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Citizen Sleeper made me realise that I don’t really need StarfieldAnd helped me process some of my anxiety
And helped me process some of my anxiety
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Fellow Traveller
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Fellow Traveller
I toyed around with this intro a lot, because I didn’t want to start with a super pessimistic bang. But, for lack of a nicer way to put it, I’ll simply say things are looking pretty scary out there, huh? Capitalism is failing, the economy is crumbling, and normal people have nothing left to give. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, but I don’t really talk about it. I keep it all inside, like a microwave holding a ball of tin foil while it spins on full power.
What’s It Like To Start World Of Warcraft From Scratch?Liam and Ed recently investigated how much time World of Warcraft takes up in your life for the first episode of Inventory Space.Watch on YouTube
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This article was originally exclusively available to RPS supporters, but we’ve brought it backFrom The Archivefor all to read. It was first published on November 10th 2022.
Citizen Sleeper’s simplicity is its biggest strength in that regard, in the same way that it might be for a visual novel, because there are less mechanical barriers between the player and the events occurring on screen. It’s easy to form a connection with a character when there’s very little else to interact with as a distraction. There’s no open universe exploration, ship customisation, or FPS combat to get lost in. Comparing that simplicity to the vast sea of systems that’ll come together inStarfieldmakes me feel uneasy. Starfield will probably be chock full of radiant quests to complete, with an endless sea of RNG gear waiting as rewards.
Image credit:Bethesda Game Studios
To be fair, I’m not particularly opposed to that. Starfield’s huge open worlds and continuous stream of content might numb my anxious feels and give me a short-term distraction, which I’d probably appreciate most of the time. But, after trying to numb myself to everything that’s happening for so long, I’m not sure I necessarily want that anymore. Maybe I’ll feel differently when it rolls around next year, but right now the idea of endlessly wandering and shooting and wandering between quest markers in space seems tedious.
Citizen Sleeper helped me think about some scary world problems, but I was fortunate that my playthrough was also filled with hope. Maybe it helped me process some of my own anxious feelings in a positive light. At least I got to think about it without adding to anyone else’s stress. If anything, I’m just glad it acknowledged those problems and prompted me to think about them, rather than constantly shovelling another outpost that needs defending down my gullet.
