Game(s) That You Don't Like As Much As Everyone Else.

[ClockworkAngel]

Bastion. It's a game I feel like I should like; the elements that compose it are things that I love. But Bastion doesn't appeal to me on any level. I feel nothing when I look at it or think about it.

I'm going to add another since someone else mentioned it.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I'm a huge Zelda fan, and I understand the importance of OoT (both in series canon and technologically), and it was breathtaking and ground-breaking and amazing years ago when I first played it. But the game doesn't hold up for me nearly as well as it seems to hold up for other people. I tried playing the remake for the 3DS and barely got to the second dungeon when it started to feel like I was forcing myself to play more.

 

[ecoho]

Final Fantasy 7. It played like a long line of clichés and I didn't feel anything for the characters.

mass effect one, im sorry the game is not as good as you think it was so stop saying it was "better then the last two"

All three games have their flaws but Mass effect one takes the cake, the controls were clunky, powers go from useless to over powered with just a level dividing the two, the mako, and finally the clusterfuck of an inventory........ I still have nightmares about that inventory. (the story makes up for most of that which is why I still like the game just maybe not as much as the others.)

I think you'll find that people preferred it for the way the whole game was built and that it felt like a fresh IP, while the followups were aimed at a larger audience and had more instant action, less spending times in elevators and actually getting interesting information about the setting. 2 and 3 were basically milking the success of the first game, or that's how a lot of people felt about it.

I've replayed the whole series four times now and there's a reason that I can freely enjoy playing the first game and that I dread having to play the second game in a certain way (loyalty missions).

I'm not disagreeing with you, I think you're absolutely right that from a technological/mechanics standpoint, the first game was the absolute worst of them (though I liked that you didn't run out of ammo, but had to manage heat instead).

Got to say its nice to see someone reasonable about this for once and your right my problems with the game are all about its technical standpoints (and that inventory...shiver) the story on the first game was as close to perfect as ive seen. Just curious though why do you dislike the loyalty missions? some are actually quite fun

 

[KnightOfTwo]

Oh where do I begin with a thread like this? I guess I will try to keep my answers brief.

Bioshock Infinite: Part of my dislike here is probably unfair as I'm comparing it to Bioshock, which I really enjoyed. The combat was more limited and I never really got what people saw in the skyhooks. It looked pretty and had some interesting moments/ideas but the characters weren't that interesting. Comstock was nowhere near as compelling a villain as Andrew Ryan. My thoughts on the game come down to something referenced in game. In Fink's office you find an audio recording on the creation of Songbird where they almost explicitly say that his design is based on the Big Daddies of Rapture. That's when it clicked with me, even in the confines of the game's world Infinite is just a bastardized version of Bioshock. More power to the people who enjoyed it, but I was ultimately very disappointed.

The Last of Us: It was a decent game that had some mechanical problems. Enemies taking multiple headshots to kill, stealth being far less effective than straight-up combat, the clickers being less of a challenge and more just tedious to deal with. For various reasons that are too long to list, I never really got attatched to Ellie or Joel so I can't say I cared one way or another how their story played out. It looked good, the character animations were some of the best I've seen in games, and the actors really brought it. In the end it was just a pretty decent game for me.

Dishonored: I've tried to get why people enjoy the game, I really have. I don't get it. The game emphasizes you being stealthy yet most of your powers are only really good for fighting. The story is bland and most characters behave like robots (in personality and acting). Brad Dourif is in it and I normally love him in everything, but here he just sounds completely bored. Also, fuck moral choice systems. I (barely) tolerate them in most games, but here it was the worst because it tries to trick you into thinking it isn't a moral choice system when it totally is (the endings and conversations with the princess reflect this). I was happy to see this kind of game become successful, just sad that I couldn't enjoy it as well. Maybe next time.

