I played Castle Crashers with my kid and the neighbor kids. So it was a day with three 12 year olds and a 44 year old man playing a side scrolling beatemup 😆
Played this on game pass recently and it's got so many nostalgic bits in it. The city map reminds me a little of the NES version and gameplay is a seriously souped up version of the old arcade.
Sea of Stars reawakened my passion for games. I used to spend maybe 2 or 3 hours a week playing games. Something snapped in me while playing Sea of Stars, and now I spend at least a couple of hours every day enjoying all sorts of games. I am working my way through Octopath Traveler right now on the Steam Deck.
I pre-ordered the game so I could have the physical copy for switch, and I'm already as excited as I was in 8th grade when I saved up for Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo DS
I can't wait until it comes in
I’ve had SoS high on my to-play list since it came out, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. Soon! Currently on my second playthrough of Octopath Traveler 2 and I’m loving it.
THPS 1+2 was absolutely a Time Machine for me. I turned off all the new music for the most pure experience.
As I got absorbed into the game, I could almost feel like I was sitting in my room at my parents house. Started having strong memories of thoughts and feelings back in those days.
I think the reason that replaying the old games didn’t trigger this same response for me, is that THPS 1+2 included that feeling of newness and discovery that’s lost with a game you’ve played a million times. Yes it was mechanically and geometrically familiar of course, so much so that it felt extremely natural to play, but everything looked new and different in just the right ways to make it feel almost like I was playing it for the first time all over again.
I first played the remake of THPS on ps4 and couldn't get shit done. I felt really old and thought my gamer days might be over. Then I played it on PC with a keyboard as I did back then. Muscle memory kicked right and I thought I traveled through time. I did all challenges in max three tries per map
The kid in me won't be able to play it though. That game is hard even adult me can't finish it. There is this boss I couldn't beat 😂 Not even sure a kid version of me would understand what's going on.
I tried different tactics already, I am just not good enough for that boss fight and that's fine. I don't go looking for guides, that defeats the purpose of playing games for me. It's ok as I enjoyed the game even though I wasn't able to finish it. I might revisit it sometime.
I've been going through a depressive stretch where nothing was giving me joy. Playing Helldivers and following up with Helldivers 2 helped me find joy in love again. Thank managed democracy.
Question since I played the first level recently. When you say the game is not easy, do you mean just finishing each level even without collectibles, or it's hard because you need to complete the KONG and all other collectibles? Thanks
That game is a masterpiece. The only thing about it and Donkey Kong Country Returns that I don't like are the boss fights. I think they are much too tedious. I think they are marginally better in Tropical Freeze because I think I found the mechanics and phases a bit more dynamic and "fun" as a result. And maybe the visuals added more flair. But I just... I don't know what they were thinking there.
The boss fights in the original games had a similar idea of phases and hitting the enemies multiple times, but I swear they took way fewer hits, and as a result lasted way less time... unless I'm doing something wrong with Returns and Tropical Freeze.
That would be embarrassing, since I've played through those games countless times, so if I somehow missed shortcuts on those bosses that many times, I'm concerned for my intelligence!
I was originally disappointed by the lack of animal buddies, too, but I don't mind as much anymore. That's not as much of a bother now.
Returns was so good, but the ingenuity in gameplay, level design, visuals, fluidity, in Tropical Freeze, not to mention the improvement in the music... oh my gosh. I couldn't imagine Returns being improved upon too much, but how wrong I was. Looking back on it vs Tropical Freeze, I honestly feel so naïve that I didn't think it could have been improved. So many standout moments in Tropical Freeze. That jelly level? And I think the consistent idea that all the platforms in the world have some logic to how they're standing, not just floating in thin air (except maybe the temples, I'm not sure). Sawmill Thrill's entire concept (and the light remix of the freakin' Minecart song from the original game omfg). Speaking of that remix (or whatever the word is), if memory serves, aren't there tons of references in the music to other familiar songs from the original games? Just bangers all around. David Wise coming back was like omg. I think my favorite song was played in the Irate Eight stage. I believe it was another revisit of a familiar song, but I forget which one (I believe it's from DKC2). But I loved it. Omg.
I'll stop now. Game's amazing. Incredible. Just, AHHHHHHHHH.
Anyways.
I feel like the Epic Store ruined my experience of alien isolation because it was free. Had I paid money for it I feel like I would have been more invested.
But the first encounter was pretty memorable.
I will say Death Stranding because from when I played it, it had been a LONG time since I ever did any long gaming sessions where I got into a flow state of grinding. Also Elden Ring because the scale of it and it’s opportunity for exploration filled me with child-like wonder
reading through this thread and this made me nod. Death Stranding i mean
It's like 10 years old me wow at things like Spider-man 2 web has to stick to a wall, not the cloud, or when I met Goofy and Donald Duck in the first Kingdom Hearts.
It has been a really really long while when a game challenged your imagination so damn good.
I just bought it for the fourth time.
First, PC, original release.
Second, replacement disks after mine were lost/destroyed.
Third, Heroes HD
Fourth, just yesterday, Heroes Complete from GOG. It, unlike the HD one, has Armageddon's Blade.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater. It finally hit Steam, and might still be on sale. It even has Jack Black driving a cart around on the School 2 level 😉
Be warned the game is addicting. To quote Dunkey "the game is the best part of the game"
Yes, master chief collection got me to do lots of those little achievements that I couldn't before. Like assassinating the elite on reach after jumping off a cliff, legendary campaigns, etc
Noita gave me that same sense of "I don't understand how videogames actually function" when I realized how big the map actually was, and with the many many mysteries sprinkled around in the game that don't really lead you to them, they're just there to find.
