Games that you loved back in the day but will never ever play again

[Janise]

Arcanum

 

[Janise]

No wait, Arcanum was garbage on day 1

 

[Jigawatt]

Any game which is wholly superseded by a sequel. I played the shit out of every Civ iteration* but if I'm going to fire one up today it'll be 4:BtS (or a mod thereof). Likewise AoE when AoE2 is available, GTA3 when you could be playing Vice City etc. Pretty much anything where the fundamental gameplay doesn't change too much between iterations and there's no story or C&C to explore.

* I pretend 5 and 6 don't exit.

 

[Mark Richard]

Any game which is wholly superseded by a sequel. I played the shit out of every Civ iteration* but if I'm going to fire one up today it'll be 4:BtS (or a mod thereof). Likewise AoE when AoE2 is available, GTA3 when you could be playing Vice City etc. Pretty much anything where the fundamental gameplay doesn't change too much between iterations and there's no story or C&C to explore.

* I pretend 5 and 6 don't exit.

Yeah, usually I only go back to a previous title in a series if it offers something compelling that a sequel doesn't. It could be anything. Anything at all. Mechanics, theme, story, just... something. GTA3 doesn't meet that requirement, whereas Morrowind and X-Com: UFO Defense are completely different beasts from their modern iterations.

 

[Ivan]

Agree w/ Jigawatt. I would only not play a title if a successor has made it redundant, similar to how I'd listne to, say, Led Zeppelin 3 SPECIAL EDITION, versus the original, only because it has the demos and some extas.

 

[Ivan]

Agree w/ Jigawatt. I would only not play a title if a successor has made it redundant, similar to how I'd listne to, say, Led Zeppelin 3 SPECIAL EDITION, versus the original, only because it has the demos and some extas.

 

[mastroego]

Master of Magic, damnit.
I would play it still but the UI and graphics are too ancient, they put me in the wrong mood.
Of course no modern game managed to repeat the simple, brilliant formula.
Damint.
Perhaps one day.

 

[A horse of course]

Anyone who "wrestles" with tank controls after a few minutes or so is retarded.

Top kek especially so in the case of Tomb Raider.

And it manages to capture the weightiness of such acrobatic feats without taking control away.

inb4 telling me it's not as smooth as Super Mario 64.

This and the Dagger of Xian gif get poasted over and over again whenever TR's shit controls come up. Newsflash: someone who's practiced performing the exact same scripted routine hundreds of times can make something look natural and intuitive. Now drown youself in a bathtub.

 

[Gentle Player]

tank controls of Silent Hill games.

It's only the first game that forces you to tank controls though. There's option for alternative controls since second part.

Even the first game has an alternate control option, but for some unfathomable reason it's hidden behind the Extra Options menu which is accessed by holding down the shoulder buttons while in the regular menu. I only found out about this when I had almost finished the game .

 

[Alex]

Master of Magic, damnit.
I would play it still but the UI and graphics are too ancient, they put me in the wrong mood.
Of course no modern game managed to repeat the simple, brilliant formula.
Damint.
Perhaps one day.

I actually really like MoM's graphics... The UI itself could be better, but I hardly think it is that big of an issue. Admittedly, as the game goes on and there is a whole lot of micromanagement, it starts getting a whole lot more annoying, but I don't think it does much worse than other modern 4X games.

 

[Melcar]

Complaining about controls in old TR games. Holy shit guys.

 

[iZerw]

I never replay games I finish.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Battle Arena Toshinden 2 - it was a big hit on arcades back in '96-'97, had awesome graphics (especially for ppl who still played on Famiclone and PC gaming only started to have proper 3D support) and weapon combat long before Soul Edge... but after novelty worn off only thing that remained was banalshitboring casual mosher.

 

[Astral Rag]

FNV, unless someone remakes it in a less torturous engine.

 

[Deflowerer]

Anyone who "wrestles" with tank controls after a few minutes or so is retarded.

Top kek especially so in the case of Tomb Raider.

And it manages to capture the weightiness of such acrobatic feats without taking control away.

inb4 telling me it's not as smooth as Super Mario 64.

This and the Dagger of Xian gif get poasted over and over again whenever TR's shit controls come up. Newsflash: someone who's practiced performing the exact same scripted routine hundreds of times can make something look natural and intuitive. Now drown youself in a bathtub.

Sorry, didn't know you have legitimate motor system damage. It's alright, it gets better!

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

tank controls of Silent Hill games.

It's only the first game that forces you to tank controls though. There's option for alternative controls since second part.

SH1 was the one that I tried recently, it's true tank controls. Not sure about SH2/3, finished them eons ago, but I remember the controls being a total bitch and the main reason for losing health and dying. E.g. in SH3 there are those god damn dogs with split heads, they rush at you out of nowhere and it was very difficult to dodge them with that control scheme.

 

[Jasede]

Every game? I have no time to replay games. Where do you people find that time?

