a lot of games that advertise themselves as “fast-paced” feel like they’re trying to force me into a flow state - by making it so that if I ever pause to catch my breath I’ll die (Ultrakill is a good example of this). but you can’t force a flow state - that’s just going to stress me out and make me quit. the way to get me into a flow state is to let me approach the gameplay at my own pace, and let me increase that pace over time as I gain mastery

the recent “Doom” games (2016 and on) are especially bad for this because they don’t just force you to play at a very fast pace - they also force you to play in a very specific way

also, hot take but Doom 2016 is not a modernization of the gameplay of Doom ‘93. it has almost nothing in common with Doom ‘93 other than the fact that you move quickly and you don’t have to reload. Doom 2016 has a lot more in common with stylized dudebro shooters of the era like Bulletstorm

@kasdeya I love Doom (all but Doom 3), but the new ones are truly nothing like the old ones. I still remember the rush of flying through a level after memorizing enemy patterns, secrets, and pickups.

The closest feeling I've had to it since is BioShock 2. Some areas just flow so well.

@codingcoyote yess omg I love the feeling of breezing through a Doom level - it’s so good. and I’ve heard really good things about BioShock 2 as well! I definitely couldn’t play it because of the story but it looks incredibly well-designed

@kasdeya I kinda feel like Doom 2016's design was hampered by their "series of arenas connected by a bunch of tunnels with nothing in them" design, along with everything having the ability to sucker punch you in a fight at a moment's notice and make you do it over again.

In the end it didn't really feel very doomy, and Eternal felt more like one giant overpolished marketing pitch. The soundtrack was great and the graphics were nice, though.

@trashwizard yeah I’m ngl I do love the soundtrack, and I love how Doomguy is shown in 2016. but yes omg 2016 is so punishing for no reason? like it forces you to get right up in enemies’ faces - which is a terrible idea - and then it punishes you for getting right up in their faces because that was a terrible idea. so glad I’m not the only one who didn’t like that game