What Are Your Unpopular Gaming Opinions? (Ver. 2)

[Champion of Hyrule]

Classic Mode was a terrible idea to bring back. I can get into a match with a cpu anytime i want to.

Beating classic mode with every character is one of my favorite parts of Smash, and besides it’s much more fun to have an incentive to fight some CPU’s rather than just awkwardly getting into a match.

Also without classic mode, bosses would have a much more diminished role even if they introduced a boss battles mode and that just feels lame to me

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

In regard to Elise from Sonic 06, more than anything else, the key problem with her is that the game asks a lot of the audience in investing in her character and never really gets around to effectively justifying that.

There's really nothing inherently awful about her, but there's also little really make her a standout character, which is a problem when a third of the game is oriented around her relationship with Sonic. Her design is something you'd see in a generic JRPG, she's not really that deep emotionally, and she lacks so little agency that rescuing her makes up the bulk of Sonic's plot. The novelty of her as a non-Eggman human having a dynamic with Sonic is about all she has going for her and even that only amounts to so much given how pat the interactions between the two end up being.

I think a lot of the backlash against Elise is one way or another connected to this. Now the design clash of her vs the rest of the cast didn't help, and most of the Western audience at the time was always going to laugh and/or cringe at their faux flirtation given the differing regional opinions on human/anthropomorphic animal romance. However, I think those problems were very exacerbated by the aforementioned failure of the game to earn its emotional moments with her. For many fans, if they weren't going to be engaged by what she does in the narrative (and the gameplay itself not being nearly strong enough at least distract from the dubious story) the only thing left to do is snicker at the visual silliness of her kissing Sonic and lament that the title spends so much time on her.

I'm reminded a bit of Adam Malkovich from Metroid Other M, another character that a game asks the audience to really take in and respect while utterly failing to make him interesting, likable, or remotely worthy to the deference Samus gives him. In both cases, the failure to effectively realize the concept of what they were going for amounts to audiences either rolling their eyes /laughing at with Elise or just outright despising their existence with Adam. In her case, it's no surprise she ended up symbolizing 06 more than the likes of Silver (lucky him) because her as the bold new idea for the Sonic series that completely fails due to botched execution sums up that game so perfectly.

 

[fogbadge]

In regard to Elise from Sonic 06, more than anything else, the key problem with her is that the game asks a lot of the audience in investing in her character and never really gets around to effectively justifying that.

There's really nothing inherently awful about her, but there's also little really make her a standout character, which is a problem when a third of the game is oriented around her relationship with Sonic. Her design is something you'd see in a generic JRPG, she's not really that deep emotionally, and she lacks so little agency that rescuing her makes up the bulk of Sonic's plot. The novelty of her as a non-Eggman human having a dynamic with Sonic is about all she has going for her and even that only amounts to so much given how pat the interactions between the two end up being.

I think a lot of the backlash against Elise is one way or another connected to this. Now the design clash of her vs the rest of the cast didn't help, and most of the Western audience at the time was always going to laugh and/or cringe at their faux flirtation given the differing regional opinions on human/anthropomorphic animal romance. However, I think those problems were very exacerbated by the aforementioned failure of the game to earn its emotional moments with her. For many fans, if they weren't going to be engaged by what she does in the narrative (and the gameplay itself not being nearly strong enough at least distract from the dubious story) the only thing left to do is snicker at the visual silliness of her kissing Sonic and lament that the title spends so much time on her.

I'm reminded a bit of Adam Malkovich from Metroid Other M, another character that a game asks the audience to really take in and respect while utterly failing to make him interesting, likable, or remotely worthy to the deference Samus gives him. In both cases, the failure to effectively realize the concept of what they were going for amounts to audiences either rolling their eyes /laughing at with Elise or just outright despising their existence with Adam. In her case, it's no surprise she ended up symbolizing 06 more than the likes of Silver (lucky him) because her as the bold new idea for the Sonic series that completely fails due to botched execution sums up that game so perfectly.

there is a difference in that Adam was a character we already knew about going into the game

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

there is a difference in that Adam was a character we already knew about going into the game

And even that did little to curb the broader distaste for the character among much of the Metroid fanbase. Heck, I saw some even say it retroactively hurt Fusion because it made Samus' general fondness for him in that title seem less believable given how he acts in Other M.

