ITT: post things you like about media you dislike/find underwhelming

[Martin]

There’s too much negativity about everything everywhere online, so let’s try and flip some of it on its head!

Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
I think ORAS is just a colossal failure as far as remakes go as it neither improves upon its source material nor amps up the nostalgia factor/game personality like HGSS does. That said, Archie and Maxie’s redesigns are anime as fuck and amazing. I love Maxi’s specs—such a good villain trope—and the anime pirate aesthetic just looks so good on Maxie—it lends some badassery that he previously lacked.

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The remake of their battle theme is also really good. A highlight in what is a largely underwhelming OST by Pokémon’s standards.

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Charlotte:
This is one of those shows that I rewatched just to form a constructive opinion due to how early in my anime-watching career I was when I first saw it. It was mostly mediocre—the dialogue and gags were comically awful and the plot escalation/resolution was extremely rushed and unsatisfactory—but I remember thinking Nao Tomori’s character was pretty well written and likeable. She suffered from a lack of screen time more than anything else, receiving a rushed, unfinished character arc before being relegated to the patiently-waiting GF at the end, which is a massive shame bc I would’ve liked to see a proper conclusion for her character arc.

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The Greatest Showman
This movie is a complete mess that fails as a feel-good film while also framing P. T. Barnham as “actually a semi-decent bloke,” which is just… no. I also find its music to just be a bit bleh for the most part. That said, there is one number in its soundtrack that I like a lot: The Other Side

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Might post again later but that should get the ball rolling.

 

[Oglemi]

Having played Sword when it released and just having played through Shield a week ago, I can say with 100% confidence that SwSh are the worst of the series from a playthrough perspective, especially talking replay value. There is almost nothing appealing about taking the games for a spin for a playthrough like gens 1-5. In that there's almost no good fights the whole way through, no real challenge, and a lot of empty space.

My main gripe is the lack of trainers on the whole. This started in SM but has only gotten worse. I think each route has like 5-8, with 1-2 pokemon each. Almost all of your experience comes from catching, raids, and the gyms. The gyms pose next to no challenge, with the only real standout being allister/bea who are actually at a high enough level to maybe pose a threat. The rest of the game's only interesting fights are Raihan, Leon, and Oleana who actually have teams that aren't just one-shot by the right mon, with leon actually having a capable team featuring bruisers like aegislash.

Almost all of the game's appeal comes from its aesthetic, good mon design, and the raid battles/wild area. This alone does not make for a good playthrough. The added QoL things makes this entry a good addition to the series as a whole and is in general a step in the right direction, but it simply cannot be overstated how boring it is to start a new game and just play through it.

 

[Here Comes Team Charm!]

Darkest Dungeon felt like a weird mix of 'shockingly boring' and 'needlessly complicated' to me. When playing it, I was presented with a wide variety of characters and moves, none of which seemed to meaningfully impact the speed combat took, and it failed to put an interesting spin on the 'endless autogenerated dungeon' template.

That said, I love the torch mechanic, the game's art is amazing, and the town and characters are extremely flavorful: I wish aesthetics like these came with every game.

 

[Plague von Karma]

I had to read this thread title like 3 times to understand it

Fire Emblem Sacred Stones is a weird entry in the series that I both adore and despise. It's known to be among the easiest of the "Classic" - Pre-Awakening - games; this makes it a good jumping-off point for players looking to dip their feet into them. I really like this part, even if it's often referred to as a criticism. The graphics are pretty damn amazing all things considered, really establishing Sacred Stones as a unique entry despite being on the same platform as the Elibe games. Bringing back terrors after a brief absence is really cool too, giving another unique spin on the Fire Emblem formula.

However...I don't think the games actually have much to offer. Story-wise, Sacred Stones is very disconnected from the rest of the series, lacking any lore to tie it anywhere. Every other game in the series has some kind of connection to another part, usually solidified by a sequel. As a result, for those who want a story to get them more invested in the series, I don't know if Sacred Stones actually works. The closest it has in terms of connection would be the Terrors implying it's related to Gaiden, but even this is flimsy. Due to this and a few other flaws that would make this post too long, Sacred Stones can be seen as the black sheep of the franchise along with Famicom Gaiden. It really needs some fleshing out.

EDIT: For a scale of how different the game is from the rest of the series, I thought Sacred Stones was some famous ROM Hack for like a year when getting into Fire Emblem. It sticks out that much.

 

[Legitimate Username]

ruby and weiss having some genuinely good chemistry with each other is probably the only thing that kept that godawful show even remotely watchable

i think that RTD-era doctor who aged surprisingly badly with the tenth doctor being a shockingly underwhelming character writing-wise hidden underneath all of david tennant's unbelievable talent and charisma, but i can't deny that a lot of episodes still had a strong heart and emotional core to them when they were focused on literally anything other than rose's trainwrecked existence. bringing in donna was also the most brilliant move i could have ever asked for.

there are way too many jokes in classic family guy that still make me laugh (i spammed the hell out of this one to all of my friends back during the end of election season). it's weird to think about how brian and stewie were actually pretty nuanced and fleshed-out characters at one point before everyone basically got their personalities completely overwritten over time.

the raimi trilogy at least gave us spider-man 3, which for many reasons (some unironic, some so-bad-it's-good) is the only one i can find myself actually being entertained by rather than constantly groaning at. the villains were actually a lot more interesting this time, and peter finally crosses the line where he's such a gigantic asshole this time that it circles back around from frustrating to just being hilarious.

i really like the (early) episodes of icarly that deal with spencer's role as a guardian and force him to confront the clash between his childish free-spirited personality and responsibilities as the only adult. i wish all these old shows like this that i grew up with dealt more in these kinds of down-to-earth stories instead of being constantly surreal and ridiculous, drake & josh was incredible specifically because it hit a much better balance there.

azura's a really good character in her supports when she's not a forced victim of fates's completely incompetent plotting capabilities