Unpopular Opinions about Video Games

[Berrakh]

Zelda 2 being the best is pretty unpopular. And I know how I'd argue against it but I won't unless asked since this is a place for unpopular opinions.

Some of these won't be unpopular but they build toward one definitionally unpopular opinion I believe very strongly in.

1. RPGs are a dying genre
2. Gamers are enamored with spectacle and graphics to an almost childish extent
3. Waifus are a marketing gimmick and as coomerism gets worse it will get worse. Physical relationships will increasingly be for Chads/Professionals as particular elements get commodified like how it is Japan
4. I don't know this but I would not be surprised if gaming is struggling with little kids, especially if we subtract Fortnite since that would only benefit one company. So many claims to their attention exist.
5. Which is why I believe (other) game companies increasingly try to bleed their older fans for cash these days with remakes and special editions. Like 90s comics.

I strongly believe gaming aiming for the mass market and the increasing omnipresence of a mass market in all our entertainment drive all of this. RPGs are too niche and not immediately exciting so they have to go. Good visuals are something powerfully appealing to the largest audience. Cooming and surrogate affection has never made anyone poor. The lack of (distributed) growth in younger demographics forces games to capture a wider horizontal audience within a narrow age range but broader on other lines.

It's sort of a paradox about popularity: after a certain point it stops functioning like how popularity is supposed to. It stops being founded in appreciation to instead become impersonal and manufactured. Existing for its own sake with inertia as its justification. More people might play games now but fewer people love games. And those people matter more for the long term health of an industry.
Maybe this is just me. But hey, that's what makes it an opinion.

tl;dr Gaming is the most popular entertainment medium in the world because it's successfully made itself lowest common denominator. In a way I don't think you can even say about movies. As bad as movies have gotten it was an artform that developed over decades while gaming developed maybe a single decade prior to the internet connecting everyone and diluting all experiences down to the broadest possible basis. There just wasn't as much maturity or tolerance (for lack of better terms) established before hitting this era in human social development

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

To my perception, people talked like Ghost of Tsushima is what Ass Creed should aspire to, but I bought Ghost of Tsushima and I'm not seeing it.

The swordplay is pretty good - I like that it feels (at my lower level) realistic in that if you stab somebody in the chest, they die - but the stealth just feels really uninspired. Ass Creed games are designed like a puzzle, maybe a simple one, but a puzzle nonetheless, where it isn't super easy to run around in the open stealth-assassinating everybody. Then, you have the Jap reservedness, which is accurate to the samurai genre but doesn't make for great storytelling that people barely emote, and the story just feels kind of lifeless.

I don't feel like I wasted my money but I don't feel lit on fire with excitement either.

3. Waifus are a marketing gimmick and as coomerism gets worse it will get worse. Physical relationships will increasingly be for Chads/Professionals as particular elements get commodified like how it is Japan

I find it interesting how you specified Chads/Professionals instead of just Chads. Do you mean in the sense of gold-diggers, or in some other way, like a separate professional culture, with its own value system, that maintains normiedom?

 

[Berrakh]

I find it interesting how you specified Chads/Professionals instead of just Chads. Do you mean in the sense of gold-diggers, or in some other way, like a separate professional culture, with its own value system, that maintains normiedom?

I mean pornstars. Porn plays a big role in what I was talking about and people use it to sate their libidinal energy. But basically people who can be trusted to do it right.

 

[MysticMisty]

And for what it's worth, there just weren't many RPGs at the time that took place in a modern setting, and the variety of enemies was a big appealing element. What if you were walking along, and that fire hydrant over there sprung to life and attacked you? What if you could just order a pizza and heal your entire team? Slimes and potions don't exist in real life, so Earthbound has an extra tangible sense to it that you just don't get from most RPGs.

This is only up through Fourside though. Everything after that is standard fantasy fare, and not particularly well developed: there should've been more time spent in Summer, Scarabia, and beyond. Like, not only should the areas actually be larger, but there should be plot-related problems to help with. Instead it's just point A to point B over and and over again until Magicant and Giygas. I'm guessing Itoi ran out of room due to convoluted programming and had to cut content, or he legitimately ran out of ideas after wrapping up Fourside and didn't have enough padding for the rest of the song parts.

 

[Town Drunk]

Indeed, I think Dragon Age 2 gets a whole lot of shit for no reason in terms of the gameplay.

