Things we miss from old games.

[Arqus_Zed]

Japanese RPGs on home consoles that aren't complete garbage; uninteresting characters/story meets bland gameplay looking like some obnoxious interactive anime/manga (and not the slick looking "Ghost in the Shell 2"-type visuals either).

Seriously, where are the Shadow Hearts? The (GOOD) Final Fantasy games? Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon, SMT: Lucifer's Call, SMT: Digital Devil Saga, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, etc. Hell, even at the beginning of the 7th generation, we had Lost Odyssey at the very least!

No, we have to deal with stuff like:

Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
(Atelier Seriously: Is Anyone Even Buying These?)

Agarest: Generations of War
Agarest: Generations of War Zero
Agarest: Generations of War 2
(Okay, so this is more a tactical RPG than what is generally labeled as a "JRPG", but stylistically, there really is no difference. For as far as I managed to push myself in these games - two of them at least - I've only come to realize two things: the characters suck. And the story sucks. And the art style is - again - just rinse and repeat.)

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
(Christ, don't just a book by its cover... but damn, that title.)

Hyperdimension Neptunia
Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
(I don't know what's worse, the fact that this... *ahem* "franchise" is so insulting, or the fact that they've been pumping out these turds yearly since 2011.)

Time and Eternity
(Just... Wow.)

Tales of Graces f
Tales of Xillia
(You know, I never liked the art style of Tales of Vesperia and I thought the story/characters were far from being on the same level as FF IX or Shadow Hearts, but I guess I still kind of managed to enjoy it. But now, the continuation of the "same old, same old"-gameplay and the persistence of that generic "new anime look" they push into... well, everything, made me skip on these all together.

For years on end, I talked about how Ni No Kuni would be a day one purchase for me. Studio Ghibli working together with the guys from Level-5? Count me in! Now it's been out for over half a year and I still haven't found the motivation to actually go out and buy the damn game - because I'm just so sick of it all. (Thank God I'm not into those "shonen" brawlers or I would have blown my own brains out.)

 

[FPLOON]

Hmmmm... Well, I was going to say no hand-holding and/or no tutorial, but I'm more thinking of just jumping into a game head-first and learning how to do what as the game progresses... You may not even learn any new/different moves throughout the entire game, but you use what you have to advance through the game...

Also, no "hints"... especially REALLY obvious ones... I rather die through trial-and-error (of my own doing) than being shown an option right out in the open... (unless you want to be like "I Want To Be The Guy", then you can just go fuck yourself... That's just playing dirty...)

Spoiler: GIANT edit (quoting Arqus_Zed)

Japanese RPGs on home consoles that aren't complete garbage; uninteresting characters/story meets bland gameplay looking like some obnoxious interactive anime/manga (and not the slick looking "Ghost in the Shell 2"-type visuals either).

Seriously, where are the Shadow Hearts? The (GOOD) Final Fantasy games? Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon, SMT: Lucifer's Call, SMT: Digital Devil Saga, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, etc. Hell, even at the beginning of the 7th generation, we had Lost Odyssey at the very least!

What I find interesting about the games you selected is that they never felt like they could be turned into an anime or manga becuase a part of what made them as good as they were would be lost in the adaptation... If any video game can pull that off, then they must be doing something right...

In fact, before I start quoting some of the games you list, a GOOD chunk of them could basiaclly become an anime or manga series and not losing ANYTHING that makes them a video game (in the sense of how I feel a video game should be) and, even though I do have some of these games, there is still that notion that they could have just been an anime or manga series and still feel the same as I do playing them...

Anyway,

Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
(Atelier Seriously: Is Anyone Even Buying These?)

If you REALLY like doing alchemy in terms of JRPGs... *starts thinking about Shinkara*

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
(Christ, don't just a book by its cover... but damn, that title.)

I still have NO IDEA if that's a better title than "Ar tonelico III: The Girl's Song that Pulls the Trigger of World's Demise"... (At least the title's shorter and it's the suppose to be the final game in that series...)

Hyperdimension Neptunia
Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
(I don't know what's worse, the fact that this... *ahem* "franchise" is so insulting, or the fact that they've been pumping out these turds yearly since 2011.)

