Games You /Want/ To Like

[lithiumvocals]

As we all know, there are many more emotional responses you can have to game besides "I love it" and "I loathe it". I find that the most infuriating of these is "I really want to like it and am trying to, but it's not working". These sorts of games usually have a pretty big issue that gets in the way of everything else in the game, even if the other things are good.

Two games that I've been playing recently fall neatly into this category and do so for surprisingly similar reasons. Dragons Dogma and Far Cry 2 have enjoyable action and concepts/themes/settings that I like. Their problems are that they have no character or personality to them and have really weak stories. Whenever I play either of them, I think "Man, I like what I'm doing. I wish I cared about why I was doing it." It just really drags down an experience, especially when I'm actively trying to enjoy it.

The other game that embodies this to me is Dragon Age: Origins. I love Bioware RPGs, especially Knights of The Old Republic. That was sort of a tastemaker and formative experience for me. And DA:O is pretty much just KOTOR: Fantasy edition. Yet whenever I play it, I just don't enjoy it despite me really trying to. Maybe it's the setting, slightly darker standard fantasy setting. Maybe it's the characters, who I find to be a huge step down from Mass Effect's. When I think about it, it's probably the console controls. RPGs like this tend to be better on PCs, but I have a shit laptop with an integrated graphics card, so phooey to me.

But enough of my thoughts. Anyone else have similar experiences with games? Please tell us.

 

[ArcadianDrew]

For me it's Planescape Torment. I could never get very far in that game, maybe 5-6 hours, but the slow battles really bored me. I loved the writing and enjoyed every bit of text spoken by Morte in particular. I wanted to find out what was going on in the story, but damn, the fighting got me down, I just never enjoyed it. Yet, I enjoyed the battle system in Neverwinter Nights (which is quite similar), but not Planescape. Why?

 

[Savagezion]

"Man, I like what I'm doing. I wish I cared about why I was doing it."

Haha, quote of the year. This is so talking about me and Oblivion and I think the reason I loved Skyrim. Oblivion is a game I really wanted to like. I don't know how many times I thought, "Maybe I was too hard on it" and would play it again and sometimes it lasted 4-5 hours, sometimes only 20 minutes before I would be like, "nope, fuck this." Assassin's Creed is another one. I can't make it through the game because once I stop having fun, or especially if I get irritated, I turn it off. Normally, I don't really care if I like a game or not. But these two I wanted to like but they just weren't made with me in mind apparently. Oddly, I am somehow ok with Morrowind and love the Batman games.

 

[Evonisia]

That's me with Assassin's Creed as well. I own all of the games (mostly because my Dad is an actual fan) but I've never gotten past the half way mark of any of them, and I only bothered with Assassin's Creed 2 the most because it introduced the poison which was fun for a bit.

It looks beautiful (I even think AssCreed 1 is pretty today), the amount of detail is maddening, the stealth and climbing are somewhat seamless apart from some sensitive controls and the assassinations are sometimes alright, but I just can't. I can completely understand why people like these games (well, besides 3, what the fuck is that game?), but I can just never get into them. Since I'll just be invading the room when my Dad inevitably plays Unity, I'll give it yet another shot.

The multiplayer's quite fun though.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

"Wanting to like" is one of those "issues" I can't seem to catch no matter how hard I try.

 

[default]

Majora's Mask or pretty much any Zelda game, but especially Majora's Mask because it's one I'm very interested in thematically.

But I just fucking hate playing Zelda games, especially the N64 ones. I never owned any Nintendo consoles so I have no memory of them. The dungeons and moment-to-moment gameplay bore me to utter tears and often to the point of infuriation.
It makes me really sad, because I so want to enjoy these little worlds, but the way I'm forced to interact with them ensures that I can't. I just find myself aching for a more fluid and dynamic gaming experience.

I didn't mind Twilight Princess though. The art and the exploration pulled me through that one. I spent hours wandering around the fields on foot. I guess that was MY Ocarina. Going back to it now though is a bit of a chore.

 

[Mister K]

For me it's Planescape Torment. I could never get very far in that game, maybe 5-6 hours, but the slow battles really bored me. I loved the writing and enjoyed every bit of text spoken by Morte in particular. I wanted to find out what was going on in the story, but damn, the fighting got me down, I just never enjoyed it. Yet, I enjoyed the battle system in Neverwinter Nights (which is quite similar), but not Planescape. Why?

Why? Because combat in PT is tedious, slow and boring that's why. I really, REALLY like the game, it is one of my favourites, but it's combat isn't, well, good at all.

And you know what? Concidering that PT is basically a visual novel with combat, I felt no shame in setting difficulty to easy in later parts of a game. Maybe you should do it too and just enjoy the story, characters and world.

My choice goes to Borderlands 2. It is colourful, funny, has great choice of characters to select from, but you level up so damn slow. And drop system isn't all that good too (for me personally). Playing as a gunzerker and getting cool shotguns and sniper rifles, but only bad smg's and assault rifles is a bit dissatisfying.

