this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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Patient Gamers

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Are there games that you tried but just couldn't get into because they feel outdated? Games that, in theory, you would enjoy, but don't because the controls, graphics, writing, or mechanics just don't feel good anymore. Games that, compared to today, just don't hold up to your standards.

I recently tried playing Heroes of Might and Magic III, and I realized that a lot of the invisible language used through game design from that era, I do not understand. There are many things that the game didn't explain, and I assume they were just understood by players. Not only that, but I imagine there was a lot of crossover between video games and board games back then, so maybe that language was used as well. I ended up downloading a manual and putting it on my second screen and I get it and played it, but it just wasn't for me.

I also dropped Mirror's Edge, but this time it was because of the graphics. It looks and feels great, but the graphics give me a headache. There is way too much bloom, and for some reason, there are some parts that look like the imaginary lens has been covered in Vaseline. This didn't bother me before, but my eyes are not used to it anymore.

There are also games like the first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games that I can't fully get into because they're missing mechanics from the later games. The levels and controls feel great, but they don't feel complete without those mechanics. It keeps me from enjoying the games as much as the others.

Please share yours!

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (3 children)

My two are Morrowind, where I loved the quest design and lack of handholding, but the random hit chance and BS difficulty distribution were just... too much to handle.

And also, KOTOR, which I expected to love as a huge Star Wars fan, but the "stand around while dice are rolled" combat was just... exceptionally boring and tedious.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Not to be confused with John Conway’s the game of life. That one is fine, a classic.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (4 children)

This is a weird one for me because it often depends on whether I paid for the game. I got the first Fallout game for free (from GOG or something), and when I inevitably became confused by the UI and objective I ended up giving up on it. If I'd bought the game (either today or back when it came out) I definitely would have invested a lot more time into it, and got past that initial hump. Back when PC games came on disc with an instruction guide, reading that was part of the experience. There's definitely a awkward period around the early 2000s when games were becoming way more complex, but before in-game tutorials were regularly a thing. I find it hard to go back to a lot of those games.

Likewise I played the first hour of Resident Evil HD on my PS4 (free with PS+) and never had the motivation to get into it. After paying for it in a Humble Bundle, I played through the whole thing on Steam and loved it! The fact that I'd paid for it was able to outweigh the fact that the game was quite outdated. I guess I felt like I wanted to get my money's worth.

Any game from 2005-ish onwards feels 'modern' enough that I don't usually have this problem.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Persona 1 and 2. As a Persona fan I see some people saying how great they are, and the story does seem interesting, but I can't deal with that map movement, battle system and endless random battles.

Really, any RPG with random battles is a little harder to get into compared to overworld monsters you can avoid or target at your own pace.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Even as a kid growing up with that stuff I hated the random battles.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm playing through Knights of the Old Republic right now. The only thing that makes the graphics tolerable is playing on my switch. The screen is small enough to minimize the bad graphics and jank. But if I was playing it on a TV or computer screen I wouldn't be able to continue. It hasn't aged well at all.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Well, if you do want to play on pc, KOTOR is an amazing game, and if you can't get past the old graphics, there are upscaling mods https://www.nexusmods.com/kotor/mods/1302?tab=files

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Gta 5. Story progression is just awful. You play a mission, it ends and you're forced to do open world activities instead of continuing the story. Then just when you're getting into the groove in the open world you get a call to do a story mission and it turns out to be shooting imaginary aliens. The missions are too linear and short. Gunplay is weak. Also the characters feel like they were written for 10 year olds who think swear words are funny.

I'm hoping rdr2 is better

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I tried to play fallout 3 and new vegas after falling in love with fallout 4 but I just could not stomach it. The games looked ugly and controlled strangely. I had more fun and enjoyment playing the original fallout from the 90s.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

You'll have to sail the high seas since it requires THUG2 which isn't for sale anymore but THUGPRO is a mod that will let you play classic Tony hawk levels with all the mechanics from later games.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Lord of the rings online looks terrible but I’ve always wanted to explore.

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