Gaming Nostalgia

**notorious bum** · 2014-02-17 19:02

I only played it on dreamcast(kb/mouse), but was much better on Quake3... only really remember fucking up LoD members, not 100% if they were a PC clan. I never joined any clans because I was an underachiever to the max lol

**Serra** · 2014-02-17 19:35

Originally Posted by Ddz

I would 100% play through RoZ, CoP, and ToAU again. WoTG is where I got sad and quit.

ToAU was a joke. Too easy to lowman/solo those early missions, then it just flips everything over (I think on the Gessho fight?). Made it so hard to find people who had kept up. Also, it definitely felt too rushed. It felt like things that were going to be relevant just vanished as the story had to wrap up/the devs focused on other things -- like never getting into the nice part of Aht Urghan, that key item compass thing they give you, other ACs.. WotG started slow, but it definitely got better as it went. The main storyline was great on its own, but the nation quests (apart from Sandy's..) were also really well done. Windy's especially was an amazing set of missions.

Story lines, I'd rank 'em CoP (cause it was the best in terms of story, gameplay, challenges, satisfaction, everything), WotG, RotZ, ToAU.

**Xno Kappa** · 2014-02-17 19:51

Didn't WotG take like two years to finish?

**Serra** · 2014-02-17 20:08

I think it took longer actually.. Came out November 2007, I did a write up for the last set of missions in December 2010..

**BaneTheBrawler** · 2014-02-17 20:09

yeah. wotg's content was released episodically, and when it first came out there was barely any (i cant remember if the zones were released in batches too or if it was all at once). after waiting fucking weeks for the next mission i forgot what the fuck was going on and realized i didnt give a fuck anyway. especially since by that point i was already geared and iirc none of the new gear was really any better than what i already had. so i just unlocked the new jobs, lvled dancer, and lololololol'd my way through the rest of the game, because galka sam/dnc and pld/dnc are the tits.

**psychodwarf** · 2014-02-17 20:14

Got this for Christmas a couple years ago. Works great and reminds me of the first game I ever played.

**Serra** · 2014-02-17 20:20

I believe they originally gave access to everything but Glacier, Xarc, and Zvahl. I think Glacier and Xarc were one update, and then Zvahl was another. Part of the issue was that it was like six months between each set of updates. You'd get an update for missions, then three months later, an update for the nation missions (I think by the end it was even longer too..). You only needed to complete one set of nation quests to advance the many story, so I remember it being impossible to find people to do the Bastok missions -- to the point that I knocked out the last set with a pickup group of people in the same boat the day it was released.

**Bregor** · 2014-02-18 03:19

Okay, strap in, 'cos this is going to be a doozy.

ROGUE

Spoiler: show

This was the first game I ever played that left any kind of impression. It set the tone for things I would play in RPGs for the next 25+ years (quaffing, wielding, eating mangoes, cursed armor, plaid potions?) and was also hard as shit. I go back to it every few years and I've still never beaten the game.

KING'S QUEST I through VI

Spoiler: show

This was the first series I stuck with, learning about character development, problem solving, improving graphics, and kicking evil cats. My sister and I still have inside jokes that were born huddling in front of the family PC. It was the first time I knew someone's name who made a video game (Roberta Williams) and it led to me begging my parents for a Nintendo.

FINAL FANTASY

Spoiler: show

Obvious. The strategy guide that came with a subscription to Nintendo Power got me hooked, and I rented the game at least four or five times (from Errol's, the precursor to Blockbuster, damn I'm old) before I could buy it with allowance money. Little did I know that this game and its successors would imprison me for the rest of my life.

NHL 95

Spoiler: show

Sports? In my BG? This was the one and only game on my friend's Sega Genesis that I truly mastered. While I was still toiling away on my 8-bit machine, he got a Genesis and we would hold weekly tournaments with all the kids in the neighborhood. Pavel Bure and Alex Mogilny were just plain unfair...

STREET FIGHTER II TURBO

Spoiler: show

Still the only fighting game I've ever really enjoyed. The speed and simplicity blew tween-Bregor away back in the 90s. I got really good at it too, if you came into my house on my SNES, my Vega was Goddamn lethal. Probably still the record holder for thumb blisters caused.

