Board 8 > If you own PSX/PS2/GCN disks, is it better to play OG or emulate?

(+) Yeah! (+)

After Yoshitaka Murayama died, I decided to finally pickup Suikoden V and complete the series.

I also figure Im gonna do a complete playthrough.

I still have my PS2 with component cables. Would it be worth it playing legit, or are the small quality of life elements from emulation like savestates and speed changes reason to do it that way?

This also applies to any other games Im thinking of replaying, I mean, if I DO emulate I can play them on Steam Deck, which would be sweet.

Lol how much did you spend on Suikoden V? Because it goes for at least $100 these days. I recommend emulation to people for that reason alone. Me personally ill always ride or die original hardware, but the price of retro gaming has just become too insane that i dont recommend this hobby to anyone lmao

also i would totally tag a suiko v playthrough

you can use original ps1/ps2 discs with an emulator too.

not really an expert on the subject, but I think GCN emulation is considered to be pretty good, and PS1/2 emulation isn't perfect yet but probably passable and better than 64/saturn emulation.

I finished playing We <3 Katamari on an emulator with a ps4 controller, and it seemed a bit fiddly in recognizing the diagonal directions which was a bit of a problem for that game, but it's probably not as big a deal for rpgs. Also it might have worked a bit better if I fiddled around a bit more (since I assume it was just assigning keyboard keys to the control stick) but I'm not super technically inclined.

Yeah thats almost certainly a controller configuration issue, not an emulation problem

Mr_Crispy posted...

you can use original ps1/ps2 discs with an emulator too.

not really an expert on the subject, but I think GCN emulation is considered to be pretty good, and PS1/2 emulation isn't perfect yet but probably passable

I havent looked into the current state of PS1/2 emulation, but its been passable for many years now.

PCSX2 got an update that removed the need for all those plugins so PS2 and PS1 are totally good and easy now

I wouldn't recommend using your discs on an emulator as it's pretty laggy. If you wanna use a disc just play it on the original hardware.

Fun fact: Suikoden IV does 480p with Component Cables, but Suikoden V doesnt

But probably the best way to play 1-4 is from the PS Store on PS3 if that is still operational. Is it?

TomNook7 posted...

Me personally ill always ride or die original hardware, but the price of retro gaming has just become too insane that i dont recommend this hobby to anyone lmao

This is how I feel too. I've purchased a lot of GameCube and (3)DS games over the past year or so and the market just boggles my mind.

I pretty much always emulate classic games these days.

I know you mentioned Steam Deck, but if your PC has a disk drive, you can run PS2 discs off of the PCSX2 emulator. The emulator itself is gotten really good these days.

That said, when was the last time you played on your PS2? And is it the fat or slim model? Because a lot of slim models have trouble reading discs now. I know mine does, which is sort why I have to resort to emulations if I want to play PS2 games (or get off my ass to do a self-replacement on the disc reading part).

Yeah thats another thing. All my consoles constantly break down on me these days. Turbografx CD has audio issues and currently in the shop . Neo Geo Pocket Color wont cut on. Ps3 wont stay on for more than 20 minutes

Not to mention who knows when disc rot is gonna happen

I love retro gaming, and nothing beats getting cozy and playing an old skool JRPG on a crt tv like its 1998. But unless youre an insane person like me id say just emulate lol

I don't know, it's convenience versus reliability. PS2 emulation has always been pretty touch-and-go for me, but I need an HDMI converter just to hook up my PS2 to my TV now.

it's convenience vs reliability. fortunately, emulating wins in both

Emulation is absolutely 100% the way to go for retro gaming, especially now that even PCSX2 is so easy and consistent. The issue of retro game prices being gouged to bajesus and back really is reason enough, but there's a ton of nice stuff like increased resolution/performance, widescreen patches, mods etc that let you get a much nicer experience than you would otherwise, unless you're actually playing on a legit CRT and even then I'd say it's subjective.

Guess I better look into these improvements myself.

TomNook7 posted...

Lol how much did you spend on Suikoden V? Because it goes for at least $100 these days. I recommend emulation to people for that reason alone. Me personally ill always ride or die original hardware, but the price of retro gaming has just become too insane that i dont recommend this hobby to anyone lmao

also i would totally tag a suiko v playthrough

Yeah I paid $100. I paid the same for Suikoden II forever ago, figured I may as well complete the set.

Jakyl25 posted...

But probably the best way to play 1-4 is from the PS Store on PS3 if that is still operational. Is it?

I actually just remembered I bought Suikoden 1 and 2 on PSN forever ago. The argument for emulating them is pretty strong though. I also have an ancient action replay, so if I really wanted to go legit at any time, I could always do that.

As a trophy hunter, I'm addicted to RetroAchievements. So I always emulate these days

I always emulate these days as I'm addicted to RetroAchievements. A brilliant way to get more out of games you've probably played umpteen times. All consoles up to PS2 are supported with Gamecube being supported at some point this year

TomNook7 posted...

Lol how much did you spend on Suikoden V? Because it goes for at least $100 these days. I recommend emulation to people for that reason alone. Me personally ill always ride or die original hardware, but the price of retro gaming has just become too insane that i dont recommend this hobby to anyone lmao

also i would totally tag a suiko v playthrough

Retro game prices in the US always blow my mind. It's like 5 bucks out here lol