Let me start by saying, "I wish I had the first three Thief games again."

Having played all three games a pretty long time ago I understand and agree with a lot of this dudes points. I cherished games like Demon's Souls when it first came out because it was that first return to a time where games didn't treat the player like they were stupid. I remember showing my cousin Demon's Souls and he hated it for its difficulty. After he beat his first boss he literally called me on the phone to tell me about how satisfying it was to rely on his own skill. He was explaining the strategy he used to defeat him, and how he exploited its weakness. You don't really hear that stuff anymore, and it is a bit sad. Now everything is so guided, and fleeting. I think if you really thought back to the last few games you've played, were any of them memorable experiences? Were they experiences you would want to share with friends?

I feel like in a way games now ride on the fact that they look so pretty, but back then it was because they were so unattractive by our standards that the game had to rely on something else to draw people in. I think that is why you saw such a great shift towards indie games because they were in some way trying to return gaming to a gameplay-focused era.