Great games that have aged horribly?

FakeSympathy

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We all have those games from our past that we loved to play. After school, weekends, hoildays, and so on. But some of those games look horrible when played today. What are some of your favorite games taht have aged terribly?

KOTOR

Probably my very first star wars game AND the first game that I've played with the plot twist. This game was really great back in the days. However, playing it through again on steam made me realize how flawed the game was. The inventory and skill UI was terrible (Why do I need one screen to view stats and another to level up?), The combat was stilted and the graphics look just ugly. However, I will acknowledge this game laying foundation for all of the Bioware games that I've enjoyed (Everything except ME:A)

Star Fox 64

Before you get your keyboard pitchforks to kill me with words, here me out; This game was fun. It was great blasting enemy ships through lylat system. But the game looks terrible today. So you're telling me it was possible to animated Star Fox team running in the hallway, but once they were on the ship their heads were the only thing they can animate? Also, I didn't like any of the team members. Falco is kind of a dick, Slippy always gets into trouble, Peppy is just there, and Kat provides the "only girl in the group" characteristics.

Kingdom Hearts (Original PS2)

Okay, it was fun to visit all the Disney worlds from the movies I've watched as a kid. But let's face it; Sora's kind of an annoying protagonist. Aside from annoying protagonist, this game is filled with atrocious difficulty spike, time-consuming and inverted control gummy ship sections (even with the warp ability there were still some sections you are forced to pilot), FF cameos just to please the fans, locked camera angle, and sora's slow swing speed (got me killed so many times)

Oblivion

If we are talking purely about story and quests, then I'd say I enjoyed Oblivion more than Skyrim. The dark brotherhood and the thieves' guild quests were more memorable (killing people in a locked house and stealing elder scrolls ftw), impressive oblivion realm, and great villains. However, was this game really that great? Let's take a look. We start off with crappy character creation (bold attempt, I must say), then you are greeted with a creepy conversation, repetitive dungeons (cave, ruins, or oblivion realm), risk of raising your character wrong, and a already-unlocked fast travel locations that defeats the purpose of having the open world in the first place.
 

meiam

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As much as I hate to say it, most JRPG aged badly, combat is just uninvolved and constant random encounter are grating. That's not to say it's impossible to make a good turn based combat, plenty did it, but most games failed at it. Xenogears still has a great story, but it's pretty boring to play cause the combat is plain boring which makes the dungeon just an annoyance.

First mass effect, yeah ME3 kinda ruined the first one for me. It's hard to care about some of the longer lasting stuff when you know most of it will amount to nothing and at the same time the gameplay evolved so much it's hard to play. How the hell did that inventory system get okay is beyond me.

Kingdom heart is interesting, as someone who don't particularly like disney, the FF cameo were the reason I played it and essentially my favorite part of the game are the story moment that are more square than disney. The combat system is still pretty enjoyable imo, especially once you get all the aerial stuff and the few optional boss are pretty fun, love the Sephiroth fight. Although I honestly can't get excited for KH3, the millions and a half spin off just killed my interest in the franchise.
 

Dalisclock

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At the risk of a causing a certain person to show up, System Shock 1 hasn't aged very well. It's really well done but not being able to mouse aim and the sheer amount of information on the screen just makes it harder to actually play the game.

Arcanum is apparently a great game once you get rolling in it but it's stat and upgrade system is so difficult to learn it makes it really, really hard to appreciate it. I grew up playing games like Fallout 1 and 2 where this kind of thing was the norm(and it's far more complex then fallout). Trying to play this game without that perspective no doubt would be even more offputting.

Honestly, a lot of the classic series starters haven't aged very well. Final Fantasy 1 feels like a D&D expy with just enough changed to avoid copyright infringement. Metal Gear(the original from 1987) is quite tedious and uniuntive, despite effectively launching stealth games(no one remembers the original non-FPS Castle Woflenstein).
 

Gordon_4_v1legacy

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Mass Effect definitely hasn't aged well. It wouldn't be too hard to fix it since all it needs is a cover/shoot system that works and an inventory that doesn't suck ass - everything else is more or less okay. I feel confident in this since I just got done doing a new play-through.

And before anyone mentions the Mako; that fucking thing is beyond help so best to just ignore it.
 

DefunctTheory

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Ezekiel said:
You're wrong.
One questions why you even bothered to show up, seeing as how you're objectively right.

As to OP, game aging boils down to the same two issues most of the time - Controls and UI. System Shock and its UI that feels like someones taking sand paper to your eyes, early Resident Evils that derive most of their gameplay solely from an atrocious overhead camera and controls that can get you 'transition locked' between two screens and make combat an exercise in anger management, and a hundred other games that suffered because the link between the player and the actual game has been replaced by far more intuitive design made possible by tech advances, new control hardware, or sometimes just replaced after years of trial and error.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Most "great" 5th gen games, because early poly graphics look hideous (everything looks like it came out of the wrong end of a teleporter), the live-action FMVs are cringey, the line readings all fall either under emotionless or cheesy, and studios spent a while cracking out a good control scheme + camera work for 3D.
 

