Games You Like, But Most Do Not

[KoimanZX]

While threads about unpopular opinions are fairly common, they rarely have an emphasis on what people like contrary to popular opinion. They, instead, typically end up being mostly about what people dislike. While we can go on all day about how it is much easier to be negative and the influence of people like the Angry Video Game Nerd, I think it would be better to discuss the games we like despite popular opinion.

For me, I like Sonic R. I really do not find nearly as bad as the gaming taste makers say it is. Sure, it is short on courses and characters, and is overall inferior to Mario Kart 64, but it is still worth playing. The controls are not that bad, in fact, they are mostly the same most racing games (I bet people would complain less about the controls if all of the characters were in cars). The soundtrack is more of an acquired taste as it is a bit more akin to the cheesy pop music of the 80's and 90's (which I like for the fun of it), but one can turn off the lyrics in the options. The Gems Collection port is also better with the Gamecube's shoulder buttons used for drifting and virtually no fade in due to the draw distance being vastly improved from the Saturn version. I would even posit that a sequel would be a pretty good idea as the Sonic franchise has a much larger character roster than in the mid 90's, and Sonic Team has a better grasp of how to develop such a game (it could play more like Generations with larger tracks and a greater sense of speed). The main team at Sega even did a pretty good job with F-Zero GX, so I think a sequel to Sonic R could work.

I am not sure if this if unpopular, but I also like Cool Spot. The game is pretty well designed for a licensed game on multiple platforms and has a good soundtrack. Sure, it may not be very friendly to completionists, but it is still fun for those looking for a quick platformer fix.

...So those are mine; what are yours?

[Ronnie]

Senran Kagura. I think it should be self explanatory.

[Anacybele]

Zelda: Skyward Sword probably fits this category best for me. People like to hate on it because of its controls, linearity, and Fi. The complaints about Fi are valid, but I think the other things are not so much. There's nothing wrong with a game being linear, it can still be good that way and imo, SS is still good that way. The controls are different from other Zeldas and can take some getting used to, but I didn't think they were as bad as people said. It is unfortunate that they aren't fitting for lefties though.

But I totally loved the story, characters, and overall gameplay of this game! It made me love Zelda the way I used to again. I started liking Mario and some other things more throughout the 2000s. None of the Zelda games in that time wow'd me as much as the Galaxy games in the Mario series or Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Or Pokemon even.

Skyward Sword changed that though and it's still my favorite Zelda today.

[Dai]

Barring 2, which I genuinely did not like nearly as much and find quite disappointing, I loved the Lords of Shadow games. The greater emphasis of story made it a lot easier to follow than the original series, and the world was very beautiful and enjoyable, with somepretty decent gameplay.

[Randoman]

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Final Fantasy II are the main ones that come to mind. I don't know how public opinions of Super Mario Bros. 2 (both versions) are, but I'll list them as well just in case.

[The Baroness of Blainswal]

I really like the SaGa games that I've played (Romancing SaGa, Romancing SaGa 3, and SaGa Frontier), if they count. It's battle system is unlike any other turn-based RPG that I know of, and it was open world before a lot of other games were.

Also, Mega Man 4 is my personal favourite in the series.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Metroid Other M. Besides the moments where you have to fire a missile in first person, the gameplay feels as stellar as any previous entry. As fast as a 2D Metroid and includes the prime-inspired Morphball segments. With just a directional pad and two buttons, I'm continually impressed at how well this game plays as a 3D action title. I've played every mainline Metroid game besides Prime Hunters and Other M is my favorite. Plus the only one I've 100%ed, though I plan to go back to more entries for completion. Oh, and those cutscenes and plot that everybody whines about? You can skip those.

Zelda 2. I don't know why others don't see the fun in this game. Every time somebody says they don't like the game because it has "too much grinding" was doing it wrong. The game is far from perfect in its designs for difficulty, but the answer is not to sit and grind jellies, that teaches you nothing about how to survive in the dungeons. 

