I've been pretty obsessed with my [[Ayn Odin 2|Odin 2]] ever since I got it, particularly as a PS2 machine. Beyond that, I do like to dip into older systems too, but it made me realize something: I don't really have patience for the 5th generation of consoles. For people who don't have back-pain, that's the one with N64 and the PS1. And I'm coming to learn that even though it's a generation that was very formative for me, and one that I grew up on, it's not one I'm enjoying going back to. Which is funny, 'cause I don't mind the gen before it! The SNES and Sega Genesis are fun to go back too, as are the handhelds that released alongside 4th and 5th gen. But I tried to get into some old PS1 games and like: most of them aren't very fun! That's not a blanket statement of course - I enjoyed poking around in **Wild Arms**[^1] and **Legend of Legaia** after being away from them for so long. But taking that trip down memory lane was a solid reminder of why I was putting SquareSoft and Enix on such a pedestal when I was a kid. There was a clear difference between the developers that were going ham with their polish, vs ones that didn't have the budget or knowledge to work with CD-Roms, at the time a brand new invention for games. And even *then*! SquareSoft wasn't perfect about it either! For example, **Final Fantasy VII** is as quick and snappy as I remember it being because of the very simple textures. But **Final Fantasy IX** chugs like hell because *everything* is textured. Hence the incredibly long load-times and spinny battle-transitions. Thankfully a FF button can help with a lot of these issues, but it also tells me that if I pulled out my actual PS1 right now and put a disc in, I'd be happily nostalgic for about 15 seconds before I got exhausted / irritated. What can I say? I guess I'm spoiled on QOL now. And listen I completely understand approaching a game as it was created in 1997 or whatever. It's not like I'm *mad* - this was the wild west, everyone was figuring it out. So much of what's in my library is foundational for what came after in videogames. But like, I can admire a painting for a few minutes and move on - I'm probably going to do the same for most PS1 games. Maybe when I get back to them I'll be in a better mindset for that era of games. But for now, it's back to **Digital Devil Saga**. [^1]: Which, by the way, looks and feels like an enhanced-SNES game...so...