Give Broken Age a Retro, Nostalgia-Laden Overhaul

Double Fine’s new game, Broken Age, looks good. Then again, maybe you’d rather get all nostalgic for a while.

Hidden within the fresh adventure effort from the talented studio is a “retro mode” of sorts. It does exactly what you’d expect it to; It turns the title’s slick visual presentation into a pixelated palette reminiscent of the good ol’ PlayStation days.

YouTube user The Phawx has provided you with a straightforward, step-by-step tutorial. It’s actually quite easy. Just go into the game’s menu, drop the resolution down to 640 x 380, assign a button to the new icon you find in the Controls menu, and that becomes the “switch” button. Just hit it any time you want to view the old-school style. Bouncing back and forth between modern high-definition and old-fashioned visuals might be a little jarring, but maybe it’s perfect for explaining to the uninitiated how video games used to look.

In fact, it’s important to remember that those days aren’t that far behind us. I may be old and my memory never fails (as a consequence, I remember everything as if it happened yesterday), but that new retro look closest resembles games in the mid-to-late 90s. We’re talking 15 years, if that.

Graphics aren’t everything, but they’re definitely something

I enjoy taking a stroll down memory lane. I’d like to switch Broken Age to a visual presentation that reminds me of simpler times. However, if I really think about it, I can’t imagine what would compel me to play the entire game that way. Rather, I consider this aesthetic transformation a peek, a tear-jerking glimpse of the way things once were. It’s not critical and it doesn’t change the game, but it might put a smile on the face of all you veteran gamers.