Years From Now I'll Still Be Playing ____

[GI Cake]

This is a basic fill in the title thread. Over the years, video games have been released in swarms. Hell, when a new wave of video game consoles are released, developers and publishers are falling over themselves to create a game that is exclusively launched onto the new console, treading the waters of the new consoles and what they can do. When the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii were sold, the Xbox gave us Perfect Dark Zero and Call of Duty 2. The PS3 showed us it's prowess with Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm. And the Wii gave us amusing games to play with their motion sensing tech with Wii Sports, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Red Steel.

Why am I babbling about launch titles? Well, a trend that started with the new consoles was developers started a trend to resell their games but having it published to the new consoles. Battlefield 2:Modern Combat, and GUN were both games I had on the original Xbox but repurchased for the XBox 360 simply because the 360 promised a better online, better graphics, better everything. Despite many years passing, and the evolution of video games and the video game industry as a whole has evolved to the point where gamers are seeing how their once proud consoles look like fossils on their last leg. We still can look back at games as early as 2006 and say happily. "Wow, after all these years I will still keep playing this game."

For example, even today, I will still continue playing one of my favorite games from the earlier year.

That's right, Tony Hawk American Wasteland was/is a fantastic game. I bought the game earlier in 2006 with my allowance and I still have not even fathomed the idea of trading it in. Maybe because it is one of those rare gems we can find in the Tony Hawk series, or maybe because I would get a nickel at best for trading it in. But Tony Hawk:American Wasteland took full advantage of the power the 360 had over the Xbox. It was free-roaming in a tiny L.A city. You got customize everything from your character, your board, your tags (spray paint) and even the signature moves your character can pull. All the collectables to find throughout the city while improving and redesigning a grimy trash dump into a Skaters utopia. Its over the top and un-realistic skating and outrageous story line kept me addicted to the game after all these years.

Heres some question for you folks.

Years from now I'll still be playing...

What was your favorite game from the early ages of the new consoles. (2005-2006)

Which(s) games do you see in the next years getting an upgrade to the new consoles?

 

[lenguy]

Hey now,this is a cool thread,I think I may post something in it.

I'm not entirely sure if this thread only applies to games of this current generation(360,PS3,WII..). If it does then I apologize because the game I'm choosing does not come from this generation of games. Well,not if you include to remake that came out last year.

The game in question is*drum roll please*

[YOUTUBE]t925JwYXhVA[/YOUTUBE]


Halo Combat Evolved

I still have my original disk,my original boxing,the original manual,all of it.
The thing about this game was I wasn't even sure I wanted to play it. I got the original Xbox back in 2001,the year it came out,it was given to me as a gift for that years Christmas holiday. I was also given two games to go along with it. Shrek and Simpsons Road Rage(sweet game in itself btw). So after wearing out those games,it was time to move on to something new. At the local Blockbuster(which was still very much a thriving business at the time) standing in the game section I had the tough decision to make on what I wanted to rent. Nothing really caught my eye. Except for this little game called Halo.

I always seen it advertised on T.V and thought "ah well,that sure looks like fun". I was a bit hesitant on grabbing it though because at the time I still wasn't really into any shooters. I always imagined shooters to be those wondering through dark corridors and killing all the scary aliens type of deals,suffice to say..I was a bit of a pussy. There was nothing else their that remotely interested me. So I relented but I eventually grabbed it. Only because I got tired of my dad yelling at me for wasting money on a system I hardly used. So I grabbed the game in spite of him,almost convinced I wouldn't enjoy it.

So I got home and threw it in the disk tray and sitting in my chair waiting for it to load just thinking "well,I only have it for 3 days...might as well try it". After the first level,I was sold. It was super fun and highly addicting. Everything about it just worked. Bungie nailed the controls, polished it up with simple yet fun gameplay with an almost cinematic like story that wanted you to play more. If single player wasn't enough,multiplayer was where the competition was at. Oh the nights spent on blood gultch with me and some buddies just staying up late,tossing homework aside,arming yourself with a magnum and assault rife and just drowning your friends in a wall of bullets. Then who could possibly forget the birth of teabagging? If cussing out one of your closest buddies for taking that rocket launcher and turning it on you wasn't bad enough. His upwards and downwards motion of nuts desecrating your dead carcase was just the icing on the cake. Always managing to get a good chuckled out from us all.

