Unpopular Opinions about Video Games

[Watcher]

-Anita Sarkeesian has a point with some of the things she says. There are examples of characters who are just a cardboard cutout of a trope or two, and the game's story would benefit from fleshing out their personality and backstory. It's just that you have to wade through a lot of bullshit like "OMG the game engine allows you to cause damage to female NPCs" to find any valid points.

I don't agree with this for a variety of reasons.

For starters, this problem is not exclusive to women. There are very dumb male characters just like there are very dumb female characters. For every complex male protagonist there're also hundreds of generic space marine protagonists. I mean it's why first person shooters are usually deemed "dumb" games and have been for a really long time.

However if you're referring to a more general thing then I also disagree with that. Games specifically don't really need to focus on this simply because games generally don't focus on a story that much. And when they do occasionally they have ancillary characters just so they can say, give a quest for the protagonist to go on. Characters are essentially tools more so than any other entertainment medium and I don't feel that the writers should take focus away from the rest of the game just so that every single small character has importance.

This is also not exclusive to video games. Hamlet has numerous characters that are basically just there to say a single line and then leave, and most directors cut them outright or merge them with other characters. Likewise movies have tons of characters that ultimately serve no use. Even good movies like Fight Club have one off characters that don't have much personality and are only there to serve a role.

I mean TVTropes has a page on it called "Tropes are tools" and I really like that page because it illustrates my point. Just because a character only has a single personality trait and doesn't have much of a personality doesn't make it a bad thing.

 

[ASoulMan]

Some of these are based on the recent Smash Bros. leaks, so I'm putting in spoilers for the sake of everybody.

Spoiler: SSB4 Characters

- I don't understand why people are getting so worked up over the inclusion of Dr. Mario and Dark Pit. Sure, they appear to be clone characters, but people are acting like they're taking over the roster and replacing characters like Wolf, Ice Climbers, Lucas, etc, who have apparently been cut. No character replaces another on the roster; it just means another character has been added. I actually like the inclusion of Dark Pit, and even if Dr. Mario feels unnecessary, it makes sense why there on the roster. They could have been like Lucina; Planned as alternate costumes, but promoted to playable characters due to unique attributes.

- I feel like most people who are complaining about the leaked roster complain because their favorite/requested characters aren't on it. The leakers have said that it's not the complete roster. If anything, I think the leaked roster is pretty solid.

- Kid Icarus is not over-represented. It's just three characters. I feel like people are saying this because they're upset that Dark Pit is on the roster.

Also:

- I prefer Brawl over Melee; mainly because I like the roster, stages, and the Subspace Emissary (even if the story is just a glorified crossover fanfiction). Plus I invested more time into it than Melee. Did I also mention that it has a kick ass theme?

- I don't play horror games as I get too invested in them, but I like to watch people play them. One of my favorite games to watch is Dino Crisis.

- What's the deal of putting in "saga" in the names of games like Candy Crush and Farm Hero? How are those games considered to be a "saga"? Also, I refuse to get into either of those games.

- Bravely Default is an awesome game, but it could have been a little better if the second half didn't drag on too long. It's like they didn't have enough plot to fulfill the length of the game, so they had to pad out the second half by making you reactivate the crystals over and over again until they got to the final part.

 

[exball]

Some of these are based on the recent Smash Bros. leaks, so I'm putting in spoilers for the sake of everybody.

Spoiler: SSB4 Characters

- I don't understand why people are getting so worked up over the inclusion of Dr. Mario and Dark Pit. Sure, they appear to be clone characters, but people are acting like they're taking over the roster and replacing characters like Wolf, Ice Climbers, Lucas, etc, who have apparently been cut. No character replaces another on the roster; it just means another character has been added. I actually like the inclusion of Dark Pit, and even if Dr. Mario feels unnecessary, it makes sense why there on the roster. They could have been like Lucina; Planned as alternate costumes, but promoted to playable characters due to unique attributes.

- I feel like most people who are complaining about the leaked roster complain because their favorite/requested characters aren't on it. The leakers have said that it's not the complete roster. If anything, I think the leaked roster is pretty solid.

- Kid Icarus is not over-represented. It's just three characters. I feel like people are saying this because they're upset that Dark Pit is on the roster.

Also:

- I prefer Brawl over Melee; mainly because I like the roster, stages, and the Subspace Emissary (even if the story is just a glorified crossover fanfiction). Plus I invested more time into it than Melee.

- I don't play horror games as I get too invested in them, but I like to watch people play them. One of my favorite games to watch is Dino Crisis.