I think you should be more worried that it became basically what I assuming it wanted to do this WHOLE time... become an actual anime series...

Also, it runs on "nostalgia", "moe", and "parody"... I'm pretty sure you're not suppose to take it seriously, if that's what you find insulting... Granted, the only "playable" one is the third one[footnote]I still do not regret buying all three games...[/footnote], but good luck understanding it's whole gimmick and continuing story/characters without playing the other two games first... especially when you choose not to look it up yourself... (I know the third game tries to put you up to speed on everything world/story-related, but even if you watch Unskippable it comes off really "inconsistent", in my opinion...)

Time and Eternity
(Just... Wow.)

Yeah... No comment...

Tales of Graces f
Tales of Xillia
(You know, I never liked the art style of Tales of Vesperia and I thought the story/characters were far from being on the same level as FF IX or Shadow Hearts, but I guess I still kind of managed to enjoy it. But now, the continuation of the "same old, same old"-gameplay and the persistence of that generic "new anime look" they push into... well, everything, made me skip on these all together.

Well, the gameplay in any of the Tales games I describe the same way I describe the "changes" between different Gen Pokemon games... Taking baby steps without losing the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" motto... Also, although I really could not get into Graces f personally (something to do with in-game "time-skips" that just doesn't click with me in video games in general), I could get into Xillia because the combat reminded me of Vesperia... The story, however, only worked if you were basically in the same mindset as the character you choose in the beginning of the game otherwise you would be wondering what the other main character was doing...

For years on end, I talked about how Ni No Kuni would be a day one purchase for me. Studio Ghibli working together with the guys from Level-5? Count me in! Now it's been out for over half a year and I still haven't found the motivation to actually go out and buy the damn game - because I'm just so sick of it all. (Thank God I'm not into those "shonen" brawlers or I would have blown my own brains out.)

Well, considering Ni No Kuni is basically a Tales game meets Pokemon (in terms of combat) as well as your stance on current Tales gameplay, I can see why you haven't gotten around to playing it yet from that perspective... The only problem I've had with the game (and I think Yahtzee pointed this out) was that the game feels like I'm a young kid playing this and, as such, the game almost falls into "hand-holding" territory... Other than that, the game's solid enough for me to continue recommending it for anyone who loves Studio Ghibli, Level 5, or just RPGs in general...

 

[Jacques Joseph]

I miss a lot of things already mentioned - health bars, the ability to carry more than 2 weapons (in FPSs), less linear level design, less hand-holding in general, etc.

One I would like to mention especially though, as it seems no one else has done so yet and it´s been really getting on my nerves lately: the ability to actually roleplay in RPGs. There was a time when dialogue wasn´t only about yes/no/dunno, or absolutely good/totally evil/strictly neutral (and possibly intel gathering), a time when you had options to choose from, even various ways of saying basically the same thing (e.g. accepting the quest nicely/angrily/bluntly/eloquently and what not...) and it was a great way to flesh out your character...

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

I remember when I could just plug in Secret of Mana or Secret of Evermore, get past the intro and go right into playing the game. No loading, no checking for DLC, none of this extra waiting around bullshit - BOOM - into the game I was and either wrecking someone else's shit or getting my shit wrecked. Didn't matter if it was LUNAR: Silver Star or Vay, Wild ARMs or Grandia, I loaded up the save file and away I went.

I'm not saying that all of the extras of today's gaming technology isn't worth it - I have Borderlands 2 DLCs after all - but I much prefer the times when all it was was just "Hey, I wanna play Solar Jetman" or "Final Fantasy Legend" and not 30 seconds after that thought, I was playing that game.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Loading bars.

Nowadays we usually have a stupid little spinning logo or something, like a little buffering sign in the corner. They're just so ambiguous... They don't tell you anything about how long you have left to wait.

I liked the loading-elevator as seen in Mass Effect. I know where you're coming from with the loading bar but I liked how with the hidden loading screen there was a chance for characters to interact and whatnot.

---

There was a time when the assault rifle was considered to be something worth having in an FPS and I miss that feeling that having a weapon like that was worth it. They did decent damage too and more often then not there was an even more powerful one waiting somewhere in the coming levels. Another thing I miss (someone mentioned this above) was how in a number of older FPS titles (and shooters in general) most if not all weapons had more than one firing mode.

