Most overrated "classic" games (anything before the PS2)

[Wesker]

FF7. All my weeb friends in high school said I needed to try it since I was such an RPG fan, Fallout, Arcanum, Jagged Alliance 2. I picked up FF7 from an EB games bargain bin for like $10 because PS2/Xbox/GameCube were the dominant consoles. I took it home fired it up and fucking hated it. The combat sucked, the gameplay was completely on rails, and you did more reading than playing the game. I was told it picks up after you leave the first city but fuck if I could stand playing it that long. On the other hand, l loved 10 despite its retarded story.

While I would agree that most of the Midgar segment I don't particularly like, the game does really open up once you leave. And then every new location you get to, doesn't nail you down in one place as long as Midgar.

 

[DinnerDates]

FF 7 because convoluted story-telling, shit graphics (product of it's time but holy shit it's bad), gameplay-wise nothing that innovative compare to the previous games.

I don't fucking understand how everybody on earth says that this game is their favorite FF games, like nigga come on you never play any FF game other than 7. I would take FF 5 or 6 everytime over 7.

The only appeal I get from 7 is that once you finished the game you reason to come back again unlike FF 1 - 6 for minigames & shit.

And Bahamut Lagoon gameplay kinda boring, story fucking dogshit, the characters are insufferable. The only fun part is Dragon growth system which is easily exploitable.

Spoiler: Minor Spoiler

Also you get cucked by the enemy general, your childhood friend the literal Princess a damsel in distress with stockholm syndrome.
The good thing is they both fucking death by the end of the story. Good fucking riddance.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

Time has filtered out the people who didn't care much for Quake 1. The fact is, it was sluggish and ugly. However, it was also one of the first games to support OpenGL and be playable on the internet. But another big however, the actual market penetration of Voodoo graphics cards and internet connections was miniscule at the time, so most people who played Quake in the 1990s only ever played grainy, sluggish, repetitive single-player campaign. The people who later went on to write for game magazines or become game developers themselves were largely harvested from that tiny subset of kids who had all the toys needed to rocket-jump in glorious 3D-accelerated 800x600. They, personally, don't know anyone who wasn't blown away by Quake, because all the other people in the game industry with them are like them.

Me and my friends played the shit out of DN3D.

Everyone I knew played Quake 1 in software online despite having hardware acceleration. I don't remember why, but there was a reason for it. Probably had to do with WinQuake being trash.
Single player sucked though, it was never good, the only good single player component of Quake 1 was the Scourge of Armageddon expansion. The people that made that expansion knew how to make fun levels. Probably because the lead came from 3DRealms and Duke3D... Duke3D was without a doubt the better game, better as in more enjoyable to play, but Quake was the superior online multiplayer game.

The new Quake 1 episode(Dimensions of the Past) made by Machine Games for the 20th anniversary was actually fun and it goes to show that id's levels weren't so great.

They were popular in Canada to the degree that they were viewed as equals to the NES. In the 8-bit era, I knew more people with Master Systems than NESes, but I lived in a very weird rural community with very narrow horizons.


Backwards compatibility required a hardware shim. https://segaretro.org/Power_Base_Converter

I only knew one guy with a master system and he had a really, really weird mom and no dad. If he had grown up today with that crazy mom he would probably have gotten puberty blockers instead of a master system.

 

[YE24]

Everyone I knew played Quake 1 in software online despite having hardware acceleration. I don't remember why, but there was a reason for it.

Hardware acceleration was in its infancy and was all kinds of garbage. Some, such as the S3 ViRGE I owned, were slower than software. Some, such as the Voodoo 1, required you to daisy-chain VGA cables such that it went 2D card -> Voodoo -> Monitor. It was a VERY weird time in tech.

Software gave better and more reliable results, was less likely to crash, etc. Plus, a few years into the future, Quake 1 could be played on a potato. I remember getting my flatmates in college all into Quake because literally everyone could play it.

 

[Cherry Eyed Hamster]

I’m gonna have to echo OP with the sentiments about System Shock 2. The first SS game is one of the greatest science fiction/horror games of all time, an immersive sim that actually properly immerses you in an environment without it just being a glorified walking sim. SS2 is…boring. The voice acting is much better and there are some genuinely creepy bits, but wow this sequel really bastardized SHODAN. I feel like they turned her into more of a mustache-twirling seductive villainess rather than being the alien-like, omnipotent intelligence of the first. Also the RPG mechanics of 2 are fucking awful. Shit is breaking all the time and it’s a pain in the arse to get an actually effective weapon.

It hasn’t aged well. I recommend SS1 to newbies whenever I get the chance. Sure, it’s somewhat cheesy and the soundtrack is like Toejam & Earl, but fuck, it’s fun.

