4 Classic Games Everyone Should Play
In today’s post I come bearing a few classic games everyone should play! These five games may have outdated graphics and gameplay, but they still manage to be excellent.
1. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Original Release Year: 2004
Where You Can Find It: Steam; GOG
Why Should You Play It? The writing is truly excellent. I’m not joking when I say it features some of the best writing in any of the games I have ever played, and I’ve played many. It’s witty, it’s grim, and it’s dramatic. If you love vampires as much as I do and you feel despair over the ridiculous turn they’ve taken in recent years, then you’ll love this. There are no sparkly vampires to be found here, only secret societies, vampiric law called the Masquerade, conspiracies, and a few werewolves that would love to kill you.
Unfortunately the vanilla game is buggy because Activision forced Troika to publish it before it was really finished, but the (still active) fan base has resolved that issue. There’s a fan patch that’s still updated fairly regularly, and it’s very easy to install.
I cannot recommend this game enough. Even if you’re indifferent towards vampires, this might be the game that changes your mind about that...
2. The Baldur’s Gate Series (Baldur’s Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadow of Amn and its expansion pack, Throne of Bhaal)
Original Release Year: 1998 (BG: TotSC), 2000 (BG2: SoA)
Where You Can Find It: Steam; GOG
Why Should You Play It? Because this series, my friend, is what we had during the height of old-school RPGs. It’s the game every other RPG wanted to be like. It’s the game series that cemented BioWare’s position as the masters of storytelling – a position they’ve sadly lost in recent years, but that’s for another post...
It’s the true RPG experience, from how you choose to customize your character, to how you interact with the world around you. The story and companions are excellent, and I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing this series over and over again.
The Enhanced Editions were released not too long ago, which introduced three new characters and a new story that bridged the time gap between Tales of the Sword Coast and Shadows of Amn. If that’s not enough, then there are many, many, many mods available that add new content to the game.
3. Final Fantasy VII
Original Release Year: 1997
Where You Can Find It: PlayStation Store (PS3 and PS4); Steam; GOG
Why Should You Play It? If you’ve heard about Final Fantasy, then chances are you’ve heard about 7. It’s the one that fans of the series have been begging to see remastered, and in 2015 Square-Enix finally confirmed a remastered version was in development. Since we have no idea when the remake will be released, playing the original is the only option for now.
Awful graphics aside, it’s definitely worth it. Like all games in the series, the story can be a little strange, but the game features and excellent cast of characters that make the journey so worth it. It also features one of the most iconic villains in the series...
4. Dead Space (Steam; GOG; Origin, PlayStation Store)
Original Release Year: 2008
Where You Can Find It: Steam; GOG; Origin
Why Should You Play It? If you love horror and somehow haven’t heard about this game, then you’re in luck. I personally don’t play very many horror games, but there was something about this one that immediately captured my attention. I’m glad I decided to give it a try. While the story is rather basic, the tension is always amped up which more than makes up for it. You’ll always be on edge, wondering when the next necromorph will be coming for you. When I first played this game, I couldn’t go more than ten minutes at a time before I needed to take a break.
Dead Space is currently available for free on EA’s Origin, so why not get it? The psychological torture will be worth it, I promise!
