When was a time that a game FAR surpassed your expectations?
- Thread starter ScOULaris
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I had high hopes for Streets of Rage 4 but even I didn't think it would end up being one of the GOATs of the genre.
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Yeah I think I'm with you on that. I loved TLOU1, but I think because I'd become disillusioned with modern AAA games as a whole I wasn't that excited for TLOU2. I didn't think I had it in me to enjoy a big AAA game anymore.
But TLOU2 was unbelievably good. Probably in my Top 5 games of all time.
Ori and the blind forrest, sure there was some hype around the game but i did not expect to like it so much. Also Witcher 3, lot's of great reviews, also lots of people saying it's a weak game, but i'm really enjoying it, too bad i have little time and i need to split my time between all of them.
Persona 3, originally. I didn't and still don't like anime, but I kept hearing about it on a podcast so I decided to try it and got hooked HARD on the series until Persona 5 which soured me so much I'll never buy an Atlus game again lmao
Weird example but I just played Mario Kart Double Dash for the first time about 2 weeks ago. I blame my circle of friends at college when it came out because I was under the impression that it's not only a bad game, but the worst Mario Kart out of all of them. Fast Forward to this month and I was looking for a toddler friendly game I could play in front of my 4 year old, I decided to give Double Dash a try and god damn it's my favorite Mario Kart now! I haven't played 8 but I have played every single other MK and Double Dash is kind of crazy with double the amount of weapons and more course hazards than I was expecting. This was the first MK where I had to work to get gold in the cups. I stopped at All Cup mode (16 races) I just don't have it in me to do 16 races all in a row like that, but I am tempted since I enjoy the game so much.
There have been many greats games released these past few generations, some of them becoming game of the generation types, but as so far as the question posed..
The last game that comes to mind that truly blew away and exceeded all my expectations is probably Resident Evil 4.
The last game that comes to mind that truly blew away and exceeded all my expectations is probably Resident Evil 4.
I nodded along to both of your points.
Ori was incredible, and State of Decay 2 is the best "Zombie" game from any developer. I don't like "Zombie" games in general, and it is great.
The game that really gave me this moment was Portal.
I had heard some good things, of course, but I don't think gave it much thought - and I had also taken a break from gaming around the time of release. I'm pretty sure the game first sat on my 360 for a while, in the form of the Orange Box, as a thoughtless Games With Gold download.
One day I just decided to give it a go. (I'm pretty sure I was more hyped for Half Life 2, and started that first).
But oh man, the moment you first step through the portal, and turn to see yourself step through the portal... I played that thing right through.
And to have that ending, and then to go from there to Portal 2... It's such a rarity a sequel surpasses a masterpiece, and those moments should be celebrated.
Honestly that's the last time I've really had an experience quite like that. I've been engrossed in games since; have had some amazing experiences even very recently - but that right there is the motherlode of surpassed expectations.
Yeah I really need to get into this, when I've freed up some of the back catalogue.
I'm still (mostly) blind, and didn't read your entire post for that reason.
But this is definitely on my soon-to-be-ticked-off-next list.
I just started Persona 5 though, in almost exactly the same circumstances. Can I expect my expectations to be surpassed for that?
I had heard some good things, of course, but I don't think gave it much thought - and I had also taken a break from gaming around the time of release. I'm pretty sure the game first sat on my 360 for a while, in the form of the Orange Box, as a thoughtless Games With Gold download.
One day I just decided to give it a go. (I'm pretty sure I was more hyped for Half Life 2, and started that first).
But oh man, the moment you first step through the portal, and turn to see yourself step through the portal... I played that thing right through.
And to have that ending, and then to go from there to Portal 2... It's such a rarity a sequel surpasses a masterpiece, and those moments should be celebrated.
Honestly that's the last time I've really had an experience quite like that. I've been engrossed in games since; have had some amazing experiences even very recently - but that right there is the motherlode of surpassed expectations.
Yeah I really need to get into this, when I've freed up some of the back catalogue.
I'm still (mostly) blind, and didn't read your entire post for that reason.
But this is definitely on my soon-to-be-ticked-off-next list.
I just started Persona 5 though, in almost exactly the same circumstances. Can I expect my expectations to be surpassed for that?
Game i played this year:
Maiden & Spell is the best fighting game of the year by far. It's a shmup fighter though so it makes it even more niche than the regular ones.It has great art, great music, rollback netcode and some nice solo content for shmup fans. Really impressive work.
