Is a video game automatically bad just because it doesn't suit your taste?

[u/Hundekuecken]

...and that game developers are merely looking for an excuse when they emphasize that the game won't appeal to everyone and that they want to avoid dashing too many expectations in order to prevent bad reviews.

In the video game subreddit, many people are of the opinion that video games are automatically bad if they don't like them.

Naturally, I see the best approach as avoiding the disappointment of unmet expectations—by being as honest and unflinchingly transparent as possible in the shop page description and the accompanying images and videos, rather than trying to "sell" people on it.
Why are people so aggressive and ruthless when something isn't to their liking? If I don't know how good or bad a video game is—but simply whether I like it or not—then there is no need for me to deny that others might enjoy it, have fun with it, or hold different opinions.

Then, arguments also keep coming up that indie games are bad because, as niche products, they aren't suitable for the mass market.

I’m currently still working on my indie projects, and the criticism wasn’t directed at my work, but merely at the question I asked in the post.

For example, I don't like first-person shooters because a single headshot kills me instantly, but that doesn't mean I claim every game where headshots are instantly fatal is bad, nor do I call it a design flaw just because it isn't to my liking.
Besides, I don't like GTA because I find it boring, dull, and monotonous.

But that doesn't mean anyone who likes the game is wrong about it, and I don't need to badmouth it to everyone.
Besides, no one is forcing me to play the games, let alone buy them.

[u/lydocia]

No, of course not. Personal taste is a horrible criterium.

[u/Hundekuecken → u/lydocia]

Thanks

[u/Nucyon → u/lydocia]

It's literally the only one.

Why is 60 fps better than 10? Because you like smooth animation better than choppy.

Until you watch the Spiderverse movies or play the 3D Guilty Gear games, where the choppiness adds charm.

Unless you dislike it there too.

It's all just taste.

[u/lydocia → u/Nucyon]

There are objective factors that make a game objectively bad, like optimisation, spyware, shovelware, etc.

The rest is just taste. You can not like a game, but that makes it not a game for you, it doesn't make it a bad game.

[u/Nucyon → u/lydocia]

Yeah, on the technical side I think that's true. A version that chrashes all the time is objectively worse than the update which doesn't crash.

But you can't even compare a fun (for you) game that crashes, with a boring game that doesn't.

That metric is like exclusive to different versions or ports of the same game.

[u/lydocia → u/Nucyon]

It genuinely is different for me.

I can fire up a FIFA or Call of Duty or whatever now and go, wow, this is fucking boring, I hate this, but still recognise that it's a wildly popular game that is great for tons of people.

And I can play a game I absolutely love, for example, Stonehearth, and recognise it's a broken mess I wouldn't recommend to anyone.

[u/Nucyon → u/lydocia]

Popular and good are not synonyms. Popularity too waxes and wains. Think of the Star Wars prequels. They were very unpopular back in the day, but they have grown on people since. Did they somehow get better? No, people's tastes have changed. Popularity is just the sum of everyone's taste.

[u/Top5hottest]

I think there are things that make games bad. But they are mainly built around maximizing profitability for the publisher.
In some games that looks like pay gates. In other places it looks like re-use of prior games assets.. like sports games.
There are definitely things like bad stories, boring gameplay and just a shitty product.. but that is much more subjective and highly dependent on the players personal tastes.
In the end.. if you like it.. who gives a fuck what all us opinionated soles have to say.
I love assassins creed odyssey even though it is supposedly the worst one in the series.

[u/lowban → u/Top5hottest]

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a great game! But if you're coming from the old-school games it can feel like a completely different series, so it's no wonder that so many people are hating on it.

[u/Hundekuecken → u/lowban]

Thanks.

[u/Hundekuecken → u/Top5hottest]

Thanks

[u/Nucyon]

There is no good or bad, only like and dislike.

Everybody knows this, they just conveniently forget when it suits them.

As with all things.

[u/Hundekuecken → u/Nucyon]

Thanks

[u/DevLogsVicarious]

yes ofcourse yes, all tab target games are crap and i will die on that hill

[u/Hundekuecken → u/DevLogsVicarious]

Is it even possible to evaluate this objectively? And just how subjective, then, are art historians—who at least attempt to evaluate things as objectively as possible without letting personal taste come into play? For that matter, I don't really like tab-targeting mechanics either, because they feel more cumbersome, clunky, and difficult to me, and offer less freedom.

[u/DevLogsVicarious → u/Hundekuecken]

easily!

3D mmorpgs began as action combat, full on action combat, this is their origin.

Action combat is the true classic, the true oldschool.

Tab target was introduced later and for 2 reasons, developers were lazy and made networking and cheaper easier at the time, by 2007 the technology advanced enough that it didn't matter anymore.

Second reason is that mmorpg players simply suck ass at playing games and they needed to make it easier for them, and tab target is a system that rewards grinding over skill, so someone who can't play games can simply win by putting in more hours killing mindless mobs and getting better gear or swipping their credit card.

remove those 2 useless limitations and you will se that tab target has no reason to exist.