Sure the story is fucking garbo, but I think it plays better for Fighters/Rogues than DA O did.

I actually liked the story in DA2. Not saving the whole world, just one person making a difference in one city. A more realistic plot.
Playing the same maps over and over though sucked.

 

[Overcast]

Spyro 1 for me was probably the best Spyro game.

I know a lot of people preferred 2 and 3, which I don't blame them for, but 1 for me has traits that the other games didn't really pick up on I feel.

1 had a few levels which required you to think a bit outside the box in order for you to get absolutely everything. Tree Tops is a great example of this. I remember a lot of people liked to dunk on that level, but I've honestly never seen a level in another platformer that tried to do what it did. Having to master the supercharge as well as develop an intimate knowledge with the level's geometry in order to make a jump that's just high enough for you to glide across a massive pit in order to reach the last dragon and bits of treasure. Haunted Towers did something similar, but it asked you to navigate enclosed spaces while supercharging in order to reach a hard to reach area.

It's kind of a shame that the later games didn't really try anything experimental like this again. Part of what makes the games special is that due to Spyro having wings and being able to glide large distances, the devs were able to create very unique and open ended levels with a large sense of verticality and scale.

And frankly, I think Gnasty Gnorc was a great final boss. It's definitely different from what one would expect, but considering the context of the game and how the previous two levels were designed, it was implied that Gnasty was probably pretty scared of you by that point and was throwing all the stops to try and take you down. What with the levels funneling you into areas with some of the nastiest enemies in the game, including gnorcs with fucking machine guns and grenades. (Or paintguns in the remake, which was fucking stupid)

And he had every right to be scared. You were a fucking dragon. An adolescent dragon, but you were able to accomplish something the adults couldn't do, and the fact that the level is spent chasing him down tight walkways and gliding across platforms that were slowly going into the walls and finally cornering him was super satisfying to me as a child. It was a final test to see how well you're able to grasp the controls and how fast your reflexes were.

And a little detail that I also liked was that as Spyro taunted him at the end, he was standing up, something that only the adult dragons did.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Spyro 1 for me was probably the best Spyro game.

I know a lot of people preferred 2 and 3, which I don't blame them for, but 1 for me has traits that the other games didn't really pick up on I feel.

1 had a few levels which required you to think a bit outside the box in order for you to get absolutely everything. Tree Tops is a great example of this. I remember a lot of people liked to dunk on that level, but I've honestly never seen a level in another platformer that tried to do what it did. Having to master the supercharge as well as develop an intimate knowledge with the level's geometry in order to make a jump that's just high enough for you to glide across a massive pit in order to reach the last dragon and bits of treasure. Haunted Towers did something similar, but it asked you to navigate enclosed spaces while supercharing in order to reach a hard to reach area.

It's kind of a shame that the later games didn't really try anything experimental like this again. Part of what makes the games special is that due to Spyro having wings and being able to glide large distances, the devs were able to create very unique and open ended levels with a large sense of verticality and scale.

And frankly, I think Gnasty Gnorc was a great final boss. It's definitely different from what one would expect, but considering the context of the game and how the previous two levels were designed, it was implied that Gnasty was probably pretty scared of you by that point and was throwing all the stops to try and take you down. What with the levels funneling you into areas with some of the nastiest enemies in the game, including gnorcs with fucking machine guns and grenades. (Or paintguns in the remake, which was fucking stupid)

And he had every right to be scared. You were a fucking dragon. An adolescent dragon, but you were able to accomplish something the adults couldn't do, and the fact that the level is spent chasing him down tight walkways and gliding across platforms that were slowly going into the walls and finally cornering him was super satisfying to me as a child. It was a final test to see how well you're able to grasp the controls and how fast your reflexes were.

And a little detail that I also liked was that as Spyro taunted him at the end, he was standing up, something that only the adult dragons did.

While Spyro 3 is probably my favorite, I do agree with you that Spyro 1 had the best levels and platforming in the whole trilogy. It squeezed as much as it could out of Spyro's basic moveset, and the levels felt more open and exploratory. I love searching for secrets in the first game because they felt hidden, and as you said you had to think outside the box in levels like Tree Tops. I always liked Wizard Peak for the same reason. Even more basic levels like Cliff Town had a sense of scale and exploration that the sequels never really had.

