Editorial: Nostalgia, Changing Game Preferences
Final Fantasy TacticsOkay, I need some help on this one, because at the present time, I can only use myself as an example. That kind of anecdotal "evidence" has always bugged me and I'd like to see if fellow veteran gamers have experienced something similar.
By now, most of our avid readers know my favorite game of all time is Final Fantasy Tactics. I won't go into any real depth explaining why - we all have our personal reasons in regards to our favorite games - but let's just say it was one of those titles that nailed me at the start and never let go. To this day, I get the urge to play through it at least a couple times a year, and although the urge is also there for games like Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (which I just finished again over the holidays), Alundra, and Super Mario Bros., it's never quite as sharp as it is with FFT. Now, I've always held firm to the entrenched belief that I would love FFT until the day I die; I will always get that unparalleled level of enjoyment out of it. And while I still haven't lost that love for the game, I'm starting to wonder if my belief is crucially flawed...
See, I just recently reviewed Eternal Poison, which is a traditional strat/RPG for the PS2. I'm well aware I got to it late, but after the insanity of October and November, it was ridiculously difficult to catch up (and I'm still behind on some things). Anyway, the game certainly has its fair share of issues, and I stand by everything I said in that review. However, today, I was driving down the road and started to wonder if I would've really loved that game ten years ago. It's basically the same thing as FFT, only with a little more in the way of off-the-field depth. Granted, FFT beats the crap out of it overall - superior story and characters, a better base gameplay system, better pacing, more freedom, etc, etc, etc. - but I always loved the grid-based strat/RPGs back then. I just adored the time-consuming micromanagement part of it, and I really liked planning out my attack well ahead of time. I keep wondering if something like Eternal Poison had come out back then...wouldn't I have enjoyed it immensely?
For instance, I have very fond memories of Vandal Hearts II, which I still maintain has one of the best scripts in video game history (no, seriously). It wasn't a masterpiece, though, and I still distinctly recall loving every last second of my 60-hour adventure. That being the case, I'm thinking I should pop it back in today to see if I get the same feeling... Thing is, I just got really bored of Eternal Poison, and ten years ago, I'm not sure I would've gotten bored at all. One can chalk up the difference to any number of factors, including age, the obvious advances in the game industry, the fact that I've greatly expanded my gaming tastes since the PS1 days, and that kind of thing. But I'm wondering if I'm clinging to a preference that is slowly but surely disappearing; although I believe I still get endless entertainment out of older games I previously listed, I'm beginning to consider a frightening change of heart. In another five years, will I still love FFT so much? Or will I just be lying to myself?
Some people find it hard to believe that I can list the three last-gen GTAs as some of my favorite games ever, and then say my favorite game ever is FFT. But genres have never really bothered me; if the game is great, I want to play it, regardless of the genre. There are a few exceptions (I'll never play a flight sim or a skateboarding game, for example), but for the most part, if I see a game scoring 9s, I wanna try it. In the PS1 days, all I wanted to do was play RPGs, so review scores didn't matter so much. This may account for something, but also remember that I hated FFT wannabes like Kartia and Tactics Ogre, so it's not like I just automatically liked every strat/RPG back then. And Eternal Poison wasn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. But I just can't help thinking...considering my love for the Vandal Hearts games, unless they were significantly better than reviews said they were, why shouldn't I have liked Eternal Poison? I guess it worries me a little, in truth.
1/9/2009 Ben Dutka
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Comments (26 posts)
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, January 09, 2009 @ 10:36:33 PM
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bustin98
Friday, January 09, 2009 @ 11:17:38 PM
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There are games that are from previous generations and are completely playable, meaningful, just plain classic. They deserve high praise and never get old.
Then there are games that are the game of the moment. They may have awesome graphics, or just don't do much wrong, but the level of hype that comes like a tidal wave washes high scores all over the place. Once the tide goes back out, we're left with a game that was fun to get through but visiting again starts to feel like a chore, and those graphics we gushed over can now be found on 5 other games that have come out since and a new one just previewed is doing it one step better.
A good game is a good game, but the quality of a game is relative to its longevity.
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 12:05:43 AM
Reviews can only go by the competition at the time.
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eLLeJuss
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 12:44:44 AM
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Scarecrow
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 3:26:29 AM
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There are certain periods where games become classics and those games stay in that period.
So comparing older generation games to newer generation games is never good if you ask me.
It's like comparing thrash metal to like nu-metal.
It's hard to compare Super Mario Bros. to Mario Galaxy.
Still even my explanation isn't clear and then I'd say to myself "wish Mario Galaxy was more like Super Mario Bros." I'd actually love a Super Mario Bros like game more than another Mario Galaxy. Don't know if this is nostalgia or if it's because I feel it was a better experience...
In the end of the game sucks it just sucks, there were a lot of games like Eternal Poison on the ps1....and we didn't feel sorry for them.
Look at Valkyria Chronicles, it's a good game and we acknowledge it. So it's not like we've lost sense of what's good.
You know what I think we measure games by the console it's in.
Yup that's it, a Eternal Poison back then could've survived greatly.
Thousand Arms is probably my favorite ps1 rpg of all time. But I ask myself "would I love a game similar to Thousand Arms with the same graphics if it came out now?" Not sure and I don't think I would.
It all really does depend on the console and the time period.
For the record classics will forever be classics, you can never get bored of them.
PS: Wow I changed my thoughts like 3 times there, the last one I think is the best lol.
