I liked it a lot. I even liked 2 lol.
I didn't know Inquisition was another on the Era list, I know 2 was.
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Divisive games you consider a 10/10
- Thread starter AppleKid
- Start date
I liked it a lot. I even liked 2 lol.
I didn't know Inquisition was another on the Era list, I know 2 was.
I played Skyward Sword for the first time on Switch. I agree! My only complaint is how tedious it can be traversing the largely empty sky. But the sky still does a fine job creating a sense of distance and depth between regions, and of course flying on the bird feels fun.
Everything where you're boots on the ground is killer, though. Amazing dungeons, and pre-dungeon areas that are practically dungeons by designs. Clever field objectives and ways to remix areas you revisit. Just nonstop genius mechanics and new ways to interact with the world.
The art direction really pops at 60 fps in HD. Both the motions controls and twin-stick controls are very enjoyable -- even the simple act of turning the camera feels unusually good here. The crafting economy upgrading items and charms is thoroughly addictive. Skyloft is a WONDERFUL town that evolves all throughout the game.
Skyward Sword is one of the few Zelda where I felt some strong emotions for the characters, too. The way they depict the friendship between Link and Zelda feels very genuine. It's an incredibly sweet and endearing journey.
Some superfans of Trigger took big issue with the characters reappearing and the links to the story
OP
OP
Sure! In many ways it boils down to feeling like I'm playing through a stop-motion TV show that has well thought out characters, lore, and plot with strong voice acting and gameplay that doesn't get in the way. If you judge the game on gameplay alone I can understand the low marks as most of it is "go talk to X person" or "go here, press A, and report back". But I'm always interested to talk to X person as, similar to Harold, I want to know what they'll say about the most recent story developments.
The level design and literally hand-crafted world helps make the otherwise tedious tasks something I enjoy. No place on the Fedora takes more than a minute to get to (usually less) and along the way there are so many details to admire in the visuals and environment that I'm never thinking "ugh I have to backtrack through here again" even after going through the hallway to the lab at least 20-30 times. Usually in these treks back and forth I'm noticing a new detail in the environment I missed or digesting the last character interaction before moving onto the next one.
A specific example of something that might fall flat for me in other games but has been one of my favorite moments here is a sidequest involving the postman:
When talking to the postman at his post office he remarks how AllWater has strict regulations around how mail can be delivered and who can open it. Because of this, the postman has a collection of unopened letters he was never able to deliver spanning over 50 years. He then mentions a regulation loophole under which an AllWater employee unaffiliated with the post could open the mail.
What ensues is the postman inviting Harold behind the desk each day to read a letter (sometimes two!) from various points in the last 50+ years and learn a bit more about the Fedora's inhabitants. The letters are all hand-written and narrated in the voice of whomever would have written them with some soft, often poignant, piano playing in the background. Once finished, the postman and Harold will discuss the contents a bit including what it implies about the sender, recipient who never got it, and life on the Fedora at that time. It's something I looked forward to each day for a few in a row until coming to the post one day to discover a note from the postman stating he had to take a leave of absence. Not sure why he had to take a break or when he'll return but it's one of several threads that I'm excited to continue and a good example of how the game has taken hold of me.
What ensues is the postman inviting Harold behind the desk each day to read a letter (sometimes two!) from various points in the last 50+ years and learn a bit more about the Fedora's inhabitants. The letters are all hand-written and narrated in the voice of whomever would have written them with some soft, often poignant, piano playing in the background. Once finished, the postman and Harold will discuss the contents a bit including what it implies about the sender, recipient who never got it, and life on the Fedora at that time. It's something I looked forward to each day for a few in a row until coming to the post one day to discover a note from the postman stating he had to take a leave of absence. Not sure why he had to take a break or when he'll return but it's one of several threads that I'm excited to continue and a good example of how the game has taken hold of me.
