Is it the wills or the skills?

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I have no problem admitting that my patience for old games and their built-in BS has decreased massively as I grow older.

I simply cannot see myself trying to tame Eldritch beasts and Lovecraftian horrors like King's Quest and Brutal: Above The Claw like I did as a younger - perhaps more naive - gamer... And that got me thinking about games in general and how we tackle them.

So, let me ask you: when you play an old game (the kind that was designed as a quarter hog and/or a strategy guide seller), how do you go about it? Do you have the will to put up with whatever it throws at you in your search of enjoyment or rely purely on your skills to bypass them, even when the fun threshold was clearly left behind?

I used to belong firmly on that first camp, but now I try to conquer my games by force just to see if it was worth it in the end or if it had some redeeming qualities hiding behind - or underneath - the worst of it... Which I guess is the full appeal of those old minefields.

You?

 

[BrawlMan]

If i'm familiar enough with an old game or played it enough times I'll work my way through it. I have my own patience, of course, and if it's a game, I know that's full of bull or it's just not fun at all.Or requires a bunch of strategy guides, then I don't bother with it or skip it and move on.

 

[DiRtY-StEvE]

I try my best but if it feels to aggravating or sucks too much time I just use save states to save time.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Ah, yeah, save states are a lifesaver.

 

[random0nonsense]

I play until I get too frustrated to continue, typically. I will also abuse save states to ease irritation. I've been replaying GTA III and have no idea how I had the patience to finish some of these missions without save states.

 

[jon2]

Me as well

Abuse save states or save scum (did this first on SRW4 back in '96) until I need them no more (as my skills and knowledge reached the proper threshold)

L+R+Select+Start became an ingrained response back then before I used emulators

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I play until I get too frustrated to continue, typically. I will also abuse save states to ease irritation. I've been replaying GTA III and have no idea how I had the patience to finish some of these missions without save states.

Same.

GTA: PTSD XD

 

[extermist]

It depends for me, I tend to combine skill and will, usually until I get burnt out for a while before going back in.

My patience has run thin.

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

I will always try to beat a game "on its own terms" first. No save states, guides or anything like that.

For me personally, getting the vanilla experience of a game allows me to appreciate it more for what it is, and gain a more accurate understanding of how I actually feel about it. It gives me a better sense of how I feel about the game's challenges, strengths and weaknesses if I'm playing "the intended way", as opposed to if I were to make use of extra save states. It also makes me feel more accomplished. :D

HOWEVER! If I give it my all, and I simply am not smart or skilled enough to progress by my own means, I will usually ask Google for hints, or watch someone beat the section I'm stuck on for strategy tips. I will also abuse the hell out of save states if I'm practicing a tough section for a particular challenge AFTER having beaten the game, or if I'm gaming "on the go", and want to be able to pick up exactly where I left off the next time I play (usually on more casual playthroughs of games I've beaten dozens of times).

So yeah. :]

 

[shaggi]

I mostly rely on my will to enjoy game. I look for guide only when i stuck for long time without an idea to go forward. I rarely use save states, mostly for bypassing loading screens after losing.

 

[Bakuma1997]

I also become sort of rusty, that said i still have some mettle, and half said rustyness comes from being papmered by modern gaming's QOL, i use savestates and Romhacks if needed, BUT NEVER CHEATS, unless they are part of the game (Konami code, stage selection menus, Infinite X glicthes), i will never use Game Genie

 

[UnDubious]

I still beat hard old games regularly. I don't mind dying a lot since those games are short and meant to be beaten in multiple attempts. The only time I will use a save state is to practice a boss battle after dying too often, but only on rare occasions. Even then, I'll beat the game clean after. I'm more likely to do it if the game makes you restart an entire stage just to fight the boss again, which is a design choice I hate.

 

[Badseed Badseed]

I don't even play them anymore. I gotta be honest I'm in my 50s and
my video games chops just ain't what they used to be. On easy mode all the way now.

 

[No_Life_King]

I have no problem admitting that my patience for old games and their built-in BS has decreased massively as I grow older.

I simply cannot see myself trying to tame Eldritch beasts and Lovecraftian horrors like King's Quest and Brutal: Above The Claw like I did as a younger - perhaps more naive - gamer... And that got me thinking about games in general and how we tackle them.

So, let me ask you: when you play an old game (the kind that was designed as a quarter hog and/or a strategy guide seller), how do you go about it? Do you have the will to put up with whatever it throws at you in your search of enjoyment or rely purely on your skills to bypass them, even when the fun threshold was clearly left behind?

I used to belong firmly on that first camp, but now I try to conquer my games by force just to see if it was worth it in the end or if it had some redeeming qualities hiding behind - or underneath - the worst of it... Which I guess is the full appeal of those old minefields.

You?

I will say not too long ago, I used to be the no save states guy. I beat every old Castlevania game that way. But after playing them more and more, I realized these lame sections don't change.

