Hot takes

[Xdqwerty]

son of a submariner....ig you're right!

And also bc he tends to deviate from what the dialogue was originally intended to mean

 

[tropicalavera]

And also bc he tends to deviate from what the dialogue was originally intended to mean

I think for the most part the guy did a pretty good job considering the hand he was dealt. He was often battling as much with NA censorship as he was the technical constraints of the games themselves. I appreciate many people crave the AUTHENTIC nihongo experience (and yet do not play the games in Japanese, curious...) and I think it's really cool that fans have retranslated the scripts and modern tools exist to allow for easier text formatting and editing, but his translations are as much a part of squaresoft's success and history as anything else.

 

[fake-kun]

I appreciate many people crave the AUTHENTIC nihongo experience (and yet do not play the games in Japanese, curious...)

Not everybody wants to learn a whole new language just to experience media authentically.

 

[tropicalavera]

Not everybody wants to learn a whole new language just to experience media authentically.

I appreciate that it's hard to convey via text alone, but I was being facetious - and doing my best to allude to this meme:

I do not expect everyone to learn Japanese just so they can engage with media that they enjoy.

 

[fake-kun]

I appreciate that it's hard to convey via text alone, but I was being facetious - and doing my best to allude to this meme:
View attachment 20127
I do not expect everyone to learn Japanese just so they can engage with media that they enjoy.

Oh, sorry then. I have a hard time discerning tone through text.

 

[tropicalavera]

Oh, sorry then. I have a hard time discerning tone through text.

don't sweat it, fren! no harm no foul!

 

[therealRonneberg]

Hi-Fi Rush is mid and the only reason the game got so much praise is because of the circumstances surrounding it.

 

[RetroLaw]

It's like saying that there's objectively a best movie or best song.

"Dude, where's my car" is objectively the best movie ever made.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

I would say "Sonic Colors and Sonic Advance 2 are ass" but that's becoming increasingly popular so I'll go for some hotter takes

-Sonic 3D Blast is a good game and Sonic fans hate experimentation
-Sonic Advance 3 is the best of that trilogy, which doesn't say much as Sonic Advance wasn't very good
-The worst Sonic game isn't 06, Free Riders, Labyrinth or even Boom. It's Sonic 2 (on Game Gear)
-Aside from 4 levels, Shadow is a good game
-Boost was a net negative for Sonic level design
-There isn't a single good Sonic game on Wii, they all suffer from forced mission levels that do nothing but make you wish you were actually playing the game. Colors is included because that's exactly what 90% of that game is
-Final Fantasy V is better than VI and VII
-Mega Man 6 is the best NES game, 3 is the worst
-Mega Man X3 is the worst X game and I hate it more than X6 and X7
-there's more mid Mega Man X games than good
-Mega Man Zero 4 is better than Zero 3
-Lufia 1 has a better normal battle theme
-The music took a nosedive with Etrian Odyssey 4 and 5
-They should've brought back Wacky Workbench instead of Stardust Speedway in Mania
-Yakuza 1 had better music than Kiwami
-The GameCube was mid
-The Atari Lynx was not underrated, it was a cool console but its games were mediocre and unmemorable like nearly all Atari games. It's perfectly rated when its competition had full on story, multiple areas, worlds and dynamic music.
-I miss the "quirky Earthbound inspired RPG" trend. I like it a lot more than "FPS but fast and overstimulating" trend. Now everything's trying to be Ultrakill and I can barely tell a difference anymore.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Its pointless to have lots of games downloaded if atleast 1/4 of them will suck

 

[Ikagura]

"Dude, where's my car" is objectively the best movie ever made.

Sweet!

Post automatically merged: Feb 2, 2025

I would say "Sonic Colors and Sonic Advance 2 are ass" but that's becoming increasingly popular so I'll go for some hotter takes

-Sonic 3D Blast is a good game and Sonic fans hate experimentation
-Sonic Advance 3 is the best of that trilogy, which doesn't say much as Sonic Advance wasn't very good
-The worst Sonic game isn't 06, Free Riders, Labyrinth or even Boom. It's Sonic 2 (on Game Gear)
-Aside from 4 levels, Shadow is a good game
-Boost was a net negative for Sonic level design
-There isn't a single good Sonic game on Wii, they all suffer from forced mission levels that do nothing but make you wish you were actually playing the game. Colors is included because that's exactly what 90% of that game is
-Final Fantasy V is better than VI and VII
-Mega Man 6 is the best NES game, 3 is the worst
-Mega Man X3 is the worst X game and I hate it more than X6 and X7
-there's more mid Mega Man X games than good
-Mega Man Zero 4 is better than Zero 3
-Lufia 1 has a better normal battle theme
-The music took a nosedive with Etrian Odyssey 4 and 5
-They should've brought back Wacky Workbench instead of Stardust Speedway in Mania
-Yakuza 1 had better music than Kiwami
-The GameCube was mid
-The Atari Lynx was not underrated, it was a cool console but its games were mediocre and unmemorable like nearly all Atari games. It's perfectly rated when its competition had full on story, multiple areas, worlds and dynamic music.
-I miss the "quirky Earthbound inspired RPG" trend. I like it a lot more than "FPS but fast and overstimulating" trend. Now everything's trying to be Ultrakill and I can barely tell a difference anymore.

