[Skiptastic]

Two Worlds II. My gf bought the game for me on some Gamestop employee's recommendation because I liked Fallout. I was going to return it but GAF seemed to love the shit out of it, so I kept it. Traded it in two weeks later.

Played enough good games based on GAF recommendations to outweigh one bad one, though.

[iKeepPlaying]

Mass Effect 2.
Must be the only game that I haven't beaten because of pure boredom.

[kittens]

- GTA3 Mobile: Doesn't looks amazing and is still the same game that bored me 10 years ago.

Then why'd you buy it? That's your fault, not GAF's. :-P

[vagabondarts]

TWEWY- Emo's: the RPG. It just didn't do anything for me at all. This game sealed the fact that I don't really like what Nomura makes.

Different strokes and all that...

One great recommendation was Ghost Trick. Love that game especially missile! ...thanks GAF!

[Zeer0id]

Tales of Symphonia. I found it so disappointing, it soured me on the entire Tales series. Best GCN JRPG my ass.

Crazy, I think ToS is the only game I've ever played through three times consecutively

Loved it that much!

[BattleMonkey]

Red Dead. Amazing world and great setting, they did a great job, but the game was so freaking boring. The game play was just so simplistic and not fun at all, each combat sequence felt like a chore in boredome due to how simple and easy it was, and it got extremely repetitive. Seeing the whole story was the only drive to get me through it, as the gameplay and "quests" just did nothing for me.

Space Marine. Loved it for the first few levels, and then it became seriously bland and overly repetitive. The combat system's flaws become more and more obvious as the game progressed and the difficulty raised. The MP was also a mess of balance.

[Anteater]

Two Worlds II. My gf bought the game for me on some Gamestop employee's recommendation because I liked Fallout. I was going to return it but GAF seemed to love the shit out of it, so I kept it. Traded it in two weeks later. Played enough good games based on GAF recommendations to outweigh one bad one, though.

It was just Dennisk4 wasn't it.

I don't actually know, I just remember seeing him talk about it a lot

[RedNumberFive]

Does The Wire count?

I know it's a bit OT, bit I just finished watching the first season on HBO-Go due to GAFs recommendation. While the first season is certainly interesting, and fairly entertaining, does that show ramp up at all in later seasons? I'm finding it a bit above average at best so far.

[Orayn]

I haven't actually experienced this yet. If anything, I consistently feel the opposite when GAF tells me to get something on day one, but I delay my purchase and feel goofy about it when I wind up absolutely adoring the game. Dead Space, Just Cause 2, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine come to mind.

[SykoTech]

fixed ;)

No.

[8bit]

Saints Row 3, hated the repetitive grind of the first one but I got the impression the third had changed this mechanic. Perhaps it did, but the main game wasn't engaging at all.

Journey was boring and I had loved Flower but this wasn't what I hoped for.

Fez was kind of similar, played a few hours of it. Went back a few days later and had no idea what was going on and just gave up.

Catherine was interesting, but ultimately too hard. I spent too much time climbing a certain tower halfway, failing, falling and waiting for the game to restart.

[IrishNinja]

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines It was compared to Deus Ex but was utter shit.

do you mean the dated combat, or the actual storyline though?

[Night_Trekker]

Crazy, I think ToS is the only game I've ever played through three times consecutively Loved it that much!

In terms of its mechanics, it's solid. I would never call it a "bad" game.

But I hated the battle system (and a lot of small things related to the battle system), disliked the anime bullshit characters, and felt lukewarm about everything else, including the soundtrack. I played over 10 hours of it before I gave up and decided I didn't care if I played any more.

Baten Kaitos 1 (despite the jankiness) and 2 and even Skies of Arcadia Legends are way better GCN JRPGs, IMO.

I know it's a bit OT, bit I just finished watching the first season on HBO-Go due to GAFs recommendation. While the first season is certainly interesting, and fairly entertaining, does that show ramp up at all in later seasons? I'm finding it a bit above average at best so far.

Stick with it. It's a very slow, deliberate burn, but it's worth it.

