Dragon Age Origins. Played it, got annoyed in the prologue, put it down, came back to it months later and loved the shit out of it.
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Favorite games you initially wrote off due to negative impressions
- Thread starter Deleted member 17402
- Start date
If you are interested then it's a no brainer at that price.
OP
OP
I do love what you described, so I think I will. Why don't you think there's replay value?
I remember buying MGS3 for the PS2 and hating it after playing for an hour or so. I gave it a second try a few months later and... man. What a game!
I don't have a lot of games like this so none that are in my favorites overall, but of all the games that I wrote off but eventually played, Valkyria Revolution is probably my favorite. I acknowledge that it's heavily flawed but I still really enjoyed it. Solid 8/10.
Civ 5 is now one of my favorite games of all time but I wrote it and other games like it off for years and years and years but I thought it looked like one of those to cool for skool pc games only the most hardcore nerds play. I'm either a hardcore 2 cool for skool nerd or was dead wrong because it's great.
Battlefield 1943. The last great Battlefield game and reviewers hated it because it was only 3 maps and "too basic." Well those 3 maps were so good that it's all the game needed. Friends and I had a blast and we all got to max rank and still played it after.
The Last Remnant, also this is kind of a unique case. The Xbox 360 version was maligned for a ton of reasons, but later on they had the PC version on sale for 75% off and I thought, ehh whatever, I'll try it out. It turns out the PC version, released several months later, was vastly improved from 360, with a ton of QoL changes and a bunch of essential features like autosave and no leader-unit limit in unions. I ended up putting over 270 hours into it and it was one of my favorite RPGs of that gen. The recent Switch port of TLR Remastered has also seen quite a bit of playtime.
You have to like the rollercoaster ride enough. Like FFX. I've replayed both many times because I love the experience. Doesn't matter if its on-rails.
Pokemon black/white 2 when it was first revealed and for a little bit. Now it's by far my favorite in the series.
I played Super Mario 3D World about 4-5 months after everyone else played it and gushed about it. I got a Wii U, played it, and thought "eh...it's pretty good." I didn't like how you still had to hold a run button, a lot of the UI was not very appealing on the big screen, the game lacked theme and identity, the level design was fine but not mind blowing.
A few months later I picked it up again after unlocking Rosalina and going for 100% and my tune changed, especially upon playing on the GamePad. It's a PERFECT "pick up and play" game to just blast through a couple of levels and the levels are a lot more creative than I gave them credit for. It's a near perfect translation and evolution of classic 2D Mario in 3D, and my second favorite 3D Mario behind 64. I think if the controls were tightened up just a bit and they had more thematic creativity and cohesion with the world maps/levels, it would be my favorite.
That Switch port is coming any day now...
A few months later I picked it up again after unlocking Rosalina and going for 100% and my tune changed, especially upon playing on the GamePad. It's a PERFECT "pick up and play" game to just blast through a couple of levels and the levels are a lot more creative than I gave them credit for. It's a near perfect translation and evolution of classic 2D Mario in 3D, and my second favorite 3D Mario behind 64. I think if the controls were tightened up just a bit and they had more thematic creativity and cohesion with the world maps/levels, it would be my favorite.
That Switch port is coming any day now...
Dark Souls.
First time I tried I made it up to the Capra Demon and couldn't survive 2 seconds. Traded in the game.
Bought the game again on sale for $7.50 a year or two later, made it up to Ornstein & Smough. I didn't stand a chance. Turns out I didn't realize you could level up your weapons, or summon.
So a few months later after reading up on the game again, and trying my hand at it a third time, I finally managed to beat the damn thing, and it is now probably in my top 5 favorite games ever.
First time I tried I made it up to the Capra Demon and couldn't survive 2 seconds. Traded in the game.
Bought the game again on sale for $7.50 a year or two later, made it up to Ornstein & Smough. I didn't stand a chance. Turns out I didn't realize you could level up your weapons, or summon.
So a few months later after reading up on the game again, and trying my hand at it a third time, I finally managed to beat the damn thing, and it is now probably in my top 5 favorite games ever.
Bravely Default. The mandatory sections of the repeat chapters are insanely small and if you want to rush through it, it'd take like 2 hours.
Grandia III. Yeah the story sucks but everything else is fantastic
Tales of Zestiria. The Alisha controversy is the most ridiculous thing on Earth, I loved the Armitization, and some of the bad mechanics like whatever the fuck the equipment system was could be easily ignored. In the end I honestly liked it way more than Berseria.
Xenosaga II. Almost all the complaints about the game are really dumb and probably 99% of them come from fans of the original that just didn't like the VO and art change and wanted to pretend everything else was bad. "5 minute battles" my ass
Grandia III. Yeah the story sucks but everything else is fantastic
Tales of Zestiria. The Alisha controversy is the most ridiculous thing on Earth, I loved the Armitization, and some of the bad mechanics like whatever the fuck the equipment system was could be easily ignored. In the end I honestly liked it way more than Berseria.