Spyro: A Hero's Tale. The first non Insomniac game in the series was Enter the Dragonfly, a buggy mess, so I think people unfairly panned this game (a 60 aggregate critic score!) out of spite. Instead of trying to emulate the original trilogy, the developers went for an adventure game style of exploring large areas instead of Mario 64 esque stages that aren't connected to each other. The Hunter segments were imaginative, the mini games didn't get to be as unfairly difficult as Spyro 2's, and the multiple breaths were far better handled than in Enter the Dragonfly. If you liked the original trilogy, this game is my highest recommendation from the later entries by a long shot.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. The fourth game in the series, and the first one not developed by Naughty Dog. Again critically panned for no compelling reason (66 aggregate critic score) This is an extremely faithful followup to the original trilogy with a better balance of gimmick stages than Warped. I rate it as the second best Crash game behind 2. 

Borderlands The Pre-Sequel. While a 75 aggregate critic score is not particularly low, the fans hate it, and claim it was an unnecessary game. And I just feel like the Borderlands 2 gameplay never gets old with friends. The predominantly Australian voice cast makes for a charmingly unique feel from other triple A games, and the low gravity and double jumping made the game far less of a cover shooter.

Castlevania Chronicles. Why do people hate this game? I guess it was one of several games released after Symphony of the Night that dared to be a classic arcade style game rather than metroidvania. I could definitely find that frustrating - Symphony was a legendary game, but Chronicles was pretty good too. It's a remake of a remake, sure, but we never got that first remake. You can even play that first remake as "Original Mode" though that's one of the harder games in the series so consider Arranged Mode instead. You can whip straight down and diagonally down, but not the 8 directions you had in Super. So that keeps items from becoming irrelevant. You can also remix the soundtrack, which is cool.

[GrimmLow]

Tales of Zestiria. Probably the most despised Tales game in the whole series, and it's not even that bad like people say it is. It's story may be typical but the characters, world, and gameplay felt top notch to me. The game got jabbed on for the littlest mistakes it Had; like a usually bad camera in certain areas which you can easily just auto-target your enemy, to a small glitch. I really loved Zestiria, and I'll continue to love it.

[ChibiToastExplosion]

Right now I'm totally in to Shephy, and I haven't heard a lot of positive things about it (if most people even know what it is - does that count?) Single player solitaire-esque games aren't for everyone, but I'm totally enamored by the adorable art and re-playability. It's honestly probably my favorite game, as it's easy to just pick up and play - a trait I value more and more as time becomes all the more limited.

Echoes on Shadow Dragon, Zelda II, and Megaman 4, though. I love Megaman 8 as well, and most people shit on that, but that's probably my personal favorite MM.

[LucarioGamer812]

1 hour ago, Anacybele said:

Zelda: Skyward Sword probably fits this category best for me. People like to hate on it because of its controls, linearity, and Fi. The complaints about Fi are valid, but I think the other things are not so much. There's nothing wrong with a game being linear, it can still be good that way and imo, SS is still good that way. The controls are different from other Zeldas and can take some getting used to, but I didn't think they were as bad as people said. It is unfortunate that they aren't fitting for lefties though.

But I totally loved the story, characters, and overall gameplay of this game! It made me love Zelda the way I used to again. I started liking Mario and some other things more throughout the 2000s. None of the Zelda games in that time wow'd me as much as the Galaxy games in the Mario series or Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Or Pokemon even.

Skyward Sword changed that though and it's still my favorite Zelda today.

I feel the same way about it, it was my second zelda game and I would say its my favorite zelda, but I've tried going back to it after a very long hiatus and after playing breath of the wild, and I'm in shock at how much breath of the wild improved over it in terms of graphics, and then me trying to relearn the control scheme was just a mess.

Besides Skyward Sword, the only games I can really think of would be Awakening (though that's more of a mixed feeling game), another echo on shadow dragon (it was alright, I barely beat it with no deaths though, as I only had 3 capable units by the endame, the rest were mainly healers or those who could handle 1-2 enemies, man Marth, Caeda, and Draug really handled that level well), and Smash 3ds, I will agree that in terms of graphics it's inferior to the wii-u and has a less dedicated fanbase, but for being the first portable smash and being cheaper then the wii-u version, it's among my top 3 most played 3ds games, plus I have it to thank for getting me into Zelda, Fire Emblem (which itself has gotten me into other series due to its few but major crossover games), and basically gaming in general as I used to be a diehard poke fan, I still kinda am but my taste has broadened thanks to smash 3ds

[KoimanZX]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

Senran Kagura. I think it should be self explanatory.

