Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@BAMozzy i thought you only got to keep the 360 games with GwG not the XB1 games, those are like the PS+ games where you lose access to them once you XBLG runs out (i know because i currently don't have gold, i don't see the point if i can't connect half the time)

and as for the 360 games well i haven't been able to get any of them for a while because my 360 died years ago and i can't download them on the XB1 unless i have a payment card on my account which i don't do, i buy the vouchers instead

as for my internet it works perfectly fine on everything else with a nice strong signal and good speeds for the rural area i live in (i live in the UK and it's about 40mbs), just not my XB1 (it's a XB1s by the way) so it's problem is definitely on the XB1 side, i dunno perhaps the wi-fi adaptor is broken?

as for the game saves well XB1 games sync automatically whenever you log on to a different console, i know because i also play round my brothers house BUT they are also stored on your home system and they always ask which version you want to use so i don't see why the 360 games can't do the same

Regarding Kratos - he's the god of war! He's supposed to be great! I adored his character and the interactions with Boy and Head.

@fuzzy833 oh i agree he IS the God of War after all although i still maintain that his character was a better fit for the older style games

@FullbringIchigo That is correct - and I was referring ONLY to the 360 games as that was what we talking about. The XB1 GwG aren't considered Backwards Compatible which was the whole topic of conversation and therefore I was not considering these at all in the above post. As you rightly point out though, those as well as any Game Pass games are subject to conditions - for example, upkeep of your subscription.

I don't think I have a Payment Card set up on my Xbox One at all - although I do have Paypal set up. I did have a card set up many years ago as I once purchased Gold as I needed it 'quickly' but that card was out of date by the time the XB1 launched. I always purchase gold and credit via codes from places like CDKeys but it seems Paypal is 'adequate' for MS to allow me to get 360 games. Its because they have to 'charge' an account - whether that's a card or paypal - and consider it a 'transaction' even if they are 'free' - ridiculous I know.

I live in the UK too and I know live in a 'town' with BTBroadband but just 5miles away in a small farming village where I used to live, the best was standard BT with 'speeds' up-to 8mb but the best we could get was 3-3.5mb but in the evenings, that dropped to around 2mb. I now have the BTHH6 which has excellent Wifi and both my consoles are hardwired anyway. I get around 70-76mb. Running speed tests on my consoles though, even hardwired - the speed is around 50-60% that of my Laptop speed test when hardwired. It does seem as though some throttling is going on with both - maybe some 'firewall' or something.

Wifi can be affected by many household items, mobile phones, hands free phones, microwaves, internal wiring - even the wireless controllers too etc. So many devices use the 2.4ghz too which affects signal and 5ghz doesn't have the range but has less issues with interference. I don't know what Hub you have or whether you have specified what 2.4/5ghz wifi for your Xbox but maybe there is something you can do to improve it. Another option is wifi boosters

If it works with the XB1 games and with online gaming, it should work equally as well with the 360 games so I doubt its the console. Like I said though, if the wifi was consistent, it really wouldn't be an issue where the games are stored - locally or cloud. Its only an issue because of the situation you are in.

As for the 'saves' having to be in the cloud, I think that was because the 360 games are running in a 360 emulator. I don't fully understand why they couldn't have used local storage - maybe it was causing issues with XB1 saves - particularly those games that are on both systems and BC - like AC4, CoD:AW, Saints Row 4 etc

@themcnoisy some people don't like the direction of newer games, so they instead like to replay the old ones.

I'm in your side because I never replay games, since half life 2 I have replayed only horizon zero dawn. I like all sorts of games so I almost always have something new to play. But still, I used bc on Xbox one as there were some games I haven't played like rdr and many more. I would play Resistance trilogy on playstation right now it it was possible...

BC, I think is more of a big deal then it used to be for a few reasons.

Firstly digital is more of a thing now. I buy digital and physical and the idea of leaving my library behind next gen is sad because I have a stack of games yet to get through and moving that to the next gen console would be big for me.

Secondly, nostalgia and looking back towards the past. Gaming is mature enough now that people have grown up with them and right now, culturally, nostalgia is big big business. Also people want to know where their favourite games come from, in terms of what influenced them. People who liked Breath of the Wild are turning around to see what else Zelda has to offer. The Snes and Nes classics are proof there is a market. I was at a retro fair this weekend and it was rammed and most people were way younger than me and buying up old Sega, Nintendo and Sony games.

Collecting old hardware is great but it is not convenient and very compatible with new TV tech.

Not only that but games are changing drastically and in some cases, leaving a portion of the market behind. I would rather crank out a classic GC game then play an online only MP game. Now that makes me a minority sure, but I am still a demographic that platform holders want to cater to. Plus,

I bought an xb1 for online co'op with a friend and BC. I have played Portal 2 and have racked up Metal Gear Revengeance next to go. I know a few friends that leapt on the chance to play Red Dead on XB. So for me, someone that can provide BC alongside their other offerings is more attractive to me as a consumer.

