Unpopular Opinions about Video Games

If we could get rid of AAA games in favor of more AA or indie games, that would be a win for the industry. AAA games aren't worth it anymore other than a select few (FromSoftware, GTA), do we really need those gigantic soulless games made to please investors? I doubt you can get better than Red Dead 2, or Elden Ring.

Also, get investors off the industry. They're nothing but leeches.
I Agree with no need for AAA, disagree RDR2 or Elden Ring are pinacles, and agree all investors should be forcibly removed from the industry and it should return to a hobbyist passion project.
 
TBF the GTA series used to have reasons for you to explore the map outside of missions. Knowing where the health/wanted level pickups were was a benefit, plus you could find the collectibles or maybe find somewhere a useful vehicle spawns reliably. Honestly, I don’t even know anybody that engaged with the story beyond unlocking the entire map before IV, the entire point of the games was just causing mayhem in a sandbox.
Ironically, the games became less fun when you were encouraged to do so instead of doing it organically.
 
Without any hyperbole, Nintendo could release Wind Waker as a brand-new Switch game today and no one would say "BUT MUH GRAPHICS!"
I vaguely remember people saying that at the time, so maybe it would happen this time too.

Overall i agree the indie scene is a big letdown and not the "ultimate savior of the video game race" like its usually talked about, i used to believe more in it but not anymore.
Let's not mince words. 99% of people that say indie games suck are corporate consoomers who are more interested in graphics and "water cooler talk" than playing games.
 
99% of people that say indie games suck
I'd say they noticed who's making indie games tbh. Indie games are made by people far too concerned about graphics and art-style rather than game-play, they would have been part of the large team making generic AAA Slop but they couldn't get a nepo hire so they just cope by using Unity and pandering to queers. I wish more indie devs cared about good game-play, I hold Factorio and SIFU (I'll add as well Midnight Fight Express as it was made by one Polish dad) as the gold standard for the game-play loop for any indie dev.

TLDR : It's not that hard to make a fun game but the majority of indie devs want the validation of being a games designer rather than making a good game.
 
If we could get rid of AAA games in favor of more AA or indie games, that would be a win for the industry. AAA games aren't worth it anymore other than a select few (FromSoftware, GTA), do we really need those gigantic soulless games made to please investors? I doubt you can get better than Red Dead 2, or Elden Ring.

Also, get investors off the industry. They're nothing but leeches.
It doesn't matter how many As it has when Sweet Baby writes the story, the protagonist is a brick-faced dyke, and the game play is "press forward to win."
 
Indie games are made by people far too concerned about graphics and art-style rather than game-play
It depends what you mean.

When people tell me "indie games suck", I ask what indie games they're playing. It's never Stardew Valley or Abiotic Factor or Palworld or anything like it. It's either utter shite so obscure I wonder how they found it, or obvious wokeshit with "the message" front and center. I mention Abiotic Factor as it's my addiction at the moment. Crow Country just came out, and I've not played it yet, but I'm a sucker for classic style survival horror so will give it a go once I've finished Silent Hill 4 and Tormented Souls. I also have a bunch of other indies on my backlog and on my wishlist. But I'm told, repeatedly, that good indies don't exist.

When I point to good, or at least potentially interesting indie games, they reject the suggestion outright. It's pretty clear they aren't interested in indie games, or playing new games. They only want AAA slop and to complain about it online. They want to be a black pill dealer, that's on them, but don't make the mistake of buying those black pills because it's utter horse shit. There's even going to be some stupid enough to try and criticise those games in particular, instead of realising I'm using them to illustrate a trend.


As for graphics. I have some experience with this. People say they don't care about graphics, but then refuse to play my games because the graphics suck. Use stock assets? "It's just an asset flip." Have a retro art style? "Lazy." or "I'm sick of nostalgia bait retro art style." I've not tried flat filled polygons, but I'm guessing there would be complaints about that too. It doesn't matter how refined and good your gameplay is if people look at it then ignore it.
 
