gaming Video Games That Were Better Than Expected

[Blue Moon 6,345]

Okay, for this thread, you need to post games that you thought you wouldn't really like, but ended up actually liking them. Post a list of these games below, and although not required; explanation behind each entry.

 

 

My list:

 

The Binding of Isaac

I don't tend to like top-down action games, so this game didn't really seem that appealing to me. However, my friend recommend that I played it, and I actually found it to be really good. I love how detailed the environment is, and I love how crazy your character looks as you get each new item. The soundtrack is amazing too.

 

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

I guess this one didn't seem that interesting from what I had saw of it. The combat looked kind of boring to me, and I didn't really see the appeal to it. But when I finally got the chance to actually play it; I was impressed by how detailed and interactive the world was. And the combat was more fun then I had previously thought. 

 

Hotline Miami

Like with The Binding of Isaac, I was turned away from this game since it was a top-down action game. But, I eventually tried it, and I was pleasantly surprised. The ultra-violent combat was really nice, and I liked how you were just as vulnerable as the enemy, and as such; had to think carefully so you don't die instantly. And like with The Binding of Isaac, the soundtrack is amazing.

[Scootalove 10,689]

The Last Of Us: When I tried this game, I was astonished at all of the emotion and the techniques that you had to do to survive in a zombie apocalypse a really polished game.

 

Beyond Two Souls: Not only did this game impress me but, it put my expectations through the roof with what it had to offer in gameplay and in style.

 

Grand Theft Auto V: Sure this game had a lot of mixed ratings, this game impressed me with the single player when your playing as three characters to know more about them and how they live their lives. The multiplayer is boring at times, I suggest playing the single player to feel the emotion.

[Mr. Forest 136]

Tomb Raider: I was never a big fan of the series and never thought Lara Croft was a interesting character, but Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider was a delightful surprise. The game was a superb character study of Lara Croft and it had everying a good game needs: fun gameplay, a good story, believable acting, and immersive graphics. This Tomb Raider saved the series and rebooted it with a new and improved Lara Croft. It turned out much better than I expected.

[Moonlight 7,290]

Here are my choices:

 

• Grand Theft Auto V - The game was being covered in tons of positive reviews but I still wasn't very interested as the characters didn't really grab my attention. I don't play multiplayer on games very much so the single had to have impressed me, and it did. The characters were better than I thought they were, the different open-world settings were great, and the missions were fun.
• Portal 2 - This one is kind of awkward, since I go by WheatleyCore and all. Truth be told, when I first played it, I thought it sucked badly. I decided to give it another chance (since at the time, everyone was loving it) and I managed to find some enjoyment out of it.
• Alan Wake - This game interested me at first, since I do enjoy reading and writing but I didn't have high hopes for it. I gave it a shot and managed to spend around several hours playing it a day. After beating it, I decided to go buy it (since I had only rented it from Gamefly). It was good.

Oddly enough, the three games listed above are my all time favorite video games, take that as you will.

[HoopHoof 137]

It had to be Bioshock: Infinite. I haven't played the previous Bioshock games and I felt like I didn't care when I first got Infinite........HOW WRONG WAS I!!! I WAS A FOOL!! It's an amazing game!!! O.O

 

Oh, The Walking Dead game is another. The story telling is just powerful in that game.

[Radiance64 7,054]

Metroid Other M: I played it about a week or two after it came out and heard all kinds of mixed opinions before then, I ended up really liking the game though, I even finished it twice.

Pandora's Tower: It took so long to come out in North America and seemed to get pretty average reviews elsewhere, so I didn't expect much out of it initially, but it turns out it's quite an amazing game with brilliant level design and awesome boss fights- perhaps it's just a classic case of reviewers being wrong, or just stupid.

There's probably way more games that turned out worse than expected than better for me, honestly.

[Grand_Finale 529]

Animal crossing (wild world specifically)

The first time I tried it I thought it was really boring and confusing, but a while later I played it again and now it's one if my favorite DS games! Wish I had a 3ds so I could play the new one

[Gay Bird 421]

Portal 2:i knew it would be good, but I didn't expect to have a new favorite game by the end of the storyline.

 

Yugioh: I played when I was a kid cause that's what kids do, but I didn't realize it me making hundreds of dollars and competing in huge 900 player tournaments. Also I've met a lot of new friends through yugioh.