I still play Halo CE more than most modern games simply because of the nostalgia attached to it. Every time a new Halo game is about to be released, I make sure I take it upon myself to throw in Halo CE and go through a round in the campaign on legendary. Now With Halo CE anniversary. I can finally do that with skulls. It's like learning to replay a game you've been playing for over a decade. It's a refreshing addition to an already classic game.(Step 1.Magnum and Magnum only.Step 2.LASO. Step 3.flood...and finally,step 4. Rage quit.)

50 years from now,my kids and their kids and possibly their kids will all be playing their PS15's and Xbox 2500 or whatever. I'll still be playing my original Halo CE.

Years from now I will still be playing Halo: Combat Evolved. Classic game is classic.

 

[vampireblade]

Years from now i will still be playing pokemon wait for it..... red yes the original pokemon from time to time i like to start over but it is the game that got me hooked on gaming and because of that i will always play it.

my favorite game from the new gen consoles is wwe smackdown vs raw 2007 i loved that game it showed what could and would be the future of wrestling games on the new gen consoles. And yes it can count as it came out in 06.

As far as games that will be on the next round of consoles the WWE series most definitely. Same with Madden games and we know Zelda will be on the new wii u as for the rest I guess well have to wait and see.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I still play the classic Championship Manager 1997-98 on my old PC.

Infact, while I have a laptop, and the family have upgraded the PC several times since then, I still have the shitty old one set up in the spare room just for that Champ Man. I never had the disc for it, its that old that you just needed to put the disc in once, load it on the machine and then never need the disc again- I got it from a friend that way.

I have reached the end of the games lifespan- 30 seasons, so many times, with all the players regenerating under made-up names. It was always fun seeing a player you signed as a 17 year old finish his career and go on to manage a team against you.

I have so many great memories of that game, all the players I signed and made into superstars, all the classic matches, going 10 years undefeated with Man Utd....the list goes on.

I loved the game because it was before Champ Man became too in-depth with all the custom training sessions, too many stats, negotiating with agents etc. It was simple, it was fun, and it was the best game I have ever played.

I used to play it in the background when revising for my exams in school, college, university. I would set up a match, revise during the first half, change the formation etc,then revise again during the 2nd half. Fun times

That game will be getting played in 10 years I'm guessing, its far better than the new ones!

 

[Dagger Dias]

What was your favorite game from the early ages of the new consoles. (2005-2006)

I wasn't playing anything on the 360 or PS3 at the time, so that narrows my choices down to Wii titles if we are talking strictly 2005-2006 titles. The two games that immediately come to mind are Wii Sports and Twilight Princess. My friends and I had loads of fun making Mii's of ourselves, mutual friends, our college professors, and even some WWE guys. Bowling was the game we'd usually play in Wii Sports and on occassion Golf. Then there's Twilight Princess. I disliked the controls at first (Gamecube version was better) but I got used to them and enjoyed the experience. That game lived up to its hype and I will continue playing it for years.

Now if we count oldschool titles then my list of games I'll keep playing increases tenfold. The obvious choices for anyone who knows me are the oldschool Final Fantasy games (The games that are home to all the guys in my signature image, for the few who still hadn't figured that out). I also still enjoy replaying the classic Mario and Zelda games, I will never get sick of any of those titles. Oh, and let's not forget my all time favorite, Tales of Symphonia!

Which(s) games do you see in the next years getting an upgrade to the new consoles?

Who knows, anything could happen. My fingers remain crossed for a Final Fantasy 7 upgrade. Countless fans around the world are begging for it and Square-Enix would make a fortune on an upgrade for the PSX legend with the graphical and musical qualities of the PS3/360 (or whatever consoles are next). New content would be awesome too. It's doubtful that it will happen, but a man can dream and as far as remakes are concerned anything can happen.

 

[Silly Willy Nilly Vanilly in the Milly]

Years from now I'll still be playing...

