What's The Most Overrated Game Of All Time?

masofdas wrote:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The most overrated game of ALL TIME 6/10

No it's not, it's Mega Man 2 on the NES.

Mega Man 3 is better, so I do agree with that take.

There's nothing coming to mind immediately for what I'd consider overrated. The closest thing I can think of is SM64 as I think rating that game highly as an all-time great platformer is a bit bonkers when Galaxy and Odyssey have shown how it's done, but I can still imagine how mind-blowing it would have been playing SM64 back at launch. Maybe "dated" is a better definition for my view on SM64 as opposed to "overrated".

The most recent one for me that comes to mind is Shadow of the colossus, if you are making a game that is basically boss battle after boss battle your controls better be top notch & the bosses themselves should be memorable. Out of the 16 available colossi I enjoyed 2 of them, so yep totally don't get why most folk like this game.

I think I said this back when you were chatting about the game around its launch, but I genuinely don't remember having any problems at all with the controls. Maybe I ought to replay to find out if that's the still the case because I dropped The Last Guardian due to control issues and a bit being a bit too fiddly.

SotC is all about the atmosphere for me - the rides towards each Colossus were brilliant, especially as you felt that ever-increasing dread as you approached the lair of the next Colossus. Some of the fights were shite though, I'll give you that - the two small Colossi were miserable affairs.

OBAMA

Yeah, seconding SotC. Awful awful controls. The game started off promising as heck, but by the time I figured out how to climb a wall to the first collos I was pretty much at my patience end with the game. The amount of unintuitive things that had already long been sorted by other games in the genre boggles the mind.

Getting genre-specific Final Fantasy VII is pretty up there for the rpg genre. Very much a relic of its time that doesn't stand up all that well today (speaking as someone who tried playing it a few years ago after growing up on jrpgs). Didn't get very far (by jrpg standards. By most games standards four hours is a decent length of time) before dropping it.

It's easy to pluck out something that's controversial for the sake of it, and it's tempting: I could go for Steamworld Dig, for instance.  But I can see how said mining game works well for those who like what it offers, even if I don't.  And I probably shouldn't jump on the SotC train (much though I agree with it).  Hmm...

I think the Super Mario 3D series is/was overrated as a 3D Mario.  They're actually pretty fine as 2D Marios that just happen to be in 3D, but they're presented as 3D Marios, so it's fair to judge them as such.  I don't think they had the magic of the other 3D Marios and they get a lot of smoke blown up their bottoms despite that.

I think Pokémon Diamond/Pearl were pretty overrated at the time.  They got a free pass and good marks because they were Pokémon games, I feel.  That seems to have been mostly corrected going forward, however.

But I think my 'winner' is Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.  It had good points, yes; but a lot of people seem to handwave away the clunky method of sailing the sea and the fact that you kept having to trek through the Temple of the Ocean King, to this day, or say these aren't problems.  They are.  So is the very limited selection of enemies to fight (a problem Skyward Sword also had incidentally).  LoZPH is one of my least favourite Zeldas at this time, when its (great for its day) innovation has lost its lustre, and I don't think that's because I don't get the things it's trying to do: I think it's because some of those things are poorly executed or bad ideas.

But Balla...

Those /aren't/ problems

You see!? Madness.

You're all wrong apart from Cappa. The only good thing about Mega Man is the music.

The thing is with SotC and I've said before the controls maybe not triangle is jump instead of cross, are meant to be awkward to make you feel like Wander climbing these massive Colossus as part of the experience which all adds to the games aura. It is an utter masterpiece of gaming as art, and one of the few games that make the PS2 okay and to be in my Top 25 games of all time easily.

I may think BotW is the most overrated game of ALL TIME! with its numerous issues but my hot take and you guessed from above the PS2 is the most overrated thing in gaming period, I just don't get what makes it that great and when I ever talk to people about there favourite games it's the likes of GTA San Andreas, which yes is a great game but could be played on Xbox and to me that's not a great PS2 game, but a great game of that era. It might just be me as I had/have all four consoles of that 6th generation and I just view San Andreas as a 6th generation game.

A lot what you're saying about SM64 and FFVII is true but they should be praised for what they did for gaming and people will continue to put in Top whatever lists as they do with films like Gone with the Wind for instance.

Yep, can't agree with SM64 (and presumably by extension FFVII). It was golden at the time, and that's where the views are coming from. It's overrated now, sure, but I don't think that can be considered apart from its history.

I wonder whether the PS2 might run into the same thing? It was cheap, had the most games (partly due to the aforementioned reason), and came out around the time that most of the people we probably discuss games with hit their adolescence, i.e. the age at which they'll assume the games the played are the best ever. See also: me, GBA soundtracks.

Super Mario 64 is only overrated in the sense that folk think it's a 98% sort of game, when really it's only a 97%'er.

Balladeer wrote:

Yep, can't agree with SM64 (and presumably by extension FFVII). It was golden at the time, and that's where the views are coming from. It's overrated now, sure, but I don't think that can be considered apart from its history.

I wonder whether the PS2 might run into the same thing? It was cheap, had the most games (partly due to the aforementioned reason), and came out around the time that most of the people we probably discuss games with hit their adolescence, i.e. the age at which they'll assume the games the played are the best ever. See also: me, GBA soundtracks.

I get why it was so popular and why people have found memories of it, I just find it a tad strange when the other three console's had more compelling games and should be talked about over the PS2 when it comes to greatest ever or whatever.

