Generally, any top rated game from that period which doesn’t rely on “realistic” graphics but instead offers very good gameplay and is kind of timeless and ages well. For example, you shouldn’t play the original System Shock 1 anymore, although it was top tier in 1994, because its graphics are very poor for today’s standards, it’s UI has always been poor, and it’s a game that fully relies on immersion, but you can’t immerse yourself anymore if both graphics and UI are really poor. Instead, play the System Shock remake from Nightdive Studios which came out recently. It’s not the same, but it’s very similar, and much better nowadays. Also why you shouldn’t play the old STALKERs anymore, although they were amazing and it kind of saddens me to write this, but they really don’t offer much immersion today, which is why they didn’t age well. I’m writing this because I didn’t finish part 3 back in the day and intended to finish it like 2 years ago, but I couldn’t stand the dated graphics anymore. For a game which relies fully on immersion, that ruins it.
Here’s my list (not in a particular order), I’m focusing on PC games because I never really play that much console or handheld stuff:
Command and Conquer up until Red Alert (remastered version available). These are classic RTS games in a sci-fi war setting. Some say Total Annihilation was the best RTS during the 90s but I never played it.
Starcraft 1 (remastered version available). This game is also still being played competitively in multiplayer, with an active tournament scene, especially in South Korea. Also great in single player. Famous for its balance, at least on modern tournament maps.
Age of Empires 2 (remastered version available). It’s like a mix between a classic RTS and Civilization. Great game, lots of content by itself already, also tons of added content.
Jagged Alliance 2 (great community mods available). You can skip part 1, part 2 was absolutely amazing. A great strategy and tactics based game. It’s quite difficult, but great.
Doom 1+2 (remastered version available, very recently updated again on Steam (this month!)). Plenty of 3rd party engines like gzdoom also available which make them look and feel much more modern. Tons of community-made content as well. Special mention: John Romero, one of the original level designers, also made more content over the years (e.g. “Sigil”), which is great as well.
Quake 1+2 (remastered version and 3rd party engines available). These were among the first games fully utilizing 3D-accelerated graphics back in the day, so they pushed boundaries and they brought the pseudo-3D games like Doom 1+2 into a full 3D environment.
Baldur’s Gate 1+2 + its expansions (remastered version available). Also highly recommend version 3 of course but that’s not an old game. Plenty of mods available for them as well. These are all exceptional RPG games with great story and depth that no RPG fan should skip. They also age well because it’s just good 2D art.
Planescape: Torment (only if you a) liked Baldur’s Gate and b) don’t mind reading (it’s a lot of text) and enjoying a complex story with complex character interactions. Remastered version available)
Half-Life 1+2 (instead of HL1, play “Black Mesa” which is a great modern remake (not the same, but very similar and much better nowadays). For HL2, there are also some remastered versions or mods available, and Valve updated the game engine from time to time so when you download it today, it’s not the dated version from 2004 anymore). HL1 (1998) was one of the first FPS with a really great story line, voice acting, and stuff like that, which is why it pushed boundaries back when it was released. HL2 was just excellent overall and one of the first or the first game which introduced physics-based object manipulations, so it again pushed boundaries further)
Sin Gold was a great FPS from 1998 that got brutally overshadowed by Half-Life 1, but it’s still a great story-based shooter, more action-focused. Based on an updated Quake 1 engine.
Portal 1+2. Best to play them after you’ve played the Half-Lifes. Portal 2 (2012) is THE highest rated game on Steam (steamdb.info/stats/gameratings/). Truly great puzzle FPS set in Half-Life’s setting, which is why it’s useful to know about HL before jumping in (but not a requirement). Portal 1 also isn’t far off in rating. Portal 1 was basically a “side game” for the Valve game compilation named The Orange Box, Portal 2 was then a true AAA quality followup because Portal 1 was a huge success.
