Things we miss from old games.

[Gormech]

Hi all. For some reason I was thinking back to all the little extra stuff that was included in games that just doesn't seem to be anywhere in new ones. Figured other people probably have a few things of their own so here's a place to mention them.

For me, it's the BGM and Sound Effect testing menu from games like Bomberman Hero to the N64 and the Game&Watch Gallery for the GBC.

These were a menu where you'd just select a number, hit play, and the game would just start up the soundtrack for that file, letting you listen to the full music that normally would have been drowned out with combat or cut short from a scene being completed too soon.

Few games today seem to have this feature, the last time me noticing one being on a DS Castlevania title.

Anyways, what's some stuff you miss?

 

[aPod]

What do I miss most from the games of yesteryear? Color Coded Keys.

 

[The Madman]

Game developers not always treating me like an idiot was nice. Sure there are plenty of exceptions today, but the by and large it often feels like the vast majority of modern games either strive to cater towards the lowest common denominator or implement some sort of feature to try and let make the game easier for said denomination, and it's annoying.

Over long unskippable tutorials, constant 'help' popups that refuse to go away, simplified 'one button does all' control schemes, etc. Seriously, just let me play the damned game. If something isn't explained properly because I skipped a tutorial that's my burden, I'll figure it out, stop constantly holding my hand.

Of course there's also tons of older games that had manuals the size of small novels that counted as required reading, I'll admit I'm not eager to go back to that either, but there's got to be some middle ground here between games giving me homework and games treating me like a moron.

 

[Genocidicles]

Loading bars.

Nowadays we usually have a stupid little spinning logo or something, like a little buffering sign in the corner. They're just so ambiguous... They don't tell you anything about how long you have left to wait.

 

[Pixelspeech]

A sense of mystery. Yeah, it's an ambiguous answer, but I really do feel that the limited technology left a lot of the game a mystery, such as the haunted mansion from Mario 64 and the ominous void outside of the playable level. Narratives were also a lot less laid out, leaving room for speculation and discussion, such as what exactly Master Hand (I always imagined him as a creative kid setting up fights between his favorite heroes).

Indie games picked up the slack a lot, but I suppose me growing older also changed how I look at games, so it's hard to experience the same sense of wonder.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Loading bars.

Nowadays we usually have a stupid little spinning logo or something, like a little buffering sign in the corner. They're just so ambiguous... They don't tell you anything about how long you have left to wait.

To be fair, loading bars never really told you how long you had to wait either, and you'd always get those times where the loading bar would stop for too long and you'd start wondering if the game had frozen. At least with the stupid spinning logos you know the game is still loading and hasn't secretly crashed.

 

[Uriain]

Couple of things

1) For RPG's I would like to see a party size larger than 4-5: Shinning Force II being my prime example here, loved that game and its huge party size potential

2) Action Adventure games - Better Combat flow with multiple styles: Jade Empire is my example here, I found it did multiple combat styles quite well mixing both ranged and hand to hand combat in a fun way. Other games like Batman/Sleeping Dogs do a pretty good job, but I would like to see more of this

3) Shooters: Groups/co-op parties: Republic commando (while not co-op) did a really good job of controlling teamates and making you feel like a small squad of specialized troopers, this seems to be missing from a lot of newer shooters (Even Mass effect which allows you to control squad mates doesn't feel quite right)

 

[DeimosMasque]

Couch Multiplayer - My lady and I like to play videogames together and the slow removal of all couch/split screen multiplayer has been a real drag for us as it only leaves a handful of games to play together.

 

[EHKOS]

Loading bars.

Nowadays we usually have a stupid little spinning logo or something, like a little buffering sign in the corner. They're just so ambiguous... They don't tell you anything about how long you have left to wait.

To be fair, loading bars never really told you how long you had to wait either, and you'd always get those times where the loading bar would stop for too long and you'd start wondering if the game had frozen. At least with the stupid spinning logos you know the game is still loading and hasn't secretly crashed.

