Your video game hot take(s) thread

[BrawlMan]

WTF was it with most SNES brawlers doing the whole play on the hardest difficulty to get the true/full ending bullshit (rhetorical question)? Batman Returns, Final Fight 2, Turtles in Time, and a few more I am forgetting. The developers knew how short these games were, and to squeeze players out of the by-line; especially for people renting the games, they make you play the hardest mode with the flimsiest justifications. Not that the Sega Genesis was exactly immune from this (Konami was guilty of this on both consoles so much), but it happened way less often with their brawlers. Don't start with me on US/UK/EU Streets of Rage 3; been there already since 1994. This only makes Streets of Rage 2 all the more superior and dominate over SNES brawler library in terms of fair difficulty and accessibility. You got the one ending you could get by playing on any difficulty. To play Mania mode, you either had to beat hard mode and the ending text would give you the code, or got cheat code from magazine/cheat book/online.

 

[BrawlMan]

This is a hot take I'm actually borrowing from somebody, but I'm finding it really pointless to even get invested in a majority of these AAA games to take four to five years or more to make, if they're just going to fire the developers after the fact. Regardless if the game is a success or not. Not helping matters is that so many of these companies are going or spending way too much on the budget and marketing. There's nothing wrong with cutting back. You can support these developers, but most of you just don't want to out of simple greed, spite, or the addiction of screwing anyone under you to get off and feel alive. I already know I'm not interested in the majority of these games barring a few exceptions, but all these developers deserve better and actually humane treatment. I'll always keep fighting for them and I expect anyone else with the actual decency to do the same.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I'm not mad at the Star Wars Outlaws special edition costing a million bucks or whatever, this week's Big Gamer Cause.

Obviously I think it's stupid to pay for a special edition of any game, to pre-order anything for that much money, and these companies are greedy pigs. Obviously.

But the rhetoric now that people were interested in the game but now hate it because of a special edition- so silly! Just posturing.

Special edition of a game is NOT like lootboxes or mtx because it's not gambling mechanics or live service for endless payments- it's like over-priced vinyl records, CD or DVD box-sets, or fancy looking large hardcover books. If you want to buy The Lord of the Rings books you can pay anything between $20 and $112 on Amazon. Personally I think the latter is insane but it's there.

The complaints are like- how dare they charge so much for a game that we don't even know if it's good, and a special edition that includes useless crap. Well don't f***ing buy it, I dunno what to tell you.

 

[BrawlMan]

But the rhetoric now that people were interested in the game but now hate it because of a special edition- so silly! Just posturing.

People like Sterling, the Two Best Friends, and Max Dood called the stuff out years ago. Me included. The only reason these people care now, is because it's something that actually give a rat's ass about or are just posturing for the sake of looking good like you mentioned. Not to mention you have the sexist jackasses crying about another "ugly" female character. I called the stuff out with God or Ragnarok's $200+ edition that doesn't even come with the disc.

 

[Gergar12]

Here's a hot take that should be obvious to people, but isn't. Activision-Blizzard shouldn't have been brought by Microsoft. Xbox and PC shills complained when Lina Khan from the FTC sued them, of course, PlayStation fans complained but for the wrong reasons. In reality, it's 2024 and their game pricing used AI to never go below 20 dollars, and are hiked up to 60 dollars for half a decade-old games when it's not on sale. Do not support video game companies getting bigger ever!

MW1 and MW2 remakes are still expensive.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Here's a hot take that should be obvious to people, but isn't. Activision-Blizzard shouldn't have been brought by Microsoft. Xbox and PC shills complained when Lina Khan from the FTC sued them, of course, PlayStation fans complained but for the wrong reasons. In reality, it's 2024 and their game pricing used AI to never go below 20 dollars, and are hiked up to 60 dollars for half a decade-old games when it's not on sale. Do not support video game companies getting bigger ever!

MW1 and MW2 remakes are still expensive.

Not exactly a hot take as this was always obvious to everyone except Xbox shills, Microsoft and maybe Bobby K. Embrace, extend, extinguish. It’ll happen either directly or indirectly because well, it’s been observable so far.

 

[BrawlMan]

@hanselthecaretaker2, @CriticalGaming, @Old_Hunter_77, @PsychedelicDiamond, @Dirty Hipsters, and @FakeSympathy, check out this take...

