DO we spent too much time trying to get "DEEP"? (Be careful what you copy creatively)

     Today I was looking at the sales from Steam, and realized that there was a full blown sale for shmups (Shoot 'em ups), and not all that long ago they had another beat 'em up sale. After playing a select few from the deluge of games I have waiting in my library, I came to the weird realization that games can be art, but good games are GAMES first and art second. I was playing through Dark Souls III after having just played Megabonk, Hollow Knight, Blasphemous (which got me started on a completely different rabbit hole of how Christianity and its themes are used or portrayed in media and my own feelings on that) and now I'm wondering if it really even has to be that deep at all? Not just for games, but for movies and books as well! Are we focusing too much on creating all this lore and building a new Earth from scratch and calling it something clever, and then missing the point of the story?

     This is super easy to see when we look at games that share the same series, such as the aforementioned Dark Souls series. After playing through the entire series again, and relearning why I love and hate those games before I try out Elden Ring for the first time, I started to do some research. I tried to find how different people felt about the stories on these games where people literally make money just theorizing and explaining item descriptions. What I found was a not-so-small amount of posts talking about what I was wondering; if people didn't like the lore would they still play it? I did that for most of the games mentioned before, besides the ones that were made obviously trying to just be the most fun video game. What I learned was that most people apparently just don't even pay attention to those parts when they are talking about games! This was weird for me since for whatever reason I felt like the majority of the hardcore gamers didn't just expect you to care about the mechanics, but for the story too. I have a hard time playing any character that I haven't come up with a story for, as right now im doing a DSIII run as a Lothric Knight (ifykyk). Yet, games with amazing stories but subpar gameplay end up being what everyone looks forward to from their favorite content creators.

     The point of me doing this kind of deep dive about not getting too deep is not that you shouldn't get deep in your game/film/writings, but that you are creating a game/film/piece of written work, NOT a lore book. This book I am currently writing with a deadline for the end of the month isn't just a book for me to come up with all the fun ideas or different historical takes that come from Earth, but with magic, it's a story first. It's about a group of people who are trying to be heroic in their own ways, going on an adventure where evil awaits. The nuances and changes in all these stories is the same thing that has been wrong with my stories for so long; less lore, more story! More npcs to talk to, more dialogue options, more cutscenes- just kidding, because when you are playing a GAME you want to play your GAME not watch it! I kept getting told the messy parts were everything except the action and the dialogue when it came to the stories I submitted in college, and now I can see why. I thought that by making a very big complex world, that would make more people want to keep reading, the same way other creators try to keep people playing their games or watching their videos/films. However, if everything outside the story is interesting, then you might as well go buy the lore book and skip the story. 

     Thank you so much for reading this little opinion piece! These are a great way for me to keep the ideas rolling while also passing on any advice I can while I am learning how to do this self-publishing stuff for the first time. I'm always getting ahead of myself and thinking about how I could learn how to be a carpenter this weekend and by next week I'll be selling furniture, but I don't have a degree in woodwork, now do I? So, as I am getting better at writing so I can one day go buy a homestead with a good internet connection, write books to pay bills and have a creative outlet, and tend/grow food of all kinds for a physical outlet, the first step is becoming a writer. Maybe an author one day. What those of us who say we want to be writers need to be doing is creating quality work worth paying for, not complaining that no one is buying. At least that is the line I put in the sand for myself. If no one is buying I want it to be because no one is reading, not because my book/game/film/furniture is bad.

     Which is why, on that note, I need you to follow this blog, comment below, and let me know what you think! Do we spend too much time trying to get to some deeper meaning when there isn't any? Is everything always about trying to get deeper when really we just need a break? Do you hate the font and color? Let me know below or on any of the social media posts I do!