 

Command and conquer 3: my previous experience with strategy games includes spore. When I got this game, it completely changed my idea of strategy games.

[Sir Hugsalot 9,367]

For now I have one game. Maybe I'll think of more games later. Right now I have no idea, what else should I add.

 

 

Skyrim - most things mentioned before game release sounded terrible for me. Possibility to change birthsign, lack of attributes like strength etc. a lot of hype that most times means nothing good + game looked like it was prepared for "casual" gamers without any challenge at all. But I bought it. And I deserve  a punishment for my doubts. Sure, interface was obviously prepared for console gamers and it's not perfect game, but graphics, atmosphere. It was just flawless. Sure, there are no attributes, but perks that were added instead work great in my opinion. Possibility to change birthsign isn't actually that bad thing and it did not bother me. And like always- mods improved game. Overall- Bethesda washed away my doubts like a boss. 

[Gone Airborne 22,007]

Probably FF7 for me it was the first I played in the series and I did not really know what to expect from it but after playing through it I was really satisfied.

[deadprofile 1,123]

Animal Crossing New Leaf....For handheld games, I stay with Pokemon, but when I bought my 3DS (Blue Pokemon version), I decided to try it since I had enough cash with me to buy a used game.  Turns out, it's a lot of fun.  I really hate violent games, FPS's, and pretty much any genre that isn't a tame RPG. 

 

Zelda franchise.  Again, I've only kept with pokemon as far as games go, because that's what I'm familar with.  I recently downloaded The Legend of Zelda from the Nintendo E-shop because I was bored. never played NES games (born in '91) and man, I didn't know what I was missing all these years.  I tend to stay away from mega popular game franchises (-pokemon because I grew up as the series grew big) because almost all the mega hits of today are some kind of military war shooter or just a rehash of other games (military war shooters fit this too).  Zelda I know A LOT about (I'm a gaming geek that doesn't really play games) and just didn't want to try it because everyone plays it.  I really need to become more open-minded about actually playing other games. I guess I don't play much in part because I actually see games as stupid (for the most part), but I LOVE LOVE LOVE knowing how the gaming world has and is growing in technology, stories, graphics, and fans. Gaming history is so deep and yet it's a thing that hasn't been around that long (i mean about 40 years if you count pong consoles and the Odessy). 

[Suitaloo 743]

I can't believe nobody said this yet, but:

 

Spec Ops: The Line: A very deep and empathetic look at what a real soldier has to do while on the call of duty. In fact, speaking of which, it may look like a shitty Call of Duty, but this game is probably one of the best games of the decade. It looks nice, yeah, but that's not important to me. It follows Captain Martin Walker and his two Delta Squad-mates, Lieutenant Alphonse Adams, and Staff Sergeant John Lugo, through a reconnaissance mission in to a ruined Dubai to locate an American battalion that went silent once the storms kicked back up. It has so much symbolism in it, that I don't want to mention any of it to ruin any of it. It takes a jab at all other "modern" and "realistic" shooters, showing how ludicrous they are in real battle, even going so far as to ask the player themselves if they feel like a hero yet. It's not fun, but it sure as hell is engaging. It delivers one of the best narratives I have ever seen in a video game, and the messages are clear once you play through it. It has a multiplayer feature, but it's rushed and the only reason it's there is because the higher ups thought the game wouldn't sell at all if it didn't have it in it, but the multiplayer is sloppy as hell and nobody uses it, because when you have as good of a game as the main story, you don't need multiplayer, and after you finish the main story you seriously don't want to. Hell, when I first discovered it, I played Call of Duty all the time because my computer was a piece of shit that could barely run TF2. A good friend of mine bought it for me on steam and I still go back to playing it occasionally, even though it isn't necessarily a fun time. Anyways, at the end of it, when I finished, I wanted to stay the hell away from games like Call of Duty for weeks, just because I felt guilty for killing the characters in multiplayer, THAT'S how powerful this game is. This game will have you in tears, but you want to keep playing anyway because you don't feel finished, just like Captain Walker continues through the mental struggle to try to end the conflict in Dubai. If you fell in to the same trap I did at first, thinking it's another shitty modern warfare game, think again. Yager deserves your money. Go, buy it on steam now. It's only $30, and they deserve every penny of it for this marvelous piece of work. I'll provide some links to videos that explain in further detail why you need to buy this game, the first one is the first of two from Extra Credits (with no spoilers mind you, at least for the first episode), and the second is the one from Zero Punctuation.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti2EGwW-Ihg

 

[Kaska 30]

battlefield 3. First I thought it was just another fps. when I actually started playing it. Wow, just wow. Some of the most fun I ever had!

