The games industry never slows down; all you need to do is revisit games from the last generation of consoles to see the progress made in all aspects of technology. But design doesn't progress in quite the same way (perhaps it doesn't at all?) We all have favourite games from our past, many of which hold up even today. So spread the good word!
Pick an older game that you love and tell us us why; why should people play it today, what makes it a worthwhile experience despite the slew of new releases, and ultimately, why do you love it?
We won't be too strict with our definition of "old" - anything from the PS4/Xbox One era and earlier is fine by us - but you'll get bonus points and a greater chance of making the curated article if you pick something that's at least a little obscure. We're looking for long-form submissions, not hot takes, so please submit at least 400 words or three minutes of video!
already paid
$100 / 100
Reward details
This reward closed to entries at 12:40pm on October 2, 2023 but you can still reply, react, and join the conversation below! If you’d like to enter other rewards which are still open, click here.
One of my favourite Play Station 2 game is the .hack series, which I have discovered after watching the related anime .hack//Sign. The first series has 4 instalments and a Japan-only remake to correct certain elements which were criticised in the original games It has been followed by another series .hack//G.U with 3 games. A remaster of this second series has been
released for Play Station 4 for those who find the original games a bit old and slow compared to modern games, yet I highly suggest to try out the original ones if you love JRPGs.
The Story
The first game .hack//Infection has been released in 2002 in Japan (2004 in Europe) and what makes it unique to this day among JRPGs is that it’s a game in a game. It’s set in an alternate future 2010 (now it would be an alternate past for us which gives it an extra twist playing it today) where due to computer virus attack the internet was closed off from the general public. When the MMORPG called The World has been released you can imagine it’s success among people who could finally interact with others online. However some players become comatose from playing The World, and this is were the story of .hack//Infection begins. You play as Kite, a new player to The World, who’s friend is one of the comatose players, and he starts to investigate the mysterious events happening in game to save his friend. All the playable characters are very well written with unique personalities and I still find it hard to pick an absolute favourite.
The Battle System
Unlike traditional turn-based JRPGs the real-time action combat was one of the features which made the game very popular back in the days. It received some critics on its uneven pace and need to grind for exp to progress, but this might have been done intentionally to make the fictional MMORPG The World feel more real, as we quite often find ourselves in such situation even in modern games. You can switch between different party members and combat styles of sword skills or magic. If you don’t mind the grinding I would say the combat system is still exciting and one of the features I love about the series.
What makes it unique to this day?
The depth of detail the developers went with world building was one of its kind in 2002 and safe to say that still makes this old and a little slow game unique even today. You can easily forget about reality as you immerse yourself in The World, read in-game emails and forum messages, or interact with the simulated in-game chat with other players.
The motives behind the events happening in The World are very much relevant today, maybe even more than they were in 2002, relating to AI learning and if an AI will ever be capable of making a decision for itself. I’m afraid you will have to play all 4 games in the series to find that out ;)
Before Professor Layton started solving puzzles and Ni no Kuni brought the magic of Studio Ghibli to the gaming world, developer Level-5 cut its teeth with the Dark Cloud series. Dark Chronicle, also known as Dark Cloud 2 in North America, is a spiritual sequel to the original with the same unique gameplay, but it improves just about every aspect.
Released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2, Dark Chronicle is very much like the fusion band you can’t quite describe to your mates. It’s an action RPG with dungeon-crawling elements, but it’s also part city builder, as you’re tasked to collect the remnants of broken settlements and rebuild them. I had a tough choice between putting my own flair on the town and pleasing its inhabitants, but filling the approval metre yields better rewards if you can swallow your pride - including recruiting support characters to help you on your journey.
Another way Dark Chronicle stands out from its peers is through the levelling of weapons instead of characters. It follows the same formula as the original, where you defeat enemies to gain experience, called absorption (ABS) points, aiming to evolve it like it’s some sort of Pokemon. However, I’m not talking about an evolutionary line of three; the upgrade path is so long that you’ll need to whip out the flow charts to get the weapon you want. Of course, that’s not so much an issue in 2023, but think of the frustration we all felt back in the dying days of dial-up internet, where game guides often came in the form of physical 50-page books.
Things get even more complicated with the synthesis system, which is used in conjunction with ABS points to increase a weapon’s stats. When you break down an item, it becomes a Synth Sphere that you can fuse with the weapon you want. Since you only get a fraction of that item’s stats added to yours, you’ll either need good mental arithmetic or a happy-go-lucky attitude towards your build. It’s a functional system and one that’s easier to grasp in-game than it is to describe, but it’s as memorable for being unique as it is convoluted.
