Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@RedderRugfish I completely agree. I had no idea how unpopular it was before I started visiting sites like this one and watching retro gaming YouTube channels. I considered the controller revolutionary when I first used it as a kid and the only real complaint I have with it is that the joystick was prone to breaking from heavy use. But like you said, it can be repaired.

What a strange opinion. May I ask why you feel that way?

Oh sweet

• The Elder Scrolls-series is absolutely terrible. With its ho-hum and generic western fantasy setting, clunky battle system and just overal boring world its one of the worst bigger series right now. I can understand why others would like it, but for me I just can't say anything nice about it.
• The Wii is one of the best consoles Nintendo ever produced. Wah wah, casually grannies liking Wii Fit, who cares? It has some great games from Nintendo themselves like the Galaxy titles, Xenoblade, Metroid Prime 3, Skyward Sword, Sin & Punishment 2 and others; even with third parties treating the system they way they did, it has some absolute gems, like the last good Silent Hill game (Shattered Memories), the best cross over fighter (Tatsunoku vs. Capcom), a vast array of nice platformers (Klonoa, a Boy and his Blob for example) and hell, even the rail shooters like Ghost Squad, Dead Space Extraction, House of the Dead Overkill and the Resident Evil ones are fun.
• The hate for Metroid Other M was blown out of proportion. It wasn't the best Metroid title, I think we all agree on that, but as an action romp it is quite enjoyable.
• Final Fantasy X is okay at best. Except for Auron and Lulu all of the other characters are boring or not fun. It's super linear and the story... well yeah. I actually prefer X-2 over it. That game did not take itself seriously at all and that made for a fun adventure.
• On the other hand, Final Fantasy XV is one of the better FF games. There, I said it. While the game has its quirks, I feel the journey of Noctis and the gang is great. Dialogue was stiff at first, but in the end the power of their friendship made the game cool. Battlesystem is simple and that one chapter was a mistake, but overall a cool game to play.
• Golden Sun is mediocre. I get it, Nintendo did not have (next to Pokemon that is) a more traditional RPG, but the series is extremely by the numbers. I mean its not bad, it just exists. The biggest offender is Dark Dawn, which is so boooooooooring.
• Resident Evil Code Veronica X is the worst tradtional RE. Over Zero, yes. We get the creapy Ashford twins, but the game felt like a step back compared to RE 3 Nemesis. And the latter was the spin-off!

I don't have a problem with companies like Nintendo protecting their Intellectual Property and taking a hard line against Youtube channels or fan-made projects, etc. that infringe on their copyright. I know whenever such a news story appears (of say a fan-made Nintendo game getting shut down) I'm supposed to be all like "Boooo! Oh Nintendo you !" but I think a lot of people nowadays wrongly assume that living in the internet age means that we now live in a lawless age where they can do whatever they want online without any repercussions, but that's not the case.

I love complaining! let's do this.

• Earthbound isn't fun. I've tried so hard to get into this game so many times, but I just don't understand the appeal. The story is weird, for sure, but not great. The visuals & battles are clunky at best. I still feel I must be missing something because it's just so meh.
• Okami, don't like that either. Basically the same comments from Earthbound apply here.
• Final Fantasy VII's gameplay is & always has been objectively bad. The materia level up in such a bizarre way. You basically need to completely rework everything whenever you switch party members, which shouldn't be needed. The enemy skill materia was executed so poorly it's frustrating. And the fact that characters level outside of use, but their Limits don't is just a poor choice. All or nothing, it punishes you for not using certain characters, but makes it a chore to switch them in & out. The story is fine, but combat & leveling is among the worst of any RPG I have played.
• I liked the Wii U a lot. I traded in my PS4 for a Wii U and had a lot more fun with what Nintendo had to offer. Wii U was great & under-appreciated.

EDIT: * Castlevania II is my favourite NES Castlevania. I thought the RPG elements were great. Could I beat it 25ish years ago? Of course not, but without question I had the most fun. Exploring? Finding new whips? Heck yeah. It basically tried to do the whole Metroidvania bit before the series fully made the jump.

To be honest I don't entirely get why Earthbound is so revered either. I liked it generally - the battle system had some nice ideas such as the rolling HP system, I like the visual style and most of the music, and I'm sure the modern suburban setting was very original for an early 90s RPG - but the story was pretty lacking and the battles felt a bit dull after a while. I'd give it a solid 7.5/10 but I don't understand why people say it's one of the best RPGs ever made.