 

[The Ugly One]

I’m gonna have to echo OP with the sentiments about System Shock 2. The first SS game is one of the greatest science fiction/horror games of all time, an immersive sim that actually properly immerses you in an environment without it just being a glorified walking sim. SS2 is…boring. The voice acting is much better and there are some genuinely creepy bits, but wow this sequel really bastardized SHODAN. I feel like they turned her into more of a mustache-twirling seductive villainess rather than being the alien-like, omnipotent intelligence of the first. Also the RPG mechanics of 2 are fucking awful. Shit is breaking all the time and it’s a pain in the arse to get an actually effective weapon.

It hasn’t aged well. I recommend SS1 to newbies whenever I get the chance. Sure, it’s somewhat cheesy and the soundtrack is like Toejam & Earl, but fuck, it’s fun.

SS1 & 2 are old enough where if you're going to play either one of them, it's no longer about the graphics on any level. They both look like ass compared to anything released in the last 20 years. And agreed, SS1 is simply the better game. The GoG version also runs in high res.

 

[skykiii]

SS1 & 2 are old enough where if you're going to play either one of them, it's no longer about the graphics on any level. They both look like ass compared to anything released in the last 20 years. And agreed, SS1 is simply the better game. The GoG version also runs in high res.

This all being said, good sprite work ages way better than early 3D polygons almost by default. Put a modern kid down with both Symphony of the Night and Mario 64 and I guarantee you that kid will be joking about how Mario 64 looks but taking Symphony seriously. (Granted, I'm cheating a little here because... my nephew, who is nine, loved Symphony but never got into Mario except--surprise surprise--the 2D games).

 

[Jason Wynn]

FFVI is a great game, but hideously overrated. Kefka isn't that interesting of a villain and I think the reason he's so popular is because he appeals to the lolsorandom humor crowd.

GoldenEye 64 set the bar for console FPSs back in the day, but it's aged like dogshit and hardly playable today. I loved it back then too, but its time to let go of the nostalgia.

ToeJam and Earl 2 was a better and more fun game than the first one.

Mortal Kombat fucking sucks compared to all of the other 90s fighting games.

 

[Mayor Cody Travers]

Street Fighter Alpha (1): Warriors’ Dreams was a game I was always intrigued to play after getting back into SF with the double whammy of Alpha Three and Third Strike. I of course figured it would be ‘smaller’ than Alpha 3 as the kickoff to the SF mid-90s and early-oughts glories, but still an enjoyable romp, no?

Wrong. The gameplay was clunky, the repeating stages and small roster got dull fast, even the music felt like it was poorly processed compared to the very same tunes in the sequel. I guess its graphical prowess is what saved and got it sales to let Capcom push out the much more complete and fun Alpha 2 a short bit later, because I cannot for the life of me see what gamers of the 90s saw in it otherwise.

 

[Wesker]

Street Fighter Alpha (1): Warriors’ Dreams was a game I was always intrigued to play after getting back into SF with the double whammy of Alpha Three and Third Strike. I of course figured it would be ‘smaller’ than Alpha 3 as the kickoff to the SF mid-90s and early-oughts glories, but still an enjoyable romp, no?

Wrong. The gameplay was clunky, the repeating stages and small roster got dull fast, even the music felt like it was poorly processed compared to the very same tunes in the sequel. I guess its graphical prowess is what saved and got it sales to let Capcom push out the much more complete and fun Alpha 2 a short bit later, because I cannot for the life of me see what gamers of the 90s saw in it otherwise.

I didn't play Alpha 1 until the Anniversary collection and you're spot on. It feels like an unfinished game and the backgrounds look thrown together. Alpha 2 is infinitely better and had a much better roster. I'm indifferent to Alpha 3.

 

[ShitLurker]

Thankfully, there's a remake that brings FF7 up to modern standards of quality.

Well, pseudosequel more than remake... but yes, the gameplay is miles more engaging (though some bosses I'd say are a bit too hp spongey).

It didn't have nearly enough mictotransactions to truly be groundbreaking and innovative in today's market like it was in yesteryear. Although I do get the impression that it really pushed the envelope with "push forward while characters vomit exposition," which doubtless made even God of Snore take notice and really pump that in their sequel for fear of the jap menace beating them at their own game.

To be fair, Japan loves it's miles of text, as a Trails series enjoyer, that game is a fucking book with rpg battles sprinkled. But the west are the kings of making it pretentous as fuck.

I remember that interview, the Shining Force brothers said FE was shallow as fuck and they are still right.

