Playing Old Games For the First Time - Give a Short Review of Some 10+ Year Old Game You Played For the First Time

[Fag Albert]

I'm going through Icewind Dale 2 blind. It's interesting seeing how Black Isle tried to port 3e into this engine but I'm not terribly sold on it yet. I'm hoping things will click once my adventure guys actually have some more spells and magic items to work with.

 

[DDBCAE CBAADCBE]

Haven't read through this whole thread but did you ever check out Metroid Zero Mission? You may like that more because it improves upon a lot of the flaws of the original.

I think I’ve only ever played the original and a game boy advanced Metroid game I want to say was called Metroid Fusion or something.

 

[Gingervitis]

I think I’ve only ever played the original and a game boy advanced Metroid game I want to say was called Metroid Fusion or something.

Considering Zero Mission was the only other GBA game, it was probably Fusion

 

[Ibanez RG 350EX]

I know I'm the last person on Earth to come to this realization, but it's shocking how Resident Evil 5 got everything so wrong. They could've played it safe with an unimaginative cookie-cutter RE4 sequel and it would've been miles better than what we got.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

I know I'm the last person on Earth to come to this realization, but it's shocking how Resident Evil 5 got everything so wrong. They could've played it safe with an unimaginative cookie-cutter RE4 sequel and it would've been miles better than what we got.

What is it that you dislike about it? I only played it as couch co-op for an hour per day and we had lots of fun. But I could see it being annoying if played by yourself.

 

[Ibanez RG 350EX]

What is it that you dislike about it? I only played it as couch co-op for an hour per day and we had lots of fun. But I could see it being annoying if played by yourself.

I did play it by myself, but honestly I think playing co-op would only exacerbate the problems I have with it.

There's a lot of little things that add up, but I think my biggest complaint is just how unbearably LOUD the game is. Even the pause screen is loud, seriously. You can't evoke a sense of tension or dread when your dude's footsteps, clothes rubbing noises, weapon grabbing noises, and yelling back and forth to your partner every three seconds are drowning out any type of ambience the game is trying to achieve.

I suppose one could argue that the devs intentionally were trying to diffuse that tension or dread, but then you're left with just a really clunky, slow action game.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

I did play it by myself, but honestly I think playing co-op would only exacerbate the problems I have with it.

The only problem I had with it in coop was that I had to essentially tell my buddy to put down the controller and sit on his hands during the Jill fight.

 

[The Ugly One]

I had never beaten this without cheats back in the day, but I finally played through Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders without cheating at all. Guess old age made me patient. So it's kind of like a first time for me. Overall, this is a collection of very well-designed Doom-style levels with a pleasing, cartoonish fantasy aesthetic. If you have somehow never played it, do. I played it using GZDoom for some QOL improvements, but I still used the original Doom software rendering and a custom 420x240 wide-screen resolution. Color-correct rendering, mip mapping, and high resolution make some of the textures and scenes look less dramatic. One of the interesting consequences of playing in low res is that I didn't notice the repeating textures as much. It has sort of a different feel to it.

 

[Bowman Dan]

I've been on and off the original Doom games over the past year or so, I'm honestly surprised by how fun they still are after all this time. Interesting level designs, challenging enemies without it being bullshit (mostly). I've made sure to only play them on ultra violence, but I'm not touching DOS controls for the life of me.

Doom 1 is solid but I found after a while I could predict how a level would play out. Enter a big room, kill a suspiciously small amount of demons, press a button or pick up an item, wall opens to reveal more demons. The levels are different enough that it's not an actual problem, just an observation.

Doom 2 is just a better game, more demons, super shotgun, bigger levels, I found it more fun. Pain elementals can go fuck themselves. Master levels were ass, I knew they were a bunch of WADs thrown together but holy shit I tried playing them normally and the level design on most of them was clearly made by people who had no clue about level design. Ended up cheating my way through them so I could at least say I saw them all.

