Games that everybody else loves and I just don't
I think the titles says enough. I am curious if I get salty hate comments for this.
Online Multiplayer Games are exempt. Since I do not like the genre at all, including them would just be lame.
Online Multiplayer Games are exempt. Since I do not like the genre at all, including them would just be lame.
50 Games
I get why this game is so beloved, but the experience of playing it makes me want to decapitate a squirrel with my teeth and then drink its blood while laughing maniacally.
When the direct predecessor is significantly better, there is a problem.
I found the pacing of Half Life 2 to be bad, the puzzles to be bland and boring and the story to be very hard to follow and tiresome with all of its "cutscene-but-not" conversations.
Also the gunplay only gets interesting once Gordon aquires the Gravity Gun.
I found the pacing of Half Life 2 to be bad, the puzzles to be bland and boring and the story to be very hard to follow and tiresome with all of its "cutscene-but-not" conversations.
Also the gunplay only gets interesting once Gordon aquires the Gravity Gun.
The story and plot of this are cheap and uninteresting and completely fall apart when you poke then a little bit by asking a couple of questions.
Most of the characters are vapid and irritating jerks with really questionable designs and the "Cloister of Trials" segments are basically the worst thing ever.
Most of the characters are vapid and irritating jerks with really questionable designs and the "Cloister of Trials" segments are basically the worst thing ever.
I could say so many things here, about how I don't like the characters, the plot and the setting... but most of all, Final Fantasy VII does not make me feel anything. What. So. Ever.
Tried three times, can't get over the first two hours because I get so bored. Maybe I will try again in the future.
Overly melodramatic and cursed with stealth gameplay that was as deep as a puddle even when this game came out. Also the endless codec convos are annoying as fuck.
Mediocre fan fiction, anyone?
Wannabe movie with a bad, bloated plot. Also the story and gameplay are constantly at odds with each other.
This is how NOT to do open world game design, guys. AND also how NOT to do stealth encounter design.
good to great, but the first one is just so much better. More concise in every single regard and with a little horror tinge to it (esp. Scarecrow) that works so well within a Batman Game.
Oy my god, FUCK the batmobile.
I find the experience of playing this to be tiresome and I am having a really hard time to exactly pin down why.
I feel you can play this game forever without feeling any substantial sense of progression.
I feel you can play this game forever without feeling any substantial sense of progression.
The real time bullet hell gameplay is underwhelming, but what I really hate about this is how it constently interrupts the gameplay with countless of textboxes to rub the quirky characters and their mostly unfunny jokes in your face as much as possible.
I love how this deconstructs the "true compagnon" trope of the ghetto scene, but it is so tedious to play and the satire is so in your face it is just obnoxious.
The controls for the ship are beyond my capabilities.
The Tl;dr from my review of the game:
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is great. Yet, everything about it is familiar. This game feels not at all very different from some of the first "New" 2D Mario Games, like New Super Mario Bros. or New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Quite the contrary. And the developes use all kind of gimmicks, tricks and illusions to prevent you from noticing just that.
And that makes the entire game one big pantomime, which is, in the end, rather disappointing.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is great. Yet, everything about it is familiar. This game feels not at all very different from some of the first "New" 2D Mario Games, like New Super Mario Bros. or New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Quite the contrary. And the developes use all kind of gimmicks, tricks and illusions to prevent you from noticing just that.
And that makes the entire game one big pantomime, which is, in the end, rather disappointing.
Overstuffed with way too many Moons and a slog to actually play.
I never understood which this is regarded as one of the best 2D Mario Games. It's good sure, but it came directly after Mario Bros. 3, which is infinetly better on just about every level, and directly before Yoshis Island, which is, while I do not like it that much, way more intersting and unique design-wise.
DLC, anyone? This just misses the heart that the first Galaxy had.
Subpar gunplay and nconsistent level design that leaves absolutely no room for exploration. And after the famous twist, the games story and themes just get chucked out of the window.
Everything is just so tedious.
Less tidious, but still unforgivable.
Inflicted with corporate soullessless.
Less corporate soullessness, but there is still enough of it.
Good game, but sorely missing the creativity and cynical edge the first game had.
Also, unlike the first game, this is never genuinely funny.
Also, unlike the first game, this is never genuinely funny.
You walk around a lot and do stupid shit and then you have to deal with the bad combat.
God, do the Murfy Segments suck.
I hate how this game rips out all of the first games somber tone and atmosphere that made it a genuine horror experience.