It is definitely a series that is unfairly dismissed by critics, that is for sure.

 

1 hour ago, Anacybele said:

Zelda: Skyward Sword probably fits this category best for me. People like to hate on it because of its controls, linearity, and Fi. The complaints about Fi are valid, but I think the other things are not so much. There's nothing wrong with a game being linear, it can still be good that way and imo, SS is still good that way. The controls are different from other Zeldas and can take some getting used to, but I didn't think they were as bad as people said. It is unfortunate that they aren't fitting for lefties though.

But I totally loved the story, characters, and overall gameplay of this game! It made me love Zelda the way I used to again. I started liking Mario and some other things more throughout the 2000s. None of the Zelda games in that time wow'd me as much as the Galaxy games in the Mario series or Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Or Pokemon even.

Skyward Sword changed that though and it's still my favorite Zelda today.

I found the gameplay to be quite entertaining due to the slight puzzle element to the combat (with some fine-tuning of the input detection and a nerf to the shield bash, I think the combat would be perfect). You are right about the plot and characters being the some of the strongest in the series. I think many hate the game because Egoraptor told them to do so (the bomb bowling is nowhere near as bad as he makes it out to be).

 

42 minutes ago, Gustavos said:

Metroid Other M. Besides the moments where you have to fire a missile in first person, the gameplay feels as stellar as any previous entry. As fast as a 2D Metroid and includes the prime-inspired Morphball segments. With just a directional pad and two buttons, I'm continually impressed at how well this game plays as a 3D action title. I've played every mainline Metroid game besides Prime Hunters and Other M is my favorite. Plus the only one I've 100%ed, though I plan to go back to more entries for completion. Oh, and those cutscenes and plot that everybody whines about? You can skip those.

Zelda 2. I don't know why others don't see the fun in this game. Every time somebody says they don't like the game because it has "too much grinding" was doing it wrong. The game is far from perfect in its designs for difficulty, but the answer is not to sit and grind jellies, that teaches you nothing about how to survive in the dungeons. 

Castlevania Chronicles. Why do people hate this game? I guess it was one of several games released after Symphony of the Night that dared to be a classic arcade style game rather than metroidvania. I could definitely find that frustrating - Symphony was a legendary game, but Chronicles was pretty good too. It's a remake of a remake, sure, but we never got that first remake. You can even play that first remake as "Original Mode" though that's one of the harder games in the series so consider Arranged Mode instead. You can whip straight down and diagonally down, but not the 8 directions you had in Super. So that keeps items from becoming irrelevant. You can also remix the soundtrack, which is cool.

 If I am not mistaken, I recall Metroid: Other M only being hated in the West as sold just as well as any other Metroid game in Japan (the Japanese are not very fond of non-linear games or exploring). I have never played the game myself, but from what I have seen of it, it seems mechanically sound. It just is simply different from the rest of the series.

Zelda 2 is another black sheep that seems to be hated mostly because the AVGN said it was bad (although, I believe Danny of Game Grumps was less harsh on the game, so that could have affected the opinion of many in a more positive way).

As much as I like metroidvanias, I would also love another Castlevania in the vein of the originals (too bad the series does horribly in Japan).

[Anacybele]

27 minutes ago, KoimanZX said:

I found the gameplay to be quite entertaining due to the slight puzzle element to the combat (with some fine-tuning of the input detection and a nerf to the shield bash, I think the combat would be perfect). You are right about the plot and characters being the some of the strongest in the series. I think many hate the game because Egoraptor told them to do so (the bomb bowling is nowhere near as bad as he makes it out to be).

I totally agree. The controls might've needed a bit of fine tuning like you say, but otherwise, it's great, imo. It added some challenge to the game because you had to hit a lot of enemies certain ways to beat them.

31 minutes ago, LucarioGamer812 said:

I feel the same way about it, it was my second zelda game and I would say its my favorite zelda, but I've tried going back to it after a very long hiatus and after playing breath of the wild, and I'm in shock at how much breath of the wild improved over it in terms of graphics, and then me trying to relearn the control scheme was just a mess.

