This all started with Command and Conquer: Red Alert. My cousin was visiting, and I thought it would be a great idea to dust off this oldie for some old fashioned Soviet vs USA goodness. Unfortunately, the game just would not work right with Windows XP. After a few hours of trying to get an IPX connection working, we gave up and moved on to Warcraft III. A definite step up.
I'd never played any of the Warcraft series when it was new. In fact, I completely hated Starcraft, and this turned me off to trying out the other *craft series. It wasn't that it was a terrible game, and it wasn't the genre either. Rather, I had grown up on the Command and Conquer and Total Annihilation series, and I felt Starcraft was too fast paced and didn't contain enough strategy elements. My feelings on the matter haven't changed much.
After this, I've gone back and picked up some of the classics which I've missed over the years and some games which I just wanted to play again. The highlights of which include Unreal Tournament, Diablo II, Neverwinter Nights, Warcraft III, Uplink, and Nethack. All great games, and if you have missed one, I suggest you check it out.
I've always enjoyed the concept of randomly generated dungeons ever since I first played through Lufia II. The 100 floor dungeon in that game is intense and kept me coming back for more for many years until my SNES finally died. Nethack is another game with a randomly generated super-dungeon. You always begin the game as one of a few classes, and try to make your way through punishing levels to find an artifact which wins you the game. Despite having played the game off and on for the last 10 years, I didn't even know until recently that the game was winnable. Unlike Lufia II, where you keep going back into the Ancient Cave with things you found from previous expeditions into the cave, when you start a game of Nethack you are completely on your own from beginning to end. In all this time, I thought the point was to get a really high score before you died...
I always seem to come back to Nethack, no matter how long its been since I've last played it. Despite being one of the few games which I haven't beaten or mastered, I am loathe to head to Gamefaqs or elsewhere for answers. I started playing this game before I knew of such a thing as a "game FAQ," and I damn well intend to finish it without the help of one. Maybe one day...
