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Games or story everyone raved about that didnt meet your expectations?
- Thread starter hwarang
- Start date
Persona 5. I can't believe how highly rated that game is. The themes aren't consistent, the localisation is bland, the dialogue is repetitive, the twists are signposted a mile off, and it's far too long for its own good.
I will never understand the universal praise for this game.
I will never understand the universal praise for this game.
I'm admittally biased given that I presented at two different conferences on the merits of Spec Ops, but it really is one of my favorite games. Sure, the game play is pretty average, but it is one of the few games that I can point to as being a proper deconstruction in the Derrida lineage.
Playing the original NieR wasn't vital for understanding Automata, but it does provide more perspective concerning Devola and Popola, along with knowing what to expect from the state of the world after the original before Automata gets into it.
Though Automata played better than the original, I didn't consider the combat exceptional by Platinum standards either.
I don't usually pay attention to other players' opinions about stories for various reasons, but the one thing I'll always have a hard time wrapping my head around is how people feel the Witcher games, namely 2 and 3, are aptly written. Outside of very specific moments, they aren't. At all.
The main plot of TW3 for example is a trope-filled borefest.
The main plot of TW3 for example is a trope-filled borefest.
Another one is Observer. I was super excited for this game since I'm a big fan of both cyberpunk and horror fiction, and this seemed like an awesome melding of both going into it. Plus, people kept hyping up how cool it was to have Rutger Hauer voice the main character and how good he was.
First thing I noticed about the game was how much I disliked Rutger Hauer as the main character. His voice just sounded... weird? I don't really know how to explain it or what put me off so much about it. I just couldn't get invested in this detective who's supposed to be a badass but just sounds tired and bored all the time.
The setting was intriguing and I liked the way you slowly unlock more parts of the apartment complex, and it was cool how you would interact with some characters through their doors but never actually come face to face to them, which was a nice touch that added to the mystique of the game.
The "mind-jacking" or whatever it was called was as interesting concept initially, but it's implemented so poorly. I got so damn tired (and honestly a little motion sick) from the number of times you would walk through a doorway and the setting would drop out from under you and put you in a disorienting new environment. It wasn't all that clever, just annoying. It happened like every 20 seconds at one part of the game.
I never really felt scared and the stealth sections were pretty tedious.
Also the ending was just wtf (and not in a good way). It left me feeling so cold on an experience that I was already lukewarm about
First thing I noticed about the game was how much I disliked Rutger Hauer as the main character. His voice just sounded... weird? I don't really know how to explain it or what put me off so much about it. I just couldn't get invested in this detective who's supposed to be a badass but just sounds tired and bored all the time.
The setting was intriguing and I liked the way you slowly unlock more parts of the apartment complex, and it was cool how you would interact with some characters through their doors but never actually come face to face to them, which was a nice touch that added to the mystique of the game.
The "mind-jacking" or whatever it was called was as interesting concept initially, but it's implemented so poorly. I got so damn tired (and honestly a little motion sick) from the number of times you would walk through a doorway and the setting would drop out from under you and put you in a disorienting new environment. It wasn't all that clever, just annoying. It happened like every 20 seconds at one part of the game.
I never really felt scared and the stealth sections were pretty tedious.
Also the ending was just wtf (and not in a good way). It left me feeling so cold on an experience that I was already lukewarm about
Great idea, add some positive to the thread. Hated Automata, loved Lost Odyssey. Loathed Bioshock Infinite, adore Spec Ops. Despise Sony's first person titles writing, but am a massive fanboy for everything from Ice-Pick Lodge.
It wasn't bad per se, it was just not that interesting to me. And as far as i remember, many praised it for it's story, but that was 6 years ago, maybe i'm wrong :).
@ Nier Automata
So many complaining about it, and i was thinking about buying it... Will wait for Nier Replicant.
Edit:
Surprised no mentions of Witcher 3 (or didnt i see it?). I thought that game was really overrated. That combat was so damn boring, it took all the fun out of that game for me.
