What's the oldest game you actively play?

Oh yeah I also play through at least one SMT game a year, not counting Persona which I also play one of the at least once a year.

Banjo Kazooie and Halo CE

Both my dad and I still play the first Diablo. Playing it when I was young was also very much a bonding activity between us; before I joined him in multiplayer (we only had enough money for one copy of the game), it was still a joint effort. He'd play, I'd sit there with the guide and read up on enemies and shrines when needed.

The graphics haven't aged well at all (nor have the... colours), but the randomly generated dungeon does add a whole lot of replayability. And a lot of new opportunities to get completely fucked over, on harder difficulties.

@zippedbinders said:

Oh yeah, I'm well aware old games are good and age won't change that too much. I'm more having trouble understanding how people can enjoy the same content over and over again, like many who say they play X game every year. I've never had a game that I wanted to play like that before. Even with The Last of Us, which I love and finished like 7 times before getting the Platinum trophy on the re-mastered version, I can't imagine wanting to play that every year or anything. Hell I consider it to be the best game ever made and I might never play it again, I dunno. When I'm playing through something I've already experienced, I simply don't get anywhere near the same enjoyment as I did when I first played it. I'd say my enjoyment diminishes by at least 80% if I had to put a number on it. Everyone's different, I get that, but the time spent playing old games like so many people seem to do would, to me personally, feel like wasted time. I've experienced it before, I know what it feels like and I know what the story is, and more importantly in my mind at least, that time could otherwise be spent on experiencing something new/different instead.

When you do revisit those games you mentioned, do you get anywhere near the same enjoyment as you did when you first played them? I'm really curious. Is it a different enjoyment? I think this might have something to do with the nostalgia people talk about when it comes to games, and though I've been gaming for over 20 years easily, I honestly don't think I've ever experienced game-related nostalgia. They just don't arouse that feeling with me. I suppose this might be a key factor for why I have trouble getting this idea of re-playing older games.

@cale: Yeah, I've never been for playing the same content over and over (which is why I hated Destiny), all the old games I replay often are games with infinite content, either built in (such as Elite II, whose universe is so big you can't see it all in a lifetime), through random generation or through community content (Doom, Descent and Duke3D all have more than 20 years of community mods and maps, so that you'd never have to play the same map twice).

I'd say Samurai Shodown 2, which came out in 1994. I still play lots of old fighting games, especially SNK ones, but that's the oldest one I still play with some regularity.

I love going back and realizing things I didn't notice before. Seeing foreshadowing happen when you know how it ends is really neat to me. Also all the small details you'd never notice in a game by only playing once. I don't know. It's just fun to go back to games for me. I'd say I play old games more than I play new ones honestly.

@cale: I imagine there's a certain amount of ritualism in replaying a game once a year or every few years. You might know where to go, what to do and how to do it, but the experience is/was so good that it's still entertaining and worthwhile to give it another look on an almost regular basis. Think of it as maybe a more adult version of how young children will watch the same movie every single day and not get bored of it.

I'm somewhat surprised so many of you go back and replay games on a regular basis. I do, occasionally, visit older games I loved but I rarely do it on any schedule or even get very far.

Maybe I'm doing myself a disservice by not replaying those older games.

I semi regularly come back to Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6. I've come back to Final Fantasy Tactics several times. I played Civ 2 for years until Civ IV came out. I played Civ IV for years until last year when I got Civ V with all of the expansion.

I am still playing Heroes Of Might and Magic 3. I play FTL all the time, but that's not very old.

Crash Team Racing is still huge in my group of friends. GREATEST CART RACER OF ALL TIME GET AT ME

Supreme commander, maybe...

I don't really go back to old games. I still play Crusader Kings 2, but that's only because I never really stopped playing it.

@onionne said:

This rules.

Adventure Capitalist on my smartphone.

Gameplay is like watching paint dry, but god damnit it's addicting.

Id say League of Legends, but that hardly seems to count as its constantly updated. Tired playing some Fallout 3 but it keeps crashing. Played some New Vegas. From time to time I dig out some realty old games like Dungeon Keep 2, or Theme Hospital. Been known to play some Diablo 1-2, and Starcarft as well. But nothing I would say consistently play.

That's cool. I'm envious.

On the subject, I regularly revisit old games. The farthest back I go is the NES. Mid-to-late 80's, I guess. Anything between then and now that I really, really liked.

I play the Commander Keen series every now and then, I just played through Chrono Trigger again, I also just played through Space Quest again too.

I've been slowly playing the first witcher for like three years

@frontfungus: same

@nick: dude, yes, commander keen...hey do you know why that one episode of commander keen isn't in the steam version? Where keens like on a purple planet...I think it was supposed to be after aliens ate my babysitter

I replay X-Com UFO Defense (UFO: Enemy Unknown) about once a year I would say. Baldurs Gate 2 maybe less, but I have played that game quite a few times. But I don't really "actively" play old games. I guess Starcraft 2 is from 2010 by now, but even that is the heart of the swarm version. Oh yeah, I also love to dig up Heroes of might and magic 3, either that or 2, depending on my mood.

