Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@Losermagnet It's not your teenage lizard brain. The junction system was just incomprehensibly bad. The last time I tried it, long ago, I didn't even realize how bad it was until I tried the game again on Switch last month. Oof. That explains why it's the only one never to be rereleased until recently.

@Wargoose Yeah, I held out so long playing XV until it was "done" I mostly forgot about it and barely played into it. But it still piques my curiosity heavily. The gas station sets up a memorable experience at the start. But there's so much "off" about it as well. But I hate knowing it's incomplete no matter what you do, and the final DLC to finally complete it got removed.

XII gets a lot of hate, but I almost think of it more as an Enix game than a Square game. It feels more conventional RPG than even FF games, but not in a terrible way. It seems more stand-alone than the others in that regard. IX will forever remain the opus for me, though. I've learned to not just not hate, but actually like XIII. I hated it when it launched. But replaying it on X1, part-way, recently made me appreciate it as good. Not really an RPG, but good. And the two sequels actually do feel more FF again. Ironically due in part to random encounters.

Also, indeed @Buizel has it right, I was talking about SPM. And I actually do like it, but it is really the culprit behind all the extreme control Nintendo applies to the series currently. They pushed it mush too far, and there's no way Nintendo was going to really tolerate turning Mario into a dark environment. Mushroom Kingdom is a place of villains who "kick your butt!" and kidnap princesses. SPM gives you a villain that murdered his father and then his whole tribe, and then a whole world.

Though as was said above, there's precedent. Mario's Time Machine had Mario fighting Hitler....

@NEStalgia FFXII is probably the least conventional game in the series.

@Ralizah How so? Big medieval environment, turn based (or real time-turn based) battles.... I'm not sure why it's seen as so unconventional.

@NEStalgia The grounded, politics-heavy storyline and unique battle system, which essentially allowed you to program the exact behavior of your party, are utterly unusual for a Final Fantasy game.

@Ralizah I usually thought XV was pretty unconventional largely due to its story, setting and characterization but XII is pretty special in that regard too

@Ralizah Ahh, yes, unusual for FF - but IMO more traditional for RPGs in general than FF normally is. Thus why I say it feels more Enix than Square. It's a very traditional RPG by being NOT traditional for FF.

The unique battle system, honestly I never played much with the "programming the behaviors" aspect. It seemed kind of like extra flourish that wasn't necessary, IMO. Overall I think that one's a great RPG, and not particularly unique among RPGs, it's just not what FF fans have in mind with a new game.

Then they did XIII where they point blank said it wasn't supposed to be an RPG, but a "new kind of game" inspired by FPS. It was like Square's Paper Mario moment....which is kind of ironic considering they created the template for OG Paper Mario. XIII remains a game that grows on you, though, IMO. The story is hot garbage, but the battles are really tight. Some games, like Mario 64 age terribly (I really don't understand how anyone that didn't play that game at launch can actually tolerate playing it now.) Some games age finely. XIII is better today than it was at launch without having had any changes at all made to it. We changed, it didn't, and it's better for it.

XIII's biggest problem was the storytelling. The moment they opened with Fal'L'Eth'Cie and rambled on and on as though you have any #@#$%@ idea what they're talking about at all and that it actually seems significant to you in some way....and that's like half the game is the moment most people lost interest. The on-rails play just added salt to the wound. But going back to it knowing what to expect...gameplay actually holds up great and beats classic random encounters pants off.

@TheFrenchiestFry Define "conventional" for FF.

@NEStalgia to clarify, I have a 32 year old lizard brain now. So, if it really is as bad as I remember it being, I'll plow my way through FF VIII Benny Hill style.

@NEStalgia Well XV stood out to me because even if the setting and characters had fantastical elements, they mostly felt grounded and realistic, like they actually based a lot of the aesthetics in that game off of our own world and customs. It was pretty fresh coming off of the PS2/PSP games and FFXIII

Unpopular opinion: Mother 3 is the only good game in the trilogy. It had characters I actually cared about and didn't try to constantly shove odd imagery in my face to mask its inherent lack of characterization or a story I didn't care about whatsoever. I absolutely don't get the hype for Earthbound. It always felt like one of those "weird for the sake of weird with not much else" kind of games.

It honestly sucks that THAT's the game that still hasn't been localized.

@Losermagnet LOL. It's worse than you remember. Much worse. I could at least force myself through the first few chapters decades ago. This time I WTF'ed myself through the fire cave just to get to the save point and pressed "home" as fast as I could. But if there really are QOL features in there I might pop it back out. Though after all the Paper Mario hysteria I suddenly have an urge to play Legend of the Seven Stars again, so that might be my retro Square masterpiece of the month.

@TheFrenchiestFry Type 0 must really blow your mind. It has the realistic grounded world of XII with the self-referential indulgent FNC garbage of XIII all in one, and a card game battle system....

