Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@Tasuki We just did a moment before. Aren't you proud of us. (No harm meant, thanks for doing your job.)

@FullbringIchigo @BowTiesAreCool I agree about Bloodstone being the best. I played it 3-4 times. I'm not even sure it deserved it, but I just really liked it. The melee animations in particular were good. Very few games the number it it had in their depending on the situation. It challenges Arkham in that regard, and stuff like Uncharted and Horizon have nowhere the number Bloodstone did. I'd love to see another one.

@Tasuki already done

@RogerRoger I'm inclined to agree. Even the worst Sonic games tend to have great soundtracks.

If anything, I'd say I dislike more ambient soundtracks. When I think of great gaming music, I think of either exciting stuff like boss themes, fighting jams, level music that shows the personality of it, or beautiful pieces during emotional moments. If you asked me to pick something from almost any horror game, or slow, atmospheric pieces that are barely noticeable, I couldn't.

First of all, after working all day and not having time to check the forums, I pulled up this thread and it just cracked me up. I just love the personalities we have here! 😂

Anyway, I have never played a Sonic game, so can’t speak for its music, but give me Uncharted, Final Fantasy 8, The Last of Us, and NieR Automata for the win!

I loved the music in DOOM. Suited the pace of the game perfectly.

@RogerRoger Streets of Rage, Thunder Force IV, R-Type.... Books > Most Sonic Music

@JohnnyShoulder Excellent choice. Complements the game perfectly too.

I'm a big fan of the No Man's Sky soundtrack but then again, I am a fan of 65daysofstatic who wrote it. Harry Gregson William's work on the MGS games (but not the original!) is also pretty great.

@RogerRoger sonic has some great music but for me FINAL FANTASY has the best music in games

@RogerRoger Uncharted 2 theme...

@RogerRoger 🎵 Humm...mmm....taaa....da daaaa... bummmm, bummm, bummm ...🎶
....Oh, wait. That’s the main theme.
Maybe I can’t. 🤔
But it’s a great theme.

@RogerRoger Yeah, out of curiosity, I pulled up the Uncharted 3 Soundtrack just now (it was the only one I could immediately find on Spotify at the moment) and started listening and I’ll double down on it being a great one. But you and @Kidfried are right — memorable does not necessarily mean good or great. As far as video games (and movies) a good musical soundtrack is one that carries the desired emotional impact and motivates me to continue the game and progress toward the ending. I actually almost never listen to video game music on my non-gaming time. The latest exception was NieR Automata, after discussing the game on that thread lately with @Ralizah , I have been thoroughly enjoying listening to it and feeling the emotions again.
So basically that’s a long winded way of saying that I agree. 😄
And if Sonic has that impact for you, then more power to ya. 😛

Memorable and quality definitely aren't the same thing, but I'll take a memorable soundtrack over a "quality" one anyday as long as it's not "memorable" for the wrong reasons. I'll disagree on Uncharted: the music might be great for driving scenes in the midst of gameplay, but I can't remember a single tune from any of the five Uncharted games I've played. And that lack of resonance with the music emotionally ultimately impacts my emotional connection with the game itself after I'm done playing it.

Which is one big reason that I, in general, prefer Japanese-developed games: the prominence they place on music, and the way music stands out from the experience and thumps its chest instead of quietly fading into the background of a scene. Games like Gears of War, Uncharted, etc. probably have perfectly find soundtracks, but they're like typical movie soundtracks: there for the duration of the experience, and then gone the next day.

Everybody here who has talked to me probably knows by now that I'm a massive fan of Breath of the Wild, but you know what the one aspect of the game that I don't remember perfectly fondly is? The music. The sound design is wonderful and integrative and I'm full of praise for it, but it's still true that something of value was lost when opting for that approach. The only music that really stands out to me is the theme for Hyrule Castle and the brilliant trailer music, both pieces of which are almost entirely absent from the actual game for some reason.