Speaking of shooters, what happened to schmups this generation? The 3DS E-Shop has a good one called Chain Blaster but before this the last one I can remember being big and popular was Ikaruga on the PS2 and Gamecube...then looking into it a little bit more I've noticed that the Xbox 360 of all things has a game called Otomedius Excellent which looks a lot like Gradius only you're a magical girl instead of a space-jet. Death Smiles is another Xbox 360 game that looks like a Magical Girl version of Gradius.

 

[JayRPG]

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
(Christ, don't just a book by its cover... but damn, that title.)

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
(I don't know what's worse, the fact that this... *ahem* "franchise" is so insulting, or the fact that they've been pumping out these turds yearly since 2011.)

Tales of Graces f
Tales of Xillia
(You know, I never liked the art style of Tales of Vesperia and I thought the story/characters were far from being on the same level as FF IX or Shadow Hearts, but I guess I still kind of managed to enjoy it. But now, the continuation of the "same old, same old"-gameplay and the persistence of that generic "new anime look" they push into... well, everything, made me skip on these all together.

Sounds to me like you don't like JRPG's at all.

You pre-judged Graces and xillia based on Vesperia(arguably one of the worst in the series)?

My 2 favourite games of all time are Final Fantasy 9 and Tales of Symphonia and let me tell you that after playing through Xillia 3 times now, it challenges both of those games for me.
I have no idea what you mean by same old, same old gameplay either... I was literally lost in the first hour, at least, in battles in Xillia, they have done a damn good job at keeping things fresh and adding new gameplay elements.

The first hyperdimension neptunia was rubbish, gameplay was in the toilet, the last 2 were actually rather good.

And you should not judge a book by it's cover as you suggest, Ar tonelico qoga was really enjoyable, not too much replay value but it had me hooked on my first playthrough.

I personally can't wait for Xillia 2 after playing xillia.

The ratio of good to bad JRPGs is pretty much the same as ever, it is a genre that you have to wade through to find gems and it's always been this way (Well except for the gamecube where every JRPG was just pure gold).

 

[wetfart]

Couch Multiplayer - My lady and I like to play videogames together and the slow removal of all couch/split screen multiplayer has been a real drag for us as it only leaves a handful of games to play together.

This! I really miss being able to do split screen multiplayer.

Also, I miss cheat codes. They're something that seem to have fallen to the wayside. I can understand the level codes being disused since many games let you start at any chapter you've unlocked. But sometimes I really just want unlimited ammo and the flamethrower right from the get go.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
(Christ, don't just a book by its cover... but damn, that title.)

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk 2
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
(I don't know what's worse, the fact that this... *ahem* "franchise" is so insulting, or the fact that they've been pumping out these turds yearly since 2011.)

Tales of Graces f
Tales of Xillia
(You know, I never liked the art style of Tales of Vesperia and I thought the story/characters were far from being on the same level as FF IX or Shadow Hearts, but I guess I still kind of managed to enjoy it. But now, the continuation of the "same old, same old"-gameplay and the persistence of that generic "new anime look" they push into... well, everything, made me skip on these all together.

Sounds to me like you don't like JRPG's at all.

You pre-judged Graces and xillia based on Vesperia(arguably one of the worst in the series)?

My 2 favourite games of all time are Final Fantasy 9 and Tales of Symphonia and let me tell you that after playing through Xillia 3 times now, it challenges both of those games for me.
I have no idea what you mean by same old, same old gameplay either... I was literally lost in the first hour, at least, in battles in Xillia, they have done a damn good job at keeping things fresh and adding new gameplay elements.

The first hyperdimension neptunia was rubbish, gameplay was in the toilet, the last 2 were actually rather good.

And you should not judge a book by it's cover as you suggest, Ar tonelico qoga was really enjoyable, not too much replay value but it had me hooked on my first playthrough.

I personally can't wait for Xillia 2 after playing xillia.

The ratio of good to bad JRPGs is pretty much the same as ever, it is a genre that you have to wade through to find gems and it's always been this way (Well except for the gamecube where every JRPG was just pure gold).

