What was the oldest game you played in 2022, and how did it hold up? Was it the best game you played this year?
I’m playing Icewind Dale, but its the newest version, so I’m not sure whether it counts as a game from 1998 or a more recent game.
I’m playing with a couple of mods that expand the Cleric kits, and mods that allow infinite stacking. It makes the game run much smoother (and allows me to play a Halfling Cleric/Thief and an Elf Ranger/Cleric, both possible in 2nd edition Forgotten Realms, even if neither are available in Icewind Dale Proper).
In any case, the game holds up. The later levels are getting to be a slog, as cleric Buff takes forever, and everything is 1 round +1 per level. I miss 3.5 edition when things actually lasted 10 minutes per level, so you could go through an entire encounter with one round of buffing.
That being all said, the story is good enough for a combat-oriented game. I approach it less like an RPG and more like a Real-Time Tactics game. Making sure I put my characters in the proper position and using my abilities to maximum effect. It reminds much of those missions in Star Craft or Command and Conquer, where there is no base building, just a few troops needing to move around carefully, killing enemies.
Anyway, what was your blast from the past in 2022? What made it stand out? How has it changed from when it came out originally? Was it fun? Is it on sale and should we all buy it?
Thanks for starting this thread. For me it was definitely Dad of War (2018), wish I played this earlier. Really great game with a good story, slick combat and amazing visuals. This is game is not particularly old but the oldest I played last year.
This is a pretty good question for me as I definitely play “old” games regularly. On the arcade side, I played Tutankham (1982) for the first time in probably fifteen years or more. I’m not sure if Funspot in NH has it, but I may not have played it there when I visited many moons ago so it could easily be thirty years or more since I had played it.
An original arcade machine turned up here in Reading at the newly opened Challenge Arcade at the Berkshire Mall. It’s as tough and as much fun as I remember it. A quality Konami release from the early 80’s.
From a home machine standpoint, I purchased a Japanese PlayStation 2 in 2022 and I had a really good time playing all of Thunder Force V (1998), Thunder Force VI (2008), Sega Rally 2006 (2006), and Gunners Heaven (1995). Thunder Force V was the only one I had played before and that on Saturn, not PlayStation.
One other game that really stands out to me having gone back to it again, is Atomic Runner (1992) aka Chelnov (Japan) on Sega Genesis. As some of you know, I bought a Sega Genesis Mini 2 in 2022 and there are some absolute gems on there and this is one of them. It was great to get a reminder of how cool it is. It’s an auto runner with a unique Egyptianesque motif for the enemies and stages. I just love the way Chelnov runs, jumps, and blasts. It’s superb. Well worth going back to.
Oldest game I played? Minecraft should be on the list for sure - but its still being updated, so is that really new? Same with Mechwarrior Online - which I enjoy as a slower paced and strategic shooter.
So real oldies - not being updated, that I played in 2022:
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (2003) - Still fun, better bots! Free to play, still.
Oregon Trail (1971, 1985-1992) - still a fun little game. Free to play, of course
FTL (2012) - thematic fun space-roguelike, still great to play. Some people complain about the ending… but I dunno - once you know it’s like any other unfair final boss challenge
The oldest game that I really played (as in with some kind of effort involved and the goal of progressing) this year was probably Black Dragon/Tiger from Capcom (circa 1985?). Still unaged and still hard as nails. You get two games in one depending on the version you chose to play… or should I say “learn”.
The oldest game that I really enjoyed was Koudelka, an oddity of an adventure game on the PSX, with horror enemies, tactical turn based battles, and featuring a strange respect for History in its own story. It was a blast to play as you defined it, and although the ending wasn’t very satisfying, the whole script was a joy, and quite a unique one in its unexpected maturity.
The game I most enjoyed that wasn’t a 2022 release was Fate/Stay Night, a 2004 novel “game”. It’s got a bit of game in it but not that much, and I enjoyed the style of its author immensely. I’ve been reading his books since that wonderful introduction.
I’m not falling for @Chappers’ fake game. He won’t make me look it up. Oh no.
Well, the oldest game I played in 2022 was probably F-19 Stealth Fighter, from 1988. It holds up so well I’m now streaming it weekly. Shockingly the Steam version is better, out of the box, than the GOG version. God I love this game.
The longest old game I played the most is Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander, from 1989, both for playtesting and pleasure. It’s become my favorite game of all time because it has pretty much everything I want in a space game.