 

[Multidirectional]

SH1 was the one that I tried recently, it's true tank controls. Not sure about SH2/3, finished them eons ago, but I remember the controls being a total bitch and the main reason for losing health and dying. E.g. in SH3 there are those god damn dogs with split heads, they rush at you out of nowhere and it was very difficult to dodge them with that control scheme.

You can chose between 2D or 3D control type in options in SH2/3. 3D control type is the default, 2D is the much easier one.

 

[anvi]

I tried Oni a few years ago. I completed it back when it first came out and I really liked it but I must have changed a lot since then, the replay was un fun. But most games I loved I would not want to re-play. Even my beloved System Shock series, I have completed it a few times but the tedium and boredom got to me last time and I abandoned it about 2/3 the way through the second one.

I grew out of most stuff though. As a kid I used to play Jones in the Fast Lane over and over and over again. I used to like whooping Jones. It was like the game of life and I did great at it and thought it might mean I would do great in my real life. But real life isn't as easy... Hidden and Dangerous I completed when new and replayed it a few years ago and enjoyed it, but made a mental note that I wont play it again. It is unique in some ways, but mostly I could get a similar experience only better from something like Arma3. SWAT4 ditto. Castles I replayed many times over the years but I just can't enjoy it anymore because it is just crying out for a good remake, and the bits it lacks annoys me because it would be so easy for someone to remake a bigger and better version of it. Frontier Elite 2, played it a few times since but I get bored and again it annoys me that nobody made a new game that works in a similar way but improves stuff. X series is close but not good enough.

Gunship 2000 is still the best flight sim I ever played. It isn't really a sim, just an action game, but it was more fun than anything else. Comanche games came close. There are modern flight sims like DCS but none of them are as fun as Gunship. It had fun and well tuned challenging missions, I would often be flying back with my tail blown off and alarms bleeping and struggle to make it fly in a straight line. It made it exciting. But you could also end up controlling a squad of wingmen who you gave medals and promotions to. I used to train up a golden boy who I loved and sometimes I could send him off to complete an objective all by himself, I felt like a proud father, aged 8 or whatever I was at the time. But I loved that the gameplay changed as the game progressed, at first it was just me the pilot, but later it was me the pilot and squad leader. I could also setup an assault, I pop over a mountain and see a bunch of tanks so scooch down again. Then I set my wingmen to fly around one side and attack the tanks, and at the same time, I fly around the other side and attack the tanks from the back. Microprose were awesome.


Stuff I still plan to replay:
Syndicate
Betrayal At Krondor
Midwinter
Icewind 1 and 2
Arcanum
ToEE
BG2
Space Rangers 2

 

[JDR13]

Even my beloved System Shock series, I have completed it a few times but the tedium and boredom got to me last time and I abandoned it about 2/3 the way through the second one.

Pfft... heresy.

Stuff I still plan to replay:
Syndicate
Betrayal At Krondor
Midwinter
Icewind 1 and 2
Arcanum
ToEE
BG2
Space Rangers 2

I just played Arcanum last year and it was great. Good luck with BaK. That game has aged horribly.

 

[Siveon]

Good luck with BaK. That game has aged horribly.

Hey, speaking of heresy. Beat that less than 2 years ago, whilst never beating a game from '92 in my life. It's great.

On topic: I don't replay games. Too much good stuff out there to try. Most of the time someone talking or showing screenshots of a game lets me remember what I like/didn't like.

 

[deuxhero]

First two fall under this for me. The game is so lacking without manuals and reverts.

 

[JDR13]

Good luck with BaK. That game has aged horribly.

Hey, speaking of heresy. Beat that less than 2 years ago, whilst never beating a game from '92 in my life. It's great.

I tried playing it a few years back, but the graphics are so pixelated that I literally couldn't even tell what I was looking at half the time. Maybe playing it on a smaller screen would help.

 

[T. Reich]

Every game? I have no time to replay games. Where do you people find that time?

A good game is worth revisiting once in a while.
Besides, old games are usually much better than most of the modern shlock - why waste time on the new shit when the oldie goldies are there for you?

 

[Jasede]

I agree, or rather used to agree. I have like 2000h in Master of Magic and MoO1 and 2.

But my needs changed after I turned 26 or so. I just don't get any joy out of replaying a game, no matter how much I loved it. Once I beat it I drop it like a hot potato. Only exceptions are roguelikes and roguelites and arcade games.

It's hard to explain but I crave new experiences. When I try to replay a game now, the memories of the first things flood me and saturate me, enough to keep me from doing so.

Fortunately, perhaps unlike you, my tastes are very broad. I like arcade games and shoot 'em ups and action games, and those have been anything but decline. They seem to get more refined or at least always stay fresh and new. If I only liked RPGs I'd be much more bitter; daresay they haven't made a great one in the western world for ages, arguably. Witcher 3 perhaps but that too is, at least on default settings, filled with decline UI elements which happily you can turn off.

Edit: am on phone