Huh, I never had that problem. But maybe I just played it more. I dunno. xP

[LucarioGamer812]

2 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Huh, I never had that problem. But maybe I just played it more. I dunno. xP

Though then again Breath of the Wild is my most played zelda game by far, my top 3 most played zeldas would be breath of the wild at number 1, A Link Between Worlds at 2, and then Skyward Sword at 3. I love Skyward Sword though, it's importance to the zelda timeline(s), the music (Ballad of the Goddess is among my favorite tracks ever) and when I first got it the artstyle, just playing Zelda in Hi Def really makes skyward sword seem old, and it's only a 6 year old game. TBH the reason I think I don't play Skyward Sword (and other games like Xenoblade, and a few others) is that I rarely have the time to sit down and play on the wii, as when I'm home I'd much rather be in my room on my 3ds since family likes to take over the main room and often play wii sports (yes they still play that) instead of any of the other good games I've added to our library.

[ChibiToastExplosion]

5 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

I totally agree. The controls might've needed a bit of fine tuning like you say, but otherwise, it's great, imo. It added some challenge to the game because you had to hit a lot of enemies certain ways to beat them.

That's one that I appreciate the concept, but execution wasn't all there. I think it was fine in the majority of the game until the last Girahim fight - I remember almost losing the television because I spiked the wiimote during that fight. Nothing is worse than knowing what to do, doing what the game wants you to do, and then it just... not happening.

Skyward sword doesn't deserve all the flak that it gets though, because the dungeon design, art direction, and music were top notch. And Groose.

...it deserves every ounce of criticism it gets over being forced to fight the imprisoned 80 times, though.

[Azz]

Final Fantasy XIII. I actually like the main cast, even Lightning. Also the linearity does not bother me. I always liked a more story based game and that is what XIII is. Though, I will concede, it did not need two sequels, especially XIII-2 which is a mess story wise.

Skyward Sword. Basically what everyone else said in the thread. It's a really great game with possibly my favourite incarnation of Zelda (And I actually feel like Zelink works and is not forced). But also, despite the gameplay's problems, SS is beautiful and the dungeons are some of my favourite. I mean look at the Ancient Cistern. A water temple done right.

Shadow Dragon. It really doesn't deserve all the flak it gets in my opinion. Like yes, the gaidens are shit, the art does require a certain taste and the lack of support conversations is a bit annoying, but other than that, the game is really good. It has up to date gameplay, added a bunch of features and, IMO, has hands down the best translation to date. Also Athena calling Marth a stupid manchild is the best thing in the series. Also Marth, A.K.A, the only lord who gets war and his role as a leader.

I can't really think of any others right now.

[Rex Glacies]

2 hours ago, Anacybele said:

Zelda: Skyward Sword probably fits this category best for me. People like to hate on it because of its controls, linearity, and Fi. The complaints about Fi are valid, but I think the other things are not so much. There's nothing wrong with a game being linear, it can still be good that way and imo, SS is still good that way. The controls are different from other Zeldas and can take some getting used to, but I didn't think they were as bad as people said. It is unfortunate that they aren't fitting for lefties though.

But I totally loved the story, characters, and overall gameplay of this game! It made me love Zelda the way I used to again. I started liking Mario and some other things more throughout the 2000s. None of the Zelda games in that time wow'd me as much as the Galaxy games in the Mario series or Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Or Pokemon even.

Skyward Sword changed that though and it's still my favorite Zelda today.

I agree. Skyward Sword is one of my favorite Zeldas, largely due in part to the story. Sure, it has a couple of flaws, but they are easily overlooked in the grand scheme of things. In addition, I never really understood the hate for the controls. My Wiimote always worked fine, and I enjoyed the motion controls.

If I'll add something, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Whilst I'm not certain of the mainstream opinions on the series, I know some games, specifically Gates to Infinity, have received criticism for one reason or another. And yes, while Gates to Infinity isn't perfect (basically only Unova Pokemon and only five starters?) I still think it's a great game.

Shadow Dragon and Awakening are also worthy of mention. Many people on this site and off seem to dislike these games, but I always enjoyed them. Firstly, I never understood the Shadow Dragon hate. It was a game; a Fire Emblem game. Nothing negative about it. Awakening's story is seen as weak, but I was always able to overlook the problems and I wholeheartedly enjoyed it.

