- Joined
- May 31, 2015
- Messages
- 27,967
Yes for tobacco in its current form (the more classical cigars and the like had some genuine health benefits prior to the cut corners taking in mass-producing tobacco). Alcohol should also be regulated to a lesser given how more of a necessity it is for both social events and other services (eg. wine being necessary for Christians attending mass), though still requires some fair regulation when it comes to those that purchase it due to its addictive and harmful nature, or at least have an increased price to convince people to have a double-take in buying it as a luxury item.
I'll only list a few that come to mind for each category, otherwise we may have a post to rival the Appeal of Dreams
.Disappointing expectations
Hobbies are more difficult to gauge as I wouldn't say there's something I've actively pursued enough to become a hobby that I didn't enjoy or thought I wouldn't. For games, one that definitely comes to mind is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. I heard people raving about its nuanced character writing and portrayal of mental health. Instead, I was given a game with a main character who comes close to being an overpowered Mary Sue (skinny average woman not suggested to be some expert warrior somehow kills Norse Gods long before she even gets a magic sword), some of the most awkward attempts at forcing puzzle segments into a game, such a poor attempt at showcasing Senua's psychosis that you'd just think the main narrative that she was a witch who could see visions if not for the disclaimer right at the start and an extremely convoluted ending; all wrapped up in the game being a walking simulator with bare bones combat. If not for it being free on Game Pass and easy for achievements, I'd have dropped it after the 3rd chapter.
For anime/manga, Kingdom is one that comes to mind. I expected it to be a great strategic work with its Ancient Chinese setting and the critical response hyped it up to be something on par with Vinland Saga or even Berserk. Instead, I got what was essentially a generic Shonen protagonist who's incredibly plot armoured and gets by by screaming and swinging his sword rather than any tactics, with only the explicit content separating it from something like Naruto.
For books, Shadow of the Conqueror is one. I thought I'd like it as it's by the YouTuber Shadiversity who does great analyses on weaponry, medieval warfare, etc. It had an interesting premise, though the heavy use of destiny as a plot device throughout it turned me off it.
Surprises, to be sure, but welcome ones
For games, I was sceptical on if I'd like the Telltale Walking Dead games when I got into them, but found them very interesting (despite some drops in quality at points) to the extent I've played through each one several times.
For anime/manga, Gundam comes to mind. I didn't know much about it beyond giant robots fighting when getting in and what footage I'd seen of the alternate universe series certainly didn't help. When watching through most of the Universal Century timeline series after seeing some reviews of such series though, I came to find it as a great war drama for the most part with it doing a lot of elements that I wish were explored more in sci-fi (eg. Zeta Gundam is what the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy should've been if Disney cared more about writing a coherent narrative than pushing agendas).
For books, there's less in that area as I usually commit time to reading full novels and such only if they spark my interest to begin with. The most that comes to mind is expecting A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons to be a huge step down in quality from the first three A Song of Ice and Fire books with how some fans treat them. Even though it didn't reach quite the same peaks as what came before, I still wouldn't say the drop in quality was anywhere near as severe as what they made it out to be, especially not compared to the equivalent events in the show.
sees himself as
died in the original, Black was looming in the horizon? Do you think they're saving Black (and probably Jiren, Moro and Granolah and/or the new movie villain of those stories are complete by then) for the next game?
