Like geniuses and great soccer players, truly great videogames are scarce. In a world where thousands upon thousands of videogames get released every month, and companies are more often than not looking for the biggest-grossing product instead of the best-quality one, these rare, once-in-a-lifetime experiences must be cherished and given the proper time and respect they deserve.

Sometimes these are indie games you discover as you’re scrolling through Steam Sales, only to later find out that a simple-looking farming and gardening game holds way more value than you initially thought it would. Or maybe it just received a big award, but you keep telling yourself it is not your type of game. That is, until you watch your friends play it and decide to give it an opportunity, giving time enough room to develop deep and heavy bonds between you and this game you never thought you would enjoy, as was the case between Elden Ring and me.

Or sometimes, you already know about this game’s greatness, as everyone around you seems to love it unconditionally. Whether it is one of your friends that loses his/her mind over it when asked about their favorite videogame, or your favorite streamers and content creators holding it to their highest regard when videogames are the topic of conversation.

You may have never even heard much about it or cared much for it because it’s not a genre you tend to enjoy or a theme you typically connect with. Or maybe you have, and it is a game you have backlogged or put on hold for the future. But its unavoidable aura — I hate that word — always seems to find its way to you. This looming and haunting sensation of pressure doesn’t seem to go away, getting to a point in which you are not even sure yourself if you are actually interested in the game, or if it is the pressure talking and acting up.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) was that game for me, and this is the story of how it made me learn that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with giving yourself the freedom of choosing when to engage with certain experiences. Who knows, maybe it will change your life.

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