[Anacybele]

1 hour ago, ChibiToastExplosion said:

...it deserves every ounce of criticism it gets over being forced to fight the imprisoned 80 times, though.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. That's my only hated part of the game. Fuck the Imprisoned. Ugh... xP

[Slumber]

5 hours ago, KoimanZX said:

I think many hate the game because Egoraptor told them to do so (the bomb bowling is nowhere near as bad as he makes it out to be).

I'm gonna have to stop you there, and tell you that, no, that's not why people dislike SS. People were already saying shit about the game shortly after release, weeeeell before Egoraptor's video, and it's the first time I remember a lot of people saying it "broke the Zelda cycle", because it skipped the honeymoon phase where everyone was absolutely enamored and loved it. Right off the bat, people were split because of waggle(As improved as they were over TP, are still a major hurdle for a lot of people to get over), the constant babying with Fi stopping you from you all the time, lack of an actual world to explore, and the heavy reliance on recycling levels later in the game. Hell, I saw people who were upset that it retconned Minish Cap. 

I myself don't think SS is that bad, so I might as well say I agree with the sentiment that I like it more than a lot of Zelda fans. Whereas waggle controls(Purely my fault for playing the Wii version, I'm sure the GC version isn't nearly as big of a chore to play), barren, drab world, and the stupid wolf segments absolutely ruined TP for me, I feel like most of SS' changes to the Zelda formula were better than how TP handled them. But, the game has a lot of very big, valid problems that fans of the series picked up on pretty quick. Egoraptor echoed a lot of them, but then ruined any argument he had by stupid nitpicky bullshit like bomb bowling, which is far from the worst part of the game, and is pretty minor. 

Anyway:

Dark Souls 2: Game's got problems. But compared to SS, I feel like you REALLY need to dig deep or play for a loooong time before they become evident. While I disagreed with the Egoraptor sentiment, I do think Matthewmatosis' video is largely a part of this. I say this because I've never seen anybody go "Man, SS sucks, you should watch Egoraptor's video on it", while I've seen tons of people post the MM video on Dark Souls 2 when people ask them why Dark Souls 2 sucks. Pat, from Super Best Friends, even did this IN the DKS2 playthrough when he was all giddy about introducing Woolie to the series with DKS2. And that video is a lot of Matt saying "This is bad", and not "This is bad because this". And when he does actually go into "because this", it usually correlates to "because it's not like Dark Souls 1 or Demon's Souls". Like his complaints on how the game is too many dudes in armor. Which is fair, but I'd argue that some of Dark Souls 1's best bosses are "dudes in armor"(Artorias, Ornstein+Smough), and pretty much ALL of Demon's Souls' best bosses are "dudes/dudes in armor"(False King Allant, the Penetrator. Pretty much it. Maneaters are pretty good, but I hate their arena). IMO, the biggest problem with Dark Souls 2 is something he doesn't even really touch on: Soul Memory. It ruined the meta-game that keeps a good chunk of the Souls Fanbase coming back past NG and NG+. Soul Memory so thoroughly neutered that game's matchmaking that it's aggravating. Which is a shame, because it has honestly the best fashion and build variety+viability in the franchise. But as a PvE experience, it's completely fine. The bosses can get a bit same-y, admittedly, but it's also far and away the longest/most content-packed Dark Souls game, which makes it easier to swallow. It also has some of the best DLC in the franchise. 

Resident Evil 5: This one seems to get a bit less shit now than it did shortly after release. I think RE6 kind of put it into perspective for a lot of people. BUT, I still see it lumped in as one of "the bad action REs". The game's definitely skimpy on the horror and atmosphere, but I think it's unfair to put it in RE6's camp, and not RE4's. The lack of creepy aesthetics definitely is a major knock against it considering the franchise, but if you look at RE4 and RE5 compared to classic REs, I'd say it does better at the survival horror feel than RE4 does, while RE4 does better at the atmosphere and environments. And by this, I mean RE5 limits you in general resources a lot more than RE4 does, and forces you to manage everything in real time. It stops you from feeling like a complete walking arsenal until you actually start using cheats for infinite ammo and the like. Also you have split everything between you and your partner. Which... Yeah, a complaint I get. The AI is some of the most inconsistent I've ever seen, from extreme hyper-compitance(After 50+ attempts at the Jill+Wesker fight online with human partners, I 2-shot it with AI) to borderline worthless. But on the whole, I find it to be a very fun game, and just as replayable as the REs that came before it. 

