Video Games with bad ideas but EXCELLENT execution

[P.Tsunami]

Kingdom Hearts.

/thread

Seriously, everyone thought that would suck.

Square proved them wrong.

YMMV, of course.

If you think about it, Psychonauts.

A kid, cursed to die in water, runs away from the circus to join a summer camp for psychics and ends up in a weird race to save the world from psychic death tanks.

If left in the hands of anyone but Tim Schafer, that would immediately bomb and ruin.

But it would bomb and ruin awesomely.

 

[TheGamerist]

Abe's Oddysee

A game about an alien who has to rescue his alien friends from an evil alien entrepreneur, by navigating corridors filled with other aliens, that have mechanical legs and machine guns, and the way to rescue them is chant at some birds so it turns into a portal and escape.

When you think about it like that, it sounds like an awful game, but it is truly a great game

 

[swolf]

Spoiler

Now, that was funny

Fortunately, I'm not like that, though I will admit to not playing the spin offs like 358/2 or Chain of Memories.

OMG, I was reading thru when I saw that. HEEEELARIOUS!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, I'm supposed to add to the discussion value. I'm kinda surpirised that I haven't seen this yet but Bioshock anyone? Try explaining Big Daddy's, Little Sisters, plasmids, and other elements of that game and they will probably lock you away.

 

[swolf]

How about a seven hour escort quest in witch you try a save a girl and kill her evil mother.
That would never work

Oh wait
(One great game later)
Wow

Cookie for the reference.

Ummm, Ico? Took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about. On that note, Shadow of the Colossuss was epic as well...seriously, Team Ico, it is up to you to make the HD updates. Don't make the same mistake that Team Silent did...seriously, it's ash, NOT snow. Need I continue?

 

[Judgement101]

Heavy Rain sounds like the worst idea on paper: Developer: "It's a game about a murderer with button mashing as the main gameplay!" Publisher: "Wait, what?" Developer: "Exactly! It will confuse people so much that they will buy it just to figure out WTF it is!" Publisher: "Ok...?"

 

[Captain Pirate]

Not exactly the same as the topic, but I remember a friend once, a bit after Bad Company 1 was announced, saying "Fully destructible environments? Why? You'd run out of cover and then you'd be screwed, what a crap idea."

 

[noobface]

Phoenix Wright, and all its successors.

Who on earth would have thought a game where you play as a lawyer would be any good?

 

[Willis_D]

Kingdom Hearts.

/thread

Seriously, everyone thought that would suck.

Square proved them wrong.

This. So much this.
You hear ''Final Fantasy and Disney'', and it sounds shit. You play the game, and it turns out awesome. It is one of my favourite game series. Both the gameplay and story are really good.
Shit premise, brilliant execution.

 

[Judgement101]

How about every JRPG ever made?

 

[Chrono180]

Planescape: Torment. You take the most complicated D&D setting ever create.
Make the main character an immortal amnesic.
Have his companions be a floating skull, a good succubus, a flaming man, a walking suit of armor, a box with arms and legs, a tiefling, and a githzerai.
Make the combat take a backseat to the storytelling
And somehow wind up with one of the greatest games of all time. Whoda thunk it?

 

[Varanfan9]

Sonic Adventure 2. We thought it was just gonna be about Shadow pretty much being Sonic's evil twin and it would be too cliched. Boy were we wrong.

 

[Judgement101]

Also no one had better say "Borderlands and Fallout 3"