Can you overlook things that aren't flaws, but just things you don't like in a game?

[D-Class 198482]

Mon-Musu Quest, Monster Girl Quest.
I've been talking about this game a lot, haven't I?
'But D-Class-a-bunch-of-numbers-not-even-you-can-remember, what does your silly porn game have to do with this thread?' I hear you cry.
Well. After I sat my butt down and played through all three parts, I realized I thoroughly enjoyed the game. The gameplay was simple but functional, the monsters were varied but not so much you had to switch tactics entirely, the story was actually very good, the characters were likable, and in some cases, adorable, such and such. Hora hora nobody cares.
And the only reason I liked it so much is because I overlooked something that wasn't really a 'flaw', and more of something I didn't really like about it - the actual porn bits. I say it isn't a flaw because that's what the game was made for, and it seems that a great storyline with good characters were accidentally thrown in.
So...I have a question. Are you able to do the same? If you play a game, can you overlook things you simply don't like, or not?

 

[Comocat]

Sometimes. I really like Dragon Age Origins, but the thought of playing the Fade again prevented me from buying it on the steam sale. I like mass effect but the resource mining in all three games just sucked the life out of them.

On the other hand I can easily turn off how stupid "kill ten rats" cliche is in MMOs and really enjoy them for the most part. If you can do this MMOs are great, if you can see them for what they are, MMOs are just terrible.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Wait you played a porn game but don't like porn? Do you also often find yourself running head first into walls?
If I remember correctly there are only a mere million billion dating sims that you could play instead and not have the porn part in there.

Anyway I don't really ignore anything unless it goes unnoticed, it's a simple balance of good parts vs bad parts... no game is perfect after all and if the good outmatches the bad then I'm still ok playing it, but that doesn't mean I approve of any bad part.

 

[ItsNotRudy]

Sometimes. I really like Dragon Age Origins, but the thought of playing the Fade again prevented me from buying it on the steam sale. I like mass effect but the resource mining in all three games just sucked the life out of them.

http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/816/?

Saves sanity it works perfectly.

 

[Callie]

No game is the same level of brilliance the whole way through. Let's take my personal favourite, FFIX. There are pieces of the game which are just 'eugh'. For example, Quina and it's story, I know of very few people who care that much about it, but it doesn't stop me from playing the game at all, because I know how amazing the other bits of the game can be.

One thing I couldn't get over is that if something isn't coherent or making sense in terms of plot development, then that would make me put down the keyboard/controller. A good, coherent plotline is a keystone in games, so if this was off, even for a little bit in the game, it would cheese me off.

 

[The White Hunter]

It depends what they are. If it's a control setup I dislike and can't change it can't be overlooked because it sucks me out of the game.

But that's rare and most things that bug me could safely be called flaws. Screen tearing in console games is a big gripe for me, for example.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Yes, I was able to still love Valkyria Chronicles despite some aspects such as Hans, Alicia and Rosie's skirts (while other scouts and shocktroopers wore pants) and the beach scene.

Wait you played a porn game but don't like porn? Do you also often find yourself running head first into walls?
If I remember correctly there are only a mere million billion dating sims that you could play instead and not have the porn part in there.

Like the OP said, MGQ has an enjoyable storyline, entertaining characters and simple but fun gameplay.

 

[rob_simple]

Well, I've played through all three Uncharted games despite hating the combat, because I like the stories, massive set pieces and obvious but fun puzzles.

 

[GonzoGamer]

It's probably not what you're looking for (as pretentiousness is usually a kind of flaw, to me, some people really seem to appreciate it though) but I hate the trend of arbitrarily killing off a main character at the climax to try and get an emotional response out of me. Like the only way to create emotional tension is by killing off someone; there's been a big lack of creativity there lately. R* has really gotten into this trend this gen and it doesn't really work for their games.
For example

Spoiler: In RDR

They kill off the character you play but don't take into consideration that I was probably throwing him off cliffs an hour ago just for shits & giggles. It kind of dampens the emotional effect, not to mention that he wasn't exactly a delicate flower or anything. He was an outlaw who had been shooting a lot of people himself. The fact that they think this is supposed to have such an impact on me is pretty pretentious.
In fact, I pretty much rolled my eyes at every "meaningful death" R* has shoehorned into their stories this gen.

However, RDR was a very fun game with lots to do and play with in that world. So a pretentious ending was a very miniscule part of the experience and didn't exactly ruin the whole game for me.