Devil Slayer Raksasi is by far one of the best roguelite ever created and keep impressing in every major update. Killed all melee focused ones to me.
Cavity Buster and I, Dracula: Genesis are probably the most interesting take on Isaac since gungeon, it's a shame they don't seem popular.
Maiden & Spell is the best fighting game of the year by far. It's a shmup fighter though so it makes it even more niche than the regular ones.It has great art, great music, rollback netcode and some nice solo content for shmup fans. Really impressive work.
Devil Slayer Raksasi is by far one of the best roguelite ever created and keep impressing in every major update. Killed all melee focused ones to me.
Cavity Buster and I, Dracula: Genesis are probably the most interesting take on Isaac since gungeon, it's a shame they don't seem popular.
Oh you're playing all the games with good music.
I've got a sealed copy of Persona 5 Royal to get to, but I really enjoyed the original couple years back. Only about 30 hours tho.
Crusader Kings 3. Never played a game in this series. But I decided to give it a try anyway on gamepass. It took a while for me to learn everything, but it has exceeded everything I thought it would be.
Honestly can't remember the last game I had low expectations for. I generally stay within a realm of games I know I'll enjoy and rarely buy or download things just to try them.
Honestly can't remember the last game I had low expectations for. I generally stay within a realm of games I know I'll enjoy and rarely buy or download things just to try them.
Death Stranding - I thought it would be a weirdly compelling tangle of Kojima-esque weirdness that wasn't good or fun, exactly, but unique enough to be worth a look.
Turns out it's a super fun game (enjoyable traversal, loads of neat upgrades) with a gorgeous atmosphere and a powerful and coherent message about human connection, one that seems especially timely in light of the political divisiveness in America. I absolutely loved it.
Final Fantasy VII Remake - My memories of the original FFVII are fond but a little hazy. This game blindsided me so completely. It's so fantastic in so many different ways, it's hard to explain without sounding like an overstimulated little kid. What comes through the most is the developers' deep regard for the original game. It's a AAA love letter to the essence of FFVII that fans hold in their hearts. The devs went the extra mile in so many areas, and included too many easy-to-miss details, for this not to be the case.
I could go on about the fun-as-hell combat or the characters who are so endearing and full of personality they make you want to adventure with them forever. I could talk about my appreciation for the plot, with its extremely clever approach to fulfilling and manipating fans' expectations, while planting seeds for future games. (Maximilian's plot breakdown on the Easy Allies spoilercast is a must-listen if you want to understand the layers here. Many of his ideas were later officially confirmed in the Ultimania book.) I could talk about the stunning art design, the beautiful lighting, the insanely expressive (and attractive!) character models for the main cast. But I think the one thing that encapsulates what's so great about this game best of all is the music.
FFVIIR's soundtrack is a stunning homage to the original. It's packed with familiar motifs, as you'd expect from a remake. But what you wouldn't necessarily expect is the vast spread of clever variations on those motifs, the somber, high octane, or electropop remixes of character themes that somehow always match the emotion of the moment. The very precise and sensitive use of music in specific scenes, and certain areas. The masterful pulse-pounding escalation of intense and catchy boss themes. FFVIIR has the soundtrack of the generation, up there with the likes of NieR: Automata, but perhaps more impressive since it succeeds so brilliantly at following up, and in fact improving upon, one of the most iconic soundtracks in gaming history.
FFVIIR is a flat out classic that does the original justice, and then some. I'm going to keep playing it until the next one, and then I'll play them both.
Turns out it's a super fun game (enjoyable traversal, loads of neat upgrades) with a gorgeous atmosphere and a powerful and coherent message about human connection, one that seems especially timely in light of the political divisiveness in America. I absolutely loved it.
Final Fantasy VII Remake - My memories of the original FFVII are fond but a little hazy. This game blindsided me so completely. It's so fantastic in so many different ways, it's hard to explain without sounding like an overstimulated little kid. What comes through the most is the developers' deep regard for the original game. It's a AAA love letter to the essence of FFVII that fans hold in their hearts. The devs went the extra mile in so many areas, and included too many easy-to-miss details, for this not to be the case.