[Foliorum Viridum]

do you mean the dated combat, or the actual storyline though?

The combat made the game unplayable. I even cheated and gave myself max stats and it still felt horrendous.

The world/characters seemed quite good but the actual game around it was garbage. Shame it wasn't an adventure game.

[LaserBuddha]

Two Worlds II. My gf bought the game for me on some Gamestop employee's recommendation because I liked Fallout. I was going to return it but GAF seemed to love the shit out of it, so I kept it. Traded it in two weeks later. Played enough good games based on GAF recommendations to outweigh one bad one, though.

I realized looking at the game here that people were just excited about the graphics, and when I noticed that even those suffered from a lack of talented artistic direction and were just throwing every effect possible out there, I realized that it was probably a waste of money. If you told me it was a fan made Elder Scrolls mod or something, I would have believed you.

[Apdiddy]

I've got a few. I hated Demon's Souls at first until I beat it. I loved every second of Dark Souls however.

Shadows of the Damned - Style over substance. The controls are pretty bad and there are tons of sections of the game that are just infuriating to endure. No offense, but I really don't get why anyone loves this game. The last bosses especially Fleming are horrible.

Donkey Kong Country Returns - I don't really mind the shaking the Wii-mote per se, but the jumping in this game is just bad. How Retro screwed that up I'll never know. Most of the levels were awful past World 5. The first four worlds are glorious.

Trials Evolution - A more recent game that I just don't understand the love. I did OK (unlocked all four bikes, got Gold on Beginner/Easy tracks, mostly Silver on the Medium tracks) but there's quite a bit that just seemed unpolished and not very good. I might be the only one who doesn't like this game that much.

Shadow Complex - I was addicted to this actually for quite awhile (got over 90% of the secrets/items) but the last sections of the game just rubbed me the wrong way.

[The_Darkest_Red]

I haven't actually experienced this yet. If anything, I consistently feel the opposite when GAF tells me to get something on day one, but I delay my purchase and feel goofy about it when I wind up absolutely adoring the game. Dead Space, Just Cause 2, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine come to mind.

Yeah, most of the games I've picked up because of GAF praise have ended up being well worth it.

Then again, I think I know my tastes well enough to avoid most games that simply don't look appealing to me so I probably don't set myself up for a situation like this very often.

[IrishNinja]

The combat made the game unplayable. I even cheated and gave myself max stats and it still felt horrendous. The world/characters seemed quite good but the actual game around it was garbage. Shame it wasn't an adventure game.

yeah, i can relate to that.
i finally went through Planescape: Torment a year or two back, and it was fucking fantastic story-wise (as ive been told) but holy shit the engine did not hold up well at all, especially for someone who never really played the D&D stuff before. it was more something i endured - and too many people said you can talk your way out of most combat, when there's definitely times that's true but plenty of ones when that's not, and id barely make it.

[Rollo Larson]

So do you :/

guess its official then, thanks night_trekker, ill seek help

[Ghost_Protocol]

I think big fans of 999 and Demon's Souls/Dark Souls understand perfectly well that everyone isn't going to have a fun time playing those games. 999 is a very, very niche experience (compared to the vast majority of what's out there today) and Demon's/Dark Souls both have "click" moments around 2.5-3 hours in that you must experience for the game to work for you. It sounds ridiculous saying this, but its almost like an epiphany/revelation. If you don't get those moments, you aren't going to like the games. It's not something anyone has any control over. You simply hit that point or you don't. Its really the only franchise I can think of where the person who thinks its one of the greatest things of all time and the person who thinks it's terrible can both be right.

Anyway, the most recent GAF recommendation that failed me hard is Xenoblade. Combat is boring, the characters don't shut the hell up, ever, and I hate running around ridiculously large areas that don't have anything to do but fight and hunt monsters. Fetch quests are not side quests.

Also, the game just doesn't look good. Animations are stiff/weird (running, jumping, attacks), texture quality is low, and the fact that it's not HD makes it look very blurry/muddled mess on my TV.

Radiant Historia is still the best JRPG of the generation.

