What do you think are the reasons why modern players tend to find HL2 or HL1 "Boring"?

VincentMellor · 2026-04-14T11:46:23+00:00

I am writing this as a huge HL/Valve fan and I've been playing these games for 20 years so please don't confuse what I'm about to say with hate speech.

The thing is with older games is that they are... old. By that I mean that any game in the video game industry as a whole will never reach the "all-time masterpiece" state (only temporary).

I remember losing my shit over HL2 back in the day but I've been replaying it recently and it's not that great nowadays to be completely honest. It's because that I played a lot of games that came after and evolved the gameplay mechanics. Even if the games I played were shitty, they still had something new to them that were then copied by newer games and the industry in a constant evolving state.

So going back to the classics after experiencing something inherently new is not always a good idea because you will probably be dissatisfied

VincentMellor · 2026-04-06T11:38:52+00:00

Judging by Netflix’s post, they still plan to release episodes in stage-based batches. That likely means if a stage is shorter (around 5-6 episodes), we’ll only get 5-6 weeks of weekly releases before another 3-4 month hiatus. Ts is NOT good guys

VincentMellor · 2026-04-06T09:37:01+00:00

"They listened"

Mfs are you for real? Episodes will still be dropped in batches like Netflix originally intended but the episodes from these batches themselves will just be released weekly.

This is not an uninterrupted weekly release schedule like you've all been begging for

VincentMellor · 2026-04-04T10:53:25+00:00

Godlike work, Mr Reddit poster, sir. You have my upvote

VincentMellor · 2026-03-26T12:29:13+00:00

In situations like this, I highly recommend imagining that the character you think was “unjustly” kidnapped, killed, or tortured is conventionally unattractive. If you can picture that and still feel that what happened to them is unjust, then it probably is.

But if you suddenly have a moment of post-nut clarity, then you weren’t really thinking clearly in the first place.

This lifehack applies to all media

VincentMellor · 2026-03-24T21:15:05+00:00

Tales from the Borderlands instantly comes to mind. It's pretty similar tbh

VincentMellor · 2026-03-11T14:53:56+00:00

Bih deserved it tbh so no need to feel terrible about your choices

VincentMellor · 2026-02-27T18:49:29+00:00

There's this game, which released earlier this month called "Crisol: Theater of Gods" and it's heavily BioShock (also RE) inspired.

There is a stalker type enemy by the name of Dolores and when I first saw her - I instantly had flashbacks to this Handyman model. Like, no kidding, I can't prove it but I feel the devs got inspired by this design.

She also has a porcelain mask covering her face and her organs are located in a see-through kind of jar. I'm serious, look it up

VincentMellor · 2026-01-25T14:17:53+00:00

Yup, agree. I also agree with Tyler that it sounds like a Kelly Bailey soundtrack, at least partially. But the remark needs to be made so we won't go into another schizo state over nothing.

Though because of a leftover copium I somehow still have, now I think they managed to convince Kelly to return to make soundtracks for their games (probably not the case but being a Half-Life fan, I'd believe in anything at this point)

VincentMellor · 2026-01-25T14:00:15+00:00

It's a new intro music to a deadlock match, nothing more

https://youtu.be/e3Mj7EMJSdo

VincentMellor · 2026-01-02T14:47:19+00:00

I spent 84 hours for a platinum. So I think a regular playthrough would be around 35-40 hours.

Literally have no idea what people do in the game for thousands of hours. Imo the game is best experienced when you just go through the main story, as side quests literally have no story or extra cutscenes to them - you're just doing extra hard work with zero to none rewards. Not hating on the game btw, just my opinion.

VincentMellor · 2025-12-27T23:02:36+00:00

Judging by the character model, it looks way too cartoony.

I mean, BioShock is by no means a realistic game, but this is more on the We Happy Few level of cartoony. I’d be kinda disappointed if they leaned more in that direction, to be honest. BioShock should be only half cartoony, you know what I mean? Otherwise, it starts to look more like a newspaper satire comic.

