Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@EvilLucario But you like everything that's terrible!

@Ralizah @EvilLucario Honestly all the early 3D systems were horrendously ugly. PS1 fared ok when it had pre-rendered backgrounds, but even smoothed out for "HD" remasters that stuff looks pretty iffy. All 3 were ugly, and 3D was being pushed into consoles before, IMO, it really should have. PSX games look barely better than SNES Mode 7, and N64 had so much potential with all that SGI backing, but they blew it with texture memory and everything looked horrible as a result. Saturn probably won the ugly contest but that's not saying much, and it looked awful too.

I can understand how someone could say SMB3 is better than SMW....but to say SMW isn't exceptional...I don't know how anyone could think so. It holds up today as though it was new. It escalated SMB3's non-linearity into bigger stages with more verticality and added the sense of multiple zones in a stage. Plus awesome graphics, unforgettably different music. And awesome platforming that felt a lot more varied and stage-specific than SMB3 (though I still hold SMB3 in equal regard.)

@ReaderRagfihs Yeah, I really have to agree with that!

I love the N64 but I do think a lot of that whole generation hasn't aged the best, especially the earlier stuff.

But as a counter point, in hindsight there's a weird amount of games that are still better than a lot games mostly on the basis that they never tried something similar again. Like how most of the good developers gave up on their 3d platformings based on collecting stuff (leaving much of the genre being disappointing follow ups to PS1 classics or licensed games). Or how we never got a Megaman Legends post-Ps1 era or how Fludd was a hit or miss gimmick to add to Mario 64's gameplay before they made 3D Marios less like Mario 64 instead of actually making an improved Mario 64 until literally a year ago.

tbh, the fact that these games are dated actually says worse things about a lot future games if little has come out since then that does similar things as well. Like the fact that Star Fox 64 is still the gold standard for Star Fox is kind of embarrassing to every team that worked on a Star Fox game afterwards, depending on how you look at it.

I grew up with the N64, so anyone who says it was a bad console with bad games is factutally wrong and is a bad person.

Anyway, for unpopular gaming opinions.... I don't enjoy most platformers, in any format or dimension.

One of my favorites in the genre is Wario Land 3, and it's the only game in the Wario Land series I actually like.

@ReaderRagfihs FFIX is the only FF that matters!!

@Delibheel Don't feel bad. 5th gen generally sucked as a whole.... Let's face it, most of what was great about PSX was FF.... Jak 1 and Crash were ok, but compared to Mario 64 and Banjo in their genres it really wasn't. There's a reason I was all PC in that era The real games were there

I still loved the GCN Wario game.

Even though I’ve only played the most obscure one, I think all of Wario’s platformers are great.

The Wario Land series is one of the better platformer series IMO. I like them all (haven't played VB Wario Land though), but 2 was and still is my favorite. I haven't played Wario World or Master of Disguise either, but I consider them to be spinoffs.

I missed out on the N64 but have played Super Mario 64 on both the DS and Wii U VC. I ironically slightly prefer the controls in the original and disliked starting out as Yoshi in the DS remake. I can appreciate what SM64 started and definitely see it as a fun game, but its age definitely shows sometimes. The concept of Lakitu as the actual, visible camera is cool, but I didn't know that Mario was covered in hot butter and bacon grease when landing on a variety of surfaces.

@Blitzenexx Haven’t played Wario World at all, but Master of Disguise is definitely it’s own thing. It’s really fun, but it does suffer from some of the problems other touch screen focused platformers on the system have.

Your points about SM64 and DS are pretty true and not actually unpopular.

@ReaderRagfihs huh, i don't recall those reasons your mention. Not that doesn't matter. It's simply an undeniable fact that it's the only truly great FF. It's ok if you want to live a lie though.

Tbh Final Fantasy isn't exactly one of my favorite RPG series. It's ok but the gameplay doesn't really captivate me like Pokemon or Xenoblade (Xenogears combat sucks though). VI is my favorite overall but it still has multiple glaring flaws like being so braindead easy and extremely unbalanced characters. IV aged like crap across the board, V is really good but has quite a few instances of trial and error, and VII is also pretty good but also aged pretty badly. I do want to play IX eventually, but most people seem to really praise the story/characters and not the gameplay as much, which doesn't quite align with my tastes as much but whatever.

@PolarExperience: That's another thing. I love the original DS line for how innovative it was, but many of the earlier games were more touchscreen-centric than they needed to be IMO.

Some people thought that the mini-games on SM64 DS were refreshing, but they didn't do much for me. I had just played the original New Super Mario Bros. before moving onto it, but the problem is that they share many of the same games.

