Things we miss from old games.
- Thread starter Gormech
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When we had heaps of different genres to choose from. You know, when all of them where made like they were AAA games and treated equally, and a lot of them weren't playing it safe either.
I can't find modern games that really interest me which is why I've been playing everything I have missed in the past. I know some idiot will eventually tell me to look around, but I FUCKING HAVE! I shouldn't have to look for hours and hours for something to interest me. It's fucking terrible these days, it really is. After so much time looking around I can tell you 99% games borrow so heavily from popular games that none of them are really unique.
I can't find modern games that really interest me which is why I've been playing everything I have missed in the past. I know some idiot will eventually tell me to look around, but I FUCKING HAVE! I shouldn't have to look for hours and hours for something to interest me. It's fucking terrible these days, it really is. After so much time looking around I can tell you 99% games borrow so heavily from popular games that none of them are really unique.
What do I miss about old school games?
1. Not having a huge flashing arrow telling me exactly where to go next
2. 2d Castlevania and Metroid and MegaMan games not a handheld platform
3. Games that are not afraid to let you fail
4. Games that don't require me to sign up for some online account and sign in to play
5. Not having to pay more for an extra quest the day the game launches. Unlocking things like extra costumes through playing the game, not taking out my VISA card
6. Actually owning my games
Those are some of the big things. I could probably double this list if I spent enough time but honestly I'll give myself high blood pressure if I think about this too much longer.
1. Not having a huge flashing arrow telling me exactly where to go next
2. 2d Castlevania and Metroid and MegaMan games not a handheld platform
3. Games that are not afraid to let you fail
4. Games that don't require me to sign up for some online account and sign in to play
5. Not having to pay more for an extra quest the day the game launches. Unlocking things like extra costumes through playing the game, not taking out my VISA card
6. Actually owning my games
Those are some of the big things. I could probably double this list if I spent enough time but honestly I'll give myself high blood pressure if I think about this too much longer.
- Multiplayer being optional in the development of games.
- Manuals, short story of the game, infos about the characters, some artworks and an explanation of how the game works.
A good tutorial works well to explain the game mechanics but it's annoying to not have something to look up if you didn't play the game for a while.
There is a lot more, but nothing comes to mind right now that isn't already mentioned.
- Manuals, short story of the game, infos about the characters, some artworks and an explanation of how the game works.
A good tutorial works well to explain the game mechanics but it's annoying to not have something to look up if you didn't play the game for a while.
There is a lot more, but nothing comes to mind right now that isn't already mentioned.
Did you even give Tales of Graces f and Tales of Xillia a chance? Both of them have drastically different combat systems from Tales of Vesperia and even from each other. You would be missing out if you judged every other title, based on just one. Every title is unique unto itself through tone, theme, setting, narrative and gameplay. I believe you would be mistaken to say they all use "same old, same old" gameplay. If you don't particularly enjoy the Tales series, that's perfectly fine. Just try the other titles before you judge them.Arqus_Zed said:
What I miss from old games is turn-based combat. It seems I'm of the minority that actually enjoys it. I'd like to see some more quality titles with turn-based combat, personally.
Which? Most of the new adventure games I see coming out are rooted in humour.lapan said:
There were both more serious and more comic adventure games during the 'golden age', same as is now.
Having too much side quest.
Don't get me wrong, I like a little extra quest on the side, but nowadays half of any open world game is just completely unrelated plot lines and stuff to do. If the quest doesn't tie into the story at all, and there's no significant reward to completing it, like a new weapon, power or even some stat points then it's not really worth existing.
Don't get me wrong, I like a little extra quest on the side, but nowadays half of any open world game is just completely unrelated plot lines and stuff to do. If the quest doesn't tie into the story at all, and there's no significant reward to completing it, like a new weapon, power or even some stat points then it's not really worth existing.
I actually drew a blank on this threads question until I read this. I've been a big fan of PC/Console gaming since Commodore 64/NES and yet I couldn't think of anything. I'm among the minority who believes gaming has evolved for the better in just about every conceivable way.yclatious said:
However, the music is the only area where I'd disagree. I easily have 200+ instrumental tracks from gaming on my computer and about 90% of them come from SNES or earlier. Even when I check my setlist for more current gaming tracks a lot of them are from indie oldschool inspired titles like Binding of Isaac and Bastion.
Old school music often commanded your attention. Current age gaming music often tries to create immersion without distraction. I can appreciate it's purpose but it given the choice I'd go with the classics any day.
There was a time where the game shipped and worked when you put it in the system. No patches needed. If it didn't work, it didn't ship.
That being said, I think we've only improved our ability to tell stories in the media. Things that have gone away have generally done so out of necessity. The first person games have really improved worlds for me.
I'd say I do miss discovery. But that's more the internet's fault moreso than anything else. I remember accidentally figuring out the blood code for Mortal Combat on my gamegear. I shit you not, I figured that out on accident and the code was holding down buttons and rotating the d-pad clockwise during the credits. My brother and friends thought I'd performed some kind of dark magic. Today, you just type in the game name and cheats.