Sorry but I'll defend Sonic Colours mostly because Sonic fans are sometimes really annoying about it.

No, the fast blue hedgehog does not need a mature story nor a Shonen like big kaiju final boss fight to be good.

Yes, you can criticise Pontac and Graff's writing but Sonic saving small critters (Wisps in this case) is closer to the original essence of the franchise than whatever happened in SA2.

Sure, Colours has a lot of 2D sections but don't act as if a 100% 3D level design makes it objectively better.

The double jump helps to correct the jump and the Wisps' color power is legit one of the best gimmick in the series next to the elemental shields (and add replay value for previous levels once you get them all). No Werehog, no RPG elements, no clunky Mech Shooting, no Treasure Hunting and especially no Fishing. Even if there are obligatory missions in Unwiished and Colours I'd take that over having to play a different game style or having to redo the same game 4 times (or 10 in Shadow).

 

[strawbxrry]

i personally don't understand why companies are trying to replace portable consoles w handheld ones, it might be nostalgy that speaks but i actually miss consoles u could put in ur pocket and use everywhere, i still use my psp a lot and rlly enjoy it


by handheld i mean consoles like steam deck or the nintendo switch, even tho they released a nintendo switch lite, it's a bit unfortunate that it is still too big to fit in a pocket and it still has joycon drift on it :/

i don't think handheld consoles are bad, i just think it shouldn't replace portable consoles bc in my opinion they are very great

 

[Lee__Kanker]

I never had a problem with ice physics and escort quests

Post automatically merged: Feb 2, 2025

I would say "Sonic Colors and Sonic Advance 2 are ass" but that's becoming increasingly popular so I'll go for some hotter takes

This really confuses me, I never liked colors since it cane out now everyone on the internet dislikes it too?? Doesnt make sense

Sweet!

Post automatically merged: Feb 2, 2025

Sorry but I'll defend Sonic Colours mostly because Sonic fans are sometimes really annoying about it.

No, the fast blue hedgehog does not need a mature story nor a Shonen like big kaiju final boss fight to be good.

Yes, you can criticise Pontac and Graff's writing but Sonic saving small critters (Wisps in this case) is closer to the original essence of the franchise than whatever happened in SA2.

Sure, Colours has a lot of 2D sections but don't act as if a 100% 3D level design makes it objectively better.

The double jump helps to correct the jump and the Wisps' color power is legit one of the best gimmick in the series next to the elemental shields (and add replay value for previous levels once you get them all). No Werehog, no RPG elements, no clunky Mech Shooting, no Treasure Hunting and especially no Fishing. Even if there are obligatory missions in Unwiished and Colours I'd take that over having to play a different game style or having to redo the same game 4 times (or 10 in Shadow).

The tone of Colors was because Sega wanted it this way, not Pontac

 

[Ikagura]

I never had a problem with ice physics and escort quests

Me neither but it depends on the game really.

This really confuses me, I never liked colors since it cane out now everyone on the internet dislikes it too?? Doesnt make sense.

Sonic fans are legit annoying to be honest, one day they praise a game the other they hate it.

Even Mania has now reached the "acthyally it's not a good game".

I prefer the DS Colours but acting as if it's worse than Unleashed, Shadow or even 2006 is just bad faith.

The tone of Colors was because Sega wanted it this way, not Pontac

And I will defend that.

People wanting Sonic to be overly serious and shonen just want something that isn't Sonic.

SA1 already started the trend of Robotnik awakening a Kaiju (then getting betrayed by it) and having Sonic only becoming Super for the final hour of the game (while requiring you to play as other characters to have access to the true last boss) but SA2 kinda worsened the flaws of Adventure with the Treasure Hunting being less convenient (in levels that are way bigger) and Mech Shooting that are clunkier than Gamma.

I think Colours was truly the breath of fresh air Sonic needed after a decade full of Kaijus and having the Doctor being the final boss is good. Same with Super being playable in normal levels at last (sure, Heroes brought back Special Stages but not Super Sonic in normal levels).