Back on the Unpopular Gaming Opinions, I can't stand the "Dragonball" style arts in some games from the Dragonball games themselves to stuff like Blue Dragon / Dragon Quest. Like... I think I might understand why people think it's good, but I just find them super ugly and I end up unable to enjoy a whole ton of games that I have interest in because I just can't stand them at all. Especially the eyes. God the eyes.

@ReaderRagfihs Yeah for the most part, I have almost always stuck to a gameplay > story mantra, and that carries over to almost all of the genres I play. Even RPGs, which place a greater emphasis on stories than almost every other genre, I primarily get a lot of enjoyment off the gameplay and not necessarily just the story. There are exceptions like Xenogears, which I absolutely do not recommend from a gameplay standpoint (since it aged worse than even FFVII) but I still really liked the story a ton for me to sort of overlook the gameplay problems. Overall though, I need good gameplay to be the backbone of my experience.

That said, I still can't 100% ignore stories in RPGs. Bloodborne/Dark Souls, for example: I still love them for their combat and they really know how to deliver good bosses (well, moreso BB than DS1 because DS1 doesn't exactly have too much great bosses), but their storytelling isn't exactly what I'd call "good". It relies far too much on interpretation which loses too much on structure, which is why I do not think they are good stories to be told narratively. Something like Xenogears may be filled with a bunch of symbolism or religious references, but there's still a solid core chain of events to follow along and to root for the character. BB/DS... nah, I don't see it.

@BusyTressa Ehh I don't dislike them due to their complexity tbh. FFV is perhaps one of the most complex games in the series with its intracate job system, but otherwise it's not too engaging for me. Games like Pokemon can be much more simple but the gameplay loop of catching Pokemon and raising them is way more engaging, and games like Xenoblade are far more complex and in-depth which I absolutely adore from beginning to end.

There is elegance in simplicity, which is something Nintendo really excels at due to their mantra of "accessable to everyone, deep to dedicated players" through very smartly designed mechanics, but at other times I do want my meaningful complexity in my games.

@NEStalgia I restarted NSMBU from the beginning and have been playing pretty extensively the last day or two and... OK, I can admit when I'm wrong. It's fun and well-designed. It. indeed, plays a lot like SMW (few power-ups, interconnected world map with a lot of secrets, level design that allows for a lot of exploration, etc.) except I've mostly been enjoying it. The Soda Jungle was a fun callback to SMB3's Giant Land.

I mean, it has the same problems inherent in all NSMB games, but I'm willing to admit it's pretty good, and probably even the best of these games (I still enjoy NSMB2 more, though, as the SMW-ey aspects of the game don't really do a whole lot for me).

@ReaderRagfihs I feel the same with regards to FF9. Though I played it after playing plenty other RPGs, so yet another fantasy setting like that one was already something I rolled my eyes at, plus everything you mentioned.

@darkfenrir Agreed. Akira Toriyama's character designs are hideous.

@Ralizah Aha! Glad to hear you're able to see it in a new light! I do agree about inherent problems in NSMB as a whole, but glad to hear you're able to see what I was saying about U (still looking forward to having it handheld soon!)

I still don't get what you dislike about SMW...but maybe you'll come around to that one too someday I do agree that in 1993, after I loved SMB3 and beat it like 8 times (which was a feat back then since the game had no save battery....you had to do the whole thing in one shot...I'd leave the TV on all day long....and those TVs really couldn't take that ) the cape felt...weird. Somehow Mario sprouting a ringtail and thus being able to fly seemed normal but wearing a cape and riding a dinosaur seemed weird. "How could Nintendo betray me like this?!?" But I loved it almost immediately after.

@BusyTressa That's why FFXIII simplified the game system to "Press A", and FFXV just went "well, screw this RPG thing, let's just do whatever Hideki Kamiya's doing but add EXP and angsty teens."

@darkfenrir @Ralizah It's weird, I actually really like Dragon Quest's art style, but hate Dragon Ball's art style. (And seriously can the dude ever do something without the word Dragon in it? )

@readerragfihs Hah, I'm used to dissing FF games....I just happen to love 9. If we want to turn "unpopular opinions" into "holy crusade against heathens" I could talk FFVII.........

Yeah, I do agree on long loading times, though I haven't seen an FF game yet other than maybe XV that doesn't have unbearably long loads. XII-Zodiac, X, XIII....they're all terrible. I do agree about unwinnable story bosses wasting healing, and I REALLY agree with Triple Triad.

