Games you never thought you'd love

[Russano_Greenstripe]

Here's a question for you all: What's a game that you never thought you'd take seriously or spend time on that took you by surprise and ended up as one of your favorite games?

For me, the most recent example would be Bird Pax. It's a little browser-based flash game which essentially plays like the card game War with a strategic element. There's several ways to go about winning (my personal favorite being what I like to call Pax Bombing), and the gameplay is surprisingly addictive. It also helps that the AI is tolerable; not as good as flesh-and-blood, but makes good decisions and actually has surprised me on a few occasions.

Give it a shot at http://www.kongregate.com/games/KnowInGames/bird-pax , or post your own experiences with games that took you by surprise and made you love them.

 

[PlasmaFrog]

Animal Crossing.

 

[Discord]

Sadly Gears of War;

When I first saw it I laughed at the idea of Chainsaw's on Guns and the dudes in Power armor; But I played a bit with a friend one day and I was hooked Ever since.

That and Bioshock comes to mind.

 

[the_green_dragon]

World Of Warcraft. I laughed at the though of people paying $20 a month to play a computer game. Then I had a go. Then I was one of those people who paid $20 to play.

I finally broke my habit a year ago and have been clean since Cataclsym. I had a go but couldn't get back into it.

I loved it when I was playing it

 

[VanQ]

Honestly, Fable: TLC. I had never played an RPG before it besides Morrowind, and I nearly passed it up because of the cartoony graphics. It's unfortunate how Fable 2 and 3 ended up. They have nothing on Fable: TLC, the series gets less epic and more mundane with each installment. Peter Molyneux is slowly turning Fable into the Sims, a goal I suspect he's had since the start. Also, the complete lack of the arena and an antagonist as awesome and well developed as Jack of Blades made the end goals seem less like a Fable, and more like poorly written fanfic.

 

[mexicola]

Mass Effect. Somehow I never even heard of the game until I saw some fanboys here praising it to high heavens. Now I'm a fanboy too. *hangs head in shame*

 

[lazysquirell]

Borderlands. I thought the cartoony graphics would make it a crappy game but I picked it up with a friend who I play a lot of co-op games with and actually I'm loving it

 

[NerfedFalcon]

-Fallout 3. I don't usually play Western RPGs, but Fallout 3 is just awesome. Even if it did take a while to get into.
-Civilisation (I know the British spelling is wrong, but it's what I normally use) V. I'm not addicted, but I do enjoy it.
-Super Mario Galaxy. I've heard mixed reviews from independent users (I trust them more than large companies) but I just love it.
-By the same token, Sonic Colours, which I rate as the best 3D Sonic game ever. Even better than Adventure, in fact. Flame shield at the ready.

 

[ScorpSt]

Mass Effect. I never liked shooters and the thought of a shooter-RPG seemed horrible. Hell, I wouldn't have even picked it up if it hadn't been for the Fox News story. It wasn't even the controversy they started, it was the fans who defended it that made me want to play. I thought, "Well, I guess the shooter aspect won't be so bad if it's got a decent story. I bought it and was immediately hooked. I thought the sequel was even better (even if it left my Shepard hurting in the no f/f LIs department, though LotSB was helpful in that regard), and I can't wait for ME3.

 

[calza27]

Farcry 2. I hadn't played the original Farcry, and I don't (and probably never will) have a computer good enough to run Crysis. To be honest, I bought it so i could 'take my frustration out on the Zebras." (To quote Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw.)

 

[Casual Shinji]

Metal Gear Solid

Back when it was first released on the PSX, I thought it was somekind of boring strategic RPG-esque military game. All I had to go on was the back of the box, so you can't really blame me for misunderstanding. It turned out to be the best rent I ever had.

 

[Sprinal]

I Never thought I would love Sid Meier's Pirates. but for 10 bucks it seemed like "yeah why not?"

Sadly ive lost the disks now but the game was awsome

 

[ThatDudeWithTheCap]

Infamous. I've never been into superpowers, but I decided to play it out for as long as I could. I'm still playing it two years on.

 

[Savagezion]

Farmville. If you tell anyone I said that, I will deny it and call you a liar. Hehe, just kidding. It was never a favorite game or anything like you say though but one I found fun to play for a bit with family. I haven't played it in a long while and not sure if I will anymore but it was fun for a time.

For the most part I am right on my guesses. I don't have a pessimistic view going into a game. Sometimes it will be the opposite and my expectations exceed the product and then I am a little let down but for the most part usually. Only casual games like Bejeweled or Cake Mania can occasionally shock me.

 

[Something Amyss]

Name a PopCap game. A few years ago, I never thought I'd enjoy them.

 

[Herbivore]

Fallout 3 and TES IV: Oblivion

I've never really been into FPS even if Fallout more of an rpg, its FPS-ish gameplay, and the V.A.T.S. just looked stupid to me. The first person element in Oblivion also put me off it, but then I tried it out because my friends told me it was very good, and I loved it. Then I bought Fallout 3 GOTY afterwards, and they became two of the games I've spent the most time on.

 

[AlternatePFG]

KOTOR 2

Everyone gave me the impression that the game was terrible, but after playing it turned out that it was really, really good.

 

[5t3v0]

Well Im young (16, turning 17 in a month) so there kinda hasnt been a game that I expected I wouldnt enjoy. I never expected that I would become passionate over the original Fallout story arc (Im one of those bastards who wont stop harping on how bethesda ruined Fallout with fallout 3, despite the fact I enjoyed fallout 3 and it was my first game in the series)