[Sentacotus]

I actually liked Zelda Skyward Sword didn't find Fi too problematic enjoyed the boss fights and story.  I also quite liked upgrading the gear. 

Metroid Other M was not terrible.  Pretty ok 2D Metroid game and I did enjoy the action and Bayonetta esque moves.

 

[Reality]

I looked through my post history and have like replied to this kind of thread 4 times already.

I guess it's a nice opportunity to go into more detail than I usually do.

- With something like Nuts and Bolts, it's quite easily to explain the "critical" reception for it- it diverges from the "collect-a-thon" platforming of the originals, and it's comedey can be taken in the wrong light. Specifically, especially in the opening cutscene, there is a lot of reference to the old banjo game's being unviable, too old fasihoned, etc. For some people this is seen as an insult, but I'm pretty sure that it's meant to be self-referential and to invoke the best-selling games at the time (2008) . I actually think that the humor in the game is on par with that of Tooie for most of the levels actually. The vehicles themselves are pretty fun to control, which was good for me personally, because in addition to being a Banjo fan I had been a fan of a lot of vehicle action games anyway. I always considered it a good game, even if it wasn't as great as the n64 originals.

I imagine for the wider audience, they went in with false expectations expecting the platform goodness of "banjo-threeie". It's actually hard to say what people at the time did like cotrary to their dislike of this game - there were  mario galaxy 1 and 2, but the level design in those games isn't particularly like Banjo. They certainly did not defect to other Xbox and Gamecube platformers- stuff like Kameo, voodoo vince, Vex, dr. muto, did not come close to absorbing the audience of the n64 banjo. On the playstation, there was the first jak and dakter as well as psychonauts- both would achieve cult status , but from my observations they seemed to be mostly new and not composed of banjo-refugees. In fact, I would say that the people disappointed by Banjo Nuts & Bolts actually led to a "call for a return to the past"  rather than seeking a current gen platformer to replace Banjo. This seems more true than ever now with the considerably greater success of Banjo Kazooie (the HD xbox live arcade version) and Rare Replay compared to Yooka-Laylee.

[Water Mage]

17 hours ago, GrimmLow said:

Tales of Zestiria. Probably the most despised Tales game in the whole series, and it's not even that bad like people say it is. It's story may be typical but the characters, world, and gameplay felt top notch to me. The game got jabbed on for the littlest mistakes it Had; like a usually bad camera in certain areas which you can easily just auto-target your enemy, to a small glitch. I really loved Zestiria, and I'll continue to love it.

Much like you, I really liked Zestiria, despite it's faults. But is it really the most despised? 

 

16 hours ago, KoimanZX said:

 

 

I found the gameplay to be quite entertaining due to the slight puzzle element to the combat (with some fine-tuning of the input detection and a nerf to the shield bash, I think the combat would be perfect). You are right about the plot and characters being the some of the strongest in the series. I think many hate the game because Egoraptor told them to do so (the bomb bowling is nowhere near as bad as he makes it out to be).

 

 

Are you talking about Egoraptor's Zelda Sequelitis video? That video made me lose the little respect I had for the guy.

[Slumber]

8 hours ago, Reality said:

I looked through my post history and have like replied to this kind of thread 4 times already.

I guess it's a nice opportunity to go into more detail than I usually do.

- With something like Nuts and Bolts, it's quite easily to explain the "critical" reception for it- it diverges from the "collect-a-thon" platforming of the originals, and it's comedey can be taken in the wrong light. Specifically, especially in the opening cutscene, there is a lot of reference to the old banjo game's being unviable, too old fasihoned, etc. For some people this is seen as an insult, but I'm pretty sure that it's meant to be self-referential and to invoke the best-selling games at the time (2008) . I actually think that the humor in the game is on par with that of Tooie for most of the levels actually. The vehicles themselves are pretty fun to control, which was good for me personally, because in addition to being a Banjo fan I had been a fan of a lot of vehicle action games anyway. I always considered it a good game, even if it wasn't as great as the n64 originals.

