 'engaging,' but maybe a better title may have been "Gaming outside of your Comfort Zone."

[@ashortginger]

sorry you felt that way! making a title for this video was a huge challenge tbh, and while I definitely would have preferred that title , who knows if the youtube algorithm would have liked it as much :/

[@KrokusOfDagon]

This is such a good essay on how video games can help people that disassociate with their emotions due to trauma, stress, or mental disabilites. Alexithymia is a condition that makes emotions harder to identify and understand, and is very common with people with neurodivergent disabilities such as autism or adhd. Video games and getting attached to certain characters in video games helped me connect and understand and begin to comprehend my emotions in ways i wasnt able to before. Great video, thank you for this.

[@LoordeGG]

My first game was Unreal Tournament, I was 6, played it with my dad in lan matches what felt like most days, it was great. My first "favourite" game didn't come around until little big planet. A completely externally uninfluenced decision. It was pure. Made some great friends playing that back in the day. I hope people can continue to share that kind of experience, and that those kind of special moments don't get washed out by modern marketing and scuffed games. Thank again.

[@liamback.mp4]

Well put there man! Thanks for your honesty! Really like this video. Just goes to show how a lot of people are feeling like this nowadays. Also Daaamn.. the dark part in gris when it goes dark must be an amazing experience when gaming on the steam deck oled. those blacks ♥︎

[@Anon-i2z]

I loved Cyberpunk and Farcry 6 along with Uncharted and Red Dead Redemption 2 These are the best and most enjoyable games i played.

[@Thomas.R.Howell]

This month I decided to say no to my comfort games. To dive into new game experiences. New stories. New worlds. New feelings.

[@AnEmortalKid]

Omg gris is so good

[@Agent0oh]

You bring an interesting point, though I do not believe it’s quite that. For me, my faith and hope in video games - or everything in the creative industry, really - have dwindled and still continue so, because they no longer have something that they did before: a soul. When you create something and put your entire being into it, your audience can sense it, especially subconsciously. A drop in quality can be pretty indicative of it, for a person who puts everything from themselves takes care in manifesting what they have envisioned as opposed to cheapening it at every step of the way. Every detail, every sound, every word, concept and world building, philosophy - they have this energy behind it that you can’t explain. That’s what separates the games from today and before, and especially from many (not all) indie and triple A’s. How can you expect any work of creation to have a soul when you prioritize material gain (money, fame, etc.)? How can you expect someone like that to produce such works when they don’t even understand them, and in fact, are so out of touch with their own humanity, or simply seize to care about what they are doing? Right now, you can at most catch segmented slivers of someone’s soul: a great quest in a sea of pointless and mindless other ones, a lone character that stands out from the rest in the game, a well thought out, single gameplay mechanic that shines brighter than the rest of it, or a beautiful oasis in the sea of mud. I work in the creative industry, and all I see and encounter is that: commercialization of everything you can think of (micro transactions are very indicative of that), and sweeping quality under the rug in favor of manipulation and profit - to greed. The top brass and sales people - people who have zero understanding of creation and art - dictate to you what content they want produced and not what work should be created. Even the language and words have been muddied in favor of profitability in every industry - everything is just “content,” and you “produce” it like a soulless machine at a factory. Interesting, really, how the language itself reflects this dehumanization because the exact same things are happening in writings, art, movies, tv, and anything else you can think of. So it isn’t really the burnout of just the proverbial french fries - although it does play a role - I just think this burnout is far deeper than you think, as spirituality, meaning, and just being able to meaningfully connect with other people - all of it is at an all time low, and has been steadily declining.

[@MLPRainbowFantasy]

It sounds like you filled in some things regarding this game since it had nothing to do with depression but nice different people can see different things in art like games.

[@dragonemperorgeoff1593]

I like the kill cams in bethesda games. Skyrim and warframe have cool stories but the main thing i like about gaming is making strong character builds.

[@Discokrieg]

For me, the only expectation I really have is for the game to be fun. If I can have fun, I can get through the game no problem.

[@Erolore]

I have Gris downloaded, but I haven't gotten around to playing it.

[@BWpepperr]

Really great video. Great script, solid delivery with varied inflection, and great points. Thank you

[@iggswanna1248]

you have so many videos, how is it possible that u only have 600 subs!! good job loved the video man+

[@ashortginger]

thank you! just waitin for the algorithm to bless me lol

[@iggswanna1248]

@@ashortginger i hope it starts. im just a guy in portugal getting your feed in. must mean something.

[@unclecolkie]

Man... Gris is such a beautiful game on so many levels. I absolutely love it. Thanks for this thoughtful video. It made me think about the different reasons I play games and it really made me want to play Gris again. And Outer Wilds. Those are two of my all time favorites.