Honorable Mentions: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, GTA5, Final Fantasy 12 (I wish I could have thrown my copy into a volcano), Morrowind (everything besides the gameplay is great), Mass Effect 2 (I love the series, but it was by far the weakest of the 3 for me), the Uncharted Series (Drake can go jump into the volcano with FF12), Pokemon Black and White (B&W 2 was decent though), Baldur's Gate series (i hate straight-up D&D video game adaptions, the rules don't translate that well to video games imo).

 

[Shoggoth2588]

There are many, many games that I don't like as much as other people. I like 3D Mario games but I'm not going to pretend I'm interested in 100%-ing Super Mario 3D World. I beat Meowser and the first challenge world. I'm good. I like Pokemon too but I wouldn't count myself as a Pokemon Fan since I don't engage in online battling, shiny hunting...I haven't even played Y in a few weeks due to a loss of interest.

 

[ecoho]

Got to say its nice to see someone reasonable about this for once and your right my problems with the game are all about its technical standpoints (and that inventory...shiver) the story on the first game was as close to perfect as ive seen. Just curious though why do you dislike the loyalty missions? some are actually quite fun

You shouldn't thank me, I think this should be an obvious objective conclusion :/
I blame the technology on porting issues. The inventory had to work with the 360 and ps3, so that's where I think the heart of the issue lies...

As for the whole thing in general, it kind of falls in with the dilemma of whining about games today. Most games are pretty good from many standpoints, but anyone with a bit of gaming experience easily knows when something is off with a game. Diablo 3 is a decent game, it has a lot of merits, but if you're expecting a followup to Diablo 2, then you're better of with Path of Exile which is heavily inspired in mechanics and combat. Add to that the ridiculous online and real money auction house and you have a perfect example of how a company is milking an IP for all it's worth.
So my biggest fault with the two newer Mass Effect titles is really only that they're too focused on being console friendly and are designed to appeal to as many people as possible, which is understandable from an economical standpoint.

...that's sort of the crux of the loyalty missions. I agree with you, there's discernible effort put into them and genuinly interesting stories to explore and experience when you do them. It's the fact that you have to do them in order to feel that you played the game in the proper manner that just irks me.
Let's say you didn't like Jacob much, because he feels like a token black guy and a token mercenary type at the same time, so you don't feel any special attachment or feel that you owed the guy anything. Final mission; BOOM, he dies.
Why? Because you didn't earn his loyalty and some arbitrary cutscene wastes him. You feel bad, because reasons.
That's bad design no matter how you put it.
Note that I don't actually know how he dies, if at all, but I know that it does for other characters and so I assume that Jacob does as well.

So while I'm "allowed" to skip these things, I'm really not, because they add flavor to the followup and I want to be remembered by them as a friend and as their leader who did everything they could for their sake, for their survival and the success of your mission.

I can't point out to you anything that I decidedly hate about ME2 or ME3 (apart from the ending), just that all the small things add up, such as running around with a portable nuke, loyalty missions, the sudden change from a heat system to ammunition count, the sudden change from deep setting exposure to raw action, the dialogue being more poignant than what you'd expect from a comrade in arms and so on. Where are the choices? Where are the consequences? Where's the actual game instead of a longwinded wannabe movie script?

That's why I think people really love ME1 and not so much the sequals. At least, that's why I feel this way.
I know this was somewhat a rant and I thank you for the opportunity to let me write my feelings on the topic

lol no problem man its my pleasure to help people get things off their chests when they can do so in a positive manner.

Just to let you know though you can skip Jacobs loyalty mission if you have him in your squad, or if you leave certain people back to guard that last point, the only thing you have to buy or god help you is the upgrades for the ship as each one you miss kills one person or other. I have beaten the game with pretty much just garus mordin grunt tali and the DLC characters and came back with every one alive(oh forgot jack)

 

[KOMega]

Basically any Bethesda game so far, GTA5, Borderlands, Mass Effect.

Like, I can see why one might enjoy them, and I know people who enjoy those games, and if they want me to play it with them in some way, that's fine.

But I'm never getting these games myself and playing them. I look at them. I try a little bit of them. But I'm just not feelin' it. I don't know how to really describe it.