Not really, if it keeps spinning for too long you start to wonder if the damn thing hung.

OT: Health bars, being able to carry an arsenal, and interesting level design. Sure it sucked when you couldn't find your way for ten minutes and then you finally remember to look up, but the branching paths and pointless rooms were fun.

I was playing Timesplitters 3 recently and I missed everything about it. It felt like nothing the current gen had to offer. The closest game that could touch TS3 IMO was Bioshock (1). TS was great, it was lovely, it was fantastic. I suppose some of it came from knowing most of the secretes, running around knowing what to do, and beating the game in just about four hours, but dammit did it feel like nothing I've experienced on a current gen system. Maybe it's the shitty models, maybe it's the less than realistic graphics, but something about old PS2 games has charm.

Or that could be complete nostalgia and I have no idea what's really going on....>.>

 

[lord.jeff]

I kind of miss games that didn't have any form of leveling up or upgrades.

 

[infinity_turtles]

Branching paths. Not every playthrough needs to see all the content.

 

[kyuzo3567]

Game developers not always treating me like an idiot was nice. Sure there are plenty of exceptions today, but the by and large it often feels like the vast majority of modern games either strive to cater towards the lowest common denominator or implement some sort of feature to try and let make the game easier for said denomination, and it's annoying.

Over long unskippable tutorials, constant 'help' popups that refuse to go away, simplified 'one button does all' control schemes, etc. Seriously, just let me play the damned game. If something isn't explained properly because I skipped a tutorial that's my burden, I'll figure it out, stop constantly holding my hand.

Of course there's also tons of older games that had manuals the size of small novels that counted as required reading, I'll admit I'm not eager to go back to that either, but there's got to be some middle ground here between games giving me homework and games treating me like a moron.

See I always loved the big game manuals. I mean sure it was annoying when the control schemes took up multiple pages, but I loved that the manuals usually had a map, character bios, race descriptions, and even the entire backstory summarized in a few pages in it. I miss those so much, I still have my original Warcraft 3 game manual because of that.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

1) For RPG's I would like to see a party size larger than 4-5: Shinning Force II being my prime example here, loved that game and its huge party size potential

Since Shinning Force is a tactics RPG it's more of an army than a party. Any other tactics RPG (like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics) is going to have similarly large numbers of potential recruits.

Granted tactics RPGs have grown a little rarer lately, but it's not like they've changed significantly either.

 

[Evonisia]

I miss health bars being the norm in games. I only get to see them occasionally in non-RPG/Sandbox games.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I miss games that are fun to play the minute you press 'new game', for some reason most games has to be incredebly boring the first 3 hours these days. And i also kinda miss the variety in genres, i'm certain that there were bigger differences in gamedesign systems back with ps1 and ps than there are now. It seems every shooter is essentially the same game with a new story, universe and sometimes an insignificant gimmick. Basically i miss games being less tedious to play.

Oh and i miss level skip codes and stuff like that! Puzzles that require thinking would also be nice, here i'm especially looking at Tomb Raider (First hard puzzle is the last one...) and Bioshock (The bell thing in the beginning... sigh...), not to mention the silly ladders in Last of Us...

There's also some things i miss, that i haven't seen in many games, namely stuff that may or may not have ant function whatsoever, but appear useful. Lands of Lore is full of this stuff, mysterious switches that appears to be Red Herrings and items that you can't figure out how to use. Dungeon Master 2 also had some of this, a lot of mysterious items where you have to figure out what their function is. It gives a sense of mystery to the games, especially when people are still mystified by aspects of these games ans that's pretty cool.

 

[AT God]

Variety in weapons, alternate fire, massive inventory. I hate how most games claim to have a large variety of weapons but they are all just variants on the same thing. Choosing between a Mac 10 and an Uzi loses meaning when they both have the same features and use the same ammunition. I miss the thrill of finding ammo for the powerful weapons, hunting through a room not for the exit but because I really need some more magnum ammo or an extra grenade. Although I hated finding ammo when I already had full ammo because I would end up firing rockets or grenades at henchmen just so I could collect all the ammo.