Gaming the system is particularly fun, as you can defeat enemies with one weapon and switch to another before picking up the dropped experience points. This lets you change and evolve your weapon of choice in the late game without penalty, rather than slogging it through past stages to farm XP.
Make sure you keep an eye on the durability of your weapons, as they’ll need repairing frequently. Thankfully, it’s not quite the same headache you get from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or even Dark Cloud, where weapons disappear once their HP hits zero. At the sacrifice of some ABS points, you get to keep your broken wrench, sword, gun, or armband, but it’ll remain unusable until you repair it.
The first difference you’ll notice when returning from the original game is the graphics. Dark Chronicle drops the drab colour palette in favour of a timeless cel-shaded look where colours pop. Characters still move in a dated way, but it’s much more forgivable when it still looks like a treat in the digital PS4 re-release.
Dark Chronicle also feels far more alive, ditching the silent world with every character now voiced. Scott Menville injects the same enthusiasm into our protagonist, Max, as he does with Robin in the Teen Titans TV series; Mark Hamill’s villainous Emperor Griffon sounds like the Joker took elocution lessons but, while less memorable than his role in the Batman: Arkham games, still has a menacing quality fit for an antagonist; and Paul Eiding dons the same mentor cap he wore as Metal Gear Solid’s Colonel Roy Campbell as Cedric.
Max and Monica, the two playable protagonists, are far more capable than the six heroes that preceded them. Instead of being confined to one weapon type each, Max is deadly with wrenches, hammers, and… tuna fish… in one hand and a gun in the other. Monica is proficient with swords and magical armbands that fire elemental charges. Not only does this help them feel more well-rounded as people, but it also cuts out much of the menu hopping and switching that Dark Cloud suffered from.
Since Max is a mechanic who’s also a budding photographer, you can spend your downtime coming up with new ideas for inventions. Just combine a few pictures you’ve taken, and voilà, it could be something or nothing at all. Provided you then get the materials, you can make it. None are quite as fantastical as Cedric building Steve the Ridepod, a mech you can control from near the start of the game, but it’s a fun addition that’ll make you a shutterbug in no time.
Monica gets her equivalent with the ability to transform into the monsters you’re slaying, which is equal parts fascinating and dark. It can make moving around the map much easier without combat, and you can talk to the monsters you’d usually be slaying, which doesn’t make it any easier when it’s time for the hammer to come crashing down.
Dark Chronicle has its warts, from aged mechanics to awkward pauses between each line of dialogue, but it’s still years ahead of its time. Don’t think too deeply into its wonky timey wimey story and you’re treated with a wonderful cast of characters and a variety of engaging gameplay hooks that still stand up by today’s standards, let alone back then. It’s one of the earliest successful genre blends I can remember before the likes of Brutal Legend’s RTS / hack-and-slash mix, Overlord’s RPG / RTS mash-up, and Crypt of the Necrodancer’s rhythm / roguelike gameplay.
Overall, Dark Chronicle is a must-play for anyone who owns a PS2 if you can find a second-hand copy or PS4 / PS5 on the digital storefront. I recommend the latter, as it’s entirely faithful to the original release but with up-rendered graphics that look better than the original and trophy support. If you’re still not sold, check it out on PlayStation Plus Premium instead, as it’s a part of the Classics Catalogue.
The good
Unique genre-blending gameplay - nothing else quite like it
Cel-shaded graphics are somewhat timeless
City building is simple but engaging
The bad
You'll need to spend time in flow charts to level up
Space is vast, it's impossible to wrap your mind around the number of stars and planets out there. You could never hope to count them all.
No Man's Sky has a procedurally generated universe with over 18 Quintillion planets. Planets with unique landscapes, flora and fauna. Planets with paradise weather and others with extreme storms that may cook you, freeze you, poison you or irradiate you.
So hop in a Starship and come explore this endless galactic sandbox!
The game was first released in 2016 for PS4 and PC players. It was a controversial release as the game had been enormously hyped and many features that had been discussed in press interviews were missing and the gaming process was bogged down by a crafting and inventory management cycle. Many players at that point in time threw their hands up in disgust and have never looked back.
Seven years later, the game is so much more than when released. There have been 26 named content updates which have added cross platform multiplayer, questlines, bases, exocraft and mechs, new ship types, new weapons, new enemies, improved combat, improved graphics, an improved user interface, etc. all for FREE! Seven years of updates that have massively improved the game, all for free!
The game is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac and Nintendo Switch. So more people than ever can play.
So what can you do in the game? Well you can start with the storyline missions that help immerse you in the lore of the No Man's Sky universe and it's NPC races whilst also giving you a tutorial of the games mechanics.
So what can you do in the game once you finish the initial storyline quests?
