Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@Snatcher This is how I feel about Sonic games. No matter the reception, I'll always have fun with them.

Which leads me to this, in the end the only opinion that should matter when playing a game is your own. As long as you enjoy a game, that's what I feel is most important. Sometimes the lower rated games, unpopular games, or even lesser known game can be a really fun experience.

@Sunsy I 100% agree with you, If you love a game you love it!

@Snatcher I agree on this honestly. I've been playing Pokemon games since the original Silver came out, and while there are definitely some I like more than others, I have yet to play a main series entry I didn't enjoy. I won't deny Sword and Shield have problems, but I still had fun with them in the end and I'm very excited for Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Legends Arceus. Pokemon's kind of like comfort food for me I guess, it's always been able to help me just relax and enjoy a journey while trying out some new Pokemon.

@VIIIAxel Which I think they have always been good at, Wile they may cheap out on some areas, Fun, and memorability, is something they seem to get right, every game.

@Snatcher This is probably throwing my own unpopular opinion into the ring, but I don't think the issue is the devs cheaping out, it's that The Pokemon Company is rushing them and the dev teams don't have the time to polish the games more. From my understanding, The Pokemon Company manages all of the merchandising for Pokemon (anime, manga, toys, card game, etc.) and keeps a VERY strict schedule to manage it all efficiently. This unfortunately means that Game Freak or Ilca wouldn't be allowed to delay the games no matter how much they want to since it would throw off the rest of the schedule. It's why I think it's a very good thing for the series that Ilca's now developing main series entries alongside Game Freak. I believe Game Freak already had two teams that would alternate releases, and with a third in the mix, that's more time and less pressure for each team to make something that really lives up to the series' reputation. Legends Arceus is already a pretty huge leap for the series, so I do think Game Freak wants to take more risks. It's just tough to do that when you're forced on a rigid schedule of putting out a game each year so TPC can center its whole release schedule around it.

The only pokemon games I didn't enjoy at all, and legit can't bring myself to play ever again are the gen 7 games, outside of Let's Go. Those games are just horrid, and I can't see how anyone actually likes them.

@VIIIAxel I really do wish they would just take there time, I would wait 2 years or as long as prime if it meant a good game, But legends, Wow that game looks like its going to be SWEET!

@VoidofLight Raises hand Gen7 was my first pokemon game. But I can totally see why you don't like them, It I hadn't played it first it would probably be one of the weakest entry is the series, But even then I would still remember the Adventure. My own opinion tho.

@Snatcher Eh, it's less I don't like them, and more of they're absolute torture to me, and probably the worst games I've had to experience. Not because the games are low quality, but because of how they drag on, and how linear they are as a result. I was pretty much the only person out of my friend group who beat the games not only once, but twice (with Ultra Moon). All the others just gave up, and quit the series entirely, and I nearly quit when I played Ultra Moon, but managed to power through it.

@Snatcher The unfortunate issue is that Game Freak can't take their time with the games when The Pokemon Company requires them to pump out one a year. Having a third team in the mix helps lighten the load on Game Freak and gives them more time for polishing and to try bigger ideas, but the core issue comes down to TPC being in charge of everything and not letting the devs slow down and delay the game when it's necessary. I think Legends is proof GF really does want to try bigger things with the series, but they're being held back by TPC.

@VoidofLight Sucks that you Hated it, I 100% see why tho.

@VIIIAxel Legends is definitely proof that they wanted to, and maybe, if the game sells well, we might see a difference in polish, and maybe The pokemon company might actually let them make a game for once. reason why almost any other IP of Nintendo's keeps having good games, They have time!

@Snatcher My hope is that having a third team in the mix will still make a huge difference in terms of how much time Game Freak and Ilca have to work on games. If they rotate it so one team puts out a game each year, that's still an extra year of development time for each one, which can make a huge difference. I honestly wouldn't mind if TPC slowed down/loosened up the schedule either honestly, it feels like generations come and go a lot faster these days than they used to. That might just be because I'm older now, though, so time in general just seems to move faster.

@VIIIAxel I definitely see the change after they got a third into the mix, May pokemon 2022 be a good one!

I just wish the anime and merch didn't make priority for TPC, and they'd actually focus on the games again like in the past. Hopefully them adopting Outsourcing will help with that.

I know some people who will voice their unpopular opinions in a way that makes them as agreeable as possible.

It would be a good thing if Game Freak had more time and resources to make their games.