For me, especially with FF (let's face it, who plays FF for the gameplay? FF gameplay has NEVER been particularly good in ANY iteration. It's all about the adventure, the pacing, the "feel" for me. IX has the characters, locations, pacing, feel without ever feeling bogged down in minutia the way VII, VIII, or X gets you can kind of sit back and enjoy the trip. And the story is concise and coherent. Unlike the beloved VII which never comes close to making sense after they FREAKING TAKE YOUR HEALER YOU LEVELED UP 1/3 THROUGH THE GAME. That's like taking away your starter Pokemon at the 4th gym.

It's a mixture of lovable characters, memorable, unique locations/events/scenes, a great exploration journey. The story never takes itself too seriously, unlike most of the FF's from VII onward, and the story doesn't get lost in its own lore and/or careen into incomprehensible nonsense only the producer can vaguely make sense of. It's a stragight forward self contained adventure journey with interesting people to interesting places where interesting things happen, and wonky gameplay elements rarely get in the way of enjoying it. Comparatively VII has great for the time gameplay that didn't age well, and one of the worst story arcs in the history of gaming (that still makes no sense even with all the pre-sequel-fics.) X is pretentious beyond imagining (and still loses its way in story telling into the incomprehensible.) VIII is just....weird...and forgettable. XII is actually good but plays like a Bioware game more than FF, XIII is...I mean do we even need to go there? The pretentiousness of X, with the nonsensical storytelling of VII, and all the epicness of Quake 2. (III-2 & LR actually fix most of that though...) And XV is basically an open world action game.

I guess IX took a lot of what was good about 1-6, added the narrative/character elements people loved about VII and moved FF back to...you know...fantasy...rather than weird sci-fi for no real reason.

I agree entirely with you and @EvilLucario though. FF is a story telling adventure. The gameplay is bland at best (actuall FFXIII has horrendous story, but some of the series' best gameplay later on.)

But, for RPGs, while I don't want gameplay to be boring or frustrating, I almost don't care about gameplay. It's about the journey. Games like SaGa and even to a leser degree Octopath bore me...it's just about battle grinding non-stop which is not particularly fun at all....the RPG is about the trip from A to B then to C...turn based battles, as their own end, are flat out boring, like playing cards. They can be addictive if they don't drag on too long. And all RPG bosses drag on too long (Octopath....) I'd rather grind more trash mobs and have fewer dmg sponge bosses. Etrian is well made but an utter snooze fest to me. Though I do love DQ, far more than FF, as well, as it balances excellent gameplay and excellent adventure journeys and characters.

@NEStalgia That naming sense is probably stuck to him forever now (and who doesn't want Dragons everywhere in their title of game anyway, it adds a lot of coolness /s)

But yeah, I've always wanted to pick up stuff like Blue Dragon or something, but the moment I saw that art style I just went "uuuuuuuugh" and really don't want to because if I'm going to stare at something, at least it needs to be something I like! _(:"3

@NEStalgia I agree with Octopath, found it too grindy, the storys were ok, but I couldn't even pass the first of the Second Chapters because all my characters except my main were too low, and I don't really have the patience nowadays to grind out EXP as I used to.

But FFVII had a massive storyline, and true the healer gets killed (if you didnt know that where in the world have you been? Ah, too young to remeber it coming out probalbly), but because of the versatility of materia anoyne can be the healer. I can't wait for that game to come to the switch.

FFVIII was even worse than that, after leveling up one of your characters learning her back story, all the heart ache, because she wasnt from the orfanage you cant take her through to the final battle, WTF!!! Her limits and weapons were the best out of all of them, and the stupid getting paid every so often which depended on you answering questions about the game. Gah i found that game a mess.

I also loved FFIX all the fantasy stuff and the steam punk flying machines were great. The kind of cartoony style was amazing and another on the list to get when it comes out.

@NEStalgia Yeah, I'll probably give World another chance later in the year. I'll get to the end, come hell or high water, and judge it definitely from that point. I have a bad habit of just dropping games I'm not enjoying right away, which is why it took me years to actually get back to Twilight Princess HD (and NSMBU, for that matter).

The cape was hard for me to control, and it looks odd. I like the squirrel suit, though. It feels like a fusion of the cape and the tanooki suit.

Ghost houses are still frustrating.

The bosses are better than in other NSMB games, but they still suck compared to DKC and YWW bosses.

I've totally bypassed two of the worlds so far. It's interesting how interconnected the map is.

Chrono Trigger.

The gameplay is the reason I and many other people loved FFXII. It's easily one of the best games in the series in that regard.

Funny story: I never used Aerith and resented when the game made me use her at the Temple of the Ancients. The game isn't hard enough to require a dedicated healer, and I'd prefer to have someone who can dish out damage instead.

Also, I ship Cloud x Tifa big time.

So when THAT happened... let's just say that I wasn't devastated.