Basically, the reason for this blog comes in light of 3 reasons, 1) I have recently got a modern retro-style game, 2) I was having quite an in-depth conversation with one of my flat-mates about games of old and how older games 'aging' was a stupid concept and 3) I had a rant with another flat mate about a remake of an old game and our differing opinions on it. Therefore, with those 3 things in mind I will talk about each of them, explaining how they link to 'old' games and then sum them all up at the end. So, here we go!
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Xenoblade - The Wii's Golden Saviour
The 'modern-classic game' that I have recently bought is Xenoblade Chronicles. Xenoblade Chronicles a game for the Nintendo Wii and is loosely connected to the Xeno series of video games by Monolith Soft, a Japanese RPG series of video games. I had never really had much interest in the 'Xeno' games before I had heard of Xenoblade, I mean I knew of it and kind of knew what the games were but it had never interested me enough to go out and buy the games, Xenoblade, however, broke this purely because of the sheer controversy around it.
Basically, it is generally accepted amongst the vast majority of the current day, hardcore gaming market that the Wii is a 'family console' due to the style of games made for it and the fact that many make optimum use of the console's motion controls. This doesn't make the console bad, don't get me wrong, it does however lower its image in contrast to the PS3 and XBox 360 which are aimed at the more hardcore market. It is due to this image that Xenoblade has generated controversy as, once people knew it existed, the J-RPG fans and hardcore gamers rejoiced at the fact that a 'serious' game was being made for the Wii and not a gimmicky one that just used motion control - it was a classic-style game from a classic series being made on a modern console. But then, alas, the game was announced to not being relased overseas and staying in its native Japan... and the community of western gamers went MENTAL about it, begging for it to be released.
Eventually, Nintendo of Europe decided, for whatever reason, that they would release the game in Europe and thus I have Xenoblade, but Nintendo of America remain adamant that they are not going to localise it. A part of me likes this because it means the Americans can suffer what Europe has felt with unreleased games many times in the past, but at the same time I can understand why they want it. The fans want the game so bad they have even gone so far as to actively campaign for its release as a part of 'Operation Rainfall' - the first time something of its kind has been done for a videogame release. It is due to this hype that my curiosity was provoked and I looked into what the game was (and the other rainfall games but I'll mention them later) and have now got the game.
The reason why I wanted the game after the hype is because I learnt that it was, as I have said, a 'modern-classic' game. J-RPGs have had great difficulty maintaining their popularity on current gereration consoles, some have just been bad, others have tried to adapt to an apparent 'changed-market' and not worked so well (*cough* Final Fantasy XIII *cough*), Xenoblade, however, was made with no changes compared to past generations and was just made as a J-RPG should be - for the fans that are still there as they always have been... WE HAVEN'T CHANGED OUR TASTES AND WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT J-RPGS JUST BECAUSE WE'RE IN A NEW GENERATION OF GAMES!
So far, I have only played the game for a few hours but already I can see what everyone has been saying about it - it is just a great classic game. Everything about it from the battle system, the story, the characters and setting, the soundtrack, everything is just so... typical... of J-RPGs and I love it, I really do. As a bonus it also shows that the Wii actually can have serious, hardcore games on it if people would actually bother to develop for it.
It goes to show that while it is important to add new things to games and change them as time goes on, sometimes the classic style of games are good and memorable FOR A REASON and that is why they shouldn't be changed. There are 2 further 'modern-classic' J-RPG games coming to Europe for the Wii that make up the remaining games of the Operation Rainfall games, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower and I really can't wait for them as I just love how J-RPGs were back when I was first playing games and I want that style of game back.
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Yes, Games can age, but the classic games are classic for a reason!
Onto the next classic games issue, this time it is the idea of old games which are considered classics apparently aging badly and if we looked at them we would realise they aren't good. As the heading suggests, I accept that games age, some games you go back to and think 'Man this game is a nightmare to play' or 'This game is rubbish now that I look at it' - but to think that games such as Final Fantasy VII, Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye and Metal Gear Solid have aged badly and we only think they're good because of nostalgia is just stupid.
The reason me and my flat mate were discussing this is because an article we read on a gaming website said just that - that when they went back and played Final Fantasy VII and Goldeneye they decided they weren't as good as they'd remembered and are in-fact, compared to games of today, bad. Now this is just silly, I'm not going to go into this in detail because I could rant for hours about this and as a result its hard to turn that ranting into legible and understandable sentences - its something that's easier to discuss than type. I understand that we probably do like classic games more than we should just because of nostalgia more than anything else, but that doesn't mean the aspects of the game that enjoyed while playing these games are any worse.
I fell in love with the classic games for a reason, because they were brilliant, and time doesn't erode that. You have to appreciate the game for the time that it came from in some circumstances, such as Goldeneye which, compared to the dual-analog stick shooter games of today, is awkward to play due to the N64 controllers but once you get used to playing it again you realise that it is still a brilliant game and not any worse off - for the sake of ease you do think if it had dual-analog sticks it would be better but you don't suddenly hate them because it doesn't and dub the game awful.
The same is true with all the games, I mentioned - Final Fantasy VIIs graphics and poor translation, Ocarina of Time's framerate and complexity and Metal Gear Solid's graphics and reduced gameplay mechanics - but the games are still brilliant and haven't aged, people only think they're bad because they are comparing to modern games/they are used to modern gaming conventions.
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Sometimes classics work when they are remade
This final part talks about how some people who love classics don't like it when classics get remade. Yet again, don't get me wrong - if you take a classic and end up butchering it in the remake or the negatives out-weigh the positives then it shows the remake is poor and unnecessary. The game in question that me and another flatmate were discussing was the remake of Metal Gear Solid, The Twin Snakes - he hates it and I love it.
Remakes often have bits that you don't wish they'd done and I am even have this issue with the Twin Snakes - the Matrix-style cutscenes were stupid and unnecessary - but more often than not the remakes help make the game what it should have been or just update it graphically for today's standards and that's it. My friend arguements against The Twin Snakes are:
- The Matrix-style cut-scenes (which I agree with)
- The voice-acting
- Some of the Metal Gear Solid 2 added gameplay aspects
- Certain changes in certain cut-scenes
Classic games can get remade well, in my mind The Twin Snakes proves it but as further proof the Resident Evil remake proves it 5 times over, and a lot of the time they SHOULD - if classic games get remade retaining all what made them classics except getting a new lick of paint to make them fit in with the current gaming age then they are just being the games they should have been if the technology was available at the time.
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So, Classic games are just better
Collectively, I have made 3 points about classic games, 1) If modern games are made as classics were, they work so much better than trying to change them for no apparent reason than to appease an audience that didn't ask for those changes (and the mass active campaigning done by the Americans shows that people want the classic games), 2) Classic games are classic for a reason and 3) If classic games retain all what made them great but just get a graphical overhaul they can be nigh on perfect.
So anyways, until next time - that's all folks!
