this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
149 points (96.9% liked)

Patient Gamers

11337 readers
293 users here now

A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.

^(placeholder)^

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Are there games that you tried but just couldn't get into because they feel outdated?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!

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Argurotoxus@lemmy.world 53 points 10 months ago (11 children)

Yeah absolutely. I think with a lot of these older games that are considered to be the GOATs of their respective genres you'll run into the same problem: They were so good, that the mechanics/ideas become the minimum requirement for all games thereafter. So, if you played the game on day 1, it was an innovative masterpiece the likes of which you'd never seen before. If you play it 10-15 years later after having played modern games in the same genre, it feels like the same old shit except without the 10-15 years of improvements.

For me personally, the game I'll get crucified for not enjoying is Half Life 2. I played through the entire game. It was ok. I was pretty bored for most of it though. Shooters aren't generally my thing for one, but even that aside the game was very milquetoast to me. I did a lot of reading up on the history of HL2 afterwards because I was astonished that I didn't enjoy such a legendary game and I think I came to the conclusion that some new mechanics such as the cover system and story-driven nature of HL2 were what made it such a hit in 2004. But 15 years later those mechanics weren't new and exciting to me and the story is decent but a far cry from amazing.

The other game that stands out to me is Assassin's Creed 1. I couldn't make it more than a few hours into that game. Just so boring and repetitive, the combat was boring, the collectables were boring, most mechanics didn't actually seem to matter...I just hated the game lol. I do think it's another example of later entries in the series/other games doing the same thing but better so going back to the OG just felt like a slog. But I really hated AC1 hahaha.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 35 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A big part of HL2 was also the physics. No game did that before to the same extent, so it was novel and cool. The gravity gun was super unique and all the physics puzzles were new and cool.

I tried replaying it a few years back and had the same experience as you. Every physics puzzle felt boring and just stopped the flow of the game. The gravity gun is still fairly unique, but it has lost a lot of its charm. It's just not the same experience as it was around the time it released.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

Half-Life 2 has suffered the fate of Seinfeld - the work was so monumental in its field that it revolutionized everything coming after it. Many of those iterations accomplished certain things better. Going back you think: what's the big deal? Basically every game has physics, ragdoll enemies, novel gimmick weapons, and an action-packed cinematic feel.

[–] limeaide@lemmy.ml 25 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Reminds of me of when I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and was confused because I had heard great things about the soundtrack, but it was just a bunch of songs I had heard before.

About halfway through the movie I realized that it was an original soundtrack and it was so influential that it became a cliche. 2001: A Space Odyssey was a cliche, not because it followed a saturated trend, but because it itself was copied by everyone else.

AC1's concept and maybe even story has held up, but you're right that the later entries feel miles better.

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 10 points 10 months ago

Reminds of me of when I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey

Exactly this. The same applies to many of the Great Films or the Great Games. They were amazing for their ground-breaking and their trend setting.

But now, decades later, everyone learned from it and improved on their work. We take the new things for granted, so the originals looks boring and dated.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 39 points 10 months ago (7 children)

When Witcher 3 was winning all those awards, I wanted to give the original game a go.

Don't. I imagine it's nothing like Witcher 3. It aged terribly poorly.

[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago (6 children)

I bought a bundle with all the 3 witcher games and tried both 1 and 2. I could jot even get through the tutorial in 1 and could jot beat the first boss of 2. Each game controls completely differently from one another.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] howrar@lemmy.ca 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I remember playing the first game and getting stuck on the tutorial because I was mashing the left click button trying to swing my sword only to have Geralt hip thrust at the enemies.

But once you figure out how to swing the sword, the game's actually pretty fun. One thing I particularly liked is that there's an investigative storyline where you actually have to go and investigate and figure out the answer with the clues provided, and you can fail. I went into it thinking it would be like most modern games where you only get obviously correct or incorrect dialog options and angered everyone in the process.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] timo_timboo_@lemmy.world 35 points 10 months ago (15 children)

Pokémon, actually. Just a month ago I wanted to play Soul Silver. But man, it is tedious. There's so much slow dialog, long animations, and little inconveniences everywhere (even in the menus). And I feel like you also have to grind to progress, which I absolutely hate in games (but maybe I also just didn't play well enough, whatever). So yeah, quite disappointed with it since I remember the 3DS games being quite fun.

[–] aliceblossom@lemmy.world 27 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think this is a greater problem with games that are technically aimed at children. There is so little respect for your time generally, but I think it's especially egregious when it comes to menus, dialog, and animations. Additionally, there are many things that are in sequence (with large unneeded gaps between) that could happen more or less simultaneously.

Conspiratorially, I think this is to pad play time, and for kids the animations and what not are jingling keys that keep then occupied enough they don't care or notice.

[–] limeaide@lemmy.ml 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I was just thinking this exact same thing... but about Red Dead Redemption 2. I had to stop playing it because it had no respect for my time.