FINAL FANTASY IV and VI

Spoiler: show

I've probably spent more time playing these games than any other single-player game. I adored them. I loved the stories, the sprites, the magic, the gear, everything. I remember being in middle school gym class and talking about the three scenario split at the beginning of VI, like it was the most genius thing ever.

OGRE BATTLE

Spoiler: show

The holy grail of SNES carts, the Blockbuster one town over had it for rent, and I went back about once a month to snatch it up. I loved this game, which got me to download the new Tactics Ogre port to my Vita, and now I have no free time because that game is fucking enormous.

CHRONO TRIGGER

Spoiler: show

An almost perfect game. It ruined me for all games that didn't have a "New Game +" because I thought it was so simple and yet so rewarding. Unfortunately more games decided to continue using the silent protagonist, and not nearly as elegantly. Everyone loves Earthbound (and for good reason) but I think CT is the ideal blend of serious and silly for an RPG.

CIVILIZATION II

Spoiler: show

In between SNES and PlayStation, I went back to PC gaming. Well, one PC game. I would spend entire weekends perfecting my cities, and getting to watch the wonder videos was like crack. Before, games were a hobby. After Civ2, they were an addiction.

INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR SOCCER 64

Spoiler: show

What? More sports? Once again, a friend beat me to the next gen, and we played the shit out of ISS64 in his basement, mostly for the hilarious play-by-play guy. "WHAT A CRACKER!" "There's a FIGHT FOR ARIAL DOMINATION!" "No FOUL the referee says! The referee says play on!" ... I guess you had to be there.

FINAL FANTASY VII, VIII, and IX

Spoiler: show

And now we come to the PlayStation era. As I went on to high school and college, I noticed these beings called "girls," and I reduced the time I spent playing video games in an effort to seem "attractive." My pared-down gaming schedule meant I pretty much only played Final Fantasy games for the better part of six years, and even though looking back VII got way too much hype and VIII kinda sucked, they're still full of nostalgia bombs. Emerald and Ruby Weapons still scare the shit out of me, and Chocobo Hot and Cold is still the best sidequest/mini-game of all-time. Oh yeah, and Squall is dead.

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS

Spoiler: show

L.i.t.t.l.e. .m.o.n.e.y... I remember almost every piece of dialog from this game, and my favorite moments (Ramza and Delita in Zeltennia's church, the Rafa SLAP!, Wiegraf shaking his fist to learn of Miluda's death, "I am Velius... the devil..." The game is just so fucking good, even if it is really easy and the PS translation is terrible.

METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER

Spoiler: show

I had played MSG2, but by the end I thought it was pretty dumb. But MSG3 was clean, it was all Snake, and it felt like the perfect blend of historical fiction and badshit-insane Kojima-ness. Plus, I'm a sucker for origin stories. I'll always remember climbing that ladder. I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater! Snaker Eater... Say it with me. Whisper it, even. Snake Eater...

FINAL FANTASY XI

Spoiler: show

And now, the finale. I played XI for over five years, logged thousands of hours, met friends I still keep in touch with, accomplished something I considered "beating the game" a bunch of times, and still all I can think about is the things I didn't get a chance to do before raising the level cap past 75 and Abyssea ruined everything. The same game can make me feel sorry for quitting and glad I got out when I did at the same time. That's... something. Comparing it to World of Warcraft, which I played for almost a year, met no friends, and remember close to nothing about the game other than BIS Warrior gear and my DPS rotation, I think what XI was able to accomplish in terms of community was pretty special.

* * * * *

Anything after that probably doesn't qualify as nostalgia (yet) but Civilization V, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, and the I'm-way-late-to-the-party-on Heroes of Might and Magic III, all of which I've played a lot over the last two years or so. But that's a long history of "OH MAN REMEMBER IN THIS GAME WHEN THIS HAPPENED?" as it is. To answer the question of my top five nostalgia games:

1. Final Fantasy Tactics
2. Final Fantasy IV
3. NHL 95
4. King's Quest III
5. International Superstar Soccer 64

**Mertron** · 2014-02-18 04:04

sometimes i wish i had some pictures of me from ffxi but playing on ps2 for all but the last 6ish months i played and many laptops later this is all i have of me that survived and its only a chat log taken by someone else of my usual retardation

**Krandor** · 2014-02-18 06:52

Bregs going all the way back to the middle ages with Rogue and King's Quest.

