Games or Game Series You Have A Love/Hate Relationship With

[cojo965]

I love the Monster Hunter series but it continues to drive me nuts with Capcom's refusal to put out any of the games on consoles I own. My love/hate relationship with the series is further compounded by the truly infuriating egg carrying quests. How they work is: you go to the local monster nest, grab a big ass egg, carry it back via the longest route while every single monster has decided that you are too offensive to live, and a gnat sneezing on you is enough to make you drop the egg. It gets better though, you can do another variation of the egg quests where you carry a super hot rock that gradually does damage to you and explodes when dropped.

Tl;dr: I love the Monster Hunter series but hate not having it and when the game isn't hunting monsters.

What games or series do you have a love/hate relationship with?

 

[Hawki]

Off the top of my head:

-Doom: I'm really mixed about the Doom games. I think D1 and D3 are solid games, yet D2 and D4...aren't. Which is weird, I know, since D2 is arguably more of the same, but, yeah. It also irks me that the series has had two reboots, one of which ensures that certain plot points in the D3 setting will never be addressed, and is given a free pass for that. It also doesn't help that I feel Doom popularized what I call "the John Carmack School of Thought" when it comes to story in games, and overshadows Marathon, which was released a year after the first Doom game, which showed that you didn't have to sacrifice story for gameplay, even if Doom is more enjoyable at the end of the day. It's not so much that Doom doesn't have much of a story that bothers me, it's more that it's to the extent of being anti-story. Even in multiplayer-only games, I still value context behind the actions/setting (e.g. Overwatch and various MOBAs).

But, "enjoyable" is the key word. Doom is enjoyable. D1 is enjoyable, D3 is very enjoyable, D4 manages to be enjoyable about 50% of the time. But it's a case where there's a series where I can only claim to have enjoyed half of the installments I've played.

-Diablo: It's not so much the games, but it's the fanbase that really aggravates me at times. I mean, okay, fanbases can be cantakarous by their nature, but Jesus Christ, after the shitstorm that erupted after D3's initial release, you'd think the developers drowned an entire civilization's worth of kittens, and then set puppies on fire for the hell of it. And, okay, I know I'm like the only person on the planet who doesn't like Diablo II, and whose level of preference goes D3>D1>D2, but some of the fanbase's complaints and mind games/self-justifications make me go "...huh?"

So, yes, I enjoy Diablo overall, but I'm very much on the fringe of what its core fanbase desires, and that can't help but colour my enjoyment of it.

-Half-Life: Only played Half-Life 2 and its episodes. It's...fine, it's average, it's enjoyable, I'd like to see Half-Life 3, but I could die happy without it ever happening. Just the usual feeling of liking something, but not as many as others like it, so that can generate negative thoughts at times.

-Metroid: This isn't really a love-hate thing, but only from the feeling of only enjoying the 2D games but not the 3D ones, of Fusion being my favorite, of not finding Other M that bad (least from watching a playthrough), etc. It's more the sense of enjoying the Metroid series for what it is, but being invested in things within it that most of the fanbase isn't (e.g. story, characterization, etc., before isolation, exploration, etc.)

-Star Fox: Mainly because Zero has rebooted the series AGAIN, because Command was so lacklustre, and so far, nothing has surpassed Star Fox 64. I guess I like the series, but it often feels like it's living a life of anti-climax.

 

[Zhukov]

- Bethesda games.

I actually have a fair bit of fun with them. By which I mean, a lot of hours of mild enjoyment. However the big worlds ensure that I will always, always get bored by the barely adqeuate gameplay long before the game reaches any kind of satisfying conclusion. Then when I remember them all I remember is being bored, so I end up kind of retroactively hating them.

- Dishonored

Love the setting, love the artstyle and visual design. But the the writing is video game garbage and the gameplay is poorly designed. It feels like an attempt to imitate Thief done by someone who had no idea why Thief worked. I end up suffering through the shitty aspects to enjoy the good aspects.

 

[Saelune]

Dark Souls. Cause I love Dark Souls 1, and I hate Dark Souls 2.

Elder Scrolls cause I love the series, but it refuses to go beyond the greatness of Morrowind. I mean, Oblivion and Skyrim are still leagues better than most RPGs that come out...but man, imagine if they had each been BETTER than Morrowind?