Doom 64 was way more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Despite the complete change in tone it still felt like a Doom game. Pain elementals can really go fuck themselves. I still have to replay it though cause I didn't get the unmaker in my first run.

Next will be Doom 3, I know what I'm getting myself into but I want to at least try it for myself.

 

[Onni Kalsarikännit]

A few days ago I dusted off my Xbox360 and went through my pile of unplayed games. Found a Just Cause collection CD with 1 and 2. Never played any Just Cause game so I started with 1. It starts chill and stays chill until story mission 12 or 13 or so and then the difficulty goes to batshit insane crazy what the fuck is going here. Besides all the other issues the game has: how could this game start a whole series? How?!

I have given up on Just Cause 1.

+ I like the basic and simplistic story
+ I like that old block graphic
+ Driving works fine
+ Helis work fine
+ Some missions were fun

- Looked up old reviews and stuff and they brag about how big the map is. Most of the map is just empty.
- You simply can't drive through the jungle bc everywhere are stones and trees that block you. If you don't have access to a chopper you are fucked and travelling is a pain in the ass.
- Doing these liberations over and over and over again and nothing changes is boring.
- Around mission 12 or 13 as mentioned above it get's completely crazy and the difficulty is unchallenged. Some shit I just got done by pure luck and not by skill.
- The bazooka is absolutely fucking worthless. You get 3 shots. For which sort of enemies do you want to use a bazooka? For heavy armored enemies. Like tanks. Jokes on you bc 1 tank eats up all 3 shots and as soon as the tank is gone another one shows up. Like fucking immediately.
- The grappling hook is fucking useless.
- Speaking of tanks: Go and get and you get fucked with just one hit by another tank but the other tanks eats several hits. Very cool, thanks for nothing.
- Scratch 1 NPC car just slightly, get cop level 1 and you have immediately choopers (yes, plural) at you and the cops act like fucking muslim suicide bombers. Loosing your wanted level is only possible in your safe houses but it takes forfuckingever. No joke, I once stopped time when I had the highest wanted level (5). I was hiding in a garage in one of my safe houses and it took fucking 28 minutes until the wanted level was gone.

Just Cause 1 sucks ass.

Now playing Just Cause 2 and I fucking love it. Not really that far yet but it's just brainless fun and everything works like it should. Some minor things could have been done better but overall it's huge improvment in every single way.

 

[#lurker]

I recently played and finished No One Lives Forever for the first time because it always gets mentioned as a classic. I'm a sucker for late 90's/early 00's FPS so I figured it would be a sure thing.
Wasn't overly impressed at the beginning and considered dropping it (especially during some of the dialogue heavy cut-scenes), but found myself enjoying it more and more as it went on.
Was impressed by the pacing, level design, and locations. The game just keeps moving, any time an area starts to get boring they have the sense to move you on. Plane levels, train levels, boat levels, high rises, parachuting, it stayed fresh throughout the entire thing.
The only real problem is that the stealth is very unrefined, but that's just the age of the game.

I enjoyed it so much I went on to play NOLF2 immediately, but did not have the same success. I don't enjoy all the new changes, and it looks like the game doesn't have the same pacing and adventure as the first. I dropped it, but may go back to to it eventually.

 

[Gog & Magog]

Today I played Star Fox 2. Surprised by how playable it is given the frequent frame drops into the lower single digits. Took about 50 minutes to learn controls and complete the game. Fun, but very short.

 

[Pissmaster]

I played a bit of TimeSplitters 2 on an emulator. It's not bad. I've always heard of it described as a cult classic from the makers of Goldeneye 007, and it certainly shows. The first level takes place in a dam, in Russia, and you start with a silenced pistol and a sniper rifle. That sure is Goldeneye, alright. It's not a bad game, but I don't think I would have gotten into it had I played it when it was new, I would have been a little too burned out after Perfect Dark.

Speaking of which, Perfect Dark and Timesplitters 1 were only released five months apart. How on Earth did that work?

