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Hey edwin, you're thinking about this a little too hard. The feeling and attachment you to the game and it's association to your childhood bring up feelings of past enjoyment and longing to feel it again is totally normal, and you don't need to fear it. As you realise time passes and you never get back the days and hours of the past, this realisation comes with maturity and you start building appreciation for things that gave you good memories. I see you're afraid that replaying things might ruin your nostalgia, you don't need to worry. As you've already recognised, replaying these things now feels different... this is because you're creating new memories in a different frame of mind then you had when you were young. But not only this, you're comparing your current feeling to the memory of your old feelings, such comparison isn't equal nor fair and why you can't recreate such feelings. You need not worry about damaging your feelings toward something if you have an appreciation for it and that time period as well as accepting that it is what it is. Don't make comparisons of now to then, again this wouldn't be fair. If you have a true appreciation for something as it is, its faults aren't a concern nor is getting new content, it's the faults that give it the character and the memories that you had. For me some of my fondest memories are that of exploiting bugs, and finding fault in games as a kid. Play it, enjoy it for what it was for you then. Don't make comparisons to now, we don't live in the 1990's.

Honestly, I haven't experienced anything like this. The reason I still occasionally play LR1, RR, and more obscure games like Bionicle Heroes and CrystAlienConflict is because, fundamentally, I find them fun to play. I don't seem to be affected by nostalgia to create an amazing experience out of a subpar game (perhaps due to my ... unique... mental setup). I never really got the LI1 hype, which has parallels with your IXS nostalgia. I remember walking around the island and being very confused at the jittery build controls - and when I come back to play it, I find that the island is exactly as empty as I remember it with the weirdest controls to navigate and the build controls are still weird. And that's why I play other games instead - because they're fun. As Baraklava said, if you find IXS fun to play because of your nostalgia and all the memories, play it! Nothing lasts permanently - you eventually stop playing any game that doesn't receive new content for you to play - and enjoy the ride while it exists. Nothing is permanently enjoyable as people change, so enjoy things when you can. I'm trying really hard to not to draw parallels to life as a whole or condone pleasure-seeking, both of which might break the forum rules along the lines of "don't get political" Playing games is, to me, about having fun, and if you're having fun for whatever reason when you play a game, go ahead! On a more bitter note, if you decide not to play it, to stay in that feeling, you'll constantly be haunted by the question "should I play it?" which is never a nice state to be in.

Honestly, just play until you are done imo. Nostalgia is different to everyone, but undoubtedly one of the strongest forms of irrational love there is. Here's the thing though: If you truly love something, the nostalgia or appeal of that thing doesn't wear off. If you think the nostalgia will wear off, then that might be for the best. Every time I dive back into my Rock Raiders lego, I feel a strong sense of nostalgia, but also a genuine love for it. However when I play the Rock Raiders game, I feel the game design frustrations so often, I question if it's worth playing the game. It's still enjoyable, but it's impossible to say it's perfect. But the feeling... the music, the sounds, the charm, that is where the true nostalgia lies, and I still don't get tired of the soundtrack to this day. I think a lot of people feel the same about Lego Island: The power is in the charm of the characters, not the graphics nor the controls, but to someone who hasn't played the game before, it's probably really boring and impossible to get into. Or think of it this way: If you bottle up nostalgia in order to use it later, or to never spoil it, then what's the point of nostalgia? There is probably hundreds of things you liked as a kid that you know you don't like anymore, be it crappy browser games or TV shows made specifically for kids. The nostalgic love for those doesn't wear off because you indulged in it, it wears off because it truly wasn't that good or you don't enjoy it anymore. There's so much stuff I had as a kid that just doesn't interest me in the same way anymore. I still feel nostalgic about it, but not enough to feel that it's some perfect time capsule never to be broken. Realising the things you are nostalgic about aren't perfect is a healthy process of maturing, in my experience, and has in my case actually helped me enjoy nostalgic content more. It's all up to you if you want to uninstall the game of course, but the real question is why deny yourself the experience?