Roasting my favorite games
I usually don't hop on list trends but I liked the idea of this one a lot and I also think the more I like a game the more I think about ways it could be better. More than roasting I'm mostly just picking out things I would change or add on to make the games even better. If you are curious about why I still have a game at 5 stars despite all the stuff I mention feel free to comment and I'll be happy to elaborate.
30 Games
Enemy variety in Sekiro is actually pretty good and I appreciated bosses like the apes and the Demon of Hate that forced you to approach the game in different ways. I'd love to see more enemies like that however I think they should get rid of the bulls because they suck. Really I'll just forever be salty this never got DLC.
I think the main thing that turns people off this game is the spaceship flight. I still haven't really mastered it to this day but I can appreciate it's dedication to the physics etc. I think maybe an option to simplify the flight somehow would be super helpful. People complain about the anglerfish too but if anything I'd like more scary moments like that.
For all the kingdom hearts games on this list I'm just going to say the story has a lot of issues AT TIMES and is for the most part not great in any of the disney worlds. The story could've been greatly improved if they just let the series end here. No BBS, no DDS, none of the keyblade war crap that undoes everything good about the first two games. I'm going to stop there before I go crazy. Also the reaction commands which I love most of the time get to be a little much at other times.
Persona 5 honestly has pretty trash character writing and many of the social links are garbage or problematic.
My BIGGEST gripe though is just how trash the social link interactions actually are. Why do I have to guess what dialogue option these characters want to hear and get irreversibly punished for trying to pick an answer that feels more true to myself? Social links should be reworked so they don't end up wasting your time more in most cases. Is Joker supposed to be a jerk? Then don't give me a jerk option. I will never play a persona game without a social link guide because I deeply hate when games waste my time this much.
Puzzles in dungeons are also a waste of time and the daily life sim could use a lot of tweaking to not just feel like waiting for nothing to happen. Maybe let me skip over days where I'm just studying or working out and save me the time just staring at loading screens.
My BIGGEST gripe though is just how trash the social link interactions actually are. Why do I have to guess what dialogue option these characters want to hear and get irreversibly punished for trying to pick an answer that feels more true to myself? Social links should be reworked so they don't end up wasting your time more in most cases. Is Joker supposed to be a jerk? Then don't give me a jerk option. I will never play a persona game without a social link guide because I deeply hate when games waste my time this much.
Puzzles in dungeons are also a waste of time and the daily life sim could use a lot of tweaking to not just feel like waiting for nothing to happen. Maybe let me skip over days where I'm just studying or working out and save me the time just staring at loading screens.
Really the main problems with this are all from the clearly rushed development. Izalith is broken, platforming is broken, etc. Some bosses scale ridiculously in NG+ such as the 4 kings. Also the combat does feel slow compared to DKS3, Elden Ring, etc.
Same thoughts with story as KH2. Combat wise the combat here is obviously much more choppy/chunky than KH2 (but I still freaking love this combat) and party member AI is pretty basic and not that great.
Let me move the camera! The choice to make the camera not move in the overworld is asinine. Some of the scenarios with time travel are crap. Many of the enemies are copy pasted as well. Honestly though all the issues with this are probably budget related because it's clear that square shafted this game because they've turned into idiotic gremlins.
There is some dynasty warriors jank here in the overworld and movement. The dodging could be better and the party member AI is not the best either.
Same thoughts as KH2 final mix
Same thoughts as KH final mix
11
The enemy AI is a bit too aggressive at times and it makes weapons/unfair fighting techniques necessary a lot of the time. A complete lack of checkpoints in levels is nice as a challenge but it can be a bit much for sure. Also some of the leveling options like decreasing your current necklace count are pretty useless.
Also the camera gets pretty bad at times.
Also the camera gets pretty bad at times.
Some of the non-boss levels can be a bit boring. Many of the builds are not viable in a lot of situations. Having to unlock extra missions in consequent playthroughs is a nice idea for replayability but forcing replayability to experience additional levels is not my favorite thing.
Ah man. I'm sure you all know the problems with some of the characters in this game. Particularly the homophobia/transphobia/fatphobia/general pervy creepiness and certain shallow/flat characters. I don't know what to add that isn't already in most of the reviews for this game.
To be different I'll say that unlocking persona with the cards is boring and lame compared to the negotiations from SMT/P5. I also have all the same gripes with social links in this game as I do with Persona 5.
To be different I'll say that unlocking persona with the cards is boring and lame compared to the negotiations from SMT/P5. I also have all the same gripes with social links in this game as I do with Persona 5.
