/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5020979
At a basic level it just feels good to play. The rhythm of footsteps and head bob is just right. It's also sort of a collectathon, people just like clearing out all the trinkets (loot in this case) from a level and the loot jingle is satisfying. In a lot of levels you could probably strip out all the guards and still have fun exploring and finding loot.
It's split into largely self-contained missions so there's no commitment to playing. A problem a lot of people have with more longform games is when they have to stop playing for a while and come back with little recollection of where they are in the story or what their equipment/abilities are. Since every mission has a briefing and Garret's capabilities are static, Thief doesn't have this problem, it can be very "pick up and play". At the same time, missions are substantial. They're large and open ended enough that you can leave things undiscovered, to find later in a subsequent play through.
The score screen makes it easy to come up with self imposed challenges (ghosting variations, iron man, swordsman, speedrun, 100%, etc.) but doesn't impose anything on you.
And of course there's a long list of fan missions, which are themselves self-contained.