EVERY PlayStation story is the same.. | Asmongold TV

In a recent episode of Asmongold TV, the host reacts to a video essay arguing that PlayStation’s first-party games have become formulaic, and he largely agrees. The central thesis is that nearly every major PlayStation exclusive now follows the same narrative template: a third-person, cinematic story driven by themes of grief and revenge, often involving the death of a family member. Asmongold pushes the critique further, arguing that this creative stagnation is not an accident but a direct result of the kinds of people making these games—people he describes as “boring, obnoxious millennial theater kids” who lack real-life hardship and mistake sadness for depth.

The Revenge-and-Grief Template

The episode begins by acknowledging the video’s core observation: PlayStation’s recent output is dominated by stories about avenging a dead parent or coping with familial loss. Asmongold rattles off examples to show how pervasive the pattern has become. Ghost of Yotei, the upcoming sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, features a protagonist avenging her family’s murder. The Last of Us Part II is built entirely around Ellie’s revenge quest after Joel’s death. God of War Ragnarok is fueled by the loss of mothers and sons. Even Returnal, a sci-fi roguelike, is ultimately about the protagonist’s grief-related trauma.