9 Unpopular Gaming Opinions

Written for and published by Forces of Geek July 2018


The internet lives and breathes opinions, they’re practically oxygen. Whether earnest or trolled, opinions are emotive in a way that facts just aren’t and humans are emotional beings. That's why it’s becoming harder to review and critique games. 

Few games journalists (or any journalists for that matter) are able to put aside their biases and review a game solely on its merits and flaws. Not because they lack the ability to do so or are bad writers, but because unbiased, factual writing is considered boring by most. Of course they could stand by their work and retain their integrity (and I believe they should) but I also can’t deny that integrity cannot pay their bills or feed them in the way a bit of hyperbole can.

As reading habits change and the onslaught of information and content vying for our attention exponentially increases, only the more sensationalised or emotive content being produced is being seen. We’re in an age where clickbait is more important to news sites than factual content. Because facts are dull and often logical and hyperbole and gossip are far more appealing, no matter how illogical they seem.

Not surprisingly, the more illogical a tagline is, the more people will click on it. Even those who are only looking because they are questioning its validity are still adding to the overall views or providing ad revenue without realising. Thus, the cycle continues because many editors will only accept writing that increases profits or views. 

Of course, I’m not saying we’re all slaves to our online lives because we’re all evolved human beings here, right? We all know that one person’s opinion is simply that, their opinion…RIGHT?! Yet, the animalistic, territorial, knee-jerk reaction in us forces out an emotional response to most things and depending on our own opinions, a slew of insults or indignation erupts like a geyser, spewing out online. 

So today, I’m going to play devil’s advocate and stoke that fire by listing a handful of really unpopular gaming opinions that I’ve seen on social media in recent years (some of which are secretly mine so good luck trying to guess).

1. Final Fantasy VIII is better than Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VIII improved upon VII in all aspects and it had the guts to reimagine and break apart the mechanics of its predecessor. Just one example of many, instead of powering up spells through levelling up, you now steal them from enemies and you craft your own weapons. 

FFVIII even upped the sci-fi elements, including cool futuristic settings like Esthar City, time travel, space kissing and it includes a main character with a sword gun! I applaud FFVIII for breaking away so dramatically.

To re-invent a game in a franchise is a generally a good thing, otherwise the games in that franchise become carbon copies of themselves. Also, Final Fantasy VII is over-hyped anyway.

2. The Last of Us is mediocre at best

Yeah, you heard me. TLOU is mediocre. Its gameplay is repetitive and the story is pretty much a glorified The Walking Dead TV episode in which very little happens. There’s so much praise regarding the story and while it’s not bad, it’s just okay so I really don’t understand all the awards it won.

I enjoy stealth elements in games but even the stealth in this game is boring, you throw the same conveniently placed items to distract enemies and take them down with ease, there’s no danger or skill involved. Oh, and Ellie can’t swim huh? Cool, you can use a pallet for her to float on. Fortunately, there are always pallets floating around whenever Joel and Ellie need to cross water. 

None of the enemies in this game (Clickers included) are even remotely scary or hard to deal with. Side characters and enemies (except Clickers this time) are forgettable and personally, I think Joel and Ellie are both extremely dull characters and their connection is unbelievable.  

3. The original Mass Effect 3 ending was perfectly fine

Even before the patch, that ending made perfect sense to me. It didn’t undercut players previous choices like people claimed it did. Those decisions still mattered throughout the game. Just like in life, we have choices throughout but we don’t get to decide when and how it ends. 

It perfectly encapsulated the human experience and is incredibly philosophical. For me, it couldn’t have ended any other way.  Also, the game writers own their stories, fans don’t get to take ownership of something. If you can do better, why aren’t you a games writer?

4. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is wildly overrated

Breath of the Wild is not the best Zelda game and did not deserve the accolades it did. In fact, the entire series only received these accolades because of overrating by fans who rated it 10/10 before it was even released. Die-hard Nintendo fans are the sole reason Nintendo are still making these games in the first place. 

The game is still formulaic even if it appears on the surface to be different. Same old Zelda-isms in an open world setting, that’s not revolutionary and it’s certainly not deserving of 10/10 ratings.

While we’re on the subject, The Wind Waker is a better game than Ocarina Of Time too. Why else would Nintendo sell The Wind Waker with copies of OoT? Because they wanted to show how much they had improved over the years. If you played both on the Gamecube, there’s no denying it either, you know I’m right even if you don’t want to accept it. 

5. ‘Battle Royale’ style games are trash

Seriously, this trend needs to stop. Break it down and it’s just looting until you come across someone hiding in a room who is waiting to kill you like in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. It is so inane and pointless.

Even if you do manage to win, there’s not a great deal of incentive to do so, you get 100 points which let’s face it, mean nothing as well as on onscreen message telling you that you were first. These games lack a real sense of accomplishment and are simply time wasters. 

The only reason Fortnite is even popular is because it’s probably the only kid friendly Battle Royale game out there and it looks like a cartoon. 

6. Single Player in 2018 is irrelevant 

Get some friends to play with or quit whining. It’s 2018 and gaming has evolved, you either get with the times or get left behind. Single player games are never satisfying these days, anyway. Linear single player stories feel claustrophobic and open world single player games feel like chores. 

Games are for playing together and creating communities, think back on your favourite gaming memories, I guarantee that they include other people or friends, even if you were playing single player, I’m sure there were friends present. Why else would streaming channels like Twitch exist? This is the future.

7. Pay-To-Win games are not inherently bad

Can everyone take a minute to get over themselves? This hatred of Pay-To-Win is so old and dated, hating on someone because they have something you don’t makes you bitter. Games aren’t fair, someone always loses out. PTW doesn’t mean a gamer will be better than you but if they have the money to at least try and not lose, then fair play to them. 

Real gamers know the value in not paying to bypass countless hours of grinding. Those hours make you a better gamer than that rich kid who will probably only play the game for a month and get bored of winning. By which time, you’ll have levelled up so just get over it. 

8. Overwatch isn’t a good game

Overwatch isn’t even a mediocre game. Even with multiple characters with differing abilities, its gameplay manages to remain repetitive. Unless I play it with friends, the matchmaking is terrible and I’m often being let down by other players. 

The maps are badly designed too and character balance is awful, I’m often having to change who I want to play as in order to bolster a team. I truly believe that if Blizzard’s name wasn’t attached to this and its art design wasn’t as good looking, Overwatch wouldn’t have sold like it did. 

9. New Vegas is the worst of the modern Fallout games

For a start, New Vegas’ entire aesthetic with the casinos and gambling has been done already! Fallout 2 had New Reno, which was mile better. New Vegas in which you spend quite a chunk of the game vying to get inside The Strip, leaves you disappointed because once you make it through, you come across very little other than three or four deserted casinos, sure you can control The Strip, but what was the point? 

There is no soul to this game, it’s more of the same just in a casino setting. Games should be more than just their settings…well, unless we’re talking about Assassin’s Creed games but we’re not, so you get my point. 

Personally, I lacked any real interest after reaching The Strip and felt that the game never quite hit the high notes it was aiming for but then that’s what happens when you make a game that feels more like DLC. 

Hopefully, you’re not too angry or frothing at the mouth from rage, remember I’m only playing devil’s advocate here. What are some opinions you have about games that are widely contested? Do you agree with any in my list? Or can you guess which opinions are mine? 

Let me know in the comments section below. 

Until next time, remember my opinions are right so don’t ‘@‘ me.