Unpopular opinions

[ThunderPeel2001]

I think Fate of Atlantis is seriously overrated. Lousy voice acting (thankfully can be turned off). Clunky dialogue. Banal story. Ugly backgrounds.

 

The idea that it would make a great movie is utterly absurd to me. Almost nothing interesting happens!

 

There, I said it!

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by ThunderPeel2001

[ThunderPeel2001]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:23 PM, Remi said:

Sure, #3 doesn't technically have anything to do with the topic at hand, but I do feel it helps illustrate #1 and #2.

 

It definitely illustrates something...

[ThunderPeel2001]

22 hours ago, Trapezzoid said:

A few of the classic LucasArts melodies are a little less original than we always assumed. Some of them are old folk songs and maybe meant to be recognized, but a couple push it and I'm not sure if they just hoped nobody would notice:

 

Doug the Moleman = Murder on the Orient Express

 

LeChuck = Beautiful Things from Dr. Dolittle

 

 

Nice! And of course, everyone's favourite:

 

 

[Udvarnoky]

Wow, multiple people dumping on Fate of Atlantis. This thread isn't messing around.

[Lagomorph01]

Just now, Udvarnoky said:

Wow, multiple people dumping on Fate of Atlantis. This thread delivers.

I'm both confused and saddened. I played all three paths just last year and I loved every second of it! The voice acting isn't the best, but the story and setting delivered like no other! I absolutely adore it, but maybe that's the unpopular opinion?

 

I'm replaying CMI at the moment, but it doesn't sweep me away like FOA did last year.

[BillyCheers]

2 minutes ago, Lagomorph01 said:

II absolutely adore it, but maybe that's the unpopular opinion?

I love it too, don't worry. You're not alone. 😁

[Jake]

“Fate of Atlantis is a good game” is in fact a widely-held, dare I say popular opinion. You’re safe. (And correct 😎)
 

Love how spicy this thread is though. 

[Udvarnoky]

I was tempted to fuel the fire by saying something outlandish like "Night Shift is the crown jewel of the LucasArts catalog," but I realized everyone would see through this puckish provocation because we all know in our hearts the studio peaked with Ballblazer.

[Staple Remover]

1 hour ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

I think Fate of Atlantis is seriously overrated. Lousy voice acting (thankfully can be turned off). Clunky dialogue. Banal story. Ugly backgrounds.

 

The idea that it would make a great movie is utterly absurd to me. Almost nothing interesting happens!

 

There, I said it!

 

 

Nothing says Indiana Jones and adventure like hearing dialogue like  “Kerner! What a slimy toad!” 🤣

 

(Also your walkthrough got me through the tough spots in the game, so I have to give credit where it’s due)

[Trapezzoid]

The LucasArts logo was bad, but so was the rectangular big-L-big-M LucasFilm Games logo. Only the pre-1988 curved logo looked good.

[Rum Rogers]

9 hours ago, Udvarnoky said:

Examples like Barton Fink

Wow, never thought about Bart and Fink in MI2 as such a direct, straight in your face reference. I've always missed this one because Italian movies tend to completely mess up titles with weird translations/adaptations, and back then I couldn't speak English, so I basically never knew the original title of that movie until now. Mind blowing reference really.

[OzzieMonkey]

Isn't it nice that we can all share different opinions like this that are so vast in their nuance and still be really respectful to each other? Just let that sink in for a minute; how often does that happen? This is one of the reasons I find the Mojo forums so comforting, it really is filled with the friendliest people. 

 

Now to change all that with my hugely controversial opinion...

 

...I like Herman Toothrot the most in EMI.

[Remi]

I’m closing the thread. 😒

[BillyCheers]

3 hours ago, OzzieMonkey said:

Isn't it nice that we can all share different opinions like this that are so vast in their nuance and still be really respectful to each other? Just let that sink in for a minute; how often does that happen? This is one of the reasons I find the Mojo forums so comforting, it really is filled with the friendliest people. 

Absolutely true! I never imagined that this thread would be so fruitful – and friendly at the same time! 

Edited June 11, 2022 by BillyCheers

[madmardi]

12 hours ago, Staple Remover said:

Oh I forgot about the Mysts of Time! That went on way too long, and the tank controls would change direction when on a new screen and send you into the wrong direction too quickly and then have to start over. 
 

Now that I look back more on it, There are a lot of EMI puzzles that could be in the running for “Worst non-Gabriel Knight 3 puzzle in an Adventure game”.

 

 

 

I'm actually kinda surprised -  I really enjoyed the Mysts of Time and thought it was incredibly clever. One of my favourite puzzles from EMI in fact. 

 

Oh, and I did hear about it being based off of some other puzzle in some other game... but regardless, every time I replay Escape I really enjoy that part.

