I love the Souls-games by From Software, not only for the satisfying gameplay, but also for the incredible worldbuilding that I’ve never experienced the likes of in any other game series. There are some things in Demon’s Souls (the first Souls-game I played) game design that simply amazed me - I didn’t know NPCs were allowed to do act like that it games! Also, there’s something to be said for game developers willing to put big portions of a game on the other side of hidden walls that a player might miss entirely, and quest lines / endings requiring the player to really explore the world and consequences of their actions without much or any handholding.
So why haven’t I played further than Bloodborne (2015)?
DISCLAIMER: This article was written entirely by a human. All long sentences and misuse of commas are my own.
Well, you see, I already have the next one in my library - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which I bought during a sale the 26th of December 2023, but I’m not allowed to play it until I manage to get my VO2Max to 47[1]. Not allowed? Who decided that? Me!
It’s the game I want to play the most out of any game out there, and yet, simply gating it behind having to achieve something hard (to me), has made it a great motivator for years[2]. Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3 provided similar motivation, each being tied to the completion of certain exercise programs I had set out on at the time. Having a long-term reward to look forward to is nice, but it’s not always enough by itself to overcome what we in Norwegian call “the doorstep mile”[3]. The solution? More arbitrarily withholding of course, but this time short term.
I like listening to audio books, and some series I can eat up in no time because I enjoy them so much, like “Dungeon Crawler Carl” (the best made audio books by far I’ve ever experienced), and currently Robin Hobb’s fantasy series “The Realm of the Elderlings”. Unrestricted, I would listen to these books (currently book 1 of 3rd trilogy) any free moment, like during commutes, doing dishes, etc., but instead I’ve told myself that I only get to listen to them in combination with exercise.
The combination of these two things really work for me. I’m looking forward to play Sekiro so much, and some days if the weather has been bad or spirits low, the prospect of getting to listen to the audiobook I’m the most into right then has sometimes tipped the scales for actually getting a workout done. Not that it’s something I need or require, but having something give that extra push is nice to have.
Maybe this could work for someone else too! Maybe it’s not exercise for you, but doing language lessons or going to a social event. And maybe it’s not a video game and audio book, but a restaurant experience and a podcast, a weekend trip somewhere and a snack, a spa visit and a TV show (for the treadmill), or something completely different that you really desire.
For my part I’m happy that this works for now, and that there’s still 9 books left in the series!
I know the VO2Max measurement of Apple Watch isn’t necessarily super accurate, but hopefully it’s somewhat consistent with itself, and works for the purposes. Line goes up! ↩︎
I’ve had some promising results running intervals and getting VO2Max to climb before, but been stopped by pain in my shins, probably from going too hard too soon. I’m currently in the process of going a bit slow and steady, throwing lots of zone 2 jogging into the mix to hopefully build a better baseline for future intervals. ↩︎
“Dørstokkmila” - sometimes the most difficult thing is getting out the door :) ↩︎