Thread 12157091

Why do people still complain about retro games being cryptic and obtuse? I understand that they were bullshit back in the day but now that the internet exist it's easy to look up the solution to anything that you are stuck on, so it's more or less a non-issue these days.

>>12157091 (OP)
I think you answered your own question buddy. If they're complaining, the complaint, as you have so accurately reasoned, must be about the inconvenience of having to go look shit up on the internet while you're in the middle of playing a game.

it just sucks when you play something like Yoshi's Island and you are missing red coins every time you finish the level only because you didn't jump into the top of the screen at a perfect spot.
whenever I say "how was i supposed to know that?" i end up thinking less about the game.

that being said, people use this wrong on purpose like when they claim "Blast Away The Wall" is cryptic...

>>12157095
That one wall in Super Metroid that isn't there and also is the only one that doesn't get revealed as not there by the x-ray scope is actually bullshit, though.

>>12157092
>the inconvenience of having to go look shit up on the internet while you're in the middle of playing a game.

Not much of an inconvenience. Takes like a minute or two if it's something really obscure. Otherwise it takes less than a minute usually. And how many times would you have to look something up while playing a game? like maybe a few if it's a really cryptic game and that's about it.

>>12157091 (OP)
The only reason why this one isn't retarded is that there's an "intended" entrance to Maridia after the wrecked ship. This tube is used for speedruns/as a shortcut.

>>12157105
Which one? The one in Norfair? I actually got stuck for half an hour because of it.

>>12157091 (OP)
man really, you need this spelled out? to the extent that people "still" complain about retro games being cryptic and obtuse, it comes down endogenous accessibility, that is how completable a game is without outside help. the complaint exists because looking up the solution to something (((you're supposed to figure out))) defeats the entire purpose.

back in the day, this could at least be addressed by folk-knowledge (ie: your friend group), or by subscribing to a gaming magazine (both of which still negated the challenge, but at least provided extra perks: either learning from your friends or having a whole magazine of content). or by simply having the manual, in some cases.

when all that's left is the internet, looking up solutions is little more than the least fun version of cheating on a test. sometimes it's warranted, but you chose a fairly solvable puzzle from Metroid which is funny. if you're not down for the challenge of exploring and experimenting, maybe retro vidya ain't for you.

>>12157091 (OP)
No one complains about it. What are you on about?

>>12157091 (OP)
>game has terrain destruction as a core mechanic
>there is a broken tube elsewhere in the game
>gee what could happen if you detonate a pocket-sized nuclear bomb in a glass tube?

>>12157423
Besides doesn't the demo outright show you?

>>12157120

It feels crappy to do though, if the player has decent taste in things. And it will sometimes cause you to accidentally spoil unrelated stuff that you happened to see while looking up the one thing you were interested in.

That's not to defend complaints though - I'm defending criticisms. If people choose to turn their criticisms into whining then they are probably venting frustration or making drama to distract themselves from life or whatever, and they should probably be killed in such cases. But it's perfectly reasonable to say that a game would be significantly better if it weren't so obtuse, even if the obtuse points are few and easily resolved (via looking things up).

>>12157452
It does and I even saw the demo but somehow I didn’t remember that part of the demo when I finally got super bombs

>>12157159
>the complaint exists because looking up the solution to something (((you're supposed to figure out))) defeats the entire purpose
But the point is people tried to figure something out and failed, and therefor had to look it up. So really they are just complaining that they couldn't figure something out on their own.

>you chose a fairly solvable puzzle from Metroid which is funny. if you're not down for the challenge of exploring and experimenting, maybe retro vidya ain't for you.
I chose that example because it's one that people always complain about. I never had a problem with it and Metroid is my favorite series because I love exploring and experimenting.

>>12157091 (OP)
there is no argument that this is cryptic. it took me about 1 second to understand what was being communicated when i was 9 years old. theres 2 paths (up/down) and a platform obviously signifying you can traverse this later. you people are literally retarded

>>12157095
Is collecting all the red coins necessary for beating the game? (i've never played it.)

>>12157091 (OP)
Try Equinox.

>>12157091 (OP)
It feels like cheating to look up stuff, the game should tell me itself

>>12157091 (OP)
Don't you get it? I spent 30 minutes stuck in one part and it caused me great distress. I could've spent that time watching TikToks.

>>12157091 (OP)
Same reason retards kept getting BTFO’d by lizards in Rainworld. A lot of people are genuinely stupid and unable to perceive non-verbal hints.

So old games which are designed for people who are used to trial and error will frustrate them to no end.

>>12157589
the problem isn't the puzzle by itself, it's in the context of how metroid teaches you to interact with the game. there's not much in the way of symbol logic at least not in terms of what you can directly alter, something is either a modular square tile and interactable or it is set dressing
>hmm the physical properties of glass should make it possible to break
that's foreign to most of the game.

>>12158178
the puzzle would be more fair if the ceiling had just been regular tiles. the non standard glass element makes you second guess the composition hinting that you're meant to go upward.

>>12158178
I never assume jumpable platforms are just set dressing. This is something I always assumed as a result of growing up on old games. Another habit I picked up is pressing buttons at evvery single side and bottom wall just in case it might be hiding a door.

>>12157452
Don't you have to finish the game to unlock more demos.

>>12157091 (OP)
Looking up a guide is cheating

>>12157991
Based. one of these days I will actually sit down and give it the college try.

>>12157452
No, it does not. This has been a consistent mandela effect for this game.

It was shown in some commercials for the game, but the in-game demo reel does not show it.

>>12157589
Same. The second I saw it I knew you would blow it up later.

>>12157091 (OP)
It was nearly as easy to look up a solution when Super Metroid was released as it is now. All you had to do was go to the strategy guide section of any video game department and browse the Super Metroid strategy guide. Or read it in any number of magazines that wrote guides for this game, which was all the main ones. Or have seen the commercial for the game where Samus blows up the tube with a power bomb. Or ask a friend at school.

Or you could do what any sane person would do: just fuck around in that room trying different things because it obviously looks like you can do *something* there.

>>12159064
Also there were tip lines you could call.

>>12159065
Did shitters really
Imagine calling some jeet because you got stuck in metroid lmao

>>12157592
You can unlock extra levels IIRC

>>12157091 (OP)
Because a lot of retro games, by virtue of limitations, needed a manual to explain everything and make the game enjoyable. People don't have the habit of looking up manuals or intructions on the internet when they play old games.

>>12157091 (OP)
>Why do people still complain about retro games being cryptic and obtuse?
they don't

>>12159094
it was in the 90's anon,when you called you spoke with people that were most likely white and if not they were still speaking perfect english.

>>12159094
It would have been a SUPER friendly and helpful white guy with the smoothest "you're doing great champ!" voice you've ever heard.

>>12159065
Yeah but I wouldn’t have thought to call (206) 885-7529 for this
>>12159094
Yes, we really did (although it was some white guy up in Bellevue or whatever)
Not all the games I played had someone else playing it at school too whom I could ask

>>12157091 (OP)
I did this as soon as I got the super bombs. Games should NOT be made for retarded people.

>>12159094
Way to out yourself as a zoomer.

>>12157091 (OP)
It wasnt bullshit, back then you had friends, networks and connections and hearsay about puzzles which made it magic.