Games that took you by surprise

[Harlemura]

I remember buying Wet just because I saw it super cheap on Amazon when I was getting Borderlands.
I ended up really liking it because it was just fun. Graphics, voice acting and story were all pretty lacking but something about the gameplay just clicked with me. It's not the best game ever, but it's always one of the first I go to when I get a bit bored of everything and have a look through my old games for a break.

As for disappointments, I want to say Persona 4 Arena but I know it's only because it took so long to get to Europe and when I finally get my hands on it I'm rubbish at it.

 

[shrekfan246]

...Diablo III....

Crap, you just reminded me that Diablo 3 is coming to PS3/PS4 [http://www.joystiq.com/2013/05/16/take-a-peek-at-diablo-3s-new-menu-system-controls-for-ps3-ps4/]. I wonder if they'll be able to pull it off.

I'm foolishly hoping they'll patch out the online requirement for the PC when the console versions launch. I lost a level 57 hardcore Wizard the other day because my internet decided it wanted to boot me off for one minute while I was surrounded by enemies.

EDIT: Also, the original Diablo was released on the Playstation [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_%28video_game%29], so I don't see why there should be any issues with D3.

Regarding the OT, another surprise for me was Halo: Combat Evolved. I'm talking about the single player of course. I loved it, but every time I ran into another Halo player, turns out they only ever played deathmatch. What a waste of an excellent campaign. It's similar to everyone I ran into who owned GTA San Andreas. It was always cheat codes with them, and nobody bothered finishing the actual story, which I thought was outstanding.

I've always loved the Halo games for the story and world-building. Bungie did a fantastic job of it.

 

[SoranMBane]

Call of Duty 4 was probably the biggest gaming surprise I've ever had. When I first saw it, it just looked like pretty much every other military shooter; boring, brown, and lacking in personality or big ideas. But then I saw Yahtzee's extremely positive review of it, which convinced me to finally give it a try, and I ended up loving every moment of it.

 

[Frezzato]

snip

Welp, you've convinced me. Five bucks!

Spoiler: Purchased at the store that is supposedly ruining America.

"I'm looking for Alpha Protocol. This other store said you had two copies but I can't find it."
"Here you go. Alpha Protocol."
"Oh, there it is. Why isn't it in alphabetical order?"
"Everything under $10 is moved to below this row down here. Also, this is a 'New' game, we just moved it to 'Used' because..."
"--Because nobody was buying it?"
"...Yeah."
"HAHAHA! Sold."

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Gather around, children, as I tell you a glorious tale of how I came to love Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

At first, I was a bit weary of these games when they were released because I felt that they weren't appealing enough or provided enough gameplay to keep me entertained. So clearly, the wave of PS2 titles came and went, and I was certain that I'd never hear about these titles again.

Over time, as people would comment about what games they were truly fond of, I would hear these two names come about. With titles like Flower and Journey still fresh in my mind, I decided to give Ico and Shadow of the Colossus a chance. Luckily for me, they were re-released for the PS3 and I decided to rent the bundle.

Spoiler: The Story of Ico

I started with Ico for no particular reason. As I played the game for the first hour, I didn't see anything that actually caught my eye; I was in some dungeon, got free, ran around a castle, saved a girl, picked up a 2x4 and wailed on some shadow creatures. After navigating with some confusing controls, hand holding the girl, making light of some small puzzles, wailing on wandering shadow creatures, and being occasionally confused as to what I need to do, I was close to simply turning off the console and calling it a day.

It wasn't until I reached this area where you are on the roof and you are attacked by a flying shadow creature. Naturally, I go after the beast and begin to wail on it, when suddenly, the girl is brisked away by a second flying creature. At this point, I panic, and I feel like I'll get a game over. Then I realized, that the creature had merely taken the girl to another part of the roof. So I hoof it over there and start wailing on all the creatures. I manage to come out it victoriously and continue my journey with the girl. It was this sense of true peril and vulnerability that made me appreciate Ico for the game it was and not necessarily the game I thought it to be.

Spoiler: The Story of the Colossus

The story is not all that different with Shadow of the Colossus, despite the fact that it is a little more action oriented. I start out once again with a confusing control scheme and being lost as to what I needed to do (despite having a dousing feature on my sword ala Skyward Sword). So I finally figure out where to go and hop to it on my horse. I see the world as a barren waste of natural landscapes that are nothing worth bragging about. Nevertheless, I press onward.

