What are some of your UNpopular video game opinions? (real ones, not just ones for the sake of trolling or something)

[RH | 4,903]

Just now, arch_8ngel said:

What are you talking about with "random buffs"?  You get to pick what you can currently "afford" with your EXP, or you can save up for something you can't "afford" yet. (i.e. you typically want to front-load some attack power, for instance, to be much better equipped against Iron Knuckles)

Ok, sure. It was years ago when I played it. I thought the buffs were randomized on level ups, but I must be thinking about another game.

[a_profile_name | 230]

2 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

Admittedly, I don't remember all of the secrets, having not played the game extensively in probably 20+ years -- but my friends and I worked out 101% by ourselves "in the old days", and it was nowhere near as tedious as finding everything, unassisted, in the original Legend of Zelda.

You're right. But for me part of the problem is that the game has %completed on the save file. This is always an OCD trigger.

3 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

It definitely felt like an accomplishment as a kid, though.

It is!

[Gloves | 11,779]

2 minutes ago, sg17 said:

You're right. But for me part of the problem is that the game has %completed on the save file. This is always an OCD trigger.

Does it bother you that percentages over 100 are possible?

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

3 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

Admittedly, I don't remember all of the secrets, having not played the game extensively in probably 20+ years -- but my friends and I worked out 101% by ourselves "in the old days", and it was nowhere near as tedious as finding everything, unassisted, in the original Legend of Zelda.

You have the "!" notifier of whether you've fully cleared a level, or not. And that more-or-less cuts you down to keeping an eye out for suspicious pits (that usually have a visible barrel rim or some other visual cue like bananas) and maybe making a pacifist run with a barrel in hand trying to break walls.

It definitely felt like an accomplishment as a kid, though.

Yeah, I think there are about 5 secrets or less in the entire game I would consider cheap/unfair. Couple that with the "!" and I don't think it's a big deal. Are the secrets in 2 really that much different? There is more to collect, the levels are longer which makes the secret collecting in the 2nd one more tedious in my eyes.

I will say DKC 2 has a  more variety but I don't think it's above and beyond DKC considering it's the 2nd installment.

I just have a hard time wrapping my head around "hardly a good game" while DKC 2 and 3 are good with zero explanation. I think DKC is an incredible game for being the first in the series.

[a_profile_name | 230]

3 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Does it bother you that percentages over 100 are possible?

It depends, what do the points above 100 require from the player?

iirc in one of these games (or one of the DKL's maybe?) they really went overboard and there was 108% or something like that.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

10 minutes ago, RH said:

Ok, sure. It was years ago when I played it. I thought the buffs were randomized on level ups, but I must be thinking about another game.

No, nothing random about it.

Each level of attack / defense / magic costs a known, predetermined amount, and you trigger the "level up" screen when your XP crosses a threshold of being able to afford one.  (and from there you can "save up" for something more expensive in XP cost)

[a_profile_name | 230]

4 minutes ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

I just have a hard time wrapping my head around "hardly a good game" while DKC 2 and 3 are good with zero explanation. I think DKC is an incredible game for being the first in the series.

The main reason is subjective experience of course. I only pulled through DKC1 out of inertia. I enjoyed the first world or maybe the first two and then got bored.

Maybe that's also the reason I enjoyed DKL1 - while it has little more variety then DKC1, it is shorter and so doesn't feel repetitive.

I only went on to play 2-3 because I read people saying that's where the series gets good. So I gave them a try and actually enjoyed them.

[Gloves | 11,779]

10 minutes ago, sg17 said:

It depends, what do the points above 100 require from the player?

iirc in one of these games (or one of the DKL's maybe?) they really went overboard and there was 108% or something like that.

They were just being cheeky with an extra percent for each game released, basically. No "special" requirements, simply collect everything/do all bonuses.

DKC: 101%
DKC2: 102%
DKC3: 103%
DK64: 101% (though possible w/ dupe glitch to get 127%, and then ROLL OVER to -127%!)

Etcetera.

[a_profile_name | 230]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

They were just being cheeky with an extra percent for each game released, basically. No "special" requirements, simply collect everything/do all bonuses.

DKC: 101%
DKC2: 102%
DKC3: 103%
DK64: 101% (though possible w/ dupe glitch to get 127%, and then ROLL OVER to -127%!)

Etcetera.

As a kid I did 101% in dk64 (with a walkthrough) and I actually enjoyed doing it. This game is also when I learned what a NES is (at the time I thought of the DK arcade port in the game as a NES game when I googled it).

[RH | 4,903]

34 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

No, nothing random about it.

Each level of attack / defense / magic costs a known, predetermined amount, and you trigger the "level up" screen when your XP crosses a threshold of being able to afford one.  (and from there you can "save up" for something more expensive in XP cost)

Yeah, that was it. I was stuck because I felt I needed to level up a specific stat another 2-4 levels but at that point, it was going to take too long to get that much XP, so I walked away and never returned.

