[General Discussion] Games that are supposed to be really good but you hate

I don't think I "hate" any game that is supposed to be really good, but I do find some of them to be overrated. I'll list some of those. Mind you, I still consider these games to be decent if pretty good. (in this order: SOTN > XG > FFIX) Just definitely not the best ever in their particular genres. My words will seem a bit harsh:

Xenogears - The end all and be all of RPGs, right? Maybe if plot is your only concern, and even then, the storytelling isn't that great. The dialog is stiff and condescending, the overall gameplay is tedious, the dungeons are horrid, and the second disc is just a rushed mess. Not to mention that the game could've used an extra layer of polish with the load times, graphics, and camera.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night - A hybrid game that fails to excel in all of those areas. The inverted castle is lazy and redundant game design, the transformations are mostly useless, and the gameplay comes up short compared to both Super Metroid (in terms of exploraton) and Castlevania 3 (in terms of action/platforming). Not forgetting the shallow RPG elements and amusingly bad voice acting.

Final Fantasy IX - This game has somehow become overhyped over the last few years. Battles are slow, the cast is weak, the soundtrack is loaded to the brim with filler, and the story doesn't take off until Disc 3. This combination of new and old finds itself lacking identity and failing to capture the progressive magic of the old school games. Instead it feels like a stale retread. Been there, done that better is the name of the game.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

The Metroid Series - While the action's fine, the lack of plot has always really bothered me. Would it be so hard to give the heroine a few lines, or to craft an expansive sci-fi plotline that exists outside of the manual and ending screen?

That would ruin the atmosphere of the games. The whole sense of loneliness. The alien mystique of everything. Metroid Prime 2 ended up with a freaking Halo-inspired plot, which to me is part of the reason that it isn't as good as Metroid Prime. If it could be better executed perhaps, but there's little chance of that. The last thing I want is a predictable Sci-Fi channel plot along with the same B-movie drama. The whole scanning business introduced in Prime was an interesting idea though. Sort of a less obvious way of adding depth while preserving the atmosphere of things.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

Atmosphere counts for something, but too much lonliness and silence equals boredom, even if there are critters to shoot.

Well, it's a tradeoff I suppose. I'm sure they could try to retain the atmosphere like say, Deus Ex does, but it must be handled most delicately.

I prefer Alien over Aliens, if that helps to explain my position. The Newt subplot in the second movie turns my stomach.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

Don't get me started on Xenogears. It's like what would happen if you melded the beginning of Star Wars IV with Star Wars I with a script by first-year philosophy students.

You should post that on IGN to start a riot. You can get ostracized for even daring to mention that Xenogears is less than what it should be. Someone there said that Xenogears was (and I kid you not) the greatest creation of the human mind. :eyebrow:

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Skexis

Picking a character that you're willing to learn the whole movelist for is kind of a prerequisite of any fighting game, but just because nintendo's simplified the process doesn't make it mindless.

I agree. Items add a sense of randomness, but that's why you can turn them off or choose which ones to allow, which doesn't turn the game into a mindless brawler at all. A novice has virtually no chance against an expert in this game, the same for any competent fighting game. It doesn't involve the memorization of complex preset combos like in some other fighters, but there's still enough depth in the area of reflex and timing to make SSB one of those games that is easy to learn but difficult to master. Plus the whole setup of SSB with building up damage and knocking enemies off of the platform makes it unique. So the entire package of ground combat, air combat, and trying to make it back to the platform makes for a fairly satisfying and enjoyable experience, whether you're playing it competitively or not. It's not a mindless button masher/party game unless you want it to be. At the tournament play level, there's a tier list for characters and everything, the same as for any other fighter that is played at that level.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Don't feel bad. You're not the first to have found FFIV a bit shallow. Even though I surely like the game more than you do, I'm not terribly fond of the obvious "let's commit suicide" drama either.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?