It isn't until I get the cutscene showing the first colossus that I feel like this game will become fun (notice I said fun and not interesting). I run towards to this towering behemoth, convinced that due to his tall stature and apparent gentle nature, that he will not see me coming. Somehow, he catches a glance at me and sure enough he raise his giant club. I start to panic again, as I have yet to become familiar with the control scheme and I actually let out a scream as I see the large club come crashing down towards me.

Naturally, I thought I was dead, but then I realized that, despite taking a lot of damage, I could still continue on, so I did. I clearly underestimated this first colossus, as I died soon after from falling off its body too many times. Now, I was starting to get frustrated, but I remained focused nonetheless. After a few tries, I was finally able to take out the colossus and I felt a giant sense of accomplishment (a feeling greater than when I killed to giant bosses in God of War 3).

So yeah, I'm looking forward to exploring other titles that are off the beaten path of gaming, but still offer a plunder of great times and unforgettable moments.

 

[BLAHwhatever]

Dwarf Fortress.
The complexity. Oh god. The complexity.
Shitty graphics but, oh man, how I came to love it

 

[Darquenaut]

Deadly Premonition. I first had it come into my consciousness actually thanks to the UnSkippable videos right here on the Escapist. After doing a quick web crawl for reviews and finding it to be one of the most divisive game reviews ever, I decided, what the hell.

After playing it, it easily landed into one of my Top 5 games of all time. To explain the appeal is impossible. The closest thing I think I can use is the "Sinner's Sandwich" scene from the game (look it up on YouTube). From outward appearance, everything tells you that you should hate this game. But if you are daring/stubborn enough to try it out, you will be surprised by how good it is.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Deadly Premonition. I first had it come into my consciousness actually thanks to the UnSkippable videos right here on the Escapist. After doing a quick web crawl for reviews and finding it to be one of the most divisive game reviews ever, I decided, what the hell.

After playing it, it easily landed into one of my Top 5 games of all time. To explain the appeal is impossible. The closest thing I think I can use is the "Sinner's Sandwich" scene from the game (look it up on YouTube). From outward appearance, everything tells you that you should hate this game. But if you are daring/stubborn enough to try it out, you will be surprised by how good it is.

I love it because dat theme song.

Walk through a grizzly crime scene while examining evidence? Why not listen to "Life is Beautiful?"

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Silent Hill 3. I had never played a horror game before, and I still tend to stay away from them. I don't like getting scared like that. But my friend at work always talked about how much he loved Silent Hill. Then I saw X-play's review of Silent Hill 3. They gave it a 5 out of 5 (this was back in the old days, when 5 out of 5 meant something and was very rare) and I just went, "Okay, I'll give it a shot." They did a good job of making it sound interesting, though I doubted I would enjoy it that much.
I was so, so very wrong. I still have my original PS2 copy, and I bought the PS3 re-release when it came out. I love that game, and it still creeps me out after all these years.

Game that looked utterly amazing and mind-blowing, but was a total let down? That honor will always go to every Killzone game I've ever played.

Honorable mention goes to Spec Ops: The Line. I bought that on release day because the demo impressed me. Of course, the demo takes place before things...turn into things. I thought I was getting a fun little military shooter with some witty dialogue and an interesting story. Uh...oops. Freaking amazing game though.

And that's it really. Everything else, from Aliens: Colonial Marines to Kingdom Hearts all turned out to be about what I expected. There have been twists in games that have surprised me, but not many games themselves.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Grr...stupid cap-thingy making me double post!!

 

[jnixon]

I bought dragon age origin thinking it was an action type of hack n slash game (i hadn't seen anything just recommended from a friend) and when i played it was disappointed until getting out of your origins story, one of my favourite RPG's out of this generation by far. Also looked forward to Asuras wrath and now wish i had never even gave it the decency of touching the disk

 

[Abiding M]

Spec Ops: The Line - took me by surprise / enjoyed it the same way as per Yahtzee's review:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/6021-Spec-Ops-The-Line

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Fire Emblem: Awakening. I was expecting it to be a good game but I didn't expect it to be the best game I've played in a long time.

Also FTL. I wasn't expecting much but holy shit that game is so awesome and addicting.

