Most polarizing video games and why?

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lynchie137
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby lynchie137 » July 13th, 2019, 8:50 pm

The first Resident Evil game for the PS1. There's a lot of folks out there that really like that game. But I could never get into it. Mainly because of the controls. They felt so awkward and stiff and I never could get the hang of them whatsoever. Which pretty much ruined the game for me..

Sonicx9
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby Sonicx9 » July 13th, 2019, 9:30 pm

Man, this topic is rather popular and I have lots of late responses to go through so here goes nothing.

Voor wrote:I may be wrong, but what about Mario Sunshine and Wind Walker?


Good ones, but lets face it, that nothing compared to most 8th gen stuff, where the polarization is over 9,000!

Crummylion wrote:From this generation, I'd say Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2. Both games with decent to great mechanics, but some aspects whether predatorial microtransactions or time crunch put those games up to question. RDR2 even seems like a great game for gamers, just a living hell for those who made it. I mean, the things these brought are still going on, with countries all over banning loot boxes and game devs coming out about their bad experiences, even with Bernie Sanders of all people coming out with a legislation to unionize game development. Don't wanna get too political, but if the government is involve in any way, it kinda is controversial.
EDIT: reread the OP and seemed I skimmed a bit too much, oops. Disregard the Battlefront 2 bit then, that has no place here. But I feel RDR2 is of discussion as opinions ARE mixed, ranging from boycotting over poor work management, the game being the best game ever, to it just not living up to the old Rockstar games where exploration and replayablity was a key feature, and instead made its mission structure more linear in ways. The impact the game made is also noteworthy.
Another game I'd say was a mixed bag for people would be Metal Gear Solid V. On one hand, both journalists and Kojima fans tout this as the best game ever, some journalists deem it as sexist for its depiction of one of its characters, while MGS fans called it an unfinished and repetitive disappointment of a game, deeming the MGS franchise better off without Kojima.


Red Dead 2 is normally very well like, yes some controversies, but it Rockstar we are talking about so it somewhat expected. As for Metal Gear Solid V games, that a weird one as I see that more cross gen then next gen in mind compared to Red Dead 2 case. And some of Metal Gear Solid V problems where caused by being cross-gen which limited the game/made it incomplete similar to the first Soul Reaver games original PS1 release. And the Konami vs Kojima scandal around 2015 did not help.

DrLitch wrote:Dead or Alive Series -> Deeper than you think for this fighter. Main source of controversy is the in game content and depiction of female characters. A work collegue found out I had this game in my library (he was around my house and was snooping around). He was furious - he mentioned it to me and I went off at him for snooping around my house. The next day I had a complaint filed against me at work . The complaint showed up on my yearly evaluation and it was uncomfortable having to defend myself.

Shenmue -> To some this is one of the greatest games of all time, to others a complete grindfest and exercise in boredom. The "could have been" Sega Saturn version is fascinating given it is running on 1994 hardware. If you have not seen the demo, Youtube it. As a game though on Dreamcast, my comment is "you pour and I will knock back the shots".


Sonicx9 wrote:The first game that comes to mind is Batman: Arkham Knight, as it is one very polarizing game with 3 different perspectives ...

And for my second game, and I know I have beaten it to death with it controversies and mixed rep is Yooka-Laylee....


Batman Arkham Knight: Came hot on the heels of Asylum and then City, both highly revered with Asylum occasionally showing up on top 100 lists. The third act always was going to be disputed - copy the old formula and get slated for rehashing assets, or try something new and get a section of fanbase triggered. My main beef with Arkham Knight was that it ran horribly. Terrible port to PC and the Xbox game had some major stutter - at least on my console....

Yooka Laylee - I feel this one is underated and is an awesome game.


For the DOA series that a good one as people are mixed due to the fanservice controversies or the game itself.

For Shenmue it a huge love it or hate it game, me I am mixed it was a innovative cutting edge game for it time, but play it now it rather rough and outdated compared to many games that took what it did right and expanded on them.

Turns out you agree with Batman Arkham Knight being polarizing.

For Yooka Laylee did you look at the links from above, if not I will post them here.: https://web.archive.org/web/20170407155 ... ee-review/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeU1bSsLerM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Jzloqqe2s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdNXGjt ... .be&t=2157 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgrRjo3Wdcg and https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/03/y ... ads/26997/ your two cents on the links and videos?

Edward M wrote:Most Polarizing game of all time might be Minecraft. Some people love it as a virtual lego set. Other people find it to not be video gamey enough to be fun. I mostly fall into the second category. I just can't get into it.


Good one as I can not stand Minecraft it boring and could never get into it.