I just mean that there is a difference between understanding why a game is considered a great game, and liking a game. For example, I can understand why people think Skyrim is a great game, but I really dislike it. It's just a taste-thing. Doesn't mean that Skyrim is a shitty game, it just mean that it isn't for me.

See, I can't understand why people think this way. When you don't like something, why do you have an obligation to say that it's great? Or that it's great, but not for you? I don't care how well Skyrim scored, or how many people enjoyed it, I didn't like it, so I'm not going to describe it as "great". "Great" is an expression of your opinion, not an objective measure of something.

[Kangi]

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

It's a great game, it's masterfully crafted, it's awe-inspiring, it's innovative, it's boring, it's boring, it's boring, OH DEAR GOODNESS IT'S BORING.

That game just really wasn't for me.

[CitizenCope]

Every time this thread is made I say the same thing. Sensible Soccer is garbage. Don't believe the hype.

[Gooster]

Two games I've disagreed with GAF Hype on are Vanquish and Alpha Protocol. I do like Vanquish, though. I just don't think it's great. It is a game I'd like to see improved in a sequel.

Alpha Protocol does the conversation/personality system better than Mass Effect and has a pretty good action movie plot, but because it's made by Obsidian it's a buggy mess in certain parts and I've even had to shut down the game and reboot just to get a mission to work.

That said, the two games didn't make me "sad" and I quite enjoyed them, but some of the hype was unfounded.

[Zeer0id]

No.

Haha, nothing against Metroid Prime and its sequels, I quite like them.

But DKCR is the best 2D platformer I've played in years.

[Anteater]

Two games I've disagreed with GAF Hype on are Vanquish and Alpha Protocol. I do like Vanquish, though. I just don't think it's great. It is a game I'd like to see improved in a sequel.

:(

[Kazerei]

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (3DS)

Gameplay has some neat concepts, but there's almost no customization, the level of strategy is shallow, the story battles get repetitive, and the visuals indicate it's a DS up-port. Overall a boring, mediocre game. Still one of the better 3DS launch titles heh.

[jorgeton]

Here goes:

Radiant Historia.

I just could not get into it. First couple of hours are fun, but then every single battle starts feeling like a massive chore (random encounters take way too long), and you backtrack through the same environments over and over (and over). 10 or so hours in, I could just not be bothered to complete it. I get why some people are really into it and it's hilarious FFXIII-2 wholesale ripped off its time travel system, but I think this game has been a tad over-praised by Gaf.

[FrontalMonk]

I appreciate the way you have to be cautious but it's more because it forces you to think about how you're going to tackle situations rather than it being unfairly hard. I think the reason people talk about that is to counter the claim the games are unfair. As to your barrel example, there are some trial and error deaths like that but things like bloodstains and warnings from other players usually tip you off. The Souls games can be intimidating but theres usually always a simple and easy way to do things. Take your tower knight example. That bossfight seems really intimidating at first but it's actually fairly straightforward. You can rush down the archers and kill them first without any real danger from the knight. Then its just a case of dodging his slow attacks and going for his ankle when he misses. Then he drops to the ground and takes a huge amount of damage quickly from attacking his head. Summon a couple of people to help you and its even easier. Also your post was talking about Dark Souls which is a step down in difficulty over Demons if anything. Anyway the other things I like about the games are the combat, the atmosphere, the online integrated stuff and the character\equipment progression. Sure, the challenge plays a part but it certainly isn't the only reason I like them.

My main example there was with the 2 knights + archers after running the whole way to dodge dragon fire, but I think the point I should bring up about the tower knight is I literally got killed the second I walked into the boss chamber. I don't know if it was a glitch, but I didn't even have a chance to run to the side or anything. The game loaded the boss room, the boss fight started, and the ground shook and I died. I didn't try to reproduce the situation to see if it was a glitch, because the next time I tried to get there I died before I got to the boss room so I lost all my souls, then I got frustrated and quit.

That said, I honestly wish I could give Demon's a fairer shake but I never have the time/patience for it and if I'm not mistaken the online functionality just got turned off, blocking out a huge part of the gameplay.

