Final Fantasy 2 on NES and Romancing Saga 2 on SNES.

On Switch, recently, I played all 10 of the first FF games, and I played 5 of the 6 Saga games (All three ports of FF Legend/Saga, and Romancing Saga 2 and 3, the remasters, not the 3D remake).

Both games were my least favourite in their respective franchises (at least the first 10 FF games and the first 6 Saga games). Now FF2 is my 6th favourite FF game (which is significant, since the 5 FF games above it are all among my all-time favourite games), while Romancing Saga 2 went from my least favourite of the first 6 to my favourite of that group.

Starting with Final Fantasy 2:

I've always been more of a fan of the even numbered FF games than the odd numbered ones with two exceptions: FF2 and FF7. More or less I enjoyed FF7 as much as the even numbered games, and enjoyed FF2 less than the odd numbered games.

When I recently played through the remasters of the first 10 FF games on Nintendo Switch, FF2 went from 10th place up to 6th. There are two main reasons, nostalgia for other games, and a change in the amount of linear grinding and lack of continuous story I can tolerate in games.

So, one thing about the early odd numbered games (prior to FF7) is that they mostly used story as a backdrop. It was a loosely connected series of scenarios without much (if any) consequential connection. In fact, FF4 was really the first game that had a solid story, and FF6 (not FF5) was really the successor to FF4. FF5 was more a sequel to FF3. And while I enjoyed testing out different classes and such as a kid, I kind of lost my taste for that, and preferred the much more customizable class style of FF2 and FF6, which was heavily based on magic. FF2 has a bit more customization involved than the other early class-based FF games as well. I used to rank the NES FF games as 3>1>2, now I rank them as 2>1>3. And maybe 1 is above 3 because of nostalgia, I haven't thought too deeply about it.

I don't want to get deeply into my many many criticisms of FF5 (which I think I covered quite thoroughly in an earlier post... somewhere in the forum), but let's just say unlike FF5, FF2 didn't overstay its welcome for me. I'll leave it at FF5, atop the non-consequential storytelling (there were set-backs, but they were almost all arbitrary), had two dimensional characters (no real flaws, or motivations beyond "I want to do the next objective"), and lots of "wing clipping" (Ah I got the airship, woo! But now I have to give it up for some arbitrary reason).

Onto the Saga franchise (FF Legend and Romancing Saga, particularly).

Romancing Saga 2, I have no idea why I didn't like this one the first time through, but I think it was that I "lost". You can lose this game, but luckily the remaster has a New Game Plus option, so you don't really lose anymore, really it's just your story progress and some other things. You keep a lot on New Game+, so your next go through the game is much easier. Romancing Saga 3 I probably liked more because of its production values, but (much like FF5), I found the game way overstayed its welcome on my recent play through, while Romancing Saga 2 had me engrossed from start to finish... probably because I liked the lineage system so much. In some ways the gameplay systems weren't as polished as 3, but in other ways they were better suited to the experience. Note, this is based on the HD remasters, not the 3D remake.

Another thing I've found with some older games is that there is a lot of grind fluff in them. Final Fantasy Legend/Saga 1 still has a lot of interesting bits, but while playing it in my 40s vs my childhood I really began to see the game more objectively, a lot of grinding and absurdly vague directions that lead to a lot of pointless wandering around the same spots if you're not using a guide. The game was also far more esoteric in its systems than I remember it being. And, while I always liked FF Legend 2 more than 1, I didn't realize just how much more I liked it. I would say FF Legend 1 went from a game I used to enjoy playing to one I don't think I'll ever play again without some serious reworking. Final Fantasy Legend 2 is still my favourite of the original trilogy, but my enjoyment of it is considerably down, although the nostalgia grasp from that one is still quite strong, so it's probably my #2 game in the first 6 Saga games. I haven't replayed Romancing Saga 1 since the SNES era, so I don't know how I'd rank that one these days... yet!

Oh this. I hated Mario's jump to 3d soooo much, it took fast fluid gameplay and then shit on it for 3 dimensions and felt such a step down from Super Mario Bro's 3 which I still think is perfection but once Mario Galaxy came around it all clicked, I'm less bullish against Mario 64 now and I would agree with you on Ocarina too, that confusing first trek out of the village is the worst part of the game, another I didn't fully appreciate until Twilight Princess and while I still find Twilight Princess better OoT is just behind it cause the formula is just such a great template. Some day I hope to appreciate Mario Oddessy and BoTW the same way others do. I find them great game but far from masterpieces. 

There are games I've started, it wasn't clicking and I stopped playing them for a few years only to try them years later and enjoy them. Elder Scrolls Oblivion being one of the bigger ones. The first time I played it, running around killing rats in the dungeon I thought this game this sucks and stopped playing it. Picked it back up a few years later and really enjoyed it. I did the same for both Final Fantasy XV. I don't think I've ever beaten a game though it was a 7, and a year later thought it was a 9.

If there's one truth about games, it's that how you enjoy them heavily relies on your current mood, your life circumstance and most of all the game you played just prior to the current one. Almost always, some games transcend this but it's true 9/10 times. Always best to keep a highly praised game or one you can see a glimmer whitin but it's not hitting, installed and retry it a few times aswell as pull something out of the backlog once and a while instead of buying when you want something new and fresh. 

Metal Gear Rising - 8/10 to 10/10

Final Fantasy XV - 8/10 to 9.5/10

Final Fantasy XVI - 6.5/10 to 8/10 (until now)

Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) - 5/10 to 8/10

Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition - 10/10 to 11/10

Agree with pretty much everything (although it was windwaker and Sunshine for me not TP that got me the Eureka moments). However I find Odyssey and BoTW as the pinnacle of each of their series. Since day 1 my opinions of them haven't changed, in fact it's only grown more!

Smash Bros Melee.
Coming from playing the 64 version the melee characters was miniscule on the screen, the speed was faster than my brain and the chaos ramped up to an unfathomable level.
Played it again some two years later and pretty much did not put down the controller. It is in my opinion still the best in the series even if Ultimate put up a fair fight.