[zbtaylor1]

I think you're right. Anecdotally I, as well as most of my friends that still game, have become increasingly conscious of avoiding "help" when playing a new game. I'd never played a FromSoft game and beating Elden Ring with zero spoilers or advice was just about the greatest gaming experience I've ever had.

I suspect it's partially an age thing. Now that we're older and becoming nostalgic for the wonder that games held for us as children this is a great way to capture some of that magic again.

As mentioned elsewhere, gaming guides aren't a new thing, but for a certain segment of the population they were pretty uncommon for a large chunk of our childhood. So, instead, knowledge was shared around the lunch table or at recess.

It's maybe not quite as exciting in my 30's as it was back then, but it's a hell of a lot more fun to discover things with my friends than it is to watch a 20 minute video about optimal strategy.