Some games are much worse of course. The people who made Heavy Rain must be under the impression that I'm going through postpartum depression. Kill off some random kid at the beginning and I'm supposed to be "into" this funk that the character you play has. Even if I was, watching some other kid eat dinner and do his homework doesn't exactly get me more emotionally invested. In fact, it just reminded me that I had better things to do. I couldn't ignore the pretentiousness in that game because it seemed to be dripping with it from the very start.

 

[Evonisia]

I can overlook the weird tendency the Halo games have for insta killing you because half the enemy guns do ridiculous damage, I overlook it because it guides you to try and play more cautiously than spraying everything until the beautiful environment is coated in blood.

I can also overlook the frankly bizarre difficulty curve of the hacking system in Bioshock because it adds challenge and since I actually liked the hacking minigame, it's a good challenge and adds to the tense atmosphere of the levels towards the end.

 

[Baron Tanks]

It's probably not what you're looking for but I hate the trend of arbitrarily killing off a main character at the climax to try and get an emotional response out of me. Like the only way to create emotional tension is by killing off someone; there's been a big lack of creativity there lately. R* has really gotten into this trend this gen and it doesn't really work for their games.
For example

Spoiler: In RDR

They kill off the character you play but don't take into consideration that I was probably throwing him off cliffs an hour ago just for shits & giggles. It kind of dampens the emotional effect, not to mention that he wasn't exactly a delicate flower or anything. He was an outlaw who had been shooting a lot of people himself. The fact that they think this is supposed to have such an impact on me is pretty pretentious.
In fact, I pretty much rolled my eyes at every "meaningful death" R* has shoehorned into their stories this gen.

However, RDR was a very fun game with lots to do and play with in that world. So a pretentious ending was a very miniscule part of the experience and didn't exactly ruin the whole game for me.

I'd argue that narratively speaking John's death was a lot more about the inevitability of escaping your past and the general theme of the death of the old ways in a changing landscape. And the effect was achieved at least to the extent that I generally had the idea we got him home clean, only for his past to come knocking on his door one last time.

OT: I agree with Dragon Age and Mass Effect bits. Although I would personally regard Dragon Age as a whole as a game I played despite what the developers threw at me. Vastly preferred the setting and characters over any of the gameplay, although I realise it's a taste thing. While on BioWare games, the turret sequence in the beginning of Kotor II is completely jarring for a lot of reasons. For comical effect I'll only list the fact they use a character model (Sith soldier) from the previous game that is not to be found anywhere else.

I also generally dislike the sections in Bayonetta that have nothing to do with the hack and slash action. They don't fit (though you can argue that game is such a mess that anything could fit) aren't fun to play and carry on too long in my opinion.

 

[BarkBarker]

I can overlook it personally, but not forget it when I think about the respectability of the creator, I mean come the fuck on what is this stupid shit you throw my way, I'll ignore it for the sake of my experience, but I will always bring it up when debating the credentials of a developer.

 

[Foolery]

Yeah, I can. Most times. Not always. I just finished Final Fantasy X, despite the damn sphere grid.

 

[Halfie2]

While on BioWare games, the turret sequence in the beginning of Kotor II is completely jarring for a lot of reasons

Just pointing out that Kotor II was made by Obsidian, not bioware.
But aside from that, yeah the turret sequences were a bit odd.

OT: Traveling between worlds in KH1 and KH2 (haven't played others because consoles), those parts could get damn annoying especially if you didn't bother with the gummi ship editor.

It was a bit better in the second game though.

 

[evenest]

My initial thought was to say yes, but, as I continued to ponder the idea, I think I need to say no.

There are games that have aspects I dislike, the floaty jumping in Dark Void or the closing doors in Singularity, but they didn't stop me from playing.

Having said that, there are parts of the Assassin's Creed series that I skipped, any optional flag capture or chase sequences. Had the game made me do them, I would have stopped earlier in the series than I did (ACII:B).

For all the fun I was having with InFamous, every chase sequence and those damn mobile tower defense sections deflated any joy I had with the game. I'm still stuck on one near the end and haven't gone back to the game because I just don't want to deal with the frustration any more. I may go back at some point, but every time that I've loaded the game, I've stopped five minutes into it because it isn't fun.

I ran through Oblivion as quickly as I could because I couldn't stand to enter one more oblivion gate. I wanted to enjoy the world and meet its people, but those sections were tedious and repetitive, so much so that I essentially did a speed run just to finish it in time to start Skyrim. The burnout factor was so much that I've had Skyrim since launch, but haven't played past the tutorial. I might need to go to Morrowind to remember how much I enjoy the world of the game...