The famicom had fuck all for strategy games and it wouldn't be until several years into the super famicom's life cycle before before Ogre Battle got the ball rolling, giving Intelligent Systems a niche to fill. These laid the foundation and IS realized that their fans are suckers for waifus, leading to the mass international explosion with Fates on the 3DS--it doesn't hurt that the 3DS had jack shit to play for years and FE got attention by default.

Slight correction, but Awakening was the one that got FE on the map, Fates got a lot of lukewarm reactions in it's day unless I'm misremembering. Awakening was also my first FE and I enjoyed it, but I'm a sucker for waifu shit anyway and can see why more traditional FE players hate it.

This is correct on all counts. FF Tactics is basically carried by the FF name.

I loved Tactics and consider it the best FF narrative in the psx and the class system was addictive to break. But I do have limited experience with the genre since I'd say Tactics was my second TRPG after Vandal Hearts (which I also loved).

Advance is the superior title in the series. The original is up it's own ass

Advance never clicked... story of autistic kid with shit parenting never really got me going and I found the judges and rules more annoying than anything.

This thread is awful. No offense. It's just "I have a hot take and I will shield myself by sprinkling safe choices among my hot takes."

Be a fucking man. Get on your soap box and say you hate the thing and brace for the nerd rage you fucking pussies.

I mean, I'd love to throw some shit. Closest I can think of is Last of Us which is too modern for this thread and in the earlier times... well I don't really remember playing anything that was huge and thinking "meh" when it came out. I didn't play any Zelda outright,I loved FFVII though understand it's overrated to high hell today, I thought 8 was a letdown but I don't think that even reaches a tepid take and so on. Other games I'd classify as just fine, but never had any fanfare to them anyway. I thought Wild Arms combat was very ugly and kind of annoying with how slow it was but, well, Wild Arms isn't exactly something everybody talks about anyway.

Another big factor was that FF Tactics on PlayStation was out of print for several years so it went for $100-150 until popular demand drove Square to reissue it as a greatest hits. So it got a lot of hype that wouldn’t have happened if Tactics was always in print. Xenogears was the same way.

Basically any out of print and hard to find Square game during the PlayStation era became legendary. It was kind of the same way for the SNES until emulation and fan translations popped a lot of those bubbles. Many of those games were good but just good, not the omg legendary games they were hyped to be.

Not all of them. Brave Fencer Musashi is constantly forgotten about, same deal with Einhander. I'm a gigantic Xenogears stan but most of it's dickriding is on the back of "what it could have been" since there were a lot of clunky things in that game. FFT I can at least say is a solid allrounder.

Only more recently where they leaned way too hard into it, a balance should be struck. It was still bearable until stories became vehicles for woke ideology instead of actual entertainment.

Like I said, the story should drive the game. When the story is the game, I'd better be playing a visual novel or you're doing it wrong.

It's an expectation thing. When I go into a JRPG or a VN, I know I'm basically reading a picture book with some sort of mechanic or mechanics. In other genres I really need story and gameplay to connect for me to stay invested, or at least the cutscenes to be skippable if I like the gameplay but hate the story. Last of Us failed since I hated the gameplay and the story mostly grabbed me in one dimension, so I wanted to get the tedium of the gameplay over with to continue the story, and even then only cared about the Joel and Ellie moments for the most part.

God of War 2018 succeded because I enjoyed the gameplay and the store was ok enough to not be a hindrance (also, I had only played GOW 1, so didn't have as much baggage going into it). Death Stranding also failed because the narrative was stupid and all encompansing when it was there, and the gameplay wanted a slow burn and didn't meld with the narrative. If it's urgent to connect the world, why am I improvong infrastructure for 10 hours? Well that and the gameplay loop had worn out it's welcome when I still like half the game left.

I didn't play Alpha 1 until the Anniversary collection and you're spot on. It feels like an unfinished game and the backgrounds look thrown together. Alpha 2 is infinitely better and had a much better roster. I'm indifferent to Alpha 3.

I loved the fuck out of Alpha 3, but never played the others outside of an arcade quarter here or there, so never understood the differences on why for example 2 is considered better than 3.

 

[Broseph]

FFVI is a great game, but hideously overrated.

What bugs me the most about FFVI is how obnoxious the fanboys are since they love to pedestalize this game so much since they say stupid bullshit like "Final Fantasy stopped being good after VI, VII just copied everything this game already did, VII ruined the franchise by making it too mainstream" etc.

Those faggots are just jealous that VII has the huge fanbase and VI never did and never will.

