Poll: Can You Still Enjoy Classic Games Despite The Advancements Of Modern Games?

[Cowabungaa]

Well graphics I can give a pass, but mechanics are harder to forgive.

And, for me, UI's. It's why I can't for the life of me can't get into Alpha Centauri. Its UI is too damn cumbersome for me.

Recently though I discovered the genius that is King Of Dragon Pass. And oh my God you guys, this game is something else. It's a mostly text-based strategy-roleplaying game, but boy is it fleshed out; an expansive mythology (to which you contribute), beautiful (mostly) art and quite a bit of music.

It's one of the most atmospheric things I've ever played and it's from 1999. And despite being an old game, its UI was sleek enough that I could easily get started without using the tutorial. That, to me, shows that despite it being relatively old it has aged quite well.

 

[spartandude]

It really depends on the game.

Alot of 8 bit games have aged horribly. For example The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. However some 16 bit games are still amazing, for example The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid.

 

[the_dramatica]

I find that modern games have gone backwards in a lot of way, particularly in terms of gameplay depth.

For some reference.

http://www.pcgamer.com/dice-on-mirrors-edge-2-theres-definitely-a-market-for-it/#!

Here there is mention of making the game simpler to reach abroader audience

 

[DefunctTheory]

Games like Zelda: Ocarina of Time, however, are harder ones to keep playing - Its still a fantastic game, but the controls don't hold up, and that holds it back.

Yeah, a lot of people say that, but I don't know what they mean other than the faster rolling.

I played it recently, and not only did it take me a few minutes to adjust to, but it gave many strategic possibilities while nothing hindered me.

If you don't mind, what do you find dated about it?

Movement feels clunky and harder to control, and the button scheme does not transfer well to the Wii U Pro or the Wii controller thingy attachment. The manual aiming is probably the worst though; feels like it takes an age to actually get the bow and sling shot on target.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I'm not really graphics snob, but I find it hard to get in to 2D or isometric games nowadays. I'm sure I'm missing out on some good games, but I can't get past not being able to move the camera around in three dimensions. It's why I haven't played Pillars of Eternity yet but I can suffer through Skyrim or Dragon Age: Inquisition

 

[Zipa]

There is little doubt that many people do enjoy playing games of eras and consoles past, hell GOG wouldn't be a thing if there was no nostalgia there.

It is kind of weird though to go back to old games and find that small things that we take for granted today weren't around at the time, like clicking and dragging to select units in a RTS for example.

 

[Nazulu]

Games like Zelda: Ocarina of Time, however, are harder ones to keep playing - Its still a fantastic game, but the controls don't hold up, and that holds it back.

Yeah, a lot of people say that, but I don't know what they mean other than the faster rolling.

I played it recently, and not only did it take me a few minutes to adjust to, but it gave many strategic possibilities while nothing hindered me.

If you don't mind, what do you find dated about it?

Movement feels clunky and harder to control, and the button scheme does not transfer well to the Wii U Pro or the Wii controller thingy attachment. The manual aiming is probably the worst though; feels like it takes an age to actually get the bow and sling shot on target.

I know nothing about the transfers to the Wii U, so I can't say anything there. I always preferred to play these games on the Gamecube controller myself.

Really have to play it again to notice the clunky movement, but are you sure it's not just a different style? Could you go into more depth about it? I really am interested. I play like this guy in the video if you need to see it again.


I agree the manual aiming could be improved, but I wouldn't say it's because of any limitations though.

 

[babinro]

Voted Yes but the real answer lies in between and largely depends on how much a game respects it's players time and how the controls hold up relative to current expectations.

I recently started replaying StarCraft's campaign in preparation of StarCraft 2's protoss expansion and the game has finally come to a point where could no longer enjoy it enough to finish the campaign. The original lacks little innovations like setting waypoints to your standing army or setting multiple Barracks to a single control group. More importantly though the level design in the campaign is completely uninspired and dull compared StarCraft 2.

I played KOTOR about 2 years ago and found myself getting bored with the HUGE zones and endless running between the games many high points. Poor pacing leads to boredom and as much as I want to experience the story again it's a genuine challenge to replay.

That said there are plenty of older games that hold up extremely well for me. NES and SNES classics like Final Fantasy, Ninja Gaiden, Super Mario Bros 3, and more hold up great. Meanwhile something like Street Fighter 2 controls very poor relative to Street Fighter 4.

 

[Super Cyborg]

There is a great deal of subjectivity in the matter, especially since you can tell some people can't stand certain graphics of back then. Many can't play FF7 because of the graphics, but to me it adds to the charm and is endearing. You can have 8bit and 16bit games look 100x better than a modern game if done right.

