Secret Level should have focused on retro games or games without plot

So I recently watched Secret Level on Amazon Prime, which is an anthology of animated shorts about videogames, and honestly... it was pretty hit or miss, which is kind of to be expected for a show of its kind. Granted, I never played a most of the games in the episode list, but I still enjoyed both the New World and Outer Worlds episodes despite never really playing either of the games.

Despite this, and I don't know how much of a hot take this is, I kind of feel like the series wasted its potential, which is a shame since I think the concept is really cool. In my personal opinion, I feel like the series would have been so much cooler if it had actually focused on adapting retro games... or at least games with minimal plot and lore.

If you heard of the series in any way, you probably know about it because of its Pac-Man episode, which turned the beloved arcade classic into a dystopian nightmare. Personally I really liked this episode and it was definitely a high point of the series to me, but I can't help but imagine how cool the show would have been if it had focused on more of that... imagine if they did something like that to games like Space Invaders, Dig Dug, Lode Runner, Berzerk... hell, even more modern games with no plot like Minecraft would have made for great episodes.

That's not to say the show should have completely shied away from adapting more lore-heavy games (I think Portal would have made for a kickass episode in this show), but, personally, I think the series would have done so much better if it had instead focused on reinterpreting those kinds of simple games instead of just adapting others with complex lore and things like that. It would allow the writers to go much more creative and wild with the episodes. Hell, I mentioned Pac-Man, but I think the Spelunky episode did that concept pretty well too. It took a simple platformer game and used it as a set piece for a short and sweet story about immortality, using the game's mechanics of revival. The D&D episode (which imo was a weird inclusion since both it and Warhammer 40K are TTRPGs but I digress) also was pretty good in making up a story for a game that is basically all about creating your own story.

Personally, that's how I felt about the series, so maybe I'm a little biased since, again, I didn't play most of the games in the show. I just don't think they should have focused so much on adapting lore-heavy games like that and the less said about the fact they thought it'd be a good idea to waste an episode slot Concord of all games and the final episode which was a blatant PlayStation ad the better

Yes, I'm still mad about the Mega Man episode blueballing us with that ending. How could you tell?