I'm Upset that I Hate Good Games

[Brown Cap]

This Summer, I had a lot of games to play. I must have been living under a rock, because I hadn't played some stellar games that my friends had highly recommended.
I learned that Dragon Age was a Bioware creation, and I thought if it's anything like Mass Effect, I'd love it. I was dead wrong. Preemptively, I bought the first two games, used, for less than 50 dollars. As soon as I started playing I was very disappointed. A voiceless protagonist, boring quests, and simple, unimaginative combat made me hate the game.
Perhaps I merely set my expectations to high, but I was severely disappointed.

A friend of mine lent me all three of the Uncharted Series, and I was excited to play them. He raved up and down on how much he enjoyed it, but by the time I reached Chapter 6, I didn't want anything to do with it. The gunfights were boring, frequent, and repetitive, and it became and actual chore to play.

I guess the discussion I'm trying to reach is a few topics.
- Am I just being arrogant towards these games? Is there a hidden allure to these games that I'm missing?
- Are there any games that have let you down, despite good reviews?
- I understand that if you don't like a game, one simply shouldn't play it, but are these games true works that deserve to be played through?

 

[The_Lost_King]

If you don't like the games, you don't like the games. Dragon Age Origins may be one of the best RPGs to me but that doesn't mean it has to be to you(I wish it was, but that is besides the point).

The only games I have been let down by are old games that I probably would have liked if I had played them when they first came out.

I really want to say yes go play Dragon Age: Origins, but I don't want to try and make you suffer through a game you don't like. Here, play past Ostagar and get some companions and do one of the 4 main quest places, and if you still don't like it don't play it. It really starts to shine after OStagar for me, because that is when you meet most of the companions and that is one of the best parts about DA:O, talking to your companions, learning about them.

 

[Karoshi]

Didn't like Dragon Age and Uncharted either, therefore I can sympathise.

Actually, I had a similar period last year. Tried Deus Ex: Human Revolution, tried Batman, tried many other AAA titles which were objectively very good games, but ultimately boring. I was seriously begining to wonder what the hell is wrong with me when I stumbled upon Alpha Protocol.

Goddamn, it was maybe not the best game, but the best fun I ever had. Its dialogue system borrows from ME and Walking Dead, the stealth and gameplay reminds you of DE: HR and the massive amount of choices... actually, no other game manages to give you so many choices with meaningful consequences.

Yeah, the gunplay sucks and the boss battles are almost as bad as the ones in DE:HR. But if you are looking for a rough gem of an secret agent RPG done right, then this is the right pick for you.

 

[Legion]

- Am I just being arrogant towards these games? Is there a hidden allure to these games that I'm missing?

No, it's not like we can help what we like. Sometimes games click and sometimes they don't. Although I would point out that sometimes you do need to give games a chance to enjoy them. Both Dragon Age: Origins and Skyrim I spent the first couple of hours thinking "Did I waste my money on this?" It was only a little later I started to truly get into it.

That's not to say this will be the case for you, sometimes a game just isn't fun for a person.

- Are there any games that have let you down, despite good reviews

Okami and Beyond Good and Evil. I tried both games repeatedly to get into them but I simply didn't enjoy myself. I couldn't say why seeing as the games weren't "bad", I just felt no desire whatsoever to play them any more.

- I understand that if you don't like a game, one simply shouldn't play it, but are these games true works that deserve to be played through?

Some might say yes, but personally I feel that if you aren't enjoying yourself then there is no point playing it. It's not like work or education where you gain a benefit from doing something you may dislike. Games are meant for entertainment and pleasure, not to grind through in your free time despite not wanting to.

 

[alphamalet]

If you don't like the game then you don't like the game, but a voiceless protagonist in Dragon Age is a negative? I don't get the sense that the game wasn't your type of game from the get go.

I think the lesson you should take away from this is to not immediately trust other people's opinions and do a little research before you run out and grab a game. 2 minutes on youtube would have told you that Dragon Age has a voiceless protagonist, and you would have gotten an chance to see what Uncharted is all about. I think that's your answer moving forward.