Gears of War, cause its a series I hate but played cause of friends. And am good at it too, go figure.

Call of Duty cause the games are alot of fun, but the community and Activision are terrible, and they still havent brought back Sabotage...

 

[Kingjackl]

The Witcher series. Took me ages to get into a head-space where I could enjoy the second one, and even then I still came away thinking it's good but overrated. Then I fell in love with the third one to the point of almost 100% completing it (save Skellige because fuck Skellige), which was in turned ruined when I got the shitty ending. Never have I been so let down by a game that I'd invested so much time in, and while I was able to go back and undo a couple of the wrong decisions I'd made, it'll be a while before I can bring myself to go through it again.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

The Dragon Age series. Dragon Age Origins is my favourite game, but both sequels have been varying degrees of disappointment, and it seems they are getting further and further from the original with each iteration.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Far Cry 3. Loved all the open world and survival-ish stuff. Assassinations, hunting, garrisons, even the radio towers were all fun things to do. The main story on the other hand was trash. Forgettable plot (literally, I can barely remember any of it) and a cast of unlikeable and unrelatable characters. People seem to like Vaas for some reason. To me he just came off as a petulant child. From a gameplay perspective the main missions ranged from average to tedious.

Rayman Legends. Fantastic game full of delicious 2D platforming action that I so love. Then (because I have it on Vita) you get to those fucking touchscreen levels. So mind numbingly boring, almost a deal breaker for me.

 

[Dalisclock]

Assassins Creed: I like the historical tourism stuff and some of the plots/characters are rather fun to follow. Some of the setpieces are nicely done as well. Unfortunately, for every good game it seems like there's at least one bad or mediocre one, the series has just added more tedious time-wasting BS as it goes on and Ubisoft won't do anything useful with the present day plot/meta plot yet refuses to drop it. At least with Desmond it felt like there was some kind of progress. Now it's just you playing some nameless faceless person walking around an office or playing a game console and reminding everyone that the series is awkwardly treading water on the overarching plot and has been for years now. Also, it's almost impossible to explain the series without sounding like a crazy person. In fact, the following video makes the case nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHaKuq1AglY

Call of Duty: I'm under no illusion that this series is basically sci-fi/action/war movies as a game, but the individual entries bounce between awesome and awful and everywhere in between. I keep going between "This series has run it's course" and "I hope the next one is good".

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Almost all Warhammer games, because with each step closer to good, its two or three steps into cringing cringe worthy cringe. And just one voice-actor who takes his job seriously would be nice! Seems like the direction for every actor playing a Space Marine is "Pretend your in a 1940s German version of A Christmas Carol, all the microphones are broken and the actor playing Scrooge is deaf so really emote your heart out, and action."
"SPUUAACEEE MAHRREEENSSSS!"

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

Assassins Creed: I like the historical tourism stuff and some of the plots/characters are rather fun to follow. Some of the setpieces are nicely done as well. Unfortunately, for every good game it seems like there's at least one bad or mediocre one, the series has just added more tedious time-wasting BS as it goes on and Ubisoft won't do anything useful with the present day plot/meta plot yet refuses to drop it. At least with Desmond it felt like there was some kind of progress. Now it's just you playing some nameless faceless person walking around an office or playing a game console and reminding everyone that the series is awkwardly treading water on the overarching plot and has been for years now. Also, it's almost impossible to explain the series without sounding like a crazy person. In fact, the following video makes the case nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHaKuq1AglY

Call of Duty: I'm under no illusion that this series is basically sci-fi/action/war movies as a game, but the individual entries bounce between awesome and awful and everywhere in between. I keep going between "This series has run it's course" and "I hope the next one is good".

One problem I see with COD is it cant decide if its pro war or anti war. Sure I carve a path of obviously evil soldiers but goddamnit does my main character always have to die with his entire squad as a way to say War is bad!

Again I nominate neptunia as my love hate game. Mainly because I used to care a lot about Neptunia and reading the Japanese updates weekly but now tuned it out after realizing how much of it is a 10 grader's delusional fantasy made into a game.

 

[Pyrian]

4X games. Basically the entire genre. I love love luuurve them in theory. I even played Dwarf Fortress. In practice, though? Bo-o-oring. It's like, here's this harsh learning curve, and once I finally get what I'm doing and my empire starts growing, there's an immense amount of busy work to do, and I burn out.

