How would you fix your favorite flawed games?

[ommadawnyawn2]

We love our favorite games. And while technically speaking, they're identical to when we first played them, other games and external stimuli inevitably change our perceptions so that what was once an 11/10 perfect goat, might be looking more like a 7.8/10 "great for its time with some gray hairs and a limp" one today. You might even be hesitant to replay it again lest not only your precious memories, but also your identity as a player and enjoyer of perfect games, are tarnished. Or maybe the game was always a bit rough, but there were some things that stood out enough to you to make it a fave.

If you had access to some high quality developer robots and unlimited resources*, what would you tell them to do?


There are only two rules:
-*You can only change 10 things, though you can bake more than one thing into a single point if it's related (such as two things regarding controls being one point).
-Don't post about more than 3 games at a time.


Since I'm playing it right now, I'll do Star Control 2 (a game that might've been a fave had I played it back in the day):
-Quest log and (being able to place your own) map markers

-Removed jump cuts between zoom levels, removed closest zoom level in combat and the camera either focuses more on the player or takes planets and asteroids into account for its zoom level during combat

-Game speed or fast-forward feature for when you're traveling

-Rebalanced ships and ship battle rewards (for example probes currently give 3x that of the cloaking avengers and are pretty easy using an eluder ship)

-Somewhat faster turning and thrust speed for the flagship when starting out

-Some sort of upgrades for the fleet/escort ships to include them in the overall progression curve, and being able to transfer some of their functions to the flagship later on

-More interesting planet exploration. The planet lander could have a more advanced moveset (with enemies being adjusted to it) and you might have to take topography into account for example. Some enemy ships might be able to land and attack while you're mining a planet

[dr_st]

I'm fresh of playing Earthworm Jim DOS and Windows versions for a comparative article, and here are the things on my mind:

Fixes that would benefit both games:

• More accurate gun hit detection. It seems almost random and misses direct shots like there's no tomorrow.
• Rebalance certain sections by adding strategical items. Example: the cage section in Level 5 is unfairly hard when playing on 'difficult' as it is nearly impossible to avoid damage and there is simply not enough health around. This part could have been fixed easily by adding one extra life in some hidden spot right before the challenge (so that you don't run out of attempts). Alternatively you could actually fix the mechanics so it becomes a matter of fast responses, rather than memorization and luck, but that would be more difficult to do.
• Remove the Andy Asteroids fillers after every level (keep one just for the experience). They are only useful to get continues, but continues are useless, since you can just start on any level at any time.

Fixes that would benefit the DOS port:

• Fix the control / physics to be in line with the console/Windows versions
• Fix some level bugs, such as falling through the bottom of New Junk City, or some platforms that should trigger ledge-grabbing, but don't (I think the last secret life in Buttville is unattainable because of that).
• Add the Special Edition level(s) and sections that were not included.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Would you say that the gun hit detection is better in the console versions? I remember it being somewhat unreliable there too, but sounds like the Win version is like the console ones?

Regarding Andy Asteriods, they could also give some good ammo or 1-ups instead, but still be optional.

Speaking of EWJ it would be neat to have something like the Sonic Classic Heroes hack that merges both games' non-gimmick levels into a longer action platforming focused game. The gimmick levels and bonus levels could all be optional instead.

[spanky]

Any game that takes over an hour to beat that doesn't have a save or password feature...should have a save or password feature.

Kind of a moot point in the age of emulators and save states though.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Oh definitely.

Honestly the quest log and manual map markers features I mentioned for SC2 could be in any similar game without them too. For party-based games you can have a short advice option as well for when you return to a game you've taken a break from.

Another general one is skippable cutscenes. For voiced dialogue games I like SC2's system with the fastforward and rewind features, and also Day of the Tentacles' with skipping per sentence/paragraph and subtitles. I'd like to have the latter in MGS' dialoge-heavy cutscenes for example.

Difficulty options are generally good too, and I prefer more carefully tweaked ones to having a few stats changed here and there.

[dsparil]

Daggerfall

- Smaller dungeons with true randomization. The dungeons aren't really random but were randomized during development to save on making so many. They're also made up of reused pieces (as are the towns) and are way too sprawling.

- Implement major features that were cut like inter-kingdom warfare and smaller features like proper descending of walls.

- Make languages more useful.

- Fix the myriad of obvious bugs like jumping not working properly.

- Less drab graphics.