**BaneTheBrawler** · 2014-02-18 08:30

Huh. I've always wondered what the term "rogue-like" meant in game descriptions. I always just replaced it with "This is an RPG but we're being coy"

**Alvinho** · 2014-02-18 09:21

The OP talks about something I realized at las 10 years ago, and TBH, I doubt gaming will ever be the same again. VGs have been receiving a lot of attention, and since execs realized they can swim in rivers of money with the income generated by consoles/games, we are bound to see more shitty games pushed to meet deadlines. Certain companies now are trying to act like they'll still retain ownership of the copy you buy (mainly DLC stuff), which is a very bad thing for many obvious reasons.

I remember playing River Raid when I was like, 4 or 5. It was so simple, but so good. I knew I'd be playing games for the rest of my life.

Shortly after came California Games, probably on some old-ass PC I don't remember the model. Weeks later, my Christmas present was a Sega Master System. Alex Kidd in Miracle World came in the built-in memory. I played that for months before buying any new games. Since we didn't own any fans, I had to stop playing every few hours or so to give the AC adapter time to cool off. I went to sleep the first night wih that music stuck in my head.

When I was still living with my ex, her cousin used to live with us, and I got her a Master System for Christmas (she was 10 at the time) with like, 130 games in the built-in memory. It felt really good.

Also at 6, started going to arcades. Street Fighter II was love at first sight. Simpsons, Combatribes, Pit Fighter, Juju/Toki, Samurai Showdown, Fatal Fury... all had their glory days. Mortal Kombat was still fresh. Sunset Riders, Dynamite Dux, Strider, Shinobi. I could go on for days.

In the years to come, I'd get together with friends and play all sorts of 8-bit things: Double Dragon, Megaman, Shinobi, Psycho Fox etc. Nobody cared about graphics; fun was all that mattered. I remember we'd get together at my buddy's house to play Tetris, and his dad would join us. That was so cool. We'd all play against one another, and whoever lost, had to drink a tall glass of water without spilling it. After a few games, shit got intense, lol.

The SNES came out with all its awesomeness. Mario Kart, LttP, Super Metroid, STREET FIGHTER II WITHOUT NEEDING TO LEAVE THE HOUSE OR TOKENS. Man, it was grand. My parents got us (brother ad I) the DKC edition (themed box), together with Mortal Kombat II. This was December/1994, and it had just been released for home systems/was extremely popular. We played it ad nauseam. Good times.

One day at my cousin's house, I picked up a copy of Final Fantasy II (JP IV). Never heard of the franchise, and was wondering wtf it was. I took it home, and it jus kinda sat there unplayed for months, until I decided to give it a try. From that point on, everything changed. BEST GAME EVAR. I must have played it like 20 times. It's the game that really opened up the RPG world for me (I always considered LttP as more of an action game, even if it had some RPG elements). Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Illusion of Gaia, the other FFs, Bahamut Lagoon (emulated on PC years later). The SNES had it all, but then...

Along came the PS1. Say what you will, but the voice acting on RE really impressed me. I was 16, and took the game for exactly what it was: A game. But HOLY SHIT!!! Now the people are talking; it was awesome, even if it sounded funny/constricted/unnatural. I could go on forever about how much more awesomeness ths PS1 brought to the table (more FFs, Valkyrie Profile, MGS, more Megaman Xs, Worms, Street Fighter FUCKING ALPHA, Tekken). I own like, 65 original PS1 games, which is kind of a lot in my book, and represents the lub I have for it (never had more than 10 games for any other system, but probably because with the other systems, I was much younger/didn't work). Also, Final Fantays Tactics was beyond words. That shit could have been made into a movie, son! Story was soooooooo good. Wiegraf/Velius also brings back some "this shit just got serious" memories.

PS2. More of the same, but def. not in a bad way. More RE, more FF, more VP, more MGS, more MMX, more SF. But shit, now they also have God of War, Kingdom Hearts, Guitar Hero (at home), and a bunch of other shit!!! That's pretty much where it stopped for me. Was never much into PC games (list has Wolfenstein in 7th grade, Warcraft 2 in 8th grade, Commandos in 9th grade... Survival Project, Gunbound, and PSO after high school, then all the way to FFXI some years later (started playing shortly after the release of CoP, quit in 2011, and came back last January 2013).