Casual Shinji

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sgy0003 said:
Kingdom Hearts (Original PS2)

Okay, it was fun to visit all the Disney worlds from the movies I've watched as a kid. But let's face it; Sora's kind of an annoying protagonist. Aside from annoying protagonist, this game is filled with atrocious difficulty spike, time-consuming and inverted control gummy ship sections (even with the warp ability there were still some sections you are forced to pilot), FF cameos just to please the fans, locked camera angle, and sora's slow swing speed (got me killed so many times)
You forgot the terrible level design meant to confuse the player and keep you walking around in circles. But then that was always bad.
 

Catfood220

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Resident Evil 4. Now, put down your pitchforks and flaming torches and listen. Resident Evil 4 is a great game, it was when it first came out on the Gamecube and it still is now. However, there is something that seemed revolutionary at the time. But hasn't aged particularly well and that is the controls. I won't apologize for having got used to modern dual stick control schemes, but having played this game recently, trying to get my head around just using the one stick to completely control Leon is a pain in the arse. Its not totally unusable and I eventually I got used to it again, but how anyone can say that it is good is beyond me.
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

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Catfood220 said:
Resident Evil 4. Now, put down your pitchforks and flaming torches and listen. Resident Evil 4 is a great game, it was when it first came out on the Gamecube and it still is now. However, there is something that seemed revolutionary at the time. But hasn't aged particularly well and that is the controls. I won't apologize for having got used to modern dual stick control schemes, but having played this game recently, trying to get my head around just using the one stick to completely control Leon is a pain in the arse. Its not totally unusable and I eventually I got used to it again, but how anyone can say that it is good is beyond me.
Wasn't that the point? The game wouldn't be very challenging otherwise.


OT: The original Deus Ex. Try playing it without mods. I dare you.
 

Casual Shinji

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Catfood220 said:
Resident Evil 4. Now, put down your pitchforks and flaming torches and listen. Resident Evil 4 is a great game, it was when it first came out on the Gamecube and it still is now. However, there is something that seemed revolutionary at the time. But hasn't aged particularly well and that is the controls. I won't apologize for having got used to modern dual stick control schemes, but having played this game recently, trying to get my head around just using the one stick to completely control Leon is a pain in the arse. Its not totally unusable and I eventually I got used to it again, but how anyone can say that it is good is beyond me.
Really, the only criticism I'll level toward the controls is the inability to strafe. Not even a running strafe, just one at normal walk speed like in RE5. This would make repositioning yourself for knifing downed enemies more efficient.

Beyond that the controls are still fantastic.
 

Trunkage

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sgy0003 said:
Oblivion

If we are talking purely about story and quests, then I'd say I enjoyed Oblivion more than Skyrim. The dark brotherhood and the thieves' guild quests were more memorable (killing people in a locked house and stealing elder scrolls ftw), impressive oblivion realm, and great villains. However, was this game really that great? Let's take a look. We start off with crappy character creation (bold attempt, I must say), then you are greeted with a creepy conversation, repetitive dungeons (cave, ruins, or oblivion realm), risk of raising your character wrong, and a already-unlocked fast travel locations that defeats the purpose of having the open world in the first place.
I'd agree. I'd also put Morrowind on there. I don't mean graphics. I things like dungeon design. While I don't particularly like the looping the modern Scrolls games have, its better than trudging back through areas you've already been, past enemies you've already slaughtered. It's time wasting. Lack of fast travel and generally how fast you travel is another time waster. Quests are generally kill this, get that. Sometimes you have to go talk to someone (particularly when you become Hortator) and that its. Its like someone thought it was a great idea for you to go get some exercise. Perhaps if this wasn't matched with the time wasting travel, it might've be okay. Now its just seems like Morrowind doesn't respect my time.

DefunctTheory said:
As to OP, game aging boils down to the same two issues most of the time - Controls and UI. System Shock and its UI that feels like someones taking sand paper to your eyes
While I understand the comments about quest marker in newer games, this game (and Morrowind) show why they became necessary. Game creators cant write directions to save themselves. Also SS has massive arrows pointing this way so its partially gives you a quest marker. Then it let you find that needle in the haystack, which is frustrating. (I played it again a couple of months ago. I couldn't remember what motherboard I needed. had to track back and forth. I gave up and looked it up onine.)

Original Mario is pretty trash. Looking at it, you think there hasn't been much changes. But the way Mario moves and feels is way different.
 

