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Biggest disappointment of last gen
- Thread starter Mondy
- Start date
disastermouse
Banned
The Xbox 360.
Hear me out before dismissing my choice. I was a bit of an OG Xbox fanatic. I never bought a PS2. I loved Xbox original IPs like Halo, Rallisport Pro, and Amped and I was looking for a continuation of some of those IPs. Halo 2 started focusing on MP and I'm just not a competitive FPS MP sort of guy. Rallisport was killed after two excellent OG Xbox games and Amped got a goofier, way too 'arcade-y' sequel with Amped 3. I already had a PS3 in late 2008 and PS3 games were finally starting to really hit their stride. In 2009 or 2010, my Xbox 360 RRoD'd but I replaced it primarily so I could play Forza 3 and ME2. Then came dashboard changes and the 'Great PSN Clusterfuck of 2011' made me turn to the Xbox for Netflix and I learned that Netflix - a service I was already paying for - was locked behind an XBLG paywall. More dashboard changes came, each clunkier and more add-ridden than the one before. Finally, there was Kinect and a nearly complete lack of interesting Xbox exclusives.
Hear me out before dismissing my choice. I was a bit of an OG Xbox fanatic. I never bought a PS2. I loved Xbox original IPs like Halo, Rallisport Pro, and Amped and I was looking for a continuation of some of those IPs. Halo 2 started focusing on MP and I'm just not a competitive FPS MP sort of guy. Rallisport was killed after two excellent OG Xbox games and Amped got a goofier, way too 'arcade-y' sequel with Amped 3. I already had a PS3 in late 2008 and PS3 games were finally starting to really hit their stride. In 2009 or 2010, my Xbox 360 RRoD'd but I replaced it primarily so I could play Forza 3 and ME2. Then came dashboard changes and the 'Great PSN Clusterfuck of 2011' made me turn to the Xbox for Netflix and I learned that Netflix - a service I was already paying for - was locked behind an XBLG paywall. More dashboard changes came, each clunkier and more add-ridden than the one before. Finally, there was Kinect and a nearly complete lack of interesting Xbox exclusives.
LA Noire.
The investigation parts were alright, but the interrogation mechanics just didn't work for me at all. The city, cars and fashion were good, but I have no idea why it had so many gunfights- a police procedural shouldnt need a tenth of it, they are police, not bloody soldiers. I'm tired of developers thinking all games are idiots who get bored if they can't kill something every three minutes, some of my favourite parts of adventure games and RPGs have not involved combat at all.
Phelps was also not a well written character at all, some of his actions were just bizarre.
It could have been so good, but so much let it down.
The investigation parts were alright, but the interrogation mechanics just didn't work for me at all. The city, cars and fashion were good, but I have no idea why it had so many gunfights- a police procedural shouldnt need a tenth of it, they are police, not bloody soldiers. I'm tired of developers thinking all games are idiots who get bored if they can't kill something every three minutes, some of my favourite parts of adventure games and RPGs have not involved combat at all.
Phelps was also not a well written character at all, some of his actions were just bizarre.
It could have been so good, but so much let it down.
AHA-Lambda
Member
The utter creative stagnation of AAA and subsequent ass kicking they received from the more creative, aesthetically and designwise, and cheaper indie scene.
VaultBoy101
Gold Member
My vote goes for Mass Effect 3's ending (the rest of the game building up to the conclusion wasn't so bad from what I recall, though maybe I've blocked some things out).
Runner up is Final Fantasy XIII.
Runner up is Final Fantasy XIII.
YOU CRAZY.
MP3 was more or less the most perfect sequel that we could have hoped for from a different developer. It kept the tone of the series, felt like a natural progression of Max's character arc and the gunplay was AMAZING (bar the occasional animation freakouts that wouldn't let you aim).
Also, as someone who's from Brazil originally, Rockstar's keen eye for social commentary was not wasted here. It's a better satire than any of the GTA games to be honest and incredibly well researched.
Kai Ozu
Member
Pretty much everything
360 red rings/Kinect being a complete piece of shit
PS3 slow start up/Sixaxis being a complete piece of shit/PS Move
Square taking forever/not putting out games/putting out bad games
Wii games/Nintendo ignoring me
Capcom, yeah.
Microtransactions
Garbage mobile games
The rise of modern military shooter.
360 red rings/Kinect being a complete piece of shit
PS3 slow start up/Sixaxis being a complete piece of shit/PS Move
Square taking forever/not putting out games/putting out bad games
Wii games/Nintendo ignoring me
Capcom, yeah.
