Collecting games Based on "Themes" rather than genre or franchise

[dharmajones93]

I personally only collect for Genre and Franchise, I can't think of what classifies as a game as only one theme, for example a lot of the games I play have multiple themes within the same exact game, like some games have certain levels with Dinosaurs, or Jarrassic theme, other games on a different level could have a lava world or a greek or roman theme

Dinosaurs, lava level, greek mythology... sounds like Altered Beast! Just kidding! Turtles in time was a close second, but I don't think there's Greek/Roman in there (though on reflection that was a missed opportunity there).

I think I get hooked on a single theme and collect games that include that theme; i.e. it doesn't have to have just that theme I'm interested in, it can have more. Sometimes more is better! For instance, I just started playing Shadowman on N64. It has some lite cosmic horror vibes, but it also has voodoo and magic themes, comic book super hero vibes, plus some zombies (still voodoo I guess in a way) and other stuff; but it fits the bill.

Hmm. I just finished Call of Cthulu on Xbone, which was pretty good despite some clunky moments. It's available on PS4 as well. Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne are overflowing with atmosphere. Ghost of Tsushima is a fun game but I think it's too pretty if you're looking for something more haunting. Nioh/Nioh 2 are more that speed.

Getting more niche, the first Shadow Hearts on PS2 has a lot of locations that are unnerving. The two Death end;re Quests on PS4 (they might be on Steam/Switch) are also pretty great. If visual novels are your thing, then I recommend Collar X Malice.

I really like Call of Cthulhu (the newer one). I'm kinda itching to play through it again to see if I can get a different ending. I mentioned the Ghost of Tsushima and Nioh I think because you mentioned some Japanese culture, but hey, if it fits both bills even better!

[oldgamerz]

I personally only collect for Genre and Franchise, I can't think of what classifies as a game as only one theme, for example a lot of the games I play have multiple themes within the same exact game, like some games have certain levels with Dinosaurs, or Jarrassic theme, other games on a different level could have a lava world or a greek or roman theme

Dinosaurs, lava level, greek mythology... sounds like Altered Beast! Just kidding! Turtles in time was a close second, but I don't think there's Greek/Roman in there (though on reflection that was a missed opportunity there).

I think I get hooked on a single theme and collect games that include that theme; i.e. it doesn't have to have just that theme I'm interested in, it can have more. Sometimes more is better! For instance, I just started playing Shadowman on N64. It has some lite cosmic horror vibes, but it also has voodoo and magic themes, comic book super hero vibes, plus some zombies (still voodoo I guess in a way) and other stuff; but it fits the bill.

Yes a lot of retro games have multiple themes, Sonic The Hedgehog also comes to my mind, and even Super Mario Bros 1,

[pzeke]

It's okay, I hear you. Though, I did say I've been reading Cyberpunk and Lovecraftian literature (which would be a genre/subgenera of literature, but not necessarily video games: e.g. FPS, Platformer, RPG, racing). I didn't mean to imply they were themes; I only included them to demonstrate the context. The distinction didn't need to be made,  because it's just a light hearted forum post intentionally open to allow the most people to reply in a way that's meaningful to them. You're right though, those themes are great at describing what I'm after!

I don't know, mentioning going by "themes" then in the following sentence using a genre as an example, whether literary or from film, kind of beats the premise of the topic you're trying to discuss. That's at least how I see it; but then again, I'm just your avarage denizen, metaphorically inserting its two cents into the machine, so, really, who cares - your topic, your rules.

I have a tendency to be pedantic, but on the internet it doesn't tend to go well. Sort of how you feel the need to be apologetic for making the comment (I'm assuming you're not apologizing for being Aspergian!) [...]

My intention was more in line with being respectful rather than being apologetic, but tomayto, tomahto. With that said, paying atention to what others say or think, especially on the Internet, has never been a thing that concerns me - putting too much importance on whether your posts land or not I feel is an exercise in futility; it's quite frankly an otiose cry for approval. If your posts are an honest representation of yourself, then the rest should fall into place.

And no, I don't have Asperger's (as far as I know); I was mainly using the word as a verb.