[@ashortginger]

Glad you enjoyed it! Outer wilds is one I want to make a video one someday when I find the words to do so

[@Royaldeepsc85]

Good video and great game. I’m confused with the title, as Gris would be considered a comfort/cozy game

[@ashortginger]

More was meant to be about how other “comfort” games had me burnt out and led me to gris

[@Ness315]

Keep it up these videos are exceptional

[@hggggggggr]

I loved the video! Can you please tell me which game is that one at 5:45? Thanks in advance, I loved that combat

[@ashortginger]

it's assasins creed valhalla! glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@MrDioDread]

Had very similar experience with the Signalis, few months ago :)

[@ashortginger]

Ooh signalis is on my backlog!

[@DVAted]

dude your videos should have a ton more views and likes. consider me subscribed with the bell on

[@ashortginger]

thank you! much appreciated :)

[@MrGerold101]

Beautiful video.... Thanks!! I have stopped gaming for almost a year now as i have too many responsibilities that needs to come under control. I will return and i think i will start with Griss😊

[@ashortginger]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@awalkthroughthewoods157]

Not sure why this popped up in my recommendations, however it was a very nice video. Although i play a variety of games for a variety of reasons, comfort, story love, visuals.. i also jump game to game as well, anywhere from warframe to cyberpunk, even to minecraft, but I've never had many consistant "fry" games. The only ones i could consider it (in the way of "games i played a lot of all at once until i started disliking it" like your example was) had been games like sea of thieves where i love the story and gameplay but played it too much. I think generally i am likely just burnt out on gaming as a whole and should just take a break for a while, play a game outside of my usual area when i return. But very nice video in the end.

[@ashortginger]

thanks for watching! (even if you don't know how you ended up here lol). the reasons I play games shifts a lot as well, and it's def always good to keep in check if you're still having fun or not :)

[@CrimesNewRoman]

great vid, also loved Gris. I had a similar experience recently with Signalis. I didn't really grow up playing games like "Silent hill" and the OG resident evils, even though i have an appreciation for them from what I have seen. Signalis is probably one of my favorite media experiences this year, truly remarkable experience.

[@F-aber]

Amazing video

[@wargrunt42]

The first video game I ever played was Gremlins on my Grandpa's Commodore 64. It's still one of my favorite video games despite it not being all that complicated. Gaming is just something that grew up with me. I've seen come a long way from its humble beginnings. I play them because they are challenging and I enjoy the journeys they take me on.

[@initialintent]

Nice video!

[@gameguy01]

Thought this video would be about comfy games but this is such an interesting concept I’ve never thought about before. Great job!!!

[@iGotaIPHONE]

Great video! Loved the content, definitely feels like a big production quality wise but with the charm of a smaller channel. Well done!

[@manaash4316]

Great video. I'm so glad you got to enjoy Gris. It's an absolute gem of a game. I find I am more inclined to go for these games if they're small. Give me a short game with a reasonable price point and I'll take a chance on it. There's so many incredible games out there.

[@enkephalin07]

I'm in a post-burnout phase after playing 7DTD non-stop, so I've left other games I usually enjoy on the shelf to play games with minimal engagement. And this suits me in the middle of the semester. I'll probably pick up Phantom Liberty after finals, and put off 7DTD until next version release.

[@DawudSeni]

Your analogies are exactly how I think. For the video this is an amazing way of telling someone to get out of their comfort zone.

[@gem_sixx]

It went the opposite way for me. I mainly play cozy games with little to no combat. Those are my comfort zone. However, I picked up Death Stranding for something different just to see if I would like it. It was tagged as a walking simulator but I think that is misleading a bit. I fell in love with that game and was looking for another open-world that was as breath-takingly beautiful as DS had been. After lots of suggestions, I decided to try Red Dead Redemption 2. It quickly became my favorite game of all time despite it being so far out of my comfort zone. So, yeah. No matter what games you consider to be your comfort zone, it's always a good thing to try something different. You just might be surprised.

[@ashortginger]

death stranding is just the greatest

[@F-aber]

For me leaving my gaming comfort yoke was actually playing BG3, I totally expected to dislike the gameplay, but was really interested in the story so I thought it was worth it to at least try it. Before I played it I too was seriously questioning whether or not gaming was still a hobby I was interested in, I had barely played anything in the last 4 months prior and the small amount of gaming I did felt more like a chore than anything else (Destiny 2 with its FOMO). Well turns out BG3 was that game which brought my love for gaming back, it was the first time in the last decade of playing video games that I had soooo much fun playing and experiencing a video game.

[@ashortginger]

that's awesome!! bg3 was a bit outside my normal area as well and I'm so so glad I tried it. hope you keep loving your time in Faerun :)