Gaming Confessions: I Seek Out Spoilers

It’s time for gaming confessions; the designated series here on GameGrin for all our guilty pleasures, hot takes, tricks, and embarrassing moments. Today, I’m owning up to an act that some consider a surefire way to upend your first playthrough — seeking out spoilers.

I know some people who go off social media when something new appears on the scene, avoiding discourse at all costs, and then there’s me: the complete opposite. I love to spoil media for myself: television shows, movies, novels, and yes, videogames. What Remains of Edith Finch, OMORI, Prey (2017), and The Last of Us Part II are just a few titles where I knew major plot twists and endings before experiencing them myself.

Before we venture further into this likely unpopular confession, I would never ruin a story for anyone else. I fully respect when others would like to be surprised and go into a tale with a clean slate.

I wish I could say that I’m doing some sort of experiment on the effect of spoilers on our enjoyment of stories. In reality, I think I’m just an anxious reader, viewer, and player. Flipping to the last page of a book or watching a full Let’s Play of a game is a way I can mentally prepare for emotional and/or stressful moments. It’s not that I dislike suspense or surprises; in fact, knowing what happens has helped me appreciate those elements more while also staying relatively relaxed during the lead-up.

The Last of Us Part II is a good example of a game that had major plot twists, which I “ruined” for myself by watching a full Let’s Play of it (twice) before diving in myself. What I found is that I still cried when I had to rewatch that vital scene early on — if you know, you know — and I picked up on subtle nuances throughout that I hadn’t when I watched someone else play it.

On some level, I do wonder if this is genre-based for me. I hardly ever look up footage or threads on comedy movies and games, for instance, because the jokes land better to me when I haven’t heard/seen them before. Drama and horror, however, are categories that give me much more anxiety, and as such, you’ll find me scouring reddit threads ahead of hitting the “play” button.

That said, I’ve recently been trying (and finishing) many games with the promise of not looking anything up beforehand, as I attempt to turn a new leaf when it comes to my spoiler-hunting habits. Whether it’s the action-packed Mass Effect series or the spooky Sally Face, I’ve witnessed plot twists and heartbreaking cutscenes that do hit hard. Would I have liked them as much if I had seen them coming? I want to say yes. I do admit, though, that it would have been a different experience.

Do I regret hunting down spoilers? No, not really. Do I enjoy playing games without prior knowledge? Yes, absolutely! Am I ashamed about this confession? The best confessions do come with a bit of embarrassment, I think.