Beloved Video Game Mechanics From Older Games That No Longer Exist Like They Used To

Video games have lingered on for as far back as one can recall, and although certain advancements and technical breakthroughs have helped gaming get to a certain standard, I can’t help but point out some of the features we’ve lost along the way. While not necessary by any means, some of these have added pure flair to gaming like nothing else, and back in the day, they were a treat on their own. 

I’ve put together this article to talk about these features, how they were so influential during their time, and how most modern games are exempt from them in the day and age of today. Make sure to read until the end of the write-up for the best results. 

A Shame We Don’t Get These Features In Most Modern Games Anymore  

Oh, and do make sure that you leave a comment down below in case you have more suggestions to make in the same vein as the ones outlined ahead. 

1. Cheat Codes 

One of the very first things that I’d like to get sorted right off the bat, cheat codes have a certain sense of nostalgia attached to their name, down to the point where even the mention of some games make you go on a trip down memory lane. Of course, much of that sentiment is owed to Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series, especially GTA: San Andreas and GTA Vice City, for making the teen and adolescent years of so many across the board.  

Now I’m aware that the PC gaming scene is chock-full of mods and trainers that can give you pretty much the same feeling as cheat codes back in the day, but that would be hardly the point that I’m trying to make here. Games used to come loaded with this type of stuff by default back in the day, giving you that sudden feeling of rush especially if you stumbled upon a cheat inadvertently, but as sad as it really is, this is no longer the case. 

2. Local/Couch Co-Op 

It’s not like the industry has totally forgotten about co-op games at this point. We’ve got super high-tier games in the name of It Takes Two — which is a personal favorite by the way — A Way Out, and others, all being released within the last decade or so.

However, the point of this subheading is to cast a lens on games with a single-player focus that came out back in the day and also had the merely optional feature to include split-screen or couch co-op, not realizing what it would truly mean to the world. 

There is a huge dearth in local multiplayer games and it saddens me that so many people miss out on the experience. Plus, the inherent social experience of having someone in the same room as you,” says one u/PippyHooligan on Reddit.

To name a few games that sport great co-op gameplay with a truckload of potential for fun, The Lords of the Rings: The Return of the King, Halo: Combat Evolved, Medal of Honor, Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64, and Portal 2 come to mind. All deep-dyed masterpieces in their own right.

3. Lack Of Handholding 

A game like Starfield with such a massive scale to work on is ultimately a blip-on-the-map-following simulator in my eyes to a certain degree, just because of how it does not let the player make meaningful discoveries on its own. On the other side of the coin, there’s Atreus in the God of War games, who will wait no more than 1 minute and 30 seconds to crack his mouth open and start giving you hints whenever you start taking your time in puzzle set-pieces.

That’s not how games from the old eras rolled, you know. Forget about true open-world exploration, save for a few exceptions in the name of Outer Wilds and No Man’s Sky.

Honorable Mention: A Polished Experience On Launch 

Consider this half-baked sarcasm, but if you’ve been following the industry even remotely, you already know how bad video game releases have become, and how gamers are found praying for their favorite upcoming title to work on launch. Battlefield 2042, The Last of Us Part 1; Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on PC, Redfall—you very well know that I can go on all day with the examples here, but that wouldn’t mean any more than it does now. 

2023, in specific, was a horrible year for PC ports, delivering upset after upset in the name of otherwise major hits that made a killing on other platforms. Hogwarts Legacy is another instance where the latter holds true, releasing on PC with a truckload of performance and technical pangs.

Moving forward, this has to go, not for the sake of gamers only, but the industry itself that thrives on profits.