When you have to bring online "ire" of a game you specifically knows nothing of and never played, youre already in the wrong no matter which game or context
specially the case with genres like rpgs that have "hatedoms" that dedicate their entire lives to destroy it, including "influencers" like certain youtubers that hate the genre or japanese stuff and do entire series/campaigns etc trying to force others to hate it too or set in crusades to convince others with "malicious" vitrol that its bad because x or y, etc. And if you still see so much "love" despite that its even more of a sign that theres vitrol. Same with specific entries in series, one would think Brawl was a flop based on ire when it was a huge seller and had many fans of its own back then outside bubles.
Same goes for other genres and specific franchises too, big and small, never use ire as a metric to what you dont know, not even getting in how social media and bubbles distort, it those were basis, even something as big as nintendo itself would have go under years ago because there were a lot of online people shocked when the switch was a hit despite reports as "online ire" tricked them everybody hated for example (thats a thing I saw some types say around 2017).
Lets not even get in the crowds that act shocked at past Smash aditions because their bubles got them away from realizing those were known even when it was some big fish. Theres examples of both big, medium and small franchises that show how much this online ire means most of time: nothing.
You assume I know nothing about the series when all I state is that I have not played them personally. Would I know as much as someone who played through every game three times? No, but I know plenty of people who did. Some liked them, others didn’t. I’ve also seen people who just could not get into the series due to a rough first two games. I find it honestly disgusting that you think that puts me automatically in the wrong. Let’s break down what I said bullet point style.
- Neptunia is niche, even among JRPG fans
- The games also are contentious in the RPG community. Plenty of people love them but the reception is more mixed.
For saying this, because I even suggested there was any dislike towards Neptunia, I am somehow in the wrong. Browse most rpg circles, check most reviews, and you would see yourself that Neptunia does have mixed reception. Saying that because I stated something reasonable
I am automatically in the wrong is just gross and disingenuous.
Let me clarify: almost all or the Neptunia ire is from RPG fans. This is not some broad swath JRPG bad hatedom that misrepresents the games: it is the target audience. It’s not like Neptunia is a stranger to mixed reviews either. The games tend to top out at a low 70 at best on Metacritic. Heck, the first four games topped out with an average in the mid 50s. I’ve seen plenty of JRPG fans say that the games just in a nuts and bolts sense disappoint compared to other JRPGs in the genre. While the parody aspects broadly I have seen are liked, I’ve seen plenty of ire from, and I stress this again, JRPG fans, that Neptunia’s gameplay can be lacking. Neptunia getting criticism and people not liking it isn’t news to its fans. Every Neptunia fan I have met at least acknowledges part of the criticism, the positives of the characters, parody aspects, and world building are enough for them to overlook their issues with the game.
My bigger issue is how you broadly paint that any ire must be from some online hate base or minimize it entirely. Do hate bases exist? Sure, but they are nowhere near as widespread as you are claiming. The real problem is you seem to be painting
any dissatisfaction or criticism as actively hating on the game or being in a bubble. No gaming community is a monolith. People have their own individual opinions on games and will differ from each other. Some things do tend to be more agreed on, be it positive or negative sure. But disliking something does not automatically put you in a bubble or make it so you are in league with some organized campaign against the genre.
Criticism can be healthy. You should be able to look at something and talk about your issues with it. Criticism helps games get better. Think of games like No Man’s Sky, where over time they managed to turn it into a genuinely great game. You have games like Persona 5 Royal or Breath of the Wild which listened to plenty of fan desires while also making tons of quality of life changes fans wanted. Saying that Neptunia for instance isn’t all that due to its mediocre combat systems could be helpful to make a genuinely great Neptunina game down the line.
Heck, as I was tying this, Lionfrankly, who is a fan of the series, posted this. Basically summing up some of my points of Neptunia criticism.
The best game in the series is decent at best, and that's being generous. The gameplay is nothing to write home about. The first game in the series was heavily criticized for horrendous gameplay. It was saved by gaming industry parody and characters. Actually, western market saved this series as it sold more on west. Later entries did indeed change and improve a lot, but still fall short of quality standard compared to othetlr candidates like little to no strategy involving gameplay, reused assets, empty, repetitive environments, etc. Before, you say this applies to other games, Neptunia has these problems way worse. Even the most recent entey 'Sister vs Sister' has these issues. Dungeon puzzle was half baked ar best there. I wish Neptunia improves way more than this, but I gueas Compile Heart doesn't have resources. It just that Neptunia doesn't have anything going for it. It hasn't set any legacy or quality that other jrpg contenders have.