On the topic of Dragon Age, I don't think you should keep playing it. Mass Effect and Dragon Age are polar opposites. Where Mass Effect has a story that plays out like a movie where you are expected to pull Shepard's puppet strings, Dragon Age is designed to be less cinematic and focus on deeper role-playing from a player's point of you. The Grey Warden of Dragon Age isn't voiceless, your voice is his voice. He is not a character that you push in one direction or another like Shepard; the Grey Warden is the extension of you into the Dragon Age universe.

Additionally, Mass Effect plays out like an action game with RPG elements whereas Dragon Age plays out as a party-based RPG that requires strategic forethought, constant micromanagement, and effective delegation in order to succeed. It is by no stretch an action game. I love Dragon Age Origins and hate Mass Effect with a passion. Like I said, I don't think Dragon Age is your type of game, just like I don't think Mass Effect is my type of game.

 

[tilmoph]

It is kind of annoying not liking things that everyone seems to like. It makes you seem pretentious and hipsterish (is that a word?), when really, you just don't happen to have the same tastes as everyone else. It doesn't make you arrogant. It makes you not a clone. Not that everyone else who likes a game is a clone, but if everyone, everywhere liked a game, no exceptions, that might raise some troubling questions regarding mind control tech.

As for games that let me down... I really don't want to keep banging on about it, but Mass Effect 3, and no, I don't mean the ending.

I don't know what reviews it got, since I was going to buy this game if it came with three turds and an airborne form of super plague, but Victoria 2 was a huge personal disappointment, because Vicky 1 is one of my all time favorite games, so not liking 2 made me feel a bit sad and confused. I keep planning on going back and giving another go because, dammit, I should like this game. I just keep playing other games first, but eventually I'll try it again and see if I can get into it.

 

[Zipzip the Penguin]

I've had the same problem with a few different games, but particularly with LoZ: Twilight Princess. A lot of my friends really liked it and recommended it. So I borrowed it from a buddy and started playing and was immediately hit with a feeling of "That's it?". I felt that it was way too distracted from what was supposed to be a good story and went off on a tangent 1 too many times. It just completely train-wrecked the pacing. It's not that I don't like exploration games, because I love the Metroid series (with exception to Other M, god that was awful), the combat felt pretty good, the item switching system works really well, mechanically the only thing I find wrong with it was that the movement felt slippery. But the whole thing just feels like a big chore.

 

[Gatx]

This Summer, I had a lot of games to play. I must have been living under a rock, because I hadn't played some stellar games that my friends had highly recommended.
I learned that Dragon Age was a Bioware creation, and I thought if it's anything like KOTR and Mass Effect, I'd love it. I was dead wrong. Preemptively, I bought the first two games, used, for less than 50 dollars. As soon as I started playing I was very disappointed. A voiceless protagonist, boring quests, and simple, unimaginative combat made me hate the game.
Perhaps I merely set my expectations to high, but I was severely disappointed.

I'm assuming from the fact that you bought the games used that you're playing on console? I haven't played the games myself but at least for the first game I remember that the console and PC versions were different in the way combat played out, and overall it was designed to be more like an old school PC RPG in the vein of what Bioware used to make. It doesn't quite work on console so they tweaked it a bit but supposedly it didn't work out that great.

 

[SweetShark]

I played many "good" games in the past and now.
Even if a game had good reviews and in general had been praised a lot, doesn't mean I will love it.
Then again I am a person I love most of the time playing Indie games, Visual Novels and Adventure games.
I don't have so much time anymore playing countless hours only one game......

But

There is always exceptions

 

[Smeggs]

You're not alone, Dragon Age was pretty disappointing in my eyes, too. I think people liked it so much because of how retroish it felt. It was pretty meh to me.

 

[suntt123]

A "good" game is a matter of opinion. If you gave those games a shot, then you gave those games a shot. Doesn't mean you have to like them, even if most other people think they're "good". Personally, I'm not particularly fond of this console generation. Too much story focus most of the time, to the point that the gameplay feels like a repetitive slog.