[Estil | 1,265]

3 hours ago, RH said:

I didn't get to play Zelda II until I got it on my 3DS for the Ambassador program.  I played it, maybe, 1/3 of the way through.  It was ok, but it got to be do grindy and the random buff at the time of level-up didn't work well for me.  I kept having bad luck and not getting the stats I felt I needed.

Dang cave I couldn't pass... grrrr.

I don't know if hardly anyone else thought of this idea but in the dungeons, after you beat its boss, exit the dungeon WITHOUT plugging in the crystal.  Since plugging in the crystal gives you an "automatic bid" to the next level up/upgrade/whatever it's called, doesn't it make sense to save them for when you're at the higher levels, like when you're down to six or close to it level ups to make the max 8/8/8?  I mean, it's no different than saving all the 1-Up dolls and not picking them up until you're ready to go for the Great Palace.

And on a related note, in Castlevania 2 (and I can't believe you never saw this tip in the guides/magazines at the time), don't bother with the Thorn Whip when the Chain Whip is not much further down the road and is only 50 more hearts.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

1 hour ago, Estil said:

I don't know if hardly anyone else thought of this idea but in the dungeons, after you beat its boss, exit the dungeon WITHOUT plugging in the crystal.  Since plugging in the crystal gives you an "automatic bid" to the next level up/upgrade/whatever it's called, doesn't it make sense to save them for when you're at the higher levels, like when you're down to six or close to it level ups to make the max 8/8/8?  I mean, it's no different than saving all the 1-Up dolls and not picking them up until you're ready to go for the Great Palace.

Yeah, definitely for the first couple of dungeons that are close to the beginning and easy to navigate.

Later/larger dungeons, you're probably higher level anyway, and the risk/challenge of navigating the level twice for the higher XP reward kind of cancels out.

[MagusSmurf | 577]

Symphony of the Night's non-linearity meshes really poorly with its RPG elements and in every playthrough I've done the difficulty balance and progression have completely crumpled well before I hit the inverted castle. The game pretty much turns into Dracula's Castle Hallway Simulator, and while the game feels solid enough and has good enough visuals and audio to make that an appealing prospect, it's certainly no masterpiece. The amount of assets reused for the inverted castle along with mostly the same song playing diminishes it somewhat as well. For more general issues I remember the pause menu being kinda bad, there's no good excuse for subweapons not having a dedicated button on a console with as many available as the PS1, and I generally don't think the fighting game-esque diagonal inputs to activate spells have any place in a 2D platformer - but I hated the idea so much that I've never bothered actually trying them very much so maybe they work a little better in execution than they sound.

The game remaining so heralded (beyond just historical influence) is a bit weird to me. Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance were maybe a little wonky but I thought the four Igavanias after those were all improvements on SotN. Some of them have a gimmicky feature here or mechanic or feature of world design I could see people maybe disliking enough to drop them below SotN but all of them? I kinda think SotN's extremely low difficulty, along with nostalgia and weird PS1-era charm, is what's actually appealing to people. I will grant I've never done much with Richter mode or dug too deep into the game to intentionally challenge myself but for the latter you'd probably have to try pretty hard!

Edited December 8, 2020 by MagusSmurf

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

9 hours ago, mbd39 said:

 

Thank you. This is exactly how I feel. For me the difficulty of DKC1 is just right, and it's the most fun for me to replay.

Yeah, DKC2 may be ostensibly "better" on a first play through, but it's not the '90's anymore, and when it comes to massive replayability, DKC1 destroys it.  DKC1 is not as long or as difficult and has better flow with worlds that feel like they belong with everything else on the island.  I really like the run 'n' gun nature of the first DKC, much like SMB1, where it feels like an arcade game with non-stop action where you're always on the move.  DKC2 is more like SMB2 or 3 where they start focusing more on the exploration and adventure than the run 'n' gun action - which is great for a first playthrough, but once I know where everything is, I don't want to spent 20 minutes as a spider shooting webs every which way trying to cover every square inch of a single level.  Don't get me wrong, DKC2 is an amazing game on a first play through, but I haven't felt the urge to go back to it in over twenty years.  DKC 1 on the other hand, I can and have replayed countless times...

[mbd39 | 2,020]

23 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Yeah, DKC2 may be ostensibly "better" on a first play through, but it's not the '90's anymore, and when it comes to massive replayability, DKC1 destroys it.  DKC1 is not as long or as difficult and has better flow with worlds that feel like they belong with everything else on the island.  I really like the run 'n' gun nature of the first DKC, much like SMB1, where it feels like an arcade game with non-stop action where you're always on the move.  DKC2 is more like SMB2 or 3 where they start focusing more on the exploration and adventure than the run 'n' gun action - which is great for a first playthrough, but once I know where everything is, I don't want to spent 20 minutes as a spider shooting webs every which way trying to cover every square inch of a single level.  Don't get me wrong, DKC2 is an amazing game on a first play through, but I haven't felt the urge to go back to it in over twenty years.  DKC 1 on the other hand, I can and have replayed countless times...