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I do disagree on God of War 4 & Rag. I wasn't in the menu that often to mid max. I can see how it can get annoying, I wasn't pausing that often as Nick was doing. Also, I wasn't in the menu often for either Spider-Man games, but I can't confirm on Spider-Man 2. Haven't played it.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

@hanselthecaretaker2, @CriticalGaming, @Old_Hunter_77, @PsychedelicDiamond, @Dirty Hipsters, and @FakeSympathy, check out this take...

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I do disagree on God of War 4 & Rag. I wasn't in the menu that often to mid max. I can see how it can get annoying, I wasn't pausing that often as Nick was doing. Also, I wasn't in the menu often for either Spider-Man game, but I can't confirm on Spider-Man 2.

I kind of agree with Nick.

Menu surfing (along with a bunch of other time wasting elements) completely killed my desire to play Red Dead Redemption 2. I never even got past act 2 in that game, despite loving the first game. The last straw for me was having to craft bullets one at a time in the crafting menu, and having each bullet take several seconds to make and multiple button presses (or having to hold down the button, I forget which). After spending about 5 minutes crafting bullets at the camp fire I just turn off the game and uninstalled it.

I do think that God of War Ragnarok has too many menus, too much loot, and too many different upgrade materials, and I found myself constantly popping into menus to check which upgrades applied to which armors, and which armor I could upgrade. I also popped into the menu constantly to figure out if I had cleared and area and found all of the loot/done all of the side quests/found all the ravens or if there was still more in that section. Having said that, it didn't really bother me as much while I was playing the game because the major story beats don't force you to stop to fiddle with the menu, this is more reserved for the open world side-questing and the game. When the main story action of God of War is happening it isn't stopping you to make you check menus. Also, like half of the post-game Valhalla rogue-like is menus.

I think the biggest problem isn't really menus per say but the fact that every game has crafting now, and crafting requires menus. The least engaging part of Spider-man 2 was constantly stopping web-swinging to open boxes of tech parts on random buildings. It completely ruined the flow of the gameplay, but was unavoidable because you needed tech parts to craft/unlock costumes and gadgets. It would have been way better to just have the costumes auto-unlock as the game progressed, or to have them findable in the world, and to have the gadgets improve as you use them to essentially adapt to your play style. Most of the games with crafting don't make the crafting engaging or interesting. I hated the crafting in Elden ring for example, it felt like a waste of time and just a way of filling the giant open world map with "stuff"

The only action game I can think of that has done crafting right is The Last of Us (1 and 2) because the crafting is done in real time, and is actively part of the combat. You are actually taking a risk by deciding to craft bombs, medkits, etc. while engaged in combat and have to think about positioning and timing accordingly. It does the crafting without pausing the game and forcing you into a bunch of menus and that's why it succeeds where other games fail.

 

[BrawlMan]

Menu surfing (along with a bunch of other time wasting elements) completely killed my desire to play Red Dead Redemption 2. I never even got past act 2 in that game, despite loving the first game. The last straw for me was having to craft bullets one at a time in the crafting menu, and having each bullet take several seconds to make and multiple button presses (or having to hold down the button, I forget which). After spending about 5 minutes crafting bullets at the camp fire I just turn off the game and uninstalled it.

Red Dead 2 is an entirely different beast on its own. The menus are actually the least of its problems for me, but I can't disagree with you on that one.

I do think that God of War Ragnarok has too many menus, too much loot, and too many different upgrade materials, and I found myself constantly popping into menus to check which upgrades applied to which armors, and which armor I could upgrade.

Nick does mention the loot, but makes it sound like it's all menus issues and that the loot is just the symptom.

Having said that, it didn't really bother me as much while I was playing the game because the major story beats don't force you to stop to fiddle with the menu, this is more reserved for the open world side-questing and the game. When the main story action of God of War is happening it isn't stopping you to make you check menus.

Exactly. Not to mention I didn't do all the side quest, but it about half of them and then decided to just finish the main story. I did upgrade my gear and stuff, but I only used the menu to make sure I had everything on the map cleared or to read the lore journals.

I think the biggest problem isn't really menus per say but the fact that every game has crafting now, and crafting requires menus. The least engaging part of Spider-man 2 was constantly stopping web-swinging to open boxes of tech parts on random buildings. It completely ruined the flow of the gameplay, but was unavoidable because you needed tech parts to craft/unlock costumes and gadgets. It would have been way better to just have the costumes auto-unlock as the game progressed, or to have them findable in the world, and to have the gadgets improve as you use them to essentially adapt to your play style

I'll take your word on that one.