The game was phenomenal- Championship mode stories were real good, game-play was rather simple, and create-a-superstar had a rather large selection, particularly in grapple moves.

What was your favorite game from the early ages of the new consoles (05-06)?

I have always been a fan of Elder Scrolls, and the fourth installment did not disappoint.

Which games do you see in the next years getting an upgrade to the new consoles?
I'm hoping for a new Kirby installment for the Wii- I don't consider "Epic Yarn" and "Return to Dream Land" good enough- need a REAL Kirby game, like Super Star for the SNES.

 

[SuperKick36]

Years from now i will still be playing pokemon wait for it..... red yes the original pokemon from time to time i like to start over but it is the game that got me hooked on gaming and because of that i will always play it.

YES! I STILL play the original pokemon games! They are fun and simple, which often the best games are (IE: Zelda, Mario, Halo, etc)

The game that I will be playing years from now (within 10 years) is Diablo III.

I know people are complaining about how this game is a bust and that is has all these issues and is too linear and blah blah blah... but I waited 10 years for this freakin' game to come out, so I am going to ENJOY IT, and the patches that come through all the way to level 100!!!

The game SERIES that I always play is the Elder Scrolls games. Come on... they're huge, they're expansive, they have ALOT going on.

Probably my favorite game of all time is Morrowind... and the entire series is just EXCELLENT.

This is a fun thread!

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Years from now I'll still be playing...

Pokemon Crystal. It is not only by far my favorite Pokemon game in the core series, but it's also my favorite RPG. It had an entire new story, cast of characters, collection of Pokemon, gym leaders and even a new continent to explore, PLUS all the magic of the original R/B/Y trilogy, updated and tweaked to be even more fun! After GenII the series got consistently weaker in my opinion, but this was the peak of its glory and likely will remain as such. I play through it once a year usually. In fact last night I started it up again on my PC and did a stream on J.TV for a few hours until I got too exhausted to play.

My fingers remain crossed for a Final Fantasy 7 upgrade. Countless fans around the world are begging for it and Square-Enix would make a fortune on an upgrade for the PSX legend with the graphical and musical qualities of the PS3/360 (or whatever consoles are next). New content would be awesome too. It's doubtful that it will happen, but a man can dream and as far as remakes are concerned anything can happen.

Just what we need, another decade of people freaking out over FFVII. I get that it's super popular, and after playing it I totally understand why. It's the most accessible and basic of all the Final Fantasy games, with one of the most Americanized plots in all of JRPG history. Don't get me wrong, Sephiroth is one of my favorite baddies, and the decision to *SPOILER ALERT* kill of the most beloved characters was brilliant...but it's just not THAT GOOD. It deserves its place in history sure, but as the best FF game? Not a chance. III, VIII, and IX all gave it a damn good run for its money, not to mention that X rivals it for Americanized accessibility on SO many levels. BUT, debating FF with you is not the point of this thread. The point I was going to make before I got caught up is that I don't want this to be redone. I don't want people freaking out over it again, I don't want to listen to all my friends talk about Cloud for another five years, and I really don't want to sit through the impending torrent of fan-bitching when the inevitably screw SOMETHING up with "extra content" or "updated graphics". With the level of god-like stature that some Final Fantasy fanboys place on the game, you know there's absolutely NO way for them to do it and have everyone come out of the experience happy. That being said...as hypocritical as it may sound, I'm incredibly excited for Final Fantasy X to be re-released on VITA later this year!!

 

[Loveless]

Years from now I'll still be playing...

Well looking at the old games I own and still play

Bomberman
Civilization II
Streetfighter II
Super Mario Kart
Final Fantasy VII

I mean that right there is all I need when it comes to gaming. There are other games I love but that don't have the replayability.

What was your favorite game from the early ages of the new consoles. (2005-2006)

I think Shadow of the Colossus, everything else has been pretty samey up just an upgrade.

Which(s) games do you see in the next years getting an upgrade to the new consoles?