I'm used to driving to places to start a mission like in all the other GTA games, but in RDR2, it would be about 10 minutes of riding a horse before the real mission started.

The animations take way too long sometimes, and cutscenes and a lot of dialogue are unnecessary and feel like padding. Those 1-2 second animations add up when it's a 50+hr game

[–] howrar@lemmy.ca 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I really enjoyed those tbh. One of my favourite things to do in RDR2 is just riding around and enjoying the scenery, or chilling in Saint-Denis at night time. Gaming time is chill time. There's no rush to finish a story.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] TomAwsm@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Check out the myriad of rom hacks out there. So many of them improve on the original games in virtually any way you can think of.

pokeharbor.com

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (12 replies)
[–] Zeke@kbin.social 29 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Baldur's Gate 3 was good, but I can't play 1 or 2. They definitely don't feel the same.

For newer games, I can actually play the older Zelda games, but I can't stand the latest games. Not a big fan of the gameplay with weapons breaking and how much they pushed the open world thing. I very much prefer smaller maps with more story.

[–] AlolanYoda@mander.xyz 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Oh! I tried playing Neverwinter Nights recently and... I bounced. I want to try again soon because people really love that game (and its modding scene!), and I love D&D (having only played 5e, however), but it's not appealing to me as much as I wish it did.

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 10 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I played the crap out of Neverwinter Nights back in the day, but I picked up the remastered or whatever version on steam and just can't handle the controls anymore. Hooray for BG3 to scratch the same itch with improved controls!

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] TheSlad@sh.itjust.works 18 points 10 months ago (7 children)

I never did really beat morrowind or even finish any of the factions questlines, i was too young at the time to care about that i just did the infinite intelligence potion exploit to create an unbeatable god character slinging 50ft radius fireballs from level 1.

A part of me really wants to revisit it and and least complete the main quest, but damn does it feel dated.

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Yeah, it was in a weird sort of Uncanny Valley for gameplay. It was a 3D game with real-time combat, but was still relying on the old school tabletop RPG mechanics that the series was built on. So when you attack, the game does some math to figure out if you actually hit. But that causes some cognitive dissonance because I just saw my character’s attack connect and yet it was labeled as a miss because the invisible d20 rolled too low.

Rolling for an attack is fine in a turn based game, or a 2D game where sprites are just bouncing around. But when I saw my sword phase through the enemy without hurting them, it made it hard to continue playing.

The game also requires a lot more focus and time than I have these days. As an adult, I typically only have a few hours a week to play. And that’s intermittent, while constantly getting pulled away for other things. And in a game like Morrowind, things like the quest notes just aren’t conducive to my lifestyle. No quest marker, because the game gives me a note with vague directions? That’s fine if I’m a kid who can spend 5+ hours wandering around looking for the right boulder to take a left at. But if I’m getting pulled away and distracted constantly, I won’t even be able to remember what the note said when I come back to my computer.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] smeg@feddit.uk 17 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I tried playing the original Deus Ex for the first time a couple of years ago and I sadly had to put it down before I escaped the tutorial. Early 3D graphics have not aged well, the controls were not very intuitive, and it just seemed like it wasn't worth the effort. I then played and enjoyed Human Revolution though; I know, I'm an absolute peasant.

[–] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Give it a try again with GMDX. It's a mod that modernizes Deus Ex mechanically and visually without losing the original vision like what "New Vision / Revision," does

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] TheBlue22@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Thief.

But I HAVE to try again! I want to write my bachelors about game design of stealth games and not analyzing Thief would be a crime against humanity

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] JPSound@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

FONV and Skyrim. Even with mods, FONV looks like microwaved dog shit. Im mot even a huge graphics nut but at a point it becomes too distracting and FONV goes far beyond that. Skyrim's sluggish movements keep me completely disengaged, although the graphics don't throw me off quite as much, it feels so outdated that the immersion is ruined right from the very start.

[–] abraxas@sh.itjust.works 10 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Skyrim’s sluggish movements

What's sluggish-movement about Skyrim? You mean the character movements, or something else?

The high-running-speed in Skyrim compared to even some modern AAA's has always been an upside to me.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] StijnVVL@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Probably controversial but half life 2 for me. I got it very cheap on a sale after years of hearing how good it was. Just couldn't get into it. Even worse, every time I felt nauseated after a couple of minutes.

I guess this is just an example of a "you had to be there" scenarios. I was there as a gamer at the time but had no funds to play all the games. I skipped on HL 2 and can't get into it 20 years later.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Motion blur. My friend couldn't play HL2 or Portal until I suggested he turn it off - he was getting crazy motion sickness and headaches after just a few minutes before that

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Motion blur: taking a performance hit to make your games look like fuzzy ass.

Lens flare is up next.

