When do your opinions differ from the podcast hosts??
Was thinking about this WRT Final Fantasy Tactics (my favorite game so it’s obviously good), and remember hearing not so positive things, however I may be misremembering.
The big one though for me is all the esports games, I have several thousand hours on League, Dota etc, and while I’m well aware of the negatives I’d defend them to death, both as a game and spectator sport.
What are places where y’all respectfully disagree?
Fading Afternoon
I like Battletoads, even the turbo tunnel.
Also, I was not bothered by the art style, tilt-shift, or dropped frames of the Link’s Awakening Switch remake. I found it a thoroughly lovely game.
Sorry but…. Bioshock
Hollow Knight, i stand with brandon on this one. idk what’s good about it (including it cause of the strong disagreement with 3/4 of the podcast)
edit:wait im dumb i interpreted this question backwards
I was bothered a little by the dropped frames but found it pretty easy to overlook since it only ever really happens when transitioning between areas on the overworld, never in dungeons where it would actually matter
I love Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and I don’t care who knows it
I think the first (and only the first) Borderlands is an excellently strange game.
edit:: Oh, and I’m not nearly tired of 2D/HD yet, however dumb the name is.
Yes! There have been like, I dunno, 5 games in 2D-HD and they’re already calling it played out?! It’s a gorgeous art style, and if one game comes out every year or two in that style, I’m all for it.
I had a whinge about Hollow Knight in the discord. I’m generally not a fan of the metroidvania genre (save for a handful) because of the exploration and backtracking - but those issues are really evident in a 30+ hour game.
It does control well though.
Hell yeah, I love HD-2D, it’s great. I think Team Asano makes beautiful stuff, and it should continue exist and evolve as any art style does. Why should things like lighting effects, shaders, chromatic aberration, etc be restricted to 3D art styles? I think it looks good with pixel art. Not every game needs it but not every game is getting it either. There doesn’t need to be anything tying Live-A-Live with Triangle Strategy for them both have conceptually similar art styles.
I think the dropped frames of link’s awakening are the tic-tac UAP videos of video games. It’s “real” in the sense that it exists, but it’s blown so far out of proportion, it has prosiac explanations, and it’s not really a thing that matters unless you convince yourself it matters. People want to read into it and rationalize as part of a big conspiracy because it suggests that an authority that they implicitly trust (the US government/Nintendo) could fail to identify something and then just release it anyway. People will fixate on it and let it take away from their ability to enjoy life, but you also get the sense that they find having an opinion about it is fun for them.
I liked Mass Effect.
Yeah I also liked Mass Effect. It’s pretty cliche and I don’t see myself ever having a reason to go back to it, but the whole letting you take your character across the whole trilogy thing was pretty cool. Games don’t do that sort of thing a lot!
Plus, if you play Mass Effect 2, you can import your save into Frog Fractions 2 and initiate a sidequest about getting a dozen donuts.
I sometimes enjoy games published by Annapurna.
They don’t like Mass Effect? Well that’s my answer then. That’s like my favorite game. I know some stuff is dumb but that’s fine. The games came out from ages 16 to 21 or something and they’re still fun.
Tim really doesn’t like the writing in the games. I don’t think the dialogue stands out as particularly bad at all for a video game series.
I used to like Bayonetta! Or at least let’s say the me of around 2009-10 liked Bayonetta, the me of now just has fond memories of liking it. Does that count?
I agree. I just replayed them when the Legendary Edition came out and it was fine. Obviously some moments are goofy or overwrought but that’s par for the course in both video games and space opera.
Yeah, I remember Tim specifically making fun of the type of guy who says FFT is his favorite FF game and I felt a little bad for about 5 seconds because that’s definitely me. Then I stopped feeling bad because the game rules.
I think if BioShock hadn’t been oversold on what it was doing (“Oh, the literary references, the morally complex choices,” etc.), it wouldn’t have received so much pushback. If you just take the game for what it is, yeah, it’s cool! Great atmosphere, and the combat and powers are pretty fun. I first played it 10 years after it came out and thought it was a shlocky good time.
I’m not sure why this popped into my head when I saw this thread title, but the second Yooka-Laylee game (The Impossible Lair) was a much improved experience from the original. I recall a few occasions where it was discussed on the podcast with the same disdain as the original. They are so different. Not even a favorite of mine, but it isn’t terrible either!
Adding my hat to the Final Fantasy Tactics rack and also a second hat to the Mass Effect one—both FFT and Mass Effect 2 are on my personal list of all-timers