Re: "8 Classic Games You Haven't Played (but should)"

On Tue, 28 Jan 2025 07:02:48 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:

>
So my list of 8
>
Half-Life
GTA III VC
Master of Magic (arguably MoO instead, but I prefer MoM)
Fallout
Populous
Elite
Star-Control II
Ultima

I'm definitely more of a "Master Of Orion" person myself, although I
can see the appeal of "Master of Magic" for some. For me, MOM was a
bit too nitty-gritty; I much preferred the high-level approach in the
first Orion game.

"Populous" is a genre of god-game that I think needs to make a
come-back (although I was always more fond of the sequel). There have
been attempts to revitalize the god-game genre, but they always added
too many layers of complexity to the game, and I think that what made
"Populous" so addictive was its simplicity. It was a very hands-off
sort of game, where most of the action took place outside of the
player's control, and you had to swoop in only at critical junctures
to make sure the outcome of a battle went in your favor. "Populous" is
actually one of those games that /benefits/ from its technological
limitations, with its small view-window keeping you focused on just a
tiny part of the world at once. Even just the ability to zoom out to a
more macro-level view of the world works against the game's balance, I
feel.

I'm a lot less sanguine about games like "Fallout" and "Elite". While
historically notable and certainly fun for their time, I think the
games haven't aged gracefully (and as much as it hurts me to say it,
that probably applies to the "Ultimas" as well). These classics have
value but they're hard to recommend to modern gamers because they are
so lacking in basic quality-of-life features that we've come to take
for granted. Some older games can overcome these limitations but with
others I think they're too intrinsic to the game to make for a fun
experience.

Anyway, the list was never a "must play" sort of thing, just a "hey,
these games are still enjoyable despite the fact that they are so old,
so maybe give them a chance". Pretty much all of them (again, with the
possible exception of "Day of the Tentacle", which I think holds up
remarkably well except for its VGA-visuals... and even that is less a
problem than you might think once you apply some filtering and
upscaling) will require some effort to enjoy.