Deus Ex 1 (maybe. Graphics are really poor (they were already dated when it launched). But it was one of the first RPG-FPS with stellar level design and the freedom to approach every situation in different ways, so VERY good on the gameplay side). Deus Ex 2 is supposedly bad, so skip that. The newer ones like Human Revolution and Mankind Divided are decent but they’re not classics anymore they’re still “”“fairly recent”“”, around 2010 or so.
System Shock 2. It also looks very dated by now but there are some HQ mods available (improving models and textures) which make it more bearable. I’m hesitant to mention it because it relies a lot on immersion and it looks very dated. So according to my own recommendations, I probably shouldn’t list it, but it’s also great in level design and gameplay, and its art style never was ultra-realistic to begin with, so I’ll list this one as an exception. It’s very much worth playing, truly a great sci-fi/horror RPG-FPS and a worthy successor to part 1. Nightdive Studios might be working on an SS2 Remake or Remaster, if so then I’d say wait for that!
There are even more great adventure games from LucasArts or Sierra back in the day, but you’ll have to figure them out for yourself. I will only recommend Monkey Island because they were probably the most successful and well-known ones. For some of them, remasters are available, or you can play them using ScummVM. There were also other great adventures not from LucasArts or Sierra, like Simon the Sorcerer. The 80s, 90s and early 2000s spawned a lot of great point+click adventure games.
Diablo 2 (remaster available). D1 started the whole “genre” of hack&slay action RPGs but it’s rather poor in comparison and aged terribly, D2 is much better in all areas, so skip D1 and instead try D2.
Z (very unique and fun RTS game from the 90s. If you haven’t played it, you should! It offers very good and unique gameplay that no one else really tried to copy as far as I know, which is a shame. It truly emphasizes unit production time, speed and good timing). It’s also entertaining. And difficult.
Thief Gold + Thief 2 (remasters available I think, but even if not, despite the graphics being very dated, a lot of it is in shadows anyway and IMHO the general art style kind of ages well, though that may be subjective, and it’s also immersion-based, so YMMV, but I think it’s fine still). Also “The Dark Mod” as a community “continuation” of the series). If you like stealth FPS, you must play them. Thief 3 is also decent. Any Thiefs after that are terrible. There are amazing community-made mods/missions as well.
Alien: Isolation. This one is from 2012 I believe, so not quite old, but an honorable mention because it’s also an amazing stealth-based game. Its art style (like the first movies) also makes it age better. In fact I’d say this is one of the best horror-based stealth games ever made.
Heroes of Might & Magic 3 (I think in this case, the remaster is bad. Stick to community mods/patches). This one is still the best of the series, so you don’t need to play any other part. Ages very well because it has very beautiful 2D-based graphics. Great art and design overall.
There was one old RPG which supposedly aged very well but I didn’t play it yet. Maybe Albion or Lands of Lore, not sure what it was.
Tomb Raider 1-3 (remaster)
WH40k Dawn of War 1 is great if you like the universe and RTS games in general. Also the best in the series.
XIII (Thirteen) - but not the new remake, play the original. It’s a rather unique stealth-based, comic-look based FPS. Ages quite well because of its unique look (utilizes the kind of shading like Borderlands)
Elder Scrolls 3-5 are very good as well but you need several mods or engine enhancements, otherwise graphics aren’t that good anymore, and these are games which rely on good graphics as well for atmosphere/immersion. So they don’t age well by default, but thankfully they have a VERY active modding community which keeps these games alive. You can even make them look very modern, but it takes time and effort to do so.
Nethack (somewhat of a nerd game, terrible graphics by design (text-based art style), but amazing and very deep/complex gameplay, very rewarding to get into, if you don’t mind its presentation. In terms of gameplay depth it brutally outclasses most games on the market). There are also some other clones like Slash’Em which I didn’t play. Dwarf Fortress is probably similar in depth and presentation (but very different in gameplay and general type of game) but I also didn’t play it yet. If you know enough about Nethack it’s also not that hard, but getting to that point is very difficult and if you don’t know anything then it’s very difficult. (I’ve done 8 ascensions, i.e. 8 finished playthroughs).
