Topic: Genre Deterrents

[Pixelated Pixies]

Playstation + is a great service. In recent months is has offered up a wealth of great games across it's three active platforms. As a new PS4 owner I've began to await eagerly any announcements concerning upcoming PS+ inductees.

What I've realised, however, is that even if a game is being offered for free (which, for clarity, technically these games are being offered as part of a chargeable subscription) there is no guarantee that I will give it a shot. The two latest additions to the PS4 plus library, 'Don't Starve' and 'Outlast', are proof that certain genres of game will simply never win me over. Non-persistent Rogue-like-likes and Horror games are simply too oppressive for me to deal with. I don't mind games being difficult or even stressful, but if they're oppressive I find it nearly impossible to even turn them on.

Such is the case with both of these acclaimed games. In the case of 'Don't Starve' I've played it twice and have not returned, and I haven't even dared attempt Outlast yet.

So my question is this. Does anyone else suffer the same crippling anxiety about playing oppressive games? Or, are there any other genres that actively deter you from playing them?

[Shaymin]

When I played through CoD: Ghosts last year it was the first FPS I played through in full since Goldeneye. N64 version. I don't even know why, I just don't care about shootbang that much.

[Ian Sane]

I've never played a GTA game before and while the open-world genre seems like it would be worth trying I have never gotten around to getting one.  I think part of that is that this is a genre that a Nintendo fan would be largely without.  Same with Western RPGs.  I am familiar with first person shooters but find that when I play a current game at someone's house or in a demo I find myself overwhelmed.  A lot has changed since Perfect Dark.  Games don't always assume you're a beginner and make big assumptions about mechanics and terminology.  Xenoblade talked about aggro and I had to look that up because I don't play MMORPGs and didn't know the term.

The ultimate genre I can't play is 4x Strategy.  I try games like Civilization or Master of Orion and I'm completely lost and I don't care enough to bother to figure it out.

I'm not really interested in playing games online with strangers, mostly because I don't have the time or the interest to get good enough where I can compete.  So multiplayer focused FPS games or MMORPGs don't interest me.