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Does a game getting what feels like *too* much praise ever grate on you?
- Thread starter Bomblord
- Start date
No, I'm not a hipster. I assume when people universally love something very much, that something is particularly good. And it almost always is, even when it doesn't resonate with me, personally. Since several people rely on me for game recommendations, I make a point of separating my own tastes from what is popular in a general sense and can be recommended to others.
Automata is a perfect example of a game that didn't fully resonate with me, since my expectations were too high from both the first Nier's story and Automata's reception. But I can separate my own enjoyment of the game from its objective quality, which is undeniable (and that soundtrack, man).
Undertale on the other hand is a game where my enjoyment matched the general reception 1 to 1.
This is an awesome idea; mods, can we have this? :)
"Criticism" of... what, exactly? Of others enjoying something "too much"?
I'm not a fan at all of TLoU (I'm with the crowd that thinks its a better story than game) but the only game that actually annoyed me with the praise was for the ending of Bioshock Infinite. And thats only because of people bringing out the "you just didn't get it" argument.
Yes. When a game I'm not interested in is shoved in my face everywhere online, it bothers me. Sometimes it gets to a point to where the game is shoehorned into threads that have nothing to do with it. It's like ads, but you can't escape it.
I don't know if hipster is the right term here? Most of the super opinionated or argumentative people I know aren't hipsters. It's just their nature.
Anyway, there's a larger discussion to be had about whether something being good/bad can be objectively measured. I don't think you can directly correlate popularity with quality, but you can correlate popularity with mass appeal (so these are safe recommendations for most).
Thanks for reading and replying! It's a bit sad to read so many replies that think people like me or OP don't like when people are happy or express positive reactions/emotions/opinions about something. I love that! I try to keep away from all negativity (left social media, pick my forum threads carefully and so on). I mean, in my case it could be said that my issue is when "praise" goes so far that just lifting up the game apparently is not enough, it must be used to push others down too. That means it is no longer positive, it has gone too far and becomes negativity instead.
And yeah I battle this feeling all the time. It doesn't help that I have a general inferiority complex as part of my wider issues and I try to work on that in general, not just when it comes to this. But it takes time.
One and done. Getting upset over other people's enjoyment of a video game is weird. Really, really weird.
This is very foreign to me and I can't say I feel the same. The more critics and average people praise the game the more likely I am to think the game is good. I got Horizon Zero Dawn because of what was being said. How do you determine for yourself that something is being overpraised and so you won't enjoy it?
Personally I know I've liked games that a lot of people say are garbage and I've disliked games that were praised by many. I don't get worked up about either scenario as they are opinions about an experience. If people love a game that I don't then I'm glad they enjoy it if they purchased it. I'd far rather people enjoy something they spend money on than buy something and be upset.
I lost interest in FFXIV once Shadowbringers launched. It's either due to how the Resetera fanbase handled themselves during that time, or Moogle quests in ARR. It's probably about 50/50.
Once that expansion launched, there were dozens of fans on Era who took it upon themselves to brigade every thread REMOTELY related to Final Fantasy, shit on that thread, and praise FF XIV.
"What's the best turn based Final Fantasy"
"FUCK YOUR TURNBASED FINAL FANTASIES SHADOWBRINGERS IS THE TRUE KING OF THE SERIES FUCK OFF NOMURA" would be a sensationalized example you'd see on the thread
Like I resubscribed in December and started Stormblood a few weeks ago. It's freakin' lit after the Moogle stuff. If Shadowbringers is a genuine improvement from Stormblood, I can totally see that being the best FF thing put out all decade (FF7R aside warts and all)... but them spouting that in every thread they could get away with just turned me off from even wanting to play it.
edit: I got into Undertale right as the press started hyping it up but before the fanbase became a thing. The rabid fanbase for that game kinda turned me off from it for a bit, but the memes since then have made up for it lol.
