"Outdated" mechanics you defend

[Leo-Dash]

Silent Protagonists​

 

[Graves Ruinwalker]

Many of them, actually. Of course accessibility is a nice thing to have, but I think that ultra-optimization in gameplay makes videogames more and more homogeneous and boring after all.

I like mechanics which you need to decide what path or item to choose and need an entire gameplay to do the opposite. Is it time consuming and sometimes I don't want to play the same game again? Yes, but this kind of thing makes games less a "product" and more a hobby where you don't finish like a deadline in a workplace. You just enjoy your time and that's it.

I wholeheartedly agree.
Its more fullfilling when i get into the game , put effort into it and try adapt to every situation the game throws you in .

Beating a game shouldnt be easy going like watching a movie from beginning to the end and/or being effortless as if it was designed to be a nothing-burger .

I wanna play the game and experiencing the rough , soft and weird moments because i wanna play the game instead that the game plays with itsself . (Sounds wrong in a different context but i let it slide)

 

[Deean]

The combat of Dynasty Warriors 5.

 

[ciro64]

I miss when you left a game be on the menu or the title screen and it would start playing demos, cutscenes and or a presentation.

 

[Yousef]

I made a thread similar to this but I’m no longer interested in bumping my old threads so I’ll repost bits of my reply here:

• Limited lives aren’t as prominent as people think they are. They’re nonexistent in a lot of games I played and have negligible impact on you.
• Limited continues ARE ok. Sonic 1 and 2 are both basically a 1CC game and they’re fun to play that way! Really unlocks the brilliance of level design.
• I really cannot agree with what people dub as “stiff controls” in old platformers. Really, it’s more like advanced physics. The absence of wind-up, arcs and what have you in newer platformers isn’t a great thing. It homogenizes the genre in a way where no platformers physics these days have any personality as a mean of maintaining this perception of smoothness when really, having no margin of error in Ariel movement is just a different style of controls. It’s not inherently better or worse.
• 3D movement with the D-pad. I don’t think it’s better or worse, but I want the option there *at all*. Crash 4 controls wonderfully with the D-pad. I’d say it has my favorite crash physics which is such a shame that it’s wasted on such a lousy game.

I miss when you left a game be on the menu or the title screen and it would start playing demos, cutscenes and or a presentation.

Really adds to the ambience. That would be fun to see again.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I miss when you left a game be on the menu or the title screen and it would start playing demos, cutscenes and or a presentation.

I love attract mode a lot. It's a remnant of arcade games of course but it's nice when a game shows gameplay while "press start" shows up.

 

[Yousef]

I love attract mode a lot. It's a remnant of arcade games of course but it's nice when a game shows gameplay while "press start" shows up.

Those tend to be my preferred yeah. Always helped me get a better look of the game. Dynasty Warriors did this a lot and of course some fighting game ports and shmup ports did it. Not sure what else comes to mind atm.

 

[ciro64]

I want passwords back /jk

This but unironically.

If the game progress can be stored in a simple sequence of characters or numbers, it's a good alternative to having to worry about a save file.

 

[Yousef]

This but unironically.

If the game progress can be stored in a simple sequence of characters or numbers, it's a good alternative to having to worry about a save file.

I wish that would return in some way. I find it more convenient that we have access to so many specific sequences of a game thanks to passwords. Almost like organized save states.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Those tend to be my preferred yeah. Always helped me get a better look of the game. Dynasty Warriors did this a lot and of course some fighting game ports and shmup ports did it. Not sure what else comes to mind atm.

I think that sadly only those "grab 'n play" game have one because most games nowadays have a long intro or made with custom avatars.

And maybe because of the RAM that needs to load the game.


Or even worse: they'd rather have the title screen looking more like a store with ads for the latest skin or even rather than making a proper title screen with a simple "press start" or "press any key" prompt.

This but unironically.

If the game progress can be stored in a simple sequence of characters or numbers, it's a good alternative to having to worry about a save file.

That could work with a level based game but I think that save files made them obsolete...

 

[happymasksalesman happymasksalesman]

press any key

The lord of game title! I play game don't have that but it is something else! Old games with a good intro cutscene always have a part in my heart like ds series and legend of zelda

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Speaking of "outdated" is there a reason why "Press Start" no longer exists? I know that Nintendo has +/-, Xbox has Menu/View and Playstation has Option/Share.

 

[happymasksalesman happymasksalesman]

I think it is still exist. In ds3 menu had <press any bottom>. But it's look like a flame on a candle which reaching it end.

 

[Yousef]

Speaking of "outdated" is there a reason why "Press Start" no longer exists? I know that Nintendo has +/-, Xbox has Menu/View and Playstation has Option/Share.

I dunno, I somewhat preferred “press any button”, unless you’re referring to the prompt itself.

 

[Ne0Griever]

Tank controls, I hate them/love them, makes the game clunkier and scary, it keeps me on the edge, might be annoying for another people.

Also, turn-based combat, I love it, at this point in time is deliberate to use it in a game.

 

[ciro64]

Wii U's detached dual screen gimmick didn't had a use most of the time, but when it did it really shine. Like Mario Maker and Game & Wario's Gamer.