It comes down to mechanics in the end and what the game does with it. I've watched The Completionist play a number of Mario games on his lets play channel, and there's something I've seen from games back in the day. Despite the simple controls, there is depth in the gameplay mechanics that allows one to master the game and possibly make difficult areas a breeze. In Super Mario World, you have run, jump, and spin. Power Ups can change things up, and the spin mechanic can really add to the game play. This is really apparent when it comes to the Kaizo Mario stuff he plays.

Games today have the ability to do so much more, but many of times it feels like it's less in some ways. Things are simplified, but there isn't that hidden depth necessarily that can add to it. In the end, modern and classic games should be tested on the game play, as that's why they are made. However, if people prefer a story or graphics over it, that's there preference.

 

[Kae]

I play as many old games as I play new games, so nah, it's fine with me, admittedly it depends on the game quite a lot for example I can play both System Shock 1 and 2 without problems but I can't stand the original Deus Ex, I can play Fallout and Planescape Torment without problems but the D&D classics that aren't Planescape? Nah, too complicated and boring, Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver? yes, Tomb Raider? No, and so on it's hard to tell what make some games still feel decent when compared to other nearly identical games but some games just fucking work and feel good.

Also I find some old games to be more playable than new games, for example I like the original Fallout, I couldn't play 3 or New Vegas for more than 20 minutes, they are just boring as shit to me, it's all personal taste, also I fucking love classic platformers so everything on the NES, SNES and Genesis is like gold to me but I won't play modern shooters, not because I don't like them I merely have never bothered trying them, nothing about them calls out to me, also old adventure games are still gold if you like modern point and clicks.

All that being said I grew up on the N64 and Gamecube so a lot of these games have 0 nostalgic value to me, I'm just able to get over graphics fairly easily, for example every single game I mentioned in this list with exception of the generalization of NES, SNES and Genesis are games that I only got around to play some time in the last 4 years, so they had 0 nostalgic value to me and I still liked some of them quite a bit, for example Max Payne 1 & 2 I played 2 years ago and I loved both of them to pieces, but I fucking hated everything about Max Payne 3 because that is the single biggest piece of shit game I have ever played and I can't believe some people actually like it because it's the only fucking game that I genuinely hate, it just makes my blood boil.


Anyway I think it's all about taste because some old games are able to fill gaps that no new games are covering, it's the reason why Kickstarters that promise to give you more of that old game you liked are so successful, because the game industry today is not concerned to fill niche markets that the old games had no trouble with trying, just look at Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon, how they started being really unique tactical shooter and slowly got homogenized into being the same thing that all other shooters are these days, you went from controlling a couple of squads to just 1, to just 2 guy and then just one guy until they practically didn't exist as tactical support, that's what happened to everything and why I still play old games I hadn't played before, because they might just do something that I might only be able to see in that particular game.

 

[joest01]

I fall into the if the mechanics hold up camp. Graphics don't bother me as much although they can be distracting. More in early 3d gen games than in 8 or 16bit 2d era games.

And yes, Zelda OoT is a good example of poor aging on both accounts.

 

[Kotaro]

For me, it really depends on the game. Some games have aged beautifully, like, for example, most 16-bit RPGs. Others have not, such as most 8-bit RPGs. When you go way back to the 8-bit consoles or the pre-VGA DOS era, it tends to be a crapshoot if a given game is still enjoyable. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a game I remember fondly and just sour on it because it doesn't hold up. But there are those times that a game does hold up, and I love those times.

 

[Nazulu]

I fall into the if the mechanics hold up camp. Graphics don't bother me as much although they can be distracting. More in early 3d gen games than in 8 or 16bit 2d era games.

And yes, Zelda OoT is a good example of poor aging on both accounts.

Oh good, I had no problem working with OoT, but many do, and I've been trying to find out why exactly.

If you don't mind, could you explain to me what is wrong with the mechanics? Any examples?

 

[-Dragmire-]

I have wondered if I would enjoy Warcraft 1 just as much if I played it for the first time today. I can easily get passed the presentation but the 4 unit selection limit might be harder to tolerate.

For the most part though, if a game was fun to play and isn't held back too much from hardware/software limitations when it came out then it likely holds up today.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Spoiler

Games like Zelda: Ocarina of Time, however, are harder ones to keep playing - Its still a fantastic game, but the controls don't hold up, and that holds it back.

Yeah, a lot of people say that, but I don't know what they mean other than the faster rolling.

I played it recently, and not only did it take me a few minutes to adjust to, but it gave many strategic possibilities while nothing hindered me.

If you don't mind, what do you find dated about it?

Movement feels clunky and harder to control, and the button scheme does not transfer well to the Wii U Pro or the Wii controller thingy attachment. The manual aiming is probably the worst though; feels like it takes an age to actually get the bow and sling shot on target.

I know nothing about the transfers to the Wii U, so I can't say anything there. I always preferred to play these games on the Gamecube controller myself.

