Games everybody loves but you can't see why

[Nieroshai]

Uncharted 2. Assassin's Creed beat it by a mile, but so many influential people backed Uncharted 2 in that contest with the most BS logic. I watched those awards, and they never showed WHY Uncharted 2 got Game of the Year except that "it was really awesome... and AC2 has been done before... and oh look, here's some cheerleaders!" I'm not saying it's a BAD game, I'm saying if it deserved GOTY then I wonder why Tomb Raider Underworld didn't win its year. AC2 was fun, it actually did story-driven sandbox pretty well compared to most games, and the story and gameplay were the most engaging I've ever played. It was much farther from the Prince of Persia than Uncharted 2 was from the Tomb Raider formula, and had a more immersive plot.

 

[Noko]

Halo and Call Of Duty. You'll be seeing them a lot.

Same for me, and now the are making Black ops. It looks like they took all the "modern" gear that were to ridicules for MW2.

 

[xchurchx]

well manly the CoD online and mordern warfare altogether
firstly the perks, I hate perks, basicaly its a fancy word for "Cheating"
and secondly you could run into the fight kill every one in the team and then get more kills by calling an airstrike or helicopter
i hate games tht dont use teamwork to win the game

 

[Wintermute_]

Anything turn based or console RTS. God above do I hate turn based games.

Final Fantasy for example? The poster child of turn based stuff? Will NEVER see the draw. That and it just looks soooo fucking ridiculous. They style is just god-awful. Sorry to fans of the series, but when I see some really cool looking cinematic in a commercial with apparently epic combat, and its really just the same turn based "your guys line up over there, I'll stand over here with my guys, waiting to take it like a puss" gameplay, what's the point?

 

[Krimson Kun]

Half Life 2, the game's great and all but I always got motion sickness playing it for some reason.
Fallout 3. Its an alright game, but wasn't the best thing I've played and certainly not worth hundreds of hours IMHO
Any final fantasy other than 1,2,7, and 9. Even though those are the ones people like.
Dragon Quest, I just don't like it for some reason.
all Civ games, it sounds interesting but when you play it its kinda boring(well at least for me) because of the slow pace of the game.
and everyone's favorite, The Sims,I tried it, and found my self waking up at the desk next morning. It was amazing

 

[snappydog]

Ok I'll do my best to help people understand why, but note that I don't necessarily love any of these games.

the COD series

Halo

Counter-Strike

FPSs in general

EVERYONE ELSE WHO SAID A POPULAR FPS

The reasoning behind anyone likes a popular FPS is cyclical and very much up to chance. It has almost nothing to do with quality and almost everything to do with popularity. Basically there's 2 types of FPS, and everyone is usually a fan of one game from each type. There's 'casual' FPS like Halo and TF2 (Hear me out before you freak out about Halo being 'not casual') and realistic FPS like CS and Battlefield. Casual shooters are easier for beginners and usually have more well rounded weaponry so noobs can also pwn sometimes too. Realistic shooters are usually more unforgiving and yet also more balanced.

Either way, a crapload of each type of shooter comes out every year, and people either
a. continue to play the old version of their favorite shooter until a new one comes out
b. buy the new version of their favorite shooter
c. switch shooters and buy the one with the most hype

you can say whatever you want about how the core gameplay of one game is better than another but it's really just a matter of whether it is casual or realistic (and sometimes whether it is oriented toward team play or individual play like in BF and CoD, respectively).

I don't really know if any of that makes any sense though, I'm tired lol.

More specifically, possibly Ocarina of Time. I really enjoyed that game personally, don't get me wrong, but lots of people on the internet are under the impression that it's some sort of Gaming Bible for the amount of praise it gets, every 3D Zelda game since for me has been far superior. Better graphics, better story, more gameplay ideas, more interesting world to explore, etc.

Ocarina of Time is better than all of those games in the same way Goldeneye is better than all of the new James Bond games. EVERYTHING is better in the new James Bond games (except maybe the story), but it was the groundbreaking revolutionary gameplay that made people love it so much. Now all the new Zelda's just work off of the basic OoT formula, and the changes they institute aren't enough to instill that same -WOW- factor.

Bioshock and Fallout 3, they're "sequels" to existing franchises but done horribly in comparison.

I can understand this, but I'll try to explain. Bioshock is loved almost entirely for the story. Fallout 3 is loved almost entirely for the gameplay. Both of these aspects far exceed previous titles in almost every way. With Bioshock, the story is much more action packed (and much easier to understand) than System Shock. The gameplay, however, ends up being much more boring and poorly paced than its predecessor.

With Fallout, the gameplay is enhanced. Sure some old school fans will prefer the old interfaces, but the core mechanics are still the same, just with a few things added. On the other hand, the story is stupid, cheesy, and pretty boring.

Mass Effect...
That, and Morrowind!

Mass Effect: intensity of detail, incredible graphics, originality, and well designed RPG mechanics... Although the game can be boring at times...

Morrowind: Same old addictive western RPG mechanics... plus people love a fantasy setting.

Guitar Hero/Rock Band - all of them.

Playing guitar myself, it's not that I think it belittles playing an instrument, it's just repetitive, and spawned an entire generation of people who got really good at pressing buttons quickly, just like flying in Mario!

I've played (and taught) guitar for a long time, and my fingering hand dexterity got a lot better from years of guitar hero. I personally liked the game because of that, I saw improvement in my actual guitar playing. But I kinda started on expert and just kept playing until I was really good. I think other people liked the game for a similar reason, but more along the lines of seeing improvement in how good they are at the game itself.