Also, for games that don't just use real life weapons, I miss the alternate fire. It seems to have died with the end of the Unreal/Quake Arena phase. While I don't miss those games, I do miss the weapon's alternate fire. Bonus points if they can be used together to create better effects like using the Stake gun to impale grenades and deliver them to the bad guys like in Painkiller or the Shock Combo from Unreal.

Also miss having massive inventories of weapons. On the PC its easy since we have the number keys but even back when consoles did massive weapon inventories it was fun. I always liked cycling through all the weapons in Goldeneye 64 to play with different weapons.

Also, infinite sprint, I struggle to think of a game where being able to run like the Doom Guy would be a bad thing, he could out run his own rockets and it made him more fun because of it.

 

[Quadocky]

I just miss the feel of older video games really. Its like comparing the experience of watching silent films with a separate accompanying soundtrack to watching modern films with those big grandiose booming dialog and soundtracks.

In my mind, my personal preference is a sort of 'less is more' perspective. There is only so much information I can take in at once, and if I am overwhelmed by content.. well then I just become unsatisfied and confused.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

The ability to save the game when I wanted to. BioWare managed it in KotOR, but most devs seem unable to now.
The ability to skip cut scenes. Unskippable cutscenes are horrid beyond words.

I genuinely miss Unreal Tournament. No other shooter before or since has been able to engage me like that one.
I miss the time before everything had to be a generic, 3rd person action adventure.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Japanese RPGs on home consoles that aren't complete garbage; uninteresting characters/story meets bland gameplay looking like some obnoxious interactive anime/manga (and not the slick looking "Ghost in the Shell 2"-type visuals either).

Seriously, where are the Shadow Hearts? The (GOOD) Final Fantasy games? Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon, SMT: Lucifer's Call, SMT: Digital Devil Saga, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, etc. Hell, even at the beginning of the 7th generation, we had Lost Odyssey at the very least!

No, we have to deal with stuff like:

Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
(Atelier Seriously: Is Anyone Even Buying These?)

Agarest: Generations of War
Agarest: Generations of War Zero
Agarest: Generations of War 2
(Okay, so this is more a tactical RPG than what is generally labeled as a "JRPG", but stylistically, there really is no difference. For as far as I managed to push myself in these games - two of them at least - I've only come to realize two things: the characters suck. And the story sucks. And the art style is - again - just rinse and repeat.)

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
(Christ, don't just a book by its cover... but damn, that title.)

Hyperdimension Neptunia
Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
(I don't know what's worse, the fact that this... *ahem* "franchise" is so insulting, or the fact that they've been pumping out these turds yearly since 2011.)

Time and Eternity
(Just... Wow.)

Tales of Graces f
Tales of Xillia
(You know, I never liked the art style of Tales of Vesperia and I thought the story/characters were far from being on the same level as FF IX or Shadow Hearts, but I guess I still kind of managed to enjoy it. But now, the continuation of the "same old, same old"-gameplay and the persistence of that generic "new anime look" they push into... well, everything, made me skip on these all together.

For years on end, I talked about how Ni No Kuni would be a day one purchase for me. Studio Ghibli working together with the guys from Level-5? Count me in! Now it's been out for over half a year and I still haven't found the motivation to actually go out and buy the damn game - because I'm just so sick of it all. (Thank God I'm not into those "shonen" brawlers or I would have blown my own brains out.)

 

[FPLOON]

Hmmmm... Well, I was going to say no hand-holding and/or no tutorial, but I'm more thinking of just jumping into a game head-first and learning how to do what as the game progresses... You may not even learn any new/different moves throughout the entire game, but you use what you have to advance through the game...

Also, no "hints"... especially REALLY obvious ones... I rather die through trial-and-error (of my own doing) than being shown an option right out in the open... (unless you want to be like "I Want To Be The Guy", then you can just go fuck yourself... That's just playing dirty...)