Microtransactions
Garbage mobile games
The rise of modern military shooter.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Jesus Christ that's terrifying, no wonder Disney didn't go for that.
Actually, it was Warren Spector that toned the game down. Disney was actually cool with them taking liberties with their characters.
Square Triangle
Member
Twisted Metal
wastedyears
Member
Alan Wake. Had high hopes for it, but it ended up as a second rate Resident Evil 4 clone with a story that completely plagiarized a Stephen King novel.
JimmyRustler
Member
Can't decide if it's Resident Evil 5 or Metal Gear Solid 4.
My most favourite childhood series were basically killed with those entries. My inner child who's been a hardcore geek for both series for more than a decade died while playing these games.
My most favourite childhood series were basically killed with those entries. My inner child who's been a hardcore geek for both series for more than a decade died while playing these games.
Mass Effect: the new era of RPGs is a boring KotOR
Assassin's Creed III: Loved the Ezio trilogy, and got my mind-numbed the first six or so hours
Zelda Phantom Hourglass: Some great ideas ruined by bad controls and a terrible gimmick temple
Spore: Game went downhill after the character creator
GTA IV: Loved San Andreas, then they took the fun out
Also for non-games...
No Shenmue III
No new Jet Set Radio
No Mother 3 in NA or Mother 4
Year of Luigi is only one year
Assassin's Creed III: Loved the Ezio trilogy, and got my mind-numbed the first six or so hours
Zelda Phantom Hourglass: Some great ideas ruined by bad controls and a terrible gimmick temple
Spore: Game went downhill after the character creator
GTA IV: Loved San Andreas, then they took the fun out
Also for non-games...
No Shenmue III
No new Jet Set Radio
No Mother 3 in NA or Mother 4
Year of Luigi is only one year
Reckless Onion
Member
Brink.
Azure Phoenix
Member
Fable 3.
Loved Fable 2 a lot even though I recognise all of its flaws. I hadn't even got high expectations for Fable 3, I just wanted another light, mildly silly adventure like its predecessor. I even ended up having to buy a 360 to play Fable 3 since I'd got rid of mine.
Boy, that was a massive mistake. Literally everything that was good about Fable 2 was missing, every new idea was half-baked and already simple mechanics had been been dumbed down to the point that a child would be insulted. Killed any interest I had in the franchise along with any remaining goodwill towards the console.
Loved Fable 2 a lot even though I recognise all of its flaws. I hadn't even got high expectations for Fable 3, I just wanted another light, mildly silly adventure like its predecessor. I even ended up having to buy a 360 to play Fable 3 since I'd got rid of mine.
Boy, that was a massive mistake. Literally everything that was good about Fable 2 was missing, every new idea was half-baked and already simple mechanics had been been dumbed down to the point that a child would be insulted. Killed any interest I had in the franchise along with any remaining goodwill towards the console.
Jawmuncher
Member
My biggest dissapointment is Halo 3
Game just didn't live up to the hype it was garnering before release and didn't live up to my expectations either after Halo 2. Halo 2 for me was just about the pinnacle of FPS and Halo 3 to me didn't do much to carry that honor forward. Funny enough my interest in Halo all but died with Halo 3 as well. Only come back slightly with Halo Reach which is my favorite Halo title after 1 and 2.
Runner Up: Metal Gear Solid 4
Metal Gear Solid 1 is what got me into gaming and I loved both 2 and 3.
But I should have known something was amiss after disliking Portable Ops. MGS4 just wasn't the close to the story that I wanted with Snakes arc. Aside from that the game by far had the weakest boss fight's in the entire series. Bosses to me is one of the biggest thing's for me in MGS and aside from 2 the rest failed to impress. Once again with the story it was just all over the place. I get the world traveling but I don't think it worked out well.
Game just didn't live up to the hype it was garnering before release and didn't live up to my expectations either after Halo 2. Halo 2 for me was just about the pinnacle of FPS and Halo 3 to me didn't do much to carry that honor forward. Funny enough my interest in Halo all but died with Halo 3 as well. Only come back slightly with Halo Reach which is my favorite Halo title after 1 and 2.
Runner Up: Metal Gear Solid 4
Metal Gear Solid 1 is what got me into gaming and I loved both 2 and 3.
But I should have known something was amiss after disliking Portable Ops. MGS4 just wasn't the close to the story that I wanted with Snakes arc. Aside from that the game by far had the weakest boss fight's in the entire series. Bosses to me is one of the biggest thing's for me in MGS and aside from 2 the rest failed to impress. Once again with the story it was just all over the place. I get the world traveling but I don't think it worked out well.