Honorable mention because it’s technically not old but looks old: Return of the Obra Dinn. Don’t skip this one, it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played, I’m not kidding. It’s truly amazing, and it’s made by 1 guy. It’s a perfect example of why graphics fidelity in games doesn’t matter that much and you can create excellent, modern-feeling, stylish games regardless.
I agree with your points on System Shock 2, I would also highlight that you could wait for the enhanced edition that Nightdive are doing of System Shock 2, and you could play their remake of the original in the mean time.
That’s positively surprising, I expected them to leave it at that until petition reaches the second milestone (if that even happens). Let’s see if anything new comes out of this.
Minecraft seems like the obvious choice for kids who liked Roblox. Terraria is another. If they can only play on a server that one of them hosts, then no need to worry about outside users.
Good on you and the other parents for getting that shit out of there, kids don’t need addiction machines trying to pressure them into spending money.
According to r/VPNTorrents, Proton and AirVPN are the only recommended VPNs since they are the only well-established privacy-respecting ones left that still have port-forwarding. New ones are popping up with promise, like Azire and a couple others, but time will tell. As for Proton, I decided against it because of its limited port forwarding and lack of IPv6 compatibility and settled on AirVPN But Proton has genuinely great products if you're interested in the full suite. AirVPN, in my opinion, is just the last great VPN. Open-source & fully featured client, run by activists, anonymous accounts, crypto purchasing, IPv6 compatibility, full port forwarding, great support, Tor integration, the list goes on.
They're super transparent with whatever they have going on with them. They had one probe within the last couple years but they don't keep logs so I'm not sure anything bad for the users is possible, and what VPN hasn't been asked for it's information lol
The issue is that authorities were able to retrieve the private key off the server. Yes, Windscribe adjusted afterwards but, it puts their security practices into major question. If you read their response to the situation it was a ton of side stepping the issue, trying to put blame on other VPNs, or trying to act like a government getting access to one of their private keys was not a big deal.
Windscribe is fine, back when they were shit-tier I grabbed a lifetime pro subscription for $30. For the common user, who just wants to download their very legal Linux ISOs on qbit its a good VPN. I just think Windscribe gets a pass on its history more so then a lot of other VPNs.
You might want to add the proper context that the servers were siezed by authorities (so not stolen) and they were very transparent about the fact that it was a legacy system. They also followed with a plan to rectify, including third part audits. Every organization makes mistakes, it’s how they respond that matters.
If you’re looking for a VPN provider that hasn’t had issues ever in their history, good luck. You’ll just end up with the ones who lie and cover up incidents.
“If you’re looking for a VPN provider that hasn’t had issues ever in their history, good luck. You’ll just end up with the ones who lie and cover up incidents.”
This is the type of ignorant statement makes it hard to take you seriously. First of all its not true, and if you really believed it, why waste time stanning for Windscribe? What’s your pitch? “They all suck so go with this one”
Sure, trustworthy VPNs are few and far between but they do exist. On the no port-forwarding side you have Mullvad, and IVPN and other newer ones that seem promising for now. On the port-forwarding side you have Proton and AirVPN with other newer ones that have some promise.
Even OVPN, who now has dubious ownership, has a far better track-record then Windscribe.
Second, you’re absolutely right. Steam did a great job with the whole Steam Deck Verified thing. It ensures that the game “just works”, which is someone that can’t always be said of PC games. It makes sense, given the near uniform hardware of the Deck, of course, but it’s still important for reaching the console and/or casual gamer markets.
And let’s face it, the Deck is just convenient as hell. It’s the mobile gaming solution I’ve wanted for decades.
…but I totally get what he means. Some people just aren’t excited about fiddling with settings, hardware, software or otherwise. It’s just a pain. Even myself, I’ve noticed I’ve lost most of my appetite for twiddling with drivers and such so I get it. When I play a game, I want to play the game, not set up the game, tweak the game, etc.