The only action game I can think of that has done crafting right is The Last of Us (1 and 2) because the crafting is done in real time, and is actively part of the combat. You are actually taking a risk by deciding to craft bombs, medkits, etc. while engaged in combat and have to think about positioning and timing accordingly. It does the crafting without pausing the game and forcing you into a bunch of menus and that's why it succeeds where other games fail.

Evil Within 2 allows real time crafting and menu crafting (only in safe houses or zones). The real time crafting happens when you're out in Union or playing in a main mission or side quest. Crating in the field is risky and requires more resources. You're not exactly safe; especially if monsters are roaming around in the chapter or open world. So you have to know when it's the time to do so, or if you need scrape up some emergency healing items or ammo.

 

[CriticalGaming]

@hanselthecaretaker2, @CriticalGaming, @Old_Hunter_77, @PsychedelicDiamond, @Dirty Hipsters, and @FakeSympathy, check out this take...

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I do disagree on God of War 4 & Rag. I wasn't in the menu that often to mid max. I can see how it can get annoying, I wasn't pausing that often as Nick was doing. Also, I wasn't in the menu often for either Spider-Man game, but I can't confirm on Spider-Man 2.

It's like he is mad that games have become more complex, I don't get the problem. Nick has consistently presented videos and articles with weird nitpicky arguments that don't really make sense. It's like he wants to watch a movie instead of playing a game.

I get wanting to get through the story of something like God of War, but without upgrades and gear, the game has very little depth to offer. It can't be like the original God of War because in the original games you didn't have a wide variety of attacks and special techniques to unlock. Each weapon had a basic moveset and your damage went up as you leveled. There was nothing beyond that, and they were still great but again game complexity has evolved from there to engage the player more and provide player choice.

It's annoying because on one-hand people are upset when a game railroads them too hard or limits their choices. While on the other they are complaining that there are too many choices? Make it make sense!

 

[Gergar12]

I'm Excited for Star Wars: Outlaws – But Still Wish We Got 1313, Instead

Star Wars Outlaws looks to be an exciting addition to the Star Wars franchise, but I still wish we got 1313 instead.

www.escapistmagazine.com

Disney/EA ought to be ashamed of themselves.

 

[BrawlMan]

. Nick has consistently presented videos and articles with weird nitpicky arguments that don't really make sense. It's like he wants to watch a movie instead of playing a game.

Which is weird, because beforehand he barely had a problem with it, or at least tried to convince himself that it wasn't that big a deal for him and most of the other former staff.

I get wanting to get through the story of something like God of War, but without upgrades and gear, the game has very little depth to offer.

Believe or not, that's why a good amount (not all obviously) of Greek Era GoW fans hate the Norse Era GoW gameplay. Mainly the RPG elements and stats. To them it's shallow padding and adds little or nothing to the combat. While I don't hate the RPG elements, I can see where they're coming from. Even Norse GoW fans have made this complaint. The only difference being Greek Era fans tend to be way snobby and go overboard with it or something else. Probably not helping matters for some as a game like Evil West that plays similarly to God of War, but without the armor stats nor RPG elements, gave those fans what they wanted or what they were looking for. You're still technically going through menus in Evil West, but it's mainly the skill tree or to upgrade weapons. Though a majority of the time, you'll be brawling and shooting vampires more than looking at the upgrade menu screens.

It's annoying because on one-hand people are upset when a game railroads them too hard or limits their choices.

The only time I have a problem with rail roading are in games like Spec-Ops. Rail roading existed in many 2D games, and I noticed people didn't start making this complaint until after Bioshock came out and commentated on it. All of sudden, nearly everyone acted like geniuses or experts on the subject.

While on the other they are complaining that there are too many choices?

Just like some of the people complaining about Rebirth. Y'all wanted less linearity and more open zones with activites. Why are y'all complaining now there is too much to do or being more open? You can't have it both ways. I know you love Rebirth CriticalGaming, so you are exempt from these. It just goes to show some people are never satisfied or don't know what they actually want until it hits them in the face.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

I kind of agree with Nick.