My hope is always for a Final Fantasy VII remake but with every generation and graphical update it becomes less likely, it's simply too much work. What I would really love is a proper console version of the Total War series, not dumbed down like that shit PS3 Civ game.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Pokemon Crystal. It is not only by far my favorite Pokemon game in the core series, but it's also my favorite RPG. It had an entire new story, cast of characters, collection of Pokemon, gym leaders and even a new continent to explore, PLUS all the magic of the original R/B/Y trilogy, updated and tweaked to be even more fun! After GenII the series got consistently weaker in my opinion, but this was the peak of its glory and likely will remain as such. I play through it once a year usually. In fact last night I started it up again on my PC and did a stream on J.TV for a few hours until I got too exhausted to play.

I only played through Crystal once, as is the case with most Pokemon games for me (after I have caught all species in that version I'm too burnt out to play anymore and catching all 493 in Diamond made me retire from the series completely) but I do recall that Crystal did have an interesting storyline involving Suicune who was my favorite of the 3 elemental dogs in Gold/Silver, it may be worth a second look someday if I ever have time.

As for an annual replay, I have two of my own. Paladin's Quest and Final Fantasy 4. I used to re-play Paladin's Quest each summer, as soon as school got out. I'd try to use different characters or look for new secrets, and in 2010 I did a walkthrough video series on youtube for it. It's been almost a year, so it's time I make yet another run through that under-rated gem.... Replaying that game annually is something I look forward to each spring/summer, and my year just does not feel complete without it. I'll still be playing it years from now for nostalgia and to keep looking for whatever secrets might be left (I doubt I've missed anything at this point though after doing this every year since 1994) and FF4, I'll never get sick of, I'll keep playing it until the day I die.

Just what we need, another decade of people freaking out over FFVII. I get that it's super popular, and after playing it I totally understand why. It's the most accessible and basic of all the Final Fantasy games, with one of the most Americanized plots in all of JRPG history. Don't get me wrong, Sephiroth is one of my favorite baddies, and the decision to *SPOILER ALERT* kill of the most beloved characters was brilliant...but it's just not THAT GOOD.

I don't place it as the standard all RPG's are compared to for Sephiroth, or even for the mother of all spoilers (in tags, for the people who have yet to play the PSX legend) but instead more for the overall experience. The world, the memorable cast, the amazing music, the brilliant materia system, the limit breaks, the replay value.... FF7 is nearly flawless and as a fanboy of the game (there's legions of us worldwide, I'm not alone, as I'm sure most already know) I would do nearly anything to get it remade with modernized graphics, modernized music, and new content. It does deserve it more than any other game in the series. Period.

Spoiler

Sephiroth kills Aeris. Everyone knows already, but still spoiler tagged for those it's still a spoiler for, which SHOULD be no one.... Unless you either have been unconscious for the past 15 years, or for some odd reason are completely unfamiliar with the game's story.

It deserves its place in history sure, but as the best FF game? Not a chance. III, VIII, and IX all gave it a damn good run for its money, not to mention that X rivals it for Americanized accessibility on SO many levels. BUT, debating FF with you is not the point of this thread. The point I was going to make before I got caught up is that I don't want this to be redone.

If you didn't want to debate Final Fantasy trivia with me then you shouldn't have started one. You'd convince Mustang Sally that Drew McIntyre sucks before you convince me that FF7 is not the greatest overall RPG in history. In other words, it's simply never going to happen.

Firstly.... FF3. The NES version was a fun challenge, but the difficulty was borderline cruel at times. Games where you MUST level constantly do not age quite so well these days, let alone games where you MUST level constantly that also have 8 bit graphics. Then we have the DS remake. Much like it's ancestor, a fun challenge. The key word there is CHALLENGE. That version was easier than the original up until the final tower. The Dark Cloud suddenly had moves other than Particle Beam so it took more than the strategy of 3 maxed out Ninjas attacking while 1 maxed out Sage healed. They failed to remove a lot of the frustration that plagued the original. Frustration in any form does not earn a game the honor of being the best in its series. Once the game is beaten, it gets future endeavoured on the shelf or at your local Game Stop because the frustration is not worth putting up with again just to re-live the memories along the way during the quest. There's always videos online for that.