This has always been one of the key advantages of consoles over PC gaming. You can go to Gamestop, buy the game, plug it into your console, and then play. Or at least you used to.
Consoles have gotten more fiddly over the years, and the Steam Deck meets them halfway. If you are okay with online game stores, managing storage space for your games, you are already good to go with your Steam Deck. If you want to, you can tweak your settings for more battery life or performance, or venture outside the Steam Deck Verified games.
Eh, it’s not always great, Baldurs Gate 3 is “Varifed”, but it took some fiddling with the settings to get it toba stable 30 with decent lod on my deck.
I had an idea of a game where you played as a photojournalist documenting the brutality of a near-future totalitarian regime. There would be elements of stealth because you’d have to evade the police to take your photos and you have pretty much no combat ability. You’d use your earnings from selling the photos to gradually upgrade your equipment, maybe starting off with a shitty cell phone camera and working your way up to professional quality full frame SLRs. I’d want it to simulate the workings of a real camera… f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, etc., so you’re challenged with getting good, usable photos in difficult conditions.
You know, that sounds sick actually. Especially if it was more sandboxy than linear, and also had some kind of survival system (pay for food/rent) to add tension and encourage risk taking when snooping around.
This is more or less what I wish Beyond Good And Evil had been. The combat in that game wasn’t good but I liked the idea of having to photograph evidence and getting photos of wildlife on the side to earn some money. It wasn’t nearly as fleshed out as your idea though.
I played 76 a few years after it came out and I thought it was super fun. Idk if it was way worse when it came out or if my standards are just shit but me and my wife loved it
Honestly, I tried it with mates well after release, and it was really grindy and boring. The few quests we did had too much padding and lifeless NPCs, even if the environments were neat. And we were all big BGS fans since Oblivion, yet not overly nostalgic over the old games or anything.
I will say coop always makes games more fun, and AAA tends to skip this.
But there’s also a lot of really awesome 2P coop these days.
Consistent crashing, tons of lag, and lots of additions from BGS that were two steps back for every step forward. Think about what it would be like if half the players at the SBQ disconnected in the fight and make them 4-5 times stronger than when they were last I played (when expeditions were released).
Then you would have quests that gave atoms, the currency you give IRL money to get, that were literally unachievable. The camera ones were the best as they ran for weeks with no camera being available in the game.
There was a raid. Almost no one could do it. The game either crashed or people rage quit.
I wont even talk about Nuclear Winter.
The game is a miracle for what it is but it took a while to be acceptable. Loved the game at one point but now it is too much a reminder of COVID shutdowns.
1 - The first season was already in the south west US, as with… every Fallout game not made by Bethesda.
2 - They are almost certainly going to retcon large elements of New Vegas’ plot and world elements out of existence or into nonsense, as the first season already did with a whole bunch of shit.
They couldn’t even put Shady Sands on the right spot on a map.
They already broke Mr. House’s character and backstory by including him in that rountable corpo discussion.
His… and New Vegas’ backstory in the game are based on House more or less hating all other corpo leaders, determing via statistical modelling that nuclear was was inevitable… and then doing everything he could to build a goddamned ICBM defense shield for Vegas.
He had to act solo precisely because he was kept out of the inner circle of corpos and gov high ups who were much more in the knoe, by the older canon.
But more fundamentally… House has spent almost 200 years looking for the platinum chip, because he was just a few days late in having it delivered, pre-apocalypse.
Why and or how could that possibly happen if he was in the meeting that decided to end the world?
New Vegas as a storyline is literally irreconcilable with the TV show already, its like shitty fan fiction.
The Deus Ex series often have pacificist playthroughs (3rd one definitely does, you can play a pacificist playthrough of the OG game with a few exceptions).
The Age of Decadence has a mostly skill check and conversation playthrough. I forget if it’s fully pacifict though.
