Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[Erik_Twice]

I absolutely support this kind of revisions, wish more old games had them.

In fact, I'm pretty sure Comix Zone has a mod that fixes those two problems. I remember people talking about it before and it shouldn't be a hard chance. So perhaps we should look for it?

[marurun]

So, I decided to post this opinion over here instead of in the Games Beaten thread because it's probably more appropriate over here: I think Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is slightly overrated.

Yeah, I know. Get it out of your system now.

I actually do love SotN. In fact, I'm one of the few people who probably enjoys playing the Saturn version a little more than the US Playstation version due to the extra content, the ability to run, and the improved dive kick. I enjoy SotN a lot and have beaten and 100%-ed the game (items, armor, everything, including thrown weapons and consumables) on both platforms. I go back to both versions regularly and play them (though my last play through was a couple years ago). The game is very important for a number of reasons I don't think I need to remind anyone of, but the game is also flawed in ways folks don't as often talk about, and those flaws are why I think it is slightly overrated.

First, there's the issue of challenge vis a vis leveling and weapon/armor acquisition. A new item can make the difference between being pummeled in one area and completely stomping the enemies there. And levels also can make a huge difference. While I love being able to level up and constantly find new stuff, it often feels very unbalanced. I will move into a new area and barely stumble through alive and suddenly I find a great sword and as long as I strike first everything becomes dead. On the one hand, this can be great fun when you go into an area you aren't quite ready for and somehow survive (and level up quickly). On the other hand, it can make some areas of the game really really boring after a while. Subsequent Castlevania games in this model preserve some of that but don't feel quite as exaggerated. This means that progression for those games is smoother, but that there is also less of a feeling of surprise and new power as suddenly you are slaughtering everything in an area. There are also some late-game enemies that remain difficult even after you've gone nuts on levels and equipment. That's fine, but it does feel weird to be massively buff and still have to contend with the HP meat shields that are the Guardians in the inverted central corridor. This mirrors a lot of what you also see in RPGs, but because skill is also a factor this can be a real wild-card. I'm not sure how this could be improved, really. I guess I think later games really do have a stronger challenge curve, even if they lose some of the magic of new weapons and armor, though that can be mitigated, in part, by providing more varied types of weapon attacks and special powers tied to weapons. Too bad most sequels didn't do that. Symphony was at least littered with unique weapons with interesting abilities. So I guess while Symphony is the worst example of this imbalance, it also contains the best efforts to mix things up.

Second, there's the issue of mobility, especially as it relates to backtracking. I love how the double jump and dive kick, and later the bat, and then much later the jump boots, really open up the levels. But at least in the PSX original funky hit detection on the dive kick really hurt the fun and utility of it. But there are additional issues. In the regular castle most jumps are achievable with regular jumps, and there are some jumps that require double jumps, but you're not doing double-jumps everywhere just for the heck of it (though you certainly can). Once you're in the upside down castle, forward movement becomes a real slog. I love that there's so many new enemies and items and challenges, and the idea of flipping every level upside down is kind of genius, but it also has so many problems. Suddenly most jumps require double jumps, and moving around in the areas becomes very awkward and stop and start, no longer fluid like in the regular castle. All too often I go to make a jump and realize just shy that a double jump isn't QUITE enough to make it, which means I then have to either bat transform, which stalls momentum for a moment, or rocket jump, which is fun, but also stalls when you smack a ceiling or underside of a platform. I will often waste the MP and just go mist for a brief moment because I can continue to drift up and forward even as I hop right in and back out. I recognize that this is a side effect of merely flipping the castle, but it makes me wonder why the ceilings weren't better designed to support more fluid traversal once they knew they were going to be flipping things. There are all sorts of other platforms and accommodations added to areas, why not do more of that? It makes character movement feel choppy to me. I think they should have introduced an infinite jump to facilitate and simply require you press down to dive kick. But even then, when EVERY jump has to be a double jump, it just gets annoying. As much as I love all the new enemies, music, and set pieces in the inverted castle, I hate the slog of getting around. Some areas are just a real pain to traverse and it really hurts the game experience, especially when you're an obsessive drop item collector like me.

tl:dr
I love Symphony of the Night but balance issues combined with mobility and design issues in the inverted castle mean the game is ultimately flawed, and for all the game's historical importance and infinite replayability, I think it is slightly overrated because people all too often overlook the flaws without any critical attention.

[Ack]

tl:dr
I love Symphony of the Night but balance issues combined with mobility and design issues in the inverted castle mean the game is ultimately flawed, and for all the game's historical importance and infinite replayability, I think it is slightly overrated because people all too often overlook the flaws without any critical attention.

Well...yeah. That's pretty much an issue with every "Best Game Ever." There's no shame in it.

[Xeogred]

It seems like we have the SoTN talk once a month so I'm exhausted haha, but I'll just say... I love it but I think I like Aria of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon, and Order of Eclessia just as much. Each have their pros and cons.

Love them, but I'm in the camp that believes even if all those CV's fused into one super CV, it's still no match against Super Metroid!

[marurun]

I don't think it trumps Super Metroid. Definitely not. And Aria of Sorrow comes frighteningly close to equaling its quality, if not necessarily its visual splendor.

[Exhuminator]

It seems like we have the SoTN talk once a month so I'm exhausted haha

At least we've stopped debating Wind Waker.

I love it but I think I like Aria of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon, and Order of Eclessia just as much.

Aria of Sorrow is quite good aurally/aesthetically, but I have the same problem with it that I do Harmony of Dissonance. It's way too easy. One of the reasons I prefer CotM from the GBA trilogy, is that it's actually challenging.

[Sarge]

I might think Symphony is the best, but you bring up some valid points. The game is pretty easy overall, and now that I've played through it many, many times, the stop-start nature of the inverted castle bothers me more. I still replay it every couple of years, much like I do the rest of the Igavanias.

[marurun]

Yeah, I think it's only because I've played SotN so darned much that I notice those couple issues as much as I do.

[Ack]

Suddenly I want to debate Windwaker for no reason at all.

Windwaker...most debated Zelda, or does that honor go to Zelda 2? Or Majora's Mask?

[Xeogred]

Suddenly I want to debate Windwaker for no reason at all.

Windwaker...most debated Zelda, or does that honor go to Zelda 2? Or Majora's Mask?

Probably Wind Waker. My least favorite 3D Zelda. Majora's Mask I don't see talked about much in general thesedays, to be honest. And I think at least around RB we all universally agree that Zelda 2 rules.