Menu surfing (along with a bunch of other time wasting elements) completely killed my desire to play Red Dead Redemption 2. I never even got past act 2 in that game, despite loving the first game. The last straw for me was having to craft bullets one at a time in the crafting menu, and having each bullet take several seconds to make and multiple button presses (or having to hold down the button, I forget which). After spending about 5 minutes crafting bullets at the camp fire I just turn off the game and uninstalled it.

lol split points are a last resort. I just bought/found ammo and the only thing worth spending any significant time crafting is big game meat with different seasonings for the deadeye/health cores. For as big as this game was it was refreshing that there was minimal need for inventory management. I barely even had my satchel upgraded until the end of the game for a trophy. Turn in a trinket from a legendary to get an upgrade from the fence, no wafting through skill trees to fill out or “unlocking” skills via grinding. Just find them or keep doing the shit you’re naturally doing anyways (like running, riding, fighting, etc.) want to have improved.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Just like some of the people complaining about Rebirth. Y'all wanted less linearity and more open zones with activites. Why are y'all complaining now there is too much to do or being more open? You can't have it both ways. I know you love Rebirth CriticalGaming, so you are exempt from these. It just goes to show some people are never satisfied or don't know what they actually want until it hits them in the face.

I don't really know man. Because people have to understand these are games and there is only so much any one game can do. And you'll always have games with lots of mechanics, and games with very few, or games with a big cinematic story, and games with a subtle story. But the one take away is that most games are good in their own way, at least to a degree right?

For example Nick's problem with God of War might be a problem for him, but clearly it's not a super common problem considering how many people loved that game. Additionally there are always people who hang change. People that don't like Norse Kratos and only want Greek Kratos, or people who wanted a perfect FF7 Remake not a weird new FF7. But things change, games grow, developers grow and change and what's old is never going to be the same when the wheel turns to make the old new again.

I think people need to have more of an open mind with things. That doesn't mean don't be critical of what's on offer, but more look at things with an understanding of what the game is trying to be. For example you can absolutely point at Devil May Cry and say that DMC is a shitty RTS game, and you would be 100% correct, but also DMC isn't trying to be an RTS so it can't really be judged like it.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[BrawlMan]

I don't really know man. Because people have to understand these are games and there is only so much any one game can do. And you'll always have games with lots of mechanics, and games with very few, or games with a big cinematic story, and games with a subtle story. But the one take away is that most games are good in their own way, at least to a degree right?

That's the problem with some of these people. Most understand that not everything can be done in a game, but you have others that want their "ultimate game" or game that does everything for them and their taxes, yet will biatch about something else when they get what they want.

For example Nick's problem with God of War might be a problem for him, but clearly it's not a super common problem considering how many people loved that game.

Some I noticed with Nick and a few other gaming outlets, or individuals is that there's this trend of "concerned citizens" nearly everyone starts doing or making a bigger deal than necessary. Horizon and it sequels "possibly failing sales/lagging behind" because of Breath of the Wild or Elden Ring.

Additionally there are always people who hang hate change. People that don't like Norse Kratos and only want Greek Kratos, or people who wanted a perfect FF7 Remake not a weird new FF7. But things change, games grow, developers grow and change and what's old is never going to be the same when the wheel turns to make the old new again.

I am not sure if you remember, but back in 2017 I was on the God of War 4 hate train, though different reasons. I was mainly sick and tired of Kratos at the time, and just wanted a completely new lead character. Though I won't lie, there were was some fear mongering as well on what would happen to other action games. It wasn't until about a month into 2018, that I realized how stupid I was being and at least give the game a chance. I realized I would be no different from the professional critics that hated on anything Japanese gaming related. You the know the rest of the story at this point.

Speaking of haters Gaming Brit became real snobby shit head when it came to Norse GoW. Yeah, he cooled down later, but never apologized nor acknowledged being shit head and mocking people for liking the game. Calling people who did "forcing themselves to like it or are not true fans". A lot of his later videos threw some type of shade or putdown to those who enjoy Norse GoW between 2018-2020. To the point that he tried to distance himself by either rarely acknowledging it, and just focus on reviewing old games he does enjoy. The man will rarely bother with a new modern game, unless he knows he's going to enjoy it or be interested. His review of Hi-Fi Rush from 2023. I am happy went into a more positive direction/outlook, but I am still waiting on that apology and him hiding his PT "review" (a biatch rant) video to private when he started insulting fans of the demo or people interested in a Kojima made Silent Hill game.

I think people need to have more of an open mind with things. That doesn't mean don't be critical of what's on offer, but more look at things with an understanding of what the game is trying to be.

That's the problem with of these people: they either take it too far or have unrealistic expectations no different from those at the top in the AAA industry.