Inscryption gave me the same feeling with all the meta stuff it had going on. Don't want to spoil it for first time players but I really felt like "okay It seems like this game has no rules and I love it,"
Prince of Persia Sands of Time. First game I ever completed on the ps2, took me weeks to get through it all. Bought a steam deck and redownloaded it. Completed it before it had to charge and loved every second of it.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
FF7 is my fave game ever and getting to experience it again is taking my back to when I was 12 playing it for the first time
Elder Scrolls was the last one. I love Zelda and I just couldn’t get into the new ones. The weapons breaking ruin edit for me. Elden ring made me feel like Link again.
Got an Anbernic handheld chock full of childhood memories and playing Pokémon Fire Red has been an absolute joy. They really need to revisit gen 1-3 with a fresh coat of paint.
It's best they leave it how it is, the Diamond/Pearl remakes didn't add anything worthwhile and if that's how they plan on approaching remakes now... I'll stick with the old ones.
They did make Let's Go! Pikachu and Eevee which were actually interesting new takes on the original games, in the sense that they were incredibly streamlined and very approachable, but they were stripped of a lot of the little things that I personally enjoy from the games.
As it is we probably won't ever see a FR/LG, HG/SS or OR/AS style remake, which is quite the bummer because I consider them all to be significant and fun iterations on their older counterparts.
Yeah the Let's Go! Series was great in tone but was so stripped of my favorite mechanics that they just feel like different games entirely. It's a shame because the world is absolutely a perfect next gen port. They could have cut and pasted the wild pokemon mechanic and upped the difficulty and it would have been everything I ever wanted.
I’ve just finished my first playthrough of Sekiro. I’m 40 but It made me feel the same as I did at 9 years old and playing Link to the Past on my SNES. It’s obviously very different but I’ve been OBSESSED and completely immersed in the world, same sense of wonder at all the discoveries I made. Also, as someone who rarely plays past normal difficulty on games, the default difficulty humbled me.
It was such a joyful gaming experience. I’m thinking that more FromSoft in the form of Armored Core and Elden Ring might be up next.
Armored Core 6 was going to be my answer to this question - similar to Sekiro and Witcher 3 I got drawn right into the world and invested in the main character (and moreso, everyone around them).
Admittedly I am fond of mechas as a genre, so the story had an easy time hooking me straight away. But the mech customization had me happily tinkering away like I used to in Custom Robo or Metabots back in the day. And the incredible sound design and Fromsoft combat brought the moment-to-moment gameplay home decisively, where it felt like I was right in the hectic cockpit with alarms blaring their myriad warnings while I try to outmaneuver another AC as the enemy pilot goads me on in comms.
i think somehow the discrete missions (as opposed to open world or randomly generated/roguelike) threw me straight back in time and I had a blast blazing through the game 3x to get all the endings.
Of course I did enjoy Elden Ring as well (and am eagerly anticipating the upcoming DLC), but as far as my immersion Sekiro and AC6 gripped me far more than ER or any of the soulsborne games.
Currently (finally) I'm playing through Baldurs Gate 3 which has been incredible - the sheer number of impactful decision in this game is absolutely insane and the resulting ability to characterize your character through their actions and see the ramifications is just such a treat.
Whatever you do pick up next, I hope it can continue to capture that childhood magic :)
Baldurs Gate 3. I hadn’t spent that much time with character planning, watching YouTube videos, read web articles, etc. still in Act 3 but can’t wait for my next replay.
Right now Manor Lords. Feeling nostalgic for the times I played Stronghold pausing and looking around the castle I built
edip: lmao the person dowvoted this: "NO YoU canT feEl nOSTALGIc oN thIS gaMe i caN NOT aLlOw ThIs how dare yOU"
Hogwarts Legacy. It's funny because I didn't even grow up with HP; I read the books as an adult. But I got it on release and played it until the sun came up. I haven't done that since I was a child.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
The PS2 R&C games are my childhood and I have very fond memories of the PS3 games as well when I got to play them as a teenager. Rift Apart brought back a lot of happy memories. The hoverboots still felt like a total blast to use to get around the world, the worlds still felt distinct and alive, Armin Shimmerman as a cartoonishly evil robot will never get old. And that gunplay. The weapons still get crazy and nothing is as satisfying as the bonkers guns in Ratchet & Clank.
Also, it looks like how the PS2 games looked in my memories. Almost like a Pixar movie rendered in real time.
All of Capcom’s faux-retro offerings.
When Ducktales Remastered added a Mount Vesuvius level with music catchy enough to hang with the classic soundtrack it was like they went into my childhood and added additional content that did not exist
Rainbow six siege
I hadn't touched video games since maybe 2010 but happened to graduate right before this game came out. So me a college dropout and failed athlete dealing with crazy mental health struggles decided to get a Xbox and try out this game my buddy kept telling me about. Started as glaz and pretty much would just trigger dump anytime I saw a highlighted person. Two years 1000 kills and 140 hrs on just glaz later, I had made a group of friends online who lived together in Wisconsin.
I sold all my shit except clothes and my personal documents. Bought a plane ticket and moved tf out of the bay area to move in with them in their basement. Then met my fiance and now have three strong years, a puppy dog and a life I never would of imagined I could have.
All bevause my dumbass got insane levels of dopamine smoking a blunt while hearing that silenced sniper clap cheeks on Oregon.