See the note for Dark Moon
The story is unmoving and fails to make any sense whatsoever and the characters are some of my least favorite in any JRPG.
Here, I will just repost a very old Review I wrote for this game that I feel still perfectly encapsulates why I do not like it.
Whew. This is gonna be a rougher one.
I know this game is beloved and I don't wanna piss on anybody's all time favs, but please count me out.
I played this game til about the halfway point and it just frustrated the living hell out of me with its confusing, unfair and flawed game design.
Okeee, now with that said, let's get started.
The degradation of the ranged weapons always pissed me off, the psy-abilities were unintuitive to me and I was shying away from investing any valuable skill points in these abilties when it was unclear to me if they would be useful to me in the long run. So I just kept sticking to close combat and hoarded all the other skill points I would've spend on combat abilities.
I get what people like about this game, it is very deep and while I think its story is confusing and convoluted, it's themes reign powerful even today.
But I was not having a good experience with System Shock 2 at all. I was constantly frustrated, battling the controls and the game mechanics, berating myself for sucking, being paranoid about the skill points and most of all I found that progressing further in the game had me feeling increasingly worried (and not in a way a horror game should), instead of rewarded.
On Top of that, I was constantly struggling with all the many stats, menus, shortcuts to items, weapons etc., the inventory and the constant managing of all of it. Even after figuring out a control setting that worked for me, I was constantly confused and took way too long for anything to get done.
Because of that, every suprise encounter felt like I was caught with my pants down.
Regarding the balance issues: To me there were far too many varied abilities you
were able to sink your skill points into and even trivial things needed very specific abilities to the point that the progression felt entirely unrewarding to me.
As for the approach to gameplay, I felt that close combat with a weapon (especially an energy weapon), was far superior to any other approach to encounters.
And I also feel like this game wastes my time.
If I sit down to play a classic, I don't wanna read a 50 page game manual to find
out what I am supposed to be doing (The Reason I could not get into the first XCom).
And with system shock 2, the first thing I needed to do was take 30 minutes to re-configurate the control schemes because the default was totally useless.
Just... no. Like I said in the beginning: Please count me out. I tried this, did not like it at all and will never play it again.
Whew. This is gonna be a rougher one.
I know this game is beloved and I don't wanna piss on anybody's all time favs, but please count me out.
I played this game til about the halfway point and it just frustrated the living hell out of me with its confusing, unfair and flawed game design.
Okeee, now with that said, let's get started.
The degradation of the ranged weapons always pissed me off, the psy-abilities were unintuitive to me and I was shying away from investing any valuable skill points in these abilties when it was unclear to me if they would be useful to me in the long run. So I just kept sticking to close combat and hoarded all the other skill points I would've spend on combat abilities.
I get what people like about this game, it is very deep and while I think its story is confusing and convoluted, it's themes reign powerful even today.
But I was not having a good experience with System Shock 2 at all. I was constantly frustrated, battling the controls and the game mechanics, berating myself for sucking, being paranoid about the skill points and most of all I found that progressing further in the game had me feeling increasingly worried (and not in a way a horror game should), instead of rewarded.
On Top of that, I was constantly struggling with all the many stats, menus, shortcuts to items, weapons etc., the inventory and the constant managing of all of it. Even after figuring out a control setting that worked for me, I was constantly confused and took way too long for anything to get done.
Because of that, every suprise encounter felt like I was caught with my pants down.
Regarding the balance issues: To me there were far too many varied abilities you
were able to sink your skill points into and even trivial things needed very specific abilities to the point that the progression felt entirely unrewarding to me.
As for the approach to gameplay, I felt that close combat with a weapon (especially an energy weapon), was far superior to any other approach to encounters.
And I also feel like this game wastes my time.
If I sit down to play a classic, I don't wanna read a 50 page game manual to find
out what I am supposed to be doing (The Reason I could not get into the first XCom).
And with system shock 2, the first thing I needed to do was take 30 minutes to re-configurate the control schemes because the default was totally useless.
Just... no. Like I said in the beginning: Please count me out. I tried this, did not like it at all and will never play it again.
Just an AAA-isation of "Portal". More bombastic, yet less tightly designed. The first portal is infinitely more enjoyable in just about every way.
The father of all UbiWorld Games, and even back then, the formula was not too great.
It's good... but that's really all it is.
Pretentious-ass hipster shit that loves to waste your time.
This game is just a mess that combined way too many concepts, genres, themes and ideas to work properly.
One of the best games of all time? I am sorry, I really do not see it.