Not all main characters need to be likeable, fully relatable or serve as an example, I think. It's ok for Kratos to not be like me, or to not be the ideal hero.

It's enough to be able to relate to certain parts of his character, or just to be moved by his story and character, even if it is far removed from your own experiences.

Of course, with such an extreme character, there will always be people who aren't able to appreciate them. I think that has always been inherent to the God of War story.

Same with a game like Yakuza or even Gone Home. Not everyone will be able to adore the game's main characters. But that's because these games don't try to cater to every type of audience, and avoid being middle of the road. We honestly need more of these games.

Feels like I'm rambling a bit here, but hope I got my point across. :')

@Kidfried got it across loud and clear

@FullbringIchigo I haven't played the new one yet, by the way. So im basing this fully on my experience with the first three games!

I was speaking more in a general sense than any kind of understanding of the new game. I'm proud to have avoided most spoilers of that game so far.

Yeah it would get boring pretty quickly if all the characters were all likeable and nicey nicey.

@Kidfried Thats a good point and I fully agree. I mean, who plays games to play as the same person you are in real life? Part of the experience is the fantasy of being this other character who does fantastic and unbelievable things you’d never be a able to do.
I do understand the limits to this, as you say, because at some point there may be a character profile so repugnant that you may never want to be in that person’s shoes, even if it is just fantasy. When given a choice in a game (like the paragon vs. renegade or the good karma vs. bad karma), I tend to make choices more aligned to what my personality would choose, but sometimes you just have to go off and be someone different. There is value in gaining a breadth of experience and I think that is a unique quality of video games. To see things from differing perspective than how we live our lives, maybe we learn something.
I too have not yet played the new GoW, but in playing the earlier games, Kratos is a great character, but my main impression of him was that he seemed to ... angry! I’m not an angry or vengeful person, in general. I tend to live by the forgive-and-forget, live-and-let-live philosophy of life. And actually while playing the GoW games, although fun to eviscerate demons and pull people’s heads off, it does reinforce my life philosophy because you just see how miserable a person he is. Now the new game is completely different I understand, but that’s just an example

Adding to the BC discussion, some have mentioned that but as a gamer it's never been this important to me as it is for the PS5. My entire library is digital this gen, I feel like I would lose it if they don't support BC in a similar way to Steam, for the simple reason that eventually they'd shutdown the servers (less likely to happen if you always have access to everything). And the most important reason is that there are so many awesome games this gen that I still want to play in the future (I don't wanna lose Crash and Kingdom Hearts for another decade).

Sony doesn't need to ensure older gen games work brilliantly on PS5. As generations pass older games will be harder to play, they can get too fast or use some deprecated tech, but leave that for the developers to fix. PS should be more like a PC, where you have different hardwares to pick from and the entire PSN catalogue (and your library) to buy/play.

But this is all about unpopular opinions, so here goes:
1. Assassin's Creed Unity is a great game, with a protagonist way better than Ezio in terms of personality and development; graphics, animation and cutscenes are fantastic; the story is also good.
2. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag gameplay is simply a copy of ACIII with ships added to it and its story is probably the worst in the series (I didn't care for it at all, not to mention I was completely lost for being all over the place); just adding that I love ACIII, it introduced some great mechanics, the story and the characters were good.
3. Crash Team Racing is, well... meh.
4. Film-to-game titles can be awesome if made right; I loved playing Harry Potter and Pixar-based games on the original PlayStation.

@RenanKJ yeah one of the reasons i'm still not sold on digital games is things like this (plus a few others)

@BAMozzy I don't think he's a good role model and he absolutely could be a better father, but it's supposed to be that way. A recurring theme throughout the game is redemption, and not letting what you did in the past define your actions and what kind of person you are in the present. We're seeing him progress and struggle through his journey from being a monster to being a good man and father. His development can only continue in the future games, and it would be rather jarring for him to be without flaw right off the bat.

@KirbyTheVampire I am well aware of his history but that still doesn't change the fact that he still acting and behaving in such a way that can construed as manly and that, as you also state in your first line, is a negative - which started this conversation off in the first place. Its that poor role model, that excessively brutish behaviour - especially not in front of a child that some don't particularly like or is necessary either. Obviously a lot of time has passed since the last game, inc marriage and the birth of his child so he could have changed a lot more.

Anyway this is off-topic and perhaps best discussed in the GoW Spoiler thread but it seems that you are agreeing that Kratos is still behaving too 'manly' and that is not a 'good' thing in this case. There is a difference between being a Man and acting 'Manly' and why some may find Kratos difficult to like or identify with.