14
Same as Persona 5 Royal
This combat is honestly just not that great. It's not terrible for sure it's just kind of slow and boring and really easy unless you jack the difficulty up. They also over sexualize almost all of the underage characters. Also I freaking love Miwako and am still upset she wasn't one of the protagonists.
I do like how the stranger feels like a very different approach to the rest of the game. A lot of the physics and tricks don't really work and are replaced by new mechanics which is fine but I wish the majority of the DLC wasn't just on the stranger. I wish you had more objectives that required you revisit other planets, etc.
Honestly it's really hard to find flaws with this one that are cut and dry. Is some of the character writing pretty goofy and convoluted? Sure, but it kind of grows on you in a parasitic Kojima sort of way. Also the enemy AI can get predictable but I'd say that's both a pro and con.
Everything from MGS3 but also this game spends too much time in the same big location. More location variety would've been great. Also some of the transitions between perspectives can get rough/disorienting especially when switching from overhead to first person views.
Ok there is actually a lot that is wrong with this game but the story is just so dang good and I am a huge Roxas fan. The DS wasn't a great platform for it and the combat suffers in a lot of ways. The blocky graphics are definitely not a con for me though if you were wondering.
This is one of those games that just hits so hard emotionally it's hard to fault it, but now that I've had some time after finishing it I can definitely say the super basic corporate looking graphics do make it hard to take seriously at times and also make it hard to convey some of the more important emotions though I think they still manage. The blinking mechanic can also be iffy for sure but I respect them for trying it and I love it as an idea.
You do not spend enough time in Gongaga. The game desperately needs more Gongaga. It could also use some modernizations to combat, stop saying ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE every five seconds, and also more mission variety and maps to explore. I was kind of depressed to hear that the recent "remake" was basically just updated graphics and rerecorded voice overs because I love this game and a proper remake that smoothed out more QOL stuff would've been amazing.
22
The humor is good for sure but there are definitely times it overstays its welcome. The various gels could've been used a lot more (but there's tons of fan levels/mods to address this). I also would've loved more portal based boss fight type puzzles instead of just traversal all the time.
23
Same issues as portal 2 but mainly this game is just way too short and lacks variety in puzzle types.
24
I both love and hate the incredible cast of playable characters. Not because any of them are particularly terrible but there's some quality disparities for sure. Also this game has one of the worst battle themes for sure which is rough because you hear it so much though 90% of the soundtrack still bangs.
I would've loved for this to be longer and have more boss fights.
26
I see so much dislike for this game in other people's reviews and I always have such a hard time relating but everyone's points are valid and should be considered. One thing for sure is that I preferred fighting aliens to fighting military but I didn't dislike fighting them or their goofy voices either. I didn't hate Xen but the platforming there was pretty trash.
27
I wish the game was just more Ravenholm. Ravenholm is one of my favorite levels of all time. I did not like the Antlion sections very much and it just got really frustrating whenever they were triggered. Also the episode structure was not great and while the vehicle sections can be fun I feel like they were too long and dragged out.
I love Gonzales and the fact that he is only there for battle training at a fair hurts me. The active/position based battle system is a blast and is a great evolution of the turn based genre but it can feel annoying when you really want to use certain moves but you aren't in the right formation/don't have the right party members. There's also quite a few bosses that have way too much health and become a drag.
29
Perfect game. I can't say it's too short because the compact nature of it is one of its strong points. I will say I think it could've hammed things up a little more. The graphics are fantastic and charming for sure as well but I would definitely not be mad if there was ever a 3d updated graphics version. Maybe it is too short. Maybe I want a longer more epic version of this idea...
Everything I would improve about this game is basically the stuff that's added in Underground/American Wasteland but the reason those games aren't here is because the courses just aren't quite as memorable and I'm not totally sold on some of the added skating mechanics.
11 Comments
i actually found the orbital navigation the most engaging part of outer wilds, what keeps me away is the main story funnily enough. i was expecting a game where i can just do whatever
@imshitting420 Thanks for the comment! I actually don't dislike the orbital navigation and grew to really enjoy it over my play through I just know some people that got overwhelmed by it and gave up because of it.
@TimAlien yee
Alright this is definitely a respectable list but I do have some issues with your points against Persona 5. First of all, which Social Links would you say are problematic? I'm assuming you're talking about the adult confidants you can romance which is...fair enough. However I'd also like to say there are some really good ones like Iwai's, Mishima's, Yoshida's, Sojiro's and Akechi's in Royal for example. Also I definitely agree with the dialogue choice problem but I think this was in Persona 3 and carried on into 5. Enabling the characters to do stupid shit like the guy wanting to fuck his teacher in Persona 3 and you have to approve for the sweet rank up points. However I definitely agree that Persona 5 should've fixed this.