It just doesn't feel as great as I hear it out to be.

Actually as I type this out, I think I just want some kind of spectacle out of my games. Things don't have to make sense, they just have to run on the rule of cool. I just don't get that from these games. Not enough spectacle.

 

[lunavixen]

My list is fairly long, but i'm going to try and give some type of reason WHY I don't like them:

The Last Of Us:
It was just so predictable, I actually predicted every major plot point before it happens. Every. Single. One. The combat was tanky, the human enemies were a little too good at trying to flank you even if they so much as smelled your farts, and once you had the shiv upgrades and a health upgrade, you were pretty much set. That and those damned clickers, fuck them all. I did make myself finish the game though.

The Uncharted Series:
I hate Nathan Drake. He's a smug, arrogant and I threw him off cliffs deliberately just so I could watch him die. I finished the first game (took ages because I couldn't tolerate Drake for more than 20 minutes at a time), i've started the second, but can't bring myself to finish it or the third one.

Borderlands:
It was just so boring.

Oblivion and Skyrim:
Takes way too long to get anywhere, some of the character models are iffy and all of the quests are minor variations on "go here, kill the enemies, retrive artifact, go back."

The GTA series:
They're just not fun for me.

I could go on, but i'm feeling lazy.

 

[sXeth]

Dark Souls, Last of Us, GTAV (well, most of the GTA's really). I might rate these anywhere from above average, to good, or recognize flashes of greatness in them, but I don't hold the uber-regard they generally seem to command.

The Walking Dead would be another one. I'm not a huge fan of zombies, or the post-apocalyptic means everyones-a-jackass narratives, which really sinks the game's story for me, leaving only the minimal mechanics that can't really carry a game.

Stick of Truth was sort of intriguing in its mechanics, but I didn't like South Park when it was fresh, nevermind the regurgitated fanservice 15 odd years later.

The older Bioware games are another one I'd file under good, or even into the higher end of a spectrum, but they're as "Biowarey" (Binary morality conversation options, terrible inability to end a story, genericish hero's journey plots) as their more recent offerings that seem to finally be getting criticisms.

 

[sumanoskae]

Neither of the two most recent critical darlings of the games industry affected me deeply; Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us.

I think they're both still far above average, but they didn't blow me away. Bioshock has an interesting setting and some neat ideas, but I find it's story lacking in nuance and depth.

The Last of Us is great fun to PLAY and it's story is well executed and written, but it's only noteworthy because of it's resounding competence; I didn't see greatness in it.

When games like The Walking Dead, Dragon Age: Origins, Persona 4, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect and KOTOR II exist, I don't understand why people still behave as though a merely decent story is so comparatively rare among video games as opposed to say, films.

If I'm going to call a game truly great, it has to rock me to my core; I thuroughly enjoyed them, but neither Infinite or Last of Us did that

 

[Racecarlock]

Mafia II. I had never seen a mafia movie, so I had trouble figuring out why the story seemed so familiar. Then it hit me. It isn't just ripping off the immigrant angle from GTA IV. It also rips off the character arc from GTA III and the obviously evil villain with a mustache from vice city (Sonny Forelli). Only san andreas escaped being ripped off. Unless you count the 300 drug deals gone wrong in this game.

I don't know what this game sees in drug deals gone wrong, but I think the story involves the characters trying at least 3 times and all with the same result Repetitive, much?

The shooting is ok. It is also done better or just as good in every other game with cover based shooting and those games also remember to be games. Speaking of which, the god damn chores. Cleaning toilets? Chaperoning drunk guys home? Carrying crates? Climbing the ladder or not, this is bullshit. I do not buy games to do virtual chores. I don't care how it is in real life or whatever the excuse is, I am still not having fun. The prison was easily the worst, featuring three brawls using the game's three move combat system. I can't believe people said the combat was deep here. Maybe as opposed to any game with button mashing combat, but this was as deep as a kiddie pool in the sahara desert.

It sucked as a linear adventure. Then there's the DLC.