[jokkir]

Any of the Bethesda games except Skyrim. I'm not sure what it is but Skyrim just doesn't bore me as much as their other games but Morrowind is supposed to be the be best of the Elder Scrolls series?

[Derrick01]

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines It was compared to Deus Ex but was utter shit.

Oh yeah I forgot about that. I spent years listening to people say how amazing it was and when it finally went on sale on steam I got it and I agree it was really bad. In pretty much every area too. I didn't even find the writing to be that good.

It felt like a game that was trying to be like Deus Ex but struggled to pull anything off well.

[SykoTech]

Haha, nothing against Metroid Prime and its sequels, I quite like them. But DKCR is the best 2D platformer I've played in years.

Heh, to each is his own. I didn't really mean it was a bad game anyway. I don't think Retro makes bad games. It was just the one I found to be the least impressive I guess.

[stuminus3]

Pretty much everything GAF has ever recommended on iOS. Thankfully I'm starting to understand what works best on that platform. Protip: it's not GTAIII.

[Coen]

Lots of popular games around here just aren't my thing. Best example would be Demon's Souls, which I bought on sale but, as expected, wasn't for me. Some games I expect to love based on the hype, but disappoint anyway. Some recent examples would be Shadows of the Damned and Super Meat Boy. The first is a mediocre shooter with humor that makes Ray Romano look like the worlds best comedian and style that makes Keith Haring look like van Gogh. The second is just a horrible platformer with a quick reload mechanic.

[CitizenCope]

Pretty much everything GAF has ever recommended on iOS. Thankfully I'm starting to understand what works best on that platform. Protip: it's not GTAIII.

This makes me nervous. Get my first ipad on Friday and have been visiting that thread. I've youtubed a lot of the suggested games and yikes I don't think I like a lot of what I'm seeing.

[Colonel Mustard]

Deadly Premonition. There's a fine line between B-grade kitsch and just plain awful. Deadly Premonition falls in the latter catagory. It sucks, I'd rather play through the entirety of Rascal than sit five minutes with Deadly Premonition.

[stuminus3]

This makes me nervous. Get my first ipad on Friday and have been visiting that thread. I've youtubed a lot of the suggested games and yikes I don't think I like a lot of what I'm seeing.

GAF makes fun of Touch Arcade for all the hyperbole about just about everything but some users are guilty of the same thing. Just be very conscious of how well what you're buying fits the platform. For example - Groove Coaster. iOS exclusive. Couldn't be more perfect for iPhone/iPad play (a rhythm game from Taito that uses a simple tap/slide anywhere control scheme). One of my favourite games of 2011. Look for that kind of stuff, not the janky virtual joystick shoehorned onto a touch screen crap or the Gameloft-esque cheap imitations of home console games, and you'll have a grand time. Don't treat it as a replacement to other videogame systems, not even the Nintendo/Sony handhelds.

[PetrCobra]

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (3DS) Gameplay has some neat concepts, but there's almost no customization, the level of strategy is shallow, the story battles get repetitive, and the visuals indicate it's a DS up-port. Overall a boring, mediocre game. Still one of the better 3DS launch titles heh.

I have to say my feelings about this game are quite similar.

Other than that, I love the amount of craziness in this thread. Especially (I didn't play many of the other games mentioned here yet) the complaints about Xenoblade (a story driven game) being linear. Don't get me wrong, it is, it has to be... but that's what you just have to accept in a story driven game, and there is so much to do outside the main story that it's borderline funny to complain about it. I wonder why someone would even buy Xenoblade if he knows that he doesn't like this type of games. Maybe the OP did that just to create this thread? :-)

[Air Zombie Meat]

My main example there was with the 2 knights + archers after running the whole way to dodge dragon fire, but I think the point I should bring up about the tower knight is I literally got killed the second I walked into the boss chamber. I don't know if it was a glitch, but I didn't even have a chance to run to the side or anything. The game loaded the boss room, the boss fight started, and the ground shook and I died. I didn't try to reproduce the situation to see if it was a glitch, because the next time I tried to get there I died before I got to the boss room so I lost all my souls, then I got frustrated and quit. That said, I honestly wish I could give Demon's a fairer shake but I never have the time/patience for it and if I'm not mistaken the online functionality just got turned off, blocking out a huge part of the gameplay.