The game design makes Yorda feel like an obstacle, which fundamentally goes against the themes of the game.
I tried this, because it is generally regarded as the best Hitman game, but... I don't know... the entire base concept of being in the shoes of an actual hitman in a video game never appealed to me at all.
See the note for Spiritfarer.
Awkward movement and visually uninspiried level design makes this game's world a chore to explore, which is a REAL problem for a metroidvania.
... best military shooter, I guess? I never got why people play and like the campaigns of those.
16 Comments
@Scamsley
Well, if you are so curious, tell me which one of those interests you the most and I will glady try to put it into words here :-)
Well, if you are so curious, tell me which one of those interests you the most and I will glady try to put it into words here :-)
Oh, you already wrote it, sorry I overread xD
Well, let me try.
Well, let me try.
@Scamsley
Well, first things first, I am not that high on the Castlevania series in the first place. Do not get me wrong, I do like Metroidvania, a lot, but I was always more interested in the Metroid than in the -vania part of it. For example, I do not like RPG-Systems in Metroidvanias. At all. The less leveling, the better.
Aside from that, the first passage of the game was just blatantly manipulative. Yes, I know it was a gameplay hook, but I hate it when developers do that. You know, showing you all the cool powers that you get to use, than taking them away from you with some contrived story convinience. It was also a major pet peeve I had with Metroid Prime, but Symphonia of the Night is an RPG as well, and that makes the difference all the more stark.
And furthermore, I found the movement of the game fundamentally awkward. I hate it how Alucard moves too slow for a sprint, yet too fast for a walk. I hate how floaty the jumping feels, and the knock-back just makes me seethe in every Castlevania game.
Aside from that, to get more nitpicky, I found the design of the castle to be just underwhelming and the... you know... second part of the game was even worse in that regard and that was keeping me from ever finishing the game^^
Well, first things first, I am not that high on the Castlevania series in the first place. Do not get me wrong, I do like Metroidvania, a lot, but I was always more interested in the Metroid than in the -vania part of it. For example, I do not like RPG-Systems in Metroidvanias. At all. The less leveling, the better.
Aside from that, the first passage of the game was just blatantly manipulative. Yes, I know it was a gameplay hook, but I hate it when developers do that. You know, showing you all the cool powers that you get to use, than taking them away from you with some contrived story convinience. It was also a major pet peeve I had with Metroid Prime, but Symphonia of the Night is an RPG as well, and that makes the difference all the more stark.
And furthermore, I found the movement of the game fundamentally awkward. I hate it how Alucard moves too slow for a sprint, yet too fast for a walk. I hate how floaty the jumping feels, and the knock-back just makes me seethe in every Castlevania game.
Aside from that, to get more nitpicky, I found the design of the castle to be just underwhelming and the... you know... second part of the game was even worse in that regard and that was keeping me from ever finishing the game^^
So yeah, these are my main reasons
@TheGamingN00b Fair points. I'm not a fan of the RPG-leveling either at all, nor the level design, and the movement highlighted a common gripe I have with platformers. For as much as one could call Super Metroid floaty, it's not too rigid in the slightest; the player always has complete control and freedom over the exact movements and precision of Samus in the air, the floatiness is essential to that. Symphony of the Night feels a little too much like it hinders any potential for interesting movement, which wouldn't be bad if the level design was a little less samey but... yeah, it falls kinda flat.
Anyways, I recognize I might be setting you up for text-walls if I ask about anymore, but I think I could actually agree on critizing some of these games and I'm curious. If it's not setting you up for too much again, how about Ico as well?
Anyways, I recognize I might be setting you up for text-walls if I ask about anymore, but I think I could actually agree on critizing some of these games and I'm curious. If it's not setting you up for too much again, how about Ico as well?
@Scamsley
All right. Let me just say beforehand, that Ico is deservedly a classic that inspired countless of games, and they are a lot of great design choices in it. For example that you always need to push R to hold Yordas Hand, and when you let go of the button, you also let go of her.
Now with that out of the way, lets talk flaws.
For the start, the game is one gigantic escort quest, which is already very... brave, since escort quests are usually some of the most obnoxious gameplay tropes and mechanics ever. Moreover, I think to get Yorda to move or do something, when you do not hold your hand, is just an absolute pain. She is worse than Trico in The Last Guardian a lot of the time. More often than I would like, Yorda, and more specifically, dragging her along with you and protecting you feels more than an obstacle. Something you work more around and against, rather than with. Which fundamentally goes against the themes of the game.