I would have great use for Pokemon Snap 2. This functionality could be replicated by using two Switches, I dont know why Nintendo didn't included that option.

 

[FrootyLoopsSamurai]

The bump combat in Y's 1 and 2 was fun, and I kind of prefer it to swinging a sword. It's like rpg fighting distilled into its simplest form. I wish more games had used it.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Wii U's detached dual screen gimmick didn't had a use most of the time, but when it did it really shine. Like Mario Maker and Game & Wario's Gamer.

I would have great use for Pokemon Snap 2. This functionality could be replicated by using two Switches, I dont know why Nintendo didn't included that option.

I still wished the Switch had a "Dual Screen mode" with the dock...

The bump combat in Y's 1 and 2 was fun, and I kind of prefer it to swinging a sword. It's like rpg fighting distilled into its simplest form. I wish more games had used it.

Ys IV (either Dawn or Mask) was the natural evolution of it (especially with the diagonal movements). I like how frantic Ark/Oath/Origin were but I do miss the bump.

Hydlid had bump but not in a good way...


I think Angelic Era brought back bump.

 

[BennyTheBloke]

We all know that the life system felt out of style after the 5th gen. While arcade-like experiences proves that they're still useful to this day, I'll make a case for games where they're less important. And for this example, I'll pick Banjo-Kazooie!

View attachment 65552​

This game have some challenges here and there, but it's more about progressing through exploration and completing all objectives. While the N64 version does harshly punish you for dying, having a life system is useless here because nothing actually changes when you Game Over, other than that you go through the inconvenience of being kicked to the title screen then the hub's staring area.

So what's the point? Well, it's...

SHAME!

View attachment 65551​

Admit it, you simply didn't wanted to get a game over as a kid. You just didn't. It was like the game getting mad at you.

In case of Banjo-Kazooie, it actually went greater and tragic lengths to prove this point, with its own elaborate bad ending when getting a Game Over.

Which would also play when just quitting to the title screen. I guess the developers expected you to beat the game in one sitting or something

Anyway, that's why I think a "unnecessary" life system is still cool to this day. Is there a game mechanic that became unpopular that you still defend?

I think fixed camera angles are cool for survival horror games

 

[MegaDrive1987]

Gotta be fixed cameras and tank controls, I wish Capcom would make more Resident Evil games in this style. I'm waiting for Echoes Of The Living to release (Look it up if you haven't heard of it). It's supposed to be out this year fingers crossed.

 

[Esidemoken]

@MegaDrive1987 We have to accept that Capcom will never again make an RE with fixed cameras or tank controls, I doubt they will ever use both mechanics again in any other game.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

@MegaDrive1987 We have to accept that Capcom will never again make an RE with fixed cameras or tank controls, I doubt they will ever use both mechanics again in any other game.

Yeah it would be a niche market now although it would be nice!

 

[Adrastia]

The bump system from Ys. It's so easy to get used to. Just have Adol bump and grind his way to victory.

 

[Moth_Lobster]

It's kind of viewed as such by CRETINS. Old and not appealing/flashy enough for modern audiences. You can see this kind of juvenile anxiety in Square-Enix.

"When asked to create Final Fantasy 16 by the higher-ups in the company, one of their orders was to fully maximize the use of the technology," says Yoshida-san. "And so when making that decision, we thought that the direction of taking [FF16] in that full action [route] was the way to do that. And when deciding whether, 'okay, are we going to go turn-based or are going to go action?' I made the decision to go action."

...

“As I said, I believe I know the fun of command system RPGs, and I want to continue developing them, but I thought about the expected sales of Final Fantasy XVI and the impact that we have to deliver."

I think this was one of the worst parts of FF16's marketing. A lot of us clearly knew what Yoshida was trying to say, we were there, we have heard all the complaints made towards the mainline FF series. We heard that turn-based games suck. We heard that they were "too anime/Japanese". We heard every tired argument that could be made ad nauseum and I can only imagine how bad it was for him as the head of this project to try and make the next mainline entry appeal to a casual audience that just quite frankly either does not care to begin with or has a (probably false) negative idea of the franchise in mind.
Anyone who's played 14 or 16 knows he loves the classic games. Both of the games are filled with so many references to that era of FF, if not being an entire tribute to that era sometimes, but by god was that marketing not helping

edit: just wanting to clarify that i'm bringing this up just because a lot of people try to blame him for this decision or say that he hates turn-based stuff when it was pretty clear from his words when you read the whole interviews that a lot of the old-heads at Square Enix remember lot of the mid to early 2000s "anti-JRPG" western reviews that plagued the industry at the time and he just wanted to avoid similar complaints

 

[PSVitaForever]

Not a mechanic, but I defend "old" games with text big enough you don't have to squeeze your eyes (please don't say "buy glasses", there are other posts over internet about this topic and it's not all about "buying glasses").

I recently played "FF13" and "Eternal Sonata" on Xbox360, I was wearing glasses otherwise I can see pictures quite fine but can't read things clearly; I could easily play far from TV and I don't think the text was too much big or intrusive oscreen, it was just right.

I gave up on Switch games because for me the text are ridiculously tiny (ex. this one in handheld, but also on TV, you should stay quite close to read everything)