Gotcha, that would be frustrating. Like ghost_protocol said above theres a moment where the game clicks for people and I think beating 1-2 is probably that moment in Demons Souls. It was for me anyway. Theres a reason why people liked to put the "The real Demons Souls starts here" message down right after that bossfight :)

Anyway I think Dark Souls does a better job of easing you in gradually whereas Demons hits you with that right off the bat. I'm sure a lot of people just said "fuck it" at that point. It's like a trial by fire, once you've cleared that you should be ready for what the game is going to throw at you.

[Rahxephon91]

I guess Nier. Not that I was never going to try it, as I did like Cavia. But the hype here did speed up those plans. I guess my problem with the game is I just found the combat boring. Its not offensive, it works well enough. It just didn't seem to be fun or engaging when it came to combat. Drakengard 1 at least had the dragon and the big battles. 2 had actual decent combo based combat. Nier just seemed to have nothing going on. And the constant switch of gametypes was more annoying then anything.

As for the story. Well I guess it was cool. Nier was an on lead, but the story for the most part seemed to just be aimless until 2 points, the middle and ending. But for the most point the story didn't pace its intersting bits well, and I lost intrests pretty fast. I also hated the side characters. Regardless of her backstory, Kaine was just an annoying angry girl.

Eh. Just didn't like the game.

As for the Souls games. I just don't care. I suck at them and when I pick up the controller I just dont get the controls. I feel discombobulated. Which I never feel like in say Ninja Gaiden. The fanbase also dosent give me a good impression. In the end they just aren't for me.

[El Sloth]

Only one I can think of is Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Don't remember the exact words of praise, but people praised the shit outta of it. The music and visuals are cool,but the game gets repetitive and boring after a while.

All my other GAF recommended purchases have been pretty awesome. Super Meat Boy, Terraria, Binding of Isaac, Bastion, original Golden Sun, etc.

Edit: Ah, there was Hotel Dusk. The game actually put me to sleep. Such a huge disappointment.

THEWY GAF Said Best RPG ever for the handheld, no of 2008, no of SE's recent efforts. Can't wait for the sequel. I Said I tried, and tried, and tried, but couldn't get into it. Not a game you should play and then take a break for a week or more. Also, at a certain point, they throw so much at you, it caves in under its own weight (various badge nuances, purchasing clothes and trend system, so on).

Part of the brilliance of the game, for me anyways, was that you could just ignore all those systems if you wanted to. The difficulty slider allows the player to customize their experience in whichever way they feel most comfortable.

I personally didn't mess around with the trend systems until my 3rd playthrough of the game for something different. A friend of mine beat the game while completely ignoring the top screen during combat (true story).

[FrontalMonk]

Gotcha, that would be frustrating. Like ghost_protocol said above theres a moment where the game clicks for people and I think beating 1-2 is probably that moment in Demons Souls. It was for me anyway. Theres a reason why people liked to put the "The real Demons Souls starts here" message down right after that bossfight :) Anyway I think Dark Souls does a better job of easing you in gradually whereas Demons hits you with that right off the bat. I'm sure a lot of people just said "fuck it" at that point. It's like a trial by fire, once you've cleared that you should be ready for what the game is going to throw at you.

haha, I hear you about the trial by fire bit, I always felt like the tutorial section ending with this dude that *might* be possible to beat, but 99/100 times will just straight up murder you...and even if you win, you die anyway, really set the tone for that game :P

[Mobius1]

This thread is awesome. Just goes to show that gamers are a much wider market than publishers think they are. Gives me hope for a future not dominated by any particular style of game.

[El Sloth]

This thread is awesome. Just goes to show that gamers are a much wider market than publishers think they are. Gives me hope for a future not dominated by any particular style of game.

