Games that peaked too soon

[Cowabungaa]

That was your peak in Metal Gear Rising?

Nothing tops the Armstrong fight for me. It's so fucking well designed from a gameplay perspective, and well presented from a thematic perspective it hurts. The only bad thing about the Armstrong fight is that it completely overshadows the Metal Gear fight just before it.

I don't think I've gotten that far yet. I can totally buy that it's amazingly well-designed and presented and all that.

But the thing is. With Metal Gear, I run on rockets while Rules Of Nature is playing.

I run on rockets.

I run ON rockets!

Call me a simple man, I suppose, who easily enjoys the simple things in life. I mean, I run on freakin' rockets! If the Armstrong fight is going to do shit like that as well (and don't spoil!) I'll be an even giddier, happier man.

 

[pookie101]

MGSV ...The damn intro. Everything afterwards was just very enjoyable action/stealth gameplay with the story thrown to the winds of audio-tapes and weightless cutscenes. I get a very strong "Cannot be arsed with this bullshit anymore, seriously" vibe from the Kojima dude with plot. I honestly have nothing that sticks storywise from that game other than the intro. And "peak" is as generous as i can be, in context. Good stealth game though, of course.

you are the only person i have heard that praises the intro.. it was mind numbing and nonsensical

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

MGSV ...The damn intro. Everything afterwards was just very enjoyable action/stealth gameplay with the story thrown to the winds of audio-tapes and weightless cutscenes. I get a very strong "Cannot be arsed with this bullshit anymore, seriously" vibe from the Kojima dude with plot. I honestly have nothing that sticks storywise from that game other than the intro. And "peak" is as generous as i can be, in context. Good stealth game though, of course.

you are the only person i have heard that praises the intro.. it was mind numbing and nonsensical

Hm, there seems to be a misunderstanding that I'm praising it, but I'm not. Just saying that compared to the rest of the game's story direction, that was its' peak. To be honest, it was just a facetious attempt at an answer for the thread to encompass my feelings towards the game's storytelling. I should not have assumed others would see it that way.

 

[pookie101]

MGSV ...The damn intro. Everything afterwards was just very enjoyable action/stealth gameplay with the story thrown to the winds of audio-tapes and weightless cutscenes. I get a very strong "Cannot be arsed with this bullshit anymore, seriously" vibe from the Kojima dude with plot. I honestly have nothing that sticks storywise from that game other than the intro. And "peak" is as generous as i can be, in context. Good stealth game though, of course.

you are the only person i have heard that praises the intro.. it was mind numbing and nonsensical

Hm, there seems to be a misunderstanding that I'm praising it, but I'm not. Just saying that compared to the rest of the game's story direction, that was its' peak. To be honest, it was just a facetious attempt at an answer for the thread to encompass my feelings towards the game's storytelling. I should not have assumed others would see it that way.

i forgive you because you have the coolest avatar on the site haha

i agree with the DAI comment things peaked at the battle of haven

 

[BarryMcCociner]

That was your peak in Metal Gear Rising?

Nothing tops the Armstrong fight for me. It's so fucking well designed from a gameplay perspective, and well presented from a thematic perspective it hurts. The only bad thing about the Armstrong fight is that it completely overshadows the Metal Gear fight just before it.

I don't think I've gotten that far yet. I can totally buy that it's amazingly well-designed and presented and all that.

But the thing is. With Metal Gear, I run on rockets while Rules Of Nature is playing.

I run on rockets.

I run ON rockets!

Call me a simple man, I suppose, who easily enjoys the simple things in life. I mean, I run on freakin' rockets! If the Armstrong fight is going to do shit like that as well (and don't spoil!) I'll be an even giddier, happier man.

If you liked running on rockets and Rules of Nature, you're gonna lose your mind on Armstrong. I won't spoil a thing, I refuse. This is a fight where I literally had to pause the game, giggle like a schoolgirl for a good half minute, then get right back into it only to do the exact same thing two more times.

Plus if you like Rules of Nature you're gonna love The Only Thing I Know, Collective Consciousness and It Has To Be This Way.

If this game does anything it is certainly not peak too early. If anything it peaks just at the crest of Act 3, as any good story should.

Have you fought Monsoon yet?

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Dante's Inferno. I enjoyed the whole game but none of it is as good as the opening descent into Hell and then the circle of Lust.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

MGSV ...The damn intro. Everything afterwards was just very enjoyable action/stealth gameplay with the story thrown to the winds of audio-tapes and weightless cutscenes. I get a very strong "Cannot be arsed with this bullshit anymore, seriously" vibe from the Kojima dude with plot. I honestly have nothing that sticks storywise from that game other than the intro. And "peak" is as generous as i can be, in context. Good stealth game though, of course.

you are the only person i have heard that praises the intro.. it was mind numbing and nonsensical

Hm, there seems to be a misunderstanding that I'm praising it, but I'm not. Just saying that compared to the rest of the game's story direction, that was its' peak. To be honest, it was just a facetious attempt at an answer for the thread to encompass my feelings towards the game's storytelling. I should not have assumed others would see it that way.

i forgive you because you have the coolest avatar on the site haha

i agree with the DAI comment things peaked at the battle of haven

Aw thanks. Mostly why i cant​ bear to part with it. *Scampers off to avoid responsibility of awful pun*

 

[Cowabungaa]

you're gonna lose your mind on Armstrong. I won't spoil a thing, I refuse. This is a fight where I literally had to pause the game, giggle like a schoolgirl for a good half minute, then get right back into it only to do the exact same thing two more times.

...

Nice.