Really have to play it again to notice the clunky movement, but are you sure it's not just a different style? Could you go into more depth about it? I really am interested. I play like this guy in the video if you need to see it again.


I agree the manual aiming could be improved, but I wouldn't say it's because of any limitations though.

Oh good, I had no problem working with OoT, but many do, and I've been trying to find out why exactly.

If you don't mind, could you explain to me what is wrong with the mechanics? Any examples?

Ok, here's the nitty gritty.

The aiming is atrocious.
The camera has to be constantly bullied into a good position.
Movement is just downright clunky. Accurately walking a specific course can be done, but it feels like Link weighs a ton. Sometimes when trying to go in a direction not perfectly forward, Link will take a 'lazy' turn, like he's an oversized truck.
The text system, particularly when your trying to skip, is as horrible as ever. The nightmare of the Owl conversation is in full affect as well.

Captcha: Teflon President. Is THAT what trumps hair is made of?

 

[Callate]

I still enjoy a lot of older games. But I have to confess that it's easier to overlook dated graphics these days than dated interfaces. I well-remember memorizing entire alphabets of commands to play early Ultima games (Attack Board Cast Descend Enter Fire Get....), and I don't know if I have either the patience or the brain cells to spare for such minutiae.

 

[DementedSheep]

Sure, though yes some of them feel obsolete and they usually do feel dated in some respects and that will lessen the enjoyment. Often there are features missing that I would prefer to have, it seems to have taken devs a while to work out decent interfaces, you can see the technical limitations and of course ugly ass graphics however there are some things that you tend to get in older games I like but don't often appear in modern ones because they fell out of favour and a good game is still a good game.
Generally speaking I think older isometric and 2D games fare much better than 3D ones. I do have bit of thing against older adventure/puzzle type games because they often seem to be fucking random with their solutions but maybe I've just played bad ones.

 

[DementedSheep]

no

You might want to add more to that unless you want a low content warning.

 

[CrystalShadow]

It... Really depends. I can happily play a lot of Snes games without issue, but some NES games I find to be rather dull, and Atari 2600 and older stuff really bores me.

Not all games age well, and while it doesn't make them unplayable, it does stand out.
Ironically, the 2d/3d transition caused some issues.
For instance, in the Legend of Zelda series, A link to the past shows it's age much less dramatically than the 8 year newer Ocarina of time does.

I guess 2d art simply hasn't progressed anywhere near as much as 3d art has.
That's not to say it hasn't. Look at something like Mighty Switch force or Rayman Legends on a 1080p display and you realise that in fact, current technology has improved 2d graphics quite dramatically as well.
But...
It just doesn't have the same kind of impact somehow.
I guess in terms of the stylistic implications, a 16x24 pixel sprite is some kind of optimum, because you have to improve the resolution/size of a sprite by quite a huge margin before it actually looks better. (and in many cases in the intermediate steps it can look worse.)

 

[Nazulu]

Ok, here's the nitty gritty.

The aiming is atrocious.
The camera has to be constantly bullied into a good position.
Movement is just downright clunky. Accurately walking a specific course can be done, but it feels like Link weighs a ton. Sometimes when trying to go in a direction not perfectly forward, Link will take a 'lazy' turn, like he's an oversized truck.
The text system, particularly when your trying to skip, is as horrible as ever. The nightmare of the Owl conversation is in full affect as well.

Captcha: Teflon President. Is THAT what trumps hair is made of?

Pretty gritty.

Ok, I appreciate it, but I need a little more detail. I'll try to help.

Like how is the aiming atrocious? Is it because it moves too fast or slow, or it feels like it skips a centimeter? I could hit the targets when riding the horse and even get them all in the bulls eye, so I don't believe it's that bad. There were times where I wanted to center it faster though and it wouldn't get exactly where I wanted it to sit, but that was with the sling shot, which is annoying by itself because it wasn't easy to tell where the center was in-between.

I didn't have much issue with the camera either. I mean, I could easily lock onto targets and it would focus on them and Link, and I always pressed Z when I wanted it to look at any particular area. Even when climbing up or going down it would get a full shot of the surroundings. Are their any examples you can give me? If you can. I don't want to torture you by making you play it again

Interesting how you described the movement, it never felt heavy for me. There are times I remember the controls felt too loose though. As you said, he would slowly lean to one side when not held in place, but nothing severe unlike the horse from Shadow of the Colossus. I also remember it would shift Link when turning certain corners but they weren't in hazardous area's I think.

The text system with the Owl I 100% agree with. It gave me the shits as a kid, and while I know how to do a quick skip now, I have take my finger off the button till it's done so to not repeat it. Text boxes shouldn't be scary dammit!

Also, if you have any problems with Navi, I'll probably agree with all of them. The water temple didn't trouble me though.