The puzzles...I personally enjoyed them, sure they're not hard but it's definitely nice to have to use your brain once in a while unlike in P3 and 4 where you're kind of just walking around yknow? But again, Understandable. Also the daily life thing wasn't too bad for me since the waiting times weren't too egregious on PS4 but totally understand if that's a flaw in your opinion.
I'm somewhat biased towards this game seeing as it is my first Persona game and a pretty important game in general for me but I'm always willing to hear out other perspectives especially seeing as you have some really interesting takes and actually reasonable unlike some of the people shitting on Persona 5 to be unique I guess.
The puzzles...I personally enjoyed them, sure they're not hard but it's definitely nice to have to use your brain once in a while unlike in P3 and 4 where you're kind of just walking around yknow? But again, Understandable. Also the daily life thing wasn't too bad for me since the waiting times weren't too egregious on PS4 but totally understand if that's a flaw in your opinion.
I'm somewhat biased towards this game seeing as it is my first Persona game and a pretty important game in general for me but I'm always willing to hear out other perspectives especially seeing as you have some really interesting takes and actually reasonable unlike some of the people shitting on Persona 5 to be unique I guess.
(also I apologise for the yapping and possibly coming off as a dick in my last paragraph, I'm not good at conveying tone in text.)
@G0dot Thanks for the comment! Don't get me wrong. Persona 5 is still one of my few 5 star games and I love it. It was my first Persona game as well and means a ton to me. It's spot on this list shows it's my 4th favorite game of all time!
Problematic social links are as you mentioned, mostly just Kawashima and Ohya/Takemi to a lesser extent. I also felt like most of the main party member links were kind of unremarkable. I'm not trying to say that the majority aren't great and I love all the links you mentioned. Not that they're bad but these are things I'd like to see improved about the game to make it perfect/better.
The attempt at puzzles is not a problem either and I agree they have the potential to give you a break to use your mind I just thought they were a little too easy and took to long to solve. The space puzzle in Okumura's palace is a good example because even if you've already figured it out in your mind it takes forever to follow through with it. One thing to say is that I just loved the combat so much I wanted to get the puzzles over with to get to the content that was more fun for me.
And the waiting in the daily life sections is understandable for sure it does make you feel like you're really living out every day I'm just thinking of ways to trim the fat of the game because I think I took 120 hours to play vanilla p5 and 140 or so for royal which don't get me wrong, was still a lot of time that I had fun, but I made my suggestions mostly to help with pacing etc.
Problematic social links are as you mentioned, mostly just Kawashima and Ohya/Takemi to a lesser extent. I also felt like most of the main party member links were kind of unremarkable. I'm not trying to say that the majority aren't great and I love all the links you mentioned. Not that they're bad but these are things I'd like to see improved about the game to make it perfect/better.
The attempt at puzzles is not a problem either and I agree they have the potential to give you a break to use your mind I just thought they were a little too easy and took to long to solve. The space puzzle in Okumura's palace is a good example because even if you've already figured it out in your mind it takes forever to follow through with it. One thing to say is that I just loved the combat so much I wanted to get the puzzles over with to get to the content that was more fun for me.
And the waiting in the daily life sections is understandable for sure it does make you feel like you're really living out every day I'm just thinking of ways to trim the fat of the game because I think I took 120 hours to play vanilla p5 and 140 or so for royal which don't get me wrong, was still a lot of time that I had fun, but I made my suggestions mostly to help with pacing etc.
@TimAlien I'm really glad you enjoyed the game and yes I agree with the party member social links being mediocre, I think Ann and Makoto had really disappointing links and Ann in general had so much potential but man does the game love to contradict it's themes after the first palace a lot.
As for the Okumura puzzles, it can definitely fuck with your mind a bit even if you feel like you know what you're supposed to do. Also totally agree with the Combat being addicting, you can only get such a fine turn based combat from a MegaTen Game :D oh and also I absolutely agree with the game being too damn long.
As for the Okumura puzzles, it can definitely fuck with your mind a bit even if you feel like you know what you're supposed to do. Also totally agree with the Combat being addicting, you can only get such a fine turn based combat from a MegaTen Game :D oh and also I absolutely agree with the game being too damn long.
I would've loved it if they had really leaned into the physics gameplay of ravenholm in half life 2 by taking away the players guns somehow at the start of the level. Maybe you deposit them in a locker when you arrive at the resistance base and don't get a chance to grab them after getting the gravity gun and escaping? Maybe give the shotgun back partway through when you meet grigori.
_YALP
1 month ago