Another one here for Shadow of the Collossus, maybe it doesn't help I only played it recently but I don't think the dodgy controls can be forgiven, these don't need to be clunky to give you the sense you're climbing up some big lad, your eyes can do that. For me the main issue was the repititveness, dodge a little bit, climb up, attack, hold on, attack, hold on, repeat till covered in black blood. There were some Collossi that were a bit different but then these were where the clunky controls made them rubbish, thay bull one in particular is really broken. I'll give a shout out to one in the big round arena thing, that was pretty ace.

I don't wanna get sucked in to the BOTW debate either Mas but to use the phrase "numerous issues" is madness. I get it wasn't for you but none of them were problems with the game, they just weren't to your liking, it was all still technically brilliant.

To explain why it's great though, Hyrule is just bursting with so much life, even the most plain field can throw a curveball at you and create a special moment. The different ways you can approach the game is brilliant, it's so easy to take at your own pace, to get lost in the moment, to power on through an enemy stronghold, to get caught up in discovering the shrines and secrets.

Then there's the aesthetics, the beautiful art style, the amazing sounds and how well it's used sporadically. Breath of the Wild is such a fitting name because you really do feel like you're out in the Wild and you can't escape it no matter what you do. The suspense when you reach a tough enemy is second to none, discovering a tough as nails enemy that you just escape from only to come back later when you're stronger and give it the fight of its life. It's so rewarding to see the journey the game takes you on and I don't know how any game is ever gonna come close to it.

I wanna be buried with my Switch and a copy of it when I die.

Numerous problems then, however you want to word it, as in not just weapons breaking which is a big one for most as I can name more than that.

But hey I don't like one of the greatest games of all-time due to the many issues for me, and you don't like one of the greatest games of all-time in SotC, so what does it really matter.

Sorry done a big edit above. The weapons thing is the only realistic criticism I can understand but even then I find it an inspired touch that makes you try new things rather than just hack and slash. My point was that I don't SotC because it's flaws ruin the experience, BotW for you though isn't ruined because of flaws, it's because, to quote you from a while back "it isn't Zelda".

I get it isn't for you and SotC isn't for me, I can see why people would like SotC though and back then the clumsiness and repititveness probably weren't as noticeable. However I can't for the life of me understand why anyone dislikes BotW for reasons other than, it's not what you're used to playing.

I'll leave it at that because I know I won't change your mind, I'm just baffled by the notion that it has issues.

When I finished BotW, I said what I didn't like it about and on cast, so the issues I have and to be honest I don't get why it's so loved either.

As take Dark Souls, I've tried to play it and it's not for me but I get why it is popular and why it's considered so great.

Treesmurf wrote:

The weapons thing is the only realistic criticism I can understand but even then I find it an inspired touch that makes you try new things rather than just hack and slash.

I definitely remember being a bit shocked to learn there was weapon degradation in BotW but I got over it once I started playing and noticed that it allowed you to be really creative with the combat & find a style all of your own. You never seem to be in short supply of weapons either and if it somehow happens you can rely on your remote bombs as a permanent back up.

It fits the world perfectly as well because when you do find the master sword it feels like a truly special weapon meant to banish evil rather than something to be usedon anything and everything.

I would consider the Playstation 1 more overrated than the Playstation 2. I still love that system, and I also owned all four 6th gen consoles at the time. Pretty much everyone had one, particularly as a DVD player. Grand Theft Auto 3 was monumental at the time, and the PS2 had the best football games, best wrestling games, best fighting games, best RPGs, and it ended up getting the likes of Resi 4, Viewtiful Joe, Outrun 06.

A lot of systems are overrated – we only remember the good games. As far as overrated games go, I never saw why the Metal Gear games were so adored – the story is bonkers, half of the game is a cut scene and Splinter Cell is a better stealth experience. It just felt like a chore. I tried Breath of the Wild and didn’t stick with it – I just didn’t enjoy what I played and it came at the zenith of my decision to give up on open-world games. For me, it’s overrated but I can see why many adore it. Metal Gear though, I struggle to see why.

Never considered the PS1 to be overrated.

Lot of what you're saying about the PS2 is true (Justin Bieber is also popular doesn't mean he's good) as it had basically everything but I don't think it had the best of anything as I much preferred using Xbox for football games due to online and better performance for instance, even those weren't positives to you, it's still stuff the others had as well in a lot of cases. Maybe give it RPGs as PlayStation always been the best place for those.

You've brought up my pet hate about MGS comparing it to Splinter Cell, it's like comparing Call of Duty to Ghost Recon both shooter's but very different.

You've also said why it's brilliant, it's bonkers and the cinematics at the time were something else. I would say Snake Eater, is the one that's got that and rather normal in other regards.

Treesmurf wrote:

I don't wanna get sucked in to the BOTW debate either Mas...

Too late!

I can completely understand why MGS is so highly thought of, without having any interest in it myself, and it's precisely those bonkers characters and the plot. Same with, for example, Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door, which I know Cappa doesn't understand the appeal of. 'Words everywhere' is fine in gaming if those words are good.

I don't dislike The Thousand Year Door, and I didn't really get far enough into it to have a worthwhile opinion about it. I don't understand the appeal about it in the same way that I don't understand marine systems engineering - I just don't know what I don't know.

Ah, fair enough. I thought I recalled you being somewhat less keen at the time of the Mario vote. Happy to be wrong!

Maybe I was. That might have been around the time that I bought it again, and tried getting into it again. I'd be happy to see it get remastered again, as I know it would make a lot of other people happy. I'd maybe even give it another go too.

I wouldn't play a remaster of Star Wars Episode 1: Racer from the N64 though. There's an overrated game and a half. With it's straightforward gameplay, lack of action and ages-long tracks, it's a missable and forgettable game that absolutely doesn't belong in that conversation about the best N64 games, where folk seem to always stick it.