TheinsanegamerNThe Witcher games, much like other types of media, was good because they had a source to work from: the books. And much like those other medias, once the source runs out the quality rots out.

There are no more books. Witcher 4 is "original". Get ready for that steep downward trajectory. We're already seeing it, Geralt is being replaced with Ciri, who has had all her characterization and past from the older games sandblasted off and replaced with a generic "girl power" persona, and a huge increase in power with seemingly no explanation, like we have seen in countless games, TV shows, and movies the last decade.

TechBuyingHavocSo if you are going by what normal people experience (the 10% of games that sell 90% of the copies), modern gaming is pretty shit. If you are going by all titles released, gaming is incredibly diverse and wide-ranging.

That just tells me that gamers need to stretch and get ok with exploring new genres and types of games instead of reverting back to their three or four comfort food games like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. There are so many games out there that are undiscovered gems.

TechBuyingHavocThat just tells me that gamers need to stretch and get ok with exploring new genres and types of games instead of reverting back to their three or four comfort food games like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. There are so many games out there that are undiscovered gems.

Now excuse me while I go play Helldivers 2 for the 300th day in a row. :p

TechLurkerNowadays, they're just thrown onto the wishlist and forgotten until someone revisits their wishlist or they get notifications about sales on said games.

TechLurkerAnd therein lies part of the problem. Back in the PS1-PS3 days, plenty of games were advertised, no matter how large or small or niche they were (all those silly or stupid ads for games in the 90s and early 00s, whether it was no-budget movie tie-ins or the next Tomb Raider). It especially helped in Sony's case that they were also supporting some indies too for the PS3 and early PS4 gen (and Xbox for a time with some indie or niche games on 360), before shifting to only advertising big-name and big-budget games. It also doesn't help that the costs of games in general also went up, further discouraging impulse buying some interesting novelty game. Nowadays, they're just thrown onto the wishlist and forgotten until someone revisits their wishlist or they get notifications about sales on said games.

It's nice that demo/trial offerings are starting to become more common again to at least let players see if they'll like a game (like the old demo-discs for PS1, PS2, and PC), but it's not available for all games unfortunately.

Also, there's no option to really rent a game in the modern era, which also encouraged impulse gaming on a niche or novelty title one saw on the rental shelf, leading to some choosing to buy the game later on. I've seen some discussion about making games "rent-to-buy" in the sense one could pay a low cost to basically play half the game, then be offered to buy the game in full at the midway point for the difference, as a means of letting someone get invested enough to then be tempted to buy the rest of the game to finish it, either immediately, or later on when it goes on sale.