And I know that some gameplay mechanics, for example that only she can open the weird stone doors, are supposed to work against that, but was a little too obvious for me, so, again, I felt manipulated.
Also the game really does a pisspoor job at teaching you how to play. Yeah, some tutorials are way to handholding, but this is really the Antithesis of that approach. Most of the time, it is not that bad, but for example, It took me almost the entire playthrough to notice that you can swing on chains to gain momentum and jump farther.
The puzzles are not that interesting actually, they mostly just are work arounds of getting Yorda somewhere and, save for a few exceptions, like the time you bomb a platform, are not very interesting to find out and execute.
But the worst by far is the combat. Its horrible from the start and never gets any better over the entire course of the game. You always fight the same shadows that look the same in the same way, and they just want to abduct Yorda and, when they pull her in their in the shadow swirl they came from, its immediate game over. It's just an absolute chore and the game would be ten times better if you would cut the combat entirely and not change anything else.
So yeah, those are my thoughts on Ico :D
Anything else? ;D
All right. Let me just say beforehand, that Ico is deservedly a classic that inspired countless of games, and they are a lot of great design choices in it. For example that you always need to push R to hold Yordas Hand, and when you let go of the button, you also let go of her.
Now with that out of the way, lets talk flaws.
For the start, the game is one gigantic escort quest, which is already very... brave, since escort quests are usually some of the most obnoxious gameplay tropes and mechanics ever. Moreover, I think to get Yorda to move or do something, when you do not hold your hand, is just an absolute pain. She is worse than Trico in The Last Guardian a lot of the time. More often than I would like, Yorda, and more specifically, dragging her along with you and protecting you feels more than an obstacle. Something you work more around and against, rather than with. Which fundamentally goes against the themes of the game.
And I know that some gameplay mechanics, for example that only she can open the weird stone doors, are supposed to work against that, but was a little too obvious for me, so, again, I felt manipulated.
Also the game really does a pisspoor job at teaching you how to play. Yeah, some tutorials are way to handholding, but this is really the Antithesis of that approach. Most of the time, it is not that bad, but for example, It took me almost the entire playthrough to notice that you can swing on chains to gain momentum and jump farther.
The puzzles are not that interesting actually, they mostly just are work arounds of getting Yorda somewhere and, save for a few exceptions, like the time you bomb a platform, are not very interesting to find out and execute.
But the worst by far is the combat. Its horrible from the start and never gets any better over the entire course of the game. You always fight the same shadows that look the same in the same way, and they just want to abduct Yorda and, when they pull her in their in the shadow swirl they came from, its immediate game over. It's just an absolute chore and the game would be ten times better if you would cut the combat entirely and not change anything else.
So yeah, those are my thoughts on Ico :D
Anything else? ;D
By the way, just as a sidenote: I have yet to finish Super Metroid.
I played it multiple times and loved it, but I swore to myself that I would never use a guide or walktrough to beat the game. The furthest I have gotten is to the ridley fight, and I had to little missiles to beat him :-/
I played it multiple times and loved it, but I swore to myself that I would never use a guide or walktrough to beat the game. The furthest I have gotten is to the ridley fight, and I had to little missiles to beat him :-/
@TheGamingN00b When it comes to Super Metroid, it's actually pretty doable to just cheese missiles/hea;th in the room before Ridley, though tough due to those karate fuckers; give that a try. You know, I actually completely agree with your assessment of Ico, and I think the game falls apart mostly because Yorda never feels like a human so much as a tool. She's not consistent enough to be a useful tool, but she's not given enough attention or failure to feel like a real being. I honestly defend the game mostly because Team Ico's core qualities are just so damn good as is in all their games I like it anyways. As for any others, though we could keep going forever, how about... Katamari? I think it'd be neat if you wrote micro-reviews of your thoughts/reasoning for some of the games honestly.
I see ;-D I will keep that in mind when I retry Super Metroid.
Yeah, Maybe I will put a small note in each of the games, hehe. But then I really need to figure out what it is specifically that I do not like for some of those.
But with Katamari, my reasoning is very straightforward. I played some of the games on Steam and I played the remake when it came out and I liked all of the games quite a bit.
However, so many people love Katamari so dearly and put the game/series among the very best games ever and their favorite of all time, and I just... I don't... see it.
To me, it's just a very simple, yet effective arcade-like concept. Which is nice and all, but when I think about other very simple pleasures, that offer me quite the same, you know, games like Pac-Man, Tetris, Bust-a-Move, S.T.U.N. Runner, Centipede or Breakout, all of which I would propably prefer over Katamari for lengthier amounts of time, then I really do not see the "one of the best games ever" label.
