Have old games aged well?

[Kalamala7]

I've just booted up my old PS2 and played some old games and I have a few words to say. ARRRGGGHHHH MY EYES! I am of course referring the games graphics being like looking very pix elated while I still have memories if them being some of the best I've seen.

So escapist's what do you think? Do you know any old games that make you want want to tear out your eye-balls? Or maybe some games which you think have aged well and still look good?

 

[Kahunaburger]

Graphics age, but aesthetics, gameplay, and writing don't.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Graphics age, but aesthetics, gameplay, and writing don't.

Pretty much this. A lot of turn based strategy games are as awesome now as they were 10, 20 years ago. Moreso in some cases, thanks to mods.

 

[Zhukov]

Well, some of them are significantly less whiffy than others.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Old graphics don't bother me and I've never been big on how games look graphically.

However, the only game that kinda bother me is Suikoden makes my eyes hurt after a few hours of playing, especially when wandering around the map area. It might be because of how bright everything is, but dammit I will endure that because of how awesome that game is.

 

[LetalisK]

Graphics age, but aesthetics, gameplay, and writing don't.

I disagree. Going back to older games, like I am with Morrowind right now, I'm realizing how many gameplay mechanics and story elements I take for granted nowadays and why it feels so much more heinous when a new game violates those than when its an older game.

 

[burningdragoon]

PS2 is really giving you problems? Don't play any PS1 games then.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I am of course referring the games graphics being like looking very pix elated while I still have memories if them being some of the best I've seen.

That's because they were. Most PS1 games ran at 320X240, most PS2 games ran at 640X480. Both work pretty well on a 640X480 screen, but at 1920X1080, it takes a better upscaler than most TVs have for it not to make them look worse.

OT: The only old game that really looks ugly to me is Final Fantasy IV. It literally hurts my eyes to play the desert scenes, because of the color choices. For a game that looks as good today as it did over a decade ago, look at the original Unreal. It was beautiful then, and it's still beautiful now.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Moreso in some cases, thanks to mods.

Good point - RTW is a good example of an old game that actually got significantly better over time thanks to a dedicated modding community.

Graphics age, but aesthetics, gameplay, and writing don't.

I disagree. Going back to older games, like I am with Morrowind right now, I'm realizing how many gameplay mechanics and story elements I take for granted nowadays and why it feels so much more heinous when a new game violates those than when its an older game.

The stuff in Morrowind that feels awkward and obnoxious now always felt awkward and obnoxious, even when the game came out. Take the worthless stealth gameplay - the first two Thief games and Deus Ex had been out for years. Or the first-person swordplay - that was a thoroughly explored concept by 2002.

 

[Savo]

I can't say games age well for me. I seriously can't play anything made before the sixth generation of video-games. Even then, I'm very iffy on a lot of games unless they really had good stories.

Simply put, video-games have evolved too much since then for me to enjoy them. Gameplay has been gradually improved upon, voice acting has gotten better, and game stories are more tightly written. I struggle to play older games because of how used I am to the production values and feeling of today's games. Gameplay mechanics many times feel dated because there's so many games since then that have built upon that foundation.

I honestly wish I could play older games, because there's a lot of games I missed out on that I'd love to be able to hop in a time machine and go back and play when they were current. My standards are just too high...

 

[Jamieson 90]

Wolfenstein Enemy Territory (PC only) came out around a good 10 years ago and in my view still holds up very well, the great thing aboutt he game was that it was free and that the gameplay was simple yet addictive, and extremely fast, the graphics were decent for the time and and have aged well considering the games age.
Here is a great video

 

[Savo]

I honestly wish I could play older games, because there's a lot of games I missed out on that I'd love to be able to hop in a time machine and go back and play when they were current. My standards are just too high...

Funny, my standards are too high for most modern games.

What don't you like about most modern games?

 

[Savo]

I honestly wish I could play older games, because there's a lot of games I missed out on that I'd love to be able to hop in a time machine and go back and play when they were current. My standards are just too high...

Funny, my standards are too high for most modern games.

What don't you like about most modern games?

I don't like the fact that they try and appeal to everybody. We used to have specific genres, that appealed to different types of players.

For example, I'm a big traditonal rpg and survival horror fan. These genres have gotten so watered down with action/shooter elements, trying to appeal to a wider variety of ppl, they lost the essence of what made them great in the first place.

Gaming has simply got too mainstream for it's own good. It's all about how publishers can sell the most units now. It used to be about nerds making the types of games that THEY actually wanted to play.

I can understand that. Games have gotten less complex in order to appeal to a larger audience, but that has resulted in much higher production values because more people buy games nowadays. I have no issue with the reduced complexity, but I can see how long-time fans would object to that. To be honest though, the desire to appeal to a mainstream audience was inevitable, especially if games were ever to break through to the mainstream.

It is true that the RPG genre is becoming increasingly watered down, but at least there are a few games out there that are complex, like the Witcher and Dragon Age Origins. What really does suck though is that Bioware used to be the kings of RPGs but now doesn't really make pure RPGs anymore.

I too bemoan how survival horror has died. As a huge horror fan, it breaks my heart that horror is by far the most neglected genre of video-games. Outside of the occasional title like Amnesia, pure horror is all but dead.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Gaming has simply got too mainstream for it's own good. It's all about how publishers can sell the most units now. It used to be about nerds making the types of games that THEY actually wanted to play.

This has turned around a bit in the last year or two, what between the indie explosion and kickstarter taking off the way it has (although we've yet to see the products of that particular revolution). One of my own personal favorite genres, the turn based strategy, has seen something of a resurrection lately as well. I'm feeling fairly positive these days, the big publishers continued crimes against humanity notwithstanding.

 

[Total LOLige]

I just bought Half-Life 2 on Steam the other day, I was impressed that it looks so good considering it was released in 2004.

 

[Savo]

I honestly wish I could play older games, because there's a lot of games I missed out on that I'd love to be able to hop in a time machine and go back and play when they were current. My standards are just too high...

Funny, my standards are too high for most modern games.

What don't you like about most modern games?

I don't like the fact that they try and appeal to everybody. We used to have specific genres, that appealed to different types of players.

For example, I'm a big traditonal rpg and survival horror fan. These genres have gotten so watered down with action/shooter elements, trying to appeal to a wider variety of ppl, they lost the essence of what made them great in the first place.

Gaming has simply got too mainstream for it's own good. It's all about how publishers can sell the most units now. It used to be about nerds making the types of games that THEY actually wanted to play.

I can understand that. Games have gotten less complex in order to appeal to a larger audience, but that has resulted in much higher production values because more people buy games nowadays. I have no issue with the reduced complexity, but I can see how long-time fans would object to that. To be honest though, the desire to appeal to a mainstream audience was inevitable, especially if games were ever to break through to the mainstream.

It is true that the RPG genre is becoming increasingly watered down, but at least there are a few games out there that are complex, like the Witcher and Dragon Age Origins. What really does suck though is that Bioware used to be the kings of RPGs but now doesn't really make pure RPGs anymore.
.

Games like DAO and Witcher are good when compared to other modern RPGs, but are pretty damn mediocre when compared to the classics, imo.

What are your favorite classic RPGs?