It doesn't matter how refined and good your gameplay is, if people look at it then ignore it.
That's the mentality I'm talking about. Did you make those games cause you wanted to or just because you wanted the validation from it? If YOU have fun playing the games you've made then what does it matter what others say about it, outside of horrendous bugs, crashes and whatnot? People will always find something to complain about but the majority of the time (the flowers are too yellow, the fog is too dense, the flashing images are triggering my epilepsy) they're not people worth listening to cause even if you fix the original issue they move to something else to complain about.
 
Unpopular opinion: Deus Ex Human Revolution is a pretty good game that's gotten an unfairly negative reputation and become an Internet punching bag because not even the best game could ever live up to being a sequel to Deus Ex.

It's not a masterpiece but it's a perfectly adequate, fun game with an art style that felt distinct from the usual Blade Runner cyber-futurism.
 
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Unpopular opinion: Deus Ex Human Revolution is a pretty good game that's gotten an unfairly negative reputation and become an Internet punching bag because not even the best game could ever live up to being a sequel to Deus Ex.

It's not a masterpiece but it's a perfectly adequate, fun game with an art style that felt unique from other cyber-future games and movies.
I remember people being generally positive about DEHR, and there being a lot of positive buzz around it when it came out.
Mankind Divided on the other hand...
 
Anybody who says "gameplay loop" instead of "gameplay" is a nonbinary broccoli head zoomer who watches game theory videos on tiktok
Unless they actually use the word correctly
Like, driving and shooting is the usual gameplay in GTA, but going to a questgiver, watching or skipping a cutscene, driving to a certain location, shooting, then driving to a different location, watching or skipping a cutscene, that qualifies as a "gameplay loop" to me
 
Unpopular opinion: Deus Ex Human Revolution is a pretty good game that's gotten an unfairly negative reputation and become an Internet punching bag because not even the best game could ever live up to being a sequel to Deus Ex.

It's not a masterpiece but it's a perfectly adequate, fun game with an art style that felt distinct from the usual Blade Runner cyber-futurism.
I've played through Human Revolution dozens of times over the years. It's an excellent game that allowed me to step into the shoes of a cyberpunk detective uncovering a vast conspiracy of the global elite

What more could I ask for from it?
 
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I remember people being generally positive about DEHR, and there being a lot of positive buzz around it when it came out.
Same. I remember complaints about having to kill the bosses so pacifist runs were impossible (that was patched iirc), and that ammo was ridiculously rare (a reasonable complaint imo).

Here's a real unpopular opinion. Dues Ex wasn't that good, especially if you're new and don't know where all the items are hidden.

That's the mentality I'm talking about. Did you make those games cause you wanted to or just because you wanted the validation from it? If YOU have fun playing the games you've made then what does it matter what others say about it, outside of horrendous bugs, crashes and whatnot?
Because games are meant to be played.

I'm told that it's normal for artists to hate their own work. I find it hard to play my own games or enjoy my own work in general as I see all the areas I could improve, know the obscure maths behind the movement system, where I had to compromise on the level design, which obscure exploit I can use to break the AI, etc.

eg. In Half-Life 2, only to top and left side of each gun exists, because that's all the player sees. If I take a similar short cut, I know that part of the weapon is missing and that bothers me.

The world doesn't need another Space Invaders clone or Vampire Survivors knock off. So if I make Flappy Bird 2, then of course no one plays it. That I get. I'm generally one of the first to call people out when they put their effort into making things of no value. Oh, another pixel art metroidvania? I can understand why no one plays it without arm twisting. But if I try to put some effort to make something of substance and nobody even gives it a try because graphics? That stings.
 
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Use stock assets? "It's just an asset flip." Have a retro art style? "Lazy." or "I'm sick of nostalgia bait retro art style."
Yes. Keep coping.
 
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