I love to play old fighting games with my friends, though we all suck.

I load up Jagged Alliance 2 every few years or so usually when another failed remake of the game is announced (come on Firaxis and give it the Xcom treatment.) It is still one of if not the best games in its genre. Also I will play Arcanum every once and a while.

I will also load up Oni on the PC, I love that game, in my opinion it is the best game Bungie has ever done.

Hmm. I tend to play Half Life 2 at least once a year, usually one full run and maybe one or two runs that end up dying off.

I also play Escape Velocity: Nova a bit. Real fun game.

Ogre Battle 64! never gets old

DWARF FORTRESS ALL DAY SON!

I play Morrowind and Fallout 1/2 every other year or so.

Pokemon Snap! Its just soooo relaxing to play that game.

@travisrex: yeah i have the steam version too, i think there's like 2 or 3 episodes missing from it actually. it goes from 1 - 6 + keen dreams, but i think there's only 4 of them in the steam version, must have been a licensing issue? no idea.

The oldest games that I play on a regular basis are probably demon souls and dark souls and I usually have an active save going in one or both.

I still pick up a few games from last gen slightly less frequently (perhaps 2 or 3 times a year) like fallout 3 and new vegas, fable 2 and skyrim.

In terms of older stuff I'll go back to metal gear solid, GTA vice city, Mario 64, ocarina of time and windwaker perhaps once every year or two.

Sporadic other stuff too, for example I recently picked up a copy of morrowind on Xbox and deus ex on ps2 and will play them at some stage.

Dwarf Fortress for me. 9 years old according to the wiki.

Get your pitchforks and torches ready.

Borderlands 2

Finally got my first level 72 character in that game after the remaster came out on PS4. Seems like I play through it a few times a year, typically by making a new character and playing through normal and True Vault Hunter mode.

I recently revisited the megaman battle network games specifically 3 and 4. But I do have tiger woods 2005 that lime to go back to.

I still go back to Burnout 3 every few months. One of the best games ever.

I couldn't say I ever play any old games "actively", but I always love booting up Noctis IV (It runs like shit in dosbox though).

I guess maybe World of Warcraft? I play old games often but I play WoW like it's going out of style at times.

I replay Warcraft III and Morrowind every couple of years or so.

Partly nostalgia, but nostalgia has never pulled me through a game from start to finish. If I'm actively replaying a game from start to finish, it's because I still enjoy it. There really is nothing quite like playing through a game that you have a thorough knowledge of.

Many of the games worth replaying over and over never have the same thing happen twice. Resident Evil 4 is a linear game, yes, but no two playthroughs ever feel quite the same. You sure can tip everything in your favor if you know how to play it well, but things can still mess up on you. Same goes for Dark Souls, SMT Nocturne, Doom, Deus Ex, etc. Also, all of those games have the added benefit of being full of nooks and crannies and details that you may not discover until the second, third, fifth, or tenth playthrough.

In any case, if I'm replaying a game, it's because I'm having fun.

I did have periods where I kept going back to Mario World or the original Mario Bros. but right now the oldest game I'm playing regularly is probably Geometry Wars 2 which is seven years old at this point. I still find myself completely engrossed by it though.

Do MMOs count? If so, I've been playing EVE Online almost since its release. I jumped on about a month after it released and hated it. Then got back in with some friends less then a year later and fell in love with it and have playing it on and off since. My main character's 10th birthday is in 2 months or so. As for a game that doesn't get updated regularly, I play Mass Effect and Halo yearly. But the oldest game that i play regularly (maybe once a year) is Fallout. I usually play it for a day or two till is crashes and dumps my save. Most older games would require me to pull out some older consoles or something.

I'm a speedrunner and I help produce a weekly show so I'm constantly playing NES games. A couple times a year I'll put some time into improving my record in Kabuki Quantum Fighter.

Puzzle Quest 2

Earthbound is one I go back to every year or two. That game always brings a smile to my face. Super Metroid was also one of those games, but I've lapsed over the past few years. Besides those, GTA: San Andreas gets some love on occasion.

Super Smash Bros. Melee. It's a 2001 release that I actively practice and enter tournaments for.

I have been playing Marvel Vs Capcom 2 recently, a 2000 release

Every so often I'll bust out Sonic CD for no particular reason. Other than that, Diablo 2 will always find a way to get back onto my hard drive - I'm pretty sure that game has a will of its own.

Super Mario World every few years

I boot up Rollercoaster Tycoon every so often, and I play through Starfox 64 at least 1-2 times a year. Plus there's WoW which I have been on and off with for a DECADE at this point.

I've done a run of Super Metroid every couple of months for years. I seem to go through one of the older Mario or Zelda games every year, too.

I've been playing through Bioshock over the past few days. Some games are simply worth experiencing more than once. Also, as I get older and care more and more about how games are made, it can be fascinating returning to an older game to view it as a historical piece.