Stalvern wrote:I can almost see where you're coming from with a lot of those, but... Sword of Sodan? I genuinely want to know what appeals to you in that game.
I've written extensively about it elsewhere so I don't want to go on at great length here, but basically I think it's a lot more playable than people give it credit for. If the game used giant mechs no one would bat an eye at the weird controls, and though there's a learning curve they can be learned. The potion system is perfectly clear, the logic behind the combat is reasonable if you take the time to understand how it works (crotch-stabbing everyone is the wrong way to play the game), and things like the allegedly "invisible" pits are bogus (they're quite visible if you know what to look for).
People call it "unplayable" but I had little difficulty learning and mastering the game. Of course it has frustrating aspects and some major flaws, including a couple places where you can get screwed if the RNG doesn't go your way. But I get more satisfaction out of mastering a tough, short game like SOS than I get out of the many console games that feel more like guided museum tours whose main purpose is to flatter the player.
It also helps if you've played a lot of 1980s computer games. I think console gamers often flip out if they don't feel godlike when they fire up a game, but 8-bit computer games were often all about slow, measured play and tricky learning curves.
I think the universal condemnation of games like E.T. and Sword of Sodan is as much about social signaling as anything, and the hardwired human impulse to conform to a social group: "My tribe is making fun of this thing, so I'd better make fun of it too or else they might kill or ostracize me", that kind of thing. There are many games on the Genesis that are much worse than Sword of Sodan, like Onslaught, Andre Agassi Tennis, or even TaleSpin.
