Games you Love Despite Objectively horrible gameplay?

[Raine_sage]

I found an old copy of avalon code I got back when the game was still relatively new-ish. I'd gotten stuck on the ice caverns and put it down and just kind of forgotten about it for several years.

I remembered that the sliding block puzzles had frustrated me, but over the past four years I'd actually gotten quite good at them thanks to a puzzle game site I liked to frequent while wasting time. So I turned it back on and sure enough the puzzles (well all but the completely broken ones anyway) were much easier to deal with. The rest of the game though....eeeh still kind of mediocre though incredibly charming.

If asked I'd still say I love it though, just because the atmosphere makes me grin. I mean, you've been told the world's ending and your job is to decide what the new world is going to look like. And rather than becoming a nervous wreck the MC just kind of goes "Ok then guess I should try and make the new world a good one"
It just tickles me and I do want to finish the game even if it kills me.

So I was wondering if anyone else here has a game or games they love like their own children, even though the game might have some...really obvious issues.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

I love the KotOR series to death, but Jesus Christ... I fucking hate the combat. I know that some may like it, but to me it just represents the worst aspects of the dice roll games.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

There's no way that this thread is going to avoid modern gamer bias. If a game was great to us way back when, we played it. We figured our way around things that would now be considered "bugs" or "bad game design" because we didn't know any better (I didn't know any better for sure).

So I'm saying that it's very difficult to do what you're asking without comparing to the gameplay of modern games. Everything falls short if you compare it to today's standards.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

I love the KotOR series to death, but Jesus Christ... I fucking hate the combat. I know that some may like it, but to me it just represents the worst aspects of the dice roll games.

OK, now that's an interesting response. You know...if you changed the way that KOTOR played, it would be seriously classic game. I think the story makes it a classic, but I actually have to agree with you over the combat. I'm all for control over the character's actions.

The thought of making KOTOR play like Amalur, or Dragon's Dogma is an amazing thought.

 

[porous_shield]

Shadow of the Colossus. I love the game to pieces but god damn do I hate the controls and that horrible camera. I remember having a harder fight with the camera than most of the colossus.

 

[Erttheking]

I really do love Persona 4, but sometimes the dungeons make me want to tear my hair out.

 

[Raine_sage]

There's no way that this thread is going to avoid modern gamer bias. If a game was great to us way back when, we played it. We figured our way around things that would now be considered "bugs" or "bad game design" because we didn't know any better (I didn't know any better for sure).

So I'm saying that it's very difficult to do what you're asking without comparing to the gameplay of modern games. Everything falls short if you compare it to today's standards.

I'm not talking about Nostalgia though I'm talking about games people love despite flaws. Which admittedly might be some olders games, but should be fairly universal.

Avalon Code isn't Bad because it's old (And I would be hard to even call a game that's only 4 years old "old"). It's bad because it had some innovative ideas that fell short on execution. Documenting everything in the game world makes sense given the premise, but it makes exploration tedious and means I have to flip through 20 pages of menu to find the item I want, and then 50 more pages to find the right codes to modify that item.

But I still enjoy playing it despite the fact that I need to keep a notebook full of relevant page numbers just to remember where shit is. That's all I'm really talking about.

 

[lacktheknack]

I've been told that Myst is a terrible game. I refuse to believe them, but if I'm just delusional, then that's my answer.

Also, the first three Tomb Raider games have not aged well... at all... but GOSHDARNIT, Tomb Raider III is da BEST.

 

[Mikejames]

The Silent Hill series has terrible combat, Deadly Premonition has some of the most awkward driving sections I've ever seen, and Dreamfall's stealth sections were like pulling teeth.

Narrative and atmosphere are what save them for me.

I really do love Persona 4, but sometimes the dungeons make me want to tear my hair out.

*Shameless user of Beginner mode*

 

[omegaweopon]

Street Fighter 2020 was such a bad game, with a horrible dificulty curve, and such terrible mechanics, that I can't help but to have become endeared to it after my 2 week long struggle to finally beat the damn thing. Garbage? Sure. But when a game is that damn hard... you feel so much pride in having beaten it.

 

[NickBrahz]

Both KOTOR 1 + 2, and Dragon Age 1, i like the story and quests/missions but the gameplay is absolutely horrible.

- Nick

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I think the entire success of Deadly Premonition is predicated on this very topic. I mean...holy shit. If it came out at the PS2 launch most of it would be objectively balls, but it has that fucking strange Twin Peaks style charm, and the voice acting/script overrides so many negatives. I adore York as a character. It's like cannibalism, you know in your mind that what you're seeing is very wrong and should be stopped, but there's an allure, a taboo and surreal nature that almost compels you to investigate it. It's so hard to pitch that game without making it sound like a warning not to play it...

Someone's going to jump me for this, but Bioshock Infinite. Objectively and measurably, the gameplay is straight up corridor dudebro shoot the same cannon fodder 2 weapon-limit with a shield slaughter fest, but the story and dialog attached to it pushed me forward to unravel it and experience more of the atmosphere.

 

[Frezzato]

While not horrible, Spec Ops The Line was definitely ruined for me because of the minor game play snags. What can I say, that's how I felt:

Uninterruptable reload sequences
Bashing a wall when all I wanted to do was jump over it
Leaving protective cover just to give hand signals
Running as if I were a toddler wearing a full diaper
And finally:

Spoiler: SPOILER!

Spoiler: SPOILER

Spoiler: (spoiler)

I could clearly see the civilians in the WP mortar sequence. It was painfully obvious.

Could have been a great game. Instead, for me it was a game with a great story that was marred by unrefined mechanics. Awesome music though.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

X-COM Terror from the Deep. I dunno why I love it so, maybe it's the fact I love the ocean and all, and it takes place underwater (mostly), but there's no denying that it is seriously flawed, what with the possibility to miss out on any form of protection and advanced subs if you don't find a Deep One in the first few months; being unable to finish the game if you research some things out of order; a lot of weapons not being usable on land despite many missions taking place there; not being able to intercept enemy flying subs above water even with weapons that should work out of water... The list goes on.

Captcha: you're not listening. Are you?

 

[Dryk]

I've been told that Myst is a terrible game. I refuse to believe them, but if I'm just delusional, then that's my answer.

In the last year I have played Myst 1-4, I think the gameplay definitely has flaws but I wouldn't call it a terrible game by any stretch.

 

[lapan]

I love the KotOR series to death, but Jesus Christ... I fucking hate the combat. I know that some may like it, but to me it just represents the worst aspects of the dice roll games.

OK, now that's an interesting response. You know...if you changed the way that KOTOR played, it would be seriously classic game. I think the story makes it a classic, but I actually have to agree with you over the combat. I'm all for control over the character's actions.

The thought of making KOTOR play like Amalur, or Dragon's Dogma is an amazing thought.

If there was an action "KOTOR" it would more likely be released as part of the Jedi Knight series.

 

[Manji187]

GT Final Bout for the PSX. Horrendous controls, crappy graphics...but I loved that game to bits. Also, I was 13.

 

[Zeckt]

Vagrant story on psn and psx. So my aimed shot to some guys unprotected head did 1 damage? okay game, whatever you say.

Hated the gameplay, but tolerated it anyways for the story.