Not Quite How You Remembered It

[Elvis Starburst]

Ever had a game from many years ago you know you enjoyed, and decided to pick up again... Before realizing it wasn't how you remembered it? Got a short story for ya. I recently got Custom Robo Arena for the DS. Still a fun game, but I didn't realize the game somehow managed to make 2D sprites and a 2D overworld run at 20 or so frames per second. The only thing that hits 60 is this little animation on the main menu. The 3D combat is maybe 30, and the overworld is 20-25. I dunno HOW you can make that happen with a 2D part of the game, but, meh. The game is still tons of fun. Even if the sprites and overworld don't look very good. I like the art style for the character portraits, at least.

At least the combat is still a blast. That part I remember being great. So how about you? Did a game exceed your old memories and expectations, or did it sorta flop into mediocrity?

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

A few months ago I dug out Ape Escape for the PS1 and played that again. It was actually just like I remember but much easier, then again I am older so it was not the game but me. Though it did hit me what I took for granted as how video games were supposed to look and my young imagination made me not realize how much sprite work was still used in the PS1 days. Though that added to the charm weirdly enough.

 

[Elfgore]

Advent Rising. A game that I remember having a total blast on back on the original Xbox. Awesome bullet-time with rolls and everything. I noticed it on Steam and bought it. Only to get a game that controls like total poop and with a pretty shitty story. The nostalgia was crushed.

 

[FalloutJack]

Can't say that I've had this problem. Only difference would be if I had to re-establish my muscle memory for the things I did then.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

A few months ago I tried to go back and start a new Legend of Dragoon profile since I have a few memory cards that are proprietary now (ie: greatly reduced chance of the things going corrupt). I don't recall the audio sounding like it was recorded through tin cans...and I don't remember the character models in general looking THAT much like painted cardboard boxes stack on top of each other. I also remember the game being more fun to play which is probably why I haven't picked it back up since...

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Bought Star Wars Battlefront 2 off Steam some time ago. Didn't quite remember the gameplay being so repetitive. Granted, I've only been playing Galactic Conquest so far, but it's literally the same thing over and over until the stars themselves die. Playing on the higher difficulty setting in single player is plain madness, there is no way to victory. No matter how many dozens of enemies you cut down all by yourself, your idiot teammate AI will get itself killed regardless. Still, playing as Darth Maul and cutting down hapless clone troopers by the score is still satisfying.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I keep trying to pick up Team Fortress 2 every 8 months or so, maybe once or twice a year but I never managed to get into it. Suddenly i'm having fun with it when previously I just didn't like the classes much. Basically as much as everyone wants to be that guy who kills half the enemy team in 2 seconds as Spy or the Sniper who chains headshots together like he's got LMAObox in place of his muscles but imagine if there weren't 5 Snipers/Spies/combination of the two on the team. I tell you it's way more fun than joining a server and locking in the 5th Spy.

I have loads of fun playing Backburner Pyro as a member of the W+M1 Master Race. Although I have evolved into the point where I always switch to Shotgun when at a distance or fighting another Pyro. I try to airblast but really I don't have the knack for it and Backburner gets a higher cost on its airblast. I'll take the occasional cheap crit rocket deaths.

Also the Love and War update that they added a while ago is the best thing to ever happen to video games. You can high five the enemy team or have a server wide dance party.

 

[Spakko]

I've fond memories of Knights and Merchants, a RTS from ye good ol' late nineties. Building a prosperous settlement, watching your subjects waddle through the streets and do their work, raising an army and defeat those dastardly rude enemies. Classic stuff, so to speak.
But when I played it again a couple of months ago... It was like being a kindergarten teacher. I had to slap my troops on their bums for every 45° turn in any direction or they would just shake their backsides towards the enemies and get slaughtered without any sign of resistance on their side. And when they die, they will scream their lungs out, which is quite understandable, given the circumstance but the background music was so jolly and cheerful it became pretty goofy.

Spoiler: A little musical example

But even if the troops are dumber than a bucket full of crabs (and some other little niggling things) I still like the game. Ah, what fun!

 

[Evonisia]

Perhaps it's just because I know the game like the back of my hand, but when I returned to FarCry 1 a few months ago (Steam sales <3), it was a lot easier than I remember it being. My childhood memories of the game include carefully making my way through the levels because they were damn near impossible with enemies that killed so incredibly fast. I completed the game in 6 hours.

While still my favourite game by a considerable margin, I was a little disheartened by the change. On the bright side, however, FarCry 1 has that BioShock quality to it wherein it's not hard, but if you lose focus for half a second then you're going to be blood stains on the wall. Very cool.

Captcha: Moe's tavern.

That's right. I remember Moe having a pink apron once upon a time.

