Unpopular Opinions On Gaming

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The main theme is the only bad song in the game. And it is shit.

I actually really like the orchestrated version of the main theme (it plays during the 2nd phase of the final boss fight, I believe). It sounds suitably "big" for a big final battle, while still feeling like it belongs in a Sonic game. The song version of it just flat-out sucks, though, but the tune itself is actually really good without bad lyrics from annoyingly nasally voices to go along with it.

[talonmalon333]

Really, that song is awful. But every other theme is pretty awesome, I don't think there was a bad track in the bunch.

I guess I just don't remember a lot of the songs. I do remember the orchestrated song on the main menu (which I guess was kind of like a 2nd main theme) and that was pretty good.

It was the first 3D Sonic since Adventure 1 where I found myself listening to the soundtrack outside of the game.

I do have to admit... I have a good amount of nostalgia for the music in Sonic Adventure 2. Most of it is really cheesy (which I'd also say for SA1, unless my memory is wrong) but when I was young I really liked the main theme, Sonic's theme, and City Escape.

which usually end up using the same generic "chanting" music to sound "epic,"

The funny thing is that even though I agree with you, I would add that I think the Lord of the Rings trilogy (which kind of inspired that epic-chanting music in movies and games) had a fantastic soundtrack.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The thing about The Lord of the Rings films is that....well, its just that: they are movies. They use the music they have appropriately for what fits the tone of the movie and careful consideration is taken on when to use which parts of which tracks at specific parts in the film to which they will serve the most effect. And while there is some chanting type music in LOTR, as impressionable as it is, if you watch the films, its only used very sparingly. Most of the tracks are just music without any vocals to accompany them. Also, a lot of the chanting music is used for darker, more subdued scenes, rather than as part of big epic battles. In short, the LOTR film trilogy knows how to use its music and uses music that is appropriate for it.

For video games, there is different music that may be appropriate for it, but a lot of games seem to like to use that style of music because they were made popular by big influential films such as LOTR, and they think that by just blindly sticking generic knock-offs of those soundtracks in their games, they'll get the same effect out of it. For the common modern gamer, that may be easy enough to fool them into thinking that some of these big-budget AAA games have legitimately good scores, but really they are as uninspired as and inappropriate to the subject material of the game as you can get, and worse yet most of these game will recycle tracks that they think sound epic to the point that you can really get sick of listening to it after playing through the entire game (even if its a short game, which is usually the case).

The reason I found Halo to be the exception as far as modern style gaming music goes (as Halo also uses a lot of big orchestrated pieces in its soundtrack), is because Bungie and Martin O' Donnel actually took the time to compose several great tracks for their game that actually felt really appropriate for the type of game that it was. Furthermore, clear care is taken into where each track is played, so the right tracks are played in the right places. The main theme has a very space-opera heavy vibe to it, and its used in instances where something big is being revealed that seems so far beyond the scope of what any living thing in the game can even begin to comprehend, usually in scenes in the vastness of space. The music doesn't just limit itself to that, though. Halo has exotic themes for when you are traveling through ancient ruins on an alien planet. It has kick-ass heavy metal themes for when you are fighting through an intense battle, and it has really fast-beat themes for when you are trying to race through a section of a level as fast as possible, either trying to make it to some point within a time limit or just trying to make it through waves of enemies (which you can't possible stay to fight) alive. It even has slower, sad themes for certain moments in the game where things have died down after lots of action and casualties. And the game has a few creepy themes as well for parts where you are in an eerie environment and foreboding atmosphere (this music is usually used for when The Flood are around).

The point I'm trying to make is that, Halo takes actual pride in its music and cares enough to use it appropriately and not lean on any single piece as a crutch to use throughout the entire game. Most other big-budget games simply don't have the same kind of talent behind them to compose those kinds of big-budget pieces for their games. They may higher composers who work on big-budget movies, but those composers will only make the type of music that they know how to make for movies, not for games, and little care is given to whether those pieces fit the tone of the game or not, and even if it does, the execution of its use will be so badly mishandled that you'll just here that one track throughout every big sequence throughout the entire game with little to no variation, and you'll easily get sick of it in no time.

That's my beef with the music in most big-budget games. They usually can't compose good, memorable music in the first place, and even when they can, they have no flipping clue how to use it.

