Ignoring the lack of updates if the game is buggy, games back then were also more focused on quality and make gamers replay the game with unlockable features based on skills, not money. I can't count the number of times I played Metal Gear Solid games over and over to unlock new features playing the hardest difficulty and with handicap features, and also to find Easter eggs. Speaking of Easter eggs, you'd lose a number of hours exploring every nook and cranny finding them!
I remember home computer and PC games coming in big boxes full of goodies. Especially RPGs often had a poster sized map, a story book, a monster guide and a manual. Also the copy protection often was a physical device like this rotating pirate head thing in Monkey Island, the manual itself or a card that was difficult to copy and could only be read with the included filter glasses.
This brings me back. I grew up with older brothers, watching them play through games that I didn't have the skill to complete. I remember my oldest brother playing Donkey Kong Country and slapping nearly every spot on the ground to find hidden bananas/balloons, and exploring to find the hidden games and levels. I learned a lot by sitting back and watching until it was finally my turn to play.
I, myself, never made it to the Special world on Super Mario World, but my brothers did. I can't be sure if that's the first place I saw the words "gnarly" and "tubular," but only because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were equally as popular in our early 90s household and they definitely used that "surfer" language too. I just remember thinking those words sounded weird and funny, and have a strong mental connection between them and this game.
I don't really have a point to this comment, just reminiscing...
No microtransactions. Games were games. It's by no means inherent to games back then, and we could absolutely have that again. But, that would require gamers everywhere to suddenly not be whores to mini little dopamine hits like gambling and dark pattern addictions in order to push the industry's overton window back towards responsibility, respect, and integrity.
No game updates meant they sold a finished goddamn product, and if you found a glitch you could explore it. No online play meant there was no constant data collection for bug finding or license checks (for some games, in which the only way to opt out is not to play), and you weren't locked out of the single player or split screen co-op story if you disconnected the internet. Nowadays they're the fucking game police -- you must only play the exact way the devs intended, and your fun is heavily conditional.
Every game wasn't a blatant cash grab. I'd gladly give up updates in exchange for games that are complete upon release and have no pay to win or fomo elements.
Have you ever noticed that almost all of the retro games worth playing happen to be the ones you played back in the day? But the games you didn't play don't hold up? What a crazy coincidence.
Game design is better today than it has ever been, and it keeps improving. All those old mechanics still exist. You just don't have to slog through hours of bullshit to get to them anymore. Unless that's what you want, in which case that is also available.
If you want a manual, play Tunic. If you want punishing difficulty, play Hollow Knight. If you want to delve into new games with unknown mechanics that you figure out as you go, play UFO 50. There are so many options, and you never need to see a microtransaction unless you want to.
Playing on the TV or a shared computer required social interaction to negotiate time, had other people see / watch you play, played together, etc. Playing games was a social activity. Contrast that with getting isolated into your own screen, all that happens is between you and Activision, Activision holding the leverage.
You are just wrong with both things in the title. Game mechanics weren't better, that's just objectively false. And replayability is very much dependent on the game, no matter when it's from.
My guess is that it's one of or both of these things that make you say that:
β’ You only play AAA games, the most surface level boring shit that never does anything interesting.
β’ You're under the spell of nostalgia, only remembering the very best from back when and not taking your memories into account for comparison.
There are so many great and interesting games being released, more than ever, with mechanics that couldn't even be imagined before. And as said, replayability is completely depending on what game, both old and new. There are tons of new games with infinite replayability, both with and without mods. There are so many games now that have so much, both in depth and wideness, that replaying them can feel like completely different games, that just couldn't exist before.
It's sad that so many of you seem to think this post is true, you're missing out by either not evem trying to find the good newer good stuff or being so deep into your nostalgia holes that nothing will ever be good. I feel sad for everyone who is stuck in both or either holes.
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