Hot take - everyone is hitting on nostalgia, but personally I think there’s more to it than just that.
Low-res games invite the player to use their imagination, something that gets lost in the pursuit of hyper-realism.
Unlike most modern AAA games, games like Stardew Valley, Minecraft, or BOTW/TOTK invite the player to use their creativity - not just in problem solving, but also in how they view the world.
This was just an inherent feature of older games, due to the limitations of technology, but now it’s a luxury in a world that’s increasingly trying to script or control how you think and interact at every turn.
That’s definitely a significant bit of it for me too.
I remember a while ago coming across a YouTube video on how racing games have become less interesting, as graphical fidelity has reached a point where it’s actually harder to distinguish what’s going on, and differentiating between backgrounds and obstacles.
Additionally, game worlds were smaller and easier to memorise back then. I can still navigate GTA3’s Liberty City as well as Vice City largely from memory - but there’s no chance I could do the same for GTA6 when it releases.
The other last benefit of older titles is getting to experience everything without missing out due to inaccessible DLCs, battle passes and whatnot.
I played diablo 2 remastered and it has incredibly beautiful graphics to the point I can’t tell what am I looking at. I was sneaking in a dungeon of sorts and there was si much clutter I wasn’t able to tell there was an gored corpse in the middle of the room. There’s just too much clutter
Hot take - everyone is hitting on nostalgia, but personally I think there’s more to it than just that.
Low-res games invite the player to use their imagination, something that gets lost in the pursuit of hyper-realism.
Unlike most modern AAA games, games like Stardew Valley, Minecraft, or BOTW/TOTK invite the player to use their creativity - not just in problem solving, but also in how they view the world.
This was just an inherent feature of older games, due to the limitations of technology, but now it’s a luxury in a world that’s increasingly trying to script or control how you think and interact at every turn.
That’s definitely a significant bit of it for me too.
I remember a while ago coming across a YouTube video on how racing games have become less interesting, as graphical fidelity has reached a point where it’s actually harder to distinguish what’s going on, and differentiating between backgrounds and obstacles.
Additionally, game worlds were smaller and easier to memorise back then. I can still navigate GTA3’s Liberty City as well as Vice City largely from memory - but there’s no chance I could do the same for GTA6 when it releases.
The other last benefit of older titles is getting to experience everything without missing out due to inaccessible DLCs, battle passes and whatnot.
I played diablo 2 remastered and it has incredibly beautiful graphics to the point I can’t tell what am I looking at. I was sneaking in a dungeon of sorts and there was si much clutter I wasn’t able to tell there was an gored corpse in the middle of the room. There’s just too much clutter