[Foggle]

The only cheesy songs in the Sonic Adventure games were the ones with vocals. But they were cheesy in a good way, for the most part.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The only cheesy songs in the Sonic Adventure games were the ones with vocals. But they were cheesy in a good way, for the most part.

Hey there big guy.

[Nel_Annette]

Planet Wisp Act 1 music ftfw. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Rayman Origins controls are way too floaty and imprecise. I had issues where I would grab onto a wall behind me while jumping underneath a ledge, you lose momentum when you do anything in this game while running (which makes the chest levels way harder than they actually are), some platforms are not clearly defined or are spaced in a way that punishes the player for not having psychic abilities and some obstacles require pinpoint controls despite the game not actually giving you pinpoint controls. It gets needlessly frustrating.

The reason I bring this up is because nobody seems to want to acknowledge this game has faults and I keep seeing others declaring it absolutely flawless. (Usually while knocking better platformers that have no control issues like NSMBWii or U, or even Wario Land) All one has to do is play the Rayman Legends demo then go back and play Origins for ten minutes. The differences are blindingly obvious as Legends has no control issues at all, while Rayman jerks around a lot in Origins.

Now I'm not saying the game isn't great (it is), but I think this is one of those games where people are distracted by the pretty colors instead of noticing there are some real problems underneath. The game got way too many perfect scores despite not being perfect at all.

[Grave]

I've been holding off on this thread for a little bit now. Still gonna hold out for a little bit until I figure out how to even start it, but for the time being I'll say DLC.

To me it's giving developers an excuse to make games that are incomplete. I don't mind DLC if it's free, but man, adding all these extra levels, costumes, missions is overboard especially when it cost. Capcom (While I support them there are times where I don't care for them either) and Asura's Wrath. I don't want to keep dishing out money for an episode when it's only 15 minutes when you could've easily post-poned the game to add that type of stuff.

The other is gamers as a whole, but I'll get back to that one.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I agree with you, but I should point out that I don't think that's really an unpopular opinion at all. Many gamers in general are ticked off with current DLC practices and pretty much everyone is ticked off at how badly Capcom abuses it these days.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

Asura's Wrath

How's that sold separately true ending treating you?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Asura's Wrath

How's that sold separately true ending treating you?

I still can't believe they did that.

The only acceptable DLC for me is stuff like what Gearbox does with Borderlands. They're full-on expansion packs (showing my age with that one?) that add on to the core game which is by itself already a full experience.

[Grave]

Asura's Wrath

How's that sold separately true ending treating you?

I traded it in before even getting to the last level.

[talonmalon333]

I'd like to post an unpopular opinion that could potentially be controversial. Basically, I don't believe in the argument that "You have to play a game to know it's bad". At least not always. Sure, with the majority of games, I do think that you should play a good deal of it to decide (but even then, you don't have to play the entire thing, you just need to play enough to get a feel for it or decide if it's for you)... But really, if you look at footage of Sonic 2006 and said "This game is terrible", that's honestly not an ignorant opinion. Gamers are smart. They know what a real bad game is. They can look at one and say to the developers "Nope, you did it wrong. Try again".

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well, I've been playing games a long time so when I see the way a game moves in a video I can tell if I'll dislike playing it. Movies, shows, or books, are different since they can't be judged on such a surface level, but games don't play all that different on the fundamental level of character control.

Usually, if I watch enough trailers I can decide for myself if I'll like it or not. It was why I was eager for Sonic Colors despite not being impressed with Unleashed or the other post-Adventure 2 games while most people were surprised at the positive reaction it got. I watched videos of Planet Wisp showing branching paths, Sweet Mountain showing clever obstacles, and Aquarium Park showing the cool open levels, and saw how fun the wisps looked. Whereas before Heroes came out, I saw some stuff on it and saw it looked worse than SA2 and simply passed on it. I was right both times, and both were before playing either game.

It doesn't work with most anything, but I think judging a video game from videos is doable if you're familiar with the genre. Heck, look at Ensatsu-Ken and Ninja Gaiden 3. He was right about that and he didn't even need to play it.

[Foggle]

You should at least demo, rent, borrow, or torrent a game before making an actual judgment on it, though. You don't have to buy it, but you should find some way to play it, unless it's just obviously broken like Ninjabread Man or whatever.