The Balance of Positivity and Negativity for KH3

[Novayon 192]

First off, I want to say that I found Kingdom Hearts 3 to be a 8/10 game. Which, in my estimation, means 80% positives and 20% negatives.

I’ve seen a lot of back and forth about positivity and negativity about the game, particularly on Twitter. A lot of people who really liked the game are frustrated with those who are criticising it. I understand, if you love something, it hurts to see other people talk bad about it. And true, a lot of these criticisms are more like “hate” (like a recent 3/10 Twitter post) to get attention or to troll.

That said, as someone who has shared criticism on the game, it can be hard seeing people shoot down genuine, constructive complaints as “hate”. As if a bit of negativity is bad. The reason I find myself focusing on the negatives, the “20%”, is because they stand out in a game with mostly positive aspects. Not because I hate it.

Discussing criticisms with others, explaining your point of view and opening your mind to other people’s opinions. These are things I find far more interesting than an echo chamber of positivity where everyone is saying “I love this! Me too!” Of course, some people prefer that, and nothing against them. It’s just my viewpoint, my stance. Indeed, some of my opinions are different now that I’ve heard the other side of the argument.

That leads to the crux of the matter, really. Everything is an opinion. I always try to start my arguments with “I think” or “To me,”. Stating something as fact like “The game is trash” is not a good way to go about it. But neither is “No, this was fine. You are nitpicking/your expectations were too high”. I focus on the negatives because I believe that is what will improve the game. Others might not agree, but that is fine because I have no intention of ruining someone else’s experience. If someone says they enjoyed something, I won’t reply saying “Nah, it was bad”. But I might make my own post about it.

The balance is achieved by not ruining other people’s hype with negativity, but also not shouting people down because they aren't being “positive enough”.

At least, in my opinion. ?

[Allwil13 754]

Understanding that everyone is entitled to their own opinion is crucial in this kind of situation. I also make sure to drive home the fact that the things I say are just my opinion and not necessarily fact. Granted, this is mainly due to my crippling fear of unintentionally offending someone, but still. It just feels like the right thing to do.

When I wrote up my review of Kingdom Hearts III, I tried to make sure I discussed negatives and positives of the game. I think the reason why there are so many reviews that focus more on the negatives than the positives is because if something is great, then... that's great! No need to worry and no need to warn people about this. However, if a game has a great story and its gameplay is good for the most part, but sometimes the game bugs out and the player character falls through the floor into oblivion, it's probably a good idea to warn others about this so they're prepared for it. Unfortunately, there are people who interpret this kind of thing as "hating" on the game, even if that's not what's happening. There's also the situation of having an uncommon opinion. For instance, I am one of the few people that doesn't consider Kingdom Hearts II to be the best game in the series. That doesn't mean I think it's bad, or even mediocre at that. It's a great game, I just don't find it to be as good as some of the other installments. Again, it's not uncommon for this kind of opinion to be branded as hateful.

As for the hate being directed at KHIII, I mainly blame the hype. The game was just so hyped up for so long. There was no way it would ever live up to some people's expectations. I think once people play it again, or even just take some time to think about it, they'll ease up on the hate. In the meantime, we can all lean on each other for support, because that's what a community does.

[Novayon 192]

15 minutes ago, Allwil13 said:

Understanding that everyone is entitled to their own opinion is crucial in this kind of situation. I also make sure to drive home the fact that the things I say are just my opinion and not necessarily fact. Granted, this is mainly due to my crippling fear of unintentionally offending someone, but still. It just feels like the right thing to do.

When I wrote up my review of Kingdom Hearts III, I tried to make sure I discussed negatives and positives of the game. I think the reason why there are so many reviews that focus more on the negatives than the positives is because if something is great, then... that's great! No need to worry and no need to warn people about this. However, if a game has a great story and its gameplay is good for the most part, but sometimes the game bugs out and the player character falls through the floor into oblivion, it's probably a good idea to warn others about this so they're prepared for it. Unfortunately, there are people who interpret this kind of thing as "hating" on the game, even if that's not what's happening. There's also the situation of having an uncommon opinion. For instance, I am one of the few people that doesn't consider Kingdom Hearts II to be the best game in the series. That doesn't mean I think it's bad, or even mediocre at that. It's a great game, I just don't find it to be as good as some of the other installments. Again, it's not uncommon for this kind of opinion to be branded as hateful.