I could go on about the fun-as-hell combat or the characters who are so endearing and full of personality they make you want to adventure with them forever. I could talk about my appreciation for the plot, with its extremely clever approach to fulfilling and manipating fans' expectations, while planting seeds for future games. (Maximilian's plot breakdown on the Easy Allies spoilercast is a must-listen if you want to understand the layers here. Many of his ideas were later officially confirmed in the Ultimania book.) I could talk about the stunning art design, the beautiful lighting, the insanely expressive (and attractive!) character models for the main cast. But I think the one thing that encapsulates what's so great about this game best of all is the music.
FFVIIR's soundtrack is a stunning homage to the original. It's packed with familiar motifs, as you'd expect from a remake. But what you wouldn't necessarily expect is the vast spread of clever variations on those motifs, the somber, high octane, or electropop remixes of character themes that somehow always match the emotion of the moment. The very precise and sensitive use of music in specific scenes, and certain areas. The masterful pulse-pounding escalation of intense and catchy boss themes. FFVIIR has the soundtrack of the generation, up there with the likes of NieR: Automata, but perhaps more impressive since it succeeds so brilliantly at following up, and in fact improving upon, one of the most iconic soundtracks in gaming history.
FFVIIR is a flat out classic that does the original justice, and then some. I'm going to keep playing it until the next one, and then I'll play them both.
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Skyward Sword. It's not that it's the best game ever, or even a top Zelda game, but the buzz about it by the time I got around to playing it was SO bad, that I was really pleasantly surprised! Yes I actually liked the motion controls, and the dungeons were great. I really thought the level design was unique in that they layered essentially 3 dungeons ontop of each other in some cases.
Hollow Knight. Another little indie game with good buzz turned out to be the best Metroidvania I've ever played.
Spacechem. I got this in a Humble Bundle many years ago. Tried it on a whim without reading anything about it. Turned out to be the best puzzle game I'd played and started a long love affair with Zachtronics.
There are more, but these 3 come to mind right now!
Hollow Knight. Another little indie game with good buzz turned out to be the best Metroidvania I've ever played.
Spacechem. I got this in a Humble Bundle many years ago. Tried it on a whim without reading anything about it. Turned out to be the best puzzle game I'd played and started a long love affair with Zachtronics.
There are more, but these 3 come to mind right now!
Breath of the Wild was a game that I was anticipating and looking forward to, and then the game blew me out of the water completely.
Then I went to go play it again a couple of years later, expecting to only do the four dungeons and finish it, and it blew me away again and I did all 120 shrines, for the second time.
What a fantastic game.
Then I went to go play it again a couple of years later, expecting to only do the four dungeons and finish it, and it blew me away again and I did all 120 shrines, for the second time.
What a fantastic game.
It's biggest problem is it's loose handling IMO. Content, gameplay and track wise I really enjoyed it
The original Crackdown. I basically bought it to get access to the Halo 3 beta, and it turned out to be one of my favorite games of the generation.
Doom 2016. Prior to that I had fallen off the ID hype train due to Quake 4, Doom 3 (Good game just didn't feel like doom) and Rage. But Doom 2016 came out and blew my expectations out of the water.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. I went into it expecting a cut rate Persona clone, and was pleasantly surprised - I'd place it right up there with the Persona games in terms of how much I liked them.
Excellent games?
Hollow Knight for what's been listed above.
Hades for most of the same reasons.
Dead Cells similarly.
Breath of the Wild for basically reinventing Zelda again in a way that had me putting in hundreds of hours. I had expected the virtual railroads of the existing 3D Zelda games, but this was totally different. It offered a guided path near the start, but after that it really just encouraged you to head east and let it play out from there.
Hollow Knight for what's been listed above.
Hades for most of the same reasons.
Dead Cells similarly.
Breath of the Wild for basically reinventing Zelda again in a way that had me putting in hundreds of hours. I had expected the virtual railroads of the existing 3D Zelda games, but this was totally different. It offered a guided path near the start, but after that it really just encouraged you to head east and let it play out from there.
Bulletstorm: bought it cheap and don't even know why. Thinking it's some generic macho shooter. Which it is and isn't.
PUBG: my friend said I should try it. And I'm like "it's on PC blaargh". Went to his place and fucking loved it. It was everything games can be at their best really. Bought a new mouse and got a Steam account. Played it for a thousand hours. Got a bit boring without friends in the end.
