Old Games

[StomachGodParticipant]

So, I’ve been playing some oldish games recently (think 2000-2010 range) and I can’t help but think, they really don’t make games like they used to. On one hand we no longer have lame animations and crappy graphics (and a lot of painful lines AND baaaaad voice-acting), on the other, every big game studio seems to be so convinced that every new game MUST be 100% new never done before, that we get things that are remashes of old things masacrading as new things. And the end result is clunky repeat offenders that no one likes, (see the new starwars battlefront and fallout 4 as examples). Anyone else noticing this? (Or maybe its just me)

Also, anyone notice how indie studios are going the opposite way? They used to produce small scale versions of big studio games, and now they are making more and more inventive games giving gamers genuinely new experiences… (This makes me so happy, hope I’m not putting any pressure on you NickyD XD)

[NickyDKeymaster]

Hehehe. It’s an interesting trend, to be sure. I’d like to say we’ll offer a genuinely new experience — it’ll just be wrapped in a familiar Japanese anime/visual-novel/JRPG shell? I guess not many Western devs try to create such a very Japanese game, unless you go back to the DS and play Black Sigil (it was buggy, but it was a great “JRPG” developed over here) or pick up Pier Solar; I’d include Hunie Pop as well, but I don’t want anyone to mistakenly think we’re making an “H” game.

[NickyDKeymaster]

Oh, double-posting for fun.

I’ve gone back and started a whole new game of Dragon’s Dogma (after hitting level Infinity and getting, like, all of the things) and y’know, it’s still one of the best games I played on PS3. Whatever those guys did, they did it well. So if your “old game” phase gets you to 2013… Please give DD: Dark Arisen a sincere shot. It’s the most recent game to hit my personal “top 5” of all-time. Much love for DD. I annoy my friends with it.

[StomachGodParticipant]

Hmm, I’ve seen a few western jrpgs (does that sense make even???) but they tend to be small RPG maker styled games (though most of the ones I’ve played weren’t made on RPG maker, good on some people for coding their own super basic RPG system XD). I wouldn’t mention Hunie Pop ever, ever, ever, unless you have no shame… then you may proceed, as long as you admit to all your favourite Sakura VNs as well XP

DOUBLE POSTING!?! HOW DARE YOU! D8< jkjk

B-but… how can one reach level infinity… this sense makes no… And I havn’t played Dragon’s Dogma, but since you recommend it I shall give it a shot sometime (when I have time and money)…
I did say oldish, if I had been talking about really old games then this conversation would be about Commander Keen, Jazz Jackrabbit, and Pacman… Not that I would mind such a conversation XP
However for something a tad more recent I recently acquired Alpha Protocol, a shooter/rpg game that was largely overshadowed by Mass Effect 2s release and its negative reviews thanks to COD players XP I am still only part way through this game but so far it is an exceptional piece in terms of story telling, its shooting isn’t its strongest aspect which reminds me a lot of the negative perceptions around mass effect 1, these are story games at heart, not shooters, they just have that to add gameplay XP Also from my experience its stealth playstyle is what it is trying to push players towards instead of run’n’gun (subtlety? whats that?). Anyways what I am trying to say is this is actually an awesome game and really deserves a better shot, so try it sometime if you haven’t already XP

I don’t know if I have a top 5 games, there are too many that deserve a mention, maybe a top 5 for each relative genre? XP

[NickyDKeymaster]

Alpha Protocol!!! That was a very good game, definitely got overshadowed from similar titles launching at almost the same time. I remember that upgrading your melee skills would make Alpha Protocol a lot easier, something that is apparently just as present in Fallout 4. Guess which game got scored negatively for this and which one got a pass?

I digress.

Hehehe, Jazz Jackrabbit. A bit before its time I think, but it reminds me of the Bucky O’Hare game on the NES. Absolutely amazing game despite being a licensed title. Check it out if you’ve never played it! I heartily recommend it as an old, semi-obscure game 😀

[StomachGodParticipant]

My experience of Alpha Protocol so far tells me Stealth and Melee are some of the best skills, along with the Pistol skills for boss fights. Tho so far I’ve only found the first 3-4 points of melee really important… Stealth on the other hand makes everything super easy XP
Haha, everyone I have talked to about fallout 4 has said it makes them wish they were playing fallout 3 XD It really just seems to be a crappier version of fallout 3 cept the melee is indeed actually viable XP

Somehow this (and other conversations I’ve been having recently) has reminded me of a different trend recently, the one where studios try (and fail) to remake old games/ideas, think Dungeon Keeper, which is another stellar old game, so perfect, then some douche comes along and makes “Dungeons” (and all the others)… I wasn’t surprised at all when it turned out to be awful in comparison. If you are going to make a clone, just clone the friggin game, there is a reason people liked it XP (Not that I actually think people should clone other games, that would be lame, but I’m sure you get what I mean)
On the other hand the recent game Undertale seems to be an example of an improvement upon an old game idea, there was this really old Sega game Crusader of Centi, which seems to carry a lot of the themes Undertale does, but I think Undertale does this better probably because they have some more modern ideas (like choices and multiple endings *gasp*) which they built in that actually improved the themes.
This contrasts heavily with what is being done with all Dungeon keeper clones which instead of adding to the theme and mechanics are taking away from it. I mean the one I mentioned (Dungeons) is almost literally Dungeon Keeper but with less stuff you can do… I don’t see how one can expect a successful clone when you actually have less content (and mechanics) than the original O___o

[Author]

Posts