While I miss that, I can't say I'd prefer it go back. There are so many good games to play nowadays that I don't prefer to spend too much time in a game unless it's unbelievably good.
That being said, I think we've only improved our ability to tell stories in the media. Things that have gone away have generally done so out of necessity. The first person games have really improved worlds for me.
I'd say I do miss discovery. But that's more the internet's fault moreso than anything else. I remember accidentally figuring out the blood code for Mortal Combat on my gamegear. I shit you not, I figured that out on accident and the code was holding down buttons and rotating the d-pad clockwise during the credits. My brother and friends thought I'd performed some kind of dark magic. Today, you just type in the game name and cheats.
While I miss that, I can't say I'd prefer it go back. There are so many good games to play nowadays that I don't prefer to spend too much time in a game unless it's unbelievably good.
The variety of art style. In my option, the days between Genesis and Dreamcast has the best art styles. Every game looked so interesting. Boogerman, Sonic, Star Fox, Chrono Trigger, Earthworm Jim, Jet Force Gemini, etc. Everything looked so... fun.
I'm glad health bars and packs have made a return. But the only thing I really, really miss are manuals. I hate in-game 3hr tutorial missions (I'm looking at you AC3), constant pop-ups and reminders on what I should be doing and how to do it (Yes, I know to press O to do that thing I've done 90000000 times), contextual clues. Fuck it, give me a booklet with everything written down and I'm fine.
I'm glad health bars and packs have made a return. But the only thing I really, really miss are manuals. I hate in-game 3hr tutorial missions (I'm looking at you AC3), constant pop-ups and reminders on what I should be doing and how to do it (Yes, I know to press O to do that thing I've done 90000000 times), contextual clues. Fuck it, give me a booklet with everything written down and I'm fine.
Ar Tonelico's combat is hardly similar, every game in the series changes it. How can you confuse turn based combat with real time action? The game is the worst in the series for a bunch of other reasons, but it sounds like you didn't even look into it.Arqus_Zed said:
As for why those games are popular: Moeshit. The only ones who still buy JRPGs are the otakus and they love cute girls doing cute things. That and JRPGs don't have big budgets, so they use crappy graphics and cell-shading hides ages graphics better than realistic ones. The budget is another reason why JRPGs are going to handhelds. There's been a new SMT game released for the 3DS. There's also a ton that haven't been brought over so if you are a JRPG fan you better start learning Japanese because they're dieing in the west.
OT: Cheat Codes
Exploration/freedom
Colors
Manuals
Imagination. I found a box of my dad's old games and going through them the thing I missed the most is when the game tries to pull you into the world. You open up the manual for a shooter and it's written like a military document. Myst's manual was literally a journal and it made me want to read through it and install the game. It drew me into the world before I even started playing. I feel like modern games lost that.
Being able to create my own multi character party instead of being forced to take the same characters that everyone else does (i.e. most JRPG's). That way the major encounters play out differently because each players party isn't the same.
Also, grid movement and no auto-map. I don't know how much graph paper I went through over the years mapping out all those dungeons.
No internet faq's or walkthroughs. When I was a kid you either had to figure it out on your own, or work with your friends to solve things. There were magazines with hints, but nobody I knew subscribed to them, and good luck having the one you needed.
Also, grid movement and no auto-map. I don't know how much graph paper I went through over the years mapping out all those dungeons.
No internet faq's or walkthroughs. When I was a kid you either had to figure it out on your own, or work with your friends to solve things. There were magazines with hints, but nobody I knew subscribed to them, and good luck having the one you needed.
I'm starting to miss unambiguous "hey, you did a good thing!" happy endings. Maybe it's just the games I'm playing lately, but it's starting to seem like if you don't get a "of course, there's another looming evil presence in the wings..." to leave room open for a sequel, there's something like "congratulations, you got to the end- of course, everything you ever knew or loved is in ashes..." or "you've compromised everything you ever stood for, but now here you are at the end, don't you feel special" or "yay, wonderful things happened, and I'm sure our hero got a warm feeling knowing they would go that way in the seconds before their self-sacrifice ended their life." I mean, never mind the truly grim games like Hotline Miami or Spec Ops: The Line; the generally fun and upbeat Saints Row IV still includes
I know some people cheer the addition of moral grey to the palette, and I'm certainly not suggesting every game needs to be some sort of festival of can-do spirit and love for humanity. But I was reading a comment somewhere questioning if the medium has really matured so much as gone from "Whoa, boobs!" adolescence to "This sucks, everything sucks, I hate you" adolescence, and at times I have to agree.
the Earth blowing up, 7 and a half billion people or so dying, and uncertainty as to whether humanity recovering is even a real possibility any longer. Not to mention open questions as to whether the main character's casual indifference might be to blame.
I know some people cheer the addition of moral grey to the palette, and I'm certainly not suggesting every game needs to be some sort of festival of can-do spirit and love for humanity. But I was reading a comment somewhere questioning if the medium has really matured so much as gone from "Whoa, boobs!" adolescence to "This sucks, everything sucks, I hate you" adolescence, and at times I have to agree.