[Discordian 6,018]

Hard to say, really. I play games not really expecting anything good or bad. There's some games I was wary about because I fear that sometimes I overhype a game for myself thanks to names though like Castlevania: Mirror of Fate. I knew I'd like it but overhype has a tendency to kill things if you aren't careful. That said while the game started out pretty standard it just continuously got better and I'm definitely revved up for Lords of Shadow 2 in December (though I probably won't get it for a long while )

Edited November 15, 2013 by Discordian

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Rayman series. I got Rayman Origins about a year ago, and when I got it, I barely touched the thing. That was until I actually played it. When I finished the game, I honestly thought that I just played one of the best side-scrolling adventures of modern gaming. The controls on Rayman and company feel extremely fluent, the levels are designed and gorgeous to look at, a good chunk of the soundtrack is pretty good stuff, and overall, it was a very enjoyable experience for a long-time gamer like me.

[Commander Tangent 861]

Metal Gear Solid Series

 

everyone at my school said it sucked, that it was cheap and had no fun or action, and that it was over dramatic. And boy where they wrong. But I believed them for a little while until I played MGS3 at a friends house, in witch I beat in one night. that night  was full of Laughter, anger, and of course, liquid pride. So yeah, it was a lot better than I expected.

[Discordian 6,018]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Rayman series. I got Rayman Origins about a year ago, and when I got it, I barely touched the thing. That was until I actually played it. When I finished the game, I honestly thought that I just played one of the best side-scrolling adventures of modern gaming. The controls on Rayman and company feel extremely fluent, the levels are designed and gorgeous to look at, a good chunk of the soundtrack is pretty good stuff, and overall, it was a very enjoyable experience for a long-time gamer like me.

The physics are definitely surprisingly good considering the cartoony graphics that you would think would throw off the hit boxes and such. They went all out on it to make it look and feel as fluid as possible. I haven't played Rayman since the original on PS1 so I was pleasantly surprised to find the game to be that much fun.

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

• Tomb Raider. I've never played a Tomb Raider game in my life, until the new one came out that is. I rented it from a redbox, and beat it in a few days. I have to say, I actually really enjoyed this game. It had a decent female lead, and it had a ton of action, and the game was interesting. I mean, the game has Japanese demon things in it...can this game get any more awesome? This game really surprised me, as I wasn't expecting much. 

Fire Emblem Awakening: I've never played a Fire Emblem game before in my life, so I didn't know what to expect when I put this game into my 3DS. I actually had a pretty fun time with this game. I love the type of strategy involved in the combat, and the graphics for the cutscenes are pretty good for a handheld system. Also the characters don't seem to have feet...just thought I'd throw that out there. Anyways, it was a fun game.

Metro: Last Light: This was a pretty top notch game, with a interesting plot, and decent enough gameplay. I loved the whole stealth factor, and the crazy monsters. It felt a little short, but I'm not complaining. This game was a nice change up for the FPS genre, it wasn't just constant guns a blazing, as said earlier there is some stealth involved. The plot also was a little more serious than I imagined. When I rescued a woman from being raped, I was really surprised that that scene was in the game...well, that and the topless dancer scene...and the "sick" people being gunned down. Anyways, it was a great game! 

Edited November 15, 2013 by Seibutsu Akuma

[Mutemutt 773]

Dokapon Kingdom. It's one of those no name games, but the board game RPG combination (and destroying friendships bit) caught my attention. So I bought it, thinking it would be fun for a bit, enough to get my money's worth out of it, and then collect dust for the rest of eternity. Turns out Dokapon Kingdom is actually extremely fun; I couldn't put the game down for weeks, glued to the tv screen all day and all night. It's one of the few (2-3) Wii games I still play and the only party(esque) game I can enjoy playing solo regularly.

[Armchair Adventurer 211]

Well, I can name two off the top of my head:

 

Trapt

 

 

I originally bought this game just because I heard it was rare and I really enjoy collecting PS2 games. I heard it wasn't a very good game so I was caught off guard by how unique the gameplay is. Sure the story falls into the so bad it's awesome category (especially those little last comments from your enemies before their deaths. Oh god, those were funny ) but the game is well worth the price of admission.