And that's really all there is to it with this one.
Yeah, Maybe I will put a small note in each of the games, hehe. But then I really need to figure out what it is specifically that I do not like for some of those.
But with Katamari, my reasoning is very straightforward. I played some of the games on Steam and I played the remake when it came out and I liked all of the games quite a bit.
However, so many people love Katamari so dearly and put the game/series among the very best games ever and their favorite of all time, and I just... I don't... see it.
To me, it's just a very simple, yet effective arcade-like concept. Which is nice and all, but when I think about other very simple pleasures, that offer me quite the same, you know, games like Pac-Man, Tetris, Bust-a-Move, S.T.U.N. Runner, Centipede or Breakout, all of which I would propably prefer over Katamari for lengthier amounts of time, then I really do not see the "one of the best games ever" label.
And that's really all there is to it with this one.
@Scamsley Sorry, forgot to tag you so you notice I answered XDD
Interesting list, maybe do another with the opposite thing.
Undertale and KH1 I like but not as much as the community.
Hollow Knight, and Rayman Legends I adore.
Half-Life 2, the Arkham games, Metal Gear, Bioshock, KH2, Tales of whatever, Far Cry 3, Hitman, Cave Story and Castlevania I have interest.
FF7, The Witness, CoD 4 and maybe the Mario games I agree.
Anything else I don't care a lot.
If you expected a salty comment, either make reviews or go on Twitter, at least you have a reason not to love these games rather than shitting on it just to piss people off because you don't like the fandom or only for clicks. :P
Undertale and KH1 I like but not as much as the community.
Hollow Knight, and Rayman Legends I adore.
Half-Life 2, the Arkham games, Metal Gear, Bioshock, KH2, Tales of whatever, Far Cry 3, Hitman, Cave Story and Castlevania I have interest.
FF7, The Witness, CoD 4 and maybe the Mario games I agree.
Anything else I don't care a lot.
If you expected a salty comment, either make reviews or go on Twitter, at least you have a reason not to love these games rather than shitting on it just to piss people off because you don't like the fandom or only for clicks. :P
@NeonNyoon
Thanks for commenting! And yeah, the salty comment thing was only half serious xD Also thanks for sharing your thoughts about the games on the list.
As for your suggestion, I am thinking about that, but I am having a hard time coming up with enough games that would qualify.
Currently, the only ones I came up with that could sort of fit such a list are The Surge 2, Dragon Age II, Final Fantasy XIII, Star Fox Command and the Resident Evil 3 Remake.
Thanks for commenting! And yeah, the salty comment thing was only half serious xD Also thanks for sharing your thoughts about the games on the list.
As for your suggestion, I am thinking about that, but I am having a hard time coming up with enough games that would qualify.
Currently, the only ones I came up with that could sort of fit such a list are The Surge 2, Dragon Age II, Final Fantasy XIII, Star Fox Command and the Resident Evil 3 Remake.
@TheGamingN00b
Oh hey I got the "pinged" badge :D
I was also being half serious about that lol
RE3 I hear it's not even a bad game, just less of what people expected, I don't have that many games for a list like it either, I like Mighty N9 and Shadow the Hedgehog but that's about it from what I remember, and I don't even like them THAT much
Oh hey I got the "pinged" badge :D
I was also being half serious about that lol
RE3 I hear it's not even a bad game, just less of what people expected, I don't have that many games for a list like it either, I like Mighty N9 and Shadow the Hedgehog but that's about it from what I remember, and I don't even like them THAT much
@NeonNyoon
Nice :-D
Well, the reason why most RE-Fans hate The RE3Make with such a passion, is that it is, objectively, just a bad remake. It cuts a lot, A LOT, of content, which makes it significantly shorter than the original, it messes with the core design ideas of the game by mostly using the nemesis mostly in scripted encounters and uncharted-like escape sequences and waters down the games difficulty with too many ammo and health.
Nice :-D
Well, the reason why most RE-Fans hate The RE3Make with such a passion, is that it is, objectively, just a bad remake. It cuts a lot, A LOT, of content, which makes it significantly shorter than the original, it messes with the core design ideas of the game by mostly using the nemesis mostly in scripted encounters and uncharted-like escape sequences and waters down the games difficulty with too many ammo and health.
I just don't care about any of that because I never was a classic RE-Fan, which is one of the main reasons why I do not hold any special place in my heart for the RE1make.
Scamsley
2 months ago