Have you ever looked back fondly at games from your childhood and thought “I bet that game is still great today”? Fortunately, that is the case for many games, but things are not always so perfect.
Some games that might have been gems in yesteryear are simply brutal to play in today’s gaming age. Whether it be rough graphics, clunky gameplay, terrible writing, or abysmal voice acting, plenty of issues that used to be overlooked can now be key pieces that make a game unplayable.
DualShockers Definitives: Best Games On Each Platform
Each modern console delivers a unique experience for gamers. Here are the best games the PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S have to offer.
It doesn’t take away from their greatness, as quite literally everything is a product of its time, but that doesn’t stop us from removing those rosy shades to shine a critical eye on games that are tough to play today.
10Goldeneye 007
Shaken Not Stirred
GoldenEye 007
This one hurts to write because when it came out in 1997,Goldeneye 007was not only one of the best games of the year, but also a genuinely ground-breaking game thatpretty much introduced the world to the3D first-person shooter.
The faithfulness to the hit movie and the likeness of the actors for each character was something we hadn’t really been seen in a game before, and it was a visual treat on all fronts.
The multiplayer mode made for an incredible time as well, and it’s still fondly remembered as a game people could whip out at a party today to draw a crowd. But sadly, it’s a game that, due to poor controls and dated graphics, which is hard to stomach today.
Goldeneye 007’s Sniper Rifle Is Truly The Worst Gun Ever
… and now thx re-released version has reminded me.
9Duke Nukem 64
It Was Acceptable in the 90’s
Duke Nukem 3D
Where do we start? Whether it’s the brutal FPS mechanics, or the character of Duke himself, it is a different world playing this game today compared to when it was released in 1997.
Much likeGoldeneye,Duke Nukemwas an absolute phenomenon when it first came out, with kids and adults alike loving this uber-mature take on the FPS genre.
However, that same ‘mature’ content is the main issue today.Nonstop sex jokes and offensive jokes with zero wit behind them make playing through this today a chore, to say the least.
Essentially aDoomclone,Duke Nukemtook that formula and added almost nothing new while lacking the charm that madeDoomsuch an iconic series that is still going strong today.
Duke Nukemtried to forge a comeback withDuke Nukem Forever, but it flopped legendarily. This showed that nobody cared for this relic of a bygone gaming age anymore, and the character died along with it.
8Legend of Dragoon
Epic But Repetitive
Legend of Dragoon
Unfortunately forLegend of Dragoon, it earns the rather unlucky accolade of appearing on this list, but it is certainly not aloneas far as JRPGS go, which you’ll see in just a moment.
This game was one of the few non-Square titles of the late 90s that managed to hit the big time, and honestly, is still a firm favorite of mine. However, going back to it recently has been a bumpy ride.
The game’s pace, storytelling, and atmosphere have stood the test of time,but the combat system has not.
While it was innovative at the time, the repetition of the same combos over and over gets old so fast, and, unfortunately, you’re stuck doing that for hours and hours before the more interesting ones get unlocked. Which is further stifled by the endless stream of random encounters.
Legend of Dragoon’s Death Scene Still Haunts Me
An end isn’t devoid of meaning
Luckily, you can play it on the PS Network, which offers quality-of-life additions like quick saves and graphic upgrades, so you will suffer less while playing it. But all in all, it’s not a game that has aged gracefully.
7The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Beats Oblivion By a Whisker
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
There will certainly be some who find this placement sacrilege, but we must call out things that deserve to be called out.
The combat inThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowindis something that just feels awful in the cold, harsh light of today’s modern gaming age. Fighting anything in this game is a war of attrition, and often, due to your own hubris, you’ll die and end up needing to endure the battle all over again.
The graphics are another point of contention. It’s not really fair to judge graphics from 2002 compared to games today, but even in its heyday, it wasn’t pulling up any trees visually, and today, it looks even worse.
There are certainly a handful of mods that can improve the experience these days, but playing this one in its vanilla state just doesn’t cut it anymore.
6Grand Theft Auto III
Back When GTA Was Finding Its Feet
Grand Theft Auto 3
WHERE TO PLAY
As arguably the most important title of the 2000s,Grand Theft Auto IIIhas aged poorly, and the ill-fated remaster many of us, myself included, have suffered through proves that.
This iteration was our first trip to Liberty City and threw us headfirst into a crime family narrative, but in truth, it’s a game that doesn’t succeed off the back of its narrative.
It was considered a success due to the innovative open-world format. However, now that almost every new AAA game has an open world setting, this one feels extremely dated,and tiny by comparison.
