I didn’t know this one wasn’t well received until just now. To me it’s one of the few good 3D sonics. The plot, stage design, intersecting stories with varied play styles. All of that made it feel like playing in a full world.
That being said, I’m hit or miss on sonic in general, so maybe I like it for not being a traditional sonic game.
Personally the movement mechanics and the tropical overworld were amazing in this game.
While the water jetpack may seem like a gimmick, I thought it really changed the platforming in a good way.
Additionally, I’m a sucker for a good overworld and the amount of things you can unlock or discover in delphino plaza turns it into its own sort of level.
There is definitely some jank and padding (blue coins) in the game, but it holds up better than Mario 64 in my opinion (just due to the camera issues IN Mario 64).
My opinion is that in the game you should have collected rooms over time, but be able to build the house with whatever tiles you have.
This would still require multiple playthroughs, as you need to rebuild the house for different puzzles, but also removes some of the RNG by tying it to finding new rooms rather than at every door.
I’m not sure if I agree on the “full price” comment, it’s not much different in quality than Myst or Outer Wilds.
Outside of that I agree, the real deciding factor is how much RNG annoys you. I loved the puzzles and gameplay, but gave up after the “first” ending because there were a ton of puzzles I knew how to solve, but couldn’t get back to or get the right resources for them. Some might argue the RNG is part of the puzzle, but for me it felt more punishing than it should be.
I love rougelites/likes, but for me the issue was the RNG. When you have the knowledge to solve a puzzle, but can’t get the resources or rooms to line up right it just feels stupid.
The game wouldnt be half the length if I could just define the layout myself each day.
It is a hard game, but hopefully the new settings help. Also, I didn’t find it too hard to farm resources to level up. Compared to dark souls I think it’s a bit more forgiving.
Yeah, but my point is that it’s apparent from scene 1 when “Simon” wakes up the first time. Just cause he doesn’t get it doesn’t mean the player doesn’t have to deal with the same concept getting rehashed over and over.
There was no build up of the concept or iteration on the idea. It’s just the same arc from the first 10-15 minutes of the gameplay playing out again and again. Except they swap it up at the end to try to make it hit harder, but to me it just felt played out.
I get why people like it, but it just didn’t have the pay off for me.
The setting was definitely interesting. However the main story was a bit too much of a one trick pony - who is the real you.
!Additionally they kinda cheat in the story telling around who lives on. It’s not random chance, each time they replicate their memories it just makes a clone. The original was never going to make it to the end.!<
I don’t disagree, but my opinion is gameplay (or the interactive nature) of games is what sets them apart from other mediums so would be a deciding factor in a masterpiece game.
But I guess it largely just boils down to the fact Soma just didn’t do much for me.
I think a masterpiece game has to offer more than just story. Additionally I think something like Firewatch does a much better job at telling a compelling story for a walking simulator. But clearly this is why “objective” masterpiece is hard to define, as nothing is really objective in these opinions.
Other games I’d consider better in the walking simulator category:
It’s probably me being pedantic, but for an “objective masterpiece” the game needs to stand on its own and not on its legacy. I just don’t think Ocarina of Time holds up to later zelda games in many aspects (although I do think the story and soundtrack do).
Generally I think the ps1 and N64 era just suffer from the transition to 3D. Graphically and gameplay wise many games suffered for being the first foray into 3D gaming and those challenges wouldn’t really be settled until the next generation.
I’m always curious why people add things like Ocarina of Time to lists like these. While the game was revolutionary at the time, I don’t think it holds up particularly well nor succeeds where later zeldas fail.
To call it an objective masterpiece I feel like it has to be a game that someone picking up today would still enjoy and appreciate. Tetris and Portal for example hold up well even by today’s standards.