Gaming has endured a lot of "mainstream" sanitization over the last 15 years, which is why we have the annual cookie-cutter E3's now. I think when you say the word "raw", you're alluding to a level of risk taking that no longer exists. I definitely agree that they don't make them like they used to, but you can still find quality titles from AA and indie companies. Devolver Digital still has some of that throwback "attitude" and publishes some cool stuff. Kingdom Come Deliverance is a AAA game with some AA bugs, but it's worth supporting. Either way, you're definitely not alone.

I'm usually playing older games these days. I might play one major release a year, but I rarely finish them. There are a lot of older games I missed out on in my late teens and early 20s because I basically quit playing video games for a while. My backlog on GOG and Steam is pretty massive and I'm slowly making my way through those games. Also, everything these days seems to be shifting towards more and more of a multiplayer focus. I'm not anti-MP (love me some Borderlands co-op), but I prefer more story driven games, which are usually single player.

Whilst I do like older games, there are still alot of great indie/middle market titles (some of which may be hidden gems) available on the platform. I have stopped playing modern AAA games ever since the post release of The Witcher 3. Most modern AAA games (not all) seem to adopt a policy for anti-consumer business practices such as the inclusion multiple third party Digital Rights Management software and micrtransactions. Until some regulations are agreed upon to completely remove these policies, I do not think I would be involved in the purchasing of such products.
That being said, I'm still looking forward to Generation Zero and Cyberpunk 2077.

Nothing wrong with it - I keep a Linux netbook around for playing older games every now and then and I'm still trying to finish the Core Contingency campaign in TA :).

That being said, I've also recently finished The Witcher 3 + all expansions, The Signal from Tolva and Hellbalde: Senua's Sacrifice among other things, so it's not like I'm stuck on playing the games of my youth.

I'd say play whatever you feel like playing and don't even bother to look at the release date.

As I don't have a gaming rig at the moment I'm necessarily spending most time with older titles. But if I had one there are a couple of new games I'd definitely like to check out : GTA5, Tomb Raider, remastered Homeworld, Witcher 3, Doom, M&B2 : Bannerlord if it ever sees the light of day. And that's just to name a few.

In the meantime, I'm extremely content sticking with older/indie titles titles when I have the time. The backlog of unfinished business I have is quite extensive :) And a lot of them have aged spectacularly, if at all. Perhaps it's nostalgia I don't know, but games like Caesar 3 and Pharaoh for example are as fun today for me as it was back when it released.

But I won't say that newer games are inherently worse / lacking in passion or however you want to phrase it even in the AAA scene, though I do recognize that there are several games ruined by what seems to be a more modern money-grubbing culture. E.g. I had a lot of interesting in Diablo 3, until I learned of the real-money-auction house. And the presence of singleplayer microtransactions/loot boxes or forced multiplayer shenanigans have killed my interest in a lot of other titles. However I think the market is simply too enormous for truly excellent big budget games not to continue being developed.

You ever play Demonicon? I have been playing it. It's pretty good. The combat is kind of bad but it works and it works well enough that there was a boss fight where I just thought the whole thing was janky bullshit, but by the end of it I figured out how you're supposed to approach it and in practice that match works pretty well. The one before that is pretty much just a mash-fest though.

I've been pretty surprised by how good it is.

Never heard of it, at least I don't think I have. I'll give it a look when I get the chance. Thanks for the suggestion!

Honestly, yeah. There are very few new AAA titles that really strike any resonant chords with me, and the "new" games that I do play tend to have a lot of retro appeal via design, or a throwback aesthetic popularized back in the earlier days of gaming's golden era. (For me, it's the mid to late 90s.)

A lot of my reasoning used to be because certain games just simply weren't being made anymore, like tactical RPGs, tactical TBS games, or their modern iterations were hot garbo. (HoMM, I'm looking at you.)

I think some game studios have since wisened up and realized that there's still a buck to be made in gamer nostalgia, and I think GOG plays an instrumental role in that realization, because between both old and new catalogues, studios and publishers are releasing more and more of their back catalogue, or experimenting with old properties. Some still have a long way to go, and some are blind, deaf and dumb entirely, but I think the gaming landscape outside the major arenas of AAA publishers are getting better, even if you do have to wade through some drek now and again.

This makes me think of one reason I like to play older games:
* I don't play multiplayer.
* I don't like story in games (excluding visual/kinetic novels), and it seems nearly every modern single-player game (especially RPGs, which are my preferred genre) includes a significant stiory component.

I'm interested in a few upcoming indie games and I love some releases from recent years, but my interest is mostly in old games.

Just out of curiosity, if you don't like story in games, why are RPGs your preferred genre? The stories are literally the major driving force behind any RPG. There are lots of non-RPG single player games out there that will give you something fun to play through and have little to no story.

I don't know about that. Story is BIG, obviously, but as a sometime RPG player, the driving force for me has always been diversity of character. Being able to play the same game dozens and dozens of times, never with the same look or skill set (and this doesn't include all the variations of parties like BG and IWD) is what really draws me to an RPG.

I like RPG mechanics, like turn-based stat-based combat, and the ability to grow stronger (and get higher stats) by fighting enemies. Also, I like getting new items and spells as the game progresses. I like the fact that I get a chance to think without having to worry about precise positioning of units (as would be necessary in a strategy game).

You're right, I could've worded that better. I enjoy character building as well. I prefer an RPG that finds a good balance between the two. If an RPG just ends up being mostly numbers and stats and upgrading gear, I'll end up checking out pretty quickly. On the other side, if a game starts to play out like a visual novel, that won't hold my attention very long either.

Kind of. There are certain types of games that I don't really play anymore (mainly first-person, run-and-gun stuff), and even the newer games I get tend to be more old-school in approach. Loving Tales of Maj'Eyal and Caves of Qud, in between bouts of Minecraft.

Haven't touched my consoles in months; I pay even less attention to new console games.