Persona 5, Nier: Automata and BoTW. These are 3 games that are adored by vast amounts of people and I think all 3 are just....not good games at all lol. I have never liked a Persona so I'm not surprised by that one. I loved the first Nier, but Automata is just meh to me, I didn't even want to play it anymore after finishing Route A. Lastly BoTW is just not a Zelda game in my eyes, I have loved damn near every game in the series except a few handheld ones and I felt BoTW to be a lifeless game that is just there to show some big ass open world.
I've never been able to get into Witcher 3. I'm thinking I'm going to give it one more go when they release those updates for next gen games, just given how much people love the game. But I've never cared enough to go much past the tutorials or the first town you encounter.
I haven't played BotW yet, but Zelda is one of my favorite (if not my favorite, period) game series of all time, and this is my concern about BotW. All the reasons that people gush over BotW don't sound like reasons I like playing Zelda games (except for puzzles I guess).
I want an overworld with a series of dungeons, each with distinct and interesting themes, where you get an item that you must use to solve the dungeon's puzzles and defeat the boss. It sounds like BotW does away with all of that and just kind of homogenizes the challenges into a vast open world and you can do anything at any time with any tool you have handy.
Sounds like a great game, but *not* what I want from Zelda
The Missing. The gameplay was tedious as heck and one of the two big plot elements felt projected from miles away. Coming off of D4 I was completely underwhelmed.
You aren't gonna like it :( One of my biggest issues is that you get almost all of your main tools within the first few hours because the game is so non linear.
You aren't gonna like it :( One of my biggest issues is that you get almost all of your main tools within the first few hours because the game is so non linear.
I'll bite.
I'm oftentimes impressed by Japanese games' writing, especially JRPGs.
Recently, I was blown away by how well constructed Tokyo Xanadu was for example, an otherwise bog-standard high-school anime fantasy about teens fighting demons at night.
The overall flow is very good with plot twists occurring just-in-time to shake things up when they were getting a bit too stale.
The story ramps up perfectly from high-school teen drama to the usual end-of-the-world scenario.
i really liked nier automata, though i understand the complaints, esp about Route B. i do think Nier was better even though automata played better.
Though I hated Chaos;Child, having loved Chaos;Head before it and how it did things (still easily the most satisfied I've been with any Science Adventure universe story overall in how it ended) very much factored into my disappointment with its sequel.
RDR2 for me, the gameplay is a chore, mission design is dumb as it can be and the narrative got tremendously outclassed by God of War months earlier. it felt all around a western greatest hits, it has everything from cinema.
even tho i beat it, i'm willing to give it another chance and play it on Ps5.
even tho i beat it, i'm willing to give it another chance and play it on Ps5.
Xenoblade Chronicles - For a decade I never played far enough on Wii to see whatever brilliant twists and turns the game made in its final act that made people swoon. Finally experiencing it on Switch and....yea it was over the top nonsense that was nonsensical and illogical. The first 80% of the game was an enjoyable and simple journey largely born out of revenge with a tinge of mystery surrounding this crazy world of titans. Then the final act just...well some of the spoiler reveals pushed my rather large threshold for BS to its limit. Unfortunate really as I like the game.
Uncharted 4 - Yea...well acted, but a flimsy foundation where Drake was unlikeable for being endlessly untruthful to his wife, Elena was unlikeable for being written as the impediment to Nathan's desires and the crux of his whirlwind of lies, the brother was unlikeable for being some plot anomaly. So much talent and effort, but eh.
Horizon ZD - Predictable and rather monotone. Just never felt compelled or engaged into the grand conspiracy or the societal changes that stemmed from past wrongs. Despite all the praise it never captivated me.
Uncharted 4 - Yea...well acted, but a flimsy foundation where Drake was unlikeable for being endlessly untruthful to his wife, Elena was unlikeable for being written as the impediment to Nathan's desires and the crux of his whirlwind of lies, the brother was unlikeable for being some plot anomaly. So much talent and effort, but eh.