I figure most people usually withhold their negative opinions on popular games or niche darling on here because they don't want to deal with all the declarations of "troll" and "shit taste". Not to mention all the unesscary insults.

I say bring it on and lets discuss why our experiences with the same game turned out so different.

That being said there are plenty of posts that bring those insults on themselves when they imply that the people who enjoyed the game are 'effing morons.

[RealDeadOne]

This is not a video game. Where's the princess? Who is the main boss? Does it ever end?

Man you've gotta be kidding me with this. First of all, it actually DOES have a boss and an end now. Second, when were "Princess, boss, ending" the criteria for a video game? Where's the main boss of Pong? Where's the ending of Pac-Man? There's no princess to save in Street Fighter. A game doesn't have to have a win condition, it's about having fun. This is the reason this industry continues to embrace extremely linear and scripted "cinematic" experiences while over-looking open-ended games with fantastic systems and mechanics.

Don't get me wrong, I love Uncharted and Mass Effect and don't even like Minecraft that much, but this is the most stupid definition of a video game I've ever heard.

[clemenx]

Everyone that didn't like TWEWY because of the "emo" main character should try to play the game for more than 2 hours.
And I didn't like the game because I couldn't get into the battle system at all but I was interested in the story.

[BadWolf]

Mass Effect 2. Must be the only game that I haven't beaten because of pure boredom.

Have to agree, I saw a recent thread where it was being extremely hyped up but I just don't see what's special about it, the gameplay especially is very repetitive and bland.

I'll still finish it I think, though I'll probably sell it without playing the DLC.

[Tain]

Lots of popular games around here just aren't my thing. Best example would be Demon's Souls, which I bought on sale but, as expected, wasn't for me. Some games I expect to love based on the hype, but disappoint anyway. Some recent examples would be Shadows of the Damned and Super Meat Boy. The first is a mediocre shooter with humor that makes Ray Romano look like the worlds best comedian and style that makes Keith Haring look like van Gogh. The second is just a horrible platformer with a quick reload mechanic.

Super Meat Boy is one that I forgot all about. Very mediocre game, bough it due to forum reception and Steam sale.

Shadows of the Damned I liked for at least a bit. It would have been pretty good if it were designed without the rolling, but the rolling and the bosses knock it down quite a bit.

[RealDeadOne]

To make my own contribution: The Trine series. I heard so much about the beautiful art and great platforming gameplay, so I picked it up on Steam, plugged in a gamepad and went to work.

I really couldn't stand the janky and slippery controls and combat and the horribly wonky and unpredictable physics system. Even after an hour the art direction hadn't impressed me at all either. I think you're supposed to play the game with a keyboard and mouse because of the pointer stuff, but I just can't bare to play a 2D platformer with a keyboard. I took the sequel off my list of stuff to buy on sale because I couldn't even finish the first non-tutorial world.

[Ventilaator]

There have been many popular games that I don't like. I'm not sure which one GAF specifically has hyped, but then I saw this post.

The Last Remnant GAF said: This game has an amazingly deep and engrossing battle system! You will be sucked! I said: What the fuck am I doing why are they doing that why do enemies keep coming why are textures not loading aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Holy crap, people think that The Last Remnant is a good game? Was it the only JRPG those people have ever seen?

[Patryn]

I guess I'll join those mentioning Xenoblade Chronicles, but with a caveat. I'm still playing through it, and it's compelling enough for me to continue, but only barely. In fact, I already put it down once to play The Witcher, but got stuck in a boss in that so I went back.

I think Xenoblade's reputation as the greatest JRPG of the generation is way overblown thus far. Combat it pretty fun, but the pacing is horrendous (oh no, a character is in mortal danger and we need to save them immediately, but first I'm going to do all these tiny quests and waste about a week farming one type of creature to get a specific item, don't worry, it's cool, the monsters will wait), and it's falling into some bad JRPG tropes. Part of that may be me, though. Frankly, the only current gen JRPG that really grabbed me is Tales of Vesperia.

But my opinion may change as I get further into the game. It's just that thus far it's "decent" to "good" and not the mind-blowing experience it had been portrayed as having been.