Most disappointing game for me was MGS4, I had sky high expectations, and it wasn't on the same standard as previous entries in the series.
Overall the most disappointing thing is Square Enix lack of PS3 output. I enjoyed FFXIII, but I would probably remember it better if we had had another FF mainline to play meanwhile.
Overall the most disappointing thing is Square Enix lack of PS3 output. I enjoyed FFXIII, but I would probably remember it better if we had had another FF mainline to play meanwhile.
I'd agree with this. GT was one of my favorite and most played series up until that game.
hokagespit
Member
Fable
no wait that was two gens ago
sorry i am still really sore about Molyneux hyperbole
no wait that was two gens ago
sorry i am still really sore about Molyneux hyperbole
There are so many to choose from here. I think top of my list I will have to go with: Tekken 6 (I was such a Tekken diehard but this one game killed it) and Final Fantasy XIII.
Honourable mention goes to: Dead Space 3, White Knight Chronicles (that reveal trailer was pure lies)... there are way more that I just need to remember.
Honourable mention goes to: Dead Space 3, White Knight Chronicles (that reveal trailer was pure lies)... there are way more that I just need to remember.
PS3/Sony - They did redeem themselves in the last few years but maaaaaan what a trainwreck. The PS4 does have tons of potential, let's just hope they use it wisely
The death of the home console JRPG - There were like what..5 good to decent JRPG the entire generation?
Everything's the same when it comes to AAA - TPS..TPS everywhere
Make money money - I get it, they gotta eat..but never did it feel more like games are made simply to cash in and not because they want gamers to have fun.
Nintendo - Ever since the SNES it's been straight downhill. Loved the GC but without the PS2 (and later the Xbox) I would've died of boredom. Last gen was even worse. The Wii U does have tons of potential, let's just hope....hahaha who am I kidding.
EDIT: How could I forget: GTA 4
The death of the home console JRPG - There were like what..5 good to decent JRPG the entire generation?
Everything's the same when it comes to AAA - TPS..TPS everywhere
Make money money - I get it, they gotta eat..but never did it feel more like games are made simply to cash in and not because they want gamers to have fun.
Nintendo - Ever since the SNES it's been straight downhill. Loved the GC but without the PS2 (and later the Xbox) I would've died of boredom. Last gen was even worse. The Wii U does have tons of potential, let's just hope....hahaha who am I kidding.
EDIT: How could I forget: GTA 4
Seth Balmore
Member
Biggest disappointment for me was Patapon 3. They changed the basic formula too much for my liking. After sinking over 200 hours in Patapon and Patapon 2 combined, I could never get into Patapon 3. It's so sad, we probably won't see a new Patapon game ever again. 
No Team ICO games in this generation was also disappointing. I don't even want to hear about The Last Guardian anymore.
No Team ICO games in this generation was also disappointing. I don't even want to hear about The Last Guardian anymore.
H_Prestige
Banned
Because after 7 years of teasing it never came out for its intended platform?
I hate FFXIII as much as the next guy, but Versus left a far more bitter taste in my mouth. SE is by far the shittiest company in the world.
HappyBivouac
Member
Yep. One of the worst games I've owned period. I loved but didn't finish most of the previous GTAs because after dicking around for a number of hours I'd lose interest. In 4 even that wasn't any fun. And I bought next gen for this? 98 Metacritic smh.
Final Fantasy XIII the less said about that the better of course
For me Dark Souls was kind of a disappointment as well. I knew I probably wouldn't like it much, but throughout I felt like I was playing a completely different game than others.
SkywardKing
Neo Member
I have to give the biggest disappointment award to Uncharted 3. It just seemed like more of the same. I really wanted to see the story evolve and that just didn't happen.
Village_Idiot
Banned
Business
Member
I have to agree, specially with the bolded. I think LA Noire or the unborn TLG were more disappointing overall though.
Mass Effect 3, for sure.
Somewhat fresh off the incredible Mass Effect 2, I bought ME3 and the From Ashes DLC a couple of weeks after release, expecting a continuation of the intensely well developed relationships and characters from ME2. Instead what I got was a game that opened as poorly as it ended; a mishmash of bad ideas and even worse execution. Five minutes in and my initial hype for the conclusion of the series was deadened by a lack of dialogue options; a story setup totally departed and removed from the ending I'd witnessed in ME2 - having not played the Arrival DLC - and a general all-round feeling of unease at what I was witnessing. The gameplay didn't stand up much either, the new rolling mechanic added nothing to the gunplay, and constantly felt at odds with the rest of the shooting mechanics that were mostly inherited from its' superior prequel.