Exactly this.

And SMB1 is my favorite Mario game. I like the straightforward arcade simplicity.

[Estil | 1,265]

DKC1 isn't meant to be long though...didn't Cranky himself brag in the ending that if he had been playing, he would've found everything in less than an hour...is that even possible?

[Sumez | 2,952]

On 12/7/2020 at 5:54 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

Strong personalities: "You're wrong!"

Even stronger personalities: "This is an interesting subject to discuss on a forum created to discuss subjects like these"  

On 12/7/2020 at 5:57 PM, Webhead123 said:

While virtually everything about DKC2 is better than the original (more creative stages, tighter control, better graphics/music/bosses/etc.), for some reason, I find that the flow the game more difficult to stick through to the end. It may also be down to the obnoxious difficulty of some of the later stages, which can feel unfair at times.

I feel the other way around. DKC2 is definitely a lot tougher, but it's also much more fair, and I never felt frustrated. DKC1 is a very easy game, but yet it still manages to get frustrating due to how unfair the challenges in the game are.
Most of the times you die (or at least, most of the times I die) is due to running straight into an enemy you didn't see because of the unwieldly camera mixed with gigantic sprites. Somehow they worked that out a lot better for the sequel.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Sumez

[a_profile_name | 230]

13 hours ago, Estil said:

DKC1 isn't meant to be long though...didn't Cranky himself brag in the ending that if he had been playing, he would've found everything in less than an hour...is that even possible?

Yes

https://www.speedrun.com/dkc#101

[Gloves | 11,779]

13 hours ago, Estil said:

DKC1 isn't meant to be long though...didn't Cranky himself brag in the ending that if he had been playing, he would've found everything in less than an hour...is that even possible?

 

7 minutes ago, sg17 said:

Yes

https://www.speedrun.com/dkc#101

 

I've done it in under an hour, though just barely. Not quite as practiced as the 45 minute folk.

[Webhead123 | 675]

2 hours ago, Gloves said:

I've done it in under an hour, though just barely. Not quite as practiced as the 45 minute folk.

I don't speed-run DKC and never took the time to learn it that way. Whenever I go back to it, I tend to take my time which usually results in a playtime of about 3-3.5 hours. I would say that's a fair brush for the average length of the game. But yeah, I could see someone who really knows the optimum run to be able to get sub-hour completion.

[Gloves | 11,779]

23 minutes ago, Webhead123 said:

I don't speed-run DKC and never took the time to learn it that way. Whenever I go back to it, I tend to take my time which usually results in a playtime of about 3-3.5 hours. I would say that's a fair brush for the average length of the game. But yeah, I could see someone who really knows the optimum run to be able to get sub-hour completion.

We did a contest I think last year, maybe the year prior on NA where we were going for fastest in-game time. I just naturally learned the route, and kept playing after the contest to see if I could do it all in one go. I forget what my best in-game time was but it was probably around 50 minutes, while my "all at once" playthrough landed around the 58 mark.

[Estil | 1,265]

6 hours ago, Gloves said:

 

 

I've done it in under an hour, though just barely. Not quite as practiced as the 45 minute folk.

This is without any kind of cheating devices or any of that TAS crap, right?

I could've sworn I saw a screenshot of Super Metroid completed at 100% at <1 hour...that sounds impossible, especially with that one really hard Madrida missile tank that you have to run/shinespark through a door and smash your head into...

Edited December 9, 2020 by Estil

[Gloves | 11,779]

3 minutes ago, Estil said:

This is without any kind of cheating devices or any of that TAS crap, right?

I could've sworn I saw a screenshot of Super Metroid completed at 100% at <1 hour...that sounds impossible, especially with that one really hard Madrida missile tank that you have to run/shinespark through a door and smash your head into...

I did it on a Super Nintendo with no devices of any sort, yes. My time wasn't anything particularly phenomenal, and it did take a lot of practice.

[Estil | 1,265]

3 minutes ago, Gloves said:

I did it on a Super Nintendo with no devices of any sort, yes. My time wasn't anything particularly phenomenal, and it did take a lot of practice.

As Mister Rogers always told us, becoming great at anything takes many, many years of practice.

Especially when people's records from all over the world are there for everyone to see.  No wonder I have such a Doris Day (anything I can do, those others can do it WAY better...) complex...  

Edited December 9, 2020 by Estil

[Webhead123 | 675]

5 hours ago, Gloves said:

We did a contest I think last year, maybe the year prior on NA where we were going for fastest in-game time. I just naturally learned the route, and kept playing after the contest to see if I could do it all in one go. I forget what my best in-game time was but it was probably around 50 minutes, while my "all at once" playthrough landed around the 58 mark.

Now that you mention it, I think I remember that and I may have even pitched my own score. I know I didn't score below an hour. It was more likely around 90-100 mins or so. Sadly, I didn't record my completion time on Backloggery and NA is now gone.