Your Positive Unpopular Game Opinions

[ShakeWell]

I did this in a FB group about movies and it got over pretty well, so I'm bringing it to TT! (Loki should love this thread.)

What's that game you dig that people seem to dislike?

I'll start. Friday the 13th for NES is a little inscrutable, but if you take some time to learn the game, it's actually pretty good. Not in my top 10 NES games or anything, but way better than people claim.

[BEAT]

Shinobi (PS2) is a fucking banger of an action game with an absolutely incredible combo system.

[Johnny Unusual]

Originally Posted by ShakeWell

I did this in a FB group about movies and it got over pretty well, so I'm bringing it to TT! (Loki should love this thread.)

What's that game you dig that people seem to dislike?

I'll start. Friday the 13th for NES is a little inscrutable, but if you take some time to learn the game, it's actually pretty good. Not in my top 10 NES games or anything, but way better than people claim.

I have a soft spot for that one, two. It's very flawed but there's a weird quality that I like about it. Though why zombies are just running around Camp Crystal Lake is anyone's guess.

[Kazin]

Giana Sisters DS is a charming little platformer that doesn't revolutionize the genre or anything, but is fun to plug away at here and there. I need to play the sequel someday.

[Dracula]

Pretty much any game is worth playing on its own terms. Learning what makes a game tick and trying to picture the elements that went into its creation elevates any game regardless of its perceived rank or status.

Here, let me just spill out some NES and Famicom games that I love to play and replay, none of which are typically considered "good":

Challenger
Transformers
Simon's Quest
Tower of Druaga
Bomber King (robo warrior)
Super Chinese (kung fu heroes)
Star Force
Mighty Bomb Jack
Godzilla: monster of monsters
Final Fantasy II
Ghosts 'n Goblins

And on and on. I used to be wrapped up in the definition of "good game," until I realized that it didn't matter what outside sources said about them.

[Loki]

Originally Posted by Johnny Unusual

Though why zombies are just running around Camp Crystal Lake is anyone's guess.

Gotta run around somewhere.

A couple years ago some guys made a strategy guide to help people see why this game is pretty neat and help it be a little less misunderstood. (It's free)

http://www.fridaythe13thfranchise.co...-nintendo.html

It's even got achievements to shoot for and a developer interview. I love that a game that is generally classified as belonging to the "Nerds Yell Profanities At On Youtube" genre can inspire this kind of creative dedication.

(I do like this thread)

[Pajaro Pete]

Originally Posted by ShakeWell

I did this in a FB group about movies and it got over pretty well, so I'm bringing it to TT! (Loki should love this thread.)

What's that game you dig that people seem to dislike?

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, and also Lufia The Legend Returns

[Pajaro Pete]

Originally Posted by Dracula

Super Chinese (kung fu heroes)

i too have a soft spot for kung fu heroes

[Phantoon]

Stunt Race FX is super fun and varied, with nice car physics and interesting courses

Also a terrible frame rate

Still one of my favourite games though

[Beowulf]

I genuine enjoy playing Sword of Mana. I've actually played through it something like eight times. I thought it was a better remake than Adventures of Mana.

[narcodis]

The DS zelda games are fun.

[MCBanjoMike]

Until Breath of the Wild came along, Zelda 2 was my favorite game in the series. I've always loved the way Link controls in that game, and its punishing nature just makes every victory the sweeter. Admittedly, the game gets too repetitive and difficult in the back half, so I'll often stop playing about 2/3 of the way through rather than slog all the way across the map to get back to a dungeon or something. But the rush of surviving Death Mountain and being rewarded with the downstab in short order is one of my favorite moments in gaming.

[Loki]

Originally Posted by Phantoon

Stunt Race FX is super fun and varied, with nice car physics and interesting courses

Also a terrible frame rate

Still one of my favourite games though

I saw some footage of it recently overcranked or with the framerate increased or something and it shone brilliantly.