You mention FF9. It was a very under-rated game that truly deserves more credit than it received. There was one tiny little problem that ruins FF9 for me, and is also the reason I have only replayed it a handful of times. Points of No Return. This game has more of those than any other RPG that I can think of. A game is more enjoyable when you can re-visit most (if not all) locations at any given time. FF9 does almost the opposite. The world constantly closes off locations, and you have to rely on pure luck to unlock all abilities, as you end up having to use up so many items that there are rare in order to create even rarer items, and if you forgot to visit certain shops/towns at certain times, here comes yet another point of no return and now you missed out on learning some of the abilities due to not buying/creating items at a time you had to. I detest crap like that. Even if that were not an issue.... FF7's cast, world, graphics for its time, music, and overall experience still outrank 9. Love the game, replayed it about 2 years ago right before I got married, but it doesn't look like I'll be touching it again anytime soon. Too little time that I cannot afford to waste by missing abilities and rare items.

FF8. You cannot possibly tell me that FF8 is better than FF7. The only, and I mean ONLY place that 8 beats 7 is graphics. The major downfall of this title is GAMEPLAY. The drawing system was one of the most frustrating battle systems I have ever dealt with. If I'm going to junction 100 Ultima spells to max out a stat, then I can't cast any of them without risking my stat decreasing. Then there's the monsters levelling up when you do, to the average of your party. This makes the game too easy to break. A level 100 Squall, a level 10 Rinoa, and a level 10 Zell took out nearly any boss in enough turns to count on one hand. The total sum of my character levels was 120, divided by 3, equals 40. Rinoa and Zell obviously won't survive against the last string of bosses, but if the monster is level 40 and Squall unleases his Lionheart ability with maxed out stats and level 100, that monster is not going to survive. The game was too easy to break and had too many gameplay frustrations. It had enormous potential (as did 9) but the flaws are too massive to ignore. Negatives aside, I do look back on the title fondly and may play it again (it's been about 3 or 4 years now).

I don't want people freaking out over it again, I don't want to listen to all my friends talk about Cloud for another five years, and I really don't want to sit through the impending torrent of fan-bitching when the inevitably screw SOMETHING up with "extra content" or "updated graphics". With the level of god-like stature that some Final Fantasy fanboys place on the game, you know there's absolutely NO way for them to do it and have everyone come out of the experience happy. That being said...as hypocritical as it may sound, I'm incredibly excited for Final Fantasy X to be re-released on VITA later this year!!

People are going to talk about Cloud for the next 5-10 years anyhow, remake or not. The fanboys may be growing up and raising families at this point, but a game as great as FF7 will live on forever. As for having to sit through all the ranting at whatever new content or upgrades do not live up to expectations.... No one would be forcing you to read/watch any of that. Just play the games you enjoy playing, if you'd like to play the remake if/when it comes out, do so. If you do not wish to take part, ignore it and play another title. My own expectations would be colossal but the fact that I am playing a remake of the RPG that re-defined the genre would negate any negativity I had towards it, unless of course they completely destroy the game in the remake, and that's not a risk Square would be willing to take. They'd place it in the hands of the absolute best developers they possibly could.

Finally, you mention the FFX HD remake. I actually do not know if it will receive anything beyond the HD upgrade. Will there be any new material in it? If there is no new content then I am not interested in the slightest. I still have my old PS2 copy. It's sitting on the shelf, having not been played since 2007. Dang, that's one I need to run through again. That aside.... FF7 deserves a remake FAR more than FFX does, or any title in the series. It may not be the BEST in the series in your opinion (4 barely beats it in my opinion, but nostalgia plays into that) but you cannot deny how much it deserves the upgrade treatment.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

You'd convince Mustang Sally that Drew McIntyre sucks before you convince me that FF7 is not the greatest overall RPG in history. In other words, it's simply never going to happen.

Well that would be entirely silly, wouldn't it? First of all, Drew McIntyre is awesome. Second of all...well there is no second of all, because Drew McIntyre is awesome.

I'm not sure anybody can really say what is the "true" best RPG of all time. There are just too many players enjoying too many different kinds of RPG's, and it actually frustrates me when big companies like IGN put out their "best of all time" lists, trying to claim one as "objectively great". You can think FF7 is the greatest overall RPG in history; I totally disagree and that's fine. I personally think it's over-rated. But I'll tell you what - I just picked up all the FF titles available on PSN, and I'm going to play through them all when Sony finally updates their VITA support for PSN games. If it happens that I under-rated it this whole time, I will apologize.

