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[Drizzlehell]

To be clear, by "disillusioned" I don't mean that you completely stopped being a video game enjoyer because there's still stuff coming out to this day that is absolutely worth playing. What I mean is more about the moment when you started noticing that gaming went completely mainstream casual, became extremely corporate, and publisher's greed and short-sightedness really started impacting your enjoyment of certain games. The kind of experiences that forever soured your opinion on gaming and made you more cynical about it, even if you still manage to get excited about a lot of stuff.

For me, I think it was around 2012-2013, and it was with 4 major games that came out during that period that really got me to pay attention to how bad things are getting. First there was the day one DLC that carved out a crucial part of the story in Mass Effect 3. Then we had Dead Space 3 and its single player, pay-to-win microtransactions, DLC ending, and overall sub-par experience compared to incredible DS 1 and 2. A few months later we had the disastrous launch of Battlefield 4, which was so awful that I straight up didn't play it for a few months and I couldn't even return the game because I already activated the key on that dogshit Origin app. And finally, towards the end of 2013, there was Batman: Arkham Origins, which was yet another busted up game surrounded by a lot of controversy, fan backlash, and the game itself overall was pretty disappointing.

After that killer streak, I became way more cynical about triple-A releases, and it's funny to think that a lot of these examples seem rather tame compared to the kind of shit that was happening in the decade that followed.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Probably around gen 8. Gen 7 had a lot of original titles, even though a lot of them had way too much bright bloom at the time. Gen 8 started getting tired with too many open world games where the formula just became oppressively stale.

 

[intbal]

Not even a game. It just drags you from one shooting gallery to the next.
I consider it one of the worst products the gaming industry has ever produced because it influenced so many games that followed.

 

[Crayon]

It got really rough for a bit in 2007-9 time period. I ditched to all retro for a long time. I remember it was when sf5 was announced and I didn't even realize PS4 was out. In fact that's when I return to gaf after being off for years. I was excited about new releases again.

I feel better about aaa now though. It only makes up a small part of my diet so there's enough that feel like they're made for me.

 

[squarealex]

FF13, MGS4

weird time...

 

[Wildebeest]

I never loved it from the start, but greed and short-sightedness has been part of the gaming landscape for longer than AAA.

 

[JOEVIAL]

Online passes for games, I think that started in 2010 ish? EA and UbiSoft were the worst about this.

Also the Kinect era of the Xbox 360, which started in 2009-2010. I could tell that Microsoft shifted their focus off creating quality games and experiences (X-live) to trying to gain mainstream appeal. The Kinect pushed Xbox into the grave so to speak. Absolute corporate rot and completely out of touch executives who didn’t have a clue why the Xbox 360 was so successful.

We’ve still got great games coming out though

Honestly 2023 has been one of the best years for me personally. I think it will go down in the history books as an excellent year for gaming.

Fingers crossed that Starfield will be a generation defining title.

 

[Laptop1991]

GTA Online's success in 2014 after releasing in 2013 and afterwards, the push to online game stores and mtx everywhere which caused a lot less AAA SP games to be made, and caused Zenimax/Bethesda trying to MP all their franchises to get the xtra money.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Gaming became secondary when Xbox 360 went netflix and avatar in a nutshell. Ps home was a huge strike out, here comes motion controls that put vr on the board, no one is dedicated to AAA gaming now.

 

[GHG]

Every single time I get about 10 hours into a Ubisoft game.

I really don't know why I buy them thinking it might be different every time.

 

[AJUMP23]

PS3 $600.

 

[Kilau]

Whenever it was that I first heard the term AAA gaming.

 

[nial]

Gaming has been mainstream since 1985. 1995 at the very least.

 

[ungalo]

Same, it started around 2012-2013. More 2013.

The two juggernauts (GTA V and The Last of Us) left me cold and the rest was really a disaster. A lot of big IPs just completely fell apart. And then the beginning of PS4 gen was a piece of shit.

We had solid years after that but it wasn't like before anymore, on many levels. Although i think games were still getting more consistent, but creatively it took a dive and the output wasn't as abundant.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

I haven't really felt "gee, maybe this hobby is no longer for me?" until as recently as Last of Us 2.

Everything about the game exudes hostility, as recently as 2018 I was still having a ball with games like Far Cry 5, Spider-Man 2018 and God of War 2018, despite these having mild "woke" elements they were still just, ya know, games.

But Last of Us 2 was one big middle finger aimed at fans, since then the industry has really taken a turn for the worse of pure, blatant hostility towards fans.

The world went straight to hell in 2020, that applies to not just games but everything, things were still at "tolerable" levels in 2018/2019, but the 2020s are a nightmare.