All 3 are basically just straight GTA rip off. Pick a mission, do mission, save game. The catch? Nothing to do in the city. Nothing. You can get clothes, rampage, customize cars, and get drunk. That's about it. If I were to judge by today's standards, these DLC episodes are easily the worst sandbox games I have ever played, plain and simple.

The game's base mechanics also have traffic laws and fuel. Also open carry laws. That's right, accidentally pull a gun out and the cops will ticket you AND make you drop the weapon which you presumably payed good fuckin' money for. Speed down the road? Ticket. Run over one pedestrian? Instant 3 star wanted level with shoot to kill authorized for the cops. Which might sound like fun if you didn't die from 2 shots. Admittedly to challenge people this would make it more fun, but I prefer being like an invincible cheating bastard elder god action hero who blows cops away with his mighty shotgun of annihilation. Like in saints row 4.

Then there's the cliffhanger ending, and to quote yahtzee "If you get served a dead dog for lunch you do not stick around for the pudding". Fuck this game series and I will not be buying the sequel. That's for damn sure.

 

[Catfood220]

The Last of Us.

It's a fine game, and very technologically impressive considering it's on the PS3, but... eh. The non-combat sections are the best parts of the game, and within the combat the sections against human NPCs are the only ones I find enjoyable, because you get to hear their dialogue and they have actual AI. The only cool part about being matched up against the zombies is being able to make clickers run off by throwing something.

Thank you for pin pointing my exact thoughts on the game, the bits where you weren't fighting anything were the best parts of the game. For example, I was quite happy exploring the University campus, taking in the scenery and liking discovering what had gone on and how the students had held out for so long. Then you come across a cloud of spores and I just went "ugh not this again". It wasn't helped that the room was full of clickers and one of those vomiting infected.

And I never got the throw the thing to distract the clickers part of the game to work. In a room full of clickers, trying to be stealthy, standing totally still, throw the bottle to the other side of the room and the clickers go "hey, there was a noise over there, that must mean someone must be trying to distract us, lets charge the other way."

Its not a terrible game, its just not the game of the year that everyone says it is (and myself expected it to be) maybe I need to play it again now my own expectations have been squashed.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

GTA5 - All three characters are dislikable and there are only three of them.
There are only 69main quests and only up to 40 side missions. The controls on foot are clunky and the vehicle controls are way to arcady.
The countryside is boring and Los Santos is way to big.
The missions are a bit more varied than GTA4 but not nearly enough, they still suck ass (this has been stated in many, many, many and almost all proffessional reviews).
You can`t use a skateboard or rollerblades, only diverse bycicles from bmx to racing and way to many car types, to many planes, to many boats and all the helicopters. They even had the nerve to include a submarine, just don`t go on with the silly tank and the stupid jet.
They still don`t manage to include little children or babies only dogs.
You can speak up to other people but there`s no way to decide your aproach, every rpg or even jrpg has this option even this odd shooter called mass effect(2,3).
MP let you only create deathmatches or races yet. Speaking of MP they only released 4 updates including new stuff and the possibility to create new content so far. Where are my heists?

GTA5 must be the most lazy, dissapointing, wannabe open world game at all.
If my memory is correct (and it must be) Tetris or Double Dragon are better open world games than this piece of overhyped megamegasupercrap.

I can assure that since i already tortured myself by playing over 160 hours of the horrifying mp.

EDIT:
Last of us - cause every pc eletist says so.... add if they said so there must be something to it since they all know exactly how to handle console exclusives without the ability to pump up textures (meh) and without the ability to use mouse and keyboard (double meh). The gameplay and story aren`t worth it as seen on youtube playtroughs. What should the x360 users say since the big M dropped the support on their console (happened long before)?
What a shitty experience TLOU must be i can`t imagine. Maybe i should start looking up youtube for this desaster too.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Final Fantasy 6.

A smaller but louder fan base than FF7 and is probably the most lauded of them all. It was a huge let down after playing the underrated FF5 with vastly weaker combat and too many characters for me to care about the story.