Didn't want to blow up the OP with too many details but hope this helps determine if it might be for you! I missed the demo but buying on Steam knowing I could get a refund helped me give it a shot and I'm so glad I did.
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You are a person of culture. Played on Switch for the time last year. Blew my mind. It's incredible.
Agree with Doom Eternal. Game was a 10 from minute one to credits imo. Some of the complaints I saw about it seemed strange but everyone has their opinion and thats fine.
Dark Souls 3 + DLC specfically. I didn't play them back to back upon release so I had enough time between for it to completely pull me in I guess. Ending of the DLC actually made me cry.
Lunar (Working Design version)
Pokemon Sun and Moon
Final Fantasy XII
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Chrono Cross
Dark Souls 3 + DLC specfically. I didn't play them back to back upon release so I had enough time between for it to completely pull me in I guess. Ending of the DLC actually made me cry.
Lunar (Working Design version)
Pokemon Sun and Moon
Final Fantasy XII
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Chrono Cross
Xenoblade Chronicles X is the best open world experience I ever had, to this day nothing ever topped it. I loved this game so much I bought two copies of it, the ost and artbook. Sawano is just so peak.
Twilight Princess is still a solid 3rd place on my top 3 Zelda games behind TotK and BotW. Finished it eight times and I never got bored of it. The gameplay, the setting and, of course, Midna, it's all so freaking good.
Twilight Princess is still a solid 3rd place on my top 3 Zelda games behind TotK and BotW. Finished it eight times and I never got bored of it. The gameplay, the setting and, of course, Midna, it's all so freaking good.
I like all of these except Death Stranding and that's only because I haven't played it yet to form an opinion.
And MGS2 was *wildly* divisive when it came out. The fact that you didn't play as Snake was itself a massive affront to people. Nevermind that the game's story justifies this in its own way… that didn't matter. And first person shooting? Blasphemy to the self-styled die hards.
This. One of my top 5 JRPGs of all time.
It should have been marketed as a spinoff and not a sequel or hell, had a different title with just some minor lore connections. The game is unfairly criticized due to the existence of Chrono Trigger.
For me is Deathloop: great game, interesting plot and world asthethics; also Dark Souls II, Diablo IV and Doom Eternal. I think people nowadays have no heart... Great games that get trashed unjustly.
I don't think Inquisition is as maligned as DAII, at least among people who actually played both. I remember it being seen as sort of a return to form, even if it didn't quite reach the highs of the original. I think most of the "Era shade" came later, when people are talking about GotY winners and single it out as probably one of the lesser GotY winners, from a weaker crop of nominees (I don't think a lot of people are saying that, like, Shadow of Mordor holds up that much better in hindsight). But that's just what happens, sometimes. Sometimes there's a stronger year and sometimes there's a weaker year.
A lot of people really liked Inquisition, which is why there is still so much interest in the sequel. If it was terrible, it probably would have killed the series.
The only one I can think of is Assassin's Creed Odyssey, but this exercise feels like such a huge reach to me. Of course there are games I like more than other people do, but jumping them all the way up to "tenouttaten" is kinda ridiculous. There's significantly more 10's that I think are shit than "divisive" games I think are 10's.
Resonance of Fate easily. To me it is the best game tri-Ace has ever made. So unique and so fun, but only once you actually know how things work. Terrible tutorials (not just non-existent tutorials, but rather tutorials that actively teach you the wrong ideas and the wrong ways to play the game lol) but AMAZING game under all that. I love the characters, the world, the gameplay, the music, the story, the EVERYTHING!
AaaaAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AaaaAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm currently making my way through Elden Ring for the first time so I can't be definitive yet, but Dark Souls II is still my favourite Souls game*.
It's atmosphere is just unmatched.
*that's not including Sekiro, which I have no interest in trying.
It's atmosphere is just unmatched.
*that's not including Sekiro, which I have no interest in trying.
