I’m not usually one to rag on people for complaining when it comes to video games. I mean, no game is perfect; even games many people consider masterpieces have their detractors, and I myself don’t really care for a lot of the super popular titles out there. There’s also something to be said for making complaints on the basis of unrealized potential or nasty business practices. It’s all necessary and even helps to keep things relatively healthy. There’s another kind of complaint though, one that I do find myself taking issue with: the kind that seeks to make something out of nothing. That sort of nonsense is something I could do without.
Again, I’ve got no problem with someone disliking a game for what it is. Using myself as an example, I don’t much care for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the World or Tears of the Kingdom. I don’t. I don’t like games focused on the open-world an so-called “emergent” gameplay; I hate the idea of constantly-breaking weapons with a passion, and I really couldn’t give much of a care at all about the story. I don’t deny that they’re both fantastic games, but they’re not for me. Thusly, I don’t talk about them all that much. What would be the point? All I could do is harp on them for not being something else, and there’s nothing to be gained there. It’d just be trash-tier bitterness.
I feel like I see this kind of article and video a lot now, and in particularly about Final Fantasy XVI this week. I honestly don’t get it. I mean, the game launches to glowing reviews across the board and then a bunch of those same reviewers/host outlets start dumping on the game five days later? Huh? If the game is bad, then that should have been in the reviews at launch and not in an opinion piece later on. Well, it should be it it’s actually a complaint regarding the game’s quality. That’s not what these are though.
Rather, I’m seeing outlets accusing Final Fantasy XVI of not knowing what it wants to be. It’s an action-RPG. It’s very clearly an action-RPG and was always marketed as such. It’s also a good enough action-RPG that these same outlets were singing its praises not eve a week ago. But no, now it’s a weak point in the series because it’s an action RPG that still retained things like gear progression from the old games. Another one I’m seeing is that the game is bad because it’s not a turn-based, party-oriented system like Final Fantasy games from 15 to 20 years ago. So what if Final Fantasy VII Remake uses a hybrid system? That suddenly means all Final Fantasy games have to play that way?
Full disclosure: I’ve been playing Final Fantasy XVI and I love the combat system. I love being able to respec my abilities whenever and however, and I like the feeling and flow of the battles. It really does feel excellent! Do I expect everyone to love it? No! But seriously, can we not call games bad just because we don’t personally like them or because we don’t get everything we want? Final Fantasy XVI absolutely has weak points; its side-quests might as well not even be there. That’s something we can actually talk about and base legitimate complaints on. But the “It’s not what I like” argument? Nah, get that out of here.
Do you get tired of seeing petty complaints, or do you feel that all of it is healthy? Could we stand to allow ourselves to enjoy our games a bit more?
Image from the FFXVI page
VIRTUAL BASTION 