Sprinkle in some Genesis titles, some odd shit here and there (playing Gex at the local Circuit City before I owned a PS1, Dragon's Lair on 3DO at Incredible Universe), some N64 (StarFox, Goldeneye, and of course, Mario Kart), and that's my gaming life in a nutshell. I have over 9000 gaming-related stories which run parallel with many of the good moments I shared with friends when I was younger. Many conquest stories, and fond memories of *that* sense of achievement only gamers can understand, like when you beat Jurassic Park for the SNES for the first time, R-Type in the arcade, arcade Captain Commando solo (on two quarters); just too many moments to document covering almost 30 years now; feels good, bro.

**Kirbyprime** · 2014-02-18 09:35

Sigh, nostalgia...

FFXI, everyone already mentioned this.

Loderunner, too young to actually play it at the time, more like backseat player

Chrono Trigger, played this so many times that all my char were 2 star'ed everything and could pretty much solo Lavas

Warcraft III, spent too many years on various tower defenses and pre-dota defense of the ancient maps

Dota, oh god, that's been a long time, offensive techies is still one of my favorites in the game

Various MUD games throughout the years. Used to play Darkness Falls with a buggy Frozen Fangs until it got jacked from me by another player.

**Kuishen** · 2014-02-18 23:49

Originally Posted by Serra

ToAU was a joke. Too easy to lowman/solo those early missions, then it just flips everything over (I think on the Gessho fight?). Made it so hard to find people who had kept up. Also, it definitely felt too rushed. It felt like things that were going to be relevant just vanished as the story had to wrap up/the devs focused on other things -- like never getting into the nice part of Aht Urghan, that key item compass thing they give you, other ACs.. WotG started slow, but it definitely got better as it went. The main storyline was great on its own, but the nation quests (apart from Sandy's..) were also really well done. Windy's especially was an amazing set of missions.

Story lines, I'd rank 'em CoP (cause it was the best in terms of story, gameplay, challenges, satisfaction, everything), WotG, RotZ, ToAU.

ToAU also had hands down the best endgame though, so I can forgive the issues with the story/missions. But the story was way the hell better than WotG or RotZ.

**The Stig** · 2014-02-19 04:44

But the story was way the hell better than WotG or RotZ.

My favourite was the cutscenes/flashbacks of the 5 generals.

**Twilight Sky** · 2014-02-19 12:25

FFXI - I'm one of the few, or maybe the only one that loved the concept WotG brought to the game. When I wanna idle, I'd head for Windurst Walls[S](or which ever section it was) because the music was so good.

Originally Posted by Kuishen

Xenosaga games, all of them. I don't get the hate for 2, these were gold.

Xenosaga II was alright. Story wise, it has a certain charm none of the other 2 will ever have: Albedo. The combat could have used a bit of work, but it definitely made the game feel more difficult than the first game. Xenosaga III was just piss easy.

**BaneTheBrawler** · 2014-02-19 12:42

XI's music was top notch all the way through. No one can ever accuse SE of making ugly games, and that includes their music.

**Syntex** · 2014-02-19 22:46

Originally Posted by Indalecia

...you motherfucker

JOIN ME INDY. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO...

**Totien** · 2014-02-20 09:15

For everyone nostalgic for the days of FFXI old, you really should look into Nasomi's private FFXI server. I've been playing there for about a month now, and everything is pretty stable. There's a few things that don't work, but everything is based on ToAU and previous so 75 is still the cap. I'm loving my time there.

If you're interested, go to www.nasomi.com, click the download link, and follow the instructions.

**Meresgi** · 2014-02-20 20:58

Originally Posted by BaneTheBrawler

XI's music was top notch all the way through. No one can ever accuse SE of making ugly games, and that includes their music.

Ugh holy fuck the music...so many chills when playing the game and watching cutscenes. No MMO has even come close to how edge of my seat I was for all the shit. 1st time watching the final Dynamis CS with the whole backstory to Dynamis lord....

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...31/319/99f.gif

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