Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

Probably, yeah.

Anyways, since we're talking Sonic here, I might as well get it off my chest:

I do not care for Ian Flynn. Or at least, I don't put him on the same God-like pedestal others do. To me he's just another writer, and writers aren't without flaw. Flynn included. I feel his writing style is a bit too "plot drives the characters" for my liking(at least in the comics, I can't comment on the games he wrote) and I don't agree with his desire to have everything adhere to one specific canon.

My hot take for Sonic is that I don't really care for the movies. It feels like they get a ton of praise for doing the same exact thing that a majority of terrible live action video game films do. The whole "Oh wow! Video game character in real life!!!!"

Even if it's done better because it actually follows the source material, I'm just tired of that same exact trend being utilized over and over again. I wish we would get more films for games that don't involve the characters either coming from our world into the game's world (stuff like Monster Hunter, A Minecraft Movie) or Video game characters coming to the real world (the Sonic Movies, A Minecraft Movie).

I want more films like Detective Pikachu or the Mario Movie, but with actual decent plots that aren't just a rehash of the game- or in the case of the Mario Movie, a nostalgia fest with no actual substance to it narratively.

@VoidofLight Credit where it's due, though: I at least respect the Sonic films for actually trying to be movies. Whole time I was watching Mario, I was just thinking to myself, "why can't I just play this? What is the point of bringing Mario to film if you're not going to tell a story that works best for this specific format?" I never quite got that with Sonic.

This is why I feel like people fell in love with the film series in the first place. I don't mind if the first film didn't have the most video game-ish elements in it. It's good on it's own, and that's something you can't say for most video game movies (and other similar style family films, adaptations and such). Also, I'm used to different adaptations of Sonic as a Archie Sonic fan. I even enjoy elements of Underground.

I need to do a re-watch of the series, cause I have this weird feeling I like the first one the most for some reason.

Speaking of Sonic Adventure, I also have fond memories of Sonic Adventure 2 in particular, as because Nintendo fan, it was the first Sonic game I played and I remember liking it a lot. But when I played the demo of the HD version on Ps3 a few years ago (which admittedly, those versions are considered less than ideal AFAIK), I did not particularly liked how it played. Which kinda made me...not want to go back to it anymore, for fear my memories will be ruined by the reality of how it plays.

It would be doubly disappointing as someone who rarely feels this way about N64 games despite being told repeatedly those games in particular have aged poorly, so it would stand out even more if Sonic Adventure 2 has.

I never understand the appeal of rhythm heaven games, even the new rhythm heaven game announced just zero interest for me.
I grew up by Rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, Beatmania IIDX, Drum Mania, etc so I expect the gameplay of good rhythm games must have interface, the scroll and wide variety songlist like those rhythm games.

Otherwise, I will not impressed at all.

So I have a pretty big unpopular opinion. I don't think Mario Kart World selling itself as an Open World game is a good thing- and I can't see why it's so special. It feels like they're just tacking on the free roam Open World aspect as it's own sectioned off thing that will contribute virtually nothing to the gameplay- at least from what we've seen. Sure, it's cool noticing that the courses actually exist in the world, but it feels like a gimmick or novelty that adds no real substance to the experience as a whole. Especially in regards to both Knock-Out mode and Grand Prix.

I also don't like how course design is clearly suffering due to this open-world revelation. It seems like with Grand Prix, the courses themselves are taking a massive back-seat. We only spend one race out of each cup (the starting one) doing three laps around the courses. The rest of the races are where we spend 2/3 of the laps getting to the course, and one final lap around the actual course itself. Majority of Grand Prix's gameplay is focused specifically around the sprints and getting from one course to the other. It looks like it won't really be fun either, since the routes to those courses are just linear lines with nothing interesting added to them.

Sure, the game might have VS mode. It might have time trials. But it feels like Grand Prix is the experience I played the most in Mario Kart 8- especially given how you can complete all of them by getting a trophy for each and every cup. It was a really fun challenge on the maximum speed and in mirror mode. I hate how this game probably won't have anything like that- and all because it wants to sell itself on being an open world experience.

I also dislike how they got rid of the custom vehicle, so it feels like there's less strategy in planning out your stats of your kart. You're now stuck to picking specific Karts- and if there's a Kart that's the "best" one, it'll probably be the only one people are going to play with.

@VoidofLight I don't have the strongest thoughts on the track design itself until the Direct - it's too early for me to say that it's Mariover, but I will disagree in regards to the kart customization. It was a fun novelty to have in 7/8 and led to some nice experimentation, but the bloom faded off the rose when you eventually just settled on your preferred kart/character combo - this was further proven in the online scene, with so many people going with the same roller-centric meta-builds every damn time. World going back to preset builds trims the fat, which I don't think is inherently bad design.

@N00BiSH I guess with the kart thing. I just personally rather have custom karts because it felt like for a while it brought more strategy to the table- but I guess it'll be the same either way, given people will just stick to the same Kart in whatever system they bring.