Last edited by Scarecrow on 1/10/2009 3:27:04 AM
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Skatejimmy5
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 4:43:47 AM
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I do agree about flight sims though, I hate them. I have friends who play those kind of games, and I can't see what's the fun in them. But I guess we all have different tastes.
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Random_Steve
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 8:16:06 AM
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K ASH
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 7:02:09 AM
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K ASH
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 7:21:10 AM
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Aerifale
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 8:57:33 AM
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pavlovic
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 9:03:26 AM
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I know I want some commodore 64 remakes in HD, but I'm afraid I wouldn't enjoy those remakes as I enjoyed them 25 years ago.
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Akuma07
Sunday, January 11, 2009 @ 1:00:59 AM
i loved all the RE games. from Zero - 3
but i just dont like 4, and i dont think ill like 5 either.
im a huge fan of the "if it aint broken, dont fix it" theory. and i think they broke the RE franchise.
i miss the days where i would sit here for hours and try to figure out the evil ambitions of the Umbrella Corporation, and how the T-virus was truely created/released.
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JohnnyGold
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 9:53:27 AM
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I'm sure when you first played FFT, or Vandal Hearts, you were doing it recreationally, with no time frame imposed on you. In this case, you were under pressure, and were forced to scrutinize aspects of the title that you otherwise would have over looked.
To use a simple analogy... Imagine waking up in bed next to a supermodel and reading a book that the NYT said was the best book ever written while she lies asleep next to you. Now imagine reading that same book in a hospital waiting room while your mother is having open heart surgery.
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 10:28:04 AM
I basically sat down and played EP the same way I would've 10 years ago, and I knew what it was going in so I thought I'd really love it. But I didn't. I guess that's the point.
As for the supermodel, one can always dream. LOL
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mastiffchild
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 9:53:28 AM
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It can't change the great times we had back i the day but as far as replay for today goes it's a bust. Now some genres aren't as effected by this. I played OoT through last year and it was just as great as the first time so I guess adventure and RPG games(esp if the srtstyle is distinctive so it doesn't date so much)along with some 8-bit platformers(MM, Sonic,Mario etc)can stand the test of graphical time with more ease and grace. Those games that depend more on great stories and freedom(or pixel perfect jumps and timing)retain more of their freshness whereas action and FPS titles have changed far more with tech advances just because of their nature.
In a good RPG the combat isn't always as important as the script and experience all round and to this day many retain a strict turn based system which tech can't effect so much-perhaps that's why people returning to those have more joy-ou can't improve a story with faster tech or a bigger HDD.
I might be wrong but there has to be an elemant to what I say that holds water.
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Dante399
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 10:16:23 AM
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u know 11 years ago I spent months trying to convince my friends that FFVII and FFT were really great games but of no avail. Looking back now I see that those same friends have become even more addicted on JRPGs than me!
How ironic.
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Fane1024
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 2:55:58 PM
Ben, THIS is a good example of irony. ;)
I have to agree with the general consensus that it is mostly nostalgia which makes people so fond of outdated games, except for FFT, which is just awesome.
I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I never played FF7 back in the day and when I did play it (after FF10), I found it so outdated and tedious that I couldn't get past the Saucer before I quit. Admittedly, that means I didn't see the key moment that probably makes everyone so fond of it (which I won't spoil like someone did for me, in case anyone doesn't know what it is), but I just don't see why anyone wants a remake.
FFTactics, on the other hand, which I played right after I stopped FF7, had a magic to it (despite many flaws) that I do believe will persist. My most desired game is probably a Final Fantasy Tactics 2, though I doubt it would live up to the version I've created in my head and on paper. Hell, I bought a GBA-SP just for FFTA.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 1/10/2009 3:10:30 PM
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 3:55:31 PM
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Zorigo
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 10:19:17 AM
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LightShow
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 1:53:14 PM
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I think its the straightforward games that age the best, if only because there isnt much for time and nostalgia to distort. FFT, J&D, Castlevania, Mario, while all great games, are fairly straightforward in execution. They most definitely fit in the mold of their genre, and often CREATED the mold for their genre.
so, the point is that perhaps the reason our favorite games age better than others because we loved them for what they were back then, not for what we perceived them to be...
*Harvest Moon 64 FTW*
Last edited by LightShow on 1/10/2009 1:54:16 PM
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Fane1024
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 3:20:25 PM
BTW, FF7 and J&D are two of the very few games that I have mostly finished but not. I've got plenty where I've played a little bit and then got pulled to another game, but few where I've just become fed-up and quit.
J&D is the ONLY game I've ever traded-in because I didn't want to play it again. Which makes me sad, because I want to finish the story.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 1/10/2009 3:22:22 PM
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Scarecrow
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 9:28:16 PM
And yeah Jak2 and Jak3 were hard as hell :X
I probably died a few 50+ times in that game, maybe even more lol.
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rell
Sunday, January 11, 2009 @ 1:00:22 AM
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GoldenShadow
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Friday, January 09, 2009 @ 10:26:56 PM
However, in this day and age the excitement that I feel playing a game that may be of a similar quality of an older game is lessened. For me, the reason that this occurs is the rising quality of games being released in the same time period. The recognition of achievement is part of my whole video gaming experience.
For me it won't be "lying to myself" by loving older games like FFT. If my mind is telling me that the game I am playing is awesome then I am going to keep on believing that it's awesome. If, by some unfortunate occurrence, playing FFT or similar games becomes more of a chore than a game then I will stop playing that game.
Last edited by GoldenShadow on 1/9/2009 10:34:27 PM