 

[Dice]

If I had to name a specific game it would probably be Assassins Creed 3. But that was 2012 and you are correct that a LOT of things started going to shit around that time. Fortunately I had already ditched console gaming altogether and just enjoyed the indie renaissance on PC. For classic AAA games Japan seems to be coming back lately, at least in terms of execution, but not fresh ideas. I think the West is still struggling hard. All the best ideas are still coming from indies.

 

[Punished Miku]

GTA4. Couldnt finish it.

 

[John Bilbo]

GTAV online

 

[simpatico]

Probably around the time it started getting encouraged by gaming media. It's turned into a catabolic cycle, with the media and AAA publishers disintegrating together by completely missing the target audiences and fueling each other down the path.

 

[UltimaKilo]

PS4 Era. It has since had a comeback via Nintendo with the Switch, however.

 

[Guilty_AI]

When the ps4 and Xone were rolling out. Disillusioned isn't the word, i just felt no interest whatsoever for the new upcoming consoles and games. Everything looked like it would be boring, been there done that.

Kept gaming only because i decided to try some older games, some indie games from the time, as well as titles that had been overlooked by media. Having more fun with those than i did with most popular releases is what made me slowly realize how boring the average AAA game really was.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Probably the PS4/Xbox One era. Everything before that just felt... better for a lot of reasons. After that it just changed for the worse IMO.

 

[Last Hearth]

I would say the start of the PS3/360 generation.

Consoles used to be about games, it was that generation that made consoles no longer just games but all purpose multimedia machines. That when you knew their target market was normies and not gaming enthusiasts. That was also the start of the easy peasy game play on rail tracks to get you to the next cut scene type of AAA games like UnCharted became a thing.

 

[Robb]

Not sure about any one game. But the Ps4/XBO gen with all the AAA full-price-battle-pass-mtx-ridden games kind of soured me. I just want a complete polished game at launch that doesn’t require me to log online.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

For me, it was overly easy, dumbed down single player titles that did it. I played a lot of them and got burned out.

At about 2013-14. After that I played only retro titles for few years. Baldurs Gate 2, old Final Fantasy games, Fallout 1-2 etc.

Now I mix and match SP with online and coop titles. Enjoy them equally.

 

[Swagballs717]

Cyberpunk 2077 was what really did it for me.
Two years spent hyping it up as the most in depth and amazing role playing game ever made and even after bug patches it's a 7/10 open world shooter with RPG elements. But then CDPR threw out a flavor of the month anime series and suddenly it's a "masterpiece"

 

[Handel]

Never was that invested specifically in AAA, but if there is a disillusionment point for me it's in the early 2010's with disappointments like ME3 and TLOU(given hype around it, was merely just good). Bioware and BGS falling off cliffs after ME3 and Skyrim respectively and only just now maybe climbing back up with Starfield and DA Dreadwolf.

I only put my faith now in the new RPG gods at Larian.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

GTA4. Couldnt finish it.

This the one, right here. Halo 3 came out then this and I was over it.

 

[Kyle]

I suppose it's when I had to pay more than a quarter to play an arcade game back in the 1990s. Damn those greedy Corpos!

 

[TwiztidElf]

For quite a long time now, probably ten or so years, I feel like to me and my tastes there are only 1-3 truly inspired AAA releases per year and they're usually sequels.
This year for instance TotK and SF6 .
Last year, Elden Ring, Splatoon3 and HFW .
2021 - Returnal, GG Strive.
2020 - Ghost of Tsushima, Yakuza Like a Dragon
2019 - Days Gone, Wreckfest. 2018- Smash

 

[KimDongHwan]

I think it was that time when a lot of PlayStation historical franchises started to become either exclusive to XBox 360 or became multiplatform. I remember a lot of them dying in the process from top of my head: Ace Combat, Final Fantasy XIII, Devil May Cry. They made a comeback so that's good at least.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I don't agree with any of this. While I agree that there are games that would fall into a casual or mainstream category... admitting that is also admitting that its just a category. And as such, there is something out there for everyone that wants to play games. If you are into the artsy stuff, the hardcore difficult stuff, the arcade stuff, the simulators.... whatever. There is something there for you.

People just need to accept two things. 1. Even AAA games can be bad and 2. Not every AA game released is meant for everyone.

What you will probably notice though, is that the people talking about the good ol days of gaming, or about being jaded, or about mainstream games somehow being bad or whatever... are probably over 30yrs old. You give any of those `mainstream` games you are shitting on now to a 9/10 year old first-time gamer.. and that shit would blow their mind away.

 

[nkarafo]

Gen 7. When gaming became mainstream. Or maybe because i got old enough.

 

[havoc00]

Never Crackdown 3 and Redfall affirmed my stance we are at the best point of gaming now, and thats only exclusives, we had the new saints row to solidify that its the best era in gaming.