 

Persona 3 Portable

 

 

 

I was expecting to find a good game in this case but never imagined P3P would become pretty much my favorite game of all time. The story, characters and gameplay come together so well they make this an experience nobody should miss. It was life changing for me and I rarely say that about works of fiction.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Armchair Adventurer

[Megas 28,059]

I wasn't expecting much from Medal of Honor Frontline, Timesplitters, No More Heroes or Bioshock

 

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by all of those

[crazitaco 596]

Katamari Damacy!!! My friend showed me the cover and i thought it looked weird. Sure enough, it is weird, and totally addictive. Not only is the gameplay really fun, the entire style is way up my alley. Its bright and cheerful, yet becomes fridge horror when you realize you are essentially causing the apocalypse. Think about all the people you're killing (you can even hear their screams as you roll over them), but you're too busy singing along with that happy-go-lucky theme, absorbed by the overly bright and cheerful rainbow colors, and intent about racing the clock. Not only that, but the sheer scale of things impressed me the first time i played. You go from being the size of a thumbnail, to being able to envelope the entire planet. Also, the King of the Cosmos is weird and creepy but has some very interesting dialogue.

And who could forget Dat theme intro

 

Its just so dang flamboyant and never takes itself too seriously. My only issue with the game is that it was too short and the novelty does eventually wear off.

Edited November 28, 2013 by crazitaco

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

Medal of Honor Warfighter: The reason I will never trust reviews, other than Morrowind. That was miserable, and they fucking gave it a GOTY award. WTF!?!?!? Anyways, back to this. I criticized this game because of the 2010 Medal of Honor, I was extremely displeased by it's extremely rough multiplayer as well as only half decent campaign. This game, though, is just awesome. Gameplay was smooth, and weapons were almost precisely balanced. That can't even be said by Battlefield.

 

Contact- I bet none of you have heard this game, it was a RARITY to come by!

Oh, sorry Rarity, perhaps it was extremely uncommon in the United States would've been much better.

This game was given mediocre reviews. I decided to try it, and didn't expect an amazing game! I like their unique system of leveling up your characters statistics singularly. Also it had a decent plotline following the adventures of a space traveller and his employment of a modern teenager to fight against the CosmoNOTS, a terrorist group that intends to destroy the planet Contact takes place on, which looks like and is based on Earth, but isn't. It has more water. But I digress.

The game also has two different graphic designs depending on location. It will look bitty in certain areas, but others it has the most amazing graphics I have ever seen on a portable console. Overally, underrated.

 

Homefront- I thought I would hate it too. I turned out not knowing why it was absolutely despised and left for dead. No, seriously I don't know.

 

Halo 3- I thought the game would SPARKLE in the TWILIGHT...

Nopony is amused by my puns?

But this game was one of the best ever. I wish halo 4 was as great. This game goes deep to me, it actually saved my life. Master Chief is such an inspiring character *sob* *sob* and this game is so great that I wish that Bungie could POSSIBLY remake it for PC? It is that good.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Twilight Sniper

[Tazpy 7]

Pokemon X & Y - It looked awesome, and I expected it to be great, but nowhere near as amazing as it really is. I would even go so far as to say it is the best Pokemon game I've ever played. Combat looks amazing in 3D, it's nice to move in more than just four directions, character customization (my favorite feature in any game), was a great surprise, and then they did that amazing thing with the EXP Share. Gamefreak did a good job making this game live up to its expectations, and then pushed it even further. It renewed my passion for Pokemon and my hope for the game series.

 

[Moonbacon 384]

the elder scrolls skyrim: at first i was like this game looks horrible and dumb and worthless and dumb when i got a computer my mom bought a disc of it i downloaded and decided to play it. and wow it was awesome

 

minecraft: like the reason above i though it was garbage when i got to play it out of complete boredom (i didn't pay for it at first obviosly)

dang im impressed

 

Sonic 06: a lot of people say this game sucks but when i watch video's of it it looked AMAZING for me it says "play me" repeatedly so i did play it the glitches were funny the game was rushed of course but it was rushed because the fans wanted it to be rushed. i do hope they recreate this game for the older generation consoles.