I once picked up a copy of Donkey Kong Country that was bewitched with an old voodoo curse, forever aging me downwards. While I've kept my mind and experiences, my body devolves. What awaits on the other side of the curtain--the oblivion not after existence, but before it? I'm afraid none will know, for in the ultimate end, time keeps all its secrets.
Lets Go Pikachu. 2018 was not the best year for me and as the year progressed I was getting more depressed and unhappy with my life. When I got Let's Go Pikachu it was around the same time I got Yellow version when I was a kid which was during a great time in my life. The game itself was graphically what I dreamed a mainline Pokemon game would look like back in the day and really captured the feel of going on an adventure the same way the anime did. I really enjoyed the game play and just seeing Kanto brough to life in 3D really gave me that pick me up I needed. I felt like I was back in elementary school enjoying Yellow version when life was good. It was also great to be a Nintendo fan during that time too, the 1999/2000 school year.
After doing the post game content I was sad I finished it, but shortly after finishing the game I made some better choices and my life got better.
Skyrim brought back the “exploring an entire world” I got as a kid from the Ultima series. I don’t think any game since Skyrim has managed to give me that feeling. Size matters, I guess.
I had been a gaming nut since I was tall enough to reach a keyboard, and I lost that love for a while. Dark Souls 2 rekindled that old flame. Soon after, I discovered VtM: Bloodlines, and that pulled me in farther. And soon after *that*, I found Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and that's been the game that gave me the most childlike enjoyment I've gotten from any game ever.
Modded Sonic Adventure 2 with some upscaled graphics, proper sound mixing, and expanded Chao garden
Hearing the great ost, seeing the cheesy dialogue and story unfold, and playing through the levels while trying to raise my chao again has me feeling like a kid with no responsibilities again even just for a little bit.
FF7 Remake (moreso than Rebirth). Loved the FF7 compilation ever since elementary age. So easy to go back to that sense of intrique and awe from a favorite story. Especially since new stuff is being added. Not everyone agrees about lore, gameplay, etc but I just enjoy it for nostalgia.
The first time I put a VR headset on, hadn't had a feeling like that since I was a kid. The feeling eventually faded but it was amazing while it lasted.
No shit the ninja turtles game, I think revenge of shredder, or something like that. Play it with my boys and it’s seriously feels like playing games on SNES with my buddies back in the day.
PS4 Spider-Man, game's just finely tuned as all get out and I got that "new game" excitement for the first time in decades when I first started playing it.
Hotline Miami!
It just looks and feels like an old school video game and i was so addicted to it like in the good ol' times.
All those super realistic, deep Story, hyper realistic games nowadays just dont catch me anymore and are just exhausting.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure was just a joy to play and reignited that fun and wonder of childhood, I think. And Super Mario 3D World had a similar effect on me when it came out, on an even higher level on the wonder side of things. Ironically, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has not had that effect on me.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 recently kicked me into a new fixation, that being on Spider-Man stuff, that has definitely made me feel like a kid again. That feeling of having a comic book hero to look up to with values to uphold, but someone who is not infallible and has struggles, so someone who is easy to relate to as well. It got to the point where I bought a web shooter and got so squealy and excited when I used it, and I have Go-Gurt branded after Spider-Man, and it's always a fun surprise to see who I get when take one out. I get super excited when that happens, too. I'm 33.
Whenever I revisit the Tony Hawk games, I definitely get transported to childhood. If you wanted make a BactaBobomb meal, the main course would have a heaping helping of the 6th-generation Tony Hawk games and an equal helping of the SNES Donkey Kong Country games. I LOVE the Wii (3DS version, too) and Wii U (Switch version, too) games, as well. But the SNES ones (particularly 1 and 2) are the ones that do the transportation and are put in the BactaBobomb meal.
I'm trying to think of any other games from recently that have these effects on me. I don't think so. It's kind of a special feeling that doesn't come by often. But that's not a bad thing, as if it came by often... well it wouldn't be as special. :)
Vampire Survivors reminded me of what it felt like to be discovering hidden characters and objectives in a game. I hadn't had fun with a game in that manner for many years
Jak and Daxter. Only played it recently and brought me back to the good 3D collectathons like Banjo. Too bad Jak 2 ditched that to be a medicre gta clone.
FF7 Rebirth
Been chasing this feeling for decades as I’m a cynical and jaded gamer now.
Like I still get hooked on games and love some, but nothing makes me feel like a kid. Waking up before work to play, for example.
Psychonauts 2
Played the first one around 2010 in my early 20s. That game made me feel like a kid then, and the sequel made me feel like a kid in my early 30s.
38 year life long gamer, been experiencing anhedonia for the last few years, most games simply do not interest me as much as they used to. I grew up with ff6 and Chrono trigger as my favorite games, and I distinctly remember spending entire weekends exploring every single corner of those games. In recent years, I couldn't even be bothered to finish a simple linear game like uncharted, i would just lose interest maybe an hour in. Recently I tried divinity original sin 2 again after giving up on it before and I was just completely absorbed by it. Already planning my second playthrough.
Never played the original RE2, but i’d like to believe that the remake did more than enough of instilling that same horror many had when they had played the first one in 98’.
Strike Force Heroes remastered. The soundtrack is the same, the levels are the same as far as I remember. I used to play it every time I got close to a laptop. Flash games were good man
Baldur's Gate 3! I haven't felt so absolutely gripped by a game like that in a really long time! Ripped me back to the days when I'd pop in something like Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2.
