There are two video games I play through probably once a year: Borderlands 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2. They’re long and complex and rich with lots of experiences, much of it seemingly superfluous.
When I play a game like that for the first time, I’m always full of anxiety over whether I’ll succeed, whether I’ll “win,” whatever that means. There’s a lot of desperation in my character’s actions, taking shortcuts and completing the required missions however I can with whatever I’ve got.
Now the second playthrough – that’s where things actually get enjoyable. Once I’ve lost that anxiety over whether it’s possible for me to succeed, I can dawdle and do all the side missions and optimize my character with all the best gear and explore all the easter eggs. I can pay attention to all the things I missed the first time, and usually succeed even better.
You might see where I’m going with this.
I’ve had a stressful several months, scrabbling to finish the missions any way that I could. The ones coming up may or may not be better.
I hope I can remember to act (and more importantly feel) as though this is the second playthrough.
- Act with the confidence that I’ve already won this game in many ways, and even the big setbacks end up being part of that story in the end.
- Do all the side missions, gathering skills and experiences.
- Optimize my character, fixing what’s not working and leaning into what does.
- Explore the world a little more, looking for easter eggs and grace notes left for me by the designers.
- Know when to pause, when to shut the game off and do something else before returning re-energized.
That all sounds surprisingly positive for me, I know. Sometimes I have to remind myself of things that are obvious to everyone else.
But really the advice holds for all of us: ALWAYS stop to pet the dogs and cats.