For example you can absolutely point at Devil May Cry and say that DMC is a shitty RTS game, and you would be 100% correct, but also DMC isn't trying to be an RTS so it can't really be judged like it.

Anyone expecting an RTS in DMC is an idiot or clearly has not been around games long enough. I know V exists in DMC5, but he's more of a mage/summon type character in action game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Dormin wasn't the bad guy in Shadow of the Colossus (and by extension neither was Wander). Not sure how much of a hot take this is, but whenever this game gets discussed it's usually about how Dormin tells you to do something bad and how you shouldn't be doing it. But looking at it objectively Dormin doesn't actually do anything evil. The worst he does is take over Wander's body, but this only happens after Wander gets killed by Eamon's guards anyway. The only thing we have to go on to assume Dormin is evil is really his voice and the fact that he looks like a giant shadow demon, but nothing about that proves that he's evil. He doesn't even trick Wander or makes false promises, as he tells Wander outright he'll pay a heavy price for Mono's resurrection, and in the end he fullfills his end of the bargain by reviving Mono. And he really didn't need to do that since Wander was already "dead" by then.

Wander is a bit more questionable, since he's actively trying to slay the colossi, but then it's arguable whether the colossi are actually alive. Sure, they struggle against their demise, but then they also only come to live once Wander shows up. Before Wander arrives it's not like they're living out their lives, they're completely dormant and might as well be part of he landscape or architechture. One could assume they only come to life to stop the force they carry - Dormin - from being released, and if Dormin isn't evil, why shouldn't he be freed? Considering Eamon vanquishes Dormin quite easily in the end by throwing the sword into the pool, it's obvious Dormin wasn't imprisoned to stop some evil from being released. He was held captive for alternative purposes that Eamon kept to himself.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

The SecondWind folks have been super nitpicky about God of War: Ragnarok since day 1. I was watching Yahtzee and Frost stream it and they were bitching about the pacing the whole time including literally during the very beginning. It was like "wah wah it's been 5 minutes I haven't gotten to play yet!" Same mentality they will dismiss Last of Us as a mOviE GamE and why not just watch the TV show lulz I'm so clever...

It's gamer brainrot, and I've made this analogy a million times before and I'll make it again- like a music critic that spends so much of his life with music that just straight-forward good music is boring and they become interested in meta, avant-garde, or things that "comment on the medium."

See also: SkillUp's recent review of Dragon's Dogma 2, where he spends half and hour explaining what's wrong with it and then recommends the game because it's "interesting to talk about" or whatever.

I love all these folks, I really do, I watch their stuff because they're thoughtful and interesting, but yes, some of the criticism can feel misplaced or nitpicky or insular.

I personally don't remember the menus from Raganarok at all. I remember the story, the combat, the setpieces. But then again I just freaking loved that game *shrugs*

 

[Bedinsis]

Not exactly a hot take as this was always obvious to everyone except Xbox shills, Microsoft and maybe Bobby K. Embrace, extend, extinguish. It’ll happen either directly or indirectly because well, it’s been observable so far.

While the acquisition was underway it became such a major news item that mainstream news picked up on it, and they had some representatives giving their take. I felt incredibly old once the guy running a gaming website revealed that he had seen a gradual shift in their community going from slightly negative to slightly positive. It baffled me, and then I visited the same website and read one person being positive about Activision-Blizzard's titles going on GamePass. I didn't look for more, but I trust that the person saw that change. So I think the part I underlined were wrong.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

While the acquisition was underway it became such a major news item that mainstream news picked up on it, and they had some representatives giving their take. I felt incredibly old once the guy running a gaming website revealed that he had seen a gradual shift in their community going from slightly negative to slightly positive. It baffled me, and then I visited the same website and read one person being positive about Activision-Blizzard's titles going on GamePass. I didn't look for more, but I trust that the person saw that change. So I think the part I underlined were wrong.

Time will tell, but generally speaking they don’t have a good track record for these kinds of things. It’s what happens when a company is so big they have a seemingly endless stream of capital, and they basically throw money at things to see what sticks. Gamers will eventually see for themselves how good or bad this turns out for them.

 

[Piscian]

Steam had an FPS fest sale the last week or two, but their store is such a cesspit that it was impossible for me to actually browse for games. No matter what filters I put on it kept sending me back to the same 10 or so AAA games on sale, more than half of which were already in my library. Like I was legitimately shopping for indie games I'd had on my radar, but it was not worth the hassle.