Eh, games just used to have terrible level design. Literal mazes for levels, main path going through tiny crevices somewhere underwater, random vents, behind seemingly indestructible/immovable foliage, with buttons that trigger who knows what somewhere on the opposite side of the map. Games just can’t get away with it anymore, can’t make player stuck for weeks when they have literal hundreds of games still waiting to be played.
That’s also a factor, can’t deny. Maps were intentionally more esoteric, or perhaps sometimes accidentally more esoteric because we hadn’t got good at the art of level design yet.
But it was still a different problem. Back then you were getting stuck because the switch was in such an illogical place you’d never look there, whereas now you’d be getting stuck because the switch blends in so well with all the other scenery you can walk right past it 5 times and not notice it unless it glimmers at you.
Eh, games just used to have terrible level design. Literal mazes for levels, main path going through tiny crevices somewhere underwater, random vents, behind seemingly indestructible/immovable foliage, with buttons that trigger who knows what somewhere on the opposite side of the map. Games just can’t get away with it anymore, can’t make player stuck for weeks when they have literal hundreds of games still waiting to be played.
That’s also a factor, can’t deny. Maps were intentionally more esoteric, or perhaps sometimes accidentally more esoteric because we hadn’t got good at the art of level design yet.
But it was still a different problem. Back then you were getting stuck because the switch was in such an illogical place you’d never look there, whereas now you’d be getting stuck because the switch blends in so well with all the other scenery you can walk right past it 5 times and not notice it unless it glimmers at you.