As for the hate being directed at KHIII, I mainly blame the hype. The game was just so hyped up for so long. There was no way it would ever live up to some people's expectations. I think once people play it again, or even just take some time to think about it, they'll ease up on the hate. In the meantime, we can all lean on each other for support, because that's what a community does.

Indeed, and the community here is great. I hardly ever see anything unfair. 

[SweetYetSalty 330]

I've seen so many rants on KH3 since I finished the game. The hype was simply too strong and it seems like people were expecting much more. I think it's just that negative rants get more attention then positive stuff. At least to me. I have my share of problems with KH3 but overall I quite loved the experience and would certainly play the game again.

[Maffy 45]

I agree with this! But also, maybe it's because I haven't checked out many places and I don't really use Twitter much, but I've honestly seen mostly overly positive opinions over the game and people complaining about people "hating", than actual hate.

 I wholy agree with the silly argument of "hype was too much/expectations were too high/etc", because that is no argument at all and it's just an easy way to dismiss everything without bothering to listen. Cause the opposite argument can be said back "You are too invested to see its problems/etc". People having problems with the game doesn't automatically mean it was their problem and the game was perfect (nor does it mean the opposite of course), it just means they have possibly come across legit problems that didn't sit well with them. I had fun with KH3, but since my top priorities are always story and characters and don't care as much for the gameplay, I don't think I can even give it a 7. Maybe 6.5. It might seem low, even to my eyes, but putting aside my nostalgia goggles and my general love for the franchise, I found so many problems with the construction of the story and its storytelling (even for KH standards) to say that it is a truly good game. I suppose if I judged every category more equally, it would have a higher score, but it's a personal score either way.

That being said, both sides should be open or at least accepting to other people's opinions. I know I won't agree with anyone who says KH3 is a masterpiece, but I can understand and accept that what they saw was satisfactory to them and more power to them for enjoying everything so much. Unfortunately, there are always extreme people in everything, like adoring ot hating something blindly, but those people can be ignored. If only the world had only reasonable people :^)

[LunaCatte 169]

I said it before and I say it again:

Everyone can and will have their own opinion of the game.

I'm in the camp that loved it. The gameplay felt amazing, the worlds were well composed, the story itself (while lacking in many aspects) is one that left me feeling happy, satisfied and entirely out of tears by the end. The music was good, with a few exceptions to me. But that's the thing, these are all subjective. Everyone is going to be different and this game, while far more polarizing than previous entries, is good for me. It's great. Personally I'd rate it a 9/10 if I gave two craps about ratings.

As long as that polarity doesn't lead to negativity, insults, harassment, etc. it is actually a good thing to have and a good thing overall. You'll never have a game everybody likes. As said above, the balance of constructive discussion between those that like and criticize the game is what's important, because once you get into a field of negativity, then it just brings everyone down.

[Dark Sins 1]

I platinum'd the game not too long ago and honestly it's by far the most enjoyable Kingdom Hearts game. I would just say that it could've been a ways more challenging than what it is now. Though before anyone goes out and jumps straight to criticizing, take a moment to reflect about how Kingdom Hearts III is the first KH game with this detailed graphics, happened to be ran by Unreal Engine, so technically speaking Nomura is kind of new to this,  so in the end everything has pros and cons.

I personally would be on the positive side since I hold deep appreciation and gratitude for the hard work they all put in to make the game happen and as fast as they could, and as I said "Most Enjoyable KH Game" 

????

[Smithee 326]

Let me put it this way:

Even though I'm more disappointed than I expected, its positives still outweigh its negatives IMO.

[Novayon 192]

2 hours ago, SweetYetSalty said:

I've seen so many rants on KH3 since I finished the game. The hype was simply too strong and it seems like people were expecting much more. I think it's just that negative rants get more attention then positive stuff. At least to me. I have my share of problems with KH3 but overall I quite loved the experience and would certainly play the game again.