If I didn't like JRPGs, I don't think Final Fantasy IX, Shadow Hearts + Shadow Hearts Covenant (you really should play both for the full experience), SMT: Lucifer's Call, Chrono Trigger and Legend of Legaia are arguably my favorite games of all time (or at the very least, my favorite RPGs of all time).

Now, I've never been a big fan of the Tales of "insert whatever" series to begin with. I merely picked up Vesperia because of the good reviews and was kind of underwhelmed. Seeing as how Xillia and Graces f got lower scores than Vesperia, I can only assume this series wasn't meant for me.

Also, I am genuinely amazed you can talk about Hyperdimension Neptunia's gameplay... Because I can never get to that point, because I'm too busy talking about how insulting the game's story/characters/atmosphere/dialogue/design-whatever is. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with that game?! You have a bunch of horrendously "chibi" drawn 10-year olds running around talking like they have a single digit IQ and putting on some slut-clothing every so often. Ten minutes, I swear, I got a brain aneurysm!

And to be honest, I never got to Ar Tonelico Qoga - I just remembered the PS2 original Ar Tonelico, saw it was still the same art style and combat (though with the third dimension added to it) and decided against it. And I still don't understand how series like Shadow Hearts, Valkyrie Profile, Legaia (though Dual Saga was a bit crap) and Dark Cloud / Chronicle / Rogue Galaxy bit the dust after the 6th generation, yet we still have Ar Tonelico and the Atelier series. And seriously, why are they all using that same crappy art style?! Where's Yoshitaka Hirota? Kazuma Kaneko? Anyone?

And yeah, sure... All JRPGs released on the gamecube were pure gold, all... three of them.

 

[Skeleon]

Not constantly being told what to do, in terms of strictly linear corridors, heavy scripting and constant tooltips flashing.

 

[redmoretrout]

Customizable stats that allow you to significantly change your play-style. In most modern RPG's (Skyrim, Fable 3, etc.) your character can do everything exceptionally well and that really takes away from the re-playability for me.

And, if not you are completely restricted to a class with pre-set abilities. Which I find infinitely less interesting than building a character myself ala oldschool RPG's like Baldur's Gate and Fallout 1 & 2.

 

[Auron225]

Couch Multiplayer - My lady and I like to play videogames together and the slow removal of all couch/split screen multiplayer has been a real drag for us as it only leaves a handful of games to play together.

This! I really miss being able to do split screen multiplayer.

I third this - really miss hanging out with friends and gaming together :S I can count on one hand how many games I own now that allow me to do that...

 

[Darth_Payn]

Mainly, I miss carrying more than two weapons in 1st FPS's, and graphics not trying to be "realistic" but look mostly puke brown. Throw some color on for gods' sakes!

 

[Brotha Desmond]

Instruction manuals. Back in the day if you wanted to know how to do combos, or which button did what you would look in the instruction manual. Now, since they long since stopped given manuals with games, they give you an unnecessary amount of tutorials.

 

[deathzero021]

for me, it's challenge. i hardly play any AAA games due to this. i think the most popular challenging game i've played recently was Dark Souls, and that game wasn't nearly as hard as people claim it is, although it's miles better than most of the action/fantasy games we've gotten over the past few years.

i miss the old "figure it out yourself" design that classic games had, now a days, there's always some guy on a radio telling you exactly what to do in today's games, like your too stupid to figure out the extremely dumbed down puzzles/objectives we have in modern games.

also, discovery. i like the non-linear freedom of roaming a world, or even a level, and finding hidden things or discovery a skill that wasn't told directly to you by an NPC. today, most modern games basically just hand everything over to you, they don't hide anything, they don't want you to earn them either. It makes the whole experience way too boring. You really do feel like you are trapped in a linear movie-like plot where you cannot leave the one true path and everything make play out the same way every time. drastically hurts the replay value.


luckily smaller developers and indie games are bringing back some of these traits but there's still not enough larger more grand experiences that utilize these elements.

 

[teebeeohh]

quicksaving
open levels
big arsenal that allowed you to always have your favourite gun while also having access to the gun you need for a situation without it lying on the ground.
not being treated like an idiots
secondary fire modes


i will no go play shadow warrior.