As much as I love the sequels I always thought their respective level designs were downgrades. Spyro 2's levels were too small and didn't take advantage of Spyro's abilities as well. 3 brought back some of the scale and some of the eggs were well-hidden, but it was never to the extent of the first game.

 

[cumrider_2k]

I've always thought Sleeping dogs had a better atmosphere and story than the early Yakuza games

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

I actually liked the story in DA2. Not saving the whole world, just one person making a difference in one city. A more realistic plot.
Playing the same maps over and over though sucked.

I would like the story more if it didn't devolve into complete autism at the end with Anders going unibomber, the Mages deciding "yes we are going to blood magic" and Paladin Lady getting high off Period Blood.

 

[Berrakh]

For anyone who played WoW back then: Icecrown Citadel is an overrated raid instance.

It's aesthetically a glorified hallways of black, grey and blue. It's surprisingly small considering the size of the citadel you see on the outside. This ties into the crappy gunship boss skipping most of the ascent (you know, the fun shit about progressing through a raid's geometry). Then there's the crappy green dragon fight which proves they didn't have any good ideas for the Frost Wing. Or the Unholy Wing. Only the Blood Wing is cool and that's just by looking cool. This accounts for 75% of the instance btw.

There are two raids it's fair to compare ICC to thematically. And it's worse than either. Naxxramas is a better Scourge themed raid. More enemy and doodad variety. Plague cauldrons, shades, death knights, more abominations, spiders, gargoyles, etc. Classic Warcraft 3 units totally absent or underdone in ICC.
And Black Temple is a similar "ascend the enemy base to beat the dude from WC3" idea but it has the breadth of Illidan's forces well represented. Even totally new or unexpected ones. Fel orcs, mutant fel orcs, ghosts, nether drakes, demons, satyrs, naga, elves, sluts. It's great.

Without the Lich King encounter nobody would care. But that's the end and it's not even well built toward because the rest of the instance is so haphazard and cheap.

 

[Psyduck]

3. Waifus are a marketing gimmick and as coomerism gets worse it will get worse.

This is the reason i cant stand looking up any updates about RE8 or Smash anymore

Sorry guys i wish i was more of a degenerate but goddamn

 

[Berrakh]

This is the reason i cant stand looking up any updates about RE8 or Smash anymore

Sorry guys i wish i was more of a degenerate but goddamn

The degeneracy isn't that bad, it's the dressing up of what's essentially autistic facsimiles of affection as something more. It would be one thing to have a female character you find endearing because of her story but it's hard to take that sort of thing seriously about Mythra/Pyra (for example) when a nude mod goes viral on reddit the day of release.

 

[Green Man]

This is the reason i cant stand looking up any updates about RE8 or Smash anymore

Sorry guys i wish i was more of a degenerate but goddamn

Yeah, pretty much every venue where one might discuss the RE series has been taken over by OnlyFans hoes "cosplaying" the tall vampire lady, it's really rather annoying.

 

[Calandrino]

The old Capsule Monsters pitch had them as less intelligent creatures that had to be controlled with whips.

There were some lingering hints of that in the final product.

Spoiler

 

[An Account]

Pokemon is just a glorified dogfighting or cockfighting simulator.

And it doesn't even have the decency to be as cool as that description would imply.

 

[Decepticon Spy]

No matter how fun Among Us is, it's just a dumbed down Town of Salem in the end of the day. The public sessions were great during its early days but became unbearable because of autistic kids wanting to reenact the shit on a corpse husband or pewdiepie video.

 

[Overcast]

Yeah, pretty much every venue where one might discuss the RE series has been taken over by OnlyFans hoes "cosplaying" the tall vampire lady, it's really rather annoying.

It’s crazy to me how much they hyped the game around her considering how she’s the first major boss who then dies right after.

Talk about blowing your proverbial load.

Also, there’s a clear disconnect between the players who unironically want her to step on them and the guy you play as who’s married and trying to rescue his baby. Can’t help but find that funny.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

It’s crazy to me how much they hyped the game around her considering how she’s the first major boss who then dies right after.

Talk about blowing your proverbial load.

To be fair they kinda did that with Jack in RE7. I remember most of the marketing being centered around him and how he'd stalk you through the house, but he's mostly out of the picture after the first hour or two (at least until the bossfight way later on).

