It just occurred to me that the platforming in the Dark Souls series is actually genius. And I'll be the first to say I was one of the many who complained about their clunky jump and narrow platforms. But as I was replaying Lies of P it hit me that I was still viewing this through the lens of a gamer and not a developer. I was enjoying myself and yet my same self would have lambasted the game for its shitty platforming.

In decades past we just enjoyed games... or didn't. But in this modern era with months of hype leading up to a release, with broken promises and unfulfilled potential, early reviews and shitty journalism, etc we've become so analytical and pretentious that we remove the human element. We forget to feel in favor of just thinking. And we can over-analyze to the point of creating problems where there are none or miss out on things that the past generation of developers were well aware of.

The platforming isn't the point. It's not even meant to be good necessarily. It's the emotion that it elicits. A precarious drop, good positioning and careful movement, timing, etc. It is supplementative.

And it made me wonder how many other mechanics or perceived "antiquated" ideas we've lost across time. Most recently for me it was platforming in Lies of P, the mission structure of AC6, the stealth mechanic in Elden Ring, boss run backs in Dark Souls. Surely they possessed some merit? Right? I mean a designated jump button seems like a natural evolution. But what did we lose in the process?

Which is why I think revisiting old games, playing shitty but innovative indie games, and taking risks and making mistakes in our own work is so important.

What are some "antiquated ideas" you'd like to see brought back or re-evaluated? What areas did we go wrong in?

Edit: To those of you who read this and think "well I didnt enjoy it" you're missing the point. Consider re-reading and dropping your preconceived notions and you might find you agree with me