I Forgot What It Was Like To Game Without Internet

I Forgot What It Was Like To Game Without Internet

I just moved to a new apartment, and we don’t have internet yet. Sure, I could read or explore the neighbourhood, but sometimes I just want to sit down with a good video game and turn off my brain.

Unfortunately, as I ran head-first into the reality of gaming without internet, I quickly realised that I started taking online functions for granted at some point.

It isn’t as though I play a lot of persistently online games, but not having internet has presented a problem.

One of my favourite things to do in The Sims 4 is build houses and upload them to The Gallery, an in-game resource for people to download houses and families other players have built. I don’t need to, sure, but I like providing nice builds for other players to enjoy.

If I build a gorgeous Victorian house in The Sims and no one can see it, did I build it at all? And Simmers are making new hairstyles, clothing and makeup all the time. I need to go custom content shopping really bad.

So The Sims is out, and so is Apex Legends, which is online only. I could play some of the games I have in my backlog, but Kingdom Hearts 3 helpfully reminds me that it has an update to install every time I turn on my PlayStation 4.

Without internet, I’ve realised how many games exist in a perpetual state of flux, changing at a moment’s notice. Even the developers of Dwarf Fortress are hard at work on a new update. What if I play and find that all the work I’ve done is incompatible with the new version of the game once I get internet?

That’s left me with two options: Love Nikki and Food Fantasy.

These are both gacha games I’ve been playing obsessively on my phone. If you’ve never played a gacha game before, all you really need to know is that they’re very engaging and also a ploy to take as much money from you as they can.

Love Nikki is pretty much Pokémon if the Pokémon were clothes, and Food Fantasy puts a culinary spin on games such as Fate Grand Order. There’s plenty to do in these games if you don’t spend money, but you’ll be better at them if you have the ability to craft new clothes in Love Nikki or summon more personified food in Food Fantasy.

Reader, unpacking is boring. I’ve levelled up a lot in Food Fantasy and summoned Vodka, a rare Food Soul you can only get through tediously collecting “shards” of the character from events and special missions. My progress in Love Nikki has been stalled by having to collect new, rare outfits in order to beat levels, but I’m getting there.

I have also spent way more money than I normally do on each of these games. But hey, at least I got this cool outfit!

My internet will be installed next Thursday morning, and it cannot come soon enough. It isn’t that I dislike my mobile games — even when I have internet, I like to check in on them every day. But I’d rather my games constantly be updating than constantly encouraging me to spend money. I mean, I just moved. It isn’t as though I have a ton right now.


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