 

[Pissmaster]

Both the first two Zelda games can get pretty grindy at times. For the first one, it's because high-ticket items require you to chop up mobs for cash for 1-5 rupees at a time to buy, for example, a ring that costs 255. For the second, it's because that game has RPG mechanics.

Speaking of which, unpopular opinion: Zelda 2 is the best Zelda. The game is the perfect blend of platforming and sword-fighting for its era, the latter of which requires both fast reflexes and reading tells from the opponent.

As you said, in most Zelda games, combat mostly revolves around walking up to an enemy and pressing the attack button. Very rarely will strategy deviate from that pattern, unless it's a boss, in which case, the use of the dungeon item will be used to get it into a weakened state. If you try playing Zelda 2 with this mind-set, you will get your ass handed to you. Which, aside from being a side-scroller, is probably why most Zelda fans dislike it. It requires knowing that the shield is your most-useful ally, and properly applying it requires more skill than just facing the right direction or holding a button. You need to carefully watch your enemy's movements to know whether you should block high or low, or in the case of the Goriyas that throw boomerangs, behind you, and you need to think fast. New players who haven't learned that your shield is your most useful asset and how to read opponents like Goriyas and Iron Knuckles will inevitably be curb-stomped as early as the first dungeon, but the difficulty drops pretty fast once you master it.

And that's exactly why I love Zelda 2: because it's a game that can be skillfully mastered in a way the series hasn't replicated since. Sure, you can memorize other Zelda games, since those are mostly puzzle-based, and that is in itself a form of mastery, but Zelda 2 is an action game first-and-foremost. Is it perfect? No. One of the bosses is literally just "Cast Reflect, squat in the corner, and wait for the boss to kill itself," and the fight against Dark Link is complete bullshit without abusing the corner exploit. There's a string of "Nintendo Power Moments" towards the end of the game where you have to find New Kasuto, get the Magic Key, then play the flute to get the sixth palace to appear. Also, The Grand Palace is fucking enormous, filled with extremely hazardous enemies that are advisable to avoid than engage, and to top it all off, features plenty of red herring pathways that don't lead to the final encounter. But those are minor gripes in what I perceive to be an underrated gem of a game.

Zelda 2 is a great game marred by small, terrible decisions.

The first dungeon has infinitely-respawning enemies that give no rewards when killed, but take away 10 EXP whenever they hit you, at a point where the common enemies are only worth 2-3 EXP.

The only way to heal outside of towns and fairies is by getting the Heal spell. That's the worst "Nintendo Power Moment" in the game, considering your one hint is that someone lost their mirror. To that point, you've seen world map tiles that bring you to hidden areas, and every item you've collected for someone has been at the end of a cave, or within a palace. But the mirror is found underneath another table in the same town, where you need to crouch and use your sword to pick it up. There's no indication it's under that table, nor does it even have a graphic, so it's an invisible pixel hunt.

There are also a lot of jumps where you can just barely hit the ledge, but fall down anyway if you didn't do it juuuust right.

Zelda 2 is a game made so much better by savescumming. Don't play it without save states.

 

[StraightShooter2]

3. Waifus are a marketing gimmick and as coomerism gets worse it will get worse. Physical relationships will increasingly be for Chads/Professionals as particular elements get commodified like how it is Japan

I honestly don't really buy that in the long haul - Waifus are nothing more than a masturbation aid, people have been finding ways to masturbate since the ancient times, long before internet porn on demand was a commodity.

Sure some losers in life may be so lacking in any redeemable qualities that they can't picture any purpose in life other than masturbation, but I don't think this really speaks for people as a whole - since I think a lot of other elements are required for the like of incels to be produced to begin with rather than just having easy access to porn - such as severe deficits in standard/emotional intelligence, comorbidity with mental problems and physical problems such as morbid obesity, bad familial or peer environments, and the like. Not to mention that a lot of incels are just freaks on the level of Russell Greer who think they "deserve 9s or 10s" instead of the overweight Tumblrinas who are in the same "league" as them, but also "refuse to date" any guy who doesn't look like Justin Bieber or Brad Pitt.

If I could I would just mandate eugenics for "people" who claim that it's "impossible" for them to have any access to consensual sex with a living, breathing woman (or man), but even if we cleaned up the genetic pool a little, I'm sure that masturbation would still end up having a niche market.