Even without "fixing" it, it's a marvel and its bad reputation suffers more from circumstances than anything wrong with the game itself.

[MetManMas]

I loved SaGa Frontier and Torneko: The Last Hope even though the reviewers of the time didn't.

Also I play a ton of random indie walking sims and indie horror games and reviews and popularity are rarely a factor when it comes to what I choose to play.

[Pizzarino Sbarro]

Dragon Age II owns. Favorite game in the series. Has the best realized aesthetic. Everybody’s bi, (aside from Sebastian, lol) which is great. All narratives are totally contrived, it is not outside the realm of possibilities that five bisexuals would be acquaintances in a city. Hawke has the most charming and well-defined personality of any Bioware protagonist I’ve played. (yes, the creepiness is definitely part of the charm for me)

I like the recycled maps because I do not care for or about exploration at all - I want dungeoneering to be short and without surprises. I love that it’s city based and you’re not exploring an open world or large, samey maps. The rivalry system is way preferable to just having characters grow to dislike you and shutting down/leaving. Short enough that I can actually conceivably see everything when I play it, unlike Origins or Inquisition.

[Pizzarino Sbarro]

Originally Posted by MetManMas

I loved SaGa Frontier and Torneko: The Last Hope even though the reviewers of the time didn't.

Also I play a ton of random indie walking sims and indie horror games and reviews and popularity are rarely a factor when it comes to what I choose to play.

Love the idea and my memories of SaGa Frontier, which is all I need at this point.

[Octopus Prime]

Originally Posted by Johnny Unusual

I have a soft spot for that one, two. It's very flawed but there's a weird quality that I like about it. Though why zombies are just running around Camp Crystal Lake is anyone's guess.

Can't think of too many places that would have a bigger problem with people killed by terrible passions.

As for myself, I love Hydlide and I am just pleased as punch that the concept was revisited so well with the Fairune games.

I also love P.N.03 on the Gamecube, but that one was never revisited, a fact that I cry myself to sleep about every night.

[Loki]

I posted this before as a tweet and I think people thought I was kidding but I'm absolutely serious:

IMO, the greatest JRPG series is:

In my teens: "Final Fantasy."
My 20's: "Dragon Quest."
My 30's: "SaGa."

Kawazulikes are by far the games that hold the greatest appeal to me. They get labeled bad because they're weird and loose, but these days those aspects make them so fascinating. The hidden information, the off-kilter systems that bounce off each other in unexpected ways, the rng-reliant variance, and especially the high difficulty, all of it is like sweet sweet honey to me.

[Rascally Badger]

Skyward Sword is a stone cold classic. Some of the best dungeons in the series.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is criminally overlooked and an fantastic game.

It turns out most of these that are coming to my mind are "this lightly regarded Wii game is actually excellent."

[Pizzarino Sbarro]

I like the way SaGa Frontier looks and the fact that it takes place in every genre more than anything else.

[Loki]

Originally Posted by Rascally Badger

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is criminally overlooked and an fantastic game.

A name, whispered on the wind... kawazu...

[Exposition Owl]

Originally Posted by Pizzarino Sbarro

Dragon Age II owns. Favorite game in the series. Has the best realized aesthetic. Everybody’s bi, (aside from Sebastian, lol) which is great. All narratives are totally contrived, it is not outside the realm of possibilities that five bisexuals would be acquaintances in a city. Hawke has the most charming and well-defined personality of any Bioware protagonist I’ve played. (yes, the creepiness is definitely part of the charm for me)

I like the recycled maps because I do not care for or about exploration at all - I want dungeoneering to be short and without surprises. I love that it’s city based and you’re not exploring an open world or large, samey maps. The rivalry system is way preferable to just having characters grow to dislike you and shutting down/leaving. Short enough that I can actually conceivably see everything when I play it, unlike Origins or Inquisition.