Find your perfect starship
There are 8 classes of ship in the game that have different looks and offer bonuses to certain stats. Typical to most star systems and available at Space Stations and Trading Posts you will find Shuttles, Explorers, Haulers and Fighters. These are the most common ship types. You will also find Exotics which are quite rare, and Solar Ships which are rare in normal star systems, but common in Outlaw star systems.
There are also Living Ships which are found through a quest and appear on planet surfaces, and Interceptors that are found crashed and in need of repairs on 'dissonant' planets.
Each ship type has a range of a body, wing and engine parts. Meaning there are hundreds of looks available for each ship type.
Each star system has a unique selection of ships (each cobbled together with different parts and uniquely coloured).
You can go ship hunting with deliberate intent or just stumble upon new and interesting ships through your travels.
There are also multiple online communities dedicated to ship hunting and sharing in-game finds with players posting screenshots with portal coordinates so you can find the same ship.
Multitool Combat
During your travels you can find new multitools that you can upgrade for maximum combat power. Different upgrades on your multitool result in different characteristics for your weapon fire. You might shoot bullets, plasma, laser beams or area of effect grenades.
Your main enemies are the robotic sentinels which are present on most worlds.
The sentinels typically get aggroed if they see you damaging the environment (such as mining a rock with your multitool), and on some planets they get aggroed just by seeing you.
Once combat starts it'll only end once you destroy 5 waves of increasingly difficult enemies or if you run and hide till they lose interest in hunting you.
Other enemies you'll encounter include horrors that emerge from the ground near abandoned installations (don't touch their eggs!), aggressive fauna and when aboard derelict freighters you'll need to fight off alien bugs and defensive turrets.
Space Combat
Your Starship can be equipped with multiple weapons that have different visual effects, differing rates of fire, different range and differing effectiveness versus shields and hull of enemy starships.
Your main enemies in space are pirates. They may target you, making you fight for your life or you may encounter a Freighter battle where you can choose to intervene and save the good guys.
Additionally sentinels are in space too! You can cause them to aggro on you by shooting at friendly space targets or if you try to avoid a battle with them on a planetary surface by flying away, they will summon ships to chase you.
The ultimate space battles are when you fight against pirate dreadnoughts and sentinel dreadnoughts. Make sure to upgrade your weapons and shields before attempting to slay these behemoths!
Cataloguing your explorations
When visiting new worlds you can use your multitool scanner on any rock, plant or animal you find. You can earn units and nanites by doing so and you can upload and rename your finds as the first discoverer.
You can also curate a collection of wonders. Tag a find as a wonder and the game will record it's portal coordinates so that you can come back later and revisit your favourite spots.
As with the Starships you can also share any creatures or planets you find with other players online. Many of the creatures you encounter can be tamed to become your pets and some can even be ridden around like mounts. Fancy a pet T-Rex to ride around on?
Base Building
Some planets you'll fall in love with. You'll want to make them your home. Luckily this is possible! When you start the game you'll have a limited selection of base parts, but more can be unlocked with Salvaged Technology you find with your scanner and dig up, plus some extra special parts can be purchased with Quicksilver from the anomaly (earned by doing community missions).
When building your base you'll want to include a Teleporter to help link you with any other bases you've built and a Starship Launch Pad so you've got somewhere nice to park your ship.
You might just build a single room hut or a palace. You could even place your base parts creatively to make interesting sculptures. It's completely up to you, have fun with it.
Pro-tip: Build at least one base close to a Portal so that you can always easily access one.
Customise your avatar
Everyone starts with the same avatar of a guy in an orange spacesuit. But as soon as you get to a Space Station or the Anomaly you can visit the Appearance Customiser to change your look.
You can choose to be one of the three NPC races (The Gek, The Vy'keen or The Korvax) or choose one of the wider range of Interloper (with a full helmet) or Traveller (alien head) avatars. You'll have options for the spacesuit including armory, chest, shoulders, legs, boots and gloves that you can mix and match and colour to your preference. You'll also be able to unlock various jetpacks and capes as well.
It's a bit of fun to style your avatar and this is a feature favoured by players who like to roleplay.
Expeditions
Hello Games releases a new expedition once every 3 months. Expeditions are a new game mode where everyone starts with a new character and are guided on a quest to travel along a galactic path. Players focus on achieving dozens of milestones in order to unlock unique rewards, including base decorations, avatar gear and rare pets.
There is so much more to this game that could be mentioned, and it's not unusual to get hooked and spend hundreds of hours immersed in this game.
I need to get back into No Man's Sky at some point... I played on launch and enjoyed it for what it was, but there have been so many expansions, I reckon it'll be a whole new experience now.
As a fan of 1, I buy it immediately after it's out. It's an excellent puzzle game based on different paper puzzles and does well in training a few strengths with different puzzles.