Plus, the rigid shooting mechanics and often boring, extremely linear missions aren’t nearly as engaging as those that would come later in the series. It’s a game we respect, as it’s the grandfather of open world games, and responsible for all the GTA titles that would come thereafter, but today, it’s a slog to say the least.
5Final Fantasy VII
Chunky Polygons Galore
Final Fantasy 7
As groundbreaking as it was at the time,returning to Midgar again for a nostalgic romp with Cloud and company isn’t quite what you would expect.
While the pre-rendered backgrounds still look good, the characters themselves are horrific box creatures without any discernible features, and they clash terribly against the pre-rendered, realistic backgrounds.
The combat is also ancient by today’s turn-based standards, offering the most simplistic, bare-bones system possible. The Materia menu does alleviate some of issues with the dull combat formula, but you’ll need to endure hours and hours of content just to gain access to this feature.
Again, there are mods to spruce all of this up, but in its plainest state,Final Fantasy VIIis just not that great to play anymore.
4Dragon Age: Origins
A Dated Origin Story
Dragon Age: Origins
Despite being hailed as a classic of the RPG genre, the start of Bioware’s fantasy franchise doesn’t hold up years later.
When it came out, it was definitely not the most high-fidelity offering on the market, but that was masked by the deep choice and consequence system, and the fast-paced, MMO-style combat was deep and tactical.
Today, though, the graphics are positively hideous, resembling something from the early PS2 era rather than the Xbox 360/PS3 era it actually released in.
However, even if you’re able to look past the dated graphics, combat is where things really fall apart, especially on the console front.
Despite being ahead of its time in the late 2000’s, the combat system today is rather dull and repetitive, and as the game progresses, players will find very little is done to spice up the action and keep things fresh.
With comparably superior MMO combat, such as that found inFinal Fantasy 14out there, playing throughDragon Age: Originstoday just isn’t all that fun. But we are hopeful thatDragon Age: Veilguardcan serve as a return to form for the series.
3Dark Souls
Respected, But Dated
Dark Souls
Back in 2011,Dark Soulschanged the gaming world as we know it. The brutal difficulty, dread-filled world, and wildly challenging boss battles have been used as a blueprint for Souls success ever since. However, the succession of amazing Souls games have far surpassed their ancestor and it makes returning to the original Dark Souls a hard pill to swallow.
The combat is slow and cumbersome, and the lack of unique movesets, items, build variety, and versatility is very noticeable, especially compared to the combat brilliance in games likeDark Souls 3,Elden Ring, andLies of P.The combat just feels janky and basic by comparison.
There will always be love for the first in this legendary series, but it has aged significantly in the past decade making Elden Ring a much better place to begin your Souls journey than the actual first game in the franchise.
2Fallout: New Vegas
The Game Was Rigged From The Start
Fallout: New Vegas
Many callFallout: New Vegasthe best game in the series, but those people likely haven’t played the game in the past few years.
When it was released, it was not the prettiest game by any margin, but it was anin-depth RPG with loads of dialogue choices, paths to take, characters to befriend or betray, and countless side quests to unlock that made the journey well worth it despite the clear drawbacks.
But this success was almost in spite of itself, as this game was made withinFallout 3’salready dated engine, and within a very tight development window. So, really, it had no right to be as good as it was.
However, these issues are much harder to overlook now, with laughable issues like save files that get bigger the longer you play, leading to imminent crashes, and an endless string of bugs that come part and parcel with any Bethesda-endorsed product.
If you thoughtFallout 4felt behind the times, you need to try this one again. It’s still perhaps the most coherent Fallout RPG in terms of writing and RPG systems, but the gameplay itself is brutal by today’s standards.
1Resident Evil
A Very Stale Jill Sandwich These Days
Resident Evil
How far have horror games come? You only need to look at the originalResident Evilto find your answer. Theessential birth of the horror genrein gaming is looked back on fondly for its impact on the gaming world, but getting up close and personal with this one is as ugly as the zombies that feature in this horror classic.
First, the controls are laughable even by early 2000s standards, and doing something as simple as readying a gun in the right direction is an exercise in futility. This is somewhat intentional to add tension and panic, but it’s a fine line that this game doesn’t necessarily walk perfectly.
Plus, you have the voice-acting, which was notoriously bad when first released, and maintains its B-movie vibe today. Some people find it charming, but plenty, including myself, find that it lowers the overall quality even further.
There is an ancient beauty to be found in the originalResident Evil, but it’s not for the faint of heart, as the most scary thing about this one, is how it has deteriorated so rapidly.
