Exactly. (Gaming)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, February 20, 2017, 16:52 (2833 days ago) @ Cody Miller

But, like Firewatch, if the experience of watching someone play is only slightly different than actually playing, why is it a video game and not an animated film?

They both would make good animated films (INSIDE in particular, and I suspect the creators of both would take that a compliment), but giving the player experiencing either game a sense of (at least moment-to-moment) agency offers a different experience than a film would. I'm not going to try to unpack how or why--I don't see the point. I know you don't like games that you view as easy--the implication of your argument is that they shouldn't try to be games.

I think you have an extremely narrow definition of what games should be and especially what constitutes good games. I have zero interest in trying to change your mind.