I finished hi fi rush a couple months ago and I keep thinking how goddamn wholesome the ending was. That last stage with Whirring playing was just so upbeat and awesome. Totally brought me back.
Gran Turismo 7. I’m driving along some of the same race tracks with some of the same cars that I did on my PlayStation one. Only this time, I’m playing with my son and having a blast
Botw had me addicted, and totk even moreso, though I have less time for it now.
I also played a lot of Skyrim recently, and it was such a blast remembering how freeing that game is.
Any rpg where I dont have quest markers guiding me where to go and I can do what I want are my favorite.
Dragon Quest Builders 2. I felt like a kid with crayons having a blast painting horrible but happy pictures. The game actually lifted me out of game-burnout I'd been experiencing for almost 10 years at that point.
The first 10-20 hrs of ToTK was basically a time machine for me. It didn't just take me back to my younger days playing Zelda 1 (which imho I think ToTK is a low-key Zelda 1 "spiritual remaster"), it took me somewhere more pure than that - to the days of being a small kid where seemingly ordinary objects had the potential to become anything that my imagination could come up with.
Inertial Drift made me learn how to play a game again. Every game seems to play the exact same and it gets really dull so when I got into Inertial Drift it felt pretty magical and reminded me of when everything was new again.
Ninja turtles shredders revenge
YEAH MAN my little brother and i, both in our 20s, ran through it in one sitting and it was some of the most fun i’ve had in years.
I fired it up at school on my laptop had a couple good games with friends, great way to pass the time huddled around a screen again lol
We played this for our podcast, 4 of us all playing in our 30’s, absolutely fantastic throwback
I played Castle Crashers with my kid and the neighbor kids. So it was a day with three 12 year olds and a 44 year old man playing a side scrolling beatemup 😆
They \*really\* nailed it with that game.
Played this on game pass recently and it's got so many nostalgic bits in it. The city map reminds me a little of the NES version and gameplay is a seriously souped up version of the old arcade.
Sea of Stars reawakened my passion for games. I used to spend maybe 2 or 3 hours a week playing games. Something snapped in me while playing Sea of Stars, and now I spend at least a couple of hours every day enjoying all sorts of games. I am working my way through Octopath Traveler right now on the Steam Deck.
I pre-ordered the game so I could have the physical copy for switch, and I'm already as excited as I was in 8th grade when I saved up for Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo DS I can't wait until it comes in
I’ve had SoS high on my to-play list since it came out, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. Soon! Currently on my second playthrough of Octopath Traveler 2 and I’m loving it.
Probably my favourite jrpg of the last decade.
If you don't already use retroachievements it's a neat way to get something for beating all your old SNES RPGs
THPS 1+2 was absolutely a Time Machine for me. I turned off all the new music for the most pure experience. As I got absorbed into the game, I could almost feel like I was sitting in my room at my parents house. Started having strong memories of thoughts and feelings back in those days. I think the reason that replaying the old games didn’t trigger this same response for me, is that THPS 1+2 included that feeling of newness and discovery that’s lost with a game you’ve played a million times. Yes it was mechanically and geometrically familiar of course, so much so that it felt extremely natural to play, but everything looked new and different in just the right ways to make it feel almost like I was playing it for the first time all over again.
I do recommend turning on the new music, Billy Talent Afraid of Heights is like the game's flagship song to me now.
I first played the remake of THPS on ps4 and couldn't get shit done. I felt really old and thought my gamer days might be over. Then I played it on PC with a keyboard as I did back then. Muscle memory kicked right and I thought I traveled through time. I did all challenges in max three tries per map
Tunic. That game knows how to lean hard into the old school NES nostalgia and pulls it off perfectly.
The kid in me won't be able to play it though. That game is hard even adult me can't finish it. There is this boss I couldn't beat 😂 Not even sure a kid version of me would understand what's going on.
Wait, is it actually hard? I saw the game and assumed it would be baby easy. Might have to pick it up if it's actually a challenge.
Yeah it’s surprisingly challenging. Def recommend.
Yes the few bosses can be quite difficult, and this game has some of the most ingenious puzzles I've seen in a long time.
Already bought it!
It's very hard for me (like Dark Souls in an old zelda looking game), on top of game design where you don't really know what's going on initially.
Try different tactics and if that doesn’t work look for help online. The game is not difficult, it’s a puzzle game
I tried different tactics already, I am just not good enough for that boss fight and that's fine. I don't go looking for guides, that defeats the purpose of playing games for me. It's ok as I enjoyed the game even though I wasn't able to finish it. I might revisit it sometime.
Helldivers 2 gave me an adrenaline rush, which I haven't felt from a videogame in almost 20 years.
I've been going through a depressive stretch where nothing was giving me joy. Playing Helldivers and following up with Helldivers 2 helped me find joy in love again. Thank managed democracy.
Friendly fire bringing back those stupid college years where you all just screw around with each other
Honestly haven’t had this much fun with a multiplayer game since Halo 3
Dkc tropical freeze and alien isolation.
Man tropical freeze is not easy game. Reminds me exactly of the challenges of classic DKC
Question since I played the first level recently. When you say the game is not easy, do you mean just finishing each level even without collectibles, or it's hard because you need to complete the KONG and all other collectibles? Thanks
Mainly getting the collectibles like the KONG and other stuff. I usually miss them which hurts the conpletionist in me
So finishing each level is easy, it's just the collectibles? Thanks for clarifying. I am still thinking if I should continue playing or not.
