I think I know pretty much exactly what you mean referencing something like Half-Life 2. I didn’t come to it until almost five years after it was released, and not having much of a background, I had a hard time appreciating it on any level.

I may be stretching for a connection here, but I’m re-watching Burton’s Batman, and comparing it in my mind to Nolan’s more recent movies. While the special effects aren’t as fancy in some spots, I still think the older one is a good movie.

I really look forward to the time when I can look at a 5 or 10 year old game and be able to compare it against a newer one based almost entirely on the merits of the story, the cinematography and maybe a few gameplay choices instead of graphics and basic mechanics.

I thought a similar thing about Ocarina of Time despite it being chunky and terrible when you go back and play it today.

I wonder if we’ll look back on Crysis and Uncharted 2 in ten years and think the same thing?

Sure, it was good when it was new, but I’d never sit down and play it again.
I prefer to keep my nostalic memories of it intact!

On a side not; have you ever noticed that you seem to remember the graphics as way better than they actually were?
Because I do.