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[COLUMN] GTFO, FOMO | by Marty Sliva
🕑 Added 2025-03-04 15:00:16 +0000 UTC
It seems like all of my friends are among the 8 million (and counting) folks who spent the weekend slaying beasts and turning their spoils into cool hats in Monster Hunter: Wilds. I know for certain that it’s hitting Second Wind hard as well. KC has already put 40+ hours into it and released a video with his thoughts, Yahtz and J are working on episodes of Fully Ramblomatic and Design Delve respectively, and it’s already been brought up in multiple meetings throughout this young week.
The game is the biggest release in Capcom’s storied history, and despite some shoddy PC optimization that hopefully gets fixed sooner rather than later, seems to be resonating with the audience as well. But I wouldn’t know, because despite contemplating picking up Monster Hunter and joining in the fun with my pals, I ended up spending the weekend playing 2013’s Pokemon X for the Nintendo 3DS, replaying 1995’s Chrono Trigger for the SNES on my personal Twitch channel, and rewatching the trailer for Warm Monkey before it drops on Steam later this week.
I think I might finally be at a place in my life where I’ve transcended the fear of missing out (FOMO), and am able to sit on the sidelines and just be happy that other people are happy. But man oh man, it wasn’t an easy road to get here.
Even before I worked in this industry, I always tried to keep up to date on whatever the big new game was at any given moment. I forced myself to try and enjoy whatever was at the center of monoculture, even if it felt like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. That feeling only expanded once this hobby became my livelihood, and I felt like it was expected of me to have an opinion on each and every big new game that came along, regardless of my past history with a given genre or franchise.
I think that mentality was born from being a big movie fan my whole life. I try to see at least one movie in theaters every week, and pride myself on watching every Academy Award nominee in every category, save for stuff like shorts and documentaries. While that may seem like a lot, it pales in comparison to someone like Darren, who’s whirlwind trip through the Cannes Film Festival last year left me mighty impressed.
But the difference is, a movie generally takes up 90-150 minutes of my life, save for the occasional outliers like The Brutalist or Master of Disguise – in the biz, we call those “the big two.” But a vast majority of games last far longer than that, with some like Monster Hunter not really starting until you’ve hit the first set of credits. Couple that with the fact that games are an active experience that requires your own feedback, and it’s just impossible to play everything, no matter how much you might want to be a part of the conversation.
That’s why I’ve learned to become comfortable with simply not being a part of certain conversations. There are enough people at Second Wind who know Monster Hunter or have a greater curiosity for it than I do, and I know they’ll serve the community well who want to hear informed thoughts on the new game. At the same time, I know I fill that same role on certain games as well, as the only person on staff who finished Metaphor: Re:Fantazio and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth last year. And while it occasionally bums me out that there are a few genres that go underserved here on the channel – looking at you 4X – there are plenty of other folks across the internet who are making rad videos, pods, and articles about those.
Still, brains are dumb, and I can’t help but feel a bit weird when a big game comes along that I just don’t vibe with. So far in 2025, I devoured Citizen Sleeper 2, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist. I put enough time into Eternal Strands and Avowed to understand what they were going for, but knowing that they weren’t for me at this given moment. But I didn’t even think about dabbling in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Just like Monster Hunter, it’s a thing that I can appreciate from a distance and that I’m happy for everyone who seems to be having a great time, but I know by now that forcing myself to try and like something just isn’t going to work.
The same thing happens every year with a handful of the biggest games. I just didn’t connect with Balatro and Helldivers 2 last year, and I got off the Baldur’s Gate 3 train before it even left the station in 2023. But again, there were enough folks out there who did play those games and could deliver those thoughtful takes on them, that there was no need for me to force myself into something I just didn’t have any interest in playing.
But just because I miss something at the time, that doesn’t mean I’ll miss it forever. One franchise that has been at the top of my backlog for ages now is the Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy + X. It’s been literal generations since the first game dropped on Wii and I told myself that I would eventually make time to jump in. As a longtime lover of the team’s work on Xenogears and the Xenosaga trilogy, coupled with the widespread praise for the Chronicles games, I’m almost certain that they’d resonate with me. But at this point, I’ve promised myself that I’m finally going to jump in once I have Nintendo’s fancy new hardware in my hand, so hopefully that won’t be too much longer.
As I look forward to the release calendar for the first half of the year, I’m happy to note that a majority of the big games that have firm dates attached to them are ones that I’m deeply interested in playing. March has Split Fiction, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Wanderstop. April has South of Midnight, Promise Mascot Agency, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. And May sees my big angry DOOM boy returning for The Dark Ages.
Until then, I’m fine to sit the likes of Kingdom Come and Monster Hunter out, without the crippling FOMO I might’ve had a few years ago. Besides, who needs those games when you have the pair of 2000 Rockstar-developed Game Boy Color games Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! and Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair! to revisit? It’s for an upcoming video, honestly.
Comments
jahr
By the time it hits the steam discount, patches eliminate most of the game ending bugs too.
Brian S
At this point in my life, I have to be really interested in a game to play it, and once I do, I play the shit out of it. I'm perfectly happy to watch other games via SW on YouTube and the personal streams on Twitch.
dirtside
Gonna get political for second, but FOMO is a deliberate weapon in the arsenal of the oligarchs. They *want* you spending all your time on entertainment so that you're not spending time focusing on how they're all robbing us blind and ripping our country apart. I love video games, I always will. But some time ago I realized that it really didn't matter if I play every game that appealed to me (much less play them all the way through). It's just a form of entertainment, and if it dominates my free time, that's just another brick in the wall.
