What’s it Like to Play a Game Years after You Forgot It Existed

In truth, I don’t remember what happened 8 years ago

I won’t lie, the last article was a bit of a mess. It’s weird how I lost direction halfway into writing it and started writing about something else, almost as if I had no focus. My excuse for this mishap is that my mind is too focused on this passion project of mine that I talked about, Ocean of Giants, but frankly, I can’t excuse myself for this. So, forget last time and let me tell of an experience where I played a game a bit later than usual, which is not something entirely out of place but not something that everyone talks about.

I remember being lost after graduation as I clearly didn’t know what I wanted to do at that point in my life. I was looking up upcoming games that might catch my interest, and back then, I was way more impressionable, definitely unlike the cynic I’ve become (but that’s a story for another time). Among all the cool things that happened back then and there were a lot of cool things. There was this game that allegedly had half a million guns in its arsenal.

I didn’t know what procedural generation was then, so it seemed more impressive than it should be, a game with half a million guns. That game was called Borderlands, but the Borderlands that I anticipated was the original one, which was vastly different from what people know of the franchise today. I was bored for a month without any updates until they finally showcased the new look, which consisted of L-shaded graphics and redesigned characters (of which Mordecai was the most notable, losing his broad shoulders). Also, adding humour to the narrative made it more engaging. And the rest was history because that’s how people will forever recognise Borderlands instead of what it was meant to be — a serious shooter with not-so-spectacular graphics. Was I bothered by the change? A bit, yes… but I quickly forgot about it like the rest of the gaming world at that time. I quickly forgot about it.

And then the game came out! I was excited to collect all the guns while phase-walking as Lilith and blasting bandits apart. It was good escapism for the time and something that I will never re-experience again, but that’s just age, I guess. So, I continued to be a fan of the franchise for the next who-knows-how-many years but stopped after a while and only recently came back after I got Borderlands 3 for free, so I figured, “what the hell” and took the time to play it. I finished that and moved on to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, 8 years after its release, and I had no idea what to expect. So… what does it feel like playing a game for the first time, years after its release? Good question

It’s me, not you…

I’m still a quarter way into the game, so I still have some stuff to expect. But there are two factors to consider in my experience of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel: the first is that I’m playing the game not in release order, as in I’m playing the game after I already played Borderlands 3, the game that came afterwards, not that it matters too much since the story is already told nonlinearly, and the second is that I’m playing the game 8 years after its release, so it’s relatively old and if I played it then I probably would’ve enjoyed it more. In any case, consider these factors for whatever they’re worth.

Now with that out of the way, how does it feel? I must say, it’s less the game and more just me. First of all, the game is fun, so don’t get me wrong, but I think I have played too many video games in my life to give a damn once more, but I don’t find much excitement in playing any game today. If it hadn’t been Borderlands, I would’ve dropped it near immediately, but since this is a franchise I used to like, I stuck with it a little longer. Now I’m playing the pre-sequel, apparently, a neologism invented by the developers or something along that line. But it’s hard to get excited today, and I take too many breaks as if I’m subconsciously not interested, not entirely sure about it either. Nonetheless, I’ll continue to play the game and see where it takes me.

So basically, what I describe is not a change in the quality of the game, but a change in the quality of me. I guess I’m at that age already, even though I’m not that old. But yes, even today, the game is still good. I believe the kids call it “aged well”.

How did you fancy my experience?

Am I a good storyteller? Because I kind of enjoyed writing this, even though it’s not what I usually write, so it was a nice change of pace. In any case, tell me about your experiences playing games several years after their release, or maybe just say something about what I said… the article, that is.

In Conclusion…

So, it was a nice change of pace to write something a tad more literal, as opposed to the usual… whatever you want to call my style (frankly, I don’t have a name for it). I enjoyed writing this story, which is very true by the way, and I hope you enjoyed reading it too.

Until next time, have a good one everyone…