The Improvement
Although it still keeps 21 levels, the own experience on each experience is better than 1 because more steps need to be done, more clues need to be found, and more inspiration needs to be. Each level has its walkthrough, it's a primary goodness that keeps me playing and finishing all of the main levels. Ways to think are more varied, fold the floor plan/cut pieces/draw routes/compare/permutations and combinations and so on. Each way has many branches depending on levels, so players can take the achievement of solving puzzles from different perspectives with the same strength. It means more pleasure players can get when they're doing the right steps but also means more depression players can get when they're not getting what the developer wants them to do. So many levels have done a good job on the puzzle's design. For example, one of the levels did its best to connect spellings that got from each room together by a grid net/ one of the levels applied patterns on its paper sticks so well/one of the levels created a complex hierarchy etc. Players always can be shocked by little surprises developers leave on different levels.
The difficulty
Players who played 1, and 2 are familiar with its interactive way. But 2 cut the meaningful spelling and replaced it with combinations of any and up/down/left/right arrows. The progress is focused on observing and understanding rules due to this change and it's a good thing. Cut papers, folding papers, colouring dots and marking information players get in the game is the main quest. Due to a few levels needing colours to help, it's not friendly to colourblind people. Not all levels are easy or hard. Lv.4, lv.5, lv.10, lv.17, lv.19 and lv.21(The progress to discover the correct spelling) is hard for me. Another level is normal because not so many blocks to figure out spellings. Three of the hardest levels: lv.17-No.1(crazy work and complicated hierarchy) lv.10-No.2(rigorous and surprising steps connection) lv.19-No.3 (calculation of multiple routes in the single map). So the difficulty curve doesn't follow the order strictly.
The weakness
The difficulty curve is up and down/interacts ways various means:
Players can't apply their strengths which trained from this game on the progress stably so they may need hints and walkthroughs often
Walkthroughs are confusing sometimes because players don't notice this clue/doesn't has this background of knowledge/hints itself is vague(such as the hint in the number of room in lv.5 just gives 123 to clarify players' need to count, it can be misunderstood as the order easily)
The excellence
The same level's amount and unique interactions means:
More possibilities are added and expanded to fulfil the optimization and improvement for the difficulty and the fun
These new possibilities left more beautiful memories for players by shocking and exciting them and giving them the power to share
In the vast expanse of the gaming universe, few titles have managed to remain as relevant and captivating as EVE Online. Launched in 2003, this massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by CCP Games is a testament to the enduring allure of space exploration, political intrigue, and economic warfare. But what makes EVE Online stand out in an industry that's constantly evolving, and why should gamers today, spoiled by the graphical prowess and innovative mechanics of modern titles, venture into this old yet gold universe?
A Living, Breathing Universe
EVE Online is not just a game; it's a living, breathing universe. Every ship you see is piloted by a real person, every alliance forged or broken has real consequences, and every skirmish or large-scale battle has stories that players will recount for years. The game's single-shard universe ensures that all players, regardless of their geographical location, play in the same space, making the political and economic dynamics incredibly intricate and genuinely player-driven.
Old Yet Cutting-Edge
While EVE might seem "old as fuck" on the surface, especially when compared to the flashy graphics and streamlined interfaces of today's games, it's this very age that gives it depth. My own character in EVE, for instance, is old enough to vote! That's right, while most game avatars are fleeting digital entities, mine has seen enough interstellar elections and factional politics to qualify for a space ballot. This longevity isn't just a quirky fact; it's a testament to the game's enduring appeal and the deep connections players form with their in-game personas.
But don't let its age fool you. EVE is not just the oldest MMORPG; it's arguably the most visually stunning. The vastness of space, the intricacy of the ships, and the sheer beauty of celestial bodies are rendered in breathtaking detail. It's a paradoxical blend of age-old mechanics with cutting-edge visuals, making it both a relic and a pioneer in the gaming world.
A Stable Economy in an Unstable Universe
One of the most fascinating aspects of EVE is its economy. The in-game currency, ISK, has, at times, held more consistent value than some national currencies. This stability, juxtaposed against the backdrop of a universe rife with piracy, corporate espionage, and large-scale wars, is a marvel. It's a testament to the game's intricate economic systems and the seriousness with which players approach trade, mining, and other profit-driven activities.
Conclusion
EVE Online is more than just a game; it's a legacy. It's a universe where stories of epic battles, cunning betrayals, and grand alliances aren't just developer-crafted narratives but player-driven events. In a world of fleeting digital experiences, EVE stands as a testament to the power of community, the allure of exploration, and the beauty of a shared universe. It's old, it's beautiful, and it's waiting for the next generation of starfarers to chart their course.