Pyrian
"If you can't write a column about how you're playing the latest game, write a column about how you're NOT playing the latest game." ;)
Tyler King
My dad's favorite movie is Master of Disguise
GayBearDaddy2
They've also been relegated to my backlog as I work to plat Soul Hackers 2 and SMT V: Vengeance.
Lil' Cass
I'm at a similar point in my life with FOMO too Marty❤
Ryan Harrison
I thought you were talking about the game GTFO and got excited lol
Marty Sliva
That time/money ratio when you’re young compared to as an adult is spot on.
Marty Sliva
Totally, that’s another great point — coming to something down the road means you get it for much cheaper (unless it’s dumb Nintendo), and generally in better shape + full of DLC/expansions.
Marty Sliva
Yeah, I’ve definitely been popping into some MHW streams to see what it’s like, and I’m looking forward to some really thoughtful post-review video essays, but I think that’ll be the extent of my time with it.
Marty Sliva
I played most(?) of the original Baten Kaitos on GameCube back in the day, and have fond memories of it. Snagged the remasters when they came out, but like so many of JRPGs, they’ve been simmering on the backlog ever since.
Marty Sliva
That last paragraph resonates with me 100%.
Marty Sliva
Yep, I feel all of this. Also, stoked you’re playing Metaphor.
Kaminariko Inazuma
I've been playing video games for 50 years (started with a pre-release PONG console), and I'm still not at the point where I can ignore the FOMO. I have far too many games to ever be able to play already (not a brag, rather a potential Gamers Anonymous introduction..if there's no 12-step GA chapters yet, then there should be, but they'd all wind up being LAN parties). Growing up, I never had the money for new games and hardware, but I had lots of time. Now, it's the opposite, and it's honestly just as much nerd anxiety. The only thing that could make it worse would be to have a career in gaming like Marty. I can't even imagine reviewing games for a living and then trying to enjoy anything new that comes out. It must be like you're permanently the designated driver for every alcohol-fueled party you attend.
Jared
I totally agree - I tend to play on a budget, so I buy games 2-3 years after release, with steep discounts on Steam sales. And for the last two months - I've been replaying Marvel's Midnight Suns. My first playthrough was a year ago and I put 100 hours into it. A few months ago, I tried dropping into a couple of highly-rated games, but one by one, I lost interest. I picked up Midnight Suns again, thinking I'd just burn through the game since I'd already put *so* much time into it, but I'm already at hour 30 while still being in the first zone of the game. And I look forward to playing it every time I pick it up. What else could I ask for?
jahr
Welcome to the No FOMO Club. Personally use streamers like SW to satisfy the urge for games like this. Sometimes I still end up playing. Rivals, I am looking at you.
GayBearDaddy2
If you haven't played Monolith Soft's "Baten Kaitos" games, they might be your speed, Marty. They were released on Switch and are solid games on their own (plus great soundtracks). Meanwhile, I've got no real FOMO since I prefer to play most games after the hype dies down (like Undertale or In Stars and Time). The list of games I like being current on is usually just Final Fantasy XIV because fresh content, before everyone knows how to play, is the most chaotic and most fun. Play as a tank and be the sole survivor; play as a healer and pull off run-saving miracles; play as a DPS and hope you don't die in the first three mechanics. After about a month or two, the content can still feel fresh-ish, but it's nowhere near as fun as being in the inaugural groups.
ergotpoisoning
There's something freeing about it. If you're like me (married, work an intense job, care for elderly family member) then you don't have time to play every single major release that interests you. Mentally deciding to sit one out feels like a relief. Same thing with seasons in live service games - I am flooded with relief when the trailer for a new Path Of Exile season doesn't appeal to me. I still LOVE games, but hate feeling obligated to make time for anything. Life is stressful enough as it is.
Ryallen
I'm in the same boat, all of my friends are playing Wilds and not only am I busy playing Metaphor for the first time, I don't really plan on playing Wilds at all. And I only started Metaphor when I was done with Persona 3 Reload. New releases excite me but I know that I won't get to them for quite some time for a few reasons and my time is always occupied by slightly-to-moderately older titles. After Metaphor I plan on resuming a few more games that I put on pause because Metaphor is occupying so much of my mind at the moment, none of which are particularly new titles. Even then there are five games coming out over the next two months that I'm eagerly anticipating that I don't know if I'll get to anytime soon. Why should I? I play games extremely slow and over half the time I don't even finish them. I started the Star Ocean 2 remake and I can't guarantee I'll play more than a few more hours before dropping it for good. I want to play SMTV twice, once in the Canon of Creation and once in the Canon of Vengeance and I can't really deny that it's insane to even consider doing that. There's also VNs that a few friends of mine recommended to me that I haven't even thought about starting simply because I don't particularly like the genre like I like other games. Sometimes small annoyances in games build up and I lose my taste for them, sometimes I like a game well enough but never get back to it for no real reason other than I'm not particularly compelled to play it again. I've always had a problem starting and finishing games so I had to grow out of FOMO fairly quickly to not feel bad all the time about missing out on most media
