In Praise of Video Games

The Christmas season marks the time to give your kids all sorts of gifts, many coming from the ever-evolving video game industry that brings kids and adults much joy. Throughout my childhood, I only recall the grownups around me dismissing video games as nothing more than mental junk food for kids, but that didn’t stop me from asking my parents to get me plenty of games for my Gameboy Advance SP and Nintendo DS. Back then, I had a special interest in Pokémon, which was why I got the Gameboy and DS games in the first place, and today, as an adult with mental health problems like autism and anxiety, my continued special interest helped me reconsider my practices of self-care.
My return to Pokémon games after nearly a decade away from them began in November 2021 when I finally got fed up and bought a Nintendo Switch system with a copy of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond. Since then, I bought three more Pokémon games, and once I grew bored with those, I bought two more critically acclaimed games: Super Mario Odyssey and Stardew Valley. However, playing these two games tainted my view of the Pokémon series a little, as now I recognize how the series’ games aren’t so good at helping rewire the brain to think multiple steps ahead, like what a good video game is supposed to do.
I’m saddened to admit that my current thoughts about the functionality of the four Pokémon games I own are mostly negative, as GameFreak, the company behind these games, is now in a rut of low game quality. Brilliant Diamond and its counterpart Shining Pearl are just copy-and-paste remakes of the Nintendo DS games, Diamond and Pearl, without anything new or innovative to translate how those games would work differently on the Switch compared to the DS. The gameplay thus becomes very grindy with unattractive graphics that lazily attempt to replicate the exact layout of the DS games in 3D.
Pokémon Shield is another one of the Pokémon games I own, which is more concerned about cutting corners to speed up the production process than making something with significant replay value. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is perhaps the best of my Pokémon games, but it still suffers from poor pacing in gameplay that makes the main quest and side quests progress too slowly. Pokémon Scarlet, the last of my games, is graphically lackluster like these other games but has also been notorious among fans for its many glitches- characters passing through objects, objects disappearing, the framerate lagging, and the game even outright crashing. All these games suffer from an imbalance of level scaling in the types of boss fights available, not to mention a constant string of interruptions to offer tutorials in the form of long cutscenes over tasks that didn’t need cutscenes. So yes, getting back into gaming as an adult helped me to see how not to design a video game, but the next games I got outside of Pokémon helped me to finally experience an expertly designed game.
First, Super Mario Odyssey. I did own a Super Mario Bros game on the DS, but this marked my first Mario game on a home counsel. Odyssey involves Mario exploring different kingdoms by possessing some of his enemies with his sentient hat, temporarily borrowing their powers to reach inaccessible areas and collect rewards. Scattered throughout these kingdoms are obstacles that the player must carefully consider the ideal approach to maneuver around, climaxing at boss fights that utilize a certain mechanic- usually one of the critters Mario must possess to take down the intimidating foe. Between these boss fights are many side quests, like running a go-kart race, herding sheep, playing memory games, and even entering a pipe inside the wall, where Mario becomes an 8-bit model based on his Atari-era design. The result is a challenging game for kids and adults that doesn’t hold their hand too much and gives them the freedom to explore.
Second, Stardew Valley. I discovered this masterpiece while searching for what many consider to be the best Switch games, and I was surprised to see a pixel art-style game like this receive such strong unanimous praise. Playing it for myself made me see why. The challenges include developing a farm, growing crops, purchasing animals, fishing, mining for artifacts, fighting monsters, earning money, cooking recipes, and building rapport among the folk in the small town—all easy to learn but difficult to master. Beyond these simple goals are hidden secrets that both encourage and reward further gameplay. Best of all, there’s no rush to get good, the player works at their own pace without time-sensitive pressure toward completion. Hard to believe that just one person developed this entire game!
Ultimately, a good game doesn’t need the most advanced technology by the most well-known studio to be dense and engaging. Games made by passion and knowledge instead of corporate interference offer something more valuable than killing time: Kids and adults overcome challenges that help them realize their true selves. I’ve learned from my time on the Nintendo Switch that I’m not the competitive type, and that fast-paced time-sensitive games like the Mario series aren’t always good for me when I’m stressed enough by life already. A play-at-your-own-pace game like Stardew Valley is a better fit for my personality. Even then, I may want to play Mario at times to stimulate my brain, while on other days when I’m more stressed or depressed, I need a relaxing experience like Stardew Valley. You too can help your son or daughter learn similar traits about themselves by engaging with whatever games or toys they may receive this Christmas season.
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Trevor Pacelli is a young adult on the autism spectrum as well as the author of What Movies Can Teach Us About Disabilities, What Movies Can Teach Us About Bullying, Summer of the Fruit Virus and the illustrator of The Kindergarten Adventures of Amazing Grace: What in the World is Autism?
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