Hot takes

[Ikagura]

Mario's pretty lame outside of the spin-offs and maybe the 3D games most of the time. I don't get how anybody would really consider the "New" line of games as anything better than "OK."

The first one was pretty good. For Wii I think it's nostalgia.

On the other hand I think that Super Mario Bros 3 and World are still very solid sidescrollers.

 

[miguk]

Mario's pretty lame outside of the spin-offs and maybe the 3D games most of the time. I don't get how anybody would really consider the "New" line of games as anything better than "OK."

The New Super Mario Bros games were originally a return to form. Mario hadn't had a new 2D entry in forever at that point, and it didn't look like we'd ever get more of them. So it was pretty successful just based on not being another 3D game. The Wii game was good too, given that we hadn't had that on a console in a while. The problem comes from them trying to milk it for too long by reusing assets and not trying to move on to the next evolution. Super Mario Wonder did well at solving the issue.

 

[Ikagura]

The problem comes from them trying to milk it for too long by reusing assets and not trying to move on to the next evolution. Super Mario Wonder did well at solving the issue.

I'm a bit sad that because of U and 2 they retroactively made DS and Wii less good because of people's perception of the NSMB series.

Actually I wouldn't mind seeing the Koopalings back but in a 3D entry instead.

Wonders ditched them but we got meh bosses instead which is a big shame because of DS'.

Sure they were basically improved versions of common enemies but at least they felt more like Mario 64 bosses than Bowser or the Koopalings again.

And this video showing many gimmicks that would end up never getting reused ever again...

Perhaps the local multiplayer nerfed the level design so much sadly.

And I'm mad that many elements from the beta got ditched despite being closer to 64.

 

[tropicalavera]

Ok so I think my biggest hot take is that Dragon's Crown is kind of mid.

Might be shocking to hear since I'm a big Vanillaware fan, but I personally think they focused on the multiplayer aspect too much, and while I understand why they did it since the game is supposed to be like a DND campaign, it makes it not really fun to play if you're doing it solo imo.

Like you have to either playing with people in-person or with a group of people online in voice chat for it to be fun imo.

"kind of mid unless you play it with friends in co-op" is as much a convention of the beat-em-up genre as anything else.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

I do not care for the ambient horror OSTs used in Quake, Doom 64, or PSX Doom. I always felt they were unfitting due to the high speed, high bodycount nature of the games. The player isn't exactly weak or isolated enough for horror music to work imo. I always interpreted Retro FPS as more of a power fantasy, you're not trapped with the demons, they're trapped with you yadda yadda. I don't hate them per say, I just don't really vibe with them either. Give me "Into Sandys City" or "Quad Machine" any day.

 

[miguk]

I do not care for the ambient horror OSTs used in Quake

Well, saying Trent Reznor's music doesn't work is definitely a hot take. This is one of the few games with a score by an Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Grammy award winning musician.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

Well, saying Trent Reznor's music doesn't work is definitely a hot take. This is one of the few games with a score by an Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Grammy award winning musician.

I acknowledge that it's a very fine ost and beloved for a reason, it just isn't really what I'm personally looking for in a high speed FPS.

 

[fake-kun]

Well, saying Trent Reznor's music doesn't work is definitely a hot take. This is one of the few games with a score by an Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Grammy award winning musician.

I didn't care for Quake's OST either, and I'm a huge fan of Trent Reznor.

 

[RetroLaw]

Moving on from fighting games, I hate parry systems and I'm tired of them. Dodge-rolls, too. Enough with the Souls plagiarism. Not every single action game needs a dodge-and-parry function. Turning action games into, again, games of Simon says is not good.

A thousand times this.

It seems that it's the case since Bayonetta.

Being able to dodge at (almost) any point of your attacks means there is no commitment when you press a button, you can always press dodge the moment the ennemy attacks you.
I end up playing these games on autopilot once I learned the pattern, mash mash dodge when something happens mash (of course you're going to optimize the damage but still autopiloty).
Games that pretty much makes you invincible for a while after a dodge for free riskless and braindead damage are even more annoying.
I love Ys8 but the combat was crap. I played this game almost like a musou.