Earthbound.

Great humour, unique tone and a stellar soundtrack can't cover for a battle system that's mediocre at best. The battling is weak even compared to FF6 let alone FF5.

 

[marioandsonic]

I don't want to keep beating a dead horse, but The Last of Us. As Yahtzee said, it seems like the video game equivalent of Oscar Bait. Yes, it's a good story, but it's predictable as hell. And the gameplay is good too, but again, I didn't see it as more than that. It's not a game that's really revolutionary, just really competently executed.

Also, I never really got much thrill from most first-person shooters. Maybe it's because I keep getting destroyed in multiplayer, but I'm just not a fan. I did really enjoy Doom, though.

 

[spartandude]

Bioshock Infinite. On paper this sounds like my perfect game, it puts story ahead of game play. The characters appear (at first glance anyway) interesting and its story is centered around politics. But i hated the writing with a passion, i was so bored with the story by about half way through and i didn't care about the world because it really did feel like the game play and setting were at odds with each other while the first Bioshock they went hand in hand. And you can quote that Jimquisition episode at me all you want i still didn't enjoy it.

When games like The Walking Dead, Dragon Age: Origins, Persona 4, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect and KOTOR II exist, I don't understand why people still behave as though a merely decent story is so comparatively rare among video games as opposed to say, films.

You also forgot Planescape Torment.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

I don't like Pokemon games and it sucks because I wish I kind of did. I just can't get into them. I have only played Blue, Silver and HeartGold. HeartGold was me trying to get back into them after playing Silver when I was younger. I like the graphics and the gameplay, but so many things about the way the overall system works, like the trading and 2 versions on release, like Red/Blue, bugs me to no ends as someone who plays only singleplayer games.

 

[mrdude2010]

I thought the uncharted series was criminally overrated. I'm not saying they're bad games, because for the most part they're entirely competently made, but with the unintentionally comical storyline, lackluster platforming, and occasionally bad combat design (enemies randomly spawning in and such), I just don't think it deserves the adulation it received.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

The Witcher Series
Yeah... sorry, just not a fan. I picked up the first two during a Steam sale and I just couldn't get into either of them. The universe and characters held no appeal to me, the story didn't engage me in any way, and the combat gameplay is downright awful. I have no desire to ever play either one of them again, and I have no desire to play any future installments.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series
The first one was okay, I guess. Buggy as hell, mediocre gameplay, and fairly bland story... but at least the game's atmosphere was good. I thought the prequel and sequel were kinda just more of the same. Mediocre, with the occasional moment that rises above that, but generally not much really special going on.

Team Fortress 2
Just can't get into it. I played a lot of Team Fortress Classic and loved the hell out of it, but this one just doesn't hold my interest the same way.

The Elder Scrolls Series
Full disclosure, I've only played Oblivion and Skyrim. I don't think either of them even comes remotely close to living up to the hype. They become significantly better with (heavy) modding, but that doesn't change the fact that to me the core games are mostly just boring fetch quests for unmemorable characters.

There are probably some more, but I think that's good enough for now.

 

[the_great_cessation]

Unfortunately there are quite a few but I'm just going to focus in on one big one : Okami.

For all intents and purposes, I should love this game. I grew up on Zelda games and generally love games built in that mold. However, Okami just doesn't click with me. It's much too slow paced for my liking and instead of feeling "adventurous", it just feels long winded and aimless. While I will admit that the game is beautiful, I think people get too hung up on that aspect alone. The celesteal brush is sort of sloppy to use, the game has atrocious/annoying sound effects and I find the "humor" in the game to be quite the opposite.

I'm not sure if I would of liked it more if I played it when I was younger, but as is I find it really hard to love this game as much as others do. I think it's an aesthetically pleasing game with enough unique ideas to be remembered but I really don't think its anywhere near as amazing as everyone claims it is. With that said, I do plan on returning to the game one day because it really should be something I should love and I'd love for that to be the case.