 

[BrawlMan]

Far Cry 3. Loved all the open world and survival-ish stuff. Assassinations, hunting, garrisons, even the radio towers were all fun things to do. The main story on the other hand was trash. Forgettable plot (literally, I can barely remember any of it) and a cast of unlikeable and unrelatable characters. People seem to like Vaas for some reason. To me he just came off as a petulant child. From a gameplay perspective the main missions ranged from average to tedious.

Rayman Legends. Fantastic game full of delicious 2D platforming action that I so love. Then (because I have it on Vita) you get to those fucking touchscreen levels. So mind numbingly boring, almost a deal breaker for me.

Play Far Cry Instincts if you got an original XBOX or 360, you'll get more mileage out of it. For Rayman Legends, get a console version that's not the Vita or Wii U. Ironically, some sections involving the touch screen are easier on the latter than on the other HD consoles. In place is a button prompt for other version, but the problem is that they come up so fast that any microsecond of hesitation in the harder levels makes it an automatic fail. Especially in the musical run levels.

God Hand - I like the game, but the thing I really hate about it is that everyone is a damage sponge. Mooks, Elite Mooks, Bosses in Mook's Clothing, Minibosses, and the Bosses themselves; all of them! It makes the game a chore sometimes. There are ways around it: environmental hazards, bottomless pits to knock them in, and friendly fire, but that doesn't fix the whole problem.

Viewtiful Joe 2 - It's a good game, but it's a case of what could have been. Originally there was going to be co-op, but Capcom had Clover ax the idea at the very beginning. For those who don't know, look at first teaser trailer for VJ 2, it clearly shows Joe and Silvia fighting simultaneously. Instead, we got what was essentially VJ 1.5, where sometimes you'll need to switch from Joe to Silvia, but mainly only when she is required to do a puzzle. Speaking of the puzzles, I found them much more tedious and not as fun in the first game. The puzzles in 2, while taking more thought, feels detrimental to the flow. In 1, the puzzle simple and barely needed too much thought. Quick yes, but breaks the pace without overstaying their welcome.

GG Shinobi - A classic Game Gear game I played the shit out of between the ages of 4-6. The only problem was the fucking maze stage! The final stage! Shinobi knows what I'm talking about. All I have to say is thank God for save states on the 3DS.

 

[Ayame Murasaki]

Vagrant Story. Oh sweet Christ, Vagrant Story. I love the story, I love the effects of the Break Arts--think Limit Breaks for each weapon type, costing a little HP to activate but you can heal yourself immediately afterwards--the evolving weapon system is nifty, but JESUS CHRIST the bosses are a pain in the ass. It's even worse when they give you cutscenes a while before you get to the boss room and the save point is placed right AFTER the big nasty boss. I think of it as a kind of proto-Dark Souls; you will die. You will die a lot. And I still love it. Oh Vagrant Story, why can't I quit you? o_o

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I don't want to say Undertale but Undertale. I love the lore, I love the dialog, I love the characters, I love the music but I absolutely hate the actual game part of the game. Undertale is a game that I stopped playing twice before I stopped playing it for good because I just absolutely hate the combat system. Maybe if I was a genocidal asshole it wouldn't be as bad to me but playing Pacifist forces me to do those weird, slow, bullet-Hell kind of things that I just could not stand. I would watch a let's play of this game absolutely but I would not download it again.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Toss one in for Dishonored.
I'm gonna get Dishonored 2 because I don't necessarily love/hate the IP, more of I'm dipping my toes in the water unsure if I want to jump or not.
I played through all of Dishonored 1 on a whim, it didn't look my thing at the time but I gave it a shot. Played through the whole thing and didn't love it and I think I figured out why.

1. I'm terrible at stealth.
2. I didn't use most of the tools at my disposal. Used most of my powers, but not most of my weapons, and even my powers I used pretty sparingly.
3. I'm not terribly creative.

I'm one of those players who never uses the Fat Man in Fallout because I figure I'm gonna need it and goes through the whole game never using it even on the biggest enemies because I figure there's always a bigger threat and sometimes there is but you get what I'm saying, I overthink the long run and stifle myself.

Now that I've identified this I think I'll enjoy Dishonored 2 at least a little more. I'm gonna let loose some more with my resources and once I learn "Oh hey, I'm powerful and I can do all these things", I'll get more creative which will hopefully lead to more possibilities when it comes to approaching stealth.
That's the hope anyway.