Parry and dodge makes obsolete the need to position yourself and take in account start up frames and the recovery of your attack (also active frames, invul frames etc... but you get my point).
And understanding where you can attack and counterattack.

Ninja Gaiden is still the best action game ever made imo.

Makes me remember a friend of mine told me I should play Monster Hunter after a made that rant IRL.

 

[Ikagura]

Some people think it's skillful to dodge/parry at the right moment but let's be honest, game devs let the window large enough for everyone to manage.

And it also make devs lazy to design bosses because they know that players will abuse i-frames.

I love Ys8 but the combat was crap. I played this game almost like a musou.

Ys Seven had the perfect compromise of having a parry system that made you suffer from a critical hit when done too soon. Rolling was only for movements rather than dodging.

Then Celceta came into play with he Flash-Move which trivialised most of the bosses...

I think that Origin and Felghana Thunder spell's blocking was a great parry system that didn't let you abuse it.

Hell, even PSO and PSU had a gameplay without the need of a parry nor a dodge (even if Online is slower as a RPG but it works).


I miss when dodging meant literally moving away from an attack instead of pressing a button.

 

[tropicalavera]

Parry and dodge makes obsolete the need to position yourself and take in account start up frames and the recovery of your attack (also active frames, invul frames etc... but you get my point).
And understanding where you can attack and counterattack.

Petition to replace parrying in 3D action games with grazing.

 

[Ikagura]

Parry and dodge makes obsolete the need to position yourself and take in account start up frames and the recovery of your attack (also active frames, invul frames etc... but you get my point).
And understanding where you can attack and counterattack.

You know, Alien Soldier and Sin & Punishment from Treasure both had a dodging and parrying mechanic but you still had to be careful to not dodge into an attack and time them correctly.

I feel that devs, especially for 3D games, don't want to bother making bosses made with player movement in mind that much.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Despite me loving it, I gotta say it... The Secret Of Monkey Island was vastly overrated.

 

[therealRonneberg]

Phantasy Star Online is boring since the combat has zero depth.

 

[Ikagura]

Phantasy Star Online is boring since the combat has zero depth.

What do you mean by zero depth?

I know that it's an action RPG but it's more inspired by hack 'n slash like Diablo than a beat'em up. It's more about positioning of the characters.

Now it's also how MMORPGs are mostly about skill management and positions.

 

[tropicalavera]

Phantasy Star Online is boring since the combat has zero depth.

the game has many faults but I don't know if this is one of them? Combat calls for consideration of party comp, spacing and movement, weapon switching, resource management, and more. I appreciate that it seems to boil down to 'repeat the same combo whilst kiting faceless mobs' but that's not the meat of the game if you're playing for serious. And I say all of this as the most casual of casual pso players - the kind that's really just in it to vibe.

 

[Ikagura]

The game has many faults but I don't know if this is one of them? Combat calls for consideration of party comp, spacing and movement, weapon switching, resource management, and more. I appreciate that it seems to boil down to 'repeat the same combo whilst kiting faceless mobs' but that's not the meat of the game if you're playing for serious. And I say all of this as the most casual of casual pso players - that sort that's really just in it to vibe.

And I'd even say that my main issue about the first PSU game is how they removed the combo (thankfully Ambition of Illuminus and the subsequent releases added the Just Attacks) and incited you to use Photon Art so you end up spamming the same skill bound on Triangle/Y/Uparrow to make it increase level while also using Photon Charge in case you have no energy left. At least elements are still important so you'll still have to switch weapon type (even more than Attribute in PSO).

Guns don't have combos either but at least Techniques require some management since they have to get bound to each staff/wand/magic weapon instead of having access to every in your hand like in PSO.

Portable 2 felt more satisfying with the combo being more prominent so that skills are making more damage, that and Chains when you do a combo with other players (which are also in PS Zero and make your PAs much more effective). Even guns have a special charged attack.

PSO is sluggish but in the same time I'm not fan of how PSO2 became a PA spamfest and apparently NGS is even worse in this regard.



My hot take is that modern ARPG are more like Action games with RPG elements than proper Role Playing Games with stats and positioning. They basically became beat'em up with stats at this point (especially FFXVI being a DMC-like game).

