Gaming Confessions . . . (and seeking opinions) (Gaming)

by Kahzgul, Friday, December 11, 2015, 19:05 (3269 days ago) @ cheapLEY

So, I was listening to the most recent The Patch and the Ready Up Live podcast earlier today. The Patch talked about Half-Life, and Cruel was talking about Battlefront II on RUL. This, along with the discussion Korny and I had about not giving games enough time to sink in, led me to thinking about games I have missed out on over the years.

I have never played Half-Life 2. I have never played Battlefront II (other than a handful of matches at a friend's house when it was new). Which led to me to thinking about how I've never played Republic Commando, which everyone apparently loved. I never played Knights of the Old Republic II, despite absolutely loving the first one.

I also have never played HL2. BF2 was whatever imo. I think I played RC? Not tops on my list. Rogue Squadron is my all time favorite star wars game, followed closely by KotR 2 (hey look, you listed that one) and Dark Forces.

So, that's my confession, and now I ask a question.

Are any of these games worth playing at this point, if I've never played them before? Do they hold up? They're all cheap enough on Steam. Hell, you can probably get all of those games together for twenty bucks. Should I? What other old games hold up well and are still worth visiting today (that can be easily obtained)?

HL2 is, by all accounts, amazeballs. KotR 2 *is* amazeballs and 100% worth playing (several times over). It's worth it just for HK's dialogue. Oh man.

And, just as a discussion starter: what are your gaming confessions? What games have you missed over the years?

I'll enumerate this later

P.S. I never played Pyschonauts, other than the demo (which game on the OXM demo disc, maybe?). That's been in the news recently, obviously, and made me feel a little guilty that I didn't play an apparently pretty cool game.

Psychonauts has great art and design, a mediocre story, a few very, very cool tentpole moments/boss fights, and frustratingly unforgiving gameplay in the later levels. it is not worth it, imo, and is overhyped in the way that only an indie darling could be. There's also a clear point in the game where you realize, "oh, this is where they ran out of money, stopped doing interesting things, and forced the rest of the game to wrap up as quickly as possible." The feeling to me is like a more stylish Beyond Good and Evil (if you played that). Loads of promise and diminishing delivery as you progress.

EDIT: Also, I've never played Final Fantasy VII, so I'm actually kinda interested in the remake. I know it's not the "pure" way to play it, but I tried to play the real FFVII a few years ago, and just couldn't get past the age of it and gave up after a very short amount of time.

FF7 is great. So are 8 and 9. 8 is my favorite, and people always berate me for it, but screw you, I love it.

My gaming confessions:
- I've never played a pokemon game (other than the columns clone that was N64, and was actually legitimately good).
- I've never played Minecraft.
- I've never played a Far Cry game or a Just Cause game (though damn, the latest Just Cause videos I've seen make me really, really want to start playing it).
- i cannot stand the squad based Tom Clancy games (a'la Ghost Recon). Fucking. Hate. Them. In fact, I hate all games where the AI allies are better at everything than their human counterparts.
- I LOVE tactics games, but have never played Final Fantasy Tactics (initially out of protest since so many people acted like that game invented tactics combat. Sorry kids, Shining Force holds that crown).

Other games you may have missed:
- If you never played the original Toe Jam and Earl with a friend, you missed out on one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time.
- I think Save the Date was the best game of last year. Claude disagrees with me, but it blew my mind thrice over.
- Classic Mac RPGs: Quarterstaff, Citadel, Wizardry 1 & 2. SO FING GOOD. The Uninvited, Shadowgate, and Deja Vu.
- Classic PC RPG: Mordor. This is the greatest PC game of all time (you heard me, Mechwarrior 2). The DEMO contains a virtually limitless amount of fun and rewarding play. If anyone knows a modern game that uses similar mechanics, PLEASE let me know.