 

[Morshu's Paradise]

The original Legend of Zelda is borderline unplayable for anyone under the age of 40. No tutorial, controls are horrible, the dungeons are too short & you can finish them with like five extra keys sometimes... hot garbage. I was so pissed with whatever neckbeard reviewed the 3DS release in ~2017 and gave like 8/10. Glad it exists b/c sequels but still

 

[Broseph]

The Star Wars games on the N64/PS1. I know some of them are considered bad, generally, but I think all of them are. You can have more fun with Star Wars Arcade on the 32X than you can with the Pod Racing game, or the other one, which is just Twisted Metal/Vigilante 8 but worse.

Only good thing about that Twisted Metal rip off was watching Boba Fett's legs flop around when he's using his jetpack. Star Wars games peaked in the early 00's and then they went back to shit right after.

 

[skykiii]

The original Legend of Zelda is borderline unplayable for anyone under the age of 40. No tutorial, controls are horrible, the dungeons are too short & you can finish them with like five extra keys sometimes...

I'm glad you're admitting the game has good aspects but you forgot to say what you didn't like about it.

While I would agree that most of the Midgar segment I don't particularly like, the game does really open up once you leave. And then every new location you get to, doesn't nail you down in one place as long as Midgar.

The funny thing is every one I know has the opposite feeling... that FF7 starts out good, then goes to shit once you leave Midgar.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Going to break the rules and mention a PS2 game that fits the spirit of the thread. Black.

Even back then I didn't get the hype. It was hailed as a gun nuts dream FPS. There are some good things about it, but the level design was mediocre, the long, unskipable cutscenes killed any pacing, and all the levels other than the jungle stage and the sniper level in a graveyard were just brown and grey hallways.

 

[ShitLurker]

The funny thing is every one I know has the opposite feeling... that FF7 starts out good, then goes to shit once you leave Midgar.

Not sure how much of a consensus there is. For me though Midgar is the most atmospheric part of the game by far, I'm fine with the road trip part of it, hit's it's crescendo when Aeris dies and everything goes to shit in the crater. But everything after that is a fucking blur till the endgame. But I'm one of the people that grew to the game and fanboyed about it for years before I started noticing that it doesn't really do anything that special outside of lost of spectacle (for the time)

 

[Wesker]

Not sure how much of a consensus there is. For me though Midgar is the most atmospheric part of the game by far, I'm fine with the road trip part of it, hit's it's crescendo when Aeris dies and everything goes to shit in the crater. But everything after that is a fucking blur till the endgame. But I'm one of the people that grew to the game and fanboyed about it for years before I started noticing that it doesn't really do anything that special outside of lost of spectacle (for the time)

I love the game but I would agree with that. I like parts of Midgar but not the entirety of it. It ends in a really good high point.

As for the rest of the game, the only parts that stick out to me would be City of the Ancients up to Northern Crater, the WEAPON fights and final descent to the end. There's a lot of stuff in between goes by too quickly.

 

[RX-78]

Kefka isn't that interesting of a villain and I think the reason he's so popular is because he appeals to the lolsorandom humor crowd.

That retard kills the game for me, a rotting stump would have been a better antagonist than a turbosperg giggling like an invader zim fangirl. Thank God that entire class of villain is dying out, at least in Japanese titles.

Mortal Kombat fucking sucks compared to all of the other 90s fighting games.

MK just plain doesn't feel right, its like going from the Romance language grammar to Finnish. No fighting game should ever have any lore beyond a character's motivation to fight, and holy shit did midway commit this cardinal sin a thousand times over. I can't remember who mentioned it earlier in this thread but they were right about the command inputs having no intuitive flow or direction in any MK.

I'm going to up the ante and dump an entire console into the trash by reminding people that there are no good nes games beyond three Megaman titles. Everything else is pure shit propped up by nostalgiafags whom act like the boomers of vidya, or has already escaped via remakes on superior hardware.

 

[skykiii]

I'm going to up the ante and dump an entire console into the trash by reminding people that there are no good nes games beyond three Megaman titles. Everything else is pure shit propped up by nostalgiafags whom act like the boomers of vidya, or has already escaped via remakes on superior hardware.

First... fuck you I can name lots of good NES games, without the benefit of nostalgia for a lot of them.

But if we're dumping entire consoles now.... speaking as someone who DOES have nostalgia for the Atari 2600, these days I find that system borderline unplayable. Certainly something I don't wanna collect for. Mind you I have nothing against simplistic arcade-style games but even the Atari games that are ports tend to be dumbed down, and the games that exist are so basic that its easy to get bored within minutes. And whenever they try something more complicated, its held back by the system limitations (a core problem with both Raiders of the Lost Ark and the infamous E.T., both of which could've actually been good on something like the Commodore 64).

And I mean, computers at the time already had games like Wizardry or the early Ultimas, which just makes the Atari more primitive.

With other consoles I like to have actual hardware, but for the Atari I'm fine playing them exclusively on emulator.