- What's the deal of putting in "saga" in the names of games like Candy Crush and Farm Hero? How are those games considered to be a "saga"? Also, I refuse to get into either of those games.

- Bravely Default is an awesome game, but it could have been a little better if the second half didn't drag on too long. It's like they didn't have enough plot to fulfill the length of the game, so they had to pad out the second half by making you reactivate the crystals over and over again until they got to the final part.

Bring back all clone characters. Muh Pichu.

 

[LordDarkrai]

I got acouple for now.

I don't care for the hardcore and casual thing everyone uses. Heck I don't even use those terms in real life.

I don't hate games on mobile. There's a couple I enjoyed like Crazy Taxi and Raiden Legacy.

I dislike some aspects of Namco. It's not their games, but they can't localize for crap even if there's a noticeable fan following. Granted their getting better which I hope they continue.

I find the whole Shin Megami Tensei vs Persona fanwar to be complete nonsense. I find it depressing to see topics like that.

I also don't despise Final Fantasy XIII. Of course it has very noticeable problems, but there a lot worse games out there.

 

[Springblossom]

I like what the Metroid Prime games do with the endgame collection quests, simply because I like tromping all over whatever planet I've spent the game on at full power for extended lengths of time. Especially for Echoes, because the Annihilator Beam and the Light Suit completely destroy any threat Dark Aether poses.

 

[Watcher]

I find the whole Shin Megami Tensei vs Persona fanwar to be complete nonsense. I find it depressing to see topics like that.

It's partially Atlus's own fault. They split their fanbase considerably with Persona and mainline SMT. So naturally some fans get defensive over their preferences. This happens with a lot of other seriess that have their own sub series.

 

[John Titor]

I feel like I'm part of the minority that doesn't outright hate Raiden from Metal Gear Solid. I rather play as Snake too but to get riled up over Raiden is nonsensical and missing the point.

 

[A-Stump]

I really like Kanji in Persona 4 and think he has the best S link in the game. A lot of people in a message board I frequent don't seem to like him but he probably has the strongest character development in the game. Seeing him come to term with himself felt the most real. Yukiko didn't really seem to do much of anything and Chie felt the same start to finish.

 

[Dark Mirror Hole]

Max Payne's story and characters were embarrassingly bad, which really prevented me from enjoying a lot of the game. It's a real shame though, the gameplay is excellent and if it relied on a story that wasn't a steaming pile of shit, I think it would be a lot more enjoyable.

It's been ages since I last heard about Max Payne but I don't remember the story being too bad. All I remember is the surrealism such as the TV with the flamingo talking about flesh of fallen angels. That was pretty cool. The latest game was pretty disappointing, I hated how they made Payne into ANOTHER generic bald protagonist.

 

[Overcast]

I really like Kanji in Persona 4 and think he has the best S link in the game. A lot of people in a message board I frequent don't seem to like him but he probably has the strongest character development in the game. Seeing him come to term with himself felt the most real. Yukiko didn't really seem to do much of anything and Chie felt the same start to finish.

Strange, from what I've seen, Kanji is widely considered as one of the best characters in the game.

Anyway... unpopular opinions unpopular opinions... Ah!

I personally prefer P3 over P4 in almost every way. Initially, it was the opposite, but when I really thought about it, I just preferred how P3 handled things better. Plus the final boss in that game is kickass.

 

[Naamaleipuri]

I have a few..

-Guild Wars 2 is a hopelessly mediocre MMO, that's based on nothing but endless grind, repetitive combat and fanservice. The only reason people defend it so much is because they have already invested in it so much.

-MMOs are a dying genre. Developers are getting too concerned about making their games differ from WoW that they are scared to even build upon it's good qualities.

-Tomb Raider 2013 was just an inferior Uncharted game. Linear levels, boring level design, annoying characters, subpar plot, lack of replay value and a total lack of difficulty even on the highest setting.

-I'm tired of all these faux 8/16-bit games coming out. I love 2D games if the sprites have been drawn with lots of detail, this retro style just seems lazy to me.

-I can't enjoy the GTA series, no matter how much I try. I always find the graphics dull, the movement clunky and unresponsive and the game just flat out boring. I mean it's fun to go on a mayhem for about 10 minutes, but then it just gets boring again.

 

[Sonic Speed Monkey]

- None of the Legend of Zelda games were interesting to me. I feel they're incredibly overrated.

- I think Crash Twinsanity is the best Crash Bandicoot game. This coming from someone who grew up with the franchise.

