Patient Gamers

I was always a console gamer in my childhood so I missed the boat on a lot of the most iconic PC games.

I feel like I might catch some heat for this one, but recently I tried Half Life 1 and I just couldn't get into it. The game just feels so...lifeless. I got about 10 chapters in, which is like 60% or so of the way through, and every moment just feels like I'm playing House of the Dead in the arcade, walking down a hallway and shooting jumpscare enemies. I think the lack of any semblance of story or motivation for what I'm doing is especially egregious to me.

Mario 64. it's so frustrating.

I don't really understand what it is about HMMIII you don't get. It is a relatively simple game concept, and the fundamentals has remained largely unchanged from iteration to iteration. I personally prefer III over most of the later ones exactly because of its simplicity (and none of those ugly 3D graphics).

For me what mostly antiquates a game is if it was primarily based on graphics which have been outdated, otherwise I don't really have a problem even with much older games. But then again I also grew up playing games in the 80s, so I have been used to those my entire life. Some of the games which fascinated me on account of the complexity, like the early Ultima games (at least I and II), doesn't exactly stand revisits, because they were very barebones compared to the later games in the franchise. Ultima V still holds up beautifully, simply because it is so complex behind those primitive graphics.

It bothers me how fucking monumental of an achievement Xenogears could have been, how incredible it still is, and how unbearably painful it is to try and play today.

It's still one of the most wild sci-fi stories I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing, [and I read a LOT], but even at the time it was a really clunky combat system and the controls can be absolutely maddening.

I got the PS1 anniversary edition which had Metal Gear Solid on it, and I don't get how that game was ever as popular as it was. The handling is super janky, and the graphics is so dark that you basically cannot discern the environment and the enemy unless you stay still and watch for moving pixels.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater games that I can't fully get into because they're missing mechanics from the later games.

What mechanics is the new THPS1+2 remake missing besides being able to get off your board and walk around? Or do you just mean mechanics from other skate games like Skate or Session aren't in it?

Suikoden III really should have used voice acting. I think it came out at the beginning of the voice acting era, but chose to make the player read everything. It's a fantastic game otherwise, but that makes replays unappealing.

I bounced right off Super Metroid because of the controls. Mind you I first picked up the game in 2016. It's a game that wants more than a SNES pad, really overusing the shoulder buttons. I didn't grow up with that one, and I just can't get a feel for it.

Emperor: Battle for Dune was a solid Westwood RTS but it only allowed for one-button controls, rather than the two-button system that arrived with Age of Empires 2 which dominated all RTS games since.

Also from AoE2 the idle peasant button.