ActRaiser wrote:
Good thing he never found your copy of DOA: Beach Volleyball. :D

What an idiot. I can't imagine how he worded the complaint.

"I snooped into a coworkers belongings and found the equivalent of a risque PG13 movie."


LOL, and related with DOA as a whole, if you go on tvtropes YMMV page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/DeadOrAlive They say the fanservice is not all that bad and not much worse of what typicly seen. In fact they said "In fact some even argue that the series is actually a bit too tame to be M-Rated as the M-rated Dead or Alive games are barely anymore explicit than the earlier T-Rated games." or M rated fanservice games that are much worse then what the series get away with as said in this video part: https://youtu.be/Io6-bC66-HQ?t=683

DrLitch wrote:Back on thread -

A polarizing video game that I recently enjoyed was Zelda Majora's Mask. I was never the biggest fan of this Zelda game in the day (the time mechanic was annoying / borderline unfair). But this game does have a large following - two schools of thought - either one of the worst Zelda games, or one of the very best.



That a big one by many Zelda fans and community.

ActRaiser wrote:
mbd36 wrote:Can you think of any games that are loved by average/casual gamers but hated by the critics and video game snobs?

There's a lot of this in movies, music and books so it must exist to some degree in video games.


Ha! Pretty much every Call of Duty or Madden game ever made.


LOL, those are good are pretty much anything modern AAA in late 7th gen but especially 8th gen it could not be more true. And many of the AAA companies like EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda, WB Games and the like are the best examples of this.

DrLitch wrote:Here goes another polarizing game.

I was watching the Video Game Nerd guy (not been a huge fan of his channel for a number of years due to novelty of material/recycling assets) and he was playing Earthbound. Like him, I never knew this game existed when it was released and I got a chance to play it on the SNES Classic. Yeah... definitely a polarizing title - you love it or hate it... I thought the game was terrible, absolutely terrible but there is a solid body of gamers out there that consider this one a classic. Here is the link to the game - be forewarned if you do not know this guy, he does not mince his words, lots of cussing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ5nX0FTH6Q

Some more polarizing games mentioned in a gaming channel I enjoy- two guys and channel is called Game Sack. Here are their vids covering this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX0cRztKrRs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjeysHKMRzo

Sonic CD came up on that. I actually liked Sonic CD.


All good examples, so keep it up.

Matchstick wrote:
DrLitch wrote:Earthbound was pumped up in the day? Wow I somehow missed it. Was the PS1/Saturn out at the time?


Yes, no, and yes. EarthBound came out the same Summer as the Saturn, and right about the same time, too. It was a few months before the PS1 launch and 16-bit games were definitely starting to be on their way out. I think the biggest-selling 16-bit title that year was Donkey Kong Country 2, which was also getting quite a bit of hype at the time even though it didn't come out until the holiday season.

Nintendo Power was really the only source I remember that gave EarthBound publicity. I was a subscriber at the time, but I would always flip through the other gaming mags at the store whenever I left the house. NP had countless previews, interviews, and behind-the-scenes articles about EarthBound in the months leading up to its release. Even that big ol' box with the strategy guide packed inside seemed to be screaming for attention on the shelf - "Hey, check me out! Buy me, pleeeease!!"

Other gaming mags, though? Nah, they didn't seem to care as much. I think they knew the game wasn't all that hot compared to what was already on the market. Nintendo did put out an advertisement for the game featuring scratch-and-sniff panels, which was in all of the gaming magazines at the time and was one of the first adverts I ever saw in Nintendo Power. Made the whole magazine rack smell kinda like new car smell, and in GamePro, the ad was nestled right next to a section on the upcoming Judge Dredd video game. What a strange combo! I distinctly remember one of the taglines in the ad, playing off the scratch-and-sniff gimmick, was "...because this game stinks." I couldn't have said it any better, myself.

Also, Litch, your experience with Eternal Champions seems to mirror my own feelings for P.N.03. You don't know why you like the game, you just know that you do, just something about it you can't quite put your finger on. I never cared too much for EC, myself, only because there were *so many* other fighters on the market at the time. I was just branching out from Mortal Kombat into Primal Rage and TMNT Tournament Fighters, and was definitely beginning to get burnt out with the whole genre. Then EC comes along with, like you said, a rather strange line-up of characters, and it just couldn't hold my attention for more than ten minutes. Played it a few times at a friends house, thought it was OK, then went back to the other fighters in my collection.

Maybe now that some time has gone by, it's worth another look?


Many great examples their especially Eternal Champion, P.N.03, Mortal Kombat series all fall into that category

DrLitch wrote:

Primal Rage? That definitely is a polarizing title. If you could do the special moves it might be a decent game. A lot of people I knew liked it and a lot hated it.