Inspired by Tiny Combat Arena, I played a bevy of old flight sims last year as well. Beyond the aforementioned F-19, I played A-10 Tank Killer, Tornado, Apache: Longbow, Hind, Stunt Island, Gunship 2000, MegaFortress, LHX Attack Chopper and many more. These pretty much all held up, and were a ton of fun.
SSX 3 (2003) on OG X-box and it was pretty awesome; I took a cue or two from how it was presented; it has a ‘Radio DJ’ similar to your guy in Steep, but he has so much personality, and the video cuts that look like they are from a 2012 Android phone are so snappy.
“You ride like a girl” one character, Griff, jabs. Oh, that didn’t age well (he’s 10, but whatever).
Watching someone else pick it up and play is a testament to its design. It’s intuitive, fun, and creates a feeling of… flow. I’ve more or less beaten the whole game back in the day so I know how… crazy it gets. It turns into less of a snowboarding sim and more of a pod racer. The opening game is just really well done.
From the Wikipedia article: “thirty different types of snow”… that’s great… that’s great…
I don’t really play old games, there are exceptions but looking thru my Steam history I don’t think I played any of them last year (I am overdue on a Homeworld rerun, though of course I just play the remastered version).
The last pre-2000 game I played, I think, was Blood, a couple of years ago.
Anyway, probably the oldest for 2022 was FTL (10 years old) or, depending on how you look at it, Entropy: Zero 2. Which is a 2022 release… but also a mod for an almost 20 year old (ouch) game.
I replayed Ultima V (1988) last year! With access to some hints and some dungeon maps, I was able to finish it, which I could never have done on my Apple IIe. What’s great about that generation of Ultimas is how it generally loosened the challenge in order to let players into the story and world… but it still gets stupid hard for the end-game. So the first half of the game holds up for me! The second half… well, use those maps.
The best new-to-me game of 2022 was probably Wiz-War (the 2012 edition of the 1983 original). Just goofy as heck, filled with ridiculous powers to mess with the other players.
Anno 1404(2009) for me. It’s been my first Anno game and it’s struggling to keep me.
The whole Occident/Orient thing feels like starting over during the game, every game. I’m chugging along, make this, make that, feeling good about my city, and then I’m demanded to go to another part of the world so I can get some spices. This city is dead til then. And that means I have to take all my supplies elsewhere and neglect my flavorless city for a while, so I can start from scratch in the desert. When you’re done with that, go start over somewhere else.
I know I’m dropping out pretty early on and there’s so much to like, but I’m having a hard time getting over the hump.
There is one game that I go back to, over and over again, as a comfort game, and it is Titan’s Quest (god, who knows what counts as the release these days). I know other ARPG’s have added newer features, especially its spiritual successful Grim Dawn, but Titan’s Quest is bright, and warm, and I love the theme. Sure, give me tall hats, and pistols, and I will love it, but I feel a bit overwhelmed by the options in Grim Dawn, and it feels too dark.
Anyway, I’ve yet to pick up the new expansion because it’s been middlingly reviewed at best. It’s no Norse Campaign. Maybe after a really good sale.
I don’t know if it counts because it’s a mod, but I have been generally interested in the randomizers that people build over old games (often, though not exclusively, NES and SNES-era; those based on the early Zelda games may be the most well-known) for a while, and in 2022 I got really into the Free Enterprise mod for Final Fantasy IV (II US, 1991), to the point where I got into the competitive scene with some success.
I like randomizers in general because they add replayability aspects to old games that I generally like (through figuring out the logic/routing, which often includes corners of the game that don’t come up in a normal playthrough, and then with a little bit of speedrunning thrown in). FFIV specifically was one of my favorite games growing up, and the design choices of this particular randomizer hit most of my preferred beats. Between that and the supportive community built up around it, a 30+ year old game probably gave me more joy last year than any individual new release.
Did you finish Final Fantasy X? Don’t lose momentum! Keep playing it!
I replayed part of it in 2022, until it was taken off game pass. It was my fifth time or sixth time through the game, and I loved what I played of it once again.
I played Fusion Frenzy (2001) with my brothers at Christmas, which was pretty fun. Other than that, the oldest game I played in 2022 was The Binding of Isaac, which took up a pretty significant chunk of my gaming during the year.
I just finished Dad of War earlier this week on PC. I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the story, music, animations, camera, the world, almost everything. I’m 5 years late, but wow what a great game!
I did play some Subnautica in 2022 (released in 2014), because I never finished it and I’ve been meaning to pick it back up. I think I tested that their latest big bugfix release actually fixed the bug that forced me to put the game down - and it did! I’m looking forward to getting back to that and finally playing the 2nd half.