The locations and environments always felt a step ahead of ME2, feeling more vertical and open, yet no consideration was paid to how Shepherd actually controlled within that environment. You could roll and climb up ladders, yes, but those mechanics always felt too clumsy and clunky to really be of use. I actually ended up preferring ME2's more linear, corridor-y settings, as it often suited the subpar third person shooting. With ME3, it's almost as if the team responsible for Shepherd's movement and abilities were never working in cooperation with the side responsible for environment design. It bugged me constantly. Added to that, a general focus on more action and less exposition left me woefully tired by the end of the game, a problem I had never faced in ME2 - but that was largely down to the likability of ME2's characters and environments, as well as a more focussed plot.
Battles with the Collectors in ME2 always felt more satisfying and tactical than anything ME3 offered, with ME3 resorting to a boring - and irritating - boss battle midgame as an appeasement to the bloodthirsty. More and more of the roleplaying was stripped down, reducing the conversations to binary states - even if ME2 was just as binary, it did a far better job convincing you otherwise, and managed to keep all of it interesting and worthwhile. ME3 felt like a bare bones attempt, shoddily and hastily produced to push out of the door. There were more technical bugs on PS3, as well - ME2 had almost no problems, yet ME3 was ladled with them (including one I had during a turret sequence).
Added to that, a reduced roster composed of the lesser interesting characters in Mass Effect's universe, coupled with two wholly unnecessary new ones, meant ME3 was a forgettable and highly disappointing sequel. It could've been so great. And I don't even need to go into that ending..
Somewhat fresh off the incredible Mass Effect 2, I bought ME3 and the From Ashes DLC a couple of weeks after release, expecting a continuation of the intensely well developed relationships and characters from ME2. Instead what I got was a game that opened as poorly as it ended; a mishmash of bad ideas and even worse execution. Five minutes in and my initial hype for the conclusion of the series was deadened by a lack of dialogue options; a story setup totally departed and removed from the ending I'd witnessed in ME2 - having not played the Arrival DLC - and a general all-round feeling of unease at what I was witnessing. The gameplay didn't stand up much either, the new rolling mechanic added nothing to the gunplay, and constantly felt at odds with the rest of the shooting mechanics that were mostly inherited from its' superior prequel.
The locations and environments always felt a step ahead of ME2, feeling more vertical and open, yet no consideration was paid to how Shepherd actually controlled within that environment. You could roll and climb up ladders, yes, but those mechanics always felt too clumsy and clunky to really be of use. I actually ended up preferring ME2's more linear, corridor-y settings, as it often suited the subpar third person shooting. With ME3, it's almost as if the team responsible for Shepherd's movement and abilities were never working in cooperation with the side responsible for environment design. It bugged me constantly. Added to that, a general focus on more action and less exposition left me woefully tired by the end of the game, a problem I had never faced in ME2 - but that was largely down to the likability of ME2's characters and environments, as well as a more focussed plot.
Battles with the Collectors in ME2 always felt more satisfying and tactical than anything ME3 offered, with ME3 resorting to a boring - and irritating - boss battle midgame as an appeasement to the bloodthirsty. More and more of the roleplaying was stripped down, reducing the conversations to binary states - even if ME2 was just as binary, it did a far better job convincing you otherwise, and managed to keep all of it interesting and worthwhile. ME3 felt like a bare bones attempt, shoddily and hastily produced to push out of the door. There were more technical bugs on PS3, as well - ME2 had almost no problems, yet ME3 was ladled with them (including one I had during a turret sequence).
Added to that, a reduced roster composed of the lesser interesting characters in Mass Effect's universe, coupled with two wholly unnecessary new ones, meant ME3 was a forgettable and highly disappointing sequel. It could've been so great. And I don't even need to go into that ending..
swaggerdewitt
Banned
Free Radical becoming Crytek UK.
Going from developing masterpieces like this last-gen...
to co-developing shite like this on current gen...
RIP Free Radical ;-(
Going from developing masterpieces like this last-gen...
to co-developing shite like this on current gen...
RIP Free Radical ;-(
Flakster99
Member
Easy answer, the Final Fantasy series as a collective. Final Fantasy 13, and Final Fantasy 14 being an MMO, both games basically killed my enthusiasm for the series.