JohnnyDelRay

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Catfood220 said:
Resident Evil 4. Now, put down your pitchforks and flaming torches and listen. Resident Evil 4 is a great game, it was when it first came out on the Gamecube and it still is now. However, there is something that seemed revolutionary at the time. But hasn't aged particularly well and that is the controls. I won't apologize for having got used to modern dual stick control schemes, but having played this game recently, trying to get my head around just using the one stick to completely control Leon is a pain in the arse. Its not totally unusable and I eventually I got used to it again, but how anyone can say that it is good is beyond me.
Completely second this. With nostalgia goggles on, I bought the PS3 HD re-release thing. When I realized that I had to aim with the left stick, I was horrified. After trying for a couple hours, I just put the thing down and never went back.

Then it came to Steam, where apparently this was rectified, as in you could set up a more modern scheme. You still couldn't move and shoot, but I think this is a tactical/interfacing integral part of the game, so I was happy to play it and finish it like that. The controls do NOT age well at all, and I actually found RE7 to be a fantastic evolution of it. RE5 was pretty much the same with on the fly inventory management and cover, the latter which was simply annoying in an RE game.

RE7 though, heavily criticized as being very clunky, I actually found very satisfying. Sprinting with narrow video angle I find more realistic and objective focused. Rolling and dodging is good for very heavily telegraphed attacks or getting out of serious trouble, countering and smashing heads with a roundhouse kick or pistol whip/rifle butt resulting in exploded heads is just so damn satisfying. And it still has the convenient shortcuts such as the quick 180, and master-level playing inventory hacks/exploits. The only problem with it is the cover system still remains, and the game has way too many QTEs. But I'm going off topic so I'll cut here.
 

Kyrian007

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Ezekiel said:
None of them. If it "aged horribly," it wasn't great to begin with. Games don't "age."

I'm probably not even gonna reply to any opponents, because I don't feel like having this argument again. You're wrong.
You're right. A great game is ageless, and will be just as good 50 years from now, as it is now. If one looks back and says "I used to think that game was great, now I don't." They were wrong then, not now.
 

Neurotic Void Melody

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The old tomb raiders control like utter ass, they look like utter ass and their stories are utter ass. Same goes for the resident evils. Looking back, I'd assume times must have been desperate. But Mario 64 didn't control like ass, so fuck knows...maybe people were clamouring that hard for 'realistic' and 'adult/mature' looking aesthetics in their games. Also sonic, but I never found them that great in the first place, it just seems everybody else did, so they must have been? Either way, aged no goodie for me. What's that distant rumbling? [small]...oh dear...time to bounce haste![/small]
 

laggyteabag

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I try to make a habit of not replaying old games. Generally, the game will be nowhere near what I remember them to be, and it ruins my memories of the game.

There are a few exceptions, like KOTOR which I thought held up quite nicely, and Baldur's gate (though I was playing the Enhanced Edition).

One game that I was certainly not expecting to have aged so poorly was 2007's Mass Effect. Its not even that old!

The game, like many others have stated, feels like ass. The entire shooting portion of the game is bland, boring, weightless, and dull. Not to mention that the starting weapons of the game are so inaccurate, I don't feel like I can even shoot the broadside of a barn. I get that you are supposed to collect new and better gear, but there must be better ways to go about it than making it almost impossible to hit anything.

Next up is the Mako. The fact that the Mako tank shipped in the way it did makes me question who worked on it. It was floaty and it flipped all over the place. Using it to navigate just about anything was a total chore.

And finally, the graphics. I don't understand why the game is so ugly. The game came out in November of 2007. That year, we saw Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, BioShock, and Uncharted, and Crysis. I get that most of these games are a lot more linear, but come on, the game looks like ass, and the performance doesn't back it up. Terrible.

Frankly, I enjoyed the story of ME1, but that was about it. It was okay the first time, but playing it again after ME2 and ME3 makes it super hard to get any form of enjoyment. Basically, whenever I "replay the Mass Effect games", it usually just ends up being ME2 and ME3.
 

dscross

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Ezekiel said:
None of them. If it "aged horribly," it wasn't great to begin with. Games don't "age."

I'm probably not even gonna reply to any opponents, because I don't feel like having this argument again. You're wrong.
I more or less agree with Ezekiel here. If you never want to play it, it probably wasn't that good in the first place - or it's not your type of game now. I feel like games can only really age in terms of graphics, because everything else was intentional for that specific type of game. Poor graphics, I think, most gamers should be able to live with if they like how it plays. I mean, most gamers don't play games just because they look nice.

In terms of gameplay, people who say things like 'this game hasn't aged well' when they are playing it a long time after release often are unfamiliar with the mechanics when compared to modern games. They'll often say 'it's aged badly' because they don't like the mechanics or controls, but that's preference and doesn't mean it's 'aged badly'. Take the tank controls in Resident Evil. It was designed that way specifically to suit the fixed camera angles and to take control away from the player for survival horror reasons. It's just a bit diffierent and a matter of preference - it's not 'aged'.

Also, you have to take into consideration that your tastes may have changed as YOU aged and you only like it for the memories. That does happen.