I imagine for the wider audience, they went in with false expectations expecting the platform goodness of "banjo-threeie". It's actually hard to say what people at the time did like cotrary to their dislike of this game - there were  mario galaxy 1 and 2, but the level design in those games isn't particularly like Banjo. They certainly did not defect to other Xbox and Gamecube platformers- stuff like Kameo, voodoo vince, Vex, dr. muto, did not come close to absorbing the audience of the n64 banjo. On the playstation, there was the first jak and dakter as well as psychonauts- both would achieve cult status , but from my observations they seemed to be mostly new and not composed of banjo-refugees. In fact, I would say that the people disappointed by Banjo Nuts & Bolts actually led to a "call for a return to the past"  rather than seeking a current gen platformer to replace Banjo. This seems more true than ever now with the considerably greater success of Banjo Kazooie (the HD xbox live arcade version) and Rare Replay compared to Yooka-Laylee.

Nuts and Bolts is another one. It's a fun/fine kart racer with a lot of freedom and ways to play. I understand the disappointment of it not being a traditional Banjo game for everyone who wanted Banjo Threeie, but I think NaB stands on its own.

[MediocreLee]

Hmm..

• Final Fantasy Type-0: I don't think it's hated that much, but it doesn't have a huge fan following.  Although the reviews on Steam do give it a pretty unfavorable light..  The characters are rather cliche, but I would have to say the story is pretty interesting since it has a much more mature tone overall compared to other Final Fantasy games and its take on war is actually explored.  The story is kinda hard to follow at first, but once you get the basic understanding of it, I think you appreciate it a bit more.  The combat is pretty fun, but then again I main Eight who, in my opinion, has the most diverse and fun moveset than any of the other characters.
• Dead or Alive series: Probably also not super hated by anyone that isn't in the "mainstream" FGC crowd, but it has a really bad rep going for it.  Aside from the outstanding amounts of money they want for the DLC costumes, which is seriously ridiculous like holy shit, I enjoy the game for more than just the T&A.  The story is nothing too great, but I like the combat and characters.
• Sonic Heroes: Sooooooo I know this game doesn't have a good rep behind it, but I really, really enjoyed it when I played it when I was younger.  It definitely has its share of problems, glitches, bugs, etc. however I do just enjoy the game because of being able to use three characters in a team.  Story is very lackluster exceptwhenTeamChaotixbasicallyjumpEggmanlikewhaaaaaaaat.  Controls kinda worked against you which is infuriating, but I overall had fun with it.

[Ronnie]

On 7/23/2017 at 10:24 PM, Azz said:

Final Fantasy XIII. I actually like the main cast, even Lightning. Also the linearity does not bother me. I always liked a more story based game and that is what XIII is.

Y'know it's kinda funny the parallels that FF13 and FE13 share. Both 13th games in their series, both criticized for not feeling like their traditional series, and both get the rep of being a good game but not a good "FF/FE game."

[Slumber]

6 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Y'know it's kinda funny the parallels that FF13 and FE13 share. Both 13th games in their series, both criticized for not feeling like their traditional series, and both get the rep of being a good game but not a good "FF/FE game."

I wouldn't say they're similar in those regards.

Plenty of people think Awakening is a fine FE game, and most people don't really seem to think FFXIII stands on its own. Most people I knew said if it wasn't Final Fantasy, they wouldn't have started OR finished FFXIII. I can bet you the number of people who fell in love with the FE franchise after Awakening is far greater than the amount of people who fell in love with the FF franchise after FFXIII, even though FFXIII sold like, 5x more than Awakening.

Also, FFXIII is arguably more traditional in terms of gameplay than the game it followed(And unarguably the game that THAT followed), while Awakening followed a remake of the third game in the franchise, which followed a remake of the first game of the franchise.

Really the only parallel is that yeah, they're the 13th games in the franchise.

I will say FFXIII-2 is totally fine as its own thing, though. Don't think many gave that game an honest chance after FFXIII.

Edited July 25, 2017 by Slumber