As for the courses, I hope we get some well designed ones. I'm still hoping the direct will justify the open world, along with showcasing some of the courses. My main gripe is mostly just how Grand Prix mode is more about the in-between of going through courses instead of actually doing laps around the courses themselves.. with the in-between areas looking far less interesting in comparison to the actual courses. I'm fine with Knock-Out mode being mainly just in-between segments, but I wish we actually got to do a full 3 laps around the courses after we get to them in Grand Prix.

I think I read somewhere that the lack of 3 laps was a misunderstanding, but I'm too lazy to look into it myself, so I wouldn't know. I'd disagree with that if its actually the direction, at least until its justified as of comparable quality in execution.

But I will say, I'm not willing to say anything about it in general, since while I am also increasingly disinterested in the entire open world genre, every time I say that I then enjoy the new open world Zeldas more than nearly any other video game I play. My favorite 3d video games of maybe the past decade shouldn't be these bloated open world games that replaced my precious classic Zelda games so I could do endless cooking nonsense, climbing to get insignificant items for an eternity, the worst main quest of the 3D games (and pretty bottom tier across Zelda in general) with inexplicably mid sidequests from the same series that gave us Majora's Mask and Skyward Sword...but they are. This looks so much less bloated and has a non-open world game to thoroughly enjoy, from a series I'm far less consistently in love with anyway, so I'm more than willing to see where this goes.

@kkslider5552000 Nah, I watched the footage. Unless there's a way to configure it to where you can turn off the in-between routes (which I don't think that's what intermission means), the courses have 2 laps where you go between courses and 1 around the course itself.

Also, I don't mind Open Worlds, but I'm just tired of tons of series becoming Open World. I think Open World Mario Kart can be interesting- and I'm more than willing to give it a shot.. but I don't know what they'll end up sacrificing in order to accomplish it- nor am I understanding fully what they aim to do with it that makes it the main selling point of the game. We'll find out soon though. I know that Xenoblade Chronicles X is probably my favorite Open World- so I hope Nintendo can find some way to beat Monolith in that regard.

Unpopular Mario Kart World take that I'm sure nobody's heard before: I think the inclusion of Mario enemies as racers is more satisfying than if we just got more crossover characters. They were nice extras to have in 8DX but I wouldn't want them to oversaturate the roster, lest the game run the risk of becoming Nintendo Kart(which I dread. Greatly).

I also think it's hilariously hypocritical that there are people yearning for the Koopalings to return, as if their inclusion wasn't heavily scrutinized before.

My take on Mario Kart World is that the open world racer is hardly a new idea that elevates the franchise into the levels of something that's worthy of charging the premium price that they're asking for it.

Lots of people are already comparing it to Forza Horizon, already into its 5th iteration, and before that you've got games like Burnout Paradise (ported to the Switch and often available at a bargain price) and Midtown Madness from the late 90s, that offered a mix of free roaming and a variety of races.

I've had a lot of fun with that formula over the years and don't think it's a bad direction to be taking the franchise in, but it just isn't the Holy Grail that some people seem to think.

@N00BiSH I agree, partly because I think inclusion of non-Mario series racers would break the cohesion of the game and its vision, but also because I believe if Nintendo were to do a "Nintendo Kart" I would be more interested in the courses than the characters (although you'd need good reps for both!)

Honestly I still hope we get a Nintendo Kart one day but I'm happy they've gone in this direction for this entry.

Also didn't realise people didn't like the Koopalings in Mario Kart 8 - I'm personally a fan. But could it just be different people holding different opinions?

@N00BiSH Honestly I agree with your take on the racers. I wasn't a fan of them doing cross-over characters and courses since it felt like it was sorta stepping on what made Mario Kart unique in the first place. I don't want it to become Smash Brothers but with cars. I want Mario Kart to remain focused on the Mario world and the characters.

I also believe I'm going to be maining Conkdor when I get the game.

@VoidofLight I was fine with the crossover stuff in 8(specifically Excitebike Arena), but I think if they're going to do guest characters again, they should limit it to either a few characters from their big franchises or a bunch of ridiculously niche picks from lesser known Mario games. George Turbo, anyone?

_{eh, no one's gonna get that...}

Seriously? They weren't even echo fighters, how could they be wastes of a slot??? Good grief...

@N00BiSH Speaking of wastes of slots, it seems like the costumes in World are suffering from the same issue that the Metal Mario and Peach suffered from. Costumes that act as individual characters in the roster menu- bloating the screen.

@VoidofLight Didn't notice that, but if that's true then it's not a great sign. I'd much rather they be on a submenu like with the Yoshi and Shy Guys.

@VoidofLight @N00BiSH I’m guessing that’s just a preview thing but I guess we’ll see

@N00BiSH @FawfulsFury Yeah, it's towards the final few pages. There's a chance though that the full roster in the demo wasn't unlocked yet- but I wouldn't get my hopes up that there's too many new racers we don't know about.

Also, it could be for previews- but I dunno. The preview build on the treehouse looked to be more like a finalized one to me.