Horizon ZD - Predictable and rather monotone. Just never felt compelled or engaged into the grand conspiracy or the societal changes that stemmed from past wrongs. Despite all the praise it never captivated me.
marvel's spiderman
batman arkham series
not sure why i never clicked with this type of games even though majority of people seems like it
uncharted 4
i love the trilogy, but i couldn't bring myself to finish uncharthed 4, probably because i'm bored with the gameplay and the formula
btw some people seems don't like Bloodborne and Nier Automata, glad i like both, Nier Automata particularly quickly become one of the best narrative games i ever experienced, that game is so memorable even untill this day
batman arkham series
not sure why i never clicked with this type of games even though majority of people seems like it
uncharted 4
i love the trilogy, but i couldn't bring myself to finish uncharthed 4, probably because i'm bored with the gameplay and the formula
btw some people seems don't like Bloodborne and Nier Automata, glad i like both, Nier Automata particularly quickly become one of the best narrative games i ever experienced, that game is so memorable even untill this day
Persona 4. Big fan of 3 and I enjoyed 4 but its whole story and characters just went right past me and wasn't that memorable.
Uncharted franchise as well but I also am not in the indiana jones crowd etc too so it had a lot of things against it from the start.
Halo 1-3+ODST, tried to get into it but I wasn't feeling the floaty feel of it at all.
Batman Arkham series, tried all of them and beat the Rocksteady 3, really good story and characterizations but fuuuuuueesh how the hell do you people play these brain dead combat games and praise them. Along with Unreal Engine 3 generic visuals from that era, the sheer amount of copy cat combat systems this spawned really makes me wonder about people.
Zelda franchise as well, I actually don't think they are bad but I just can't get past the 50% mark in any of them. They all have these "twists" that ask you to do the same dang thing you did in the first half just for a new set of items or in a slightly reversed world.
Uncharted franchise as well but I also am not in the indiana jones crowd etc too so it had a lot of things against it from the start.
Halo 1-3+ODST, tried to get into it but I wasn't feeling the floaty feel of it at all.
Batman Arkham series, tried all of them and beat the Rocksteady 3, really good story and characterizations but fuuuuuueesh how the hell do you people play these brain dead combat games and praise them. Along with Unreal Engine 3 generic visuals from that era, the sheer amount of copy cat combat systems this spawned really makes me wonder about people.
Zelda franchise as well, I actually don't think they are bad but I just can't get past the 50% mark in any of them. They all have these "twists" that ask you to do the same dang thing you did in the first half just for a new set of items or in a slightly reversed world.
Xenoblade Chronicles DE
Boy oh boy. Side quest litering every section of the map everywhere you go and all of them are the same dumb fetch/hunt crap.
The story and characters are pretty much your average Shonen type anime stereotypes. I was expecting it to be an instant classic but I was just bored of running all over the giant ass maps. Dropped it twice already at around 10-15 hours.
Boy oh boy. Side quest litering every section of the map everywhere you go and all of them are the same dumb fetch/hunt crap.
The story and characters are pretty much your average Shonen type anime stereotypes. I was expecting it to be an instant classic but I was just bored of running all over the giant ass maps. Dropped it twice already at around 10-15 hours.
i couldn't even finish it. hell, i barely started. i stopped after the fight with the tattooed guy. there was nothing about the game i enjoyed.
For recent games:
- Hated Xenoblade 2, loved Xenoblade 1
- Disappointed by Mario Odyssey, loved Breath of the Wild
- Disappointed by TLOU Part 2, loved Celeste
- Disappointed by Persona 5, loved Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Disappointed by Astral Chain, liked Bayonetta 2 a lot
RDR2. The writing was painful. Dutch was an awful character, dumb as shit, and the fact people kept following him, poor decision after poor decision, was just too much to suspend disbelief. There were some pretty questionable controls and gameplay mechanics as well, but it's really the writing that ruined the game for me.
I've never even played Nier: Automata but it's on my list just because Square decided to shove it into FFXIV for some reason as the Shadowbringers raid storyline and some art and fun gameplay mechanics aside (especially the hallways where you have to dodge the lasers and orbs) it's just not good. Especially after how good the Stormblood Ivalice raid trilogy was on all fronts.
Digging further back, Rez. Just wasn't into it.
Digging way further back, Halo + Halo 2. I thought Halo 2 was just kinda a poor rush job, and Halo 1 was very solid "It's fine" to me.