The bottom line is that I think the Pokemon games (on the whole) have the qualities to make the "perfect" RPG. I'll give you that the FF games are more about story and they do a hell of job at that. I've always said that Square is just begging for people to let them make movies instead of games - this was never as true as FF13 I personally love the grind, the collecting and the never-ending combinations you can go into battle with. It's extremely complex in its simplicity if that makes sense.... Crystal is my favorite, because at this point in my tenure with the series R/B/Y are just too damn easy, and the later games are just too damn annoying with how much and how long they hold your hand (really Black/White? 3 rivals and 2-hour long intro?). GenII actually poses a challenge, has the best line-up and is LONG.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Well that would be entirely silly, wouldn't it? First of all, Drew McIntyre is awesome. Second of all...well there is no second of all, because Drew McIntyre is awesome.

Glad we agree on McIntyre. He should have been a World Champion already by this point, but that should be saved for a WWE thread. Back on topic....

I'm not sure anybody can really say what is the "true" best RPG of all time. There are just too many players enjoying too many different kinds of RPG's, and it actually frustrates me when big companies like IGN put out their "best of all time" lists, trying to claim one as "objectively great". You can think FF7 is the greatest overall RPG in history; I totally disagree and that's fine. I personally think it's over-rated. But I'll tell you what - I just picked up all the FF titles available on PSN, and I'm going to play through them all when Sony finally updates their VITA support for PSN games. If it happens that I under-rated it this whole time, I will apologize.

We as gamers do all have differing tastes. I do place the honor of greatest overall RPG of all time on FF7, and I know that it has those who find it over-rated. The haters know that legions of fanboys will tear them a new one if they ever said such a thing though, and like I said in my last post, most of us FF7 marks may have grown up now but we still love our game and will defend it to the grave. With such a massive fanbase and incredible popularity levels after 15 years (which is a LOOOOOOOOONG time in video game age) without any remakes whatsoever, it clearly deserves the nod over just about any other title, including other genres.

I really like your idea of playing through each again. I wish I had the time to do that. I mentioned in my last post on multiple titles how I had not replayed them in a few years. My last couple of years of college I was trying to finish creating my game and I had gotten involved on here, both of which took up a ton of my spare time. Then there was that whole going to school thing. I've been married for the past 2 years and working full time as well for the past year. I just don't have the spare time that I used to, and my "me time" goes into the forum and either watching that week's editions of Raw/Smackdown/Impact, then to playing games I have yet to beat. My run this summer in FF13 seeking the Super Specialist route showed me that once is enough for most games, especially when I have a shortage of time that I can devote to gaming. The wifey has yet to play FF7 yet (I know, right? Unbelievable!) so I'm trying to get her to try it out and then I can enjoy the game once more with her.

Back in the day I would receive great enjoyment even from the levelling up parts of RPG's. I'd play Dragonforce or other rock bands and just sit there levelling for hours as the music played. I lost interest in that entirely about 4 years ago, but for about a decade I loved that part of RPG gaming. The combination of being too busy and no longer intruiged by levelling or ublocking every ability in a game, has led me to stray away from replaying a lot of the games I really liked. You're a little younger than me, so it may hit you one day too. I'm 26 now and it was at 22 that I began really losing interest.

The bottom line is that I think the Pokemon games (on the whole) have the qualities to make the "perfect" RPG.

Stop right there. I completely 100% disagree.

My biggest problem with Pokemon is that they fell into the trap of doing the same thing over and over. I do not want to play through the whole scenario again of this: Choose a Water/Fire/Grass type, defeat the 8 Gym Leaders, defeat that generation's Team Rocket ripoff, evolve/trade/whatever to collect each species, level up the new set of legends to defeat all my friends' parties. It's the same exact formula each time. It may work, but it's less enjoyable each time. Red/Blue/Yellow was first so it worked in every way. Gold/Silver/Crystal allowed you to return to the world where its ancestor took place, so the similarities did not bother me. By the third generation I realized that this is just the same crap all over again with new species I had little interest in, and even the legends (other than Rayquaza) have all been less interesting with each subsequent version.