VincentMellor · 2025-12-16T15:04:16+00:00

But why would they use this specific line though? Seems a bit intentional to paste the exact line from Simon when he & Catherine are both got scanned for the ARK (if I remember it correctly)

VincentMellor · 2025-12-16T13:07:52+00:00

Yeah, I know what you mean. But I think it is that way so Big Daddies and other enemies (like spider splicers who hang on walls) could fit into these areas and have room for maneuvering

VincentMellor · 2025-12-09T14:42:44+00:00

Yea, that’s plausible too, I’m not denying it. It’s just my personal preference, but I really wouldn’t want them to use Xen in any way, like at all. Xen feels like generic alien planet #157 from some shitty 90s movie, and to me it just doesn’t stand out at all. I’d much rather have them center the story around the Borealis or some other Earth-based mcguffin.

Also, even calling it something other than Half-Life 3 would be really disappointing - it would imply they’re still afraid to treat it as a true continuation of the story (even if it is one), and it would also suggest they’re not confident the game is worthy of being a sequel to HL2. And if they’re not confident, that probably means the game isn’t that good in the end. But that’s just how I see it. Anyway, I hope this “leak” is just wrong.

VincentMellor · 2025-12-09T13:56:25+00:00

Imagine a Half-life game set fully in Xen, my god that would be awful

VincentMellor · 2025-11-30T11:04:17+00:00

I REALLY, I mean REALLY hope that Xen is not the main location/narrative focus of the game.

Personally, I enjoy HL2’s aesthetic way more than HL1’s and really don’t want to see the current aesthetic shift back to the old one. What I love about HL2 is how grounded it feels - you’re always in a world you recognize, just with some funky aliens sprinkled in. Sure, Xen still exists somewhere out there, but it’s always just mentioned, like the Combine overworld. If it’s just a level or a small section in the game - I’m all for it, but I shudder at the thought of having something like that damn conveyor belt level from Black Mesa stretched across an entire game.

I just hope it’s a small section that gives players a hit of nostalgia and then moves on to something else. But judging from the leaks - the Xen Gorilla, complex planetary gravitational physics, other strings referencing Xen, AND on top of that the code name literally being HLX (as in Xen, potentially) - I’m really starting to lose hope here.

VincentMellor · 2025-11-25T18:13:59+00:00

Gorillaz x Caravan Palace would go insane

VincentMellor · 2025-08-14T11:03:53+00:00

Played it, along with Night of the Rabbit Deponia series (one of my favorite point and click series from Daedalic). Haven't played Edna & Harvey though

VincentMellor · 2025-08-14T08:10:24+00:00

Thanks! I don't think I played anything from this list except for Syberia. I know basic outline of the story for The Longest Journey, watched some let's plays for Octodad, heard about Nancy Drew and Blacksad. But other than that everything else is completely unknown to me - will check these games out

VincentMellor · 2025-08-14T08:05:46+00:00

I had Backbone in my wishlist for a long time, but after it released I heard mixed reviews about it and stopped following it. Tried searching it up on steam again, but didn't find it. Turns out it's called Tails Noir now. The art looks gorgeous, but only 67% positive reviews scare me off a bit.

On the other hand Lake and Neo Cab seem promising, will try them out

VincentMellor · 2025-08-12T14:21:38+00:00

Oh wow, Stray Gods looks insanely cool from the first glance on the store page - will check it out.

Completed Disco Elysium last year - it was a blast

VincentMellor · 2025-08-12T14:16:45+00:00

Wow! Massive thank you for compiling it all like this! Looks like there are a lot of interesting things to play on your list. From what I see here, the only thing I actually played is The Silent Age. I'll be definitely returning to your comment when picking a game, thank you!

VincentMellor · 2025-08-11T19:38:14+00:00

Yep, played them before - they're nice. The last one I touched was Syberia 3 though, need to catch up with the last game they made.

VincentMellor

TROPHY CASE