Mixtape has taught me that gamers don't want games to be art to be taken seriously but so they won't be questioned as to why they play them
Just to preface that I haven't played mixtape and probably won't given how...white upper middle class it all feels. But besides that, can we talk about how this drama enlightened me on just how gamers are paradoxical hypocrites? They want games to be seen as an artform, which to some sounds reasonable, yet do nothing to make that argument clear. And when a game does try to be art, they complain there's no violence, no clear lose condition, no means to cheese it to reach the end faster. Say what you will about walking sims, but they have place among interactive media as a whole, not just as games.
So If games are suppose to be art, why are gamers so unwilling to step out of their comfort zones to experience? Why is a lack of "gameplay" a deal breaker when the story and visuals are the main highlights of these games? idk, but I feel like as games continue to change in order to meet demands, I wish people did give these games a second shot instead dismissing them as lesser for not being hardcore (as if that's the pinnacle of good game design, but I always also neutral on soulslikes as a whole so)