Gaming’s new coming-of-age genre embraces ‘millennial cringe’

The article discusses the emergence of a new genre of video games that capture the millennial experience, particularly the older millennial college experience in the early 2000s. The article highlights three recent games that exemplify this trend: Despelote, Consume Me, and Perfect Tides: Station to Station. Perfect Tides: Station to Station, set in New York in 2003, is described as capturing the essence of the time period when the internet was not yet a mass communication tool but still a way to connect with like-minded individuals. The protagonist, Mara, is a college student and young writer working in her college library, representing the older millennial experience. The article suggests that these games, which embrace "millennial cringe," provide a nostalgic look at a time before the ubiquity of social media and smartphones, when the internet was a more niche and intimate space for connection and self-expression.