Fair enough. I see what you mean about this whole FPS thing, and don't get me wrong, I do like a lot of FPS's. I just don't quite get what the hype about many of them might be.

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

The answer to every post in this thread goes thus: people have opinions.

 

[Beech]

Modern Warfare and Halo, pretty much. In general, not too big on pure FPS type games.

 

[blindthrall]

I'll go majority and say Halo. I like shooters, but it just seemed so shallow compared to the others. It's like Marathon got a graphics upgrade and story downgrade.

 

[Frotality]

CODMW and halo3/reach. well, the whole appeal of online fps really. i can see the initial appeal of move-aim-shoot, but i have no idea how people can get so many hours of gameplay from that; im sorry, but i need more complex gameplay, or at least a good story to keep me going that long.

 

[8-Bit Grin]

Fallout 3, "sequel" to existing franchise but done horribly in comparison.

You answered your own question in a way.
Fans have a habit of loving a franchise even while they complain of it's continuing changes.
I am deeply in love with the original Fallout's, and even though I dislike certain things they changed I still enjoy the recent game because...
Well, it's another step for my beloved post-apocalyptic RPG.
However, I see your point and it is quite valid.

In response to the many other games inevitably listed that I don't feel as passionately about but feel I should defend in a logical manner:

Bioshock is much liked by many in the gaming community for it's unique atmosphere and interesting story telling.
I think it's been said that Bioshock wasn't loved for it's shooting, because it's quite basic and we've all shot things before.
Although it was handled nicely with a decent variety of unique weapons and plasmids that spiced things up with simple puzzles.

Halo is one of those games that had a fairly compelling story, and an extremely good console multiplayer mode for it's time.
When Halo 2 decided to take things online, it energized the mainstream console industry in a way that previous online compatible systems had not previously been able to with the standard audience.
(Note: I personally thought the storyline was dry, but I'm trying to be unbiased)

Call of Duty has become a current generation juggernaut because of it's well executed multiplayer mode and interesting single player.
It has brought many fresh ideas to both the singleplayer and multiplayer modes of new games,
and seems to be accessible enough to appeal to a wide audience. (Personal Reference: My younger sister, mother, and father all dabble in it).

These are likely the most common games to be mentioned in this thread, and I would value any polite debate on my opinions.

 

[Magners]

Please buy a new brain

EDIT: To the guy who doesn't like Shadow of the Colossus

 

[curtmina]

Gonna go with fable 2 on this one it just wasn't fun, it felt like sims meets WoW to me and the story was laughable at best.

 

[ABLb0y]

Bayonetta or Oblivion.

 

[captaincabbage]

Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2 and Halo. I don't see a single thing that's special about any of them.

 

[Brandon237]

All the COD games, and fallout 3. Yes, I said that, now I shall hide in my flame-retardant bunker...

F3 gets old after hours 30 and really was never that juicy in that time either...

 

[zehydra]

Farmville, or Evony. They come across to me as just absolutely boring.

 

[Dark Prophet]

Team Fortress and Half Life games, just seem like any other shooters to me

Half-Life fanboy in me wants to say something unpleasant here but everyone has a right for an opinion so I wont.

 

[googleit6]

I adored Fallout 3 and adore New Vegas, but didn't like Oblivion at all.

Strange.

 

[BenzSmoke]

Fallout 3 & New Vegas, I understand having a large world to explore with guns and all is fun. But all the bugs and problems like plot holes and nonsensical things the NPCs do, or claim to do, just add-up into a rather mediocre experience. What's the point of having a big open world if it doesn't make sense?

Also, Halo & CoD. I don't see how these unoriginal, or in some cases confusing, stories can become so cherished by gamers. But most Halo or CoD players say the games are for the multiplayer. However, that makes even less sense to me. What's the appeal of shooting the same few player controlled characters, with the same few guns, on the same few maps? I just don't see the point.

Spoiler: To those who may say: You do not like Halo & CoD cause they are popular.

I played through the campaigns in both those games and found them rather boring as well as poorly written.

Halo 1-Reach: The writing didn't make me root for the survival of the Human Race, or for the Elites when they broke off from the Covenant. They just labeled the aliens as the bad guy and told you to shoot them. I even got the impression that both sides were idiots. The Covenant, blindly worship ancient rings and destroy humans for reasons that are never truly explained. The Humans never use their nuclear weapons and seem to rely only on a hand full/one super soldier, why? Wouldn't nuclear missiles be more effective? The only faction that made since was The Flood and they were just ALIENS ripoffs fueled only by the urge to recreate.

CoD MW1: It runs on the standard: Ruskies/Terrorists have nukes! Go git em! But, it's never explained why these factions want us dead.

CoD MW2: In the second one I just had no idea what was going on:
"Alright so I'm a spy pretending to be a terrorist? The best course of action to prove I'm on the terrorist's side is to gun down hundreds of unarmed civilians? But the leader of the terrorists is right here next to me! I've got a gun, so why don't I just shoot him and his goons and prevent the deaths of these civilians? Oh, because you say so game? Well f*ck you."
"Wait now we're in some broken down shantytown running from a bunch of untrained minorities with guns? Why are these guys a threat? We're the military, don't we have, like, helicopters and drones and stuff? Oh, we're trying not to scare the guy we're after... but isn't that him running across the rooftops? I'd say we scared him already."
"Alright it looks like the general fellow betrayed us and we're trying to kill guys from our military so we can kill him. Hey, Price, why'd he betray us anyway? He lost a lot of men in the blink of an eye? So why's he taking it out on us and possibly entire countries? It's not our fault he sucks at being a general... what, you're not sure?"