@Kidfried @Ralizah I agree, although I would argue that there are moments when I want the music to be prominent and stand out, and there are moments when I want it to be subtle and deftly woven into the fabric of the experience such that I don’t even recognize that the music is affecting me. Suddenly I’m crying and then realize that a melodious but quiet accompaniment of violins is singing to my emotions while I watch a protagonist suffer or watch his/her loved one die. Most games have moments for both memorable music and moments that benefit from subtlety, at least most story driven games do. Now FIFA and Resogun and other types of games that don’t tell a story would need the music to stand out more.
But I do like the statement that soundtracks should me “written for that moment alone” as you say. The music should fit the game and be tailored to it. That said, one of my favorite recent musical soundtracks is Before the Storm and I suspect most of the songs in that game were not specifically written for the game, but seemed to fit so well within the narrative. The music there is a case of ‘standing out’ and being an important part of the experience and although you can feel your emotions are being manipulated somewhat by the sad acoustic tunes at times, I just can’t help but feel it. 😄

Western soundtracks don't often stand out for me. They go for the whole cinematic score vibe, but as a result nothing particularly stands out. Exceptions are the BioShock ones, but my favourites are Fable II and Mass Effect.

On the other hand I could list so many Japanese scores that are amazing, inventive and enhance the experience. @RogerRoger That does include Sonic. The Mega Drive ones are iconic, but of the 3D ones I've heard Escape from the City from Sonic Adventure 2 is so fun.

@Kidfried I have to agree on Breath of the Wild. The music in Zelda games has always been something I love, but Breath of the Wild just didn't do it for me at all.

@RogerRoger The music picks up in story moments and set-pieces (and Hyrule Castle), but otherwise it's very subtly integrated into the rest of the sound design. I think it was a great approach for this particular game, but it has its drawbacks, and I wouldn't want it to become the series norm.

If he's already emotionally invested in the series and its musical cues, I can see why he would have that reaction. And why you wouldn't, considering you're not a Nintendo fan.

Unpopular gaming opinion - I think Fallout New Vegas was massively overrated (and this from a Fallout fanboy).

Yes the map was good, but the actual interiors tended to be just one room or cave, rather than the sprawling mazes of Fallout 3. And the quests had their moments, but there was nothing to rival Megaton, or the rivalry between Tenpenny Tower and the ghouls. Or the Antagonizer!

New Vegas was a great game, but better than Fallout 3? No way!

@RogerRoger Well, the difference is that Nintendo is trying not to overwhelm the environmental ambiance found throughout Hyrule. The feeling of being immersed in the natural world is a big part of the game. The music also reflects the desolation of the setting, and a lot of light tunes you'll hear throughout the world are fragmented renditions of classic themes.

Not everyone is going to like that, and that's cool.

Concerning more traditional Nintendo soundtracks, I've yet to find anything that surpasses Super Mario Galaxy. Although "Jump Up, Super Star!" from SMO is absolutely very catchy. You can actually listen to a Japanese rendition of the theme on certain radios if you throw cappy at them.

Concerning Sonic music, besides the Genesis games, I really liked the songs in the Sonic Adventure games. Particularly the first. They're cheesy, sincere, and charming. I particularly liked the Tails-centric "Believe in Myself."

Sorry, after reading the rank list today, I just have to vent and this is the place to express my unpopular opinions —
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is not a good game! It’s the worst game of the franchise I’ve played!
Granted, I never played all the games that just poured out over the few years that followed BF (Unity, Rogue, Syndicate, etc, etc). But I haven’t played any of these because Black Flag was so disappointing!
I honesty just can’t understand the love for Black Flag. The story, the setting, the combat, the protagonist, the ... everything. There are very few things on which I am extremely far removed from the popular opinion, but this is apparently one of them. I simply cannot fathom why it is so highly praised. I would have personally considered Black Flag to be the Mass Effect Andromeda of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, since it was an enormous let down after having played and adored the previous installments.
So there!

So this is a thing huh. Well, here's a take of mine.
**Ahem**
The new Tomb Raider trilogy is no fun to me. It's like if Uncharted was completely uninspired in it's writing and game play.