A Great Game, but Supplanted by its Spiritual Successors
Oregon Trail holds a special place in the memories of most Millennials as the first PC game they ever played. Rather than learning about American pioneer life on those countless journeys between Missouri and the Pacific Northwest, my peers were quietly snickering when friends and loved ones dropped dead of cholera or dysentery on the trail. The subject matter can be quite dark at times, but even today, the classic combination of resource management and Choose Your Own Adventure storytelling is quite engaging.
Perhaps, though, it is too engaging. Game developers who are my age grew up with, and were influenced by this title so much, that its legacy is easy to see in relatively recent releases like Organ Trail and FTL: Faster than Light. These spiritual successors add just enough to the classic gameplay formula to render the original all but obsolete.
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