PUBG: my friend said I should try it. And I'm like "it's on PC blaargh". Went to his place and fucking loved it. It was everything games can be at their best really. Bought a new mouse and got a Steam account. Played it for a thousand hours. Got a bit boring without friends in the end.
Gran Turismo 5
It always looked gorgeous but it was delayed to add features. Months later, on separate occasions, trailers showed off real-time of day and dynamic weather. It looked even better but then the gameplay implications kicked in. My mind was blown.
It surpassed my expectations though. To this day there still isn't a racing game that can evoke what it feels like to barrel down the Nordschleife as the pitch black dark of the night slowly changes to a misty sunrise where the sun's rays try to burn through the haze.
It's still the most magical experience I've had in a racing game and cemented it, along with the highly customisable AI, as one of the greatest racing games of all time. Still the best Gran Turismo to date.
It always looked gorgeous but it was delayed to add features. Months later, on separate occasions, trailers showed off real-time of day and dynamic weather. It looked even better but then the gameplay implications kicked in. My mind was blown.
It surpassed my expectations though. To this day there still isn't a racing game that can evoke what it feels like to barrel down the Nordschleife as the pitch black dark of the night slowly changes to a misty sunrise where the sun's rays try to burn through the haze.
It's still the most magical experience I've had in a racing game and cemented it, along with the highly customisable AI, as one of the greatest racing games of all time. Still the best Gran Turismo to date.
Mass Effect 1, it didn't look like my style of game and didn't really have any interest in it. But then late - 2010 and Mass Effect 2 was winning all the GOTY awards.
I said screw it and "Let's try this bad game already".
4 hours in and it was already one of my all-time favourites. Couldn't put it down.
I said screw it and "Let's try this bad game already".
4 hours in and it was already one of my all-time favourites. Couldn't put it down.
Horizon Zero Dawn. I hadn't really looked into the game, didn't know what it was about, just the name kept popping up. I knew it was made by the Killzone guys, games that I played a lot in coop but had very low expectations. I was glued from start to finish, the gameplay, development, story, etc. My favorite dungeon is the one in the northwest where there are no enemies. The entire way you expect to be jumped and are on your toes, and at the end the story in the past gets good development. After I platinumed it I wonder if I could ever play a game without giant robots with destructible parts (I can).
Wolfenstein The New Order. Had it for maybe two years before I struggled past the first level. I only did so because I kept reading stick through it it's an amazing game, and the previews for the sequel were looking really cool. This game turned out to be a top 10 game of the gen. Absolutely amazing turnaround.
Titanfall 2. I initially had very little interest, since I'm not into multiplayer games, but I bought this because of the buzz in the forums about it having an amazing campaign. Another absolute surprise. This is Half Life 3 and no one can change my mind about that.
Titanfall 2. I initially had very little interest, since I'm not into multiplayer games, but I bought this because of the buzz in the forums about it having an amazing campaign. Another absolute surprise. This is Half Life 3 and no one can change my mind about that.
I picked up Watch Dogs a few months after it came out and was shocked by how good it was. Its gunplay and stealth mechanics were excellent and exceeded than anything I had encountered in a GTA-style sandbox game, using various hacking abilities gave car pursuits a fresh spin and, tonally, I really liked the dark, sleazy tone it was going for, even if the story itself was nothing much to ring home about.
I still think to this day that the game was largely overshadow by the pre-release, graphical downgrade debacle. That controversy bled into some people's perception of game and they hated it without really giving it a fair shake.
I still think to this day that the game was largely overshadow by the pre-release, graphical downgrade debacle. That controversy bled into some people's perception of game and they hated it without really giving it a fair shake.
Titanfall 2. Having not played Titanfall 1, I assumed it was going to be a generic testosterone filled shooter with clumsy mechs, but I was delighted to find that it had a lot of personality and fun gameplay.
Terminator Resistance:
Was expecting a cheap CoD janky game. Instead, got a less janky Fallout-lite experience that respects the lore material A LOT.
I'm still amazed, even more considering it seems to come from the people who made Rambo.
Was expecting a cheap CoD janky game. Instead, got a less janky Fallout-lite experience that respects the lore material A LOT.
I'm still amazed, even more considering it seems to come from the people who made Rambo.
I went into Enter the Gungeon thinking "you know what, it's $7, it might be fun". 150 hours later and I'm comfortable putting it in my top five favorite games. I guess having no expectations going into certain games can be a good thing sometimes.
