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When was the last time you went into a game truly blind?

When was the last time you played a game without so much as watching a trailer or reading a summary or even knowing what genre it was in? How did it turn out?

Yes, it's almost impossible to have zero pre-purchase information on games bought from modern digital stores
Yes, it's pretty wasteful to not consider a game before spending, let's say, $15-60 on it
Yes, there are too many games (and way too many shit games) released to do this expecting anything good with any frequency


Still, it's bound to have happened to at least a few people.
To those guys: How did it go?
 

ViolentP

Member
The Ascent. Still haven't played it.

Also Vallheim, Going Medieval, and Flight Simulator in recent memory.
 
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Blond

Banned
God of War 18.

I hated it from the moment they showed the new perspective, wanted nothing to do with it and only bought it because by that point PS4 exclusive’s had the ball rolling by that point and I wasn’t going to stop.

I ate A LOT of crow. Especially when I found out how much animation canceling there was leading to some crazy ass combat loops.



I want ragnarok to make these more up front with a better button layout. I’m down for more walky-talky third person feel a thons if they could have as much gameplay as GOW18.
 
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I just finished Earthbound for the first time, and outside of knowing that it's a well-loved title and an rpg in a modern setting, I knew nothing about it. I mean I'm sure I saw some comments on it over the years, but I don't remember anything. Fantastic game btw. Still holds up today - what a gem.
 

Filldo

Member
Prey. I bought it cause I loved the dishonored series. I didn’t like it at first and even deleted to play other games. Revisited it after a lull in new games and discovered one of the best games ever.
 
Parasite Evi 1. Didn't know anything about it. A friend of mine urged me to buy it. Bought together with the original Metal Gear Solid. Ended up enjoying it more than MGS.
 

FUBARx89

Member
Fist Of The North Star Paradise Lost or Judgment.

Made by RGG studios. Fuck yes I wanna gonna be there. But I also went into the Yakuza series blind after trying a demo last gen.
 
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Aion002

Member
Today!

I played Hades on game pass. I knew that it was an acclaimed game and I saw a few snippets of it during the TGA, but other than a few seconds of it I didn't knew shit about it.

After playing a little today, I think that it's awesome. I liked pretty much everything from it!
 

01011001

Banned
well through GamePass that's not even that rare for me honestly.

the last one was just 2 days ago, Dodgeball Academia, and it seems extremely cool... it has elements from Pokemon (like people standing around and challenging you to a "fight") and the fighting system is a Dodgeball game with special RPG powers lol.

so because of GamePass, this is very much normal for me nowadays. and I distinctly don't read any reviews anymore because they are utterly an useless waste of time.

and just before Dodgeball Academia I downloaded Lethal League Blaze, which I haven't known before, and that is also a great game. it's by the same guys who are working on Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (that Jet Set Radio-like) and a lot of fun with friends (it has local and online MP, but sadly no mixed Local + Online which is a bummer tbh)

for Dodgeball Academia, I read the title/cover art and instantly thought that looked like fun, so I downloaded it. and for Lethal League, a friend downloaded it and told me to get it so we can play online. he only told me it's really fun, and nothing else.
so you can't really go in more blind than that I think
 
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Fare thee well

Neophyte
Guild Wars 2 actually. My gf made me play it. I had never played an mmorpg-styled game. Ended up meeting friends that I still hang out with today and learned how to fight in a group against other professional groups. Good times. I don't think the devs really give a shite about the wvw mode as much so we all eventually left to greener pastures.
 

Shubh_C63

Member
Probably never will. I like money and I like doing research.

I guess I didn't knew anything about Plants vs Zombies going in and I still play it once an year.
What a game. Should come pre-installed with every Windows like minesweeper.
 

haxan7

Volunteered as Tribute
Rocket League the day it came out on PSN in 2015.

8500+ matches later and I still play.
 
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Pidull

Member
When was the last time you played a game without so much as watching a trailer or reading a summary or even knowing what genre it was in? How did it turn out?

Yes, it's almost impossible to have zero pre-purchase information on games bought from modern digital stores
Yes, it's pretty wasteful to not consider a game before spending, let's say, $15-60 on it
Yes, there are too many games (and way too many shit games) released to do this expecting anything good with any frequency


Still, it's bound to have happened to at least a few people.
To those guys: How did it go?
I have recognized that this has been a major issue for me when it comes to my favorite franchises, as such I've made a conscious decision to not watch trailers for certain games if I can avoid it.

I'm currently doing it for Metroid Dread. All I currently know about it is what Samus looks like and it's 2.5D, I have seen nothing else.

I meant to do the same with BotW's sequel, but have spoiled it for myself only to immediately wish I hadn't. I plan to go in blind for Metroid Prime 4 and Perfect Dark.

It is really hard to stay in the dark with big games, Metroid 5 is my first attempt. I'll be watching a video on YouTube about awesome Zelda games and next thing I know the content creator is going into a semi related tangent with Metroid and I have to quickly avert my eyes exit the video.
 

crozier

Member
Just last week: AC Valhalla. I haven’t played an AC since Brotherhood and had no idea what to expect from a “modern” one. Or so I thought….

