Games that make you go "How could anyone hate this?"

[Mycroft Holmes]

OT: no, there's absolutely no game that I can't understand why people wouldn't like it.

Making games is very much grounded in game theory. And in game theory(At least the important bits of it) there is always a trade off - a gain and then a loss. I considered circa 1997 Ultima Online to be a great game because it grants freedom in a way that hugely mimics the real world while having solid gameplay mechanics. But the freedom that I felt made it great, also meant that people who weren't that good at the game were going to get beat up very quickly because its the internet and everyone is a psychopath. Constantly being PKed and having all your stuff taken is not fun to most people. For every game I can see both sides of the payoff.

Mirrors Edge.

How that game didn't sell more copies is really beyond me. Beautiful game, challenging and fun to play, unique, decent story, great soundtrack etc etc.

It sucks because we'll probably never see a sequel.

DICE and EA want to make a sequel. They consider it a good IP and want to continue it. So Mirrors Edge 2 will almost definitely be a reality.

 

[V8 Ninja]

Mirrors Edge.

How that game didn't sell more copies is really beyond me. Beautiful game, challenging and fun to play, unique, decent story, great soundtrack etc etc.

It sucks because we'll probably never see a sequel.

DICE and EA want to make a sequel. They consider it a good IP and want to continue it. So Mirrors Edge 2 will almost definitely be a reality.

Fun Fact; After shipping Mirror's Edge, DICE has made three different Battlefield games and are working on Battlefield 4. If you include all of the Battlefield spin-offs and expansions, then DICE has had its hand in 10 different Battlefield-related projects since Mirror's Edge launched and are currently working on three more. Also, don't forget about how DICE created the multiplayer for the 2010 Medal of Honor game. I think it's safe to say that EA doesn't actually care about Mirror's Edge as a franchise, because if they did they would not be hammering DICE with tons of Battlefield projects.

Captcha; "one hit wonder"

 

[DragonStorm247]

You brought it up so I'm bringing the heat. 'Deep breath'

Dragon age 2. Yup I said it and I won't take it back. Main story small scale is good big scale bad, every area looking the same also bad, making Anders not as funny as in Awakening also pretty terrible, only one origin pure crappage (made that up), restricting you to human only JUST FUCKING NO!

But what about better gameplay, kickass characters, great character development, better affection system, that smexiness that is the rouge DLC hat Jasmine Cutty's Wrap (seriously that is the sexiest hat I have ever seen and I don't know why), main character can not only talk but can have entirely different tone of voice for the same lines, Merrill again, everybody is bisexual except Sebastian but he just marries girls he doesn't have sex with them fucking chaste tease, Merrill, Varric, and goddamit she's the best character in Dragon age Merrill (at least in the second one she's meh in the first). All of that. Yes. HELL YES! HELL FUCKING YES! I LOVE MERRILL YES! HOW DO PEOPLE HATE THIS GAME!? HOW!?

Captcha: "It's Super Delicious" Obviously Captcha loves Merrill why doesn't everyone.

I'll sort of agree, there are a lot of reasons to hate DA2 but I still liked it a lot, when you look through all the flaws it's a pretty decent game, and the characters are also pretty good.

And I love me some Merrill.

Dragon Age 2 would have been great if EA had given Bioware more time to work on it. Most of its problems stemmed from it being rushed.

On topic: for me, its the Mass Effect Trilogy. Yes there was the hiccup at the end (which the Extended Cut pretty much fixed), and some of the DLC's are just so pricey, but beyond that I just love it.

 

[thesilentman]

Assassin's Creed 2

Don't get me wrong the game has faults, but whenever I feel just the slightest twinge of frustration with it all I have to do is climb up the nearest tall building, look around and think 'Damn, this game is pretty...'.

and in 3 years that has never got old. I think it has something to do with knowing it's not just a sky box. Not only are the aesthetics so beautiful, you can explore every inch of the terrain.

That is one of the best examples of modern games and what they could be if they weren't (and trying to be) COD all the time

Got some more too:

Super Mario Bros 3- This is how you make platformers
Sonic Generations- The levels are damn awesome, both Modern and Classic.
Chrono Trigger- Really good story and characters

I'll come back when I think of more.

 

[dancinginfernal]

Knights of the Old Republic 2.

Sure, Obsidian gimped the ending, but that's hardly their fault. Besides with the Restoration Project it's finally lived up to its original glory. Good on Obsidian for working with the mod devs to bring it all back.

Also Chris Avellone is a god among writers. Fucking love his stories and his characters.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I've gotta say that most fighting games fall into this category for me. There are certainly flaws in most fighting games, but pretty much every modern fighting game these days is a full featured, fairly balanced and fun experience. I can't help but feel that most complaints about fighting games aren't really faults with the games themselves but faults with the perspectives of those who are doing the complaining. They decide they don't want to put time into learning the game, and so the game is bad. They get beat by tactics they don't bother learning how to stop (and nearly all characters/tactics can be countered), and it's the game's fault. They want super long in depth single player experience and when a game in a genre that has almost never provided such a thing doesn't include one, the whole game is worthless. Etc. There is almost no feeling in gaming like the one you get from competing one in one in a fighter once you have gained experience in it and yet that joy gets overlooked for such superficial reasons.

 

[Wayneguard]

Mirror's Edge. Every iota of that game oozes style. It was just fantastic I can't describe it in any other way. How could anyone not like it?

 

[Kiyeri]

FF12 for me. That game has a great story, great characters (ignoring Vaan), and a different but good style of combat. It's probably my favorite FF game of all time, specifically because of this man right here:

Spoiler

A sky pirate. Voiced by Gideon Emery. Fantastic to look at. There's a reason why he never leaves my party once I get him.

