Great Game Burnout

I've said it so many times this year that I feel like a broken record, but it still bears repeating: 2017 has been an outstanding year for great games. I'm in the process of piecing together the placement of my top ten games of the year, a feature I've been wanting to do on this blog for about the past four years now. I finally managed to play over ten games that released in the same year, which was the only thing stopping me from going through with said feature. It just saddens me that two of my favorite titles from 2017 hit me with a nasty case of burnout.

As a kid in the early 1990s, I loved the Genesis Sonic games, so of course I was looking forward to the release of Sonic Mania. Despite some issues I have with the game, Mania did not disappoint. The game has huge levels, most of which are all kids of fun to run through and explore (still not a big fan of Stardust Speedway or Titanic Monarch Zone). I enjoyed Mania so much that I double dipped, owning a version on the PS4 and the Switch. On both versions, I've done multiple playthroughs.

As is the case with games I'm really enjoying, I may set them aside when another title I'm looking forward to finally drops. I stopped playing Sonic Mania due to the release of Metroid: Samus Returns, another 2017 favorite. However, the release of that game as well as others wasn't the only reason I didn't keep playing Mania. During my 7th or maybe it was the sixth playthrough, I can't recall the exact number, I begun to feel tuckered out. A few weeks ago I figured I would attempt a No Save, Insta-Shield run since I love that Sonic 3 & Knuckles ability. Not even halfway through Green Hill Zone Act 1, I paused the game, looked at the screen for several seconds and shut it off. I just didn't feel like going through Mania again as I'd felt that I'd seen and experienced perhaps way more of it than I should have in such a short amount of time. This feeling didn't end with Sonic Mania, oh no. A game I was anticipating far more than Sonic's retro 2D return also brought about similar feelings of overexposure.

I love you, Sonic Mania, but we need a nice, long break.

All of the praise for Super Mario Odyssey has already been stated ten times over. I agree with a great deal of what fans and critics have said regarding Mario's latest adventure. The kingdoms are like giant virtual playgrounds for you to romp through and more often than not, your curiosity is reward, if not with coins, a precious Power Moon. I intentionally avoided as much info on Odyssey as I could because I wanted to be surprised (my trip through the game was far more enriched for this) but I eventually caught word that there were over 900 Power Moons. Even before I completed Odyssey I could feel myself getting exhausted from all the Power Moon hunting. As engaging as the post game content is, I feel more weary playing the game now than I did before stopping the wedding. I'm still playing Odyssey, just not doing the same 5 and six hour play sessions I was before. Sometimes days will pass before I tread through kingdoms for moons again.

I still stand by everything I said about Sonic Mania and Super Mario Odyssey on this blog before the burnout on each one set it and spoiler alert, both games are more than likely gonna rank high on my top ten list, but Super Mario Odyssey has been regulated to side game status and I need a much longer break from Sonic Mania before I can fire it up again. I was reminded by two games I never would have expected that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Considering the two titles that served as said reminder, well, that cuts me kind of deep.