Games that have aged horribly

[Mandal0re]

Morrowind is my favourite game of all time and the core of writing, atmosphere and fantastic environments which makes it great is still very much there but the graphics and game play have not aged well. It was clunky and the character models were ugly in 2002 and nine years have not sweetened it.

 

[steevee]

*Flame shield up*

KOTOR. Good god, KOTOR. I know I'm missing out on an experience, but I just could not play the game. The graphics and the control scheme made it impossible to enjoy.

 

[PatchlingZoon]

Deus Ex.

Good god, Deus Ex.

Driver and Driver 2. Those games... did not age well. Most ps1 games didn't

The rendering power of PS1 is laughable compared to modern tech. No surprise on graphics as the most cited aging consideration. We like pretty people and we hate ugly things. Unless mediocre/simple visuals is a core, artistic gimmick (i.e. Minecraft, Parappa) people really hate ugly-looking (digitized) people. As such: FF7 and Deus Ex.

Do genres count for this thread? I think the JRPG (in America) has fallen out, along with rhythm-based games (Guitar Hero, RB). In terms of gaming mechanics, I think the fixed, isometric screens in Resident Evil 1-3 is just brutal compared to "smart" over-the-shoulder cams.

 

[Songbird-O]

I'm gonna get flak for this, but Legends of Dragoon.

If you never played this game, it's a massive four disk game for the PlayStation that has really not aged well in graphics or game play. I'm sure it was cutting edge at the time, but even with that in mind it looks like a Final Fantasy VII rip-off (I'm unsure which came out first, so that's probably inaccurate).

The people who like this game are probably looking at it with nostalgia glasses like most hard-core FFVII fans. Then again, Final Fantasy IX is my favorite of the PlayStation era so I'm in no position to be too harsh.

I disagree, but for an unorthadox reason.

FFVII hasn't aged well at all.

LoD has enough narm and translation hilarity to keep it afloat, in my opinion.

Other badly-aged games include:

Dragon Warrior 2

Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light (as Shadow Dragon DS has shown us)

And dear god, Super Mario 64. Not just graphic-wise, but gameplay-wise too. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this. Super Mario Sunshine was better in every way.

 

[scorptatious]

Pokeom Red and Blue. I still love the games and all, but I didn't realize how ugly most of the sprites were in that game until recently. Especially compared to the later generations.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Planescape Torment,Baldur's Gate 1&2 and same goes for the first two Fallout's.

I have tried playing those now and I really can't get myself to play more than 1h.I guess I have a certain graphic tollerance that I have gained by playing over average high graphic detailed games.

A pity though.

 

[Count Igor]

Deus Ex still rocks!
You people are ker-azy...

OT: GTA games.
And AoE stuff.

 

[veloper]

Age of Empires

It was the last game in the RTS genre to ignore all the common innovations like production queues for units.
As such the controls are very clunky and the whole is a huge cluster fuck.

 

[Kevlar Eater]

American McGee's Alice. It was awesome in its heyday, but zoom from 2000 to today, and oh dear god, it looks horrible. Still better than Daikatana; then again, that game looked and played terribly in its era as well.

 

[hermes]

Star Wars The Dark Forces... It just doesn't live up to my childhood memories.

 

[Atticus89]

I'm gonna get flak for this, but Legends of Dragoon.

If you never played this game, it's a massive four disk game for the PlayStation that has really not aged well in graphics or game play. I'm sure it was cutting edge at the time, but even with that in mind it looks like a Final Fantasy VII rip-off (I'm unsure which came out first, so that's probably inaccurate).

The people who like this game are probably looking at it with nostalgia glasses like most hard-core FFVII fans. Then again, Final Fantasy IX is my favorite of the PlayStation era so I'm in no position to be too harsh.

I disagree, but for an unorthadox reason.

FFVII hasn't aged well at all.

LoD has enough narm and translation hilarity to keep it afloat, in my opinion.

Other badly-aged games include:

Dragon Warrior 2

Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light (as Shadow Dragon DS has shown us)

And dear god, Super Mario 64. Not just graphic-wise, but gameplay-wise too. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this. Super Mario Sunshine was better in every way.

Oh I agree with how VII hasn't aged well. And Super Mario 64 I can understand as well, though I'm not sure if I'd say Super Mario Sunshine is better in every way.

 

[Mister Benoit]

I'm gonna get flak for this, but Legends of Dragoon.

If you never played this game, it's a massive four disk game for the PlayStation that has really not aged well in graphics or game play. I'm sure it was cutting edge at the time, but even with that in mind it looks like a Final Fantasy VII rip-off (I'm unsure which came out first, so that's probably inaccurate).

The people who like this game are probably looking at it with nostalgia glasses like most hard-core FFVII fans. Then again, Final Fantasy IX is my favorite of the PlayStation era so I'm in no position to be too harsh.

I've found quite a few PS1 games that now have what I find to be added charm.

I've recently started new saves on both Crash Bandicoot 2 & FFIX and although they are indeed pixelated. They still look pretty fantastic on my 46inch 1080p Samsung.

A lot of Snes games look perfectly fine also due to the graphics used. Until you start playing pre-rendered games like Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct or Stunt Racer FX you should be fine.

