Just as with books, movies, plays etc the past holds a treasure trove of amazing experiences. Unless you have a lot more free time than I do it’s unlikely you’ve played anywhere near the majority of the classics. Let’s get out those pink sunnies and compare notes on some of our favourite releases.

I’ve recently been going back in time a little on the retro pi and looking at console games I never had.

  • I have to say Chrono Trigger blew me away with it’s stunning art, puzzles with surprisingly little moon logic, and beautiful music.

  • Mario golf on the SNES is very simple but for tired evenings cuddling on the couch it’s been a winner in our household.

  • The n64 Zelda games are surprisingly great too although that awkward period of 3d had some unusual controls. Even the gameboy ones are a blast although the water temple in oracle of ages it a bit frustrating.

  • Heroes of might and magic 2 and 3 hold a special place in my heart and I can still dump hours into skirmishing with those (32167 for when hom2 gets too frustrating amiright?)

  • I loved neverwinter knights as a kid but recently tried to check it out again and just… idk the magic wasn’t there. I think now I’d rather just play some actual ttrpgs instead of sprawling CRPGs

PS1 is a mystery box to me so I’d love to hear some recommendations from that old thing. All I ever played on it was time crisis at my mates house (which was and is soooo coool, RIP lightguns).

What about you folks? What games hold a special place in your heart? or what have you checked out for the first time recently and found it’s actually pretty good?

  • Boozilla@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    Beyond Good & Evil, 2003. It’s been so long since I played it, I don’t remember much other than it was a sandbox and it had some neat mechanics and cute characters and I loved it. The closing credits musical sequence is magical, too.

    • InsurgentRat@beehaw.orgOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think I rented it for the gamecube but never played much. Apparently it’s famously good! I’ll have to check it out.

    • omgarm@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      One of the first games I played that was translated in Dutch with good voiceovers! Loved it and made me more open to localized games.

  • Azure@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Had a partner want to practice hacking a 3ds before they closed the shop so I can play PS1 games. The first one I put on that mofo is Azure Dreams, my first and probably favorite dungeon crawler roguelike with a city builder. Also Breath of Fire IV is one of my absolute favorite games ever.

  • Julian@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Not a unique opinion, but Portal is probably the closest thing to a perfect game. Nothing feels unnecessary, and every part of it (story, gameplay, visuals) is not only good on its own, but also work together to make the game better than the sum of its parts.

    Portal 2’s also great but suffers from a lot of fluff imo. The analogy I like to use is Portal 2 is like a big feast of really good food, while Portal 1 is just one small dish, but it’s the best version of that dish you’ve ever tasted.

  • MrEUser@lemmy.ninja
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    My response to this will look like a who’s who of Dreamcast games. The Dreamcast was the first console I bought myself, so I have lots of fond memories.

    • Soulcalibur I & II
    • Sega NFL 2K1 (and I was NOT a sports game person)
    • Shenmue I & II
    • Jet Set Radio
    • Phantasy Star On-Line
    • Quake III arena
    • Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2
    • Hydro Thunder
    • Fur Fighters
  • Ultimatenab@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Soldier of Fortune. I will remember that whistle darn it!

    But I lived through the golden era of arena shooters such as Quake III and UT2K4 which was amazing, but most of all the whole FPS genre was really ramping up to new heights every month back then with HL2/CoD and mods such as Counter Strike, Garry’s Mod and the like.

    • prole@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Oh man, I remember when Soldier of Fortune came out. It was the first FPS (that I was aware of at least) that had dismemberment. I remember my mind become completely blown after shooting a guy’s legs off with a shotgun.

      Nowadays, it’s nothing special, but back then it was insane.

  • misguidedfunk@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    For me it was metal gear solid 3 snake eater. I thought it was the perfection of the metal gear formula. I’m exited to see its remaster.

  • CorrodedCranium@lemmy.fmhy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I played Max Payne and its sequal recently and I was surprised how well they held up. The gameplay and level design kept it consistently fun

    • chimera765@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      The first game definitely shows its age, but is fun nevertheless. The second game, though, has always surprised me how amazingly it has held up.

      Fantastic games.

  • sculd@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    The original Red Alert is still one of my favorites! In the expansion you can even fight Giant Ants!!! (Not sure how many people knew)

  • RichByy@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (PC version). Be aware that PC version is a completely different game from the console versions.