 

[fogbadge]

And even that did little to curb the broader distaste for the character among much of the Metroid fanbase. Heck, I saw some even say it retroactively hurt Fusion because it made Samus' general fondness for him in that title seem less believable given how he acts in Other M.

yes a classic case of not living up to the promise

 

[fogbadge]

I think that Disney's, Marvel's, Star Wars' and Fox's platform fighters should be separate games

crossovers like disney infinity that they'll place them all on an equal footing even though marvel and star wars are each a single franchise where as disney and fox are multiple franchises. plus it would mean that we most likely only get the big names who appear in all the crossovers. if they have their own game then the smaller characters have a better shot. and the same is true of disney and fox, characters from some their smaller franchises would have better chances as well.

 

[Quillion]

I really hate how everyone is trying to say "Nintendo was right" just because they're sticking to more restrained scale when every other company is facing layoffs, cancellations, delays, and other troubles. “Being too far ahead of your time is indistinguishable from being wrong.”

I'm not saying that it doesn't work mind you. I'd say it has lead to a more consistent, sustained level of success more-or-less. But that's not the same as "being right".

 

[BritishGuy54]

I’m gonna be real here. I don’t really want a 3D Mario Maker right now.

A lot of people insist upon it, but there’s still a lot to do with 2D Mario. We just had Wonder, so there’s a massive incentive to let people make courses in that style.

Or they could play the nostalgia card. No, not SMB2. But NSMBDS instead. Yeah, people who grew up with that game are old enough to feel nostalgia for it. It’s different enough from the NSMBU style to feel unique.

 

[Quillion]

I’m gonna be real here. I don’t really want a 3D Mario Maker right now.

A lot of people insist upon it, but there’s still a lot to do with 2D Mario. We just had Wonder, so there’s a massive incentive to let people make courses in that style.

Or they could play the nostalgia card. No, not SMB2. But NSMBDS instead. Yeah, people who grew up with that game are old enough to feel nostalgia for it. It’s different enough from the NSMBU style to feel unique.

If there's going to be a 3D Mario Maker, it needs to coexist alongside a separate 2D Mario Maker. Also, I don't imagine it being anything other than the Super 3D games mechanically (though also incorporating other styles).

I'd love to see the styles be "consolidated" though. Consolidate NSMB1, Wii, and U into one style with three "subs", or make NSMB1 its own style while Wii and U are subs of another. Either way, do the same with SMB1 and 3's NES and All-Stars variants (c'mon Nintendo, stop ignoring the All-Stars styles!).

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

This also serves as an unpopular media opinion in general, but until Sakurai had his 9999999999999999999999th really bad take, this time on the topic of Dolby Surround, I had never actually considered that people remotely disliked opening logos, even the long unskippable variety, in any actual sincerity. I've always loved them - might just be a case of me growing up autistic and therefore having the nigh-inevitable "logo kid" phase, but still. Sakurai's Dolby story is kinda icky for other reasons (refusing to work with a company that would objectively improve your product because you don't want to give them proper contract-required credit is gross, even if they're a faceless corporation), but that's something that just kinda stood out to me.

 

[Perkilator]

Chain Attacks in Xenoblade 3 are so good that I wish Kingdom Hearts 3's team attacks worked in a similar fashion.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

I like the concept but the timed hits system of Super Mario RPG is kind of weak in execution when there’s not really a consistent visual indication of when to time attacks or even much visual feedback for it. The way it’s done in the Mario & Luigi games is almost endlessly better to me.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Even as a Mario RPG superfan, I certainly say that the timed hits element was improved in Mario & Luigi (though arguably taken to mini-game excess in later titles) and the equipable items system perfectly refined via the first two Paper Mario entries. SMRPG's biggest strength is its soundtrack, excellent tone, and still novel "Mario by way of Final Fantasy" aesthetics/character design. In that latter regard I'd say the 1996 game still manages one of the best balances of having NPCs/enemies just out there enough to stand out while still not sticking out like a sore thumb in a Mario setting; a balance that Paper Mario itself would struggle to maintain at times.

 

[Quillion]

...a balance that Paper Mario itself would struggle to maintain at times.

So true. Sticker Star-onward with Miyamoto's mandates go to far in one direction, Super Paper Mario in the other.

I want Paper Mario to stand on its own, but not to the point that it feels like a dumping ground for weird ideas that should be its own IP.

 

[Quillion]

I see people clowning on Sony IE for ripping off Mario (and maybe a bit of Splatoon).