- A reworked overworld with locations distributed in a more realistic way, and a less barren looking overworld. As it is, locations are distributed fairly uniformly over the whole game world which makes fast travel the only way to really get around.

- Animated fast travel.

- Better variety of randomized quests.

- Greater variety of equipment based upon game region instead of just the material.

- More to do in the bay itself.

There is the Daggerfall Unity engine project that's already somewhat less painful to actually play than the original game and already cleans up the first point and fixes up the controls. I've only poked around a little bit, but it seems promising.

Might & Magic VI

- Full 3D which obviously includes better landscape geometry, but I'd like to see the original 3D models used to generate the prerendered sprites rather than redoing them wholesale.

- Make the final areas less of a total slog.

- Some kind of mounted combat even though it's first-person and party based. It always annoyed me that the cover depicts that but it isn't possible in the game.

- Movement during combat in turn-based mode.

- Reworking some of the more annoying elements of the main quest like having to visit the traveling circus which is only active for a small part of the year.

- Time passage not being tied to equipment weight. That element is totally invisible to the player.

[shelverton]

Willow (NES) could’ve used maps. It’s very easy to wander in circles in the dungeons, and that gets old really quickly. The individual screens are copy-pasted over and over again, which is either laziness on Capcoms part, or a question of memory restrictions in the game cart. Either way, Willow was almost a great game IMO.

Another game that always comes to mind when speaking of Willow is the SNES version of Lagoon. They’re both very difficult to navigate IMO, due to lack of dungeons maps. Lagoon also has some ridiculously large dungeons. It could also use a bigger sword. And finally, I still don’t understand why you can’t use magic on the bosses. You have to literally position yourself INSIDE the boss in order to do damage.

Hmmm. I think I was a bit off topic here cause Lagoon is nowhere near a favorite game. It could’ve been though. Very Ys-like.

[kaoru]

Every game that doesn't should have a save anywhere funktion. Delete it upon loading if you will, but let me be able to suspend the game without progress loss whenever my life calls for it.

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Maniax:
- Change the location of Matador to make him an optional fight like the rest of the Fiends
- Let players pick what skills to inherit like in the modern games instead of having to reload like maniacs until the result is decent
- Also possibly rework the Amala Labyrinth, it's way too long and most of it is a boring slog

[ommadawnyawn2]

^Basically why I tend to play everything that doesn't have it in emulation.

Aug 10, 2020 7:31:15 GMT -5 shelverton said:

Willow (NES) could’ve used maps. It’s very easy to wander in circles in the dungeons, and that gets old really quickly. The individual screens are copy-pasted over and over again, which is either laziness on Capcoms part, or a question of memory restrictions in the game cart. Either way, Willow was almost a great game IMO.

Definitely. Speaking of Ys I thought this was a big issue with Ys 2 as well, just maze after maze. 

[windfisch]

Castlevania The Adventure

• I my opinion this game has just one major flaw: It runs a bit too slowly and also slightly inconsistently. On hardware other than the original Game Boy it also will show some weird visual glitches. The fix: Port the game to the improved Belmont's Revenge engine, which runs perfectly fine.
  
• Another minor issue for me is enemy respawn. For the most part it's not a big deal, but in the last stage there is an enemy type that is basically the stage one boss. Fighting these with just the regular whip can be tricky (the chain whip is powerful enough, though) since you'll have to retreat in order to not take damage and these enemies do take quite a few hits to kill. So it is quite possible to finally defeat one of them and shortly after having to fight the same enemy again. So no enemy respawn would be my fix here.
• Just for the sake of it add the sliding and attack abilities while climbing ropes from Belmont's Revenge. While I can't think of many instances in which those would be really helpful, I still find them fun to use.
  

Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge

• While notably smoother than The Adventure, it's also a bit lacking in the challenge department. I would add a hard mode that basically reinstates most of The Adventure's traits: All enemy attacks and other harmful objects should downgrade the whip and all spikewalls (excluding singular retractable spikes) should be instantly deadly
• Significantly reduce the amount of hearts the player can gather (maybe one fourth the amount), encouraging using special attacks only on *special* occasions.
  
• Like The Adventure it also does occasionally suffer from enemy respawn, most aparent in areas that scroll vertically. So again: No enemy respawn, please!
  
