I've not been mega jazzed about video games lately but I've still kept a place for them in my life lately. While I was away for two weeks I thought about things I might like to enjoy when I'm back, and despite being half way (or something) into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and enjoying it quite a bit, I had absolutely no excitement about returning to it. I barely even thought about it.
The game's formula had spelled itself out so clearly and repetitively. Apart from where the story heads towards the end (and I am curious about that!), it feels like an entirely known quantity. I get the distinct feeling of playing a swan song for my interest in modern AAA single player games. And I can't help but think about other things while playing these games with gigantic budgets: the state of the industry, the marketing decisions that went into the presentation of the game, etc.
All I've been interested in playing are the recent indie releases that sounded really interesting - Rabbit and Steel, Animal Well, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, 1000xRESIST...
Maybe I'll go back to my charming eco-terrorist squad soon as there sure is a lot to love there, but it'll have to be a straight shot down the main story because the open world checkbox ticking - while it can have its place for people who want it - almost feels like playing an entirely separate game, cleanly divided to the point where it's almost uncanny. It's just so dreadfully shallow and so transparently padding the game out ad nauseum. Tying the AP gain into Checking Those Boxes to unlock more abilities while you do the story is a decent attempt to tie it in, but it almost feels like a disguise to attempt to marry the two distinct halves.
Also seriously: towers?? They couldn't even think of some kind of analogue to towers let alone a way to avoid allowing the player to just discover things via exploration and curiosity? They just straight up put actual, honest-to-god Open World Towers in there...?