wolfshadowheart
@wolfshadowheart@slrpnk.net
- Comment on Gameplay mechanics were also a lot better with more replayability. 5 weeks ago:
I have a feeling their comment was tongue in cheek. I absolutely agree too, for while I do think there is some merit in artificial difficulty and creativity within set restrictions, I also enjoy games much more when I emulate them and have save states.
I think a great example that bridges the gap between more modern-style hardware and daily living, and old difficult repeatable gameplay is the era of the Gameboy Color. So many of the games for these style of consoles were meant to be played in bursts (arcades, anyone?) due to the on-the-go nature, and since that fit so in line with the already existing mechanisms gaming had – artificial difficulties by design – there is a very streamlined progression from 1980’s games and early 2000’s games.
So, what changed? Well let me tell you, it wasn’t the Blackberry.
Honestly, the iPhone. As mobile game consoles like the Nintendo DS got better, games got more fully fledged like the home console games were. Developers were recreating game experiences like Spyro, putting in huge games in tiny mobile consoles (Toon Link, anyone?). Yes, the Nintendo DS still had its shovelware but the iPhone was the new bridge that gapped the old arcade style pay-to-play. Games with artificial difficulty now had micro-transactions allowing you to bypass the designed limitations. As mobile consoles got better games, mobile gaming got far, far worse, leading us to “”““random””“” RNG -gacha and lootboxes and all the great gambling starters.
That’s only further developed for offshoots of software. Just look at all the junk between the: FOSS stores, Apple Store, Play Store, Samsung Store, Meta-Quest Store, going even further some devices have their own separate store entirely. And now these stores ship updates, so you don’t even have to finish your game before selling it!
Ironically, Nintendo paved the way for a really great opportunity, then capitalists saw the opportunity to exploit the free market and now there is literal garbage everywhere.
- Comment on Gameplay mechanics were also a lot better with more replayability. 5 weeks ago:
I somewhat disagree about being “unable to go back”, but I will say it’s sheerly the style of game itself.
Take a game like A Link to the Past. Now look at a game like Retro City Rampage. Despite some 30+ years difference, they are visually nearly identical. Or any of the 2D Sonic games, them being 30 years apart is effectively meaningless.
But yeah, trying to play old Tomb Raider? If you’re expecting even PS3 graphics, boy are you in for a surprise.
However I think there is also an annoying amount of push for “better graphics or bust”. That was the main debate for the console wars, the Wii sucked because its graphics weren’t good and it’s a baby console, Gears of War and Lost Planet for the XBox are the pinnacle of gaming!1! What! No the God of Wa- sorry I got caught in a flashback.
But there are plenty of games you can emulate that can be upscaled and remove the archaic visuals, then it’s just the game design and control scheme. Red Dead Revolver looks and plays great, there’s no reason for anyone to stop playing outside of it just being a little less “AAA”. Similarly, pretty much any of the PS2 exploration games - Jak and Daxter, Spyro, Sly, Ty, Crash - hold up wonderfully today. They’re a bit slower, but they are the foundation that modern games of that genre use.
I don’t think them being slower, clunkier, less “AAA” makes them bad games. I think it makes them older games, and that is not inherently bad. In fact, I would argue that it’s gamers being bad at them, and that games today in many ways are easier to keep people engaged. The D&D arcade game is great, difficult, and would be absolutely dunked on by gamers today for all of its awkward gameplay.
This reminds me of an article I read about “Blade Runner, and old movies in general, are harder to watch because contemporary audiences have gotten used to movies that are faster, which makes them better.” The whole article was effectively trying to state that because new movies have shaped audiences, old movies are becoming unwatchable. In some respects, I’m sure there’s merit to that. In many other respects, I completely disagree. Just because something is in a different language does not remove its value. I see that as a reflection of the viewer, not a reflection of the art.
With that in mind, old video games are a different language. We have to play them with the mindset that things will not be familiar. That does not make them bad, it makes them something to learn, and it’s going to force you to learn things that are uncomfortable because it’s unfamiliar to what you would rather be doing. Old movies are a different language.
Just because you may not understand it does not mean it is worse. Likewise, just because you are familiar with modern games doesn’t make them better either. And finally, better is subjective for the most part anyway. (None of this is directed at you btw, lol not at all trying to say that you don’t understand things!)
- Comment on I had some that looked exactly like this 3 months ago:
I remember that. Along with the distinct smell they all had, the scent of whatever the portable materials were used.
And because of the compact size, all the sound has this sort of reverb to it. It’s not really an echo, just an elevated hum of busy noise, with only the higher pitched ticking current going through the fluorescents.
And how that size also affected the lighting. Somehow even with the florescents it all was oddly sepia toned, no doubt because the only colors on the inside were white, grey, tan, and beige…
- Comment on Samsung advertising new phone in my notifications 3 months ago:
It’s awful that it got changed like that, was there no setting at all to change it back?
- Comment on You know how bad it needs to be to be ignored for over 2 decades! 3 months ago:
Ooh, raspberry snowcone
- Comment on Anon notices what they've taken from us 3 months ago:
Adapters are not a solution.
- Comment on Anon notices what they've taken from us 3 months ago:
They mistyped because they were typing on their phone. Lol.
- Comment on Anon notices what they've taken from us 3 months ago:
1IV here lol
- Comment on 8 Years later my Steam Link is still getting regular updates 3 months ago:
The Steam Link itself has USB ports, the Steam Link apps all use Bluetooth controllers
- Comment on Nic Cage through the years 3 months ago:
Raising Arizona is something pretty different of his that I like a lot as well.
- Comment on New Lemmy trend incoming 4 months ago:
It’s the butric acid
- Comment on Xbox Slammed For AI-Generated Art Promoting Indie Games 4 months ago:
Buzzibee absolutely DISMANTLING article headlines! More above!
- Comment on [Steam] Which lesser known games have you bought or are planning to buy in this sale? 4 months ago:
I’m not sure if it’s on sale but I’ll just keep talking about Revita because it’s such a succinct rogue like that blends hollow knight and TBOI very well.
- Comment on [Steam] Which lesser known games have you bought or are planning to buy in this sale? 4 months ago:
That still happened on PC, or on my OG steam deck at least, but it was somewhat remedied by some commands to adjust settings. Things like turning off visible bots, background settings, UI elements. That leaves most of the processing just being you walking around/gathering and whatever background machinery you have going, vs all of everything.
I imagine those were not present on Switch/Xbox since these were basically commands applied to the game .ini.
Also FWIW, may not really be worth picking up again unless you really want to endgame it. The developer was kind of a chud to the team from some of the stories I read which seemed to result in the endgame kind of teetering off into nothing. Like, once you find all the NPC’s you’re not playing for anything but to build and optimize, even though it feels like it’s leading you on with more to unlock somehow.
I’d double check of course, as with anything it could be a bunch of nonsense. But yeah I pretty much agree, it’s an ok game with some issues, they can be remedied on PC but even then it’s just kind of like you work to it, you did it, it’s done and what was the point. There’s nothing to take away from the game, I guess.
- Comment on Making a game about monsters 4 months ago:
Rampage?
Risk of Rain?
Taken my money!
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Steam DRM is optional and implemented by the developer.