PS: I couldn't care less about the so-called "potential" Sonic 2006 could have had if it wasn't rushed because what matters the most is the final product released (and honestly even fanmade games like Project-06 also have intrinsic issues from the base game).

 

[Skeetos]

Me neither but it depends on the game really.

Sonic fans are legit annoying to be honest, one day they praise a game the other they hate it.

Even Mania has now reached the "acthyally it's not a good game".

I prefer the DS Colours but acting as if it's worse than Unleashed, Shadow or even 2006 is just bad faith.


And I will defend that.

People wanting Sonic to be overly serious and shonen just want something that isn't Sonic.

SA1 already started the trend of Robotnik awakening a Kaiju (then getting betrayed by it) and having Sonic only becoming Super for the final hour of the game (while requiring you to play as other characters to have access to the true last boss) but SA2 kinda worsened the flaws of Adventure with the Treasure Hunting being less convenient (in levels that are way bigger) and Mech Shooting that are clunkier than Gamma.

I think Colours was truly the breath of fresh air Sonic needed after a decade full of Kaijus and having the Doctor being the final boss is good. Same with Super being playable in normal levels at last (sure, Heroes brought back Special Stages but not Super Sonic in normal levels).

PS: I couldn't care less about the so-called "potential" Sonic 2006 could have had if it wasn't rushed because what matters the most is the final product released (and honestly even fanmade games like Project-06 also have intrinsic issues from the base game).

I'm a modern Sonic fan, I grew up with the Adventure Era stuff and Unleashed. I love all of those games, and the original Genesis games as well. This idea of the first three being good and that's it is such crap. It's like the Crash Bandicoot fanbase, they ask and ask for new shit and when the company tries something new to keep the series feeling fresh it's "trash, the first three are untouched." Like come on, just give it a shot, I promise it's good. Unleashed is best Sonic hands down.

Post automatically merged: Feb 2, 2025

Me neither but it depends on the game really.

Sonic fans are legit annoying to be honest, one day they praise a game the other they hate it.

Even Mania has now reached the "acthyally it's not a good game".

I prefer the DS Colours but acting as if it's worse than Unleashed, Shadow or even 2006 is just bad faith.


And I will defend that.

People wanting Sonic to be overly serious and shonen just want something that isn't Sonic.

SA1 already started the trend of Robotnik awakening a Kaiju (then getting betrayed by it) and having Sonic only becoming Super for the final hour of the game (while requiring you to play as other characters to have access to the true last boss) but SA2 kinda worsened the flaws of Adventure with the Treasure Hunting being less convenient (in levels that are way bigger) and Mech Shooting that are clunkier than Gamma.

I think Colours was truly the breath of fresh air Sonic needed after a decade full of Kaijus and having the Doctor being the final boss is good. Same with Super being playable in normal levels at last (sure, Heroes brought back Special Stages but not Super Sonic in normal levels).

PS: I couldn't care less about the so-called "potential" Sonic 2006 could have had if it wasn't rushed because what matters the most is the final product released (and honestly even fanmade games like Project-06 also have intrinsic issues from the base game).

Sonic 06 would have been good if the team had the time for better level design and just never made Elise. Elise is like the one Sonic character that just never fit.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Sonic 3D blast has the best ost of the genesis games

 

[Klonoa7]

Sonic 3D blast has the best ost of the genesis games

The Saturn version has a decent soundtrack as well.

 

[Ikagura]

I'm a modern Sonic fan, I grew up with the Adventure Era stuff and Unleashed. I love all of those games, and the original Genesis games as well. This idea of the first three being good and that's it is such crap. It's like the Crash Bandicoot fanbase, they ask and ask for new shit and when the company tries something new to keep the series feeling fresh it's "trash, the first three are untouched." Like come on, just give it a shot, I promise it's good. Unleashed is best Sonic hands down.

I got nostalgia for the Adventure games but we shouldn't get blind on the actual flaws and how glitchy these games are (not 2006 tier but still not as stable as they should be). Also I feel that SA2 got overly praised by fans (especially as "the last good Sonic game" while ignoring any post-2006 ones).

I'll be honest, Sonic 1 isn't that good either (unless you're playing the Mobile remaster, in Origin or with the fangame Forever). It only is worth it in Green Hills and Starlight.

I kinda understand the Crash fans on that one since they sold the franchise after the third one.

Sonic 06 would have been good if the team had the time for better level design and just never made Elise. Elise is like the one Sonic character that just never fit.

Sonic 2006 destroyed the lore around Blaze too (despite how Rush Adventure and Rivals 1&2 tried to correct things)...