Edited June 11, 2022 by madmardi

[madmardi]

11 hours ago, Lagomorph01 said:

I'm both confused and saddened. I played all three paths just last year and I loved every second of it! The voice acting isn't the best, but the story and setting delivered like no other! I absolutely adore it, but maybe that's the unpopular opinion?

 

I'm replaying CMI at the moment, but it doesn't sweep me away like FOA did last year.

 

I loved FOA, so I'm on your side. I played it a bit late though (~2000), so the voice acting did seem a little dated. That being said, for being one of the first 'talkies' I still thought it was pretty impressive and the voices grew on me. Couldn't imagine turning them off.

 

Oh, and anyone complaining about the graphics needs to get their eyesight checked. I know of a good optometrist if you need one.

Edited June 11, 2022 by madmardi

[madmardi]

3 hours ago, OzzieMonkey said:

Now to change all that with my hugely controversial opinion...

 

...I like Herman Toothrot the most in EMI.

 

Agreed!!!

 

Frankly, he wasn't very interesting in MI1 and MI2. 

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by madmardi

[ThunderPeel2001]

7 hours ago, Trapezzoid said:

The LucasArts logo was bad, but so was the rectangular big-L-big-M LucasFilm Games logo. Only the pre-1988 curved logo looked good.

 

Yes, very true. 

[Torbjörn Andersson]

4 hours ago, BillyCheers said:

Absolutely true! I never imagined that this thread would be so fruitful – and friendly at the same time! 

 

The way I figured it, this is the thread where we take our moderate opinions ("Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade would have been better if it didn't rely so much on pixel-hunting, mazes and optional-but-sometimes-hard-to-avoid fighting") and restate them in the most blunt way you can think of ("Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is without a doubt the worst Indiana Jones game ever"), all in good fun.

 

I mean, we do still like and respect the games, right? Even the ones we don't like quite as much as some of the others?

[Torbjörn Andersson]

2 hours ago, madmardi said:

Oh, and I did hear about it being based off of some other puzzle in some other game... but regardless, every time I replay Escape I really enjoy that part.

 

It is at the very least quite similar to a puzzle in Infocom's game Sorcerer. Whether or not the MI4 developers had played it is, of course, an entirely different matter. I'm attaching an annotated transcript of that part of the game. (It uses Unix-style line breaks rather than DOS-style, but I hope it works.) It is, of course, a complete spoiler for that entire section.

coal-mine.txt

[roots]

Unsure if this is an unpopular or more of a factional opinion but...

 

I personally view the games that followed MI2 as being the skin of the series draped over new bones. Curse took the series at face value and went down a very literal path that completely missed out on the sense of mystery and exploration the original 2 have.

 

I don't think Curse is a bad game in a vacuum, but I do think it's a bad Monkey Island game. Exceptions being the VO and Murray.

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by roots

[Udvarnoky]

5 hours ago, roots said:

I don't think Curse is a bad game in a vacuum, but I do think it's a bad Monkey Island game.

 

I don't know how unpopular a sentiment this is, because I've seen it parroted with reasonable regularity since 1997. And it comes off as gatekeepery as it ever did.

 

I don't direct this at you specifically, but so often over the years misgivings with CMI have been framed in terms of legitimacy, and it makes me feel like I'm in church. The ways in which the game may be a departure from what came before make for interesting discussion that I have thoughts on myself, but interesting discussion is out of season once the dreaded "authenticity" angle comes in.

[roots]

54 minutes ago, Udvarnoky said:

 

I don't know how unpopular a sentiment this is, because I've seen it parroted with reasonable regularity since 1997. And it comes off as gatekeepery as it ever did.

 

I don't direct this at you specifically, but so often over the years misgivings with CMI have been framed in terms of legitimacy, and it makes me feel like I'm in church. The ways in which the game may be a departure from what came before make for interesting discussion that I have thoughts on myself, but interesting discussion is out of season once the dreaded "authenticity" angle comes in.

 

If by legitimacy you mean something like "Ron wasn't involved so it's not a real MI game" then I would absolutely agree, I'm not concerned with who made what.

 

But I do strongly feel that Curse is a a very literal interpretation of the previous games that misses out on the elements that make the first two games rise above for me. (Credit where it's due, EMI came pretty close with the Mysts o'Tyme)

[Thrik]

20 hours ago, Trapezzoid said:

The LucasArts logo was bad, but so was the rectangular big-L-big-M LucasFilm Games logo. Only the pre-1988 curved logo looked good.

Coincidentally I’m just reading Rogue Leaders and:

 

[Jake]

I liked the big blocky one but also never thought the Gold Guy was a good logo. It’s now a little fun in a kitschy 90s way, but it never made sense for the games group. I’m honestly glad they’re back to their original original logo. I think Mojo had a history of gold guy logo at some point that revealed it was foisted off on the games group because it was commissioned for a company-wide rebrand but was rejected, and they wanted to save the design work somehow?
 

Fake edit: Found it, it’s the Gold Guy Exposed article.