Xenosaga II. Almost all the complaints about the game are really dumb and probably 99% of them come from fans of the original that just didn't like the VO and art change and wanted to pretend everything else was bad. "5 minute battles" my ass
Bloodborne and to a lesser extent Dark Souls. I'm super perfectionistic, often cripplingly so, and remnants of an anxiety disorder made it difficult for me to deal with the constant tension of not knowing what you'll run into and the prospect of dying (and thus, in my mindset at the time, failing). I bought Dark Souls 1, Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 and in each game I barely made it out of the starting areas before giving up and resigning myself to the fact that these games weren't for me.
Years later, I finally managed to tear down those mental walls when Dark Souls Remastered came out. It was rough at times, and I came close to giving up when I arrived at the Depths, but I managed to complete the game. I dived straight into Dark Souls 3 afterwards, which is now one of my favorite games of all time. Bloodborne was a special case, since I've never been a fan of horror. But I finally completed it earlier this year. And now? Now I actually love the scariest levels of the games. The Depths in DS1, Irithyll Dungeons in DS3, Upper Cathedral Ward in Bloodborne... still scary as fuck, but also exhilarating.
Years later, I finally managed to tear down those mental walls when Dark Souls Remastered came out. It was rough at times, and I came close to giving up when I arrived at the Depths, but I managed to complete the game. I dived straight into Dark Souls 3 afterwards, which is now one of my favorite games of all time. Bloodborne was a special case, since I've never been a fan of horror. But I finally completed it earlier this year. And now? Now I actually love the scariest levels of the games. The Depths in DS1, Irithyll Dungeons in DS3, Upper Cathedral Ward in Bloodborne... still scary as fuck, but also exhilarating.
Resident Evil 2 (The PS1 version) - I remember playing the demo where you are Leon and you go through the start of the game up to encounter The Licker. I absolutely hated the controls and felt it was nonsense compared to Tomb Raider's movement and gunplay (Completely different games I know, but try telling that to an immature kid).
Resident Evil 2 is now one of my all time favourite games.
Resident Evil 2 is now one of my all time favourite games.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 -people made it out to be this super fan servic-y game with a character who only knew how to slap-ass. That character was obnoxious at first but he had his own turnaround moment by the end. VC4 ended up being one of my faves this year.
Okami has a very tedious and repetitive start, I only stayed with it due to the fantastic art style. But then after the initial few hours it really picks up pace and flows so much better.
The last game that did that for me was Supergiant's PYRE. Fantastic game, would have won GOTY from me had I not given Xenoblade 2 the time of day.
I remember seeing the hate on ye old NeoNazi site, yes, but this Resetera thread was from only a few weeks ago:
I got Zelda 2 and Mario Bros 2 as gifts on the same Christmas. I tried Zelda 2 and hated it immediately, so I spent the next few months playing Mario 2.
I eventually gave Zelda 2 a second chance months later and really fell in love with it. I really liked grinding for levels for some reason, and got to know the world and dungeons like the back of my hand.
I eventually gave Zelda 2 a second chance months later and really fell in love with it. I really liked grinding for levels for some reason, and got to know the world and dungeons like the back of my hand.
Lead designer, massive gamergater, "anti-SJW" warrior, likes neonazis and Putin
The Metal Gear series has all these guns in it. I hate guns. But then, turns out, the series is mostly about not using them, and seems to be a metaphor for overcoming agoraphobia. It felt really nice to help that traumatized veteran come out of his shell.
Red Faction Guerrilla.
Had a mediocre demo from what I remember and didn't review THAT well, so I skipped it for a long time. Then I tried a friend's GameFly copy and absolutely loved it.
Borderlands 1
I think it reviewed well, but I was VERY picky about shooter back then, I think all I'd play was Halo. I remember hearing impressions saying the shooting was kinda mediocre.
When I finally played it I really liked it. I thought it was perfectly fun to play and the loot and quests were great and I think it was the fire time I'd ever gotten hooked in a loot/dungeon crawler type game before.
I am one of the people that puts AC3 as my least favorite AC game, but I'm curious if time away from it may have cooled my dislike for it.
I doubt my feelings on the story will change, but maybe I'll have more fun with the game itself. I may have had AC fatigue at the time it launched and it being the end of the "trilogy" may have hyped my expectations too high.
Even if I still don't like it, AC3 on Switch comes with Liberation which I've never played.
Had a mediocre demo from what I remember and didn't review THAT well, so I skipped it for a long time. Then I tried a friend's GameFly copy and absolutely loved it.
Borderlands 1
I think it reviewed well, but I was VERY picky about shooter back then, I think all I'd play was Halo. I remember hearing impressions saying the shooting was kinda mediocre.
When I finally played it I really liked it. I thought it was perfectly fun to play and the loot and quests were great and I think it was the fire time I'd ever gotten hooked in a loot/dungeon crawler type game before.
If it gets a decent sale on Black Friday I might pick up AC3 for the Switch.