Captcha: mouth watering... Even the captcha wants him!

 

[MaulYoda]

The inspiration came from when I was playing the Sonic Adventure 2 re-release on my Xbox, and I was back in the Chao garden again after so long not being able to (due to my Dreamcast dying and the Gamecube refusing to read Sonic Adventure 2 Battle after a while). And I said to myself what a wonderful world "How could anyone hate this?"

I'm actually curious why people hate the game in general. I'm not a big Sonic fan, but I enjoyed it and it was pretty well received from what I've read. And then I started reading all this hate. I mean, could someone explain it to me? I'm not going to disagree, I'm legitimately cuirous

Just Cause 2.

Sure, there are no interesting characters and the story is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, but the fact that you can attach a car to a helicopter, take off, and destroy a water tower with the car/wrecking ball makes up for it in my opinion.

Then again, I'm extremely easy to entertain so maybe I'm horribly wrong.

You're not, at least as far as I'm concerned. I think people are always going to disagree on stuff like story, setting, gameplay, etc., but with Just Cause 2 (and the first Crackdown as well for my contribution to this), they're just mindless fun. And how can you hate mindless fun?

 

[Wing Dairu]

Katamary Damacy.


Instantly intuitive gameplay; simple controls; bright, colorful visuals; a storybook-like story; and an awesome soundtrack.
EDIT: Also, apparently, the mental comparing you have to do on the fly (am I larger than this object in front of me?) is fantastic for your brain.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Armored Core. Giant customisable mechs! And yet, consistently poorly reviewed. What is wrong with these people. I acknowledge, there is a lot of crappy storytelling, voice acting, no exposition, more recently even gameplay changes I have disliked, but at heart it is still a f***ing. Great. Game.

 

[trophykiller]

Erecting a flame shield! I'm going to have to go with *brace for impact* the fable franchise, or at least the ones where microsoft could use Molyneux as their proverbial whipping boy for any flaws that games inevitably have. So in other words, I will not even try to defend Fable: The Journey.

As for the ones I will defend, the atmosphere, humor, writing, and characters put it far ahead of most other games. Oh, and the music. Listen to these pieces and tell me they aren't good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymXOg_x96g8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZwiE5dG6k&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHesVg5e6-g&feature=relmfu

Plus, Simon Pegg as Ben Finn was epic.

 

[gussy1z]

super mario 64
Guilty Gear
Tribes
Unreal tournament/Quake

 

[Jaeke]

I mean seriously, what is there to hate??

 

[Gatx]

I'm gonna say DC Universe Online. Combat is some of the most fun I've experienced in an MMO, and sure customization isn't as immediately as varied as in Champions Online or the late City of Heroes, but that's because you unlock pieces as you collect gear, thereby preserving that visual element of progression.

Star Wars The Old Republic.

Yeah, I picked a game people are actually hating.

While the game is far from perfect, it's the first time someone tried to be different from WoW by making the questing and levelling so entertaining with the storylines that it isn't just a race to the endgame content like so many other MMO's.

So many MMO's see people racing to get to the level cap as fast as possible, like they're afraid the game will die in 2 hours or something. SWTOR let's you take a lesiurly stroll through the game. And speaking as someone who took 2 years to get from level 1 to level 80 in WoW, I kinda like that.

Again, the game is far from perfect, but that's only because it's the first of it's kind. It's the second Star Wars MMO and the first to not be complete garbage. And you can see how the game has grown and improved since launch. Shame it's going F2P though. MMO's just work better as P2P.

Other than making the leveling (and overall theme park style structure) more interesting, everything else is basically the same as WoW, even down to end game raids and gear grinds.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm going to go with the notion that it's not so much hating as not enough people liking. In the same way as Yahtzee and Silent Hill 2, I find that Extermination is a decent bit of game. Early PS2 era, good research into the game mechanics, chilling atmosphere, creepy monsters, etc. Main problems? Well, it IS early PS2 era, but mostly it'll be the acting. The acting is RE-level poor in most cases. If you don't care, then it's a good game. If you do, then maybe you complain too much.

 

[jebara]

Persona 4. Now I have yet to find someone who has said the literal words "I hate Persona 4" so that's a good sign but I can tell that those people who dislike JRPGs are silently judging. I had no love for JRPGs either, I was pretty neutral on the whole thing. I wasn't gonna have a fit over FF VIII-5 The Revengance being released nor was I going to go on about FF7 being baist thing evar.

Basically the long and short of it is that Persona 4 transcends genre as far as i'm concerned. It's just that good.

I mean just listen to this:


TOO GOOD!

Maybe the Ace Attorney series qualifies... Depends on how boring you are I suppose.

"Nyyyyehhh real lawyers don't shout and point fingers! That's not the correct use of the word Objection! Why does Phoneix get bitched at for doing his job? Not finding anything in a Cross-Examination can't pin blame on the Defence personally! WHY IS THERE SO MUCH PHYSICAL ABUSE IN THE COURTROOM! THIS IS RUINING MY IMMURSION IN THIS SUPAH SRS GAEM!"

I'm with you on both accounts, and although I have yet to hear anyone say they hate the game, when my cousin burst through the door and catches me playing, he gives me a disappointed look and closes the door.
I'm with you as well on Ace Attorney, was paying the first one earlier this year and I showed it to a friend,he said it looks like a gameboy SNES game and being text based made him call it boring the first time he saw it, although he had a change of heart later on though and was interested my brothers and cousins continue to despise it.

I also agree that Persona 4 was the game that got me into the JRPG genre, didn't touch it since Pokemon Gold but when I tried P4 it became my favourite game of all time.

 

[likalaruku]

With the exception of my cooking, I am able to find the bad in anything. So I can usually say "I see where you're coming from, I just don't agree with you."