Gaming hot takes?

Leyla :)@lemmy.fmhy.ml to Games@lemmy.world – 163 points –

Any weird/controversial opinions? I'll start. Before the remake, the best version of Resident Evil 4 was the Wii version. The Wiimote controls old Resi's tank controls better than any other controller at the time. The PC version had a bunch of little bugs and detractors that the Wii version just doesn't have.

I'll extend this by saying that the Wiimote is actually pretty damn good for shooters, and particularly good for accessibility. Not having to cramp up my hands to press buttons is awesome for having arthritis. Aiming with the Wiimote and moving with the nunchuck just feel really natural, you barely have to move your fingers for anything.

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Most audio in video games is irrelevant at best and irritating at worst (especially for retro games). I listen to podcasts over 95% of the games I play and don't feel like I'm missing much. In fact, the multitasking aspect of it makes it feel like a more efficient use of time than just keeping the game audio on.

There are exceptions to this when I know there's important audio cues in gameplay. Admittedly, I don't care much at all for narratives in games either, so i know I'm probably in the minority with this take.

Super Mario Galaxy has amazing orchestrated soundtrack that must be experienced with the innovative gameplay and beautiful art design.

I can't imagine playing this game without the music.

definitely. i also feel the same way about the Nier games, their soundtracks add so much to the experience.

I soooo strongly agree about the audio. I regularly hear people talking about how good a game's soundtrack is, but most games don't stand out at all where soundtrack is concerned. I can list on one hand how many games have had songs so iconic that I can remember them. That's not to say I don't care for the audio. I recognize a lot of the audio is fantastic and feels just so natural that I don't even notice it as a stand alone piece, but an intractable part of a scene. But I certainly am not gonna go listen to most games soundtracks.

  1. Persona 4 - that town/school theme is insanely catchy and burnt into my head. I also can recall the title theme being so good I'd always let it play in full when I started the game.
  2. Persona 5 - tons of absolute bangers. Rivers in the Desert is perhaps my single favourite piece of video game music ever. I also love the city theme (I forget the title, "I'm a shape shifter, at Poe's mascarade").
  3. Weirdly enough, FFXIII-2 - I specifically recall how good Noah's theme is. It's this somber piece that plays in a dead world setting and is just haunting.

There might be some others I can't remember. But my point is that most game music is not nearly memorable enough that I can even draw it to mind. Let alone have it caught in my head or be able to recognize it later. Even for games I've played a ton of, you could probably play something and I wouldn't recognize it.

But I was talking about music. Non music? Ugh, that's usually worse. My biggest dislike is menu blips. You know, where every time you move the cursor in a menu, it makes a chime noise. In a lot of older games, I find it's so bad that I refuse to play the game with sound on.

(Side note: I'm told that Fallout's music is great, but I'm embarrassed to say I've almost never listened to it, in part because IIRC, the radio feature where all the good stuff can be heard is actually audible to enemies, making it incompatible with stealth.)