I will say that while BotW is one of my top 3 all time, I do wish there was more to the main story, especially after how the game was portrayed in the GOAT BoTW trailer.
Purely on story front, KotoR actually pops out to me. The two major twists were so telegraphed that I thought I'd missed an actual interesting twist. Still, loved the game overall.
Digging further back, Rez. Just wasn't into it.
Digging way further back, Halo + Halo 2. I thought Halo 2 was just kinda a poor rush job, and Halo 1 was very solid "It's fine" to me.
I will say that while BotW is one of my top 3 all time, I do wish there was more to the main story, especially after how the game was portrayed in the GOAT BoTW trailer.
Purely on story front, KotoR actually pops out to me. The two major twists were so telegraphed that I thought I'd missed an actual interesting twist. Still, loved the game overall.
NieR Automata: The Thread. I loved some parts of this game, but the story never took off for me. I can see how it spoke to others, but I felt I was missing something on a fundamental level.
Also this. 5 is the last Persona game I'll ever buy. That said, I will snap up any main series SMT game.
God of War (2018) for me, coming hot off the heels from The Last of Us 2,i ended up dropping it shortly after the hive type location. It started off amazingly good, then I just found myself incredibly bored and disinterested in everything happening
I like Yakuza games. I think Y0 is a fantastic game even.
But its always yakuza that pops into my mind when i go in a thread about a new game in a franchise that releases annual/bi-annual games. It's always people falling over eachother with their spicy takes on how "It sure looks like assassins creed!!!!" or "yep, thats forza alright" - you know, something along those lines, making fun of the series. But then, you look at yakuza, and frankly, there's even less variance between those games than some other franchise with frequent releases, yet yakuza is often held up as the second coming.
.
Honestly, sometimes I genuinely wonder if I just missed the point of Nier Automata based on the amount of praise it gets. The E ending does nothing for me.
Surprised to see comments about Xenoblade Chronicles' last act here because I agree 100% that the game was great up until those last bits. The amount of twists on twists were crazy as hell and took me out. Never did beat the game, but I did watch the ending. Stopped in the final dungeon it seems.
I couldn't get into Life is Strange. Played through 1 or 2 episodes and the characters either annoyed me or there was too much uncanny valley for me to stick with it.
I couldn't get into Life is Strange. Played through 1 or 2 episodes and the characters either annoyed me or there was too much uncanny valley for me to stick with it.
When I played the Last of Us on the PS3 months after its release. I was expecting the second coming of christ based on the word of mouth of the old forum. What I got was a game with fun gameplay and a good story. Which kinda left me unsure why the internet decided that it was "the" game. Guess I just wasn't the target demo lol
for something I loved I tried undertale after seeing people screaming its praise and this is an occasion where I 100% agreed. Game was funny, emotional, with catchy as hell music. I still think about my play through years later
for something I loved I tried undertale after seeing people screaming its praise and this is an occasion where I 100% agreed. Game was funny, emotional, with catchy as hell music. I still think about my play through years later
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It's a shame because I quit towards the beginning of Playthrough C when it's supposed to get really good. But the first few playthroughs were so underwhelming that when C didn't blow me away after a few hours I just shelved it.
I dropped it near the end of scenario A. The whole thing felt lethargic to me. The tone also felt forced in its sad and dreary feelings it's so desperately trying to evoke.
Soundtrack is great, though.
in the spirit of offsetting some of this negativity...do you know what game did live up to the hype even though i played it decades after it came out? panzer dragoon saga.
Yep, ARR is pretty generic and predictable, but I guess not exactly "bad". Then there was Stormbringers which was plain out bad.
And to add my own part to this thread, I think Shadowbringers is massively overrated. I thought it was just "good", but not nearly "one of if not the best FF in the series" like others. Not to mention I don't like the combat at all, mechanically and especially visually. I know a lot of people worship Yoshi P (some cringe inducingly so calling him a "God"), but I'm not automatically labeling FFXVI a guaranteed hit like some either for these reason. Though the trailer does have me optimistic so far.
Positive: I really liked Heavensward.
