Does anyone else feel that cult-fanbases are just as bad, if not worse than fanbases for popular franchises? I mean it's nice that there are dedicated fans out there that keep the spirit of obscure and/or forgotten media/franchises alive, but I feel like the whole cult aspect cringe as these fans will even dedicate their entire lives around the franchise, and it prevents any criticism of the respective medium of franchise from happening. You might as well be pissing on bibles.

Case in point: the Mother series. These days, it's acceptable to point out it's flaws because it's now mainstream to the point that I really don't feel like it's a cult classic anymore, but before it was on the Wii U Virtual Console, you could not find anyone criticizing it. Every review had to bring up how "criminally underrated" it was and that "to play Earthbound is to love Earthbound". The only negative reviews I could find were ones made by trolls. I played Earthbound back in 2014, and while I liked the unique setting, I found the game to be clunky with it's limited inventory space, really tough enemies at the beginning, and lack of a dedicated run button. I played a lot of RPG and other games that are much better, but are even more obscure that Earthbound ever was.

It also just makes me cringe that these people will literally devote their lives to their beloved cult-classic. The Starmen.net crew literally built their careers out of their love for Earthbound through Fangamer and while that's good for them, I could never see myself having a single underrated classic change my life that way.

Maybe it's just me who gets uncomfortable around really close knit communities. I don't know. I just want to enjoy what I like, regardless of popularity, and not make it seem like I am now part of some special club for liking it.