Spoiler: GIANT edit (quoting Arqus_Zed)

Japanese RPGs on home consoles that aren't complete garbage; uninteresting characters/story meets bland gameplay looking like some obnoxious interactive anime/manga (and not the slick looking "Ghost in the Shell 2"-type visuals either).

Seriously, where are the Shadow Hearts? The (GOOD) Final Fantasy games? Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon, SMT: Lucifer's Call, SMT: Digital Devil Saga, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, etc. Hell, even at the beginning of the 7th generation, we had Lost Odyssey at the very least!

What I find interesting about the games you selected is that they never felt like they could be turned into an anime or manga becuase a part of what made them as good as they were would be lost in the adaptation... If any video game can pull that off, then they must be doing something right...

In fact, before I start quoting some of the games you list, a GOOD chunk of them could basiaclly become an anime or manga series and not losing ANYTHING that makes them a video game (in the sense of how I feel a video game should be) and, even though I do have some of these games, there is still that notion that they could have just been an anime or manga series and still feel the same as I do playing them...

Anyway,

Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
(Atelier Seriously: Is Anyone Even Buying These?)

If you REALLY like doing alchemy in terms of JRPGs... *starts thinking about Shinkara*

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
(Christ, don't just a book by its cover... but damn, that title.)

I still have NO IDEA if that's a better title than "Ar tonelico III: The Girl's Song that Pulls the Trigger of World's Demise"... (At least the title's shorter and it's the suppose to be the final game in that series...)

Hyperdimension Neptunia
Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
(I don't know what's worse, the fact that this... *ahem* "franchise" is so insulting, or the fact that they've been pumping out these turds yearly since 2011.)

I think you should be more worried that it became basically what I assuming it wanted to do this WHOLE time... become an actual anime series...

Also, it runs on "nostalgia", "moe", and "parody"... I'm pretty sure you're not suppose to take it seriously, if that's what you find insulting... Granted, the only "playable" one is the third one[footnote]I still do not regret buying all three games...[/footnote], but good luck understanding it's whole gimmick and continuing story/characters without playing the other two games first... especially when you choose not to look it up yourself... (I know the third game tries to put you up to speed on everything world/story-related, but even if you watch Unskippable it comes off really "inconsistent", in my opinion...)

Time and Eternity
(Just... Wow.)

Yeah... No comment...

Tales of Graces f
Tales of Xillia
(You know, I never liked the art style of Tales of Vesperia and I thought the story/characters were far from being on the same level as FF IX or Shadow Hearts, but I guess I still kind of managed to enjoy it. But now, the continuation of the "same old, same old"-gameplay and the persistence of that generic "new anime look" they push into... well, everything, made me skip on these all together.

Well, the gameplay in any of the Tales games I describe the same way I describe the "changes" between different Gen Pokemon games... Taking baby steps without losing the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" motto... Also, although I really could not get into Graces f personally (something to do with in-game "time-skips" that just doesn't click with me in video games in general), I could get into Xillia because the combat reminded me of Vesperia... The story, however, only worked if you were basically in the same mindset as the character you choose in the beginning of the game otherwise you would be wondering what the other main character was doing...

For years on end, I talked about how Ni No Kuni would be a day one purchase for me. Studio Ghibli working together with the guys from Level-5? Count me in! Now it's been out for over half a year and I still haven't found the motivation to actually go out and buy the damn game - because I'm just so sick of it all. (Thank God I'm not into those "shonen" brawlers or I would have blown my own brains out.)

Well, considering Ni No Kuni is basically a Tales game meets Pokemon (in terms of combat) as well as your stance on current Tales gameplay, I can see why you haven't gotten around to playing it yet from that perspective... The only problem I've had with the game (and I think Yahtzee pointed this out) was that the game feels like I'm a young kid playing this and, as such, the game almost falls into "hand-holding" territory... Other than that, the game's solid enough for me to continue recommending it for anyone who loves Studio Ghibli, Level 5, or just RPGs in general...