  • sludge@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Mischief Makers for n64! its a puzzle platformer by treasure, its controls are a little unintiutive at first, but the games grappling/boost mechanics are so much fun once you get it down.

    also, SHAKE SHAKE!

  • Mx Vivi [they/them]@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    No spoilers please but I’m finally sitting down to playthrough and beat the original Deus Ex. Installed GMDX mod and have been having a blast so far!

    • InsurgentRat@beehaw.orgOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Oh you are in for a treat! I’m thrilled for you.

      All I will say is experiment. Follow that “huh I wonder if?” relentlessly.

      • Mx Vivi [they/them]@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Definitely. It’s starting to fall into the “They thought of everything!” levels of ways to solve puzzles and beat missions. I love how my character’s personality seems to be driven by the sub missions I do and don’t do. Very cool game so far.

  • fritata_fritato@lemmy.nz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I still play Doom 1 & 2 most days. Nothing matches it for speed of play. Doom is fast.

    Doom 2016 is a good game too, but I’m it lacks speed.

    • Rolivers@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Same. Project Brutality makes the old Doom games quite enjoyable as well. It’s a bit edgy but it’s kind of a mix of modern Doom with the old ones. It’s the perfect kind of game to just turn your brain off and shoot some demons without having it be too difficult.

      Doom Eternal is too much of a dance to play, you have to swap weapons all the time and carefully juggle ammo, chainsaw, dashes and a bunch of other buttons to play optimally.

  • electronicoldman@lemmy.fmhy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Tetris (Game Boy/TI-83) and Nokia Snake. Those were my main mobile games for many many years. I don’t think I need to say anything about the games themselves. You all know what’s up 😆.

    Warcraft 2. (I played this before Warcraft 1.) (Un)holy fuck. Everything about this game at the time was so metal. Started my lifelong bias for playing as Orcs in video games. Art and music are 😘👌 classic.

    Deus Ex. I won’t call it a masterpiece, but it’s an iconic piece of gaming. I thought the “solve the missions however you want!” aspect was a bit oversold but replaying it during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic just made me realize how good the story and lore writers were. Music was great too, and it’s a good source for memes.

  • prole@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I just picked up Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (the original, not the Remaster) again. Installed it on my Steam Deck along with DSFix after a year or so of scrolling past it and seeing the “unsupported” icon. Looked it up on ProtonDB and apparently it works just fine.

    What a game. The level design is still unmatched imo

    • mayooooo@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      I have that edition and can’t for the life of me get my xbox controller to work with it. I swear I’ve tried ALL of the solutions people give and just gave up in the end.

      • Horza@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I had the same problem with elden ring… turns out if I unplugged my Nintendo Wii IR sensor from my pc it allowed the Xbox controller to work.

        Guessing it’s something to do with detecting a certain peripheral as player one but I honestly have no idea!

      • prole@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Have you tried something like xpadder where it just maps the keyboard keys used in the game to your controller buttons? I’ve had to use that from time to time way back with older games before controller support got better. Not ideal, but seems to work usually when all else fails.

        I’m not sure if/how it works exactly since I mostly do my “PC” gaming on Steam Deck these days, but if it’s possible to use Steam Input on Windows, you may be able to do something similar right in Steam.

        • mayooooo@beehaw.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I’ll try that, never heard about it! Steam input is an option in steam on windows, I guess it’s the same deal? Thanks for the xpadder thing, it will come in handy for sure.

          • prole@beehaw.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Nice, I’m glad I could be of some help. Let me know if you get it to work.

            Steam Input is amazing, it’s one of my favorite features of the Steam Deck that nobody really talks about. The amount of customization you can do for controller layouts for individual games is incredible. You can even create radial menus if you want.

  • UngodlyAudrey🏳️‍⚧️@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Final Fantasy Tactics(PS1) remains my favorite game to this day. I really liked messing with the various classes and abilities, and it’s a rock-solid tactics game, to boot. Couple that with amazing music and a great political story, and you’ve got a classic.

    TG Cid is hilariously broken, though.

    • blindsight@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      FFT has an active modding scene, too. Lots of rom hacks are still being made for the PS1 and PSP versions of the game.