This is a weird thought but I’m just curious if anyone else feels this way. I’m 39 and grew up playing games all the way back to the original Atari and I just feel weird about the term “beat” when it comes to finishing games. I don’t know why, but I just feel like it’s weird to say nowadays. I’m talking specifically about story based games, not puzzlers and such. It’s more like playing interactive movies nowadays and saying you beat it feels just …off to me. A game podcast I listen to, they tend to say they “rolled credits” on the game or finished it. I just feel like a lot of games nowadays it’s not about “beating” so much as finishing an experience. I dunno, maybe I’m just weird, but I am curious if it’s just me.
Your logic is 100% correct. I just started gaming again recently for the first time since childhood, and my natural reaction is still to say I beat the game because that’s what I used to say back then, but it does feel weird. Especially because, like you said, games are setup to be more of an experience now. I’m so used to games being near impossible to finish or the last battle to be extremely difficult since that’s what I grew up on. But that last battle/task seems a lot more manageable nowadays, so it almost feels like I don’t deserve to say I beat the game lol.