 

[SwimmingRock]

Nier. I saw it in the store and thought:"The fuck is this game? Haven't heard anything, so it's probably not very good. Looks like crap too." Looked up some reviews and those convinced me to buy it. Ended up being my favourite videogame of all time. Fo' real.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Persona 3. I bought it on psn in December after a friend recommended it. I liked the idea of role-playing as a high school student. I shat a brick after playing it for about an hour. It was just so much fun. I can't even explain it. I haven't enjoyed a game like that in a while. I had one of those moments where I realized I wasted a lot of time in my life not owing a ps2 and not knowing this game existed [footnote]I don't feel like finding the gif. Just imagine Squiward eating that krabby patty out of the sand and shouting "ALL THESE WASTED YEARS!"[/footnote]

Spec Ops: The Line. I thought I'd be prepared after hearing about it but I was not. So many other things I liked about that game too. I love the visual style of the game. The color changes make the game seem really dreamy like an acid trip

I can't actually think of the last time a game was so bad it completely crushed all my hopes and dreams. I don't buy games very often so there's always something good I want to play

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

What a waste of an excellent campaign. It's similar to everyone I ran into who owned GTA San Andreas. It was always cheat codes with them, and nobody bothered finishing the actual story, which I thought was outstanding.

Definitely. Its ironic that San Andreas is one of those games people point to as a murder simulator because the narrative was outstanding. I wanna gush more (shit in that game was deep I sware) but I'll just say that James Woods as the secret agent was the best performance in a video game of all time. OF ALL TIME!

Deadly Premonition. I first had it come into my consciousness actually thanks to the UnSkippable videos right here on the Escapist. After doing a quick web crawl for reviews and finding it to be one of the most divisive game reviews ever, I decided, what the hell.

After playing it, it easily landed into one of my Top 5 games of all time. To explain the appeal is impossible. The closest thing I think I can use is the "Sinner's Sandwich" scene from the game (look it up on YouTube). From outward appearance, everything tells you that you should hate this game. But if you are daring/stubborn enough to try it out, you will be surprised by how good it is.

This is one of the reasons I need to get the ps3 release of Deadly Premonition. Its like Alpha Protocal, a lot of people sight it as one of their favorite games. It just sounds so weird and I want it. I hope they get it at one of local stores soon cause I hate going to Game Stop

 

[josemlopes]

Call of Duty 4 was probably the biggest gaming surprise I've ever had. When I first saw it, it just looked like pretty much every other military shooter; boring, brown, and lacking in personality or big ideas. But then I saw Yahtzee's extremely positive review of it, which convinced me to finally give it a try, and I ended up loving every moment of it.

Kind of weird since Call of Duty 4 was the one that made the modern military shooter thing become popular. Before that it was either WW2 or Sci-fi stuff. Call of Duty 4 was basicly a fresh game based entirely on the premise alone at the time.

OT: Hotline Miami - Retro looking indie game? Fuck that, there is a reason why technology moves forward, but that gameplay. Damn! And the visuals end up making sense with the whole style of the game so at least there is that.

Binding of Isaac - At first it seemed kind of boring and the controls are wonky but the randomness of it make it a great gameplay mechanic and it ends up being a very fun game to beat.

 

[Leemaster777]

Well, first there's No More Heroes. I bought it on a random whim one day, when I went to pre-order Super Smash Bros Brawl. I don't know what I expected from the game... but it wasn't THAT. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Then there's Persona 4. I bought it one day when I read a review on this site praising the hell out of it. I was in the mood to try a JRPG, so I gave it a whirl. Holy CRAP were my expectations met, exceeded, and launched into space.

...and on the OTHER end of the spectrum, a game that surprised me for all the WRONG reasons was Brutal Legend. I played the demo, and expected a quirky hack-and-slash type game with alot of good humor. What I got was a sub-par RTS with really lame comedy.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Fallout 3
I had never cared for open world rpg's but at the time I had this gaming- OCD that said I had to play a game if Game Informer gave it a 10, which is also the same reason I played Resident Evil 4. Anyway, I bought Fallout 3 and absolutely adored it, I thought it was the best game ever made for a good while.

Bulletstorm
I was going in thinking it's kill-with-skill point system was going to give it an excuse for everything else to be poor, and I was happily proved wrong. Gorgeous backdrops, a good story, good characters. I'm going to throw good writing in there even though Grayson became a big crybaby near the end and the obscene number of times Ishi says "I will not hesitate to" blah, blah, bleh, blah. But General Serrano, man, he was a riot.