 

[Artina89]

I really miss health bars, and I find myself really disliking this whole "find cover and wait until your health completely regenerating" business that has started to crop up in games, it has sort of taken the challenge out of it knowing that it is not necessary for me to scavenge for health packs with only a sliver of health left.

 

[FPLOON]

Instruction manuals. Back in the day if you wanted to know how to do combos, or which button did what you would look in the instruction manual. Now, since they long since stopped given manuals with games, they give you an unnecessary amount of tutorials.

I actually find this both sad and a little weird when I do buy a new game and there's not even a trace of any sort of manual inside the game case... So far, the only games that I know that still come with an instruction manual is Pokemon... (or any game I buy for my 3DS, that is...) Really, other recent games on my game shelf that are not Pokemon or 3DS-related? Not even a digital instruction manual, since some of these games I could have gotten off PSN and/or Steam??

...Maybe it would have cost too much money to even print out an instruction manual in the first place and just making in-game tutorials is the most "cost-efficient" solution or something... *starts mumbling with anger*

 

[Rad Party God]

Shadow Warrior has almost everything I missed from old games and things I didn't thought I missed.

-Fast movement. Playing Bioshock Infinite right after playing SW was extremely jarring.

-Backtracking and secrets. I like these when they're optional, not because the story tells you so (I'm looking at you Bioshock Infinite).

-Quicksave. Good God, I hate when games don't let you save anywhere, whenever you want, especially with shitty checkpoint systems (hello again, Bioshock Infinite!).

-More than 2 weapons. I generally don't have anything against the trope of "just 2 weapons" that Halo popularized, but I definitely appreciate when I can hold more, especially if they're the enemies' own head and hearts >

-Challenge. THIS is what a shooter should have, not some bullshitty shootouts where you need to cover in chest-high walls every 5 seconds.

-Longevity. I'm extremely surprised at how long SW is and how BIG the levels are! (although the ship levels are a bit bland, sadly).

-Huge ass bosses. I don't want to just "look at them" (yes, I'm talking about you Gears of War 2), I want a big, epic fight and this game just frakking delivers!

-Colors. Lots and lots of colors, not just shades of brown and grey (yes, I know the Crysis series and Bioshock Infinite, among some others, are very colorful, but they're the exception rather than the rule).

-Complete games. I don't have anything against DLC, but I DO hate it when they sell you an incomplete mess and later sell you everything else with "season passes".

So yeah, I want more of this please :3

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I miss when games weren't afraid to let me fail.

To elaborate, I find myself incredibly bored by a lot of newer games. Sure, a lot of them have great spectacle... but the challenge just isn't there. With the common use of mechanics such as regenerating health and auto-saves every thirty seconds games are just far too easy now. There's no real drive to become better at a game in order to continue onward, because you can just keep beating your head against the wall until you're successful. Constant forward motion. Games these days feel less like actual games, and more like defective movies that skip back a few seconds in time every so often. If I wanted to see a movie, I'd watch a movie. If I want to play a game, I'll play a game.

I realize that there are still a few AAA games out there that don't work this way, but they're the exception rather than the rule. I miss the time when it was the rule. Because right now games are just far too easy even with the difficulty settings maxed out, and that also makes them feel significantly shorter. I miss when I could buy pretty much any random game and be practically guaranteed at least 20 hours of gameplay during the first playthrough. These days, I generally expect to get less than 10 out of most.

Not to mention, to me anyway, it encouraged multiple playthroughs of a game to try different strategies. Whatever was successful for me the first time through, I'll try out the exact opposite the next time and see if that's viable as well. Sometime I end up finding new tactics that actually make the game even more fun than the previous time. These days though there's just no real drive or motivation for me, because ultimately it doesn't matter. No matter what I do, everything is viable, because the difficulty curve has been so thoroughly destroyed.

The end result is that I rarely buy AAA releases at full price anymore. They just aren't worth that much money to me. I used to buy pretty much everything on release day at full price. Hell, I even pre-ordered them most of the time. But rarely is there a game that I can't wait for these days until I can get it at bargain prices. I miss the kind of excitement I used to have for those new games. I miss the experience. And no matter what any AAA publisher wants to try to force-feed to me, I'm sorry, but spectacle is only part of an experience.