Anyway...

[...] Then, to your understanding, what "themes" have, if at all, influenced your collecting?

Hard to pin the tail on that one, as I'm all over the place. In the end, though, genre remains a deciding factor for anything that could potentially pique my interest...that, and gameplay. Like you, visual novels don't do anything for me, as I'd much rather pick up a book; and likewise, simulators are just straight up banal and trite. Similarly, I used to be averse to point-and-click games, but I've learned to ignore my bias from time to time.

[oldgamerz]

[...]

Lately I've been going for theme. I've been reading a lot of Cyberpunk and Cthulhu Mythos literature. I've recently acquired the Deus Ex games (super excited to dig into those tonight), and I grabbed a ton of games with Lovecraftian vibes such as: Eternal Darkness, The Sinking City, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Dead Space, etc.

I've found it incredibly fun and rewarding. There's no rhyme or reason to the franchise or even genre. Many of them are FPS's, walking sims, platformers, RPG's, whatever, but I've found myself getting and playing games I would not have otherwise considered. I'm still looking for Cyberpunk games. I did play Snatcher (so good!), and I'm waiting for the Observer physical release.

Sorry for the anal sperg out, but cyberpunk is a subgenre, so if we're to adhere to the premise of your post, then what you would mean to say is that you're into games with dystopian and transhumanism themes. Similarly, "Lovecraftian vibes" essentially translates to Lovecraftian horror, which is also a subgenre, so it'd be apposite to say that you like games peppered with supranatural and cosmicism themes. This is based on the examples you gave, of course; and as prefaced, I know I'm sperging like a nerd, but I felt that distinction needed to be made, specifically given you yourself stated there being "no rhyme or reason" to collecting games based on their genre.

Can you not be so picky with @dharmajones93's thread @pzeke? geez if you want a topic with YOUR OWN RULES, than you should make your own thread.

[pzeke]

Sure thing, dad. Whatever you say, dad.

Can you not be so picky with @dharmajones93's thread @pzeke? geez if you want a topic with YOUR OWN RULES, than you should make your own thread.

[dharmajones93]

It's okay, I hear you. Though, I did say I've been reading Cyberpunk and Lovecraftian literature (which would be a genre/subgenera of literature, but not necessarily video games: e.g. FPS, Platformer, RPG, racing). I didn't mean to imply they were themes; I only included them to demonstrate the context. The distinction didn't need to be made,  because it's just a light hearted forum post intentionally open to allow the most people to reply in a way that's meaningful to them. You're right though, those themes are great at describing what I'm after!

I don't know, mentioning going by "themes" then in the following sentence using a genre as an example, whether literary or from film, kind of beats the premise of the topic you're trying to discuss. That's at least how I see it; but then again, I'm just your avarage denizen, metaphorically inserting its two cents into the machine, so, really, who cares - your topic, your rules.

I have a tendency to be pedantic, but on the internet it doesn't tend to go well. Sort of how you feel the need to be apologetic for making the comment (I'm assuming you're not apologizing for being Aspergian!) [...]

My intention was more in line with being respectful rather than being apologetic, but tomayto, tomahto. With that said, paying atention to what others say or think, especially on the Internet, has never been a thing that concerns me - putting too much importance on whether your posts land or not I feel is an exercise in futility; it's quite frankly an otiose cry for approval. If your posts are an honest representation of yourself, then the rest should fall into place.

And no, I don't have Asperger's (as far as I know); I was mainly using the word as a verb.

Anyway...

[...] Then, to your understanding, what "themes" have, if at all, influenced your collecting?

Hard to pin the tail on that one, as I'm all over the place. In the end, though, genre remains a deciding factor for anything that could potentially pique my interest...that, and gameplay. Like you, visual novels don't do anything for me, as I'd much rather pick up a book; and likewise, simulators are just straight up banal and trite. Similarly, I used to be averse to point-and-click games, but I've learned to ignore my bias from time to time.

So, you said something you knew was going to be poorly received, apologizing before you even started, then hid behind a disability you don't have (incredibly disrespectful, despite your retroactively inserted intention).