 

[DoPo]

I learned that Dragon Age was a Bioware creation, and I thought if it's anything like KOTR and Mass Effect, I'd love it. I was dead wrong. Preemptively, I bought the first two games, used, for less than 50 dollars. As soon as I started playing I was very disappointed. A voiceless protagonist, boring quests, and simple, unimaginative combat made me hate the game.

Wait, I don't see what were you expecting exactly. You did describe all BioWare games, you know. They all share the same formula with some permutations, but at its core it's what you described. Heck, "voiceless protagonist" should be one of the best know features, as Shepard was the first (I think) voiced one, KOTOR had you pick dialogue options, in NWN you could at least choose what exclamations and grunts your character would make during combat but otherwise still chose dialogue options silently. The quests are nothing but standard. OK, occasionally you get thrown a riddle (still a standard one) by a BioWare game but that's not really the expectation. For what it's worth, the combat is probably one of the better ones I've seen in a BioWare game. Especially compared to KOTOR[footnote]where you a) slice everybody witha lightsabre and win or b) kill everybody with Force powers and win. It still boils down to "keep doing what you're doing" [/footnote] and Mass Effect where things were better but still I wouldn't call the combat the opposite of "boring and unimaginative". ME2 really went into boring and unimaginative by being a straight up shooter.

I'm not saying you should like DA:O, I don't (don't hate it either) but I really don't understand the reasoning you mention, as DA:O is playing the BioWare formula to the max. Heck, put of all BioWare games, it might have gotten it the best.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Not alone there mate. I don't like the Uncharted series, I think The Last of Us was kinda crap and Bioshock Infinite just did nothing for me. The stories in these games are decent enough but the gameplay mechanics are just so crap, it ruins em for me.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Well I really didn't like good old Deus Ex. Apparently it's like the best game ever or something... Couldn't even get past the first 3 hours or so, I can deal with something looking like shit but I had no interest in the world at all. Some guy raged at me for not finishing the game before deciding whether I liked it or not as well... What? If the game is so good then why was I not compelled in the least to keep going? That's basic logic dammit.

 

[porous_shield]

I dislike both of those games too; Uncharted in particular I find amazingly boring in very way. I hear my brother and friends talk so lovingly about those games, and just like you, and sometimes wonder if I missed something. Many AAA games I dislike but I also dislike a lot of indie games and it seems I'm just less likely to run into people in my everyday life who really like those games and make me wonder what I'm missing.

Some games just won't appeal to you and there is nothing arrogant about that.

 

[mad825]

As soon as I started playing I was very disappointed. A voiceless protagonist, boring quests, and simple, unimaginative combat made me hate the game.
Perhaps I merely set my expectations to high, but I was severely disappointed.

Oh boy! I would love to hear your opinion on Dragon age 2 then.

A voiceless protagonist your mileage may vary. There are pros and cons for voiced and voiceless PCs. At least, voiceless are more dynamic than voiced.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

A friend of mine lent me all three of the Uncharted Series, and I was excited to play them. He raved up and down on how much he enjoyed it, but by the time I reached Chapter 6, I didn't want anything to do with it. The gunfights were boring, frequent, and repetitive, and it became and actual chore to play.

Uncharted might not be for you but the first Uncharted is just simply a bad game. It was obvious the only thing Naughty Dog really had down was the graphics; everything else from gun mechanics to level design is just horrid. I really consider Uncharted a tech demo. I bought Uncharted on release day and the game was really disappointing. The Uncharted 2 demo had to sell me because of the bad taste left by the first game. I'd give Uncharted a 3-4/10 because it's a below average game and average is 5 in my book. I don't understand how reviewers gave it 8s and 9s. Uncharted 2, on the other hand, is really great in the 8-9/10 area and it's just about as good as you can make an Uncharted-like game. Uncharted 3 was very disappointing. I'd really only recommend to anyone to just play Uncharted 2 and that's it. Give Uncharted 2 a decent try instead of just writing it off.