 

[March Climber]

I'm not fully disillusioned with AAA, but a moment that really hit hard for me was when EA and Bioware both decided to spend a ton of money, time, resources, and effort on a new IP and then released it when it wasn't fully ready.

Then they released another much anticipated game that was also not fully ready on launch that also didn't measure up to it's predecessor in writing.

It was like a 1-2-punch of an acclaimed dev studio nearly being axed due to bad decisions all around. Of course, they are not free and clear just yet. The new Dragon Age is still missing and the new Mass Effect was announced way too early, so it's been radio silence from them for a while now. Bioware is like that one music artist who everyone saw starting to reach their potential but then the label kept interfering and guiding them in a direction that didn't suit them. It's like telling a singer 'rap is big, so start rapping in your songs now to bring the numbers up and make us money' and rapping is it's own art form that needs it's own form of study and refinement.

 

[UnNamed]

At the start of this gen.

 

[Griffon]

Gen 6 (PS360Wii) everything was ugly with low frame rate and horrible gameplay that treated you like a complete moron.

No surprises that Demon/Dark Souls rose from that era, they rejected the excessive handholding that everyone else was doing, and changed the industry for the better by the following gen.

Since that time I stopped caring about massive budget blockbusters.

 

[In Cold Blood]

The biggest disillusionment for me is due to time.
The development time blowing out to 4 or 5 years is a killer.
Like, we have Starfield coming, but the wait for a new Fallout is something like 8 years away. I can't even bother getting excited by it.
Say what you will about the yearly release of COD, but I'm happy to play a new one 12 months after playing the last.

 

[Roufianos]

When Horizon came out. I played around 15 hours and just thought I'm sick to death of open worlds.

Ended up selling it and taking a chance on something way out of my usual tastes, Yakuza 0, which I loved.

I eventually went back to Horizon and loved it but man, that was rough. Genuinely the only time I've started thinking gaming might not be for me.

 

[Banjo64]

Last gen. Loved most of the PS3 and 360 era.

 

[Kakax11]

Motion blur in Naughty Dog games PS3 era did it for me, it was PC since then

 

[mrmustard]

Can't tell exact dates, but probably early/middle last gen. Many games started to focus too much on story, walk, talk, feelings, plot twists, bloated and irrelevant dialogue orgies and most open world games used the Ubisoft formula and felt like work with countless minimap symbols. Enjoying Indies and AAs much more than AAA 90% of the time since many years now.

 

[supernova8]

As soon as everyone on FIFA started gravitating toward Ultimate Team and also around the time DICE/EA fucked up Battlefield. They were doing so well up to (and including) Battlefield 4 (single player was shit but whatever).

 

[Perrott]

When EA killed Amy Hennig's Star Wars game.

Now they're bumping their chests over supporting singleplayer games such as the Star Wars Jedi series and their upcoming Marvel games, fucking morons.

 

[Portugeezer]

When reviewers started to be amazed by flashy set pieces.

I was left unimpressed.

 

[bbeach123]

elder scrolls oblivion , dont get me wrong its still my favorite game (and great) . But too casual compared to its ancestors.

objective markers ? Barbaric.jpg

 

[SHA]

Haven't yet, the last time with Bioshock infinite, that doesn't mean the last existing game, the real problem is the rise of releasing dated looking games even before they even released, the industry is rewarding beyond comprehension, I don't believe in raising the cost of developments, it's subjective and every time some new middle men wanna prove their worth, that's the whole story for raising the cost of developments, if they gonna keep looking worse then Technology is pointless at this point.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

For me it wasn't really "that one game", more the realization in the early-mid 2000s that AAA is more and more turning away from the core gamer audience and moving towards casual stuff for the bigger moneys.
Relentless dumbing down, consolization, flashy graphics over substance, QTEs, cutscene barrages, etc.

Of course, turns out that was only the beginning and nowadays we have that whole "games as a service" BS.
But hey, more indies than ever with some actual passion between some actually interesting games.
AAA is shittier than ever (obviously, always a few exceptions) but the amount of good games has increased as well, so all in all I'd say gaming is in a good shape - you just have to steer away from the mainstream stuff for the most part.

 

[SmokedMeat]

When I switched to PC, and started accumulating indies like crazy.

They may lack the production values, but they often have it where it counts - gameplay. They’re also the ones creating the spiritual successors to the old classics that the big publishers have left behind.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Around the time when the Wii and Kinect brought in the casuals. Don’t get me wrong, there are still being incredible games released but ever since that time gaming lost something. Before that we were the geeks and games were made by geeks. There was instant connection between gamers because there was a sense of community. Us vs. them. Now everything is mainstream. Both the people that play games and the ones that make them. Not to speak about journalism. Most just don’t care about the industry and more.