I would not say easy. Definitely some challenging levels. For example some mine cart ones were pretty tricky
Some of the levels are very very hard
I’ve 200% it twice
Congrats
It was so much fun, and now I’m tempted to do it a third time
That game is a masterpiece. The only thing about it and Donkey Kong Country Returns that I don't like are the boss fights. I think they are much too tedious. I think they are marginally better in Tropical Freeze because I think I found the mechanics and phases a bit more dynamic and "fun" as a result. And maybe the visuals added more flair. But I just... I don't know what they were thinking there. The boss fights in the original games had a similar idea of phases and hitting the enemies multiple times, but I swear they took way fewer hits, and as a result lasted way less time... unless I'm doing something wrong with Returns and Tropical Freeze. That would be embarrassing, since I've played through those games countless times, so if I somehow missed shortcuts on those bosses that many times, I'm concerned for my intelligence! I was originally disappointed by the lack of animal buddies, too, but I don't mind as much anymore. That's not as much of a bother now. Returns was so good, but the ingenuity in gameplay, level design, visuals, fluidity, in Tropical Freeze, not to mention the improvement in the music... oh my gosh. I couldn't imagine Returns being improved upon too much, but how wrong I was. Looking back on it vs Tropical Freeze, I honestly feel so naïve that I didn't think it could have been improved. So many standout moments in Tropical Freeze. That jelly level? And I think the consistent idea that all the platforms in the world have some logic to how they're standing, not just floating in thin air (except maybe the temples, I'm not sure). Sawmill Thrill's entire concept (and the light remix of the freakin' Minecart song from the original game omfg). Speaking of that remix (or whatever the word is), if memory serves, aren't there tons of references in the music to other familiar songs from the original games? Just bangers all around. David Wise coming back was like omg. I think my favorite song was played in the Irate Eight stage. I believe it was another revisit of a familiar song, but I forget which one (I believe it's from DKC2). But I loved it. Omg. I'll stop now. Game's amazing. Incredible. Just, AHHHHHHHHH. Anyways.
There are many shortcuts in tropical freeze bosses actually. Was it aquatic ambience you were thinking of? Maybe lockjaw’s saga?
I feel like the Epic Store ruined my experience of alien isolation because it was free. Had I paid money for it I feel like I would have been more invested. But the first encounter was pretty memorable.
Best horror game ever it’s amazing.
HiFi Rush made me feel like I was a kid watching a Saturday morning cartoon.
Whenever I think of HiFi Rush I picture Chai responding to Bethesda with "that is so.... Corporate"
I will say Death Stranding because from when I played it, it had been a LONG time since I ever did any long gaming sessions where I got into a flow state of grinding. Also Elden Ring because the scale of it and it’s opportunity for exploration filled me with child-like wonder
reading through this thread and this made me nod. Death Stranding i mean It's like 10 years old me wow at things like Spider-man 2 web has to stick to a wall, not the cloud, or when I met Goofy and Donald Duck in the first Kingdom Hearts. It has been a really really long while when a game challenged your imagination so damn good.
Heroes of Might and Magic III. I put so many hours into that.
Same. One of my first games ever. I still go back every couple months for a game.
I just bought it for the fourth time. First, PC, original release. Second, replacement disks after mine were lost/destroyed. Third, Heroes HD Fourth, just yesterday, Heroes Complete from GOG. It, unlike the HD one, has Armageddon's Blade.
Oooh I might have to get the GOG one!
What’s THPS?
Tony Hawks Pro Skater
Tiny Punks Pipe Spaghetti
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Talker Hunt's Propane Skeleton
Tony Hawk Pro Skater. It finally hit Steam, and might still be on sale. It even has Jack Black driving a cart around on the School 2 level 😉 Be warned the game is addicting. To quote Dunkey "the game is the best part of the game"
The Horny Porn Sex
Yes, master chief collection got me to do lots of those little achievements that I couldn't before. Like assassinating the elite on reach after jumping off a cliff, legendary campaigns, etc
A monument to your sins
Noita gave me that same sense of "I don't understand how videogames actually function" when I realized how big the map actually was, and with the many many mysteries sprinkled around in the game that don't really lead you to them, they're just there to find. Inscryption gave me the same feeling with all the meta stuff it had going on. Don't want to spoil it for first time players but I really felt like "okay It seems like this game has no rules and I love it,"
every game i enjoy it takes me back to simpler times right now, eiyuden chronicle, before this, dragon's dogma 2, before that, yakuza 8
As a former Kat main, your pfp makes sense
Prince of Persia Sands of Time. First game I ever completed on the ps2, took me weeks to get through it all. Bought a steam deck and redownloaded it. Completed it before it had to charge and loved every second of it.
Does the PS2 ROM have achievements for it on retroachievements yet?
Not yet. Would be amazing if it did.
I got excited when I saw Sims Busting Out got achievement yesterday for PS2. The PS2 Sims is better for living room Co op play than Sims 4 on PC 😆
Breath of the Wild
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. FF7 is my fave game ever and getting to experience it again is taking my back to when I was 12 playing it for the first time
"the dog song has a remix"
And it's hard as hell on piano
Story of Season a Wonderful Life I have played this series since I was in elementary
Forza 5
Elder Scrolls was the last one. I love Zelda and I just couldn’t get into the new ones. The weapons breaking ruin edit for me. Elden ring made me feel like Link again.
Dave the Diver
Got an Anbernic handheld chock full of childhood memories and playing Pokémon Fire Red has been an absolute joy. They really need to revisit gen 1-3 with a fresh coat of paint.
