Are there games that you tried but just couldn’t get into because they feel outdated?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!
shin megami tensei III nocturne. the lack of useful information in combat compared to what’s available in other smt/persona games i have played is frustrating (strange journey, smtv, p4, pq, p5)!
Going from Persona to the mainline SMT games is rough. Persona is basically a much easier version of SMT, but is also much more popular. So lots of Persona players enjoyed the game, wanted more, and looked into SMT. But then they’re dismayed to find out how goddamned difficult the main games can be.
Nocturne fans are a lot like Morrowind fans; They hate the modern gameplay mechanics and yearn for the “good ol days” when JRPGs were hard as nails and hid even the basic mechanics from you. But you can also become overpowered as hell you play the game the “right” way. And for Nocturne fans, being good at the difficult game is a point of pride.
If you can accept the fact that they’re grindfests that are built like old school JRPGs, then you’ll probably have a decent time. But they can absolutely be obtuse and brutal if you’re just expecting more Persona.
If you’re looking for something in between, try Persona 3. It’s getting remade soon so I can’t speak on that, but the PlayStation version (P3 FES) is fantastic. It takes longer than other Persona games to get started, (seriously, the story takes several hours to get off the ground,) but it’s a lot like the later Persona games, while only being marginally more difficult.
If you hate the lack of party controls, (you can only issue general commands to party members in FES) then maybe you’ll want to check out P3 Portable instead. It adds direct commands (and the option of a female main character) to the game. It has a slightly different UI, (the daytime gameplay is more like an interactive comic,) which turned a lot of players away. But the story remains the same (with a few exceptions if you pick the FeMC) and the addition of direct commands is a great modernization.
I torture myself cause I always start series from the beginning. Megami tensei 1 and 2 were an absolute slog, shim megami tensei isn’t much better. Really all these early ones I just need to have gamefaqs up on my phone the whole time cause I’ll have no idea where I’m going. Shin megami tenseis not AS bad. I generally can find where I’m going, but if I take any sort of break to play another game I come back lost.
i get the feeling you didn’t really read what i wrote. but i will assume you were speaking generally and enthusiastically.
I read it. You specifically didn’t list Persona 3 while simultaneously saying you wanted more SMT games to check out.