 

[Veylon]

Master of Magic / Lords of Magic

I keep misremembering these games as some kind of masterpieces, but every time I go back to play them, I end up frustrated by the brutally unforgiving difficulty and extremely clunky interfaces. They aren't bad exactly, but they have terribly deep flaws.

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

Pretty much any online shooter.

I love competing against other people online for the possibility of virtual dominance, but I know for a fact that I'll hate myself in about 10 hours when I'm sick of getting my ass kicked every other match and then quit. And then I'll get back on about 3 hours later to start the cycle all over again.

Titanfall 2 has had that effect on me the most lately. I love playing it and doing well, but along comes about 3 poor matches in a row and I just throw a fit and stop, but I know I'll be back on in about 2 hours.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

I started it again so invisible inc. It's the best. A tactical turn based stealth game and it works really well on the micro level. The issue is that it is also a rougelike for some reason I can not fathom. Because it is a rougelike, you can't really play around with builds or strategy. Apart from one choice at the start, all your abilities are picked for you by the RNG gods.

 

[kilenem]

Need for Freakin Speed . I don't understand WTF is wrong with EA and this series. Need for Speed Under ground 2 is the highest selling game in the series and EA refuseed to go back to its roots for so freakin long. EA wanted the game to be about Exotic cars and no one gives a shit. We want to rice out Honda Civics, and make them as fast as Ferrai's. Need For speed 2015 is the closest game to Underground 2 but it is always online. EA had to be like, lets make the game the fans have wanted for years but we have to corn hole the fans. Granted they gave this game free DLC but they unexpectedly dropped support for the game. They had enough install base to do paid DLC but they moved phantom games to the next Need for speed

Also Need for Speed the World, holly shit did EA drop the ball on the MMO, it went from a Free to play MMO that you didn't require you spend money to enjoy the game, to the fastest car in the game being over a 100 dollars. They reduced drop rates of premium items and dumbed down that game for new players. Also they fired the original devs and after that happened new content stopped coming to the game.

The Need for Speed Most Wanted 2012 reboot, They rebooted a game that was 7 years old that had nothing to due with the game, didn't release the DLC for the Wii U version. They showed the Hummer H1 from the game even though they showed it in a trailer and the truck is in a mobile game that was released the same year. Plus the Dodge Charger DLC that you can only get through a online code if you bought a slim Jim in the United States.

 

[BrawlMan]

Need for Freakin Speed . I don't understand WTF is wrong with EA and this series. Need for Speed Under ground 2 is the highest selling game in the series and EA refuseed to go back to its roots for so freakin long. EA wanted the game to be about Exotic cars and no one gives a shit. We want to rice out Honda Civics, and make them as fast as Ferrai's. Need For speed 2015 is the closest game to Underground 2 but it is always online. EA had to be like, lets make the game the fans have wanted for years but we have to corn hole the fans. Granted they gave this game free DLC but they unexpectedly dropped support for the game. They had enough install base to do paid DLC but they moved phantom games to the next Need for speed

Also Need for Speed the World, holly shit did EA drop the ball on the MMO, it went from a Free to play MMO that you didn't require you spend money to enjoy the game, to the fastest car in the game being over a 100 dollars. They reduced drop rates of premium items and dumbed down that game for new players. Also they fired the original devs and after that happened new content stopped coming to the game.

The Need for Speed Most Wanted 2012 reboot, They rebooted a game that was 7 years old that had nothing to due with the game, didn't release the DLC for the Wii U version. They showed the Hummer H1 from the game even though they showed it in a trailer and the truck is in a mobile game that was released the same year. Plus the Dodge Charger DLC that you can only get through a online code if you bought a slim Jim in the United States.

It's EA, they take their best franchises and turn them into crap. Rivals is the last game I ever got from them. NFS: Rivals is a good arcade racer (the PC version being the horrible exception), but learning about the always online DRM made me quit altogether. What makes even less sense is them needing to reboot Need for Speed. EA claimed to takes back the series to its "roots" and prevent the brand from diluting and wearing out, yet that statement turned out to be a lot of horse cock. The franchise was doing okay with a few ups and downs, but if anything, they just performed a self-fulfilling prophecy.