@VoidofLight I'm the same - I find Gen VII such a slog to play through, but I'm perfectly happy with Gens VI and VIII, as well as Lets Go, which all seem to get a lot more flak currently.

@VIIIAxel This is the impression that I get as well - Pokemon is a marketing machine, and the games are (unfortunately) only a small part of the bigger picture.

It doesn't help that people seemingly want different things for the series. I'm content with the series as it is, but personally would like to see it go more to its roots (and, while Legends piques my interest, I hope it isn't the focus of the series moving forward). Alternatively, I wouldn't mind some more story-focused spin-offs that ditched the traditional elements (e.g. starters, gyms) a la Pokemon Colosseum (making sure that the story and characters are actually good).

On the other hand, many criticize the series for not evolving enough, with many asking for large 3D open worlds and/or an MMO-type game.

Pokémon is a great example of how wishy washy gamers are in general. They complain if things change too much but they complain if things don’t change enough, too. And wherever they came in on the franchise, that is always considered the “sweet spot” for the franchise that shouldn’t be deviated from.

Personally, I have a huge amount of nostalgia for those early games (Blue and Crystal will always hold a special place for me - Yellow too, just because having a Pokemon following you around at the time was mind blowing for my child brain).

However, I do think it’s problematic that in over two decades the formula for the games hasn’t really changed at all. People criticise studios like Ubisoft for releasing the “same game every time” (and honestly, that isn’t even a sentiment I agree with), but then it annoys me when other franchises just seem to release the same game for several decades and people just tell you the lack of modern conveniences is “in the spirit of the franchise and part of the experience” (something we are seeing with the new SMT V too, for a recent example).

In fairness to Pokemon, there did seem to at least be an attempt to bring S/S into modern times, probably because it was the first time it was a mainline game on a home console rather than a handheld but the game didn’t really evolve in the right places and usually the evolution came at a heavy performance cost.

I just think as long as games like Stories 2 exist, there is really no excuse for the mediocrity of Pokemon, creatively but I recognise that this is the real world. And if they can slap the Pokemon on a piece of literal ***** and it sells millions, they’ll do it all over again.

New Pokemon Snap is the best Pokémon game on Nintendo Switch.

@Buizel If I remember correctly, when Let's Go came out, someone from Game Freak said those games were still main series, just a separate "branch" from the traditional entries. I personally like the idea of that being how the series goes from here on out. We still get the traditional games as a sort of main branch of the main series, but the gaps between those traditional games are filled with more experimental games like Let's Go or Legends. That way, we get games that try taking things in a new direction and other games that stick to the roots of the franchise. I wouldn't want the series to ditch its roots since I also enjoy the traditional formula, but I also think Legends looks like a really fun concept and I'd love to see them try some more experimental entries as well.

@Buizel I like the idea of generations, I think the main issue is that the gap between them feels too short. I brought it up earlier in this thread, but generations felt longer to me back in the day than they do now. The transition between gens 5 and 6 is when I first started to get the feeling things were moving too fast. It might just be because I'm older so everything seems to move more quickly, but I think spacing generations out more would give Game Freak a lot more time to flesh them out. It's why I like the idea of having games like Let's Go and Legends join the traditional remakes, it means there are a lot more options for filling in the time between generations. We can still get some new Pokemon and regional forms with these other games as well, as we're seeing with Legends Arceus.

@HotGoomba I'd say Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is my favorite, but New Pokemon Snap would take second place probably. As someone who's been a huge fan of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and the original Pokemon Snap since childhood, both games were very pleasant surprises. I really hope we see more older spin-offs return, the 3DS/Wii U generation felt way more limited than past generations in that regard. Of course, I do still need to play the 3DS Mystery Dungeon games...

@VIIIAxel Sorry, I deleted my post after a bit of reflection! I actually think that generations should stay (if only as a means to ensure compatibility between games, and to support the meta), but agree that the gap between them is too short. I also wonder if the rigid definition of a new generation having "new region based on xxx, new starters, 50-150 new Pokemon, new league, perhaps a remake" is unsustainable.

I agree that Gen 5 to 6 was the start of things getting too quick. Previously gens were 4 years** and this changed moved them to 3 (this was exacerbated by XY being the first simultaneous international release, making the gap between Gens 5 and 6 smaller in the west).

** With the exception of Gen 1 > 2 > 3. However Gen 2 leans very heavily on the Gen 1 games. In fact, I'd love to see Game Freak create more "sequels" such as GSC and B2W2.