Playing Pool Of Radiance got me learning the ins and outs of 2nd edition AD&D and I came to the realization today that I prefer games with a magic points or mana system. Probably because I grew up with JRPGs which exclusively deal with MP over spell slots. Don’t get me wrong, D&D is great, but it’s such a pain when you get into battle and you realize you forgot to memorize Detect Magic and now you have a bunch of potential good loot.
There are no rituals in 2e, so if you didn’t prepare something, you didn’t have it until your next long rest. IIRC you also were much more restricted in the number of spells (and spell slots) you had access to.
Oh wait, didn’t older systems also have you prepare a specific number of spells or something? Like if you wanted to cast Heal twice you had to choose it twice in the morning?
I know older editions lacked the “up casting” that 5e has. There was like “cure wounds” and “cure greater wounds” etc.