Digital games could depend on where your 'licence' to play is held. If its locked to your profile and on your console, as long as you have all your digital games downloaded and updated, then it shouldn't matter. You will of course lose your PS+ games as that requires an online check to see if your PS+ account is still active I don't know about the licence for games you purchased. The license id different as a PS+ licence is conditional. I know a digital licence is locked to your account unlike a licence on a disc which is general. We may have a clearer idea of what will happen with digital games in the future when the PS3 gets turned off. Its been discontinued for over 2yrs now (EU) and over a year in Japan with March 2019 seeing the end of PS+ support too. Its the first generation were digital games became a thing so it will give us some indication as to their playability once the console is 'turned off' essentially. The PS3 doesn't have BC with PS4 either and when the X360 gets turned off, not all 'digital' games will be on BC either.

Its not as f you can trade them or they add 'value' to your console if you do sell. That for me is one reason why I won't buy digital for 'convenience'. Digital are all about the hear and now, the convenience and not for the long term. When you bought, you were never promised that these would remain playable in the same way physical games are. We all know that games like Destiny, the Division etc are limited to a time frame and that they are not playable indefinitely - whether you buy Physically or not. The more generations you go, the less likely that they will be supported too - generally you only get 1 generation of support if you get any. You didn't get BC with the NES, SNES, N64, Game Cube etc and Sony in particular seemed to be against BC - maybe after getting burned on the OG PS3 so it will be interesting to see what happens. I can see a lot of unhappy people who may rethink their decision on buy digitally!

@Kidfried great response. I cant relate to Kratos at all and your comment puts that into context and will actually help me the next time I play GoW.

@RenanKJ
"3. Crash Team Racing is, well... meh."
Agreed

"1. Assassin's Creed Unity is a great game,"
Hahahahahahahaha. Good one. Unity was one of the worst gaming experiences I have ever had. I kept glitching through walls. I gave up about an hour in as it played so badly and unoptimised. I think the patches helped for anyone who came to the game late.

@Kidfried I don't like Joel either from the Last of Us - at least not as the main character I was playing as and couldn't really identify with his actions or words. I don't necessarily think its a bad thing to have anti-heroes or characteristics we can't identify with as well but I do think that in some cases, that can affect the way we feel about a game.

For me, it made the game-play and structure of LoU much more obvious - same with God of War too actually. I won't talk about GoW's structure hear as its still too soon but with LoU, it made me very away of its 'game-play' loop, the individual sections of each part - whether it was a 'quiet' bit, a kill everything bit before door opens or a 'horde-mode' bit for example. I knew very early on the way the game was going to end despite the early stages trying to push you to think one thing. It became so predictable that you basically knew what would happen to any 'new' Ally you met. It almost became 'by the numbers' - Emotional bit, followed by shooting bit, followed by water/pallet bit, followed by meet someone bit, followed by horde mode bit followed by travel bit etc. Its not that the game was fundamentally bad, it was well polished but because I wasn't so invested in Joel, its limitations - mostly hardware in fairness, became more apparent to me. Other games too had similar 'blocks', maybe not so polished or visually spectacular at that time but because I was more invested in the characters, these 'blocks' didn't seem so obvious. They didn't become another 'Pallet' section or another horde style section even though they probably did have repeating sections like that. Its not exclusive to LoU either as a LOT of linear games like that do have blocks of different game-play that are sequenced together to form a mission/game. Mission 1 may well be basic training starting off with a intro block, some basic movement block until you get a weapon then some 'simple' combat before you face a 'tough' enemy (or enemies) and put what you have learned into one. From then its a case of putting these 'blocks in sequence that fit with the story.

Titanfall 2 is a 'great' example where every mission is virtually the same in terms of construction, start off with your titan. get separated and do some platforming, then some combat, some more platforming, some more combat, some more platforming to get back to your titan and then face off against a titan in a boss fight. The settings may change in each but the basic mission structure doesn't. You may get an extra platforming or combat stage in between but principally, that's virtually every mission and because you end each in your titan by beating a boss, you start each 'next' mission in your titan before getting separated so you then do the Platforming/combat before reuniting to fight the next boss. Again, not to say its fundamentally 'bad' but you can see the 'structure' of the game. The fewer blocks, the more obvious. Some games can through a 'curve-ball' too like CoD4's, they look like ants (in the AC130 mission) or All Ghillied Up which - things that are completely different and not been done before or repeated in that specific game.

For me, the more enjoyable a game is, the more invested in a story I am, the more varied the blocks are, the less obvious the game. If you only have one Horde mode type section, its not so bad but by the third or 4th time it becomes more apparent too. This applies mainly to Linear games as Open world games, although missions may be similar in sequenced blocks, the fact that you have spent time doing various other things in between can lessen these too. If you spent hours and hours since the last 'kill everything to open a door to progress' and most of that was free roaming anywhere and everywhere, its not so bad to come across another block like that later on.

Unpopular gaming opinion: Sonic & All Stars Transformed is easily a better game than MK8 (because it is).

Better characters, better tracks, waaaaaayyy better music, better mechanics.

@KALofKRYPTON Entirely seconded. Especially regarding the music!