Nicktendo86
Member
The problem with Rare is we went into the generation with so much promise, a new perfect dark (which SUCKED) and Kameo (which didn't suck but I've had no desire to replay - at all) but then the gems started coming, Viva Pinata was great, HD ports of Banjo-Kazooe and Banjo-Tooie with the implementation of stop 'n' swap was a big deal for me back then and I was so excited. Plus we were promised nuts 'n' bolts would feel and play like a true Banjo game, it fucking didn't. And then MS turned them into a kinect shit fest shell of a studio and dreams were shattered forever.
Also, lack of Shenmue.
That Wont Fit In There
Member
Brink. Oh god brink.
TheWorthyEdge
Member
Assassins Creed 3 for sure. Me and my buddies thought it to be GOTY.....yeah.....fucking hilarious. It ran like utter crap and the story was extremely bad.
I rate the game shit/10
I rate the game shit/10
Nicktendo86
Member
I got it last christmas and still barely put any time into it, just cannot be arsed and has put me off wanting AC4.
CecilRousso
Member
Another one for me: The Fable series. People can say what they want about Molyneux and the hype around Fable 1, but the game had a solid ground for something special - that they just ignored in the sequel. Fable 2 had some good quests, but a lot of things were worse then in Fable 1. And then Fable 3 came out and was just plain shit in every aspect.
So much wasted potential that could have made something special if they had improved on the features in Fable 1 instead of cutting them.
So much wasted potential that could have made something special if they had improved on the features in Fable 1 instead of cutting them.
Nicktendo86
Member
My god I forgot about Fable 3, that was just shit from start to finish. So, so bad. There have been a lot of disappointments this gen
Nocturnowl
Member
When speaking for disappointment I think I'd have to go with Little Big Planet.
A well backed retail release 2D platformer with a fully robust creation tool, up to four players both local and online and even a new mascot character with a great little simple design, oh how this should have been the absolute nuts.
Unfortunately LBP screwed up the most important thing, the core gameplay. It's simply not that fun for me at all, you have some decent level design at times but Sackboy himself has a horrible feel to his control, floaty jumps is always touted as the main offender and with good cause yet there's even more to it than just that, everything feels so slow and unsatisfying, from jumping on enemies to movement in general the satisfying feedback for player actions just isn't there.
Moving between the various 2D planes is cumbersome and doesn't make for a good mechanic, a glut of collectables shovelled in your face at all times with most of it being sticker tat, messy visual design that tries to be charming but often looks both inconsistent visually and unclear regarding platform placement.
The game just feels like a set of creation gimmicks under the flimsy guise of a platformer and you wont make any headway with that unless you listen to Stephen Fry yammer away for an hour or two, there are a few stages where you can see that they could have had something going here but oh well, I had more fun with Sackboy in Playstation All Stars.
The only thing the series has going for it now is the wealth of creation tools, without the gameplay to back it up then why would I bother with said tools?
.
I could also add Rare but their output last gen was better than the one prior.
A well backed retail release 2D platformer with a fully robust creation tool, up to four players both local and online and even a new mascot character with a great little simple design, oh how this should have been the absolute nuts.
Unfortunately LBP screwed up the most important thing, the core gameplay. It's simply not that fun for me at all, you have some decent level design at times but Sackboy himself has a horrible feel to his control, floaty jumps is always touted as the main offender and with good cause yet there's even more to it than just that, everything feels so slow and unsatisfying, from jumping on enemies to movement in general the satisfying feedback for player actions just isn't there.
Moving between the various 2D planes is cumbersome and doesn't make for a good mechanic, a glut of collectables shovelled in your face at all times with most of it being sticker tat, messy visual design that tries to be charming but often looks both inconsistent visually and unclear regarding platform placement.
The game just feels like a set of creation gimmicks under the flimsy guise of a platformer and you wont make any headway with that unless you listen to Stephen Fry yammer away for an hour or two, there are a few stages where you can see that they could have had something going here but oh well, I had more fun with Sackboy in Playstation All Stars.
Oh yeah, can't forget this. The Smackdown vs Raw series took over all platforms this gen leading to the end of other sub series like Day of Reckoning which for me was a multiplayer classic. The SD games then started to get worse and worse as the foundation of their ancient PS1 origins started to crumble, an arcade like base being tweaked more and more to a sim like approach and in the end it left a series of shambling monstrosities with the strengths of neither approach. Full of glitches, busted gameplay and no one wants to play wrasslin' multiplayer anymore, not with these games.
The only thing the series has going for it now is the wealth of creation tools, without the gameplay to back it up then why would I bother with said tools?
hey I can say the same for the above game
I could also add Rare but their output last gen was better than the one prior.