 

[RetardBus]

I hate GTA IV and nearly everything about it with a burning passion but I fucking love The Ballad of Gay Tony. I feel like it fixed nearly everything that was wrong with IV. The missions were actually fun, the story was fun and had no drama, more weaons, and a protagonist who wasn't a whiny cunt with an ear grating Russian accent. It was what GTA IV should have been.

 

[Watcher]

I totally get were you're coming from but a lot of the appeal in the stragedy in competitive battling, collecting a billion colorful animals and breeding killing machines.
It pretty much a game for spergs by a sperg

The appeal to Pokemon for me as a kid was building a team that gradually grew stronger and changed into different creatures. I liked building a balanced team and stuff.

Then the mechanics grew dull for me as I got older. With how it was basically just "use an attack that the enemy was weak to", and debuff/buff attacks were basically useless (except Sand attack which was just a dick move in battles). With competitive battling it felt like manipulating invisible values the developers never intended you to know about. It felt like a casual RPG people tried to force into being a competitive battling simulator. It reminds me a lot of how people try and make Super Smash Bros into a competitive game when it really isn't built to be one mechanically.

Then I played Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne where buff and debuff attacks are actually useful (and were significantly more useful than attacks) and you can defeat bosses with strategy rather than grinding. (Like a boss will constantly buff his speed and his attack so if you debuff it you can negate most of his turns). And it contained the same style of gameplay where you recruit monsters into your party who also evolve as the game goes on. But in Nocturne you don't force enemies into your party but rather ask them to join and they have requirements before joining. Either through trading an item or posing a philosophical question. Not only that but Nocturne also let you fuse your weaker demons into more powerful ones (and was the only way to get boss demons into your party), and also rewarded you for completing your "demon compendium".

I dunno the main Pokemon series in general bores me. And I found myself more invested in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. And more complicated JRPGs for that matter.

 

[Kamen Rider Black RX]

I prefer Fallout 1 and 2 over 3. It's really the first-person view that does it. It's not like Skyrim, where seeing it out of my characters eyes made me want to see more. That and when I'm looking down the sight of my rifle, getting a bead on my targets head, I don't want to see him shrug it off as it was nothing because he still has more hitpoints.

 

[Mourning Dove]

-OFF is an excellent game but the community surrounding it is devoid of anything interesting.

Ugh why do I keep on finding YouTube videos/Tumblr posts of overweight fangirls doing OFF cosplay badly and/or squeeing over the Batter?? It's like people in the Yume Nikki fandom fangirling over Masada: how did you determine a pixelated character totally up to interpretation to be sexy? Maybe I've just moved on from my own days of fangirling over Link of the Zelda games so I don't understand anymore.

 

[Konstantinos]

Ugh why do I keep on finding YouTube videos/Tumblr posts of overweight fangirls doing OFF cosplay badly and/or squeeing over the Batter?? It's like people in the Yume Nikki fandom fangirling over Masada: how did you determine a pixelated character totally up to interpretation to be sexy? Maybe I've just moved on from my own days of fangirling over Link of the Zelda games so I don't understand anymore.

I'm more bugged by the amount of praise that gets lapped on Zachary, whose importance to the plot of the game is tangential at best. I can't say I found him to be a particularly interesting or even funny character.

 

[Mourning Dove]

I'm more bugged by the amount of praise that gets lapped on Zachary, whose importance to the plot of the game is tangential at best. I can't say I found him to be a particularly interesting or even funny character.

Yeah he's just the merchant guy who sometimes breaks the fourth wall. I guess he's a friendly dude who wears a kawaii desu ne~ cat mask and heart sweatshirt?? Still, I'm more fascinated by the Batter and the game's villains as characters than Zacharie. As I've mentioned I'm not the fangirling type anymore so I wouldn't understand the rationale behind Zacharie's attractiveness anyway.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

I actually thought the new Thief game was pretty good.

 

[Dio Brando]

Resident Evil isn't scary. It never was. Even the jump scares weren't startling. So I never understood why people complain and beg for a Resident Evil game with an "atmosphere" like the older games (granted, Resident Evil 6 was terrible), when they never had that to begin with. The closest RE has ever gotten to making me scared was with an entry I find people hate for some reason: Resident Evil 3. At least with that game, there's a looming fear that at some point, Nemesis will come out and attack you. It's a waste of time and ammo fighting him so your only option is to run away, but with his speed and rocket launcher, you need to quick or you're dead. That's awesome! It's so much more interesting than "zombie dog breaks through window".