Looking back at my childhood, I’m impressed by how many incredible games I was fortunate enough to experience at release. They opened my mind up to new worlds, delivering experiences I never thought possible.
Flash forward to today, and some of these formerly innovative games feel like they’re better stuck in the past.
Don’t get me wrong; they’re still great games and have earned their place in gaming history, but there’s no denying that they’ve aged quite poorly. We’ll always have the memories, though.
Dark Souls
FromSoftware has done an excellent job of refining and polishing its gameplay over the years. All that hard work culminated in Elden Ring, a game that continues to age like fine wine.
In contrast, Dark Souls continues to age so poorly. There are so many design choices here that aren’t just difficult, but frustrating. I’m not against difficulty in a video game, but there’s a lot at play in Dark Souls that feels too janky or unrefined, especially by today’s standards.
Grand Theft Auto III
Look, I understand that today’s open world games blow GTA III completely out of the water. It’s not a fair comparison.
The issue I have here is that any attempts I’ve made over the years to replay GTA III are quickly nipped in the bud because of how badly this game feels to play today. At least Vice City and San Andreas feel better to control. It’s a shame that the remasters were so poorly received, though.
Far Cry
When the original Far Cry came out, you can make the argument that it was well ahead of its time. The visuals were unlike anything we’d ever seen, and the gameplay does an excellent job of playing into a power fantasy trip for the player.
Unfortunately, the enemy AI is completely broken, and the game ultimately plays out like a very bad B-movie. As time moved on, Far Cry has continued to age poorly, especially when compared to something like Crysis, which does everything Far Cry tried to do but a million times better.
Follow us on MSN for more content you love.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I have a confession to make: I don’t love Skyrim as much as other Elder Scrolls games in the past already. The biggest problem I have with Skyrim, and undoubtedly one reason why it hasn’t aged well over the years, is how it lacks imagination.
The main story is nowhere near as memorable as its predecessors. That’s not to say Oblivion’s and Morrowind’s are Oscar-worthy. The issue I have is that I had more fun back in the day exploring Skyrim’s open world. Unfortunately, its open world pales in comparison to what’s available today. There’s not enough to keep me coming back compared to other similar games.
Super Mario 64
Argue with a wall: Super Mario 64 has not aged well at all. The controls and camera, especially when playing on a Nintendo 64 controller, are awkward and frustrating. Then there’s the fact that you’re always kicked out of a level after obtaining a star; it ruins the flow of the game, especially when compared to Banjo-Kazooie.
More modern Mario games do a much better job of delivering a smoother experience that both plays and handles better.
Metroid
Let’s pick on Nintendo one more time, shall we? Today’s state of the Metroid franchise is pretty good despite some frustrations in recent years. Most of the older games still hold up, and we’re finally getting a new 2D Metroid game next year in Metroid Ravenous.
If you’re looking to play through the franchise in preparation, you’re honestly okay skipping out on the original NES title. It is the exact opposite of user-friendly, brought down by a lack of quality-of-life features and a confusing and clunky layout. Thankfully, 2004’s Metroid: Zero Mission redeemed the original experience. Play that one instead.
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
I want to make one thing clear: I’m talking specifically about the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, once regarded as the pinnacle of the World of Warcraft franchise.
Classic WoW has aged quite well, as evidenced by all the hype around World of Warcraft: Forever. Wrath, on the other hand, feels like a hodgepodge of classic and modern designs where Blizzard was trying to have their cake and eat it too. Redoing Naxxramas as an entry-level raid with little to no challenge was boring, and Ulduar’s hard modes (which had to be triggered during the encounter) were annoying. Add in the fact that you ideally had to run Ulduar twice a week between lockouts to get optimal gear, and it’s easy to see why the game aged like milk.
The Witcher
CD PROJEKT RED.
It’s a great time to be a Witcher fan, with Witcher IV in development and an all-new expansion for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the way.
Naturally, those who missed out on the older games are going to be curious to see what they missed. If you never played the original Witcher game, you’re honestly better off waiting for its in-development remake, unless you’re itching to play a cumbersome, unintuitive single-player MMORPG.
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
You can easily argue that Naughty Dog wouldn’t be as big a developer as it is today if it weren’t for the Uncharted series. These games weren’t their big claim to fame, having worked on Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter in the past, but the Uncharted franchise helped deliver a much-needed hit for the PlayStation 3.
Replaying the original Uncharted game today, though, man, it’s rough. Drake doesn’t move or control exactly how you want him,
Yakuza 3
A lot of longtime Yakuza fans recommend people skip through 4-6 if they’re looking to stay involved in the story as they progress through the franchise. Honestly, they’re not as bad as people make it out to be.
Legacy Yakuza 3, however, is undoubtedly features the most frustrating gameplay in the series. Thankfully, RGG recently remade the game through Kiwami 3. However, that opens up an new can of worms: why was the original ending retconned?! What are we doing here?
Follow us on MSN for more content you love.
Read more from us:
- The best video games of the 1990s
- The best original vocal songs in video games
- 15 video games we’ll never stop playing
