Games you felt were harshly judged...

[Lt._nefarious]

Every main(-ish) stream survival horror of last year?

I loved SH Downpour and HD Collection as well as RE6 (3 of my top 10s of 2012 btw) and I just didn't understand all the sheer, blood thirsty hatred those games got. Also ME3, yeah the ending was bad but it was awesome despite the last 2 minutes and it isn't an excuse to say Bioware betrayed you. I'm sure if you under preformed a bit right at the end of a brilliant bout of love making your partner wouldn't say you betrayed them... And then stab you and call everything into question that wasn't that Star Wars thing from a bunch of years ago...

 

[Jynthor]

Invisible War.

Yes, in some ways it is inferior to the original Deus Ex. The level design is far too small, and the controls a bit too clunky, for one.

Despite that, however, I honestly believe there's a far better story under the surface of Invisible War. Deus Ex was a conspiracy thriller with moments of philosophical existentialism. Invisible War abandoned the conspiracy stuff to head straight for the existentialism. And I, for one, really enjoyed the switch. When it comes to giving players choice and consequence, it still beats the shit out of more recent fare like Mass Effect, and allows the player to make choices in a more emergent way. Rather than simply picking choices from a dialogue wheel, how you play the game can actually affect things: if you stroll into a building and blow up a named character with your shotgun, the game responds accordingly.

I never understood the hate for universal ammo either. Yeah, it doesn't make a huge amount of narrative sense, but it did mean that whatever guns you equipped and whatever combat playstyle you chose, you'd always be able to find ammo for your preferred weapons. Far better than lumping the player with endless rounds of 9mm ammo.

What are you even talking about, no such game exists.

Steam tried to prank me by giving me some fake game called "Deus Ex: Invisble War" in the Deus Ex collection. But no such thing exists.

 

[Azure Knight-Zeo]

I liked Neir, eventhough it ran out of stuff near the end and the big twist didn't really change much, but I still liked it eventhough no one else did. Also Deadly Premonition had a sort of B-movie charm, but it was still (legitly) a better survival horror game than any other modern "horror" game on the 360.

 

[recruit00]

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

The story was bland and predictable but I feel that Layle was actually a pretty cool character and the gameplay, although pretty simple, had some fun perks to it. The world felt alive and was fun to explore and the mini games were pretty fun. The achievements were typically funny and fun to get.

 

[MrPhyntch]

None of the following spoiler tags have spoilers in them, I'm just throwing them in to keep the post a reasonable length for those of you who just want to skim or refresh this topic.

The Conduit

Spoiler

This was a truely great FPS on the Wii, the console seemingly designed for them but sorely lacking in them. Little things such as being able to 100% customize your HUD add to the overall game, which was basically Halo for Wii. Sure, to some that may be a bad thing, but anyone who like Halo in any way should not be so harshly judging of this, probably the best Wii FPS ever made (yes, even over MP3 [and I don't count the ports of MP1 and 2, they were Gamecube games, dangit])

Metroid: Other M

Spoiler

Sure, it has it's flaws, and falls squarely into the "Bad game for series, but not bad game" area, but once again, it's not a bad game. Unlike the others discussed so far (FF13, BK:N&B), this one is obvious why they went for the series branding. And while it seems to just be another bland cash-in on Metroid, but with a more story-driven and linnear focus (and honestly, kinda is), throw any other generic space marine, male or female, into the Power Suit and it's a pretty solid game.

And please admit it haters, the "sexism" and "girlyfication" of Samus only bothers you because it's Samus. Were it any other female Space Marine, you never would have cared about sexism or her being "too girly".

Lord of the Rings: Conquest

Spoiler

Too many people tried to make this game what it never tried to be, and for that, it's gotten a lot of flak. LotR:C was basically a Team Fortress Medieval game, but because too many people wanted either another Return of the King or even The Third Age (depending on the gamer), it couldn't live up to expectations. I wouldn't even call this bad for the series, it was a pretty middling game, even above average, and I like to dabble in it from time to time. The biggest disappointment is that the multiplayer never caught on, so I can never find games when I want to.

Mirror's Edge

Spoiler

I've never had a problem with first-person platforming (although consider my first FPS game was Metroid: Prime), so the shear hatred that Mirror's Edge often gets from critics who basically just say that it's inherently flawed for being all about a mechanic that they intrinsically hate is bullcrap. It never had a chance to get the love it needed.

Thankfully, however, it's making a comearound, much like Psychonauts did, thanks to Steam sales and the like, so hopefully we'll be able to see more of it in the future.

Fallout 3

Spoiler

Not specifically the game itself, which has been critically acclaimed all around, but rather the "overshadowing" that New Vegas supposedly did of it, and the retroactive hate because of New Vegas. Rather, I prefer Fallout 3 over New Vegas. Partially because I feel that the world is so much better set up (vastly prefer the radio in 3, the landscapes in 3, the overall setup in 3, etc), but I also feel that it did what all Bethesda games are all about better. And that is exploring. While NV had some worthwhile things to explore for, the fact that so much of it is cut off for so long due to the meat gates surrouding the early questing areas (specifically the OP Deathclaws and the wasp things hereto referred as "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" or "GTFAFM") that when exploring time comes around, I feel less inclined to do so, due to certain death waiting for me (at least in my mind).