 

[Ubermetalhed]

I'm rather confused by all these posts.

I have no problem playing any game, I could say a game has aged badly graphically but it wouldn't ever put me off playing it again. Plus no game is unplayable, if you say it is then you have little patience. It usually takes a little while to adjust to the mechanics once more.

Also is everyone here so superficial? I personally love the painted environments in FFVII and the blocky characters are as charming as ever. Gameplay wise it is perfect.

Furthermore, I don't understand all the Deus Ex comments, the graphics are dated but its nothing game breaking and the gameplay is still great.

The thing is with all these old games, graphically they're poor by todays standards but in terms of gameplay, story and level design they are better than alot of the stuff at the moment. I think alot of people have gotten to used to the all style, little substance nature of most of the new generation of games.

Personally I've been recently replaying System Shock 2, Tombraider, Starwars Jedi Knight: Dark forces 2, FFVII etc. and had a great time with them all again.

 

[Ultress]

The gameplay for Persona 1 has aged horribly if P1P is any indication.It's very rigid,the attack attributes are too ambitious for their own good , you have to set up just the right formation and god forbid you get out of formation becasue your really fucked.

 

[Tinneh]

Call of Duty 4.

 

[Netrigan]

American McGee's Alice. It was awesome in its heyday, but zoom from 2000 to today, and oh dear god, it looks horrible. Still better than Daikatana; then again, that game looked and played terribly in its era as well.

I had a pretty jaundiced eye toward it back when it came out, because it really isn't as colorful as it should have been. The new game looks exactly like it should.

Star Wars The Dark Forces... It just doesn't live up to my childhood memories.

In hindsight, the first one is a mess. Not only pixelated, but ugly, too. And the controls are awful on the PS1 and PC. I find the game virtually unplayable.

I'm rather confused by all these posts.

I have no problem playing any game, I could say a game has aged badly graphically but it wouldn't ever put me off playing it again. Plus no game is unplayable, if you say it is then you have little patience. It usually takes a little while to adjust to the mechanics once more.

Also is everyone here so superficial? I personally love the painted environments in FFVII and the blocky characters are as charming as ever. Gameplay wise it is perfect.

Furthermore, I don't understand all the Deus Ex comments, the graphics are dated but its nothing game breaking and the gameplay is still great.

The thing is with all these old games, graphically they're poor by todays standards but in terms of gameplay, story and level design they are better than alot of the stuff at the moment. I think alot of people have gotten to used to the all style, little substance nature of most of the new generation of games.

Personally I've been recently replaying System Shock 2, Tombraider, Starwars Jedi Knight: Dark forces 2, FFVII etc. and had a great time with them all again.

Aging badly seems to mean one of two things. First is that the gameplay isn't nearly as good as you remember because subsequent games have vastly improved it. What was once innovative is now counter-intuitive. Or it's about graphics. The memory lies like a son of a ***** when it comes to graphics. Older games so often look much worse than you remember.

At one point, this was the most amazing looking game that had ever hit the shelves. Every review dripped of praise for just how beautiful it looked. It looked so good, they put in-game images on the cover.

Spoiler

A handful of years later, they totally topped themselves with these jaw-droppingly amazing graphics.

Spoiler

And years later, we load up those games and realize that they didn't look anywhere as good as we thought they did at the time. In the case of shooters, anything from about Duke Nukem on tends to play pretty well. Game controls were standardized fairly quickly and basic game play hasn't really changed. Wolfenstein 3D can be pretty annoying with its lack of strafing keys, which is at odds with today's WASD movement controls and games like Heretic and the original Dark Forces don't have mouselook, so there's an extra layer of annoyance when playing them... but mostly shooters have aged pretty well in terms of game play.

Graphics... most of our old favorites are probably seriously ugly in hindsight.

 

[Wayneguard]

Dragon Age: Origins hasn't aged well either and it's fairly new.

 

[Biodeamon]

Halo. After Halo 2 every new halo game i played was like listening to nails on a chalkboard. Halo Reach was a better although the story was as weak as a watered-down beer. Charecters in Reach died too easily. And the campaign for ODST? blech. Now before i sound like every halo-hater i love halo, which just makes it's flaws even more painful. However Reach did fix alot of things with Armour Abilities, improved firefight, assasinations, credits, gear, and such. But personally HAlo 3 and ODST left a bad taste in my mouth....

 

[Addicted Muffin]

As science has shown us, Sequels kill franchises.

The only sequels that I have enjoyed are
Halo 2 and 3
Gears of War 2
Half Life 2, ep1, and ep2
Portal 2
L4D2
TF2
[hey, is it too obvious i'm a valve fanboy?]


all other sequels blew ass IMO, and have ruined their franchises

I dunno some of the 7 good final fantasys were good sequels
and the DMC franchise, and the street fighter one actually. Ssx tricky and 3 were bitchin.
Oooo AND Burnout 2,3,paradise (yes i skipped the ones between3-paradise, because they sucked)


(but yes valve are very good at sequels eeee need more portal2 dlc nowww)

FF6,7,9, and 10 had their moments, but as a franchise, the
Most recent sequels weren't very good. I actually stopped buying ff games because of it. Street fighter was more of rehashes of 2 in different styles...so it's pretty much halted aging