These are the only two examples I can think of tho
Once that expansion launched, there were dozens of fans on Era who took it upon themselves to brigade every thread REMOTELY related to Final Fantasy, shit on that thread, and praise FF XIV.
"What's the best turn based Final Fantasy"
"FUCK YOUR TURNBASED FINAL FANTASIES SHADOWBRINGERS IS THE TRUE KING OF THE SERIES FUCK OFF NOMURA" would be a sensationalized example you'd see on the thread
Like I resubscribed in December and started Stormblood a few weeks ago. It's freakin' lit after the Moogle stuff. If Shadowbringers is a genuine improvement from Stormblood, I can totally see that being the best FF thing put out all decade (FF7R aside warts and all)... but them spouting that in every thread they could get away with just turned me off from even wanting to play it.
edit: I got into Undertale right as the press started hyping it up but before the fanbase became a thing. The rabid fanbase for that game kinda turned me off from it for a bit, but the memes since then have made up for it lol.
These are the only two examples I can think of tho
Too much praise never bothers me if I think the game is at least fine. But praise when I actually dislike a game, I can't lie, it gets on my nerves.
I thought Spiderman (PS4) was a solid 6/10. Obviously that game was widely praised and many people had it has their GOTY. That doesn't bother me at all.
What does bother me is when people bring up MC scores as a way to dismiss any criticism.
What does bother me is when people bring up MC scores as a way to dismiss any criticism.
How could it possibly not be the right term? "It's popular, therefore it sucks" is the entire core of hipster identity.
This larger discussion has been had at length, and as far as I'm concerned it resolves to "critic consensus is the closest we have to measuring quality". The only reasonable alternative is "there is no way to measure of quality", which obviously cuts most discussions about quality rather short.
"Which Mario game is the most abysmal//worst/hated/shittiest/most fucked " etc etc.
How droll.
Well, my interest in playing Cyberpunk is currently very low simply because of the way people talk about it. I'm sure it'll be fine, maybe even great, but with all these people talking about how it's game of the year already, count me out.
Coincidentally, felt the same way about The Witcher 3. I eventually did play that, got the platinum even. It was good, but nowhere near as good as people made it seem.
Coincidentally, felt the same way about The Witcher 3. I eventually did play that, got the platinum even. It was good, but nowhere near as good as people made it seem.
How do you get that from Fez at all? Like Phil might be a knob, but Milo or some David Cage shit are actually pretentious.
I feel like what you're talking about is the inclination towards contrarianism, which is what I see most. A lot of it is ppl who hate to see others having fun, which you will find several here.
Overall you're correct on the biggest issue in that there are obnoxious and helpful ways to start discussions. For example, if you're bringing up a flaw you see in a game, you could just drop a bomb that's likely to offend or you could frame your question asking what ppl thought about particular elements you found unappealing.
What passes for discussion in most threads is a far cry from deconstruction of good and bad though. Oftentimes, it's comments like the person in this thread that implied everyone who likes BOTW must be either young or ignorant. OP asked if ppl found massively effusive praise to be annoying, and that poster used it as an opportunity to be insulting. That's my problem in a nutshell.
Yes there is a feeling you get when people love something that you dislike or vice versa. I think it's very obvious that this is a real widespread thing based on simply observing any thread about any game ever.
The only time I take issue with it is when "universal acclaim" is used a way to shut down legitimate criticism or dismiss the arguments of somebody who doesn't agree with the praise. See: every thread that ever dared to suggest that Breath of the Wild was a disappointment for some people, regardless of the people who make reasoned arguments as to why that might be the case.
Taking a critical eye toward any game is often framed as "negativity", even within this thread, when in fact, the manner in which some people enjoy something involves critique.
Oftentimes, a purely positive position on a game comes off as lacking nuance or critical engagement. And there are plenty of cases where a cult of fandom around a game actual leads to the stifling of conversation as critical takes are combatted and ignored by simply calling those posters "negative."
I think there are a lot of surface-level takes in this thread that are doing just this.