@RedderRugfish Maybe you're right. To be fair, BoF 2 was one of my favourite RPGs at the time, so as an RPG fan maybe it just didn't click.

Earthbound is a game you either get or you don't. Tbh, while I get Earthbound, regardless its still better than a lot of JRPGs at the time. In that it stands out, has better writing and...usually understands how many battles people want in their RPGs. Like in hindsight, random battles were a plight on gaming, I don't know why we accepted them as long as as we did. But to be fair, there are a few things that even at the time seem like needless limitations, namely inventory.

The storytelling is the main reason to play nearly any JRPG, so I can get why people don't get into Earthbound with its super underdeveloped characters and basic plot that gets distracted by things (especially for the main 4). But I think the characters are able to get a lot out of brief appearances in ways that most games don't, and there's just enough to build up the major things that actually matter. There's many characters that in the span of hours are not able to get as much likability and charm as the maybe 7-8 minutes you spend with Tony, for example. But one of the reasons I love Mother 3 so much is that it was able to keep a lot of Earthbound's charm while having a far more substantial story to focus on. I love that Earthbound was so different but I definitely prefer a more complete story on top of what Earthbound was trying to do. But I'd still rather play Earthbound than many, many games with far more focused stories.

Since the thread is on the subject of the Golden Sun series, is Dark Dawn worth playing? I've played the first two games via the Wii U VC and enjoyed them for the most part. Djinn feel either broken or tacked on at times though.

haha, I'll bite ... I have a couple of unpopular opinions. grins ... no one get offended please, i'm joking around here.... mostly

1. Undertale is rubbish, and yep I forced myself to get the proper pacifist ending (imagine if I didn't!). To me it was like being forced to read through some quirky, edgy teen's bad comic book. Overly pretentious and serves no purpose other than a gateway to furry fandom or a cure for insomnia. Although i'll give credit where it's due, the soundtrack is fantastic and Metaton made it tolerable. Subverting your expectations dosen't make things good... ???The Last Jedi??? I'm thus coining this strange psychological phenomenon the Susan Boyle Effect. $2 title... Underfail.

2. Day and Night cycles aren't immersive, as perfectly demonstrated in that awful game Xenoblade Chronicles 2 ... You should trade it in for Ys VIII or a Vita with the Trails games. You WILL be enlightened!... I swear i'm not shamelessly plugging Nihom Falcom, honest.

3. Zelda II: Adventures of Link has the best soundtrack of ALL LoZ games. This is not up for debate! I'm deadly serious! If you disagree I will challenge you to a Trial by Stone... and no, I'm not now shamelessly plugging The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance...although... Bad Disney, take notes from the Henson Company! (Off-topic? ... nah it needed to be said)

4. Overcooked is the worst party game on the platform. If I wanted a stress simulator I would get a job... Okay, that is kinda true, I am currently looking for work so please hire me... I can speak a little Chinese. wink

Anyways... I hope I was able to crack a bit of a smile, obviously I'm not as funny as I think I am.. But, c'mon, let's be honest, you know i'm 100% CORRECT on these rather important and overly nerdy issues. In the meantime I'll try and find more video game related things to get fake grumpy about. Stay tuned

@C-Chakra I kinda agree about you Overcooked opinion.. That's why I always said no when my brother asked to play on the Xbox.

@FlySkyHigh haha, to be fair I never gave it a chance and haven't played it co-op. I bought it on a sale because it was deemed a must have party game. Played it for about 20 mins and just didn't gel with it. Felt like work. And never loaded it up again. The right mood with the right crew would probably change my mind but... Heave Ho exists soooo...

I liked XC2, but Ys VIII & Trails games are also awesome! Did you also play Memories of Celceta on Vita? You probably have a PS4 for the upcoming Trails of Cold Steel 3?

@Galenmereth I think Ys VIII is a great game. But i do agree, I found it quite ugly the first time I played it on Switch.

On day and night cycles - I don't agree that they're not immersive (they're pretty much essential for games like Animal Crossing and BotW IMO). But I don't think they're always good. Often night time in particular can be a bit of a pain. The worst offender for me is Pokemon Gold and Silver. Day/night added a lot to the immersion, but only being able to find wild Hoothoot after 6pm (which is when I did the majority of my playing) was annoying.

