Serious question, that time a forum comment changed how I play retro games

Last year on a retro gaming sub, someone told me I was missing the point by using save states for every tough jump in Super Mario World. I thought they were being elitist at first, but after trying to play through a few levels without reloading, I actually started enjoying the challenge more. Has anyone else had a piece of criticism that shifted how you approach a game or hobby?

2 comments

2 Comments

susanh463d ago

Heard someone say permadeath in Fire Emblem makes every decision matter more and they were totally right.

wyatt_green3d ago

@susanh46 I get what you're saying about decisions feeling heavier, but honestly I think it can kinda backfire. When I play with permadeath, I end up restarting a map every time someone dies, so the decision just becomes "do I let this character go or redo the whole level?" I always redo it, so the weight is gone anyway. The game punishes you by taking characters away, but that just makes me play more carefully, not more thoughtfully. Like in Three Houses, I had to keep Edelgard alive for story reasons, so it felt less like a tough call and more like I was just babying specific units.