You could, rather, think about how other people feel about themselves when you say things on the internet (though it's obvious your internet interactions are an exercise in solipsism), especially disabled people; apparently your understanding is I can say and do whatever I want regardless of how it's perceived by others because I can always just say I'm disabled and people will let it slide. Never mind that this paints Aspergians as internet trolls and jerks, which I suppose I don't need to point out is absolutely rude.

You know, you could have just apologized and answered the question however you wanted that, you know, adds constructively to the conversation; and the rest of us, being empathetic and not lacking in common decency would have simply taken it as an earnest attempt to engage in conversation. But again, despite your stated intention it seems your reply is more about how others perceive your "I don't care what you think about me attitude" and misuse of $10 words.

But, yeah, Tomayto/Tomahto er whatever. Keep paying ATTENTION to your AVERAGE self and your otiose (lol) cries for approval.

[Warmsignal]

I'm learning all kinds of new words today.

I think that collecting for themes is so similar to collecting by genre than it's almost one in the same. Particularly, once you've massive a large and diverse collection the themes I enjoy become apparent on their own. I mean, I could collect games based on the theme of aliens, but pretty much all of them would then be shooters of some sort. Because what else are aliens good for, aside from blasting in the face? Or maybe you could play as the alien, and blast some humans such as in Destroy All Humans. Still, it's a shooter. It's not a bad strategy for novice collector, but personally I like to keep my pick ups diverse and at this point many of the themes I enjoy, I've quite the collecting of them going already.

I think it's a great idea to do this however, as a means to organizing your game collecting. I've been saying this for a while. Toss out the alphabetical stew, the alphabet doesn't help you decide what to play; it actively makes it more difficult. Organize games based on theme? Yes. Fantastic idea. Put all games of a similar theme with one another, and when you're in the mood for something of that nature, you can clearly see what all of your available options are.

[pzeke]

So, you said something you knew was going to be poorly received, apologizing before you even started, then hid behind a disability you don't have (incredibly disrespectful, despite your retroactively inserted intention).

You could, rather, think about how other people feel about themselves when you say things on the internet (though it's obvious your internet interactions are an exercise in solipsism), especially disabled people; apparently your understanding is I can say and do whatever I want regardless of how it's perceived by others because I can always just say I'm disabled and people will let it slide. Never mind that this paints Aspergians as internet trolls and jerks, which I suppose I don't need to point out is absolutely rude.

You know, you could have just apologized and answered the question however you wanted that, you know, adds constructively to the conversation; and the rest of us, being empathetic and not lacking in common decency would have simply taken it as an earnest attempt to engage in conversation. But again, despite your stated intention it seems your reply is more about how others perceive your "I don't care what you think about me attitude" and misuse of $10 words.

But, yeah, Tomayto/Tomahto er whatever. Keep paying ATTENTION to your AVERAGE self and your otiose (lol) cries for approval.

Damn, dude, big-ups for typing all that with your clown getup on; the wig was too tight when you posted that, though, wasn't it? I reckon I sperged out like a nerd in my original post, but you took the cake and ate it whole...and by that I mean you shoved your face and rammed the poor thing with it. I get that irony can be scrumptious sometimes, but there's no need to be a glutton.

You made my day, though, so thanks for the comic relief.

[...] Toss out the alphabetical stew, the alphabet doesn't help you decide what to play; it actively makes it more difficult. Organize games based on theme? Yes. Fantastic idea. Put all games of a similar theme with one another, and when you're in the mood for something of that nature, you can clearly see what all of your available options are.

So, according to you, organizing alphabetically is a "stew", and your intended solution for that is sorting by themes?

Roger that.

[Warmsignal]

So, you said something you knew was going to be poorly received, apologizing before you even started, then hid behind a disability you don't have (incredibly disrespectful, despite your retroactively inserted intention).

You could, rather, think about how other people feel about themselves when you say things on the internet (though it's obvious your internet interactions are an exercise in solipsism), especially disabled people; apparently your understanding is I can say and do whatever I want regardless of how it's perceived by others because I can always just say I'm disabled and people will let it slide. Never mind that this paints Aspergians as internet trolls and jerks, which I suppose I don't need to point out is absolutely rude.