 

[mysecondlife]

Red Dead Redemption. I'm not sure why but it may have to do with continuously tapping button to run while on foot that got tedious really fast.

 

[Mikeybb]

I tried to play the original StarCraft single player campaign a year or so ago.

Maybe if I'd have had the foresight to dig out an old CRT monitor beforehand, it wouldn't have been so bad.
If I'd had the wherewithal to mod the game into a higher resolution it might not have been so bad either.
What I was left with instead was a futuristic war as pictured by some pixel Picasso during his cubist/sci fi phase.

Picture in your minds eye, if you will, a 640 by 480 game stretched out onto a modern monitor.
It was as if the whole battle had been reskinned as a mosaic.
I tried playing it in a window, but my nose was almost touching the screen trying to make out what was going on.

That's just the graphical side of a game that I can still remember being genuinely impressed with on release.
Exposure to the foibles of old style RTS games was probably minimized as StarCraft was a well designed title.
Even so, it still felt a little creaky by comparison to more recent titles.

Since then I've vowed to leave the past shielded securely behind the rose tinted nostalgia hardened safety glass barrier.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I've got another one; Final Fantasy VII really isn't as open and explorable as people seem to insist it is. Yes, it's a big game and yes, once you have an airship and/or Gold Chocobo you can go anywhere you like but that's hours and discs into the narrative of the game. Before that point, there are a whole lot of places and things that you absolutely have to get through. Get through Midgar, go to Kalm, go to the Chocobo Ranch, pass through the Swamp, [CHOICE!] Go to Fort Condor or go to Junon, [after Junon] Get on boat and go from Casa Del Sole to the cave whose name I can't remember, etc...

 

[Maximum Bert]

Most games are exactly as I remember. The one instance I can think of where a game felt different was Bubble Bobble on the C64 the gameplay was as great as I remembered but the controls were not as satisfying as I thought. Luckily the updated one on the GBA alleviated this issue but unfortunately changes the graphics.

 

[gigastar]

Well i went back to play Spec Ops: The Line and much to my surprise the game was much harder than i remembered it being on my first playthrough.

Picture in your minds eye, if you will, a 640 by 480 game stretched out onto a modern monitor.

Thats pretty much what holds me back from playing my old PS1 games. 360p stretched to fit a 42" screen is not pleasnt to look at.

 

[babinro]

Knights of the old republic 1 & 2

I still enjoy the story, characters, and combat systems of these games but actually playing them again is a chore. You really feel how large these zones are and how many hours of playtime are spent just running across large maps without all that much happening.

I have the urge to replay these games again but I just know that the experience will quickly turn to boredom/tedium due to the pacing.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

A few months ago I tried to go back and start a new Legend of Dragoon profile since I have a few memory cards that are proprietary now (ie: greatly reduced chance of the things going corrupt). I don't recall the audio sounding like it was recorded through tin cans...and I don't remember the character models in general looking THAT much like painted cardboard boxes stack on top of each other. I also remember the game being more fun to play which is probably why I haven't picked it back up since...

Someone else mentioned this game! Hallelujah!

But yeah, I played it when I was really young and enjoyed it quite a bit but never got close to finishing it. Bought it on PSN a few months ago as a sort of resolution to try and finish what child me could not, quickly realizing that a lot of elements I need to keep me playing a JRPG these days were unfortunately missing. I'll pick it up again at some point, but the initial time I spent playing was enough to take away any feelings of nostalgia. Still feels like a good game, but not particularly excellent.

 

[Cyncial_Huggy]

Fallout 3.

Loved that game when I was young, I did every single thing. Got every single unique weapon and did every single little thing. And now, when I play it, I just go "meh." Sure, it was amazing back in 2008, but try playing today it just doesn't have the same joy.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I second fallout 3. For some reason, the level of grey in that game didn't seem an issue when first played. Now though, I spend 5 minutes frollicking in rubble, rubble and more rubble while that little niggly "bored now" feeling grows stronger until I can no longer lie to myself that i'm having fun; throw down everything i'm holding, scream "i am an independent woman!" Then proceed to bother various humans within the vicinity until police is called.

 

[Xeros]

I replayed Super Mario 64 a while back, and I remembered the environments feeling a lot bigger, particularly Jolly Roger Bay.

Can't think of any more-recent examples as I barely have time to tackle my backlog, let alone replay things I've already completed.

 

[Jaeke]

Spoiler: Yeah actually, this one is recent

Watching TBFP's playthrough of the game right now on YouTube and I gotta say, I feel a lot more fondly about that game remembering it than I do watching it today.

Still a good game though, just not how I remembered it being back when I was... 7? I think.

Wow 13 years flies by fast.