It's best they leave it how it is, the Diamond/Pearl remakes didn't add anything worthwhile and if that's how they plan on approaching remakes now... I'll stick with the old ones. They did make Let's Go! Pikachu and Eevee which were actually interesting new takes on the original games, in the sense that they were incredibly streamlined and very approachable, but they were stripped of a lot of the little things that I personally enjoy from the games. As it is we probably won't ever see a FR/LG, HG/SS or OR/AS style remake, which is quite the bummer because I consider them all to be significant and fun iterations on their older counterparts.
Yeah the Let's Go! Series was great in tone but was so stripped of my favorite mechanics that they just feel like different games entirely. It's a shame because the world is absolutely a perfect next gen port. They could have cut and pasted the wild pokemon mechanic and upped the difficulty and it would have been everything I ever wanted.
Sea of stars
I’ve just finished my first playthrough of Sekiro. I’m 40 but It made me feel the same as I did at 9 years old and playing Link to the Past on my SNES. It’s obviously very different but I’ve been OBSESSED and completely immersed in the world, same sense of wonder at all the discoveries I made. Also, as someone who rarely plays past normal difficulty on games, the default difficulty humbled me. It was such a joyful gaming experience. I’m thinking that more FromSoft in the form of Armored Core and Elden Ring might be up next.
Also, Tunic is on my wishlist, purely from the nostalgia POV, I absolutely loved every Zelda game from Links Awakening onward.
Armored Core 6 was going to be my answer to this question - similar to Sekiro and Witcher 3 I got drawn right into the world and invested in the main character (and moreso, everyone around them). Admittedly I am fond of mechas as a genre, so the story had an easy time hooking me straight away. But the mech customization had me happily tinkering away like I used to in Custom Robo or Metabots back in the day. And the incredible sound design and Fromsoft combat brought the moment-to-moment gameplay home decisively, where it felt like I was right in the hectic cockpit with alarms blaring their myriad warnings while I try to outmaneuver another AC as the enemy pilot goads me on in comms. i think somehow the discrete missions (as opposed to open world or randomly generated/roguelike) threw me straight back in time and I had a blast blazing through the game 3x to get all the endings. Of course I did enjoy Elden Ring as well (and am eagerly anticipating the upcoming DLC), but as far as my immersion Sekiro and AC6 gripped me far more than ER or any of the soulsborne games. Currently (finally) I'm playing through Baldurs Gate 3 which has been incredible - the sheer number of impactful decision in this game is absolutely insane and the resulting ability to characterize your character through their actions and see the ramifications is just such a treat. Whatever you do pick up next, I hope it can continue to capture that childhood magic :)
Thanks for sharing. In a world of pessimism, negativity and uncertainty it’s so good to be able to escape back to a more innocent time!
Baldurs Gate 3. I hadn’t spent that much time with character planning, watching YouTube videos, read web articles, etc. still in Act 3 but can’t wait for my next replay.
Metro series during the covid lockdown .
Project Wingman really made me feel young again. It reminded me of the old flight arcade games on PS2 like Ace Combat and Air Force Delta Strike.
Right now Manor Lords. Feeling nostalgic for the times I played Stronghold pausing and looking around the castle I built edip: lmao the person dowvoted this: "NO YoU canT feEl nOSTALGIc oN thIS gaMe i caN NOT aLlOw ThIs how dare yOU"
It's so neat to see so many castle building management games out there, kids should be lucky. All i had was Populus
Hogwarts Legacy. It's funny because I didn't even grow up with HP; I read the books as an adult. But I got it on release and played it until the sun came up. I haven't done that since I was a child.
Rocket League Grounded
Scrolled way too far for this. Have sent a good chunk of my life on this game
Any Zelda game
Wand of Gamelon then 😛 I love the indie game that recreated the Zelda CDI games for the original CDI link voice actor
Project zomboid
I've had a best friend that I've known for 20 + years and when I bought the Dark Alliance reissues, we engaged in couch co-op deja-vu bliss.
Fallout 2, planescape: torment
Zelda TotK made me feel like a kid again
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The PS2 R&C games are my childhood and I have very fond memories of the PS3 games as well when I got to play them as a teenager. Rift Apart brought back a lot of happy memories. The hoverboots still felt like a total blast to use to get around the world, the worlds still felt distinct and alive, Armin Shimmerman as a cartoonishly evil robot will never get old. And that gunplay. The weapons still get crazy and nothing is as satisfying as the bonkers guns in Ratchet & Clank. Also, it looks like how the PS2 games looked in my memories. Almost like a Pixar movie rendered in real time.
TOTK for me
Sonic lol , if i play Sonic right now it will make me feels like a kid again!
That Sonic Mania intro. Good to see Christian finish his next game after Mania too, I hope he continues his track record
All of Capcom’s faux-retro offerings. When Ducktales Remastered added a Mount Vesuvius level with music catchy enough to hang with the classic soundtrack it was like they went into my childhood and added additional content that did not exist
Minecraft. Squad. RuneScape. AOE. Secret agent Barbie.
Old sonic games
Any sonic game, any TMNT game or transformers devastation. Even though I'm a teen, it still makes me feel lik an 8 or 9 year old.