You know, you could have just apologized and answered the question however you wanted that, you know, adds constructively to the conversation; and the rest of us, being empathetic and not lacking in common decency would have simply taken it as an earnest attempt to engage in conversation. But again, despite your stated intention it seems your reply is more about how others perceive your "I don't care what you think about me attitude" and misuse of $10 words.

But, yeah, Tomayto/Tomahto er whatever. Keep paying ATTENTION to your AVERAGE self and your otiose (lol) cries for approval.

Damn, dude, big-ups for typing all that with your clown getup on; the wig was too tight when you posted that, though, wasn't it? I reckon I sperged out like a nerd in my original post, but you took the cake and ate it whole...and by that I mean you shoved your face and rammed the poor thing with it. I get that irony can be scrumptious sometimes, but there's no need to be a glutton.

You made my day, though, so thanks for the comic relief.

[...] Toss out the alphabetical stew, the alphabet doesn't help you decide what to play; it actively makes it more difficult. Organize games based on theme? Yes. Fantastic idea. Put all games of a similar theme with one another, and when you're in the mood for something of that nature, you can clearly see what all of your available options are.

So, according to you, organizing alphabetically is a "stew", and your intended solution for that is sorting by themes?

Roger that.

Not exactly. Just making a fairly obvious reference to the Campbell's classic...

[sworddude]

[pzeke]

Not exactly. Just making a fairly obvious reference to the Campbell's classic...

[Warmsignal]

Just a friendly little something I whipped up for you is all. Got to feed the trolls, what I am gonna just let you starve? You're like a stray cat showing up to piss on the front porch every other week. You're kind of cute, but you're not mine. Go 'on now, GET.

[pzeke]

Just a friendly little something I whipped up for you is all. Got to feed the trolls, what I am gonna just let you starve? You're like a stray cat showing up to piss on the front porch every other week. You're kind of cute, but you're not mine. Go 'on now, GET.

Don't you think it's ironic posting that right after what I posted? I mean, if that's how you want to play it, then whatever floats your boat, but it sounds desperate.

[dhaabi]

I realized during my playthrough of Catherine: Full Body that I've recently been invested in games with enjoyable café or bar settings and even games where these settings are the central focus of the plot. The musical atmosphere in all the games I've played have been top-notch by really setting a mood. That being said, it's a little odd for me to recently be drawn to these aspects, as I'm not someone who frequents these types of environments throughout my daily life.

I've played through Persona 5 Royal, Catherine: Full Body, and Coffee Talk, so I suppose I may as well keep it up by tackling VA-11 Hall-A, 2064: Read Only Memories, and Afterparty which I've been putting off for some time. What other games have great social settings like these ones?

[Warmsignal]

Just a friendly little something I whipped up for you is all. Got to feed the trolls, what I am gonna just let you starve? You're like a stray cat showing up to piss on the front porch every other week. You're kind of cute, but you're not mine. Go 'on now, GET.

Don't you think it's ironic posting that right after what I posted? I mean, if that's how you want to play it, then whatever floats your boat, but it sounds desperate.

No. You're here to troll primarily, and the point of any response that I give you is to ruin your fun by pointing out how most of your contributions are just flame bait shitposts. I think most everyone gets that, but if they don't, they'll see it. So yeah, that's how I'm playing it if you wanna keep batting at every piece of low hanging fruit in that someone might throw out there. I'll play catch.

"Well VGCollect is goldmine of yadayadayd"... oh, sorry I know you were poised to home-run that one. If I was that pathetic I could sit here and do the same crap day in and out. It really doesn't take a lot of skill, and more importantly, to well adjusted person it's just not much fun. Before you craft some comment about "well adjusted" and reference something I've said. We GET that the stuff we post here is hyperbolic, self-deprecating, sarcastic, ranty and just off the top of our heads. You don't. You think we don't see things that you see, and that it might be clever to point those things out to us. Well, it isn't. We don't care. "VGCollect hypocrisy abound", or whatever your mantra is. Fascinating observation, my man.

The F U stew is no good when re-heated.