Prey (2017)... I played the demo and loved it so much... then I bought the game and it blew my mind. It's perfect for me... open, immersive, has a lot of narrative, science fiction, setpieces, interesting... the way the game is designed is a masterpiece for me, I love everything in it.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Chrono Cross
Pillars of Eternity 2
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Final Fantasy 16
Cyberpunk 2077
Thief 3
Chrono Cross
Pillars of Eternity 2
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Final Fantasy 16
Cyberpunk 2077
Thief 3
If were counting games that are only devisive on Era, I'll throw Jak II out there.
Love that game.
Era shits on Jak 2? fuck me this place is really the worst
FFXII and FE Fates are the best games of their franchises.
While I wouldn't say its 10/10 or even 9/10 but Forspoken is way better than its reputation.
While I wouldn't say its 10/10 or even 9/10 but Forspoken is way better than its reputation.
Psychonauts 2 is still my favorite game I've played in the last 5 years. Idk if it's divisive but I think most people would find enough wrong with it to not consider it a 10/10.
As well as Death Stranding (2019's winner of most total GOTY awards) and The Last of Us 2 (2020's winner of most total GOTY awards). And countless other games in this thread that have very high aggregate review scores, have sold millions of copies, and have cemented themselves in the legacy of the industry. It's pretty obvious that to many people, the word "divisive" means that they've had arguments with a handful of people who feel negatively about those titles and made those opinions known.
There's a narrative that gets pushed here that Jak II killed what could have been a new breakout platformer and Sony's true rival mascot to Mario.
This game is the opposite of divisive among the fanbase, but it still has a metascore of 54 (lol), so I'll say Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky.
Not sure if considered divisive as no one played it, but Xenoblade X is up there for me.
It's kind of my perfect game.
Fire Emblem Muso (the OG, not the cheap knockoff with a Three Houses theme) is probably up there too (but then again it's a Muso, so heh, no one bothers anyway lol).
It's kind of my perfect game.
Fire Emblem Muso (the OG, not the cheap knockoff with a Three Houses theme) is probably up there too (but then again it's a Muso, so heh, no one bothers anyway lol).
Pokemon White 2. Don't know wether it was fatigue or what but it's superb. I'd also argue that Spelunky is probably the greatest platformer ever made. Both solid 10's for me.
Alpha Protocol; technically flawed, but a masterpiece where choice impacts story. Still haven't seen anything like it.
Transformers: War for Cybertron; the perfect combination of of the classic singleplayer, coop and multiplayer package with a whole lot of fan service. The MP had some awesome opportunities with transforming to cars or jets.
Transformers: War for Cybertron; the perfect combination of of the classic singleplayer, coop and multiplayer package with a whole lot of fan service. The MP had some awesome opportunities with transforming to cars or jets.
People will pretend they got hated "for good reason" as they were poor games compared to games like Witcher 2 & 3 (which released in a similar timeframe). But the reality is that those Dragon Age games were pretty decent games in their own right. But they were a bit too oldschool in their approach of fantasy, while games like the Witcher pushed cynicism to 11, which was much more in line with the times.
I'll die on the hill that Bioware games circa 2010 are very similar to JRPGs in their optimistic approach of storytelling (power of friendship and all that, you know the drill), an approach many expressively hate due to their unhinged cynicism ("that's immature"/"that's unrealistic" lol).
like, I liked DA2 because I thought the flashy animations were cool (lol) but I wouldnt defend it as being a fantastic game or anything. Inquisition I really didnt know was hated, I thought it was great /shrug
Wonderful response. Thank you for taking the time to do this! Not sure yet if this pushes me towards a purchase sometime in the next week but it's made sure to not take the game out of my "what's next" list. The backtracking as a means of taking in the last moment/interaction before pursuing the next one is very appealing to me in any case. Thanks again!
I agree 2 isn't what I'd call a great game, but it was a decent "little" game overall.
And yeah 3 kinda inherited some of the hate of 2 even though it's a much more ambitious game.