Also, wait, did you just go into the Unpopular Gaming Opinions thread to state: "Where's Mother 3?!"

@TheFrenchiestFry Mother 3 may be the one I like the least actually (and that includes Beginnings lol). It feels so.... illegitimate. I think the kerfuffle about it never being released outside of japan is a big part.

Playing Earthbound back in 96 - 97 was a mind blowing experience. Playing Beginnings was so interesting because it informed Earthbound so much. It was like playing a really good beta. And then you have books like Legends of Localization that detail the localisation of such a ridiculous game. I'm rambling - but you can tell I find it an endlessly interesting subject.

@NEStalgia I've never actually played Type 0

I was definitely eyeing it on my PSVita to-get radar but other games came along. Definitely going to get it someday, as I have almost all the other FF games on Vita including the PSP titles

Also going to get the Steam remaster as well

@NEStalgia I did the same thing recently with Seven Stars. I didn't have the time to do Origami King so I was thinking it sounded fun. It's still my favorite Mario RPG.

Never thought a post on a forum would get my blood boiling. But sure enough, this did lmao. First time for everything I suppose.

Yeah, to me it highlights that nobody at Nintendo outside Monolith knows how to make an RPG. The only truly great Mario RPG remains the one made by Square. Though IS is explicitly not trying to make RPGs which explains some of it. Seven Stars was a wonderful game in every way. We'll never see something like Mallow's Cloud Kingdom in a Mario game again.....

@NEStalgia Yeah, i've played almost all of the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games and not a single one stuck with me as well as Seven Stars. The setting, characters, the soundtrack. It really bums me out that it doesnt get any representation in things like Smash. I assume its an issue of rights between Square and Ninty

@NEStalgia Intelligent Systems' PM series has a pretty hit-miss track record but I'd say Fire Emblem is still pretty up there. It may be an SRPG but it's still pretty notable

@TheFrenchiestFry I agree. XV is definitely unlike any other game in the series. Especially due to the open world design of the game.

And yeah, Earthbound... I don't want to say it sucks, but I think people overvalue it. I think it'd be forgettable if you removed the quirky aspects of the game. It leans hard on being weird, which has made it a cult classic. And, fair enough, but that's not enough for me to like it.

@NEStalgia You might not have bothered with gambits much (I can't IMAGINE continually pausing that game and directing them to do stuff every battle; sounds tedious as hell), but that system is still utterly unlike anything else in the JRPG genre that I know of. It's much more like a WRPG or MMORPG in that regard. Ditto with the grounded storyline that doesn't hang its hat on traditional JRPG tropes (in this regard, the only similar FF game that comes to mind is FF Tactics, which is also set in Ivalice, as I recall). The monster hunting side-quests are also pretty unique for the series AND genre.

In general, it's a very unique JRPG, and an UTTERLY unique FF entry.

XIII's biggest problem for me is that the characters are all very unlikable and unmemorable. You have generic teenage girl (Vanille), douchey guy who wears a beanie (Snow), the whiny kid whose name I'm not going to bother looking up, post-op Cloud (Lightning), black dude who lets a Chocobo nest in his afro whose name I can't recall either, etc. I've never played a game in this series where I immediately felt disdain or disinterest in almost every character I met.

Combine that with the terrible storytelling and naming conventions (which recall bad fantasy novels filled with unpronounceable fantasy words), completely on-rails pacing early on, and weird battle system, and you get what it easily the most disappointing entry in the series.

I'm a little sad at the Earthbound criticisms but I s'pose this is the unpopular opionion thread. Although there seem to be more people lately saying it's overrated than not, which feels like a reaction to it's popularity in the last few years.

Ya gotta take it for what it is: it's a SNES game from '95. For the generation there aren't many games like it (matter a fact, I defy you to mention a single other game from the era with as much personality as Earthbound). Sure if you strip away the quirky personality you'd have rudimentary dragon quest....BUT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? ITS AN RPG THEY'RE ALL LIKE THAT.

I played Earthbound like 2 years ago, I feel confident in saying its obviously better than most JRPGS of its era, barring its lack of a cohesive narrative and a couple of less fun quirks (mostly related to item management). The rolling hit points alone make Earthbound battles more interesting and dynamic and fun than like Breath of Fire 2 or the SNES FF games at the very least. and a lot of the time they're way better at not wasting your time too. For the most part, Earthbound was a really enjoyable experience.

I love both games, but in terms of pure gameplay, both are mediocre compared Mario and Luigi's gameplay. I'm being hyperbolic of course, but there's at the very least, a slight bit of awkwardness or lack of polish in SMRPG and both Paper Marios (though more 64, much as I adore that game) when you actually compare regular battle gameplay in all three (especially with the vastly more dynamic defense moves in MandL).