 

[mmmikey]

I guess the discussion I'm trying to reach is a few topics.
- Am I just being arrogant towards these games? Is there a hidden allure to these games that I'm missing?
- Are there any games that have let you down, despite good reviews?
- I understand that if you don't like a game, one simply shouldn't play it, but are these games true works that deserve to be played through?

No you're not. I can't speak for all of them but I have played through Uncharted 1 & 2. Both are way overrated. It's way too linear, the amount of enemies is ridiculous and clearly meant to pad out the playing time, the platforming is 2nd rate, and puzzles are hardly puzzles. If you played the game long enough you'd see a very distinct change in tone that comes out of nowhere and sullied even further what was a mediocre game.

I'd say ND's latest game The Last of Us is overrated as well. From the sheer amount of perfect scores it got, I was expecting something revolutionary(like Grand Theft Auto 3, Super Mario 64, Shadow of the Colossus). Its story is top notch, excellent graphics, but I didn't see a perfect score. The game play gets to be a grind at points, falling into the throw lots of enemies in here method, and in Naughty Dog's interest to stick to the script they rob the player of choice.

I think that everyone should make up their own mind on things, but if you're not enjoying a game it's probably best to move on. Hopefully you can find a reviewer who isn't too biased and has the same general preferences as you. I share a lot of Yahtzee's reactions to games. Even though his videos are mostly meant to be entertainment, I find the shit that annoys him in games usually annoys me too. I usually wait until a price drop with most games so the sting of purchasing a disappointing game isn't so bad.

 

[infinity_turtles]

You're not alone, Dragon Age was pretty disappointing in my eyes, too. I think people liked it so much because of how retroish it felt. It was pretty meh to me.

So there's nothing wrong with thinking this or anything, but I hear this sort of thing so often that I kinda want to address it. It isn't really that it's "retro". That sort of implies that people enjoy it primarily for nostalgia. It's a style of game that isn't really made much anymore, true, but then there's been points where the same could be said of shooters with color. When some shooters with color come out people didn't praise them for being retro, they praise them for added variety and for bringing back to the table something they missed.

Most RPGs nowadays rely on the primary mechanics of other genres. People who enjoy the primary mechanics that used to be associated with RPGs have had damn near zero games of that style for some time now, so they were really damn happy when they got one. It's that simple.

 

[Bonk4licious]

You're not alone, Dragon Age was pretty disappointing in my eyes, too. I think people liked it so much because of how retroish it felt. It was pretty meh to me.

So there's nothing wrong with thinking this or anything, but I hear this sort of thing so often that I kinda want to address it. It isn't really that it's "retro". That sort of implies that people enjoy it primarily for nostalgia. It's a style of game that isn't really made much anymore, true, but then there's been points where the same could be said of shooters with color. When some shooters with color come out people didn't praise them for being retro, they praise them for added variety and for bringing back to the table something they missed.

Most RPGs nowadays rely on the primary mechanics of other genres. People who enjoy the primary mechanics that used to be associated with RPGs have had damn near zero games of that style for some time now, so they were really damn happy when they got one. It's that simple.

I enjoyed it because it truly hit the -origins- (heh heh, I'm done...) of tabletop RPG DnD styled games in a way we still aren't doing now. It had a huge world (very Lord of the Rings-y, with other clear influences, too) and some pretty good characters that made it not feel triple A necessarily but very refreshing, like an updated formula of games and stories you've known from before. It mostly felt like an RPG used to, not like anything new, but refreshing, and that's why it was so fun, at least to me.

Granted, it took me the course of a year to actually beat the damn game, but it was a 60+ hour adventure, something that you just don't do as often now as you used to, not even with newer FF titles.

I find myself turning the same way, though. So many games just feel less and less inspired by the iteration, and half the time it's these weird indie games that actually have a purpose and an objective, like FTL lately for me, that hook me anymore. I just had more fun recently re-playing Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door last month than I have had with anything to release this year, so it kind of hurts knowing that the industry just isn't as good as it used to be. I have hopes, though, and hopefully a new wave of consoles will freshen things up, at least from my PC perspective, and hopefully I'll get some better ports now too.