Still having fun with it.
 

intbal

Member
Death Trash.

Loved it. But it was only a demo at the time. Currently in "Early Access", whatever that means. I'll wait for the final release.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
Steam festival. Try 40 games you've never heard of, one after the other. Most of them are bad. A few are good. That's how I found Ring of Pain, Black Book, Death Trash, etc. Not amazing games but decent enough.
 
Practically, all the time. Playing games blind and uninfluenced is supremely underrated imo. At most I'll watch some gameplay footage (without commentary) or some trailer to see if its premise appeals to me.

For anyone who misses invoking those feelings of surprise or mystery when booting up a game back in their youth, I really recommend giving blind gaming a try. You'll probably get more pleasure out of gaming overall this way. Just my 2 cents.
 

buenoblue

Member
I do this all the time now. Maybe not truly blind as I'll watch a snippet of gameplay. But after a few seconds ill decide if I want it and not watch or listen to anything else about the game. I do this for movies too now.

I used to binge on any trailers or information about a game or movie and kinda knew everything going in, now I enjoy stuff so much more as the suprise of the twists and turns is so much better. Also not reading any reviews I've found I appreciate games a lot more with no pre conceived options about it, such as cyberpunk on pc I really enjoyed. Was it the second coming of gaming, maybe not but it was a decent rpg shooter.
 
well through GamePass that's not even that rare for me honestly
Oh, true. Gamepass.

Regardless of how I feel about subscriptions, there probably isn't a better way to discover games and go in blind.
Steam's discovery queue is similar in that aspect, I guess.
 

Xeaker

Member
I do this all the time now. Maybe not truly blind as I'll watch a snippet of gameplay. But after a few seconds ill decide if I want it and not watch or listen to anything else about the game. I do this for movies too now.

Me too.
I realised back in SNES/PS1/PS2 days I only could read some text and see some pictures of the games in my gaming magazine.
And that's why it felt so much better to play the new game. If I already see gameplay videos and trailers etc it doesn't feel as fresh anymore.
 

Gifmaker

Member
I think it was in around 2007, when I was to the store with a friend and I was looking to pick up a new game. I was browsing through some games and asking for his opinion on which to get, and he pointed out that maybe I would like Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2. I was 19 at the time, so self confidence wasn't too big for me and I never wanted to draw too much attention at that age to how I was into stuff like manga and anime. So I was fairly surprised when he suggested that game in a sincere fashion and didn't ridicule me, so I bought it, knowing nothing about it other than that it was a DBZ fighting game and the screenshots on the cover.


Fantastic choice, as the game was a blast and it brought me to eventually get BT3, which to this day I consider to be the best fucking Dragon Ball game ever released.
 
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The Ascent. Still haven't played it.
Coincidentally, it was The Ascent that made me think about this. I was a few seconds into the acg review after I had just installed it, and I decided to just not read up anymore on it and just play.

Looks good so far.
 
don't know. a long time ago. i always read about a game and check out gameplay before i buy it. there is so much trash out there i don't really want to blindly buy a game.
 

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
7d606fd5a1dc0bad537138b0f5d901af.gif


I cant remember
 
And that's why it felt so much better to play the new game. If I already see gameplay videos and trailers etc it doesn't feel as fresh anymore.
While I agree with this, it's much different these days with the amount of games people have access to. Back then there was more of a guarantee that whatever made it to store shelves was... wait, no, that's not right.

Well, regardless, not doing any research and just buying based off of, let's say cover art, is a gamble that we would probably lose most of the time
there is so much trash out there i don't really want to blindly buy a game.
Yeah, this basically
 

Kupfer

Member
The last time?
Last week with Silent Hill Book of Memories, which I bought because I like to buy a Vita game a month I don't own yet.
Was it fun? No - I didn't expect a dungeon crawler from a Silent Hill game.

Last time I had a blast?
Moss on PS4Pro + VR. Such a beautiful and lovely crafted world and the only PSVR game I didnt feel like I have to vomit 10 minutes in game.
 
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Fredrik

Member
Only really happened on C64 where someone could lend you a cassette tape without box and you had to start loading to see what was on it.
It was fun.
 
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Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
Subnautica when it was given away for free. It looked cool from a few screen shots I saw but didn't know what I was going into. Unless that doesn't count as blind but I had no guidance.

Also Ancestors - The Humankind Odyssey last year, what a fucking fire game.
 

Dr. Suchong

Member
Slimey's Mine on C64
e6v2Pgz.jpg

Guy at my local Video game shop pulled it off the shelf when I asked for games with "Monsters"
I was about 10(?)
Great game, with speech and screams.
 

xion4360

Member
Don't like to pay without knowing what im paying for so its not something that I get to experience..

I do remember playing Silent Hill the original without having any idea what it was so there was that, and it was great!
 

Saber

Gold Member
Don't remember. I stopped doing that when games end up either being bad or have annoying/unnecessary mechanics. I rather prefer to know what I'm dealing with.
 

cireza

Banned
It happens a few times every year. It happens more thanks to Game Pass.

Most notable and recent ones are Outer Wilds and Talos Principle. Both awesome games.
 
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