O tempora – Page 2

O tempora: Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster

10/04/2024 10/04/2024

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

While I’ve played every other entry in the Jedi Knight series of games, the very first entry has eluded me for years. No one I knew talked much about it in the 90s, as prior to the sequel we didn’t hear about it and after the sequel was out we were more interested in it and the expansion that followed. While in the 00s, after Jedi Outcast was out, I got interested in revisiting the earlier games, but they were very hard to launch on the hardware I had at that time. When Dark Forces was re-released on GOG in a playable state, I… didn’t care, to be honest. And only recently, when the fantastic fan made Force Engine was made available decided to give it a go, before abandoning it about half-way through.

Now that an official Remaster is out, made by NightDive who rarely disappoint, I decided to give it another chance. And I almost wish I didn’t. As for how important this game is in terms of historic value, it’s also one of the most frustrating classic FPS titles I’ve played in years.

O tempora: Final Fantasy IX

26/01/2024 26/01/2024

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Well, it finally happened. Barring the online-only entries and Final Fantasy XVI (that is not yet out on PC), I’ve played/replayed all numbered entries in the series. And last one to do was the one that I usually named as my favorite. I was a bit scared about replaying Final Fantasy IX, not just because I knew that the PC port is rather average at best, but also because I had such good memories of the game, yet also remembered that there was a lot about it to get frustrated with. I was afraid that it won’t live up to my memory. But no, while it does indeed have a lot of things to criticize, it remains one of my favorite entries in the series and an easy recommendation.

Read more“O tempora: Final Fantasy IX”

O tempora: Final Fantasy VIII – Remastered

09/01/2024 09/01/2024

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Of the original 9 Final Fantasy games, the “pre-voice acting” era, the “proper overworld” era, Final Fantasy II tends to be most disliked and Final Fantasy VIII most divisive. Pixel Remaster fixes a lot of issues of FF II and in that form, I’d say the game can be worth playing. But there is no version of FF VIII that could fix its countless issues. This is a game I respect and adore a lot. It’s a game I want to love. A game that I’ve completed a few times before, both on PS1 and with the older PC port the Remastered version is based on. But it is ultimately a game that I just do not enjoy playing.

O tempora: Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

18/10/2023 18/10/2023

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Now that the original trilogy is out of the way, I can talk about the Alone in the Dark game I’ve played the most – Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. The first and so far only reboot of the storyline. You see, for all the convoluted storylines, the original trilogy and the 2008 game are actually part of the same timeline. Even the horrible and rightfully forgotten spin-off Illumination was technically part of the same world. But with The New Nightmare the series attempted a fresh start headed by Darkworks, whom I recently talked about when revisiting Cold Fear. And it did many things right and a few things very wrong.

O tempora: Alone in the Dark 1, 2, 3

08/10/2023 08/10/2023

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

It’s been a while since I’ve last played any Alone in the Dark game. I admired the original and genuinely liked the 2008 game despite all of its numerous flaws. My favorite one was the first reboot, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. But the original still had that “something” about it that I really liked. Not the sequels, however. But for the sake of revisiting every game, I decided against my better judgement to play all of the first three Alone in the Dark games, knowing well that I will not enjoy the two thirds of the journey.

I also love: We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie

08/08/2023 08/08/2023

When Katamari Damacy REROLL suddenly rolled into existence less than 5 years ago, I absolutely loved it. And my biggest complaint was the lack of We ♥ Katamari content, as it felt to me that a new title mixing both the original and the sequel would’ve been a far better choice. Well We Love Katamari REROLL is here now, with lots of improvements, a little added bonus in the form of Royal Reverie and, sadly, with a few unfortunate issues.

O tempora: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

16/07/2023 16/07/2023

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

There are several well known sad “oh what if they had more time” stories in video game development, where it’s well known that the game was launched in a state that was viewed by its own developers as incomplete. Not necessarily even buggy or full of issues, but not containing everything that has been already prepared and shipped, but locked and normally inaccessible. And to me, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is the saddest example of them all. The first title of Obsidian Entertainment, a gathering of incredibly talented and experienced people from Black Isle Studios backed by new no less talented team members, it remains my personal favorite Star Wars story of them all. No really – there’s not a single other piece of SW-related media that is as good as this. Yet, even with a fantastic The Sith Lords Restored Content Modification (TSLRCM for short) that restores a lot of cut content in its current 1.8.6 version, the game occasionally feels incomplete and playing the game can be a frustrating experience.

O tempora: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

12/07/2023 12/07/2023

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

I think, none of the other BioWare games had the impact on gaming as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic had. Originally released in 2003 on Xbox, it was the culmination of everything the company did up until that point, but streamlined (in the best possible way) for consoles and due to that (and the Star Wars setting) it managed to cover an audience so huge no “western” RPG covered before. It kickstarted the rise in popularity of morality systems, romance options, “home bases” with companions to choose from… All of it existed in games before, but KotOR became a template for lots of games to follow. All while also being, arguably, the least controversial and most beloved Star Wars product from the whole prequel period of the franchise.

I played this game a lot back in the day, but after the sequel (which I loved so much more), I revisited it less and less and the last time I’ve played it was more than 15 years ago. Now that the game is turning 20, I’ve decided to finally revisit it and see how it fares.

O tempora: Aliens versus Predator 2

07/07/2023 07/07/2023

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

When talking about No one Lives Forever 1 and 2, I mentioned that apart from those two, there was another Monolith Productions classic that cannot be purchased digitally – Aliens versus Predator 2. Released between NOLF 1 and 2, this game was my personal favorite of the three and I replayed it a lot. I haven’t done it in a long while, though, and after replaying the NOLF games I was a bit worried about being disappointed. But I wasn’t.

O tempora: No One Lives Forever 1 and 2

27/06/2023 27/06/2023

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Ah, Monolith Productions at their heyday… Not that their releases were consistently great or popular, but they’ve made some fantastic classics, most of which were powered by their own engine that was first developed for Microsoft to showcase the power of DirectX. Even though the usage of that engine began with the dreadful Blood 2 that no one should ever play, the first half of the 00s started an almost perfect set of games using that engine: The Operative: No One Lives Forever, Aliens Versus Predator 2, No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.’s Way, Tron 2.0, F.E.A.R., Condemned: Criminal Origins were all instant classics and are still beloved and remembered by many. Three of these six titles, however, are not available anywhere digitally.

I used to love NOLF. They were among the very first games I played on my own PC back in the day and I’ve replayed them several times since. But the last revisit happened a very very long time ago – I don’t even remember when. So I decided that it was a good time to finally remember why people have such fond memories about these.