Or, to be more precise, they should stop streaming the whole game. Let me explain.
A lot of times, I would find a cozy/atmospheric game through a Let’s player. They would display a relaxing game, get absorbed by its cuteness, and play it nonstop. I would watch all of their content and fall in love with the game as well. While watching, I would learn from the streamer’s mistakes and figure out the perfect way to play the game.
Now, this all sounds great at first. The Let’s player gets views, I learned some gameplay strategies, and the company gets another sale. However, problems arise when I get around to playing these games. Everything feels a little less cozy. All the cute story moments, touching dialogue, and endearing characters were already experienced through someone else’s game. My experience felt less personal because of that. This also causes me to be far less likely to watch a streamer play a game I want or buy a game I’ve seen on stream first.
I mentioned in a past post that I sometimes feel like I’m wasting time when I re-watch an old show. Well, the same problem arises when I play games where I know the story. It wouldn’t take long for me to get bored with the game and stop playing. After that, I become less likely to buy games I see others playing because of this.
The main appeal of cozy games is the experience and the atmosphere. While you can’t really take away the atmosphere, a Let’s play does alter the experience for prospective players. Most cozy games aren’t skill-based or have that many branching paths. They’re straight runs of the story from start to finish. Even when the devs think to put extra content like Easter eggs and optional quests, informed views will push the Let’s player in their direction, so nothing is missed.
Interestingly enough, I’ve never had these problems with story-driven action games like Kingdom Hearts or No More Hero. I believe it was because those games are driven by skill-based gameplay that the story was hidden behind.
There are a couple of solutions. One is to only stream games like this as a preview for the viewers. Give them a taste of the game, why you love it so much, and then stop. Most of my game recs come from TikTok where they can’t show the whole game without creating a massive series of videos.
While this isn’t a cozy game, I was introduced to Nier: Automata in a way that wouldn’t spoil the plot. Kirran from TFS Gaming showed off the game during a stream while talking about how much he loved it. I believe they played a couple of games that stream, but that was my first and only taste for the Nier series. Eventually, they did play the whole game on their channel, but I never watched it. Other than knowing what the gameplay looked like, I went into Nier: Automata fully blind and had a great time.
That being said, I’m perfectly willing to watch a stream of games I’ve already. Maybe this is more of a lesson of restraint on the viewer’s behalf.
In the past, I only watched gaming content for titles I never planned on playing or had the means to play, but that has changed. Now, I just watch whatever my favorite content creators play as a way to support them. This shift led to me watching series I would have skipped before.
So, new idea! Viewers should stop watching cozy game streams of games they are planning to play.
Well, until next time. See ya!
I Think Thinks 