O yeah David Cage is definitely more pretentious, but his games don't exactly get a ton of praise
Not sure why others liking something should bother anyone. Everyone is allowed to like what they like.
Well yeah, dismissing something just because it's popular is a hipster trait. But I don't think that's really what happens most commonly. Have you really never had a strong distaste for something that's popular? I think for me it happens mostly with songs that I just can't stand that I still get exposed to. It's not something that happens often, but every now and then there's a song thar just grates on me for whatever reason. Music is more invasive than reading some comments on a forum though (since these annoying songs can wedge themselves into your brain!).
Also agreed the conversation has been had at length. Critical consensus is probably the closest we can get to measuring objective quality... But that's something I would separate from popularity.
I think it is just a classic case of feeling like you have been left out. No one wants to be excluded. I love Undertale, but I can totally see how the amount of praise it was receiving, and the type of praise it was receiving, after release could grate on some people a little. I thought BotW was a very good game, but I also thought it was a game with many issues. So, there were definitely times where I read comments that made me roll my eyes a little. I think it is important to try to maintain perspective. Not everything is going to hit everyone the same way.
Another exacerbating factor can also be a feeling of injustice. Your favorite game that you have played in the last decade has an 83 on Metacritic, but the game that you thought was just okay received a 95. As much as we know that reviews are subjective, I think that for a lot of people that disparity can be frustrating. However, it is really important to keep that subjectivity in mind. At the end of the day, everything above an 80 is probably, roughly, about the same quality. At a certain point, it is likely that other factors are coming into play to shift a score one way or another (because we are all humans and humans aren't perfect arbiters of objectivity). That is why reading the meat of reviews is so much more important than just looking at the score.
Another exacerbating factor can also be a feeling of injustice. Your favorite game that you have played in the last decade has an 83 on Metacritic, but the game that you thought was just okay received a 95. As much as we know that reviews are subjective, I think that for a lot of people that disparity can be frustrating. However, it is really important to keep that subjectivity in mind. At the end of the day, everything above an 80 is probably, roughly, about the same quality. At a certain point, it is likely that other factors are coming into play to shift a score one way or another (because we are all humans and humans aren't perfect arbiters of objectivity). That is why reading the meat of reviews is so much more important than just looking at the score.
Not really, no. Instead it's sort of the opposite, not only am I more intrigued to play it, but I also get some semblance of joy in the fact that others are really enjoying something I haven't yet experiencd. If it's something that I didn't personally enjoy, it also often makes me give something a second chance where I ordinarily may not have.
It happened with Breath of the Wild. I didn't really enjoy it when I first tried it. Got bored and quit playing pretty early on. It just felt a bit plodding and aimless. But the praise was profuse on here and elsewhere, and I thought it can't have gotten all that acclaim for no reason.
Several months later I gave the game another stab, this time in a more focused state of mind, and low and behold it's now one of my favourite games of all time. I see what others saw in it now, and that makes me happy.
It happened with Breath of the Wild. I didn't really enjoy it when I first tried it. Got bored and quit playing pretty early on. It just felt a bit plodding and aimless. But the praise was profuse on here and elsewhere, and I thought it can't have gotten all that acclaim for no reason.
Several months later I gave the game another stab, this time in a more focused state of mind, and low and behold it's now one of my favourite games of all time. I see what others saw in it now, and that makes me happy.
I have this issue, but only when I disagree and am told I'm "wrong" or that I just "don't understand" the game/movie/whatever. People can get incredibly toxic if you don't like the thing they like, especially if said thing is beloved by the community at large.
It only bothers me when I think it can have a negative effect on what I love.
Fire Emblem Awakening has splendid characters and tons of customization, but shallow tactics, an incoherent story and awful level design. I was afraid the series would take after it in Fates and was right, and was thus more critical of Awakening than it probably deserved. But Echoes and Three Houses were leaps in the right direction and now I can appreciate more of what Awakening did right now that its design is the status quo.