Maybe Elise should've been a Mobian, it would've made it less awkward (yet the idea of Sonic having a girlfriend, especially next to Amy, is weird and out of character).

 

[Xdqwerty]

Mario slam basketball sounds better than Mario hoops 3 on 3

 

[miguk]

Ted Woolsey was never a good translator

I think for the most part the guy did a pretty good job considering the hand he was dealt. He was often battling as much with NA censorship as he was the technical constraints of the games themselves. I appreciate many people crave the AUTHENTIC nihongo experience (and yet do not play the games in Japanese, curious...) and I think it's really cool that fans have retranslated the scripts and modern tools exist to allow for easier text formatting and editing, but his translations are as much a part of squaresoft's success and history as anything else.

So I addressed this in the Chrono Trigger review thread, but given that we're talking about retranslations now, I'd like to add a bit more.

The Woolsey hate has been overblown by fan translators to the point that they've wasted time retranslating his work when they had no good reason to do half of them. For one, half of everything he worked on got a rerelease with an official retranslation. That doesn't mean no one could do better, but it does mean that it wasn't entirely necessary. Secondly, the majority of fan retranslations are just for his work (as well as entries in series he worked on), while there are plenty of retro games that need it more.

Like I said before, Woosley wasn't the first game translator. He was preceded by a lot of "translators" who were just some random guy around the Japanese office with the bare minimum 英語上手 to write something that looked correct at a glance. And there were others like him, both before and after, who were working within constraints that made things difficult. Worse still, there was the whole Working Designs cult of "f*** translating, write whatever you want, throw some bad jokes in, and just make sure the grammar's good so the audience thinks you did your job correctly." That strain of amateurness took years to get rid of from "professional" work, and still hasn't disappeared from "fan" translations by people falsely claiming to be making "the most accurate English script ever." (J2E, DeJap, and — most of all — Dynamic Designs are all guilty of this.)

Really, Woosley gets the most hate because he was the first translator that clearly made mistakes and was known by name to fans. Nobody remembers Toshi from accounting for his 1986 translation of 変態英雄の伝説 as Great Warrior Big Adventure. Nobody even realized Vic Ireland mistranslated everything because, unlike Woosley, he put out propaganda (excuse me, documentaries) to promote his translations as 128% accurate. And there were plenty of others after him that deserved hate too (particularly the ones who put memes in official translations), but they got let off the hook because nobody knew their names.

Like I said before, Woosley's work is outdated, but it wasn't that bad for its time, and it has been mostly replaced already by later translations. If fans want to complain about bad translations, they should focus on the tons that haven't been retranslated — from Working Designs, random unskilled "professionals", and bad-faith fanslators — and fix those.

 

[Xdqwerty]

For one, half of everything he worked on got a rerelease with an official retranslation.

What if someone wants to play the original release of the game but with another translation?

 

[miguk]

What if someone wants to play the original release of the game but with another translation?

That's fine, but at the same time, those games have had plenty of translations already. I'm not 100% satisfied with the Chrono Trigger DS translation, but if I had to choose between a new retranslation of CT and a retranslation of, for example, Popful Mail (or any WD game, but especially that trainwreck of flat-out wrong on more than one level translation), I'm not going to focus on the game that got both a good enough translation and a mildly flawed but still very good translation. I can play CT DS in front of friends and convince them it's a good game with no difficulty; I can't bring myself to play PM in front of any intelligent being since I don't feel like apologizing for the "product of its time" garbage coming out of the "heroes'" mouths.

(Related note: Final Fantasy IV has about as many translations to English, between official and fan work, as the Bible. At this point, I don't really care if it gets another, as we still can't play GDLeen, the first RPG for the SFC, in English yet.)

So, yes, you could ask for an A+ when you already got A-. But if you also have a separate C-, and you actually care about that one, you might want to focus on that first.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Zelda 2 is one of the best Zelda games

 

[tropicalavera]

Zelda 2 is one of the best Zelda games

that's true.

but the original Legend of Zelda? That IS the best Zelda game.

 

[Ikagura]

Mario slam basketball sounds better than Mario hoops 3 on 3.

I forgot but which region is the first?

Zelda 2 is one of the best Zelda games

Is that a flaming hot take nowadays? I thought the whole "Zelda II is trash" era from the 00's was over.

But I would still say that objectively speaking Ocarina of Time and ALTTP are still on top.

that's true.

but the original Legend of Zelda? That IS the best Zelda game.

Zelda 1 suffers from lack of story and not having a lot of tools.

It was innovative for its epoch but fundamentally too limited. Like with Metroid the third episode on the SNES is where the franchise truly started, the previous ones were drafts.