i hadn't intended for it to be, but i actually think it kinda works in this context. maybe not in the way you'd expect, but it fits
dk64 is a bloated mess with far too much going on. but the thing is, it's always been that way. nothing about dk64 has changed since 1999. it always had this much stuff in it. it always had you running back to a room 5 times for different collectibles. it always lagged this badly. opinions can change with time on whether or not that's what you want from a game, but the game hasn't changed
this post in particular was inspired by seeing the 10,000th post about how morrowind is bad, but it's about more than just morrowind
if a game is bad now, it was bad then. the intent of design choices doesn't change with the passage of time, and the existence of comfort features in later games doesn't negate the style of play being asked of you by earlier ones. does it make it a bit harder to adjust to? yeah, absolutely. we've all experienced that, i imagine. that's not on the game, though. that's the player struggling to adapt
morrowind combat, for instance. people hate that shit. i used to hate that shit. my first playthrough i modded in perfect accuracy. and you know what? it fucking sucked. it kills the flow of skill leveling and combat, because you're not meant to be able to pick up any weapon and expertly land every hit. morrowind combat is an abstraction, not meant to be a literal depiction. you miss your attack because you're fumbling with a weapon you're not used to using. they can't show it because this was a game that came out in 2002, but that's the idea behind it. you're just not good enough to land every hit in the heat of combat... yet
but because every game in the series afterwards took the combat in an action-oriented direction, where landing hits was about nothing more than being within range or hitting your arrow shots, the RPG aspects of morrowind that make it feel so satisfying to work your way up to a level where you aren't missing your swings regularly are looked at with disdain. how could they make it so you're standing right in front of someone and don't hit them?
people don't look at the game and see how your skill level directly relating to your ability to land hits creates combat that is far more exciting and satisfying to improve at than anything oblivion or skyrim can give you. being in a fight where you and your enemy are both one hit away from dying is exciting, because you don't can't know when that last hit is coming. you can try to run away, or take a huge risk that the enemy will miss their attack and you'll land yours
maybe you pull out a weapon with longer range so you can be far enough away that the enemy can't hit you with their dagger - but if you're not as good with it, you're gonna have to roll the dice even more. maybe you try a healing spell - you best hope your restoration skill is high enough that you successfully cast it. maybe you drink a potion - yeah actually why wouldn't you do that, you just pause the game and use it. so that's maybe a weird design choice. but having the combat set up this way creates tension where often there isn't any in a faster paced action game
i almost didn't get to learn any of this about morrowind because i too wrote it off as being outdated and clunky. it took a second playthrough where i was like "haha i'm gonna just put up with the bad combat to see the story again :)" for me to realize that, actually, it's fucking great when you play the game by the rules it's laid out for you, and it was a big step in realizing just how many games that i'd written off as being too old and clunky are probably great
i think the only time "aged poorly" is relevant is with games that just don't run well anymore without fixes. older pc games that need resolution hacks to even run, or something along those lines. but that isn't a design choice, it's a hardware limitation
wow i didn't mean to write this much i meant to fire this post off and go to bed LMAO
