EDIT: Seems dynamic music is back in style in some very recent games, many of which I haven't really played yet. Good. wholesome

For me, it's dynamic music, the kind that some games had that adjusted moment by moment to what was happening in the game.

The best-known example of this in the 90s game TIE Fighter, where the moment more enemy (or allied) ships showed up the music would have a little additional flourish to acknowledge the shift in battle. There were pre-battle tension tracks, battle music, complications of battle, grandiose flourishes for the arrival of enemy or even allied capital ships, and victory and failure music all ready to flow into the next seconds of the game.

A lesser-known but still excellent example of this was in Ultima Underworld and its sequel, where drawing a weapon had its own special "preparing for battle" tension music, getting attacked had a jump-out-of-your-skin joltingly sudden musical start that actually scared me as a kid when I got ambushed, music for battles going well, going poorly, victory and defeat.

I wish more games did those sort of second by second musical changes, but they've sort of fallen out of fashion for the most part. sicko-wistful

  • RION [she/her]
    ·
    9 months ago

    Ragdoll physics have kinda fallen by the wayside but they're so much fun

      • IloveSeagulls [she/her]
        ·
        9 months ago

        they are but mostly if youre playing a retro style shooter. (dusk, nightmare reaper, etc)

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      9 months ago

      Yeeting unconscious people was one of the few fun parts of Deus Ex 2.

    • SorosFootSoldier [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      9 months ago

      Never liked ragdoll something about it was always off to me. Though it is funny to see Niko Bellic flying through a windshield.

      • NephewAlphaBravo [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        ngl ragdoll physics are only really fun when they're janky as shit, bouncing way further than they should or clipping into geometry and thrashing around

        without that they're not that noticeable and perhaps even a downgrade from good animation work

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      ·
      9 months ago

      What do you mean? I struggle to think of a recent game that doesn't have ragdoll physics if at least somewhat appropiate (i.e. it's not a 2D-Plattformer or something)