Same goes for The Last of Us. I did not like the game when it first came out. I found the gameplay shallow and the whole thing was nowhere near as good as Uncharted. I was also 14. So when I hear Amy Hennig, one of my person idols in the industry, left Naughty Dog and the TLOU people were taking over, even down to people saying the game would be better without her because TLOU is a 10/10 worthy game, I was fucking pissed. And I saw the success of TLOU as taking away my chance at playing Hennig's Uncharted 4. I outright refused to buy a PS4 or play Uncharted 4 when I planned on it on UC4's release day because I was hurt and blamed the love of TLOU for not getting my Hennig Uncharted. Was that brash? Yeah, but I was 16.
So, I fully understand why fans are upset when games like God of War reboot, RDR2, BOTW, Halo 5, etc. or movies like TLJ and Iron Man 3 get acclaim by critics and/or fans as they are often genuinely concerned about the quality of their favorite franchises going forward.
Fire Emblem Awakening has splendid characters and tons of customization, but shallow tactics, an incoherent story and awful level design. I was afraid the series would take after it in Fates and was right, and was thus more critical of Awakening than it probably deserved. But Echoes and Three Houses were leaps in the right direction and now I can appreciate more of what Awakening did right now that its design is the status quo.
Same goes for The Last of Us. I did not like the game when it first came out. I found the gameplay shallow and the whole thing was nowhere near as good as Uncharted. I was also 14. So when I hear Amy Hennig, one of my person idols in the industry, left Naughty Dog and the TLOU people were taking over, even down to people saying the game would be better without her because TLOU is a 10/10 worthy game, I was fucking pissed. And I saw the success of TLOU as taking away my chance at playing Hennig's Uncharted 4. I outright refused to buy a PS4 or play Uncharted 4 when I planned on it on UC4's release day because I was hurt and blamed the love of TLOU for not getting my Hennig Uncharted. Was that brash? Yeah, but I was 16.
So, I fully understand why fans are upset when games like God of War reboot, RDR2, BOTW, Halo 5, etc. or movies like TLJ and Iron Man 3 get acclaim by critics and/or fans as they are often genuinely concerned about the quality of their favorite franchises going forward.
Outer Wilds is the last game I would've expected to be the catalyst for this thread. Not in a million years would I have seen that coming. Hell, it seemed like not long ago damn no nobody was talking about it and it was mostly ignored during awards season. There's been an uptick in talk about the game recently because it's releasing on Steam but now you're telling me there's a cult surrounding the game? Can you guys point me in the right direction cause I'd love to join it.
This is the best approach to being on a gaming forum I have ever seen. I think most of the overrated threads are primarily a release valve. They are just there for people to let off some steam. I don't think they are super informative or useful. I fucking LOVE hearing about hidden gems, though. Having people tell me about underrated games they love is my jam. Sometimes I will play them and not agree, but some times I discover something that worms its way into my heart.
There is no quicker way to get someone's back up than to tell them they are the problem and their criticisms are completely trivial...
FFVII Remake really grated on me. Mostly because I got sucked in and paid the $79.99 for it. I gotta say - if you don't have that history with FFVII (which I didn't!) - there's not a lot there for you.
No cause I'm not a hater. Plus I'm grown so I understand everything isn't for everyone. If my opinion differs, it's just that, my opinion. Doesn't mean I'm right or wrong. I love diversity.
what qualifies as over praising something, though? if it's a game you have never played how can you decide what is and isn't the correct amount of praise
this is so dumb
this is so dumb
Yes, it bothers me deeply when a game I like reviews extremely well because then discussion of the thread will be filled with contrarian idiots that probably didn't even play the game just repeating the same dumb criticism, specially if said game is an exclusive. I hate it.
Only when people get hostile to criticism. People act like it's a team sport and you're either a supporter or a hater.
i'm not saying it doesn't happen, it's just weird to see someone try to justify it