Ah, it may be the case that I'm not aware of these rants then. Certainly, I don't see any reason to rant about Kingdom Hearts 3. And yeah, the experience is what matters most.

1 hour ago, Maffy said:

I agree with this! But also, maybe it's because I haven't checked out many places and I don't really use Twitter much, but I've honestly seen mostly overly positive opinions over the game and people complaining about people "hating", than actual hate.

 I wholy agree with the silly argument of "hype was too much/expectations were too high/etc", because that is no argument at all and it's just an easy way to dismiss everything without bothering to listen. Cause the opposite argument can be said back "You are too invested to see its problems/etc". People having problems with the game doesn't automatically mean it was their problem and the game was perfect (nor does it mean the opposite of course), it just means they have possibly come across legit problems that didn't sit well with them. I had fun with KH3, but since my top priorities are always story and characters and don't care as much for the gameplay, I don't think I can even give it a 7. Maybe 6.5. It might seem low, even to my eyes, but putting aside my nostalgia goggles and my general love for the franchise, I found so many problems with the construction of the story and its storytelling (even for KH standards) to say that it is a truly good game. I suppose if I judged every category more equally, it would have a higher score, but it's a personal score either way.

That being said, both sides should be open or at least accepting to other people's opinions. I know I won't agree with anyone who says KH3 is a masterpiece, but I can understand and accept that what they saw was satisfactory to them and more power to them for enjoying everything so much. Unfortunately, there are always extreme people in everything, like adoring ot hating something blindly, but those people can be ignored. If only the world had only reasonable people :^)

I agree, that's what I've seen more of. But it could be the case that I've missed all the negativity entirely. I don't like the hype argument either but I do see where people are coming from with it.

53 minutes ago, LunaCatte said:

I said it before and I say it again:

Everyone can and will have their own opinion of the game.

I'm in the camp that loved it. The gameplay felt amazing, the worlds were well composed, the story itself (while lacking in many aspects) is one that left me feeling happy, satisfied and entirely out of tears by the end. The music was good, with a few exceptions to me. But that's the thing, these are all subjective. Everyone is going to be different and this game, while far more polarizing than previous entries, is good for me. It's great. Personally I'd rate it a 9/10 if I gave two craps about ratings.

As long as that polarity doesn't lead to negativity, insults, harassment, etc. it is actually a good thing to have and a good thing overall. You'll never have a game everybody likes. As said above, the balance of constructive discussion between those that like and criticize the game is what's important, because once you get into a field of negativity, then it just brings everyone down.

There are indeed too many factors and too many people in the world to have any 100% agreement. And yeah, just complaining all the time is unlikely to work as "criticism".

37 minutes ago, Dark Sins said:

I platinum'd the game not too long ago and honestly it's by far the most enjoyable Kingdom Hearts game. I would just say that it could've been a ways more challenging than what it is now. Though before anyone goes out and jumps straight to criticizing, take a moment to reflect about how Kingdom Hearts III is the first KH game with this detailed graphics, happened to be ran by Unreal Engine, so technically speaking Nomura is kind of new to this,  so in the end everything has pros and cons.

I personally would be on the positive side since I hold deep appreciation and gratitude for the hard work they all put in to make the game happen and as fast as they could, and as I said "Most Enjoyable KH Game" 

????

True, the game must have been a monumental challenge. The developers certainly had a lot on their plate.

10 minutes ago, Alan Smithee said:

Let me put it this way:

Even though I'm more disappointed than I expected, its positives still outweigh its negatives IMO.

Pretty much how I feel.

[Aile 273]

I love the game and that's enough for me. It's a shame not everyone is on the same boat as I am but that is just how it is. The game had flaws, but every single KH game has flaws, people really need to stop acting like KH2 is perfect, because it isn't. Every single game has flaws to a certain extend. 
A lot of people also just get very easily offended these days if someone has a different opinion. Sure there are also trolls and people who hate just for the sake of hating it. But you have those kind of people everywhere. 

If I was in charge of KH3 I would've done some things different, sure. But this is what we got and we can't change that.