• HexagonSun@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I was way more prepared to waste time being confused by a game back in the day. You occasionally would try stuff for hours. Now if I get stuck 10 mins I start thinking they didn’t play test or design the game well enough haha.

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      1 year ago

      And that’s why Boy never shuts the fuck up in GoW Ragnarok.

      Player stuck for 30 seconds? Better tell them the answer to keep our completion metrics up…

      • HexagonSun@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yep. And coloured ledges you can grab, sparkling items to collect… I remember in old Monkey Island games there being no way to visually discern what you could or couldn’t interact with, you’d spend so long just trying things to see what worked.

        • tormeh@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          This particular thing kinda sucks, though. I also hate when there’s a puzzle that goes “you know that interaction that normally doesn’t work? We’ve enabled it here and it’s how you’re supposed to solve this puzzle! Surprise!”

          • irmoz@reddthat.com
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            1 year ago

            Moon logic. Puzzles that are hard because they make no damn sense.

            “Oh yes, of course I need to combine a fish with a phone book to create a sailboat.”

        • Madison420@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          FF8 was infuriating about that shit, iirc shit did somewhat glimmer but they had a habit of jamming junk under overhangs you can’t see under and can’t really tell exist unless you try to walk there. You end up spending a significant part of the game walking around all the walls like a psychopath.

          • HexagonSun@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, having stuff being obvious is actually incredibly freeing. Without that I waste so much time checking every part of every room, trying to work out which corridor leads to the objective vs which one might have collectibles.

            Knowing I can just play a game, find most stuff, get on with it, and not regret not using a guide is a real gift.

            • Texas_Hangover@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              That’s what’s wrong with your generation. You want all of the reward, and none of the work.

              In MY day, we had to LOOK for shit goddamit.

      • bentsea@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I don’t think I’d dislike it if they gave me like 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the puzzle and what I’ve done. I definitely hate how fast it is. It’s like, Jesus, give me a minute or being told what do do after it’s already blatantly obvious and you’re trying to figure it out.

      • CoderKat@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Your comment has a vibe of complaining about that, but I like it for the exact reason you’re replying to. It’s a little overtuned (I’d like a couple of minutes before being given a hint), but I don’t have the patience for getting stuck for long periods of time, especially if it’s because of game limitations (ie, I can think of alternatives, but the game doesn’t let me use the alternatives because that’s not how video games work).

        I also really like when games make it clear that I can’t do something right now. Horizon has been great about that, with Aloy remarking that she probably needs some tool or should come back later. I always hated spending 10 minutes trying to get to some obvious treasure, googling it, and being spoiled because the Google result will tell me (in too much detail) that it’s a late game thing.

        • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, that’s sometimes really immersion breaking, but it does save time.

          One of the recent Tomb Raider games (“Shadow of the” probably, which was otherwise unremarkable) had separate settings for puzzles, combat and exploration, so you could turn puzzle hints off completely. I still kept the exploration setting though, because it’s a nightmare to find the puzzle parts among all the clutter that modern games throw in. Like a wall full of cogwheels, but only two of them are part of the puzzle and the rest is just scenery.

          • CoderKat@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, that setting was great. I wish more games would have granular difficulty settings.

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Sometimes it’s like they expect us to take notes while playing the game.

      Like I’ve got paper just lying there. What am I, a high schooler?

  • Altima NEO@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    These games, although I was utterly fascinated by them, I had no clue what I was doing or where I was supposed to go. I couldnt even tell if I was progressing or what. I think I was just too young for it.

    • Decoy321@lemmy.worldM
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      1 year ago

      Rest assured, you weren’t. These games were made back in the day before the internet got huge. When games could have legitimately hard puzzles for their own sake. There was no handholding back in the day.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        1 year ago

        Yes and no. A lot of games had hint books you could buy, either from the company or third party. Infocom used to put out hint books which could reveal things to you one clue at a time with a special marker that came with it. But then Infocom was always a very innovative company.

  • evatronic@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I realized the moment I fell into the fissure that the book would not be destroyed as I had planned. It continued falling into that starry expanse of which I had only a fleeting glimpse. I have tried to speculate where it might have landed but I must admit however such conjecture is futile. Still, the question of whose hands might someday hold my Myst book are unsettling to me. I know that my apprehensions might never be allayed, and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written.

    And yes, that was from memory.

  • WhataburgerSr@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Wow… I remember playing this for MONTHS, trying to figure out what buttons, levers, everything does. I dedicated an entire paper notebook to writing down clues, hints, and failed attempts. And then the same for Riven.

    Now I simply don’t have the free time to dedicate to those games… #adulting

  • onionbaggage@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I remember getting stuck on Myst trying to light a fire. I kept sticking the match in and it kept not working. Got very frustrated. Took way too long to realize I had never actually struck the damn thing.

  • VikingHippie@lemmy.wtf
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    1 year ago

    Best selling? Yeah right! It’s a well-known fact that Myst cd-roms just kept appearing everywhere under their own volition whether you wanted them to or not. No sale or purchase ever took place.

  • EpeeGnome@lemmy.antemeridiem.xyz
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    1 year ago

    I never did figure out how to get past that damned piano puzzle. I should pick up the remastered version and have another go at it. I have such fond memories of it.

    • PutangInaMo@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If you have an Xbox I think the game is on gold. I tried to replay it earlier this year and quit pretty quick.

  • feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Was it good? Never played it and I’m thinking about getting it from GOG.com. In fact, just recommend me the best old games. The original Dungeon Keeper is probably my favourite game of all time.

      • CylonBunny@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Obduction was good. It had some issues, but it’s up there with the classic stuff. Firmament, unfortunately, was not good. Felt more like a walking simulator. There were few puzzles and they were not difficult at all. Not sure what happened. It’s pretty though.

        Riven is by far my favorite of the classic series. They are working on a modern remake of that next and I’m pumped!

    • towerful@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      I found obduction looked amazing, but the puzzles were “follow wire, flip the switch”.

      A modern game that really captures the Myst feeling for me was Quern: Undying Thought.

      I think some of the original Cyan Games Devs started their own studio for it, and it really captures the Myst feeling.
      Puzzles are hard but satisfying. I think there is 1 grindy puzzle that just takes a lot of work, but everything else is mental models of systems, hints and clues, using things in different ways.
      And a nice story behind it as well.

  • FuzzyDoublePumper@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    I had this for Sega Saturn. Near the end of the game one puzzle would generate a screen with a bunch of numbers and letters and crash. I thought it was part of the game until a walkthrough showed I was doing it right but something was broken on my disc. I still loved the game even though I couldn’t progress passed that point.