Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

Random encounters probably don't have much of a place in modern story-driven RPGs, but they were necessitated in the past by the severe storage limitations of early hardware, particularly in the early 80s.

Then again, Rogue-likes are basically nothing but a succession or random encounters. It really depends on what kind of game the creators are intending.

For the longest time, I didn't mind and even kind of preferred random encounters in RPGs. But nowadays... yeah, I'm kinda over them. Pretty much every major RPG property has transitioned away from them as well.

Ubisoft basically invented the modern open world template and pretty much every open world game rifs on the foundation Ubisoft created. This is just the reality of it.

BOTW has a pretty insane level of detail and polish, it has a lot of stuff going for it that makes it a really enjoyable game, even if I don't agree with every decision. What it does also have is a lot of empty space, very minimal activities in it's open world which are repeated often, a mostly static and unchanging map and a lot of really uninspired side content to bulk out the game.

When reviewing a title, you take the good with the bad, take a step back and then assess the product as a whole. But it seems often when people talk about BOTW, there is always this heavily weighted positive bias where people scoot around the rough edges, so they can throw a spotlight on things like it's incredible psychics engine.

This is a luxury something like say an Ubisoft open world game is not afforded, with the popular narrative around those games being that we are all tired of them, with people focusing in on any bad creative choice, or poor world design and then disregarding absolutely everything else. Had BOTW remained unchanged, but been an Assassin's Creed game published by Ubisoft, I do not believe we would have been kind to it.

Was say Valhalla way too damn long and fully of scuzzy MTX? For sure, but we're clowning if we're going to call BOTW a 'genre defining evolution of the open world' but then just write off Valhalla as another repetitive Ubisoft game.

BOTW simply does not get the same scrutiny, and maybe that is because Nintendo don't do a lot of these sorts of games or what, but I will forever be so frustrated by the heavily weighted bias for that game.

And I think what makes it worse is that I actually like BOTW and despite popular belief here, I am not here to ruin anyone's fun, but I just see so many circle jerks for BOTW and it is like... that is your opinion man, but the hyperbole around this game is just crazy.

Absolutely agree. The performance is great - not once did I notice it dropping below 30fps (except for animations in the distance...). And it actually looks pretty nice in handheld mode.

I also think the strong character and Pokemon models redeem the lacklustre environments. My main focus when exploring is on the Pokemon anyway.

Can't agree with this tbh. Generally when I play an RPG with random encounters, I like the battle system of said RPG so I don't have much issue having a random encounter (and I've not yet found an RPG where I find the encounter rate to be too high). I guess my main issue with random encounters is when you're overleveled so would be getting miniscule amounts of experience from the battle.

That said, in most cases I think it's preferable to have encounters visible on screen, so I wouldn't say I "miss" random encounters. I'm just less bothered by them than most.

@Buizel Fair. I have played many RPG's with it, my first RPG's and such after had it.

I guess thats why I just, kinda started to dislike it? idk, it just got in the way for me a lot of the time with a lot of thing.

But hey if it doesn't bother you, It just makes the game all the better.

@Pizzamorg I've seen more scrutiny of BotW than any other game in recent memory. Over the years, it has been picked apart every which way, with angry detractors eager to trumpet its perceived flaws every time the game is talked about online. It's absolutely not a gaming sacred cow in the same way as a number of other releases where people get angry at you for picking them apart. Have you seen how people react when you criticize something like The Witcher 3 on a lot of gaming sites?

Now, see, here's the problem with your premise: BotW COULDN'T HAVE BEEN an Assassin's Creed game from Ubisoft, so your (inherently unfalsifiable) claim that people would have been harsher on it if it had been an Assassin's Creed game becomes meaningless. The two games aren't similar enough in their construction. It's like saying: "If Knack was called Super Mario Odyssey, it'd have been praised as a masterpiece."

And that does, sorry, tie into BotW being an evolution of the open world genre in a way that other modern open world titles simply aren't. I wouldn't necessarily call it genre-defining, since I think its priorities are different from other open world games. As I said before, BotW is an almost completely re-contextualized approach to modern open world game design, with a respect for and consideration of player agency at the center of the experience. There's nothing else like it out there in the industry.

@Buizel There are definitely framerate dips below 30 in PLA (especially docked), but they're the sort of dips you'd expect from a game on Switch. Comparing the performance to the two really good monster collecting games released on Switch last year, it's neither the often stuttery rollercoaster ride that Monster Hunter Stories 2 was nor the more stable but consistently sub-30 fps of something like Shin Megami Tensei V. Those games felt like they were cramming ambitious experiences onto Switch that would have benefitted from more powerful hardware. PLA feels like a perfect fit for Switch, though. I've seen the game emulated on PC, and it just doesn't really... look like a much better experience.

Just kinda wish more developers did this. I don't need SMT, MH Stories, Xenoblade, etc. to push the envelope. I just want something that's fun, runs smooth, and looks good as a hybrid title.

@Ralizah In the name of stience I decided to do a test. I entered in google and searched for overrated Witcher 3, then overrated Skyrim and lastly overrated Breath Of The Wild to see how many results came up. In 3rd place was Witcher 3 with "About 174,000 results", 2nd was Skyrim with "About 429,000 results" and finally the winner was Breath of the Wild with "About 586,000 results".