 

[Mister K]

"Wanting to like" is one of those "issues" I can't seem to catch no matter how hard I try.

For me personally it means that the game has all the elements you like (like style, courfulness and gameplay of Borderlands 2) but also has an element (or lack of one), which somehow lowers your enjoyment of this game (like slow and insignificant leveling up in Borderlands 2).

P.S. You know what, I'll give Borderlands 2 another try, maybe my opinion will change.

 

[Kingjackl]

I get this with old fashioned RPGs. The only one I ever managed to complete was Deus Ex 1, and that was more of an action game than an RPG. I tried playing the old Fallouts, System Shock 2, Planescape Torment and even more recent stuff like Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines and KOTOR and I just couldn't get into it. I prefer the bastardised modern RPGs like Human Revolution, Skyrim and Mass Effect, and I can't stand hearing RPG fan enthusiasts going on about how the old RPGs were sooo much better.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Most RPGs in general. Unless they have really good action gameplay, I find myself having to force myself to like them. I like singleplayer games. It means I don't have to deal with the crackheads and children on League of Legends, and that's just swell. But sometimes it just becomes a drag, the action is goes, and I'm just waiting for the next part where I get to fight, and these parts are usually dumbed down and easy as shit, so they're just not engaging. This is why I loved Dark Souls, it didn't pull punches or have any lapse in the action. It always ended up being "how the hell am I gonna do this?". I want to like Dragon Age, I want to like Witcher 1, I want to like Skyrim, but they just end up becoming a drag.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Borderlands 2.

They really didn't do much to improve on the sequel, I think. I mean, yeah there are things, but the combat is still just a chore, and after the first one still isn't much to it. Enemies become such bullet sponges that past level 30 is really really boring, especially trying on harder playthroughs. Loot really isn't that good. Most of the characters aren't really that funny or interesting, and they entirely screwed up player customization. Plus, the character roster for the base isn't as good as one's.

Alien Isolation.

This game is boring. So, so very boring. I know it's a suspenseful kinda game, I know you're supposed to be weak, and I know the alien is supposed to be really smart and interesting. But it's not. Having scene many alien movies, and knowing the damn things can die relatively easily if you know where to look, letting me be armed and then have to sit through death animations instead of Ripley emptying her revolver into it's face is just a chore. Your story is boring, your environments are boring, and your alien may be interesting, but you've failed to make me care. Not to mention the terrible A.I. on other things.

Dark Souls II.

You fucked it up. Still a good game, but a bad dark souls. Which is it's problem. If it was... Cursed Souls, i'd like it.

 

[Blacklight28]

Dark Souls
I love challenging games, interesting worlds and heavy combat, so Dark Souls should be right up my alley. Unfortunately I just can't get into it. I think this stems from a lack of drive and motivation. I honestly couldn't much remember what exactly I was doing and why.

 

[Denamic]

Wildstar. I was so hyped for this game, and it's not like it's a bad game. It's genuinely great, I can tell that much. But I just can't into it. I like it, but I don't enjoy it. And I really wish I did so I could join up with my old aion/rift/gw2 guild again and show the plebs how shit's done.

 

[Trinket to Ride]

Any Borderlands game.

I like the art style, and it seems like a cool universe. Plus three of my friends play, and they want me to be the fourth. I just can't stand loot games though. Having to pause every five seconds to compare stats and make sure you have the best gear isn't fun, it's homework.

Ass Creed seemed pretty cool too at first, but something about it never clicked with me. I just found it really boring. I'm not going to make an effort to get into it now though, what with it becoming a third of Call of Madden's Creed.

 

[freaper]

Guild Wars 2

I was so incredibly hyped for this game, enjoyed the hell out of the betas I participated in but I couldn't get myself to even reach the level cap (which is far from hard to reach) with a single character. I guess I just wanted more of GW1, while the sequel went for the persistent world MMO route.

 

[NeutralStasis]

Deadspace....

I should like this game...I really should. I like survival-horror. I like jumpscares. I just could not get into this game or any of the games in this franchise. I tried...I gave up.

Dark Souls....

I tried to love this game as well. I know people talk about how fair the game is and how it is my skill set that is the issue. I guess I am not hardcore enough.

Borderlands....

This game is the leading reason I did not purchase Destiny. I like shooters. I like RPGs. I like MMOs. I do not like them all together it seems. Borderlands had an interesting enough initial concept, cool characters, and GRINDING. Not for me I guess...

 

[happyninja42]

I really want to like Thief 4, but it is just this bad.

*sighs* Yes, yes it is. I wanted to like it too, because I'm a huge fan of the Thief series. But that game...frustrated me to no end.


I also wanted to like Tomb Raider (the reboot), BUT I just couldn't. The writing was too bad, the characters too cliched and so tropey as to be insane. I felt like I was checking off a list of "things that have to happen in an action story" while playing it, that I just wasn't at all engaged at any point with it.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Guild Wars 2

I really wanted to like this game, but after about ten hours of restarting due to not finding any of the characters particularly fun to play with, I gave up. It's one of the only games I've never finished.