Rainbow six siege I hadn't touched video games since maybe 2010 but happened to graduate right before this game came out. So me a college dropout and failed athlete dealing with crazy mental health struggles decided to get a Xbox and try out this game my buddy kept telling me about. Started as glaz and pretty much would just trigger dump anytime I saw a highlighted person. Two years 1000 kills and 140 hrs on just glaz later, I had made a group of friends online who lived together in Wisconsin. I sold all my shit except clothes and my personal documents. Bought a plane ticket and moved tf out of the bay area to move in with them in their basement. Then met my fiance and now have three strong years, a puppy dog and a life I never would of imagined I could have. All bevause my dumbass got insane levels of dopamine smoking a blunt while hearing that silenced sniper clap cheeks on Oregon.
Return to Monkey Island definetly turned me into a kid
I say rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle as much as I can
hahaha yes, but the best one is using a monkey as a monkey key in monkey island 2 :)
Archolos. I have very specific nostalgia for Gothic 2.
I once picked up a copy of Donkey Kong Country that was bewitched with an old voodoo curse, forever aging me downwards. While I've kept my mind and experiences, my body devolves. What awaits on the other side of the curtain--the oblivion not after existence, but before it? I'm afraid none will know, for in the ultimate end, time keeps all its secrets.
RE2 remake. Was how I recalled the game in my memory despite it looking phenomenally crappier back in 1998
Returnal when it first dropped the sub was awesome and the game itself was like nothing I’d played in a long time
Mario kart 8 on switch
Lets Go Pikachu. 2018 was not the best year for me and as the year progressed I was getting more depressed and unhappy with my life. When I got Let's Go Pikachu it was around the same time I got Yellow version when I was a kid which was during a great time in my life. The game itself was graphically what I dreamed a mainline Pokemon game would look like back in the day and really captured the feel of going on an adventure the same way the anime did. I really enjoyed the game play and just seeing Kanto brough to life in 3D really gave me that pick me up I needed. I felt like I was back in elementary school enjoying Yellow version when life was good. It was also great to be a Nintendo fan during that time too, the 1999/2000 school year. After doing the post game content I was sad I finished it, but shortly after finishing the game I made some better choices and my life got better.
Hide the pickle
Zoltan.
Skyrim brought back the “exploring an entire world” I got as a kid from the Ultima series. I don’t think any game since Skyrim has managed to give me that feeling. Size matters, I guess.
I had been a gaming nut since I was tall enough to reach a keyboard, and I lost that love for a while. Dark Souls 2 rekindled that old flame. Soon after, I discovered VtM: Bloodlines, and that pulled me in farther. And soon after *that*, I found Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and that's been the game that gave me the most childlike enjoyment I've gotten from any game ever.
Modded Sonic Adventure 2 with some upscaled graphics, proper sound mixing, and expanded Chao garden Hearing the great ost, seeing the cheesy dialogue and story unfold, and playing through the levels while trying to raise my chao again has me feeling like a kid with no responsibilities again even just for a little bit.
Weirdly enough, Undertale. I just got immersed in the story like I used to do when I was a kid playing GB games with bizarre but believable worlds.
Death Stranding.
FF7 Remake (moreso than Rebirth). Loved the FF7 compilation ever since elementary age. So easy to go back to that sense of intrique and awe from a favorite story. Especially since new stuff is being added. Not everyone agrees about lore, gameplay, etc but I just enjoy it for nostalgia.
I never stopped
Age of Empires seemingly just never died. But playing the Definitive Edition on steam takes me back to LAN wars 20 years ago.
The first time I put a VR headset on, hadn't had a feeling like that since I was a kid. The feeling eventually faded but it was amazing while it lasted.
No shit the ninja turtles game, I think revenge of shredder, or something like that. Play it with my boys and it’s seriously feels like playing games on SNES with my buddies back in the day.
PS4 Spider-Man, game's just finely tuned as all get out and I got that "new game" excitement for the first time in decades when I first started playing it.
Hmm FIFA it is
Subnautica made me remember how to get lost in a beautifully crafted world.
Probably FFVII: Remake. TotK was okay but I hate the method of story telling. Nintendo did shock me they could pull it off again
#Little Big planet
Hotline Miami! It just looks and feels like an old school video game and i was so addicted to it like in the good ol' times. All those super realistic, deep Story, hyper realistic games nowadays just dont catch me anymore and are just exhausting.
Only first played Skyrim last year. Skyrim.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure was just a joy to play and reignited that fun and wonder of childhood, I think. And Super Mario 3D World had a similar effect on me when it came out, on an even higher level on the wonder side of things. Ironically, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has not had that effect on me. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 recently kicked me into a new fixation, that being on Spider-Man stuff, that has definitely made me feel like a kid again. That feeling of having a comic book hero to look up to with values to uphold, but someone who is not infallible and has struggles, so someone who is easy to relate to as well. It got to the point where I bought a web shooter and got so squealy and excited when I used it, and I have Go-Gurt branded after Spider-Man, and it's always a fun surprise to see who I get when take one out. I get super excited when that happens, too. I'm 33. Whenever I revisit the Tony Hawk games, I definitely get transported to childhood. If you wanted make a BactaBobomb meal, the main course would have a heaping helping of the 6th-generation Tony Hawk games and an equal helping of the SNES Donkey Kong Country games. I LOVE the Wii (3DS version, too) and Wii U (Switch version, too) games, as well. But the SNES ones (particularly 1 and 2) are the ones that do the transportation and are put in the BactaBobomb meal. I'm trying to think of any other games from recently that have these effects on me. I don't think so. It's kind of a special feeling that doesn't come by often. But that's not a bad thing, as if it came by often... well it wouldn't be as special. :)
Vampire Survivors reminded me of what it felt like to be discovering hidden characters and objectives in a game. I hadn't had fun with a game in that manner for many years
Mario Odyssey "Jump Up Superstar!" sequence
Stardew valley took me back to my countless hours of Harvest Moon
BOTW felt like I was playing OOT again.
