So about the "____ sucks" mindset...

[Black Magic Shopkeeper]

Well, yes, opinions are definitely opinions. I can definitely be the better person and leave with the "so what? Still my favorite game" attitude. It's the right attitude to have. But I'm talking about something a little more virile. It's more... the frequency, impact, and shallowness of people saying "this sucks, and you're sinning by even playing it" and treating it as solid, unrefutable fact. It gets old and redundant and it spreads like a virus as the years crawl on and certain game design trends lose traction. ...Or, even, as new game designs GAIN traction. To the rancor of some oldschool gamers.

Take Tomb Raider for example. I've tried to find forums that aren't divided between oldschool TR and new-gen TR. While I generally dislike the direction Square Enix took with Tomb Raider, I don't think it "sucks" per se-- I simply think it could have been called "Lara Croft: Origins" instead, so that it wouldn't show up on the same bloody Google search front page as classic TR1. But there are others that flat-out put their cards on the table with that classic "this sucks and you people should never, ever play it because it is wrong and you are wrong" attitude. These are normally, if not always, fans of the originals.

On the other side, we have those who have never played the classics and started with the Square-Enix reboot , who tend to diss its predecessors without any regard to the impact they had. Some say it's too blocky or slow or Lara is too one-dimensional, not just for them, but for anyone at all. And while these arguments might hold up at least in the narrative, you can't ignore the fact that they will try to tell younger gamers trying to play it "oh, you'll just be disappointed. Don't even bother." These are people that leave lengthy, detailed, nasty reviews that actually would sound believable to outsiders.

On both sides, we have people-- girls mostly (it's silly, some might still be surprised by this-- certain stigmas live on I guess) that were or are being deeply affected by Lara Croft as a character, shaped and molded into someone headstrong and adventurous. However, it's so, SO hard to find these girls able to see eye to eye. I've yet to find a public discussion where people are interestedly exploring the differences between classic Lara's impact and how modern (TEEN) Lara is shaping the girls of today. Instead, it's all just arguments about ethics, gender politics, and which one's better or worse. Sad, really. :/

What I'm trying to say is... generally, people that openly say "___ sucks" are normally trying to get people siding with them, taking their word for it, agreeing with them, etc. The intention, usually, is to spread the word that "___ sucks", because they "know" that "___ sucks" because they're all Woke and all that. They know better. They don't know about the impact said thing has had on the people they're yelling at about this, but surely, unmistakably, they can't possibly be wrong.

I mean-- I know about this mindset not just because I've been subjected to it (harassed about it to the point where I had to tell someone to never come to my house for D&D again-- I'm not joking, he trash-talked me for liking final fantasy every freaking session it was rIDICULOUS), but because I was also one of those people. I caught myself trying to boss my sister out of playing FFXIII because I hated it and I felt as if she was just taking part in fueling the fire to promote it. I didn't want it to exist. I even went to my friends talking about how appalled I was by that game. Yikes... In the end my sister won that stupid argument, bought, and played FFXIII, and nowadays that doesn't matter to me. I'm ok with XIII, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns existing. I still have negative opinions about them-- they certainly aren't for me-- but I'm not going to jump down someone's throat for liking them, mentioning them, or playing them in my presence... That's stupid behavior.

In conclusion: It's not the negative opinions that I'm annoyed by. Everyone has the right to those and I'm able to ignore them. It's when opinions are warped by the hater's mind into "solid fact" that it becomes a problem. When someone turns to another person and says "you like X game mechanic? How STUPID can you get?"... And when the hate runs so deep that people are offended by a certain game and want to snuff it out of existence. And yeah... you'd be surprised how common that mindset is.
Either way, I have an easy enough time not talking to these people in the online world, regardless of the subject of their scrutiny. And I certainly don't know anyone personally that hates the FF franchise, let alone IX. ...Anymore, at least. :P