I wonder if Virtua Fighter is a polarizing title nowadays? I remember back in the day it was well liked but it seems this series just fell off the radar. Odd because Virtua Fighter V was a very good game.


For Primal Rage maybe, but for Virtua Fighter is debatable?

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DrLitch
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby DrLitch » July 13th, 2019, 10:03 pm

Sonicx9 wrote:Soul Reaver games original PS1 release. And the Konami vs Kojima scandal around 2015 did not help.


You mean Legacy of Kain game? Wow that game was awesome. Is there a backstory to this release that was not well publicized? I know the Dreamcast game had better graphics than the Playstation 1 port but the game is a masterpiece on either console.

Not quite the same with Shadowman (similar to Soul Reaver Legacy of Kain) which got absolutely wrecked on the Playstation 1 while the Dreamcast game was awesome.

Sonicx9
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby Sonicx9 » July 13th, 2019, 11:09 pm

DrLitch wrote:
Sonicx9 wrote:Soul Reaver games original PS1 release. And the Konami vs Kojima scandal around 2015 did not help.


You mean Legacy of Kain game? Wow that game was awesome. Is there a backstory to this release that was not well publicized? I know the Dreamcast game had better graphics than the Playstation 1 port but the game is a masterpiece on either console.

Not quite the same with Shadowman (similar to Soul Reaver Legacy of Kain) which got absolutely wrecked on the Playstation 1 while the Dreamcast game was awesome.


That what I meant Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, you can watch the DF Retro video about why it incomplete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni13xjHvwu4 in fact did you look at these links?: https://web.archive.org/web/20170407155 ... ee-review/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeU1bSsLerM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Jzloqqe2s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdNXGjt ... .be&t=2157 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgrRjo3Wdcg and https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/03/y ... ads/26997/

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DrLitch
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby DrLitch » July 14th, 2019, 2:11 am

Sonicx9 wrote:That what I meant Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, you can watch the DF Retro video about why it incomplete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni13xjHvwu4 in fact did you look at these links?:


Cool thanks for the links, will be checking out in a moment.

Sonicx9
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby Sonicx9 » July 14th, 2019, 6:39 pm

DrLitch wrote:
Sonicx9 wrote:That what I meant Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, you can watch the DF Retro video about why it incomplete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni13xjHvwu4 in fact did you look at these links?:


Cool thanks for the links, will be checking out in a moment.


After you check out the DF Retro video and all the Yooka-Laylee related links give your two cents?

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DrLitch
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby DrLitch » July 14th, 2019, 11:10 pm

Sonicx9 wrote:After you check out the DF Retro video and all the Yooka-Laylee related links give your two cents?


I did read and watch, thanks. Opinions? Well I thought Yooka Laylee was quite good I did not hate it so much. True A Hat in Time was a lot better but there are certainly worse games out there. Lots of drama here I understand why you chose it as a polarizing game.

Sonicx9
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby Sonicx9 » July 14th, 2019, 11:24 pm

DrLitch wrote:
Sonicx9 wrote:After you check out the DF Retro video and all the Yooka-Laylee related links give your two cents?


I did read and watch, thanks. Opinions? Well I thought Yooka Laylee was quite good I did not hate it so much. True A Hat in Time was a lot better but there are certainly worse games out there. Lots of drama here I understand why you chose it as a polarizing game.


Your two cents on the DF Retro Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver video on the cut content?

CaptainCruch
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby CaptainCruch » July 15th, 2019, 11:20 am

I haven't read all posts before, so maybe someone already mentioned one of those:
- Sonic CD: some even proclaim this is 'the best Sonic game of all time', for me (and many others) it's just a confusing mess
- Myst: a classic game or not a game and nothing more than a slideshow, only created to impress with graphics?
- Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS): I thought it was great (like many others), however a lot of people seem to disagree
- Pikmin 2 (Wii/GameCube): I thought Pikmin 1 was fantastic, this second part has too many elements that are just plain tedious

Sonicx9
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Re: Most polarizing video games and why?

Postby Sonicx9 » July 16th, 2019, 1:25 am

CaptainCruch wrote:I haven't read all posts before, so maybe someone already mentioned one of those:
- Sonic CD: some even proclaim this is 'the best Sonic game of all time', for me (and many others) it's just a confusing mess
- Myst: a classic game or not a game and nothing more than a slideshow, only created to impress with graphics?
- Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS): I thought it was great (like many others), however a lot of people seem to disagree
- Pikmin 2 (Wii/GameCube): I thought Pikmin 1 was fantastic, this second part has too many elements that are just plain tedious


Interesting choices.


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