Ah, nostalgia, it’s a heck of a drug.
I loved Inside Out 2‘s representation of nostalgia as an old woman wearing rose-colored glasses. For many, nostalgia makes the past seem better than it actually was.
That’s not to say there aren’t elements that were better. In those cases, nostalgia can be helpful. For me, at least, I’ve found nostalgia is often reminding of the times I had rather than the thing itself.
In the modern age, nostalgia in gaming is strong. This seems particularly prevalent because many came of age alongside video games, specifically 3D gaming.
Because that is the case, many look back fondly on games from that time and that helps shape their opinion on current games. The question I come across is, is this fair?
In short, I believe its both fair and unfair.
Let me start with why I believe it’s fair.
We form our gaming opinions at a young age and as time wears on, those thoughts become more refined. While our tastes may become deeper, we’ll always lean back on those first opinions we formed.
Think of it as a foundation. As we begin to judge modern games, we’ll likely hold them up against that foundation and some of our more refined opinions to determine if we enjoy it.
In that sense, we’re using nostalgia to guide our current tastes. This type of approach can be used when a long-running franchise suddenly changes dynamics.
Take The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That game shifted the more linear dungeon-based format to a wide-open action-adventure. Many welcomed this change while others despised it.
For those who tried it and decided it wasn’t for them, I believe they were fairly using their nostalgic foundation to shape that opinion. They preferred the older format and will stick with that.
That doesn’t mean others can’t refine their opinions. As a long-time Zelda fan, I enjoyed the shift despite my love for the more linear format.
Everyone will have a different approach and that’s OK. That’s why I believe, in this case, it is fair to use nostalgia to assess games. You know what you like and nostalgia is a big part of that.
Where it starts to become unfair is when many use it to outright dismiss a game without giving it any attention.
This was prevalent during the leadup to Final Fantasy XVI. Long before the game came out, people had made up their mind that it was bad and not a true Final Fantasy game.
They dismissed it without ever trying it. They let their nostalgia for past Final Fantasy games dictate how they felt to the point of unfairly labeling it.
Once FFXVI came out, there were many who enjoyed it and many who decided it wasn’t their cup of tea. They decided that after playing it and that is when it becomes fair to use nostalgia to judge a game.
When lined out, it may seem obvious that it’s unfair to judge a game before playing it. That said, nostalgia can make it harder to put that into practice in the moment.
Let me conclude by saying I am not suggesting that you can’t make up your mind about a game without playing it. Watching gameplay may steer you away from it and that’s OK.
You may know yourself well enough to conclude that you might not like a game. It’s the same process we use to judge if we should invest our time and money into a movie or TV show.
Where it becomes unfair is when you determine a game is “trash” because it doesn’t fit your nostalgic perception of what it should be. You can determine it’s “just not for me” but it’s disingenuous to suggest a game is terrible without ever trying it. How do you know?
Nostalgia can be a lot of fun but it can also cloud our vision with rose-colored glasses. Sure, the past was great, but we should be more judicious in using it to judge a game.
What do you think? Is it fair to use nostalgia to judge a game? When does a person cross a line when using it? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.
Featured Image: Nintendo (via Video Games Chronicles)
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The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of The Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, Stephanie Klimov, LeRon Dawkins, and Pat Klein come together with their friends, colleagues, and fellow creators to talk about their week in video games, discuss industry topics, conduct interviews, answer listener questions, and more. New episodes every Monday. Get each episode one week early and more perks over on the Boss Rush Network Patreon page.
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