They're still BS. Now I don't feel accomplished by not save stating, I feel like I wasted my time. I chalk it up to me maturing a bit. I remember recently I beat a lot of annoying classic mega man parts, while save stating as to not restart over and over.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I don't even play them anymore. I gotta be honest I'm in my 50s and
my video games chops just ain't what they used to be. On easy mode all the way now.

Totally respectable.

 

[No_Life_King]

If i'm familiar enough with an old game or played it enough times I'll work my way through it. I have my own patience, of course, and if it's a game, I know that's full of bull or it's just not fun at all.Or requires a bunch of strategy guides, then I don't bother with it or skip it and move on.

Castlevania 2 be like

 

[Appiplyer]

Well as far as it comes to willpower i can say i'm pretty weak like i remember i usually play hours just to figure out which way i should go next but now i just read a guide if i get stuck bcs somehow i feel like i've wasted my time.

And that's another reason why i play Action Rpg more than the traditional RPG right now. Or you know any games that are fast paced that even a basic encounter will always give me a stimuli. I don't mind dying hundreds of times but i hate getting stuck bcs of some cryptid puzzle.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

I like to play my games on their original hardware if possible (and or economically doable), so I try to beat them as intended.

The thing that I have open my eyes and accept it is to just lower the difficult or just use cheat code on the hardest parts. Im here to enjoy the game and even if Im going to try to beat it on its own rules so I can say I dominate it, I no longer feel shame if I just say "screw this, I have other stuff to do"

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I no longer feel shame if I just say "screw this, I have other stuff to do"

That's too real a feeling, man.

Probably the chief reason I don't even tackle half the games I have always wanted to try... A gigantic amount of them are old-school console RPGs and other time sinks.

 

[Sanomoe]

When I was young, I usually used some cheats to make the game for fun, and it was always magical to learn about some cheats I didn't know in magazines.

Nowadays, I usually try to experiment them in the authentic way, to see how the creators envisioned such games. I only rely on things like save states when I think the game is very unfair at some points, like using them before the final boss fights in the first Ninja Gaiden (to not redo the entire level), or in the Route E's final boss in Drakengard 1 (because the rhythmic sequence is absolutely bs).

If the game respawns you right where you died (like beat'em ups), I limit the use of continues to around 3, to not trivialize it's premisse. When you're forced to redo from some checkpoint-like system (like losing a fight in a fighting game, and have to redo the said fight), I'll continue indefinitely.

 

[Mopeybloke]

I abandon most games I try to play. If the game actually requires a strategy guide, then I probably would never finish because I don't often consult them these days. There are a few exceptions, yet those are for optimising games I know, not for new (to me) games to become enjoyable.

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

My patience for old games remains the same. The 'built-in' difficulty is welcomed since the developers intended it. That's one of the reasons why I don't consider completing arcade games (roms) since they allow for infinite continues with the coin button- takes every ounce of love out of the experience, at least for me.

When I decide to play an old game I go in on the default Normal settings and press the start button. Again it wouldn't necessarily be a quarter muncher since I would be playing the arcade port (or original version for hardware exclusives) but acknowledge how some developers intended to spike the difficulty in some games like the western release of Gaiares on Sega Genesis- since they wanted players to buy the game instead of finishing it over the weekend using a rental.

I limit starting many RPG and Strategy games since they take an abundance of time to complete- and like you mentioned may require a guide. It comes down to a time issue, although If I'm truly lost I'd read a GameFAQs guide on a particular scenario.

I would say I have the will to put up with most retro games, doesn't matter if I lose an abundance of times in the process. I think I managed to keep this stubborn mindset from playing hundred of hours of fighting games online, and you know how that goes when learning a new character (or game)- maximum trial and error.

I wouldn't want to force myself through a video game by using cheats or excessive save states no matter the difficulty- it takes away from the progress that ultimately diminishes the game, in my opinion.

 

[UnDubious]

My patience for old games remains the same. The 'built-in' difficulty is welcomed since the developers intended it. That's one of the reasons why I don't consider completing arcade games (roms) since they allow for infinite continues with the coin button- takes every ounce of love out of the experience, at least for me.

For arcade games I set a limit of two credits per stage for myself. Sounds like a lot, but they're usually a little harder than console games, so it usually requires some practice and feels like a real beat.

 

[Pantsuhelm]

For me, it's always been a divide between testing your skill with everything the game has taught you thus far, and arbitrary bullshit.

Sekiro making you learn attack combos, chain parrying, and making you use tools at your disposal? Good difficulty. It's on me if I die.

Kings Quest making a bridge only passable a certain amount of times before it breaks and locks you out of finishing the game? Arbitrary bullshit. It's on me for not buying a game guide.

Solution? Savestatescum, get to the end to say that I could get to an end if I can be bothered, and go on Youtube to see the other endings. Lame, I know, but I have better games to play at this point.