I got all 493 in Diamond (after having 151 in Blue and 251 in Gold) then created an undefeated tag team of Jenova the Mewtwo and Sephiroth the Rayquaza who together were effective against every single type, they never lost a fight for 4 years until I stopped playing. After that, playing another game just did not seem like a fun idea. Let alone having to re-capture every species again when I have little spare time for gaming. I'm OCD so I cannot play Pokemon without catching everything, that IS the game for me. I play through each game using only starters and legends in the main story.

I'll give you that the FF games are more about story and they do a hell of job at that. I've always said that Square is just begging for people to let them make movies instead of games - this was never as true as FF13

FF13 is disgustingly linear, but the story and battle system were enough for me to attempt a second run. I gave up on that around Chapter 11, it just wasn't worth going through all of that levelling again to achieve Super Specialist status. Once again, OCD. At least they try to change things up a bit with the FF titles. They do not follow a set forumla the way Pokemon does. Although I could do without some of the levelling or ability unlocking in some titles. The games are not geared towards adults who are married and/or working, they are geared towards those who have a ton of time they can spend on the game, which I understand.

I personally love the grind, the collecting and the never-ending combinations you can go into battle with. It's extremely complex in its simplicity if that makes sense.... Crystal is my favorite, because at this point in my tenure with the series R/B/Y are just too damn easy, and the later games are just too damn annoying with how much and how long they hold your hand (really Black/White? 3 rivals and 2-hour long intro?). GenII actually poses a challenge, has the best line-up and is LONG.

I loved that at first as well, in Blue I did a ton of team experimentation. Back then Mewtwo (and to a lesser extent the three elemental birds) was the sole member of the elite. Well, ok Mew also, but back then Mew was the sole member of the Game Shark and/or Event only club, so him being against the rules when most of my opponents and I fought made sense. Then Gold came out. We now had Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, Lugia, Mew, Celebi, and I threw in my Feraligatr to round out the sixth spot. From that moment onward, I only levelled up starters and legends. Why waste time on a party of weaklings when your starter and a new batch of legendary species can make a more powerful party?

I also disagree that Blue/Red were the easiest. I got through both Gold and Emerald using only my starter (Totodile and Torchic respectively) in their evolved forms. In the original I would need the Eevee evolution and the HitmonLee/HitmonChan who joined along the way before grabbing the three birds to get me through the last leg. I could not get through it with only the starter, although I came close once with a Blastoise. Diamond I did the entire main quest with only the three starters and then used various legends I had imported later on.

Gold/Silver did have the best lineup. I agree there. I liked it having a new pokedex order that included every species in a re-organized list, something the new games should have adopted. When an older species got a new evolution the numbers should have been redone to reflect that in my opinion. Or it could have been re-organized with the old numbers intact like Gold/Silver did. It wasn't challenging in my opinion though. Plus Pokemon's first two generations have received upgrade treatment. So has FF1 through 6. FF7 damn sure deserves it more than Pokemon Sapphire does, legions of fans and an endless amount of popularity are all the answers anyone needs there.

 

[Larry]

I don't think there are any games from this last generation or the new that I'll still be playing in the next 5-10 years. There just isn't anything that has got me that hooked that I will still be fixated on it when the next generation of games comes around. I think games now days aren't as good in terms of repeat playability like a lot of the classics. Now they are mostly reproductions of the same damn thing which isn't a new thing but has become worse with time. Look at all these shooters and adventure games and what have you. It's the same damn recipe every time with slightly different settings. Either it's military based, future/sci-fi based, it's a zombie game, based in modern reality, or some other half cocked idea, but it's all the same shit. Run around, shoot shit, get weapons, complete an objective, repeat. Now here's another game with a different character and map, run around, shoot shit, get weapons, complete an objective, repeat. It's all very unoriginal and they just keep churning them out because people keep buying them no matter how bad they are. They just slap on a different edgy name, put the hype machine behind it, and you people buy it (I don't play any of that shit so I'm not a guilty party here). All these RPG's, Shooters, "Adventure" games, and so on are crap. Sure they look good and sometimes you get a decent story, but I haven't seen anything original since the original XBOX came out and a few groundbreaking games were launched there.