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I was fooling around with Last Call, a bartending simulation game from the year 2000. You check IDs, pour drinks (don't do too little or too much), and try to converse with customers for better tips.

I like the fact that they match the system time so you won't be penalized for not, say, showing someone born in 1982 the door, though the zeitgeist is dated yet still tends to resonate with Current Year (evict the female college student and they cry about "fighting the oppression", a forerunner to "the patriarchy").

The rough thing is that it's a time management game (which I generally tend to hate), and although it has a recipe book (using real recipes, which is a nice touch) it tends to assume you have a working knowledge of mixed drinks.

It was released on PC and Mac but I think it requires a virtual machine/emulator for both.

 

[There Is Light At The End]

Started my game of first BG

not a big fan of RTwP, but so far so good

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

My World, My Way. It's a funny, cute JRPG for DS. Unfortunately it's also repetitive as fuck and seemingly very low budget. Its quirkiness (in a good, not pretentious) and charm probably won't be enough for me to see it through, but I liked what I played.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. Another DS JRPG, but very different, and much better overall. This one I probably will finish, but using an emulator really sours the experience because there's no way I can't abuse save states in this kinda game. I'm not starting the level over because I let someone die, but at the same time it feels hollow to play like that.

Today I played Star Fox 2. Surprised by how playable it is given the frequent frame drops into the lower single digits. Took about 50 minutes to learn controls and complete the game. Fun, but very short.

That'd probably have been a favorite of mine had it actually released when I was a kid, but as it is I still enjoyed it for one playthrough. I probably won't play it again for a while, once at release on NSO was enough for now, but I'd have played it to death like the first two games if I had it way back in the day.

 

[Cougar Pump]

Now playing Just Cause 2 and I fucking love it. Not really that far yet but it's just brainless fun and everything works like it should. Some minor things could have been done better but overall it's huge improvment in every single way.

If you don't already know about Bolopatch, go get that. It's a mod for JC2 that allows multiple grapple shots and that makes a bunch of extra physics-based shenanigans possible.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Yokai Watch released in Japan 10 years ago next month, so close enough I guess. This shit is so childish it makes Pokemon look mature, and that's really quite a feat. I'm not sure I can get into this but I was curious about it.

 

[SIMIΔN]

I played a bit of TimeSplitters 2 on an emulator. It's not bad. I've always heard of it described as a cult classic from the makers of Goldeneye 007, and it certainly shows. The first level takes place in a dam, in Russia, and you start with a silenced pistol and a sniper rifle. That sure is Goldeneye, alright. It's not a bad game, but I don't think I would have gotten into it had I played it when it was new, I would have been a little too burned out after Perfect Dark.

May I recommend Homefront: The Revolution?
It has a full length 4K version of TimeSplitters 2 in it.

https://www.polygon.com/22375774/timesplitters-2-homefront-the-revolution-easter-egg-cheat-code-unlock-how-to

If 2016 counts as old, then Homefront: TR is a fun twist on open world FPSs from the perspective of a squishy and outgunned resistance fighter. I'd recommend it whenever it goes on sale.

 

[Bill Kilgore]

Game's isn't really that old, but it got released back in 2012 so I guess I could post this here.

A surprisingly underrated gem of a vidya IMO, as well as a grim reminder that Ubisoft used to make somewhat competent video games. The britfag setting of the game kind of reminds me of Killing Floor in a good way.

May I recommend Homefront: The Revolution?
It has a full length 4K version of TimeSplitters 2 in it.

https://www.polygon.com/22375774/timesplitters-2-homefront-the-revolution-easter-egg-cheat-code-unlock-how-to

If 2016 counts as old, then Homefront: TR is a fun twist on open world FPSs from the perspective of a squishy and outgunned resistance fighter. I'd recommend it whenever it goes on sale.

I second this, technical issues asides, the game is overall an Improvement over the original Homefront, and it's hella cheap, It's kind of sort of how I imagine a Far Cry game taking a place on a large city or a First person Just Cause.