I am one of the people that puts AC3 as my least favorite AC game, but I'm curious if time away from it may have cooled my dislike for it.
I doubt my feelings on the story will change, but maybe I'll have more fun with the game itself. I may have had AC fatigue at the time it launched and it being the end of the "trilogy" may have hyped my expectations too high.
Even if I still don't like it, AC3 on Switch comes with Liberation which I've never played.
Rain World just recently.
Was expecting a horrible unfun time according to so many critic reviews, what I ended up getting was a brutal yet addicting flawed masterpiece
Was expecting a horrible unfun time according to so many critic reviews, what I ended up getting was a brutal yet addicting flawed masterpiece
Seems there's two sorts of interpretations for "negative impressions" going on in this thread. For games that had a bad rep that I ended up giving a chance anyway, I think most people were pretty down on Ni No Kuni 2. It was too easy and too kiddie and the kingdom building was busywork. I came in after they added difficulty patches so the easy part wasn't an issue for me and I found the story charmingly "kiddie". I'm sure it was probably disappointing for players to segue fully into fantasy world rather than the dual back and forth from Ni No Kuni 1 since our isekai protagonist seems like he'd have an interesting IRL segment but I was down for the fairy tale nature of it all. I even liked the kingdom building, seeing your base grow in a Suikoden manner as you recruit more subjects. Just digging around the world for more fish people, cat people, mysterious magic people to do quests for.
For games I had an initially bad impression when I first played it, I didn't "get" Final Fantasy Tactics. It came out after the very flashy, very dramatic Final Fantasy 7 and my only other SRPG experience at the time had been Disagea (I came to the FFT train late). I thought it was brown and boring and everyone talks about politics and scheming and things that aren't flashy magical powers or anime jokes and sooooooo boring.
... so years later, I played it on the PSP and suddenly, Argath giving Delita shit about being a commoner and the resulting fallout hitting Ramza was super interesting, top shelf top ten moments man PSP FFT with its grandiose Shakespearean translation and lovely CG cutscenes were part of it but it just took time for me to "get" FFT.
For games I had an initially bad impression when I first played it, I didn't "get" Final Fantasy Tactics. It came out after the very flashy, very dramatic Final Fantasy 7 and my only other SRPG experience at the time had been Disagea (I came to the FFT train late). I thought it was brown and boring and everyone talks about politics and scheming and things that aren't flashy magical powers or anime jokes and sooooooo boring.
... so years later, I played it on the PSP and suddenly, Argath giving Delita shit about being a commoner and the resulting fallout hitting Ramza was super interesting, top shelf top ten moments man PSP FFT with its grandiose Shakespearean translation and lovely CG cutscenes were part of it but it just took time for me to "get" FFT.
Lol I actually felt annoyed that this asshole character got such a heroic moment. I saw all the hubbub about how VC4 treats the female cast and it was a downer that I was prepared to grind through since I enjoyed VC1 and even VC2. It was about as obnoxious as the comments prepared me for (isolated story scenes) so no expectations over or under delivered. I wasn't prepared for how the dude was basically a second protagonist and resented him for it the entire way. All that nonsense he put the team through initially (not just the sexual harassment but constantly disobeying orders and endangering the team), I wasn't in the mood to let that slide, even when the game acted like he learned his lesson and it's all good now.
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Almost every Nintendo game pre- Wii U. Never played much apart from Mario Kart Wii and Smash Bros Wii. Wii U converted me to Nintendo games. True fact. I thought Nintendo games pretty much sucked until the Wii U.
Dark Souls 2. I absolutely loved the lore and world design, it ended up becoming my favorite Dark Souls game (even though Bloodborne is the best Soulsborne game, for me)
Sekiro. Was not as difficult as people made it out to be. Absolutely beautiful map design, music was inspiring and the battles were thrilling.
Ty The Tasmanian Tiger. Grossly underrated game IMO, this platformer is filled to the brim with charm and exploration. Lots of collecting, activities, and hidden areas makes this game one of my favorite platformers ever.
Sekiro. Was not as difficult as people made it out to be. Absolutely beautiful map design, music was inspiring and the battles were thrilling.
Ty The Tasmanian Tiger. Grossly underrated game IMO, this platformer is filled to the brim with charm and exploration. Lots of collecting, activities, and hidden areas makes this game one of my favorite platformers ever.
Actually just finished 13 for the first time last week, and yeah a lot of it is corridors and tutorials. But it's also got my favorite implementation of ATB (of the 7-13 run), I mostly enjoyed the paradigm system (though the Crystarium had problems), and opening up Gran Pulse is a bunch of fun and I could have played a full game of just that chapter expanded and been happy with it. Also really enjoy the Gran Pulse music - "Pulse de Chocobo" is probably my favorite variant of the chocobo theme, and there's something wonderful about a game soundtrack having a song like "The Yaschas Massif".
I'm looking forward to taking on XIII-2 since my initial attempt made me feel a bit lost, although I'll probably not get to it for a couple months with the current backlog action.