I maintain that DAII’s biggest problem is that it wants to be a modified WRPG along the lines of Mass Effect. That’s understandable, given the money and the plaudits that the Mass Effect games earned for BioWare, but it’s just the wrong genre for the story they’re telling there. However, if you could just cut out the combat and the dungeoneering altogether, DAII would make a really interesting adventure game.

Originally Posted by Rascally Badger

Skyward Sword is a stone cold classic. Some of the best dungeons in the series.

YES.

[Mogri]

The 7th Saga, of course.

[four-so]

Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest comes immediately to mind. Amazing experience and a gem of a game, despite it's obtuseness.

Final Fantasy 10-2 left people with a bad taste when it came out. I don't know if opinions have changed in general or by how much but I've always loved it and tend to prefer it over Final Fantasy 10 (which is also an A+ game).

Speaking of Final Fantasy, I suppose I need not mention Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (but I will anyway), a fantastic game that did not deserve the nay-saying it received when it was released or the bad reputation it seems to have fought tooth and nail to shrug off. Still, I know quite a few people who will shit on it if given the chance.

[Dracula]

Kid Dracula would have shit on FFMQ readily because he was too dumb to clear the baby-easy block pushing puzzle in the ice dungeon, but then would have just as readily listened to a midi of the boss theme on repeat.

[Red Silvers]

Some of my most nostalgic NES games are terrible and I love them:

Caveman Games
Dynowarz
Friday the 13th

Or even SNES

Cool World

[ShakeWell]

I love that I hate so many of the games you all are mentioning. (But I'm not going to yuck your yum, because this thread is for POSITIVE VIBES.)

Another one for me: The Super NES port has some godawful slowdown, but it's still better than the arcade version, and it's easily one of the top five shoot-'em-ups released for the system in North America.

[MetManMas]

Originally Posted by Dracula

Kid Dracula would have shit on FFMQ readily because he was too dumb to clear the baby-easy block pushing puzzle in the ice dungeon, but then would have just as readily listened to a midi of the boss theme on repeat.

I was stuck on that puzzle for the longest time too, back when I first played it. For a game that's allegedly supposed to be Baby Gaijin's First jRPG, it sure would've helped if the game gave you some kinda hint that you need to use the ice column as a platform. I mean, before that area you barely ever use the jump, so it's easy to forget it exists.

[madhair60]

Meh. I pretty much go with the consensus

[Phantoon]

Originally Posted by narcodis

The DS zelda games are fun.

They are. It's just the bloody Temple of the Ocean King that leaves a bad taste. Other than that they're fun.

Originally Posted by MCBanjoMike

Until Breath of the Wild came along, Zelda 2 was my favorite game in the series. I've always loved the way Link controls in that game, and its punishing nature just makes every victory the sweeter. Admittedly, the game gets too repetitive and difficult in the back half, so I'll often stop playing about 2/3 of the way through rather than slog all the way across the map to get back to a dungeon or something. But the rush of surviving Death Mountain and being rewarded with the downstab in short order is one of my favorite moments in gaming.

It is a really fun game, the way Link handles and swordfights is great. It's just that bit too difficult. I wish they'd been able to explore the gameplay again, although I love the sequels. Maybe as a spin off series.

Originally Posted by Loki

I saw some footage of it recently overcranked or with the framerate increased or something and it shone brilliantly.

Even without "fixing" it, it's a marvel and its bad reputation suffers more from circumstances than anything wrong with the game itself.

Yeah, i genuinely love it. If they remade it a bit like this Warioware game, basically changing nothing but the frame rate and the resolution I'd buy it again in an instant.

Originally Posted by Rascally Badger

Skyward Sword is a stone cold classic. Some of the best dungeons in the series.

Oh yes. And the fact that the approach to the dungeon is like a mini dungeon in itself is excellent. The escort mission is the only bit I'd change. That Sand Ship, oh my.

The Wii has an embarrassment of riches if you're willing to explore.