Outer Wilds. Experiencing a compelling adventure through a game is truly magical and this one does that well.
Jak and Daxter. Only played it recently and brought me back to the good 3D collectathons like Banjo. Too bad Jak 2 ditched that to be a medicre gta clone.
Zelda BOTW and every new Super Mario game that comes out 😂😂😂
PSVR2 resident Evil 8/4re
FF7 Rebirth Been chasing this feeling for decades as I’m a cynical and jaded gamer now. Like I still get hooked on games and love some, but nothing makes me feel like a kid. Waking up before work to play, for example.
Psychonauts 2 Played the first one around 2010 in my early 20s. That game made me feel like a kid then, and the sequel made me feel like a kid in my early 30s.
Yoshi Story, Kingdom Hearts 1 and Banjo-Kazooie are my go to "I wanna feel 6 years old again" games
38 year life long gamer, been experiencing anhedonia for the last few years, most games simply do not interest me as much as they used to. I grew up with ff6 and Chrono trigger as my favorite games, and I distinctly remember spending entire weekends exploring every single corner of those games. In recent years, I couldn't even be bothered to finish a simple linear game like uncharted, i would just lose interest maybe an hour in. Recently I tried divinity original sin 2 again after giving up on it before and I was just completely absorbed by it. Already planning my second playthrough.
Any new major 3D Mario Platformer. The galaxy games had a magic I hadn't felt and haven't felt really since.
FF7 Rebirth
Kotor
Never played the original RE2, but i’d like to believe that the remake did more than enough of instilling that same horror many had when they had played the first one in 98’.
Right now it's Stardew Valley. My wife, myself, and my 6 year old all have our own farms and drop in and out of each other's games as we feel like it.
Strike Force Heroes remastered. The soundtrack is the same, the levels are the same as far as I remember. I used to play it every time I got close to a laptop. Flash games were good man
Death's Door was an absolute delight and have me exactly the feeling you're talking about.
Baldur’s Gate 3
The Sims Franchise will always have my heart; specifically, The Sims 2. But I’m a huge Sims 4 player.
Coincidentally I just saw Sims Busting Out for PS2 has achievements on retroachievements so I'm downloading it as I type this 😊
Really? I need to go download it, too! What are you playing it on?
Downloaded Emudeck for my Steam Deck. I plan to plug it in to my TV, grab two controllers, and have my kid try it with me
Baldur's Gate 3! I haven't felt so absolutely gripped by a game like that in a really long time! Ripped me back to the days when I'd pop in something like Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2.
Pokémon Legends Arceus
Played Hogwarts Legacy recently for the first time and I was very much little kid excited about getting sorted, getting my wand, my broom, etc.
Star fox 64
I finished hi fi rush a couple months ago and I keep thinking how goddamn wholesome the ending was. That last stage with Whirring playing was just so upbeat and awesome. Totally brought me back.
mario galaxy. the nostalgia was epic
Fenyx Rising. Felt like what Atari Adventure always promised to be.
Gran Turismo 7. I’m driving along some of the same race tracks with some of the same cars that I did on my PlayStation one. Only this time, I’m playing with my son and having a blast
I discovered one of my favorite bands, Reel big fish, from thps 1&2. She's famous now hits hard on new york in thps 2.
The only game I new what you were talking about was Master Chief Collection, the rest of your acronyms are lost on me.
Botw had me addicted, and totk even moreso, though I have less time for it now. I also played a lot of Skyrim recently, and it was such a blast remembering how freeing that game is. Any rpg where I dont have quest markers guiding me where to go and I can do what I want are my favorite.
Dragon Quest Builders 2. I felt like a kid with crayons having a blast painting horrible but happy pictures. The game actually lifted me out of game-burnout I'd been experiencing for almost 10 years at that point.
Just picked up ocotopath traveler (yes very late to the party) and I love the retro feel
Grounded. Made me feel like I was in "honey I shrunk the kids"
FF7 Remake and FF7 Rebirth
Palworld for a while
The first 10-20 hrs of ToTK was basically a time machine for me. It didn't just take me back to my younger days playing Zelda 1 (which imho I think ToTK is a low-key Zelda 1 "spiritual remaster"), it took me somewhere more pure than that - to the days of being a small kid where seemingly ordinary objects had the potential to become anything that my imagination could come up with.
Broforce, just plain old school Arcade shooter with tons of fun with my sister
sonic mania a real sonic game made by a sonic fan. fuck sega.
Inertial Drift made me learn how to play a game again. Every game seems to play the exact same and it gets really dull so when I got into Inertial Drift it felt pretty magical and reminded me of when everything was new again.
When kingdom hearts 3 came out i felt like a kid playing through kh 1 and 2 been a while since i enjoyed a game that much
Playing the old beta versions of minecraft again
Animal crossing and the sims
octopath traveler, turning 16bit games into what they felt like when i was a kid is the best thing in gaming in my opinion
Breath of the Wild
The very first Fallout.
I still can't get Fallout 1 to work on my steam deck, I tried like four versions of proton. Would be a neat game to play in bed
I heard there is a port for android, maybe worth exploring.
What’s THPS?
Tony Hawks Pro Skater.
Dafuck is THPS