Adults Start to Feel Sorry for Random NPCs: Growing Up Makes Everything Melancholic

Summary

Recently, a player shared a special experience on Tieba, saying that as they grow older, they find it increasingly hard to fully immerse themselves in stealth-assassination games. They used to love Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, where they could sneak into enemy camps and eliminate targets one by one without any psychological burden. But now, when entering similar scenes, they easily shift their attention to the NPCs. These characters might just be ordinary people going to work, standing guard, or earning a salary, only for the protagonist to suddenly appear from a corner and end their lives with one strike, never even knowing why they became a target. It used to feel satisfying, but now it feels tragic. This shift in mindset has resonated with many players, sparking discussions about whether adults' sense of immersion in games has quietly changed. Some players believe that with age and life experience, people develop more empathy for the fate of ordinary people, even virtual NPCs. Others think this doesn't mean the games are less fun, but that players themselves have changed, preferring to experience the story and world rather than purely seeking the thrill of killing. This phenomenon also reflects a trend in the game industry: more modern games emphasize the 'lifelike' quality of NPCs, such as in Red Dead Redemption 2, where passersby have their daily routines, and…