Perhaps the problem is that I haven’t called my friends but I can’t force them to play the game I personally do not like. I’m not that into multiplayer action games, I’ve played Overwatched and it had steep learning curve too but it always felt I learn something from each game; here it felt like no one knows what they’re doing.

I’m probably just not getting those battle royales young people like!..

Of course, this might be a rationalization for the fact that I don’t have time to sink my life into multiple looter shooters or multiplayer games anymore. I love playing them but as my time (and my friends’ time) becomes more precious, it has become harder to dive into a game for a few weeks then ride out the months (or years) worth of tuning and adjustments that gaming companies expect from their fans.

That said, I can’t speak at all about Apex Legend has I have barely dipped a toe into the gameplay. From what I’ve heard, this is the most complete, thought out game to come out of a AAA studio in a while. Of course, the microtransactions haven’t dropped yet so who knows what this will become.

It’s a bit of a shame I played PUBG mostly during the period where I wasn’t posting here because it does a hell of a lot that’s focused around *not* shooting people that’s worth talking about. It’s a game where, when seeing an enemy group off in the distance, it’s often far better to take note of their numbers and heading and not engage. What I found most compelling about it was building a mental map of the island, actual enemy locations and their probable routes to the next circle, because if you could do all of that then you’d have a big advantage when it got to the actual shooting part because you’d know where the enemy was and could engage on favourable terms.

There’s also a lot to be written about why PUBG is no longer that game (or at best is only that game 50% of the time). But maybe I’ll get around to writing that later — after I’m finished with the Civ series.

(That being said I don’t think I’d put Destiny 2 or Anthem in the same box — those are sci-fi, but do have their own visual styles. Even if Anthem’s is a little bland.)

I think I’m starting to feel a little burnt out with the whole cartoony, sci-fi aesthetic (Destiny 2, Anthem, Overwatch, CoD Black Ops). I liked the tamped down aesthetic of PUBG. It’s too bad that the interface and quality-of-loot consistency is such a janky mess. I still can’t believe how little that game has evolved since Early Release.