The last time I did a sequence over and over again I was burning weed fields in Far Cry 3. Something clicked, with that Skrillex remix and all.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Tons of games push on for a few more hours after resolving the story's emotional conflict. Alien: Isolation does it. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch does it. Never a good idea. Or maybe the central villain is offed and never gets a proper replacement (Far Cry 3).

In defense of Far Cry 3, it is at least intentional in that game. The whole theme of the game is that violence as a tool and the power it brings is seductive and provides a quick high, but it never lasts and eventually comes back to bite you. The last third of the game (on the second island after you kill Vass) is a descent in terms of plot, as Jason goes to ever greater lengths and becomes more brutal to achieve his goals and yet only suffers for it, and in gameplay, as the player has lost their main motivation and keeps playing increasingly just to see it through. Whether it was a smart design decision to make a significant section of the game less captivating and interesting then the others can be debated, but it is very much intentional and in line with the theme of the game

 

[Benpasko]

If you liked running on rockets and Rules of Nature, you're gonna lose your mind on Armstrong. I won't spoil a thing, I refuse. This is a fight where I literally had to pause the game, giggle like a schoolgirl for a good half minute, then get right back into it only to do the exact same thing two more times.

Plus if you like Rules of Nature you're gonna love The Only Thing I Know, Collective Consciousness and It Has To Be This Way.

In the end
I realized
You were just like me, trying to make history
But who's to judge
The right from wrong?
When our guard is down, we'll probably both agree
That violence breeds violence, but in the end it has to be this way

Quite possibly my favorite final boss fight ever. Sublime design and difficulty, amazing music, and the story leading into it is the dopest. And yeah, you will giggle. And then he'll rock your shit in 2 hits, and make you rethink that giggle.

I especially love the way that the game characterizes all of it's bosses as much through their music as the actual in-game story. I think MGR should be remembered for having the best action soundtrack ever, I put it on while playing other action games all the time.

 

[babinro]

Don't most games do this by design to a degree? RPG's in particular are known for trying to hook the player with their WOW moment in the first hour or so and then they settled down into the long grind with occasional peaks leading to the final over the top finale.

Resident Evil 4 is an absolute masterpiece, but I'd argue the opening village title sequence is the games TRUE peak.

 

[hermes]

I feel like this is a common theme for Platinum games. The most over the top part of Nier was absolutely the first level. After that it's more quiet and contemplative. Even the ending doesn't come close in terms of over the top action.

Crap, I was actually thinking of buying Bayonetta's PC release. Does it have the same problem?

Not really. I would say the epilogue is the most epic chapter of the game.

 

[hermes]

Okami. I was so hyped by the time that I beat Orochi that I literally wolf-howled at the same time as Ameratsu...and..then the game kept going.

While I don't think it peaked there, I can see where you are coming from. The first part of the game sold Orochi as the ultimate final boss, I was a little surprised I got to beat it relatively early on. If it wasn't because of the UI spoiling that I was half way in terms of collecting brush powers, I would have thought that was actually the end of the game.

 

[Pseudonym]

A lot of games look very cool at first and become busiwork later.

Besides that, witcher 2 had this problem where the intro scene was very cool but playing it didn't really live up to that.

Mass effect 3 had a very cool part with the Krogan and good buildup about a terrible war at the start. After that, a decent part with the geth and the quarians about which I have some misgivings, some shit I don't remember and the ending which is a dead horse I hope to leave alone. Point is, it never got as good as it was on Ranoch with the Krogan and the thresher maw and all that.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I think the first Prototype did this, and it kinda worked and kinda didn?t. In the opening sequence, you control a fully maxed out Alex Mercer, so you?re leaping over buildings slashing entire hordes of enemies in half with a single slash of your bladed arms, consuming helpless mortals and, of course, elbow dropping tanks from atop skyscrapers. Explosions and gunfire everywhere, utter chaos, and you?re basically invincible in the thick of it all. It was a rush unlike any other; it was amazing. Then you realize this pandemonium is ?present day? and the real game is going to unfold as a series of flashbacks which you?ll spend the leveling Mercer back up to that level of badassery. I say it worked because it REALLY made me want to play the game by showing me how awesome it was going to get, but it didn?t work in that, well, it was kinda like test driving an F1 McLaren, then trying to be excited for the next several years of hard work it?ll take to afford the million dollar price point. Still ended up loving the game, but letting me jump a hundred feet in the air while holding a stolen car over my head was a cruel tease when I realized it?d be another hour or two of grinding before I could do little more than jump over a park bench with a stolen purse.

 

[Cowabungaa]

MGS4. The Middle East chapter had the best stealth-action in the game.

I'd throw the earlier half of South America in there too. I loved MGS3 for its jungle levels, and 4 expanded upon that rather well. Then it fell apart with the backtracking and chase sequence, which was done better at the end of MGS3.

 

[RedDeadFred]

"Halo 3" peaks with the final Covenant based mission, aptly named The Covenant. I don't by any means think the penultimate mission is as bad as its reputation would suggest and I find the final mission to be quite well done and a good way to upgrade a previous game's climax. The Covenant, however, is impeccably paced and does a fine job of showing the Covenant's desperation and the growing threat of the Flood all while providing a variety of enemy types and the three main combat styles (regular, vehicle, aircraft) the game has.

I agree, but I feel like this is almost unfair since The Covenant is one of the best levels I've ever played in a game.

I'm actually going to go with The Witcher 3. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but I do think the best part is the Baron's questline. Although, if I were to include DLCs which I think most people play after the main game, then this choice doesn't hold up as those are even better.