So I conclude people call BOTW overrated more than other open world games which are often called the game best ever.

I feel like people will naturally call the new benchmark for a genre/series 'overrated' simply because it's the first of it's kind.

The original Zelda on the NES was a groundbreaking title that more or less kickstarted the free roam adventure game. It is also far and away one of the worst games I've ever played with no sense of where on earth to go or what on earth to do unless you have a guide clutched to you as if it were the bible. It's a game I would absolutely call 'overrated'.

Now, I may not have actually played it yet, but BOTW seems from an outsider's perspective (aka me) far and away superior to the original Zelda whilst still retaining the whole 'free roam adventure' aspect but on a much grander scale. However, even though it's only 5 years old whereas the og Zelda is over 30, it seems to be far more critically analysed comparatively. This could probably just be the climate that we're in nowadays, where modern games are far more bashed on than the older games due to being compared to similar games that came out at a similar time (Horizon Zero Dawn is a perfect example of this).

To summarise, I don't think whether a game is overrated or underrated will greatly affect the broad consensus on it. If a game is known to be good or bad, the public perception will almost always stay that way for the rest of the game's existence.

God, I'm going to get @ hard for this one.

Soooo I was looking at switch sports, and we all know the fact that they aren't really talking about the mii's let alone acting like there not there, sucks.

But! I...Kinda...Sorta....Maybe...Think...there not that bad?? Don't get me wrong, it sucks there not making a bigger deal out of the mii's. But there in the game, and at the same time we have these new guys, They sorta look like tho Xbox 360 avatars, but... well.. better?

And You can boot up the beta, can't play it, but boot it up, they the characters actually look really cool! I really do like there design, and I kinda hope they can live along side mii's, and have there own name and all. And there probably not going to replace the miis ever, (Thank goodness) and again, I don't want them to replace miis, not at all (Maybe a little tiny very tiny bit, so small a microscope can't see it), I want the miis to kinda be along side them as I said.

I know I'm just kinda going on here, but till I can see them in action, I can't be to sure if they will even touch the OG sports game, with mii's and all. And a name, I really think these little guys need a name. Please don't wreck me ):

@Snatcher
You can try other similar games like Wii Sports on XBOX 360 such as Kinect Sports 1 / 2, Big League Sports, Kinect Adventures, Deca Sports Freedom, etc. With Mii or not, doesn't really matter for me as long i can use custom avatar to represent myself. I already have the games but not having the machine yet.

The Big 3 (Nintendo Sony & Microsoft) should release their big new consoles earlier in the year (Feb, Mar, Apr), instead of the holiday season (Oct, Nov, Dec).

Sorry to @jump and those involved in my gladitorial shenanigans the other day. I don't normally try to derail a thread, but we got into a serious thing, and then I didn't know how to end it.

@NintendoByNature I've upgraded our match to a TLC match, so while you may have the 3D - jump and I have the conchairto! Eeeeeeuuuuugh what a rush.

@bimmy-lee it may be breaking kayfabe but I think they seem pretty tasty too. Fried up on a bed of rice. I've got a source on the dark web that says that polka dot part comes off like a hat so you may be able to spare their lives even.

Unpopular opinion? Cloud is a horrible protagonist. Especially in the remake. He's such a moody baby. Here's how he handles everything in the remake:

Random guy: "hey Cloud, how about we do something fun?"
Cloud: no, I dont wanna [pouts, crosses arms, puts on headphones and listens to Slipknot]

Yuffie is such a better character and the Intermission DLC really makes how boring Cloud is noticeable. But he was so cool when I was 14!

BOTW2: Look I just wanna say that this game has me simultaneously excited and worried. It's taking them MORE than 5 years for a SEQUEL (not a brand new zelda) which is already a ludicrous amount of time to develop a game as it is. Let's just say I'm expecting to see a lot of new stuff in this game.

@AstralRedStar705 Not really as 3-5 years is the norm for making the avergae modern AAA game, let alone one with a massive map like BOTW.

@Losermagnet No worries but I disagee, our tag finisher should the The Doomsday Device!

@Snatcher I see no problem with the "new guys" actually I think they look great, much much better than the crummy mii's, and I hope, but also doubt they will completely replace mii's.

@jump Yea but like I said, BOTW2 is a sequel NOT a completely new game and its taking just as long or longer than the original which I find ridiculous. The next trailer for the game will probably have to blow me away to get me interested to be honest. Also I feel like new games are taking way too long to make. I really hope new games can start coming out a little sooner because I don't like this new trend. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks that?

@AstralRedStar705 It's that kind of thinking from players which leads to crunch time and really in this day in age that kind of horrible work culture shouldn't happen.

@jump I completely agree with you, I guess I'm just saying that I don't like how long it takes for new games to come out nowadays, it bothers me I guess.

@Losermagnet To be fair, I think he was harden to be that way, as when he was younger, he was much happier.

I have to assume a huge part of BOTW 2's development cycle "delay" has been down to the optimisation. The weird irony of how weak the Switch is, is that it probably makes it more complicated to develop for, rather than less so. You're trying to make an open world title which competes in 2022, on hardware that is probably weaker than a base PS4, which came out almost a decade ago.