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 10 points 10 months ago (3 children)

If you want to give it a go again, turn up the field of view and turn down head-bobbing if that's an option (which I'm sure it is with the console at least). These are the things that give people motion sickness in FPSs usually.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Unpopular opinion for sure, but Vampire: The Masquerade. I've started so many playthroughs over the years but just cannot fall into it like other RPGs on account of its dated mechanics and graphics.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 10 points 10 months ago (7 children)

I assume you're talking about VTM Bloodlines, the video game RPG? If you're not playing with the fan patch, you need to. The game was never totally finished and was rushed out the door by their publisher, so it'd got a lot of jank and missing content. It's probably a hard game to love, but if you get into it then it does so much better than a lot of other games.

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

At this stage, I am loath to go back to any game where the UI takes up half the screen. RTS games especially just used so much screen real estate back in the day, that couldn't be scaled or hidden to get any back. Like playing your game through a letterbox surrounded by stickers.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] amio@kbin.social 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Morrowind was always this for me. I started the series with Oblivion and Skyrim. Those have their own issues, but at least you hit things when you hit them, and their leveling systems won't actually screw you over if you don't Excel it correctly.

SMB 1 and 2. The SMB1 engine was revolutionary, but I hate the controls. SMB2, the Western one, just never felt like Mario, even back then. I also mostly started on SMB3 which had much better platforming and controls and was actually a Mario game, so that's probably why.

I consider myself, more or less, a "Zelda fan", at least from LttP to about half of Wind Waker. I will never play the first two NES games, though. Aside from 2 being "pretty much not zelda", 1 is so full of arbitrary wonk, "Guide dammit", and "Nintendo hard" that I don't feel like it even for historical purposes.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] sparr@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

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

A lot of the UI/UX and game mechanics from HOMM3 were taken from Sid Meier's games, like Colonization and Civilization. When you say you didn't understand stuff in HOMM3, I want to ask if you've played CIV6 or CIV5 or other modern games in that same genre? If not, you're going to be confused by them regardless of whether you're starting with CIV1 or HOMM3 or CIV6.

[–] FuryMaker@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Quite a few, but more recently:

Neverwinter Nights. Even the Enhanced Edition.

Diablo.

Other older RPGs just start off too slow, but that isn't necessarily age related, but by design.

Morrowind, but only because I've lost where I was up to in my saved game from 3-4 years ago, not so much because of the mechanics; they didn't bother me too much.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 11 points 10 months ago

Anything with consoles as the primary focus. You know the games, the ones where the controls suck if you don't use a controller..like witcher, and all those dark souls copy/paste clones. Cameras are too jank

[–] olutukko@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago (6 children)

The first witcher. The story seems really interesting and it has some great rpg elements but the combat is just so boring that I ended up startin witcher 3 without knowing the lore

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] verycoolusername@lemm.ee 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

For me it was Ocarina of Time. Ugly, and very clumsy. And I play tons of retro games. Early 3D stuff can be rough.

[–] domi@lemmy.secnd.me 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Did you try Ship of Harkinian? It has a lot of improvements that make it easier to play nowadays.

https://www.shipofharkinian.com/

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] pozbo@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Fallout 1&2. I love isometric top down rpgs and have played every title since fallout 3 to completion. Something about the clunkiness leaves me with a lot to be desired. I didn't pay more than $4 for both titles on a steam sale so I'm not mad they're in my library, I just wish I could break through the barrier and experience the beginnings of that world.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Hazzard@lemm.ee 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.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Mandy@sh.itjust.works 9 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Super Mario 64, while i started with the nes i never really fully played the 64 title

I played it on stream some time ago but eventually stopped cause mario just felt so weighty and clunky to control. I tried 3 different controllers just in case it could have just been me, but unfortunately, i just didnt jive with it.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] De_Narm@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (8 children)

Final Fantasy Tactics. I always hear its praise and apparently the story is really great, but... I just can't stand it. Despite being a massive fan of its sequel on the GBA.

I've had multiple story battles end before I even got a turn it, just because the NPC I was supposed to protect walked straight into his death. And that's kinda true for every NPC, in a game with permadeath and NPC companions for a big chunk of the inital hours. Sometimes you just gotta repeat a mission several times for a single chance to actually play and win.

You want to recruit monster? Great! Now they multiply like rabbits and your whole squad will forever be clogged with monsters.

Outside of NPC suicide, a lot of the battles are stomps. Either you know how to abuse the jobs and become a literal god or you kind of suffer, since once again permadeath. Oh, but even if you struggle through, you just get the most overpowered unit for free, making the last part mostly trivial anyways.

There a literal softlocks if you save right after a mission with a mandatory follow-up without being able to handle it. Your save will just throw you into a battle you cannot win.

It just feels like a game made before proper playtesting was a thing.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] carnimoss@lemmings.world 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I feel like after BotW and TotK, older 3D Zelda games seem clunky yet easy. I can't get used to the cameras in OoT and MM it feels so stiff as opposed to an old game like Kingdom Hearts where the first game aged well and the controls are still good.

[–] na_th_an@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

If you play OoT with the PC port then you can have full camera control with the second stick.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world 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.

[–] fsxylo@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

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

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] OmegaMouse@feddit.uk 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.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›