Both are past 100k now! I want to issue a special “fuck you” to all the idiot streamers that tried to kill SKG. And of course a special “go fuck yourself” to PirateSoftware and Asmongold for being fuckwit right wing tools for corporations. You have a special place in my heart as illiterate lapdogs to shitty corporations and right wing shills.
Yep they actively campaigned against the petition and fundamentally misrepresented it.
10 months ago PirateSoftware started a campaign against it starting here-ish: youtu.be/ioqSvLqB46Y
Also 10 months Asmongold did a react video that supported PirateSoftware: youtu.be/AhVsyhjcndw
PirateSoftware refused to acknowledge that he got several things wrong, and even refused to acknowledge it when confronted. He actively bans people with dissenting opinions in his stream so it wasn’t surprising that he refused to acknowledge that he was wrong. About a week ago Charlie (aka Penguinz0) confronted him about it and he still refused respond to basic factual inaccuracies: youtu.be/6sJpTCitKqw
Ross did a video talking about the whole thing last week as well: youtu.be/HIfRLujXtUo
There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the broad strokes. I hope PirateSoftware’s stream keeps declining until he is relegated to complete obscurity. Also, PirateSoftware can eat my entire ass.
Asmonpoop is a moronic bum and people went from “this weirdo is strangely entertaining” to " let me hear what my moronic hobo-idol has to say about this".
It is a little bit like how people supported Drumpf as a joke first.
PirateSoftware is what dumb people thinks a smart person acts like. His audience can’t even pay attention unless he draws boxes in paint. I do understand how he can seem initially likeable, but if you watch him for more than a couple of hours you’ll see his knowledge is shallower than a spilled glass of water.
Still in disbelief people think SKG is going to work. The premise fucking genocides the MMORPG genre. You kill games by implementing this horrible understanding of how games work.
I have never seen more people support games who have no fucking idea how games work and it’s the most frustrating shit ever. Pirate Software is right. It’s not even a debate.
And if a company refuses? They’re dead anyway. This is not well thought out and PS called it out. You have no actionable solution but are calling for one to just appear.
I can literally play WOW private servers right now. I can host my own private server and play it single-player.
What is being required is not complicated or difficult.
If a developer wants to destroy their own project instead of taking the extra week of work it takes to let people locally host then that sounds like a really dumb decision.
No, it’s much more reasonable to make devs put the hosting oprions they use in the code of the game for others to use instead of a community having to reverse engineer the net code and build their own tool.
Your contradictions are destroying your argument dude. This is why nobody takes you seriously.
Lol you not understanding why that can’t happen is what’s sending me. There are so many issues with just the PREMISE of this that you don’t even address.
At what point is a game considered dead? When is a company obligated to provide access? Will the company be legally obligated to release character profiles? If yes, how does one stop third parties from modifying it/cheating prior to hosting? If no, it’s everyone expected to restart ion company death? How will this access be granted or hosted? How long will this need to be available for? Who pays to keep this information hosted for that duration?
There are so many fucking questions unanswered because you seem to think you can just throw fucking LAN ports on a game and it just work. Your brain is stuck in 2004 where all you needed was an IP address and port number. Games aren’t that simple anymore and the ones that are, already fucking have it.
Hold on there buddy! There’s no reason to be derogatory towards hobos like that. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so offended on the internet as to have someone associate my good (user)name with the likes of Asmongold. If you don’t bring that down a notch I’m gonna send the ghost of Woody Guthrie to haunt you until your dying days.
Asmongold does that. Like the dude doesn’t have any real opinions other than what gets views. If he sees the winds changing he’ll pull a 180 in order to take the heat off himself. He also has hoards of followers and youtube minions to make him seem far more centerist than he is. He’s like the personification of the alt-right playbook for dummies.
Asmongold is a megaphone for shitty opinions. Like I posted elsewhere he’ll change his opinion if he gets called out, but the damage was done when he put it on the megaphone in the first place. His take on the “never play defense” is to not have any actual opinions when confronted then just go right back to saying other right wing bullshit.
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