I say: GOOD; I'd rather you rip off those things than make another space shooter or fantasy sword game.

 

[Oracle Link]

I’m gonna be real here. I don’t really want a 3D Mario Maker right now.

I also dont get why people specifically want a 3d MArio Maker instead of a:
2d Zelda, MEtroid or Kirby one?
Im not saying it wouldnt be ccol to do 3d stuff (I mean i love disney infinity for that very reason)
But i would love being able to be creative with my two favourites (Zelda and Kirby) Even more!

 

[Rizen]

Speaking of a 3D Mario Maker, there actually is a Mario 64 Maker rom hack out right now that does that.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

I dislike the idea that a franchise needs consistent releases or it’s being “disrespected” by companies. If there’s no interest at a publisher and development team to do a sequel or to continue a franchise it’s okay for it to not get any more games because ideas from that franchise will always carry on and influence games in the future. It doesn’t mean they dislike their own franchise or don’t respect it necessarily.

It also frustrates me that the conversation of “we want this back!” dominates discussions on a lot of games. An example is Darkstalkers where it feels hard to discuss it without the topic of a Darkstalkers 4 coming up again and again and it feels like some of the merits of the series get lost in the discussion. This point is mainly just a me thing and I will admit it’s a little petty but go into the replies on any twitter post Capcom made and tell me it’s not really annoying.

 

[HyperSomari64]

Copying this from my Profile Post:

Spoiler: something, something...

Something that personally infuriates me about Sonic's Ultimate GENESIS Collection, is that SEGA never let Backbone to do a reference to an AoStH meme for the Mean Bean Machine achievement/trophy.

I know this was referencing Puyo Puyo (the game that was originally based of), but they had a chance to pay homage to the YouTube Poops of that time. They could have used "That's not good!" or "Snooping as Usual".

 

[Oracle Link]

Making games 100% by yourself shouldnt be considerd the Standart!
Making a good game takes multiple difficult to learn talents!

 

[Rizen]

I don't like it when games are overly dark in environments. Think Nine Sols and Hollow Knight. It's okay for a few levels to be dark but when all of them are dominated by black it makes the environment feel repetitive when otherwise the art is really good.

 

[fogbadge]

I don't like it when games are overly dark in environments. Think Nine Sols and Hollow Knight. It's okay for a few levels to be dark but when all of them are dominated by black it makes the environment feel repetitive when otherwise the art is really good.

have you seen the hive in hollow knight?

 

[Rizen]

have you seen the hive in hollow knight?

Yes I've seen all of hollow knight and my point stands.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

have you seen the hive in hollow knight?

I don’t agree with Rizen’s take here but the game having one bright area doesn’t really invalidate that it’s mostly dark overall

 

[Rizen]

Lol people are acting like I'm attacking their favorite game. I think Hollow knight's an incredible game with great hand drawn art. I just don't like the style where it's mostly dark (which it is).

 

[fogbadge]

Actually I was just going to say fair enough

 

[ZagarTulip]

Sword and Shield were my fave Pokemon games
Sun and Moon (+ their ultra counterparts) are my least faves
Gen 2 has the most interesting starter Pokemon

 

[Quillion]

I really hate games with too many mechanics more than I do games with "too much content".

People love to say "content-heavy" games are so repetitive, but seriously, if content-heavy games have a good gameplay loop, the repetition is a GOOD thing.

Games that inundate the player with many moves, abilities, and effects just feel overdone and bloated. I want to git gud for sure, but if gitting gud entails being dumped upon with so many core gameplay elements instead of learning a few versatile mechanics, no thanks.

 

[JamesCombs]

In and of itself, I agree, but it's still better than literal hallways.
----
Now that I keep hearing more about the indie video game sector, the more it feels like it's grown to be not so different from the AAA sector.

People romanticize it as a fountain of new ideas... but that was more true in the indie sector's early days. And even then that's not so different from how the video game industry as a whole was a fountain of new ideas before it became increasingly corporatized.

Indie visual styles being more unique than generic "realistic" AAA games? Lately, they've been standardizing to 16-bit styles that are generic in their own right, not to mention use of stock assets in polygonal games.

Indie games come up with new gameplay styles and genres as opposed to oversaturated shooters and open world AAA games? The indie space is now oversaturated with these "horror based on childhood experience" games and Metroidvanias.

