Unpopular opinions on Rayman

[Hunchman801]

Rayman 2 is probably my favorite Rayman game, but I must agree with Dumbo that its story is a bit dull and its gameplay rather stiff. Rayman 3 is a better game on both aspects, but it's the atmosphere that makes Rayman 2 my favorite.

[Greengoop]

I never really felt the atmosphere that immersive. J think rayman 2 has a couple of good tracks. The gameplay is really dull, and the visuals are just the same colour-drained ships and moss

[Hugo]

Rayman 2's visuals and audio communicate a lot more than the literal textures and sound bytes. It's very much like a book, with the satisfaction of (mostly casual) interactions that let you participate in the world. I know I put it on a pedestal, but it's not easy to find an experience close to it, even if it is stiff and dated.

I frequently have this argument with a friend about the Spyro games. I don't like the look of Reignited Trilogy because everything looks plastic, shiny and fake. My friend tells me they only see blocky polygons when they look at the original, but I think it they used descriptive qualities to give the impression of real environments.

I can accept the times have changed and it's fine if the game is simply too old for you, but I hope my point comes across. It is a craft to be able to produce a feeling with such limitations, as opposed to a game that looks like real life but has no soul as is the case with more than a few modern games. Just one example might be the reverberating gong sound when striking a pirate, I find it so expressive, there are many tactile sounds like that.

[Greengoop]

For me, it seems like people have these rose-tinted glasses when looking at rayman 2. Never once did I feel immersed within this game. Neither did I ever feel like the game had its charm everyone says it has. For me, it’s just another one of those awkward 90s 3D platformers Nitro Rad likes to cover. Although it is your opinion if you do feel like the game is very immersive, this is my view on it

[Pirez]

Nowhere near that old. Maybe my age is why I don’t agree with a lot of opinions on this site?

I must agree with Dumbo that its story is a bit dull and its gameplay rather stiff.

That was precisely my point. Maybe you not growing up with the early-era videogames made you more critical of them since you've experienced games that have surpassed it on many, if not all, points. But you never experienced how Rayman 2 was a masterpiece for its time and that, in a time where videogame releases weren't as blindingly abundant as it is today, how much of an event it was.

Therefore, on the flip side, it could also be said that our love for those games are tainted by nostalgia, which can be a fair assessment to some degree. While it definitely did not aged as poorly as my next example, there are people who unironically believe that Goldeneye N64 still is a top of the range shooter.

What is objectively true about Rayman 2, though, is that it is the only game of the serie that has a whimsical-dark tone. No game in the serie since has attempted it.
And it's definitely a tone I cherish. But I most definitely wouldn't be against a remaster that irons out the gameplay, adds more combat variety and introduced more character arcs, which while still non-existent, Rayman 2 is still the only game to try and implement one (it's the only one where Rayman actually has a choice to make, in the cave of Bad Dreams, and you don't really have a choice anyway. That's how deep of a character arc Rayman underwent in the entire series)

[Greengoop]

While it definitely did not aged as poorly as my next example, there are people who unironically believe that Goldeneye N64 still is a top of the range shooter.

These people are the worst in topics like these. These are the same people who will make 2 hour long essays about “why gaming isn’t fun anymore” and can’t survive a single conversation without bringing up how Fortnite is the worst thing that has happened to our planet since pretty much all life got wiped out 600 million years ago

[Hunchman801]

To add to Hugo's thoughts, the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire certainly doesn't look stunning by modern standards, and the textures themselves are probably a bit repetitive, but I can't think of another location in the series that conveys the same feeling of mystery you get when navigating the maze of its subterranean abandoned temples.

[Greengoop]

Isn’t that the one with that stupid plum-riding segment?

[Hunchman801]

Isn’t that the one with that stupid plum-riding segment?

The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire: you either love it or you hate it.

[Greengoop]

Yep, I’m definitely in the hate group for both rayman revolution and TSOSAF

[Pirez]

The music for that sanctuary is so magical though <3

[The Jonster]

I can think of at least a couple songs I could listen to for awhile from SOF

And I can see now why Greengoop hates Rayman 2: he ragequit due to not finishing the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire! Makes me curious which level Dumbo stopped at

Isn’t that the one with that stupid plum-riding segment?

The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire: you either love it or you hate it.

You know what’s funny? I actually used to hate this level! Now I have no issue with it though it’s still my least favorite sanctuary (unless you could count that sad place where the mask in the Iron Mountains is in Revolution as one)

[Greengoop]

And I can see now why Greengoop hates Rayman 2: he ragequit due to not finishing the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire! Makes me curious which level Dumbo stopped at

Yes! Finally somebody gets it!!

[Hugo]

For me, it seems like people have these rose-tinted glasses when looking at rayman 2.

I must protest against this point. If that were the case, how could I hate certain games from the same era that I remembered fondly before picking them up again?

I believe that our expectations make it difficult to be receptive to older games. There are games from before my time with barely any graphics or some nice pictures at best and the "gameplay" is basically changing digits on a UI interface. Some of these will be good, others bad, but if the game frustrates or bores me I won't care to find out.

Isn’t that the one with that stupid plum-riding segment?

The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire: you either love it or you hate it.

I have reflected on the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire since you brought it up previously. It is of great symbolic significance. Unfortunately it is difficult to talk of such things without appearing more of a mad fool than I already do. I am glad its magic has touched you.

[Greengoop]

Tell us more about your views on the sanctuary of stone and fire, I need someone to be a mad fool with me!

[dr_st]

Here's an unpopular opinion: The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire is not the best level in the Rayman Universe.

[Hugo]

Tell us more about your views on the sanctuary of stone and fire, I need someone to be a mad fool with me!

One day, I promise

[Greengoop]

You need to post literally just “Rayman 2 sucks!” 986 times in a row, then I’ll be satisfied

Here's an unpopular opinion: The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire is not the best level in the Rayman Universe.

Woah, that’s an unpopular opinion! You may not wanna say that one out loud!

[Master]

I'm still kinda surprised that SoSaF is popular, it always came across as that "one" level that kinda dragged to me - maybe it's cause I first played the PS1 version which had 4/5 (I can't remember exactly) levels in one as opposed to the 3 in regular Rayman 2.

I have a more positive opinion of it now, but truth be told it's not a level I tend to want to replay much.

[Greengoop]

All of these points could also be made about the CoBD, but that level is just better