The sports, racing, and fighting genre's haven't improved all that much either. With the sports franchises we LITERALLY get the exact same shit every year with minor tweaks to make us think we're getting something new when what we are really getting is fucked into spending another $60 on the next series in a franchise while the previous becomes obsolete, they are training our spending habits. The fighting genre has seen some good games, but nothing that has went so far past what we saw on PS2 and XBOX. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was really the game that changed it all after Tekken 3, Soul Caliber, and Tekken Tag did it previously. Since then however, even though we've got some imaginative titles like the MK vs DC Univers and Tekken vs Street Fighter as of recent, how different are they from MK Deadly Alliance Not very, everything has kind of followed that model ever since except of course Tekken and Dead or Alive which is an alternative to Tekken and hasn't been popular since DOA4 on the original XBOX. I will credit Forza for breaking some ground with their franchise and setting a new standard with Forza 4, but do you think I'm still going to be playing that when the next-next-next-gen system has come out and there's a whole new Forza? No, I won't.

That is the trend that will continue with games. People aren't going to revisit the stuff we have right now or have had in the last 10 years. We will continue to move on to the next bigger better game and forget a lot of the muck that as left behind, occasionally recalling some games we enjoyed but have long since moved past as the technology improved 10 fold.

I'll stick with my Nintendo and Sega classics. I'll be playing them forever.

 

[JGlass]

Years from now I'll still be playing Age of Empires 2 with the Conqueror's Expansion.

For my money, this is one of the most balanced RTS games that combines history with war strategy games. You can relive real conquests, or do your own random map games where you start from scratch to build up an empire that will take over the world.

The AI is very good to the point where I can beat it comfortably, but I still struggle if I make mistakes. It never bugs, glitches, or does anything that frustrates me from a technology standpoint.

Even though every civilization shares most of the same units, they all have their own unique feels complimented by their unique units and multiple civilization bonuses that impact the way your game develops. Sure, I tend to use similar combinations of units every time, but if I'm playing as the Goths I'm going to develop an army of infantry, but if I'm playing as the Mongols or Huns, everyone is going to be on horseback.

I've been playing this game (pre-expansion) since I was 9 years old. I'm 22 now. That's 13 years of gameplay, and I still enjoy myself every time I play.

Special Mention goes to Soul Calibur II, which is still the best fighting game for my money.

 

[loucar86]

o boy this a hard question but i love the thread

i have an emulator on my orginal xbox with nes snes sega and n64 so here goes

on SNES i still play Street fighter 2 turbo
donkey kong country
TMNT fight
and super mario all stars which is the first 4 mario games.

Mario Kart 64
Twisted Metal 2 on PS1

 

[Ferbian]

If you would have bothered to ask this question a few years back, I would have been able to undoubtedly say World of Warcraft, however with a slowly fading interest towards the end of the current expansion, and potentially unaware whether I'll find the interest with the release of Mist of Pandaria, I'll refrain from using the obvious answer of mine.

I don't think there really is any game I can with 100% guarantee say that I'll be playing for years to come.

I've been essentially sucked up into the game called World of Tanks, which is great but has the same basics no matter what you really do, it's great entertainment but something I don't see necessarily continuing for me for years to come.

The same could be said about League of Legends (Something I occasionally touch anyway, so that's already a sort of fading thing). But it's definitely a game that I could possibly see myself playing, but it doesn't have the same constant pull on me to play it as often as it probably would need to do qualify for this.

I think it would have to come down to a game series, rather than a specific game. The game series for me would have to be Football Manager, I've been an avid fan of the series for many years, however not necessarily buying every annual release (My main interest seems to be at its prime around European or World Cup football, and on a low in the year afterwards). However, it's a game I have continuously returned to play, owning about 5-6 of the games from the series over the past 10 years release, and despite not being insanely good at it, I do enjoy it to the fullest, and it really gets me sucked into it when I do get going, and get interested and attached to the club I'm managing.