The DLC wasn't all that great, either. Sure, 3 had some pretty miss DLC itself *coughMothershipZetacough*, but I was never able to get into ANY of the DLC for NV. No, not even Old World Blues.

Also, there's the fact that I live smack dab in Central Wyoming, so the whole "Cowboy-Themed Desert with Mountains" is boring to me, I vastly prefer the more city-eque landscape with oceans and rivers and the more interesting geology in 3.

Any 3D Sonic Game (except '06)

Spoiler

I never understood the hate. While sure, older sonic games were more about exploration and sure, the 3D sonic games may have some camera issues from time to time, I've never really had too many problems with them. Also Chao raising in SA2:B for Gamecube. All the Yes.

Anyway, I won't say more, as I never really liked the original Sonic games all that much in the first place. While I thought they were okay, they never were the brilliant masterpieces that everyone thinks they were.

Also, I ****ING LOVE SONIC HEROES. COME AT ME, BROS!

Bastion

Spoiler

Nah, just foolin'. Never heard anything but praise for this one. Well deservin' of it, too.

Whew, that's a lot. Anyway, yeah, there's a lot of underrated games out there. Honorable mentions go to ME3, BK:N&B (although I still refuse to buy the game, not because it's a bad game, but because of what it stands for), and Fable 3. Would have had sections on them, too, but they've already been discussed at large in this topic already, so I'll leave it to the previous posters.

 

[FFP2]

Pretty much any game that has a fanbase really. DS2(before it's even come out!), Final Fantasy(it's not an exact clone of 7 or 9 and combat system got shat on even though it's just an improved version of the Gambit thingy in 12), Mass Effect(although 3 is kinda crap), Zelda, Mario, MGS and GTA.

I do take exception to the people saying Absolution though, that was the worst game I've played this generation. IOI need to get out of their Kane and Lynch mentality("limp-dick Lenny")

 

[PoweD]

Snip

I saw every single one of those problems, and i ignored them.
Why? Because i was having so much fun and enjoyment out of it that it didn't matter.

I was in the club who hated the game before it came out, i was pleased when i saw it got 61 score from PC Gamer.
But then i played it at a friends house a week after it's release, and i was hooked.

Absolution is kinda short though.

 

[josemlopes]

http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/yxz8yd/saints-row-2-review

In this review there are probably more than 10 comparisons to GTA IV, and said comparisons are used to knock points off of the review score of the game. If they wanted to make a comparison video, they should have made a comparison video. As it stands, the score is horribly biased.

Dont forget their STALKER review
http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/kiv8cp/s-t-a-l-k-e-r--shadow-of-chernobyl-review
They dont give it a bad score but the things that they say in the review are not that good (the AI is smart making the game harder so they consider it a bad thing)

 

[Starik20X6]

Zelda II: The Adventures of Link

On that note, I have to mention Super Mario Bros. 2. I don't care what anyone says, that game rules.

In fact, Nintendo? Make another one of each of these.

 

[mysecondlife]

I'll go with Playstation All-Stars. Its an amazing game, even better than Smash Bros in certain aspect, but some people judge it even before they play it.

Can't be harsher than judging it w/o even playing it.

 

[karloss01]

Fable III
I don't understand all the hate. It's an okay game at worst. I just think people hate on it because it doesn't live up to their wild expectations fueled by Molyneux's rampant enthusiasm. I personally had a good time with it, and thought it was decent.

I disliked it because it was watered down to the point a toddler could finish it without dying. not because it lived up to Molyneux's promises. 4 choices of weapons, less then 15 outfits, no bosses (again),lackluster ending, no choice makes a difference only the amount of money you have; the list goes on.

this video also shows what was wrong with the game;


for harshly judged i'm going with Duke Nukem: Forever.
Now I know its not great, its okay at best but people expected a huge epic for a game that was stuck in development hell for 13 years because the lead producer didn't have a plan for it and demanded to use the newest game engine every three years. the game was playable and i've played a lot worse that have been rated a lot higher by reviewers and gamers.

 

[AgentLampshade]

The first Kane & Lynch. It had its flaws, sure but overall it was a decent shooter with the start of an interesting story. I was interested to see how everything would pan out and I REALLY wanted Lynch to be a memorable psychopath.

It fell down in these parts though, leaving a mildly interesting shooter-turned-war-sim in the last act[footnote]seriously, what the hell was that even about? Give me back the sharp suits ripping off Japanese gang lords[/footnote] but it was still decent enough to be enjoyable.

I went into the second one hoping they'd learned their lesson. They didn't. Now let's never speak of that monstrosity again.