Honestly, all this praise for the indie space feels better directed towards its early days which are no longer around.
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I agree with you. I think that earlier Indie games were better, not it's all the same, nothing new

 

[Quillion]

The video game medium is awesome for worldbuilding. But it sucks at storytelling.

I know that I've talked about wanting more "non-traditional storytelling" in video games in the past, but the more I look into "non-traditional storytelling", the more it boils down to worldbuilding than it does the "storytelling" defined by character interactions and/or development.

That said, I do think that if they play their cards right, AI capability could bridge the gap between the vidya medium and storytelling.

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

With the exception of games based in immersion (like Sony's modern output for example), a game being "glitch-free" is actually a flaw, even if a minor one. Of course there are bad glitches, stuff that causes seizures and ruins the game, but I think removing all glitches unconditionally, even if they're harmless and hard-to-access, is an inherent flaw in a game and speaks to a sort of strict brand image issue where devs only want a game to be played one way, or don't want cracks to show even to those looking for them.

 

[Quillion]

With the exception of games based in immersion (like Sony's modern output for example), a game being "glitch-free" is actually a flaw, even if a minor one. Of course there are bad glitches, stuff that causes seizures and ruins the game, but I think removing all glitches unconditionally, even if they're harmless and hard-to-access, is an inherent flaw in a game and speaks to a sort of strict brand image issue where devs only want a game to be played one way, or don't want cracks to show even to those looking for them.

There are a lot of glitches that legitimately make games better, whether it's a lot of the things that came out of Street Fighter II's input leniency or the combat glitches that make BotW and TotK not feel so flurry-rush-spammy.

But I think what really marks a developer as willing to support player expression and freedom is outright developing those glitches (or other forms of emergent gameplay) into true intended mechanics. I'm personally in favor of Smash ditching rolling and air dodging entirely and replacing those with "step dashing" (essentially wavedashing) and airdashing respectively. That means they're willing to take things that make things better only for glitchhunters and bring that to all other types of players.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Capcom appealing to the west isn’t an inherently bad thing nor was it exclusive to the PS3/Xbox 360 generation. I mean one of their first games ever involved playing as an American destroying the entire Japanese air fleet and why else do you think they made all those Disney games back in the day? Even in the PS3/Xbox 360 years appealing to the w west was what created Dead Rising and you know, their best selling game ever Resident Evil 5.

 

[Quillion]

Speaking of Capcom, I think it's clear they really want to move on from Mega Man, and they should.

Just give a proper finale to Classic and X and that'll be good enough.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Mega Man 6 is the best aged entry of the NES games. It's a culmination of all the technological lessons Capcom had learned over the previous 7 years, ending up with an incredible polished release that feels like a graphical update away from being an SNES Mega Man. It not only looks great for the 10-year-old hardware it's on, but the gameplay via the use of the Rush Adapters gives it a sense of fairness so many of its predecessors lacked on top of adding multiple paths for replayability.

For a game noted for being dubiously timed given the 16 bit era it was released in, it's the Mega Man NES title least chained to the difficulty trends of the time period.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

I will defend the Sony cinematic style of games when I feel they genuinely work but replaying Shadow of the Colossus has made me realize a lot of them take elements from that game without understanding why they were there in the first place.

The cinematic style of that game was to make the most out of the little story the game had, its wide open world was supposed to be barren and empty, and the boss battles weren’t really meant to provide catharsis or a power fantasy for beating them. Those elements were all very influential on the modern cinematic Sony game, but they’re kinda used without understanding why they worked in the first place.

I’m not saying this to moralize or to say that modern Sony games are inherently bad (plus God of War 2005 was probably just as much of an inspiration lol) but I just find it really interesting how you can trace back a lot of Sony’s current day tropes to one game and they were in that game for such a different reason than they are in modern games.

 

[Eremurus]

e-sports ruined video games and tainted them forever.

 

[fogbadge]

e-sports ruined video games and tainted them forever.

well you're not wrong

 

[Perkilator]

For all of its faults, I think Mario Kart Tour had a lot of genuinely good ideas that should be implemented into the next full console Mario Kart game.

 

[Quillion]

e-sports ruined video games and tainted them forever.

well you're not wrong

It ruined the audience more than anything. Now comp gamers are just extremely nitpicky.

For all of its faults, I think Mario Kart Tour had a lot of genuinely good ideas that should be implemented into the next full console Mario Kart game.

Costumes, more post-launch characters, cool item box mechanics, I agree.