During the past twenty years or so as a gamer I’ve developed a rather lengthy list of titles that captured my imagination as they engulfed me in their fantasy world. Even to this day with the advent of games that look like you’re playing a major Hollywood blockbuster, I still find myself stuck in the past, nostalgic if you will.
I can remember the excitement that came over me when I picked up a copy of Soul Calibur II for the PlayStation 2. My favorite character to slaughter my older brothers with was Raphael. We played that game for countless hours at a time — there was nothing quite like it. But then came Soul Calibur 3 and 4. The former was okay but Soul Calibur 4 couldn’t grab my attention the way the second game did, and as such I never bought a copy.
This isn’t the first time nostalgia has affected my purchase choices when it comes to games. The most recent example that best illustrates my discontent with today’s games is (you’ve guessed it!) Final Fantasy XIII. It’s hard for me to fathom that some of the people responsible for keeping me glued to my TV for weeks with classics such as Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX and X could later produce something that would fall short of past successes. And, while Final Fantasy XIII may be considered a financial success with six million copies shipped worldwide, it’ll always be considered a failure in my eyes not worthy of its namesake. "This plays nothing like the game I grew up with! “
On the flip-side, the likes of Resident Evil 5, Devil May Cry 4, God of War 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4 offered only incremental improvements over their predecessors, and as such were greeted with a certain amount of discontent. With enemies that closely resembled those found in RE4 and very little evolution in the gameplay department, Resident Evil 5 is one of those games that fans lambasted for simply being a "high definition version" of the previous title. Needless to say, those hoping for a throwback to the days when Resident Evil was actually a horror game were also left disappointed.
Is this the fault of the developers, or mine for holding on to yesterday?
I’d say it’s a combination of both. After all, due to the fact I can’t completely leave the past where it is, it isn’t solely down to the developers. With the advent of new technology, change should be expected. Videogame developers are always looking for ways to push their products to the next level each generation, but in the process it seems that the very elements that made their intellectual properties popular all those years ago have been lost in the transition.
It really can be a double-edge sword for some game developers. How do you cater to your fan base that has supported you for decades and, concurrently, make your intellectual property appealing to a new generation? There have been those developers who decide to sacrifice the former to accomplish the latter with little success. On the other hand, there have been some developers who have opted not to change their signature formula only to be greeted with a less than stellar reception.
Obviously with fresh technology comes new things but how hard is it for developers to balance out both the old and the new? Perhaps the solution to nostalgia is the re-release of classic PlayStation games over PlayStation Network and in the form of HD collections. Or maybe that’s only adding to the problem.
Let us know your thoughts on the subject matter in the comments section below, PSU readers!
Article by Sakinah Rasheed