 

[therealRonneberg]

the game has many faults but I don't know if this is one of them? Combat calls for consideration of party comp, spacing and movement, weapon switching, resource management, and more. I appreciate that it seems to boil down to 'repeat the same combo whilst kiting faceless mobs' but that's not the meat of the game if you're playing for serious. And I say all of this as the most casual of casual pso players - the kind that's really just in it to vibe.

I played PSO Vers. 2 for the Dreamcast offline for about 15 hours and in that time the game was so easy that I didn't have to think about any of the things listed.
The enemies weren't numerous enough nor did they do enough damage that I had to ever think about spacing, kiting and the like.
Resource management was also more or less irrelevant since you can buy an item that lets yout teleport back and forth between the hub and the dungeon.
Weapon switching was only relevant for flying enemies and even then only to kill them faster.
Maybe in the Endgame the difficulty ramps up and the combat becomes engaging but in the time I played that simply never happened.

 

[Yukyon]

god of war ps4 sucks, the story is nonexistent, characters are at best mediocre and at worst annoying, that bearded bald guy is Kratus in name only, characters and settings are tonally inconsistent, gameplay is janky and stiff, camera placement is horrible, every puzzle is a pushover, difficulty is super artificial due to the change in genre, and I didn't like any of the boss fights
I can talk about how much I hate this game for 10 hours because I am so disappointed

This, I was so disappointed.
I just couldn't get myself to enjoy it at all while I always hear praise for it

 

[RetroLaw]

You know, Alien Soldier and Sin & Punishment from Treasure both had a dodging and parrying mechanic but you still had to be careful to not dodge into an attack and time them correctly.

I feel that devs, especially for 3D games, don't want to bother making bosses made with player movement in mind that much.

Yeah there are games that have a good dodge system and / or parry mechanics because there is a downside for it. In a lot of 3D games you have room to dodge and a lot of i-frames, in a game like Alien Soldier a bad dodge can lead to death, you really have to consider its range since the screen can be quite full of hitboxes.

I miss when dodging meant literally moving away from an attack instead of pressing a button.

Yup, basically when dodging has no invul frames and felt more like a dash. I really liked that in God Eater, the dash was fast and had decent range but no invul frames, gotta learn where the attack lands.

To bad the rest of the mechanics kinda trivialize the combat.

 

[Ikagura]

Yeah there are games that have a good dodge system and / or parry mechanics because there is a downside for it. In a lot of 3D games you have room to dodge and a lot of i-frames, in a game like Alien Soldier a bad dodge can lead to death, you really have to consider its range since the screen can be quite full of hitboxes.

Yup, basically when dodging has no invul frames and felt more like a dash. I really liked that in God Eater, the dash was fast and had decent range but no invul frames, gotta learn where the attack lands.

To bad the rest of the mechanics kinda trivialize the combat.

The main issue is that a game being too strict would limit a buyerbase.

Even Dark Souls, the game famous for being hard (well, for a 7th gen era game), still has many ways to make you manage despite the challenge.




Is this a hot take to say that I got nothing against lowering the skill floor as long as the skill ceiling is still high? Easy to handle yet hard to master is a good motto.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Despite being a classic and iconic, The Simpsons Arcade is actually kinda crappy.

Bland, monotonous, even very boring in spots... I have never met anyone who actually wanted to beat it, not even the Queen Of The Mallrats herself, my cousin (a complete arcade junkie).

 

[ciro64]

Dual-joycon has the best d-pad ever, save for being to share an awkward space with the analog.

An adult thumb (mine at least) can touch all the buttons at once. It's the perfect size, and the fact that it is disjointed offers maximum precision.

I'm using it to play Super Metroid on Wii right now (at native SNES resolution, on a CRT :D), with an adapter that convert bluetooth controllers input to gamecube. The input delay is negligible.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Nintendo and Sega's Seals of Quality only worked to see if a game was unlicensed or not

 

[Xdqwerty]

Rom sites keep shutting down bc people (specially influencers) cant stop talking about them

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Ace attorney games have little to no replay value

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Alternate endings arent impressive anymore