• Increase the speed of moving spikewalls, so that there is actual urgency when encountering them while climbing
  
• Add some bottomless pits, again adding more urgency to certain parts (the ones with bridges for instance)
• Give each of the first 4 bosses at least one attack pattern more and give them more hitpoints
  
• Have the Punaguchi's (aka "Spitter") projectiles move faster, at least by factor 1.5
• Make Dracula's projectile trajectories more predictable, so it doesn't become a pure memorization test (more akin to The Adventure)
  
• Give Dracula a second form (the game practically teases this with that skull he transforms from before and into after the fight, but only for cutscene purposes)
• Change the last stage music ("Passpied"), which I found comparatively weak and repetitive, to The Adventure's last stage music (fittingly called "Revenge")
  

[Snake]

Xenogears

-Listed requirements to unlock new special moves/combos.
-Revamp gear combat to something beyond just turn-based, or expand the 1-on-1 Gear Tournament mini-game
-Finish and flesh out the actual game to what it was intended to be. (Looking at you, Disc 2).

[Deleted]

I really don't have any patience with spending a long time doing inventory management. I'm going to pick on Earthbound since I otherwise had a great time with it, but each character having such a limited item space, ringing Escargo Express, it just really feels like a chore. I'd like to see it replaced with a more modern system. I want to see multiples of items grouped together for clarity. I want more clarity as to which items won't be needed so I can happily ditch them. As much as I applaud Tracy's entrepreneurialship at such a young age I don't want to have to wait for their collections ever again. A simple general item bag would be much more appreciated.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Yeah that's like the RPG equivalent of clunky controls and poor hit detection in a platformer.

I don't think there's anything from before FF7 (on console anyway) that doesn't have some issue with the interface though FF6 and CT's aren't nearly as severe as EB's of course.


Edit:
Monster World IV (MD)
-Momentum based jumps, and running (now mapped to a button instead of double-tap) is no longer canceled when transitioning between screens. Some enemy patterns are tweaked to require running
-Monster World III equipment mechanics
-Most of the bosses are harder
-Returning to beaten areas is possible and you can find some goodies with Pepe's new abilities by doing so
-Pre-dungeon levels are slightly longer and more intricate, while the ice palace has been made less tedious
-Maps for all dungeons
-One or more music tracks are remixed versions of previous classics instead of based on the game's leitmotif (perhaps the volcano area song), or the leitmotif is changed more to make the OST less repetitive. Part of the Finale pt. 1 track could also be repurposed here. 
-Shion is an unlockable character


Quackshot (MD)
-Donald moves and accelerates a bit faster
-Some shortcuts added when backtracking out of the temple in Mexico
-Added hard mode and somewhat harder bosses on Normal
-New platforming puzzles similar to the indie game Fishbane, which uses the same platform creating mechanic
-Can control a slide's length
by holding the button down
-Can jump out of a minecart after it starts falling off a ledge
-Redone sound engine which is more on par with Master of Monsters, MW4, Alisia Dragoon, SF2 or Surging Aura
-Save/password feature though it doesn't matter that much to me since I usually emulate


Starcraft (PC, 1998)
-Fixed pathfinding issues (dragoons in stairs, goliaths, workers getting stuck on each other, slow units like templars slowing larger groups down, reaver scarabs, ordering a spellcaster to cast something on terrain higher or lower than himself usually makes it try to walk to that spot via a ramp even though it should be in range after some forward movement towards the target, sometimes buggy hit detection on spider mine explosions, etc.). Will probably lead to having to tweak some damage values too.

-Fixed interface/control issues (can't see each unit's energy in the lowbar during a group selection, can't choose to build out of more than one building at once, no "select everything" button (can't select more than 12 units at once) - C&C, can't use specific unit abilites in mixed groups (even when it's just a hero with other units of the same kind), )

Continued:
-Waypoints work when warping in buildings with probes
-Can set rally points for workers to mine resources
-Can tell units to hold and not attack anything

-Don't always need to start over with upgrades etc. in each new campaign mission (gets tedious at times)

-Burrowed and undetectable infested terrans in one of the protoss missions are now detectable

-Difficulty options for the campaign

-Can speed up building construction by using more than one worker (all races). Or you can upgrade a building to build more than one unit at a time per building (switching the focus more to tactics than mass production of buildings)

-Nerfed mutalisks and buffed or lowered price of scouts (non-BW). Former are OP and latter became unused after they were made too expensive.

-Can sell/recycle units and buildings

[Snake]

Haunted Castle, Rastan, Shinobi --

No continue limit!

[Bumpyroad]

Same for Battletoads(NES), and some others. Paradoxical really, you fix a difficulty, and it almost a brand new perspective.