My last example would be escort missions in games. I was leery to play Bioshock Infinite and Last of Us because they were essentially 100% escort mission; however, the developers worked around that problem. I stopped playing Fable early on because there was an escort mission to get some kid out of a cave and I couldn't keep him alive. I've since read that the magic section of the game, which I didn't emphasize, is out of balance with everything else, so I might retry and make that a focus of my play style.

 

[uzo]

If anyone out there has ever played the Japanese-language only EvangelionZ, they'll know what I'm talking about.

It's basically an RPG where you first off have to play as Ikari Shinji. You interact with everyone from the Evangelion universe, there's little tidbits of Eva trivia n stuff, and the Angels come in a different order everytime - the chapters are randomised. The incredible thing is it has that bitter-sweet "why do I fight?" quality all the way through it. You'll find yourself asking the same thing - they game is, frankly, depressing. You struggle to get your AT field higher - you know the next Angel will attack soon. But then Asuka goes all sulky, bringing you down. So you try to pick her up - you get her a present, compliment her ... she starts to chirp up. But now *you've* fallen behind in school work, and exhausted yourself emotionally trying to pick her up. So you get the shits and lash out at Katsuragi in the hallway at NERV the next day, causing your AT field to pick up again - but now Katsuragi has the shits with you and there's the precarious threat of the Angels coming - will they come when you and the other Children are at full strength? Will Rei, depressing little freak she is, die this time? Will the next time you see her actually be a different clone? Will Asuka EVER STOP BEING A ***** ?!?

*sigh*

The game, truly, is freakin' incredible. And what makes it even more awesome is that once you've played through as Shinji (even death is rewarded), you unlock more characters depending on what's happened. It's horrifying playing through a game based in Evangelion where you are Katsuragi - you're desperately trying to stop these kids strangling each other, whilst also trying to make sure they keep their AT fields strong, whilst also working full time as a military strategist. It's horrible when you walk leave your office in NERV at 11:30PM having completed the paperwork from the latest battle against the angels, get home and find Shinji has run away again and Asuka is hogging the bathroom and PenPen has a cold; and then after barely 4hrs sleep you get back to work and your desk has been buried in fresh paper work, Shinji is still missing, Asuka yelled at you before you left home, AND THE ANGEL SIRENS JUST STARTED !! ARGH!!!

 

[Bluestorm83]

I suppose it depends on what I'm overlooking things FOR. I can overlook a TON for a compelling story set in an incredible universe (Mass Effect 1 was my favorite game ever,) but I can overlook very little in order to enjoy good gameplay (Mass Effect 3 is my most hated experience in my entire life, and I have 1) fallen and rolled down a double staircase in Penn Station, with my overnight bag in tow, as its zipper burst at the seam sending my 4 days of dirty laundry flying throughout the crowd, 2) Dislocated my knee walking through the livingroom after a shower in my robe, which naturally opened as I fell, inadvertantly exposing myself to my 11 year old cousin and three or four of her friends, 3) Wasted six years of my life in a dead end relationship that was never worth the hassle, 4) woken up at 4 AM on Christmas when I was 14 to go on a moving job that necessitated working until 5 AM the following day, and then got three hours of sleep before going BACK to finish that job for 15 hours the following day.)

The Experience of leaving my reality and vacationing in someone else's is what I have always wanted. Not adrenaline, not excitement, what I need is a place I can believe is not only real but is better than where I live in some way that makes me want to stay there, even if the people in this new reality occasionally get stuck in corners, aren't where the quest marker sends me, repeat the same line of dialogue all day every day, or need to be spoken to with some bizarre Conversation Dreidel. Who cares that every time I walk in my front door all of the objects in my house drop from an inch above where I placed them, and occasionally scatter around. Yes, that's all about Elder Scrolls games.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I'd argue that narratively speaking John's death was a lot more about the inevitability of escaping your past and the general theme of the death of the old ways in a changing landscape. And the effect was achieved at least to the extent that I generally had the idea we got him home clean, only for his past to come knocking on his door one last time.

But they really beat you over the head with that theme don't they?
I got that. In fact I think that everyone got that before getting halfway through the game. That coupled with the fact that I'd already seen the guy get shot, trampled, fall off a cliff, get mauled by a bear, and set on fire; it all just made his last stand seem pretentious, predictable, and as such, a little unnecessary. The federals couldn't do anything to that guy the world (or me for that matter) hadn't already done to him. I didn't really care about his death at that point.
Same thing with the guy at the end of LA Noir. Or GTA4; it's hard to feel for the character's loss when you have him driving top speed through pedestrians on the sidewalk. It's like hiding a delicious meatloaf... but inside a delicious chocolate ice cream cake. Sure you enjoyed the ice cream cake, but why would they ruin the meatloaf like that?