A strange phenomenon, possibly due to the adaptation of HD or just loss of direction, was when the 7th gen was pretty rough on some of our favorite historical franchises from Japan. These are 6 games from big franchises that were met with controversy or underwhelmed fans:
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD
Focusing the entire game around Wii motion plus was already going to be tough to get everyone on board with. But skyward sword's egregious padding, constant tutorials and little to no sense of exploration made it the most controversial Zelda at the time of release, despite high reviews in general. This is the game that caused them to rethink the entire series
METROID: OTHER M
On paper, the prospect of a story focused Metroid sounds great on paper. But seeing it in practice just emphasized that the series should stick to environmental storytelling. Forced linearity thanks to story beats is the antithesis kf metroid. We can't leave out the elephant in the room of Samus' characterization - completely not what people expected out of her and borderline sexist to some people.
DMC: DEVIL MAY CRY
Capcom's reboot of the DMC franchise didn't necessarily have BAD gameplay to many people, but it didn't touch the depth of the previous two games in the series that the fans love. Not to mention the real problem - the new Dante lacked any charm of the old one. Many fans would argue Ninja Theory completely misinterpreted the tone of the series.
FINAL FANTASY XIII
FFXIII completely removed any sense of exploration from most of the game, just funneling characters down corridors. Not only that, players really couldn't experience the true battle system until the game was almost over. Add to that the characters and story being confusing and not resonating with lots of people, and you see why XIII was the most hated FF at the time of release
METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
The highest rated game on this list, but that didn't stop fans from noticing the extremely off balance Gameplay:Cutscene ratio, going well beyond even Kojima's normally high volume of cutscenes. You could go over 30 minutes without playing. And then there's the subject of what's in the cutscenes themselves, MGS4's story and ending to the series remains controversial to this day. Fans thought it tied things up that were better left unsaid and ruined plot points retroactively from previous games
RESIDENT EVIL 6
Four separate campaigns meant too little focus on each of them, and to many fans, RE6 turned out bland and generic. And the story leaves much to be desired and seemed to rely too much on fanservice. Similar to skyward Sword, this prompted a reinvention of the franchise for RE7.
With all of those flaws in mind, I want to ask: which of these games, if any, did you manage to find the good in and get the most enjoyment out of? Did, for example, Skyward Sword's brilliant dungeon design, MGS4's tight gameplay and awesome setpieces, DmC's level design, FFXIII's gorgeous music and art style and fun battle system once it finally clicked, Other M's take on a quick and agile Samus, or RE6's fanservicey action romp do anything to overcome the commonly listed flaws of these games?
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD
Focusing the entire game around Wii motion plus was already going to be tough to get everyone on board with. But skyward sword's egregious padding, constant tutorials and little to no sense of exploration made it the most controversial Zelda at the time of release, despite high reviews in general. This is the game that caused them to rethink the entire series
METROID: OTHER M
On paper, the prospect of a story focused Metroid sounds great on paper. But seeing it in practice just emphasized that the series should stick to environmental storytelling. Forced linearity thanks to story beats is the antithesis kf metroid. We can't leave out the elephant in the room of Samus' characterization - completely not what people expected out of her and borderline sexist to some people.
DMC: DEVIL MAY CRY
Capcom's reboot of the DMC franchise didn't necessarily have BAD gameplay to many people, but it didn't touch the depth of the previous two games in the series that the fans love. Not to mention the real problem - the new Dante lacked any charm of the old one. Many fans would argue Ninja Theory completely misinterpreted the tone of the series.
FINAL FANTASY XIII
FFXIII completely removed any sense of exploration from most of the game, just funneling characters down corridors. Not only that, players really couldn't experience the true battle system until the game was almost over. Add to that the characters and story being confusing and not resonating with lots of people, and you see why XIII was the most hated FF at the time of release
METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
The highest rated game on this list, but that didn't stop fans from noticing the extremely off balance Gameplay:Cutscene ratio, going well beyond even Kojima's normally high volume of cutscenes. You could go over 30 minutes without playing. And then there's the subject of what's in the cutscenes themselves, MGS4's story and ending to the series remains controversial to this day. Fans thought it tied things up that were better left unsaid and ruined plot points retroactively from previous games
RESIDENT EVIL 6
Four separate campaigns meant too little focus on each of them, and to many fans, RE6 turned out bland and generic. And the story leaves much to be desired and seemed to rely too much on fanservice. Similar to skyward Sword, this prompted a reinvention of the franchise for RE7.
With all of those flaws in mind, I want to ask: which of these games, if any, did you manage to find the good in and get the most enjoyment out of? Did, for example, Skyward Sword's brilliant dungeon design, MGS4's tight gameplay and awesome setpieces, DmC's level design, FFXIII's gorgeous music and art style and fun battle system once it finally clicked, Other M's take on a quick and agile Samus, or RE6's fanservicey action romp do anything to overcome the commonly listed flaws of these games?