As for my own unpopular opinion: I think Fire Emblem Three Houses is a good looking game. Not great, but not as terrible as people make it out to be. It isn't technically impressive, and the birds eye view battle graphics are functional (which is perfectly fine IMO, as the focus here on on gameplay). But the art style is excellent and the characters are well designed.

Recently I've had to come to terms with my love for my gamecube. When I really think about it, it's not as great as everyone says it is. Most notably, it probably has the objectively weakest 3D Mario game in Sunshine, and one of the weakest 3D Zelda games in Wind Waker.

I love both games, but the more I think about it, Sunshine was filled with padding, bad levels, and wonky physics. Wind Waker probably has the most egregious single quest of padding in the series (yes, worse than Skyward Sword).

So as much as I love both of those games for their charm and uniqueness, I've never beaten either because both become an absolute slog to beat.

@BruceCM No, I've only played Ys VIII out of the Ys series (keen to play more of them). I have all the Trails games on PC though, including the fan translations of the Crossbell arc, but no PS4 so I'm hoping to hear about a PC version at some point. Cold Steel 3 is easily my most anticipated title.

@Buizel Totally agree. Some games definitely need a day and night cycle, especially ones like Animal Crossing or sandboxy types. I think my gripe with them is when they don't add anything to the experience and work against the story. I think XC2 is the best example, with events like {___} is held captive and we have to break her out tomorrow or the whole 3 hours to save the ice planet thing (trying my best do be vague as to not spoil anything for others). Whenever there was something like that it never mattered because you could just do whatever you wanted for as many days and nights as you please. Towns are bustling at 3AM and that kinda stuff. Whereas, for me Ys VIII was about running amok on a tropical island getting stuff done during the day and once you hit a milestone its evening around the campfire and the day felt long. When its done right and the characters talk about how the day was long (the Trails Crossbell arc sold me on this), it's really effective. Haha well that is just my unpopular opinion anyways. Most likely why I dig indies rather than the Elder Scrolls, Fallouts, GTAs and Red Deads, same games, different themes if you know what I mean.

Totally keen to play Fire Emblem, I think it looks great. Unfortunately... not rich enough. Too much choice at the moment.

Surely that's 64?

People may not like the linearity of those games, but when I say objective, I kind of mean it. Sunshine isn't polished. It has lots of glitches. It has lots of universally detested levels like the pachinko machine and Corona mountain.

My personal opinion is that 3D World is an inferior game, and I'd play Sunshine over 3D World literally any day of the week, but on a technical level, Sunshine has got a lot of problems.

@Buizel
Actually, G/S/C is one of my favorite day night cycles in video games. I love connecting my in game life to the virtual Pokemon world, and it incentivizes me to revisit areas later on to find new pokemon. I also love thinking "oh hey, it's tuesday night, I need to get this done in my game", it makes the game feel like a living world. I do get how it could be annoying if your goal is to build a very specific team though.

But I think that goes to show you that different people get different things from games. I'm not big on completionism, so going back to Mario Sunshine, I actually kind of like the Blue coins because they gave me options for getting enough shines to unlock new levels (if only the requirement to get into corona mountain were actually based on shine count).

I'm also not a huge fan of Golden Sun. I never played it until relatively recently, so without any nostalgia bias. I thought it was good, but quite annoying a lot of the time, especially the fiddly, clunky, confusing Djinn system, which seemed to just be a contrived way to crowbar in some Pokemon-style monster collecting element (with Pokemon obviously being the hot new thing back then). I can't help but feel that had it not been Nintendo-published or such a technical marvel for a handheld game at the time, it wouldn't be so revered (though NintendoLife gave it 8/10 when reviewing it for the Wii U eShop, which I think is fair). The fact that it ended on a cliffhanger yet I have no desire to play the second one probably sums it up.

Though interestingly, I've always heard that the third one (Dark Dawn) is massively inferior, but now that I've played the first one, it's got me wondering whether it's actually worse or whether it's the same, but just that by 2010 people were less forgiving of its flaws. In fact NintendoLife's score for Dark Dawn (given at the time of its release) is 8/10, the same as NintendoLife's scores for the first two (given many many years after their initial release), which I suppose would support my theory.