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Critically acclaimed games that just do not click for you?
- Thread starter IAmMonodi
- Start date
Chainsawkitten
Member
How long do you have to play before you can conclude you don't like something? 10 hours? 20?
EatinOlives
Member
Generally, if it's an old game and I didn't catch it when it was still relatively new, chances are high I won't be able to get into it.
I've tried Fallout, Deus Ex, Planescape: Torment, Half-Life 1 and I'm sure several others I can't remember right now, they've all bounced off me. I just can't get into them even if I do need to take into account their age.
Oddly enough I didn't have that problem with MGS1, which I played for the first time a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed that game.
I've tried Fallout, Deus Ex, Planescape: Torment, Half-Life 1 and I'm sure several others I can't remember right now, they've all bounced off me. I just can't get into them even if I do need to take into account their age.
Oddly enough I didn't have that problem with MGS1, which I played for the first time a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed that game.
Monster Hunter, too farm-y and Maybe difficult for me. I love its art direction (monsters, environments, armors, etc.) but its pace is just too slow for me. I'd rather faster "clones" in the genre like Freedom Wars and Toukiden Kiwami (I don't know if this one is actually faster than MH combat wise, but that's what I felt while playing it)
RespectThySole
Member
The Last of Us - It's okay. I mean it's competent and it checks all the boxes, but the gameplay wasn't fun and the story was nothing special. Ellie was a great character and I liked the ending, but I really don't get why some people consider this to be one of the greatest.
Red Dead Redemption - Felt like I was just riding from checkpoint to checkpoint. Combat was bleh. Horse riding was cool and it had a nice ending as well, but that's about it.
GTA V - Combat and movement suck in this game. Missions are mostly unimaginative with a few exceptions, not big on the characters or story either. The scale and detail is impressive and its GTA, but this didn't have the lasting power with me that I expected it too.
Red Dead Redemption - Felt like I was just riding from checkpoint to checkpoint. Combat was bleh. Horse riding was cool and it had a nice ending as well, but that's about it.
GTA V - Combat and movement suck in this game. Missions are mostly unimaginative with a few exceptions, not big on the characters or story either. The scale and detail is impressive and its GTA, but this didn't have the lasting power with me that I expected it too.
Dr. Benton Quest
Banned
Mechanically? Maybe an hour or two? It's basically impossible for him to call the world dull when he experienced just "a few hours" of it though.
banefirelord
Banned
None of the main Souls games, though I liked Bloodborne a fair bit. Gave DS1 and 2 a fair shot, around 20 hours for DS1 and 10 for DS2 (which I know is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough for me). The combination of precision and incremental grinding just isn't something that I'm looking for in games. I also wasn't much a fan of the setting.
As for Bloodborne (though I didn't finish it either) I preferred its world and its emphasis on faster combat...it felt more like a 3rd-person-action game than an RPG and was much more fun to play.
Also Shadow of the Colossus. Played it for the first time a few months ago and was thoroughly underwhelmed. I guess it's one of those "you had to be there" games.
As for Bloodborne (though I didn't finish it either) I preferred its world and its emphasis on faster combat...it felt more like a 3rd-person-action game than an RPG and was much more fun to play.
Also Shadow of the Colossus. Played it for the first time a few months ago and was thoroughly underwhelmed. I guess it's one of those "you had to be there" games.
Theanine3D
Member
Dark Souls
It wasn't fun. Just tedious.
Metal Gear Solid (all of them)
See above.
It wasn't fun. Just tedious.
Metal Gear Solid (all of them)
See above.
timetokill
Banned
Mainly Naughty Dog games. Boring gameplay with good-to-great presentation values. I just can't get into them because I don't look forward to playing the game parts.
Yea this game is straight up not good.
All the other classic JRPGs from this era hold up fine, but Earthbound is just incredibly dull. Maybe the "humor" would work if I was playing it as a child when it released.
cosmicblizzard
Banned
Almost every single western AAA game.
TheMan
Member
Dark souls. I've tried to crack that nut numerous times and I just don't care for it. I hate the lack of pause, the cheap deaths, having to repeat some sections of the map over and over when you die, how obtuse many of the systems are, and having to die to memorize enemy and trap placement.
Metal Gear Solid after 1 - I see why MGS1 is great. Fantastic level designs that resulted in stages being excellent puzzles to solve is how I felt. The story wasn't terrible either. I made sense why it is considered a great game. Every MGS after that has been shit. Bloat up the system more, worse level designs, and more focus on the shitty story. Kojima is not a movie director and it shows.
Uncharted 3 - I enjoyed 2, one of the best takes on the fun house style game. 3 on the other hand was a smoking pile of shit. Broken aiming and gameplay, incomplete story, level design that no longer flows, and some how, they manage to keep making worse AI.
Mario - The only Mario games I've ever enjoyed have been the spin offs, I can't for the life of me understand the appeal of the typical ones.
Uncharted 3 - I enjoyed 2, one of the best takes on the fun house style game. 3 on the other hand was a smoking pile of shit. Broken aiming and gameplay, incomplete story, level design that no longer flows, and some how, they manage to keep making worse AI.
Mario - The only Mario games I've ever enjoyed have been the spin offs, I can't for the life of me understand the appeal of the typical ones.
The Lone Courier
Member
Bloodborne/Souls series. I could never get into the setting.
Lys Skygge
Member
Hmm, I feel like this is basically a "Controversial Opinion Thread 2.0" considering most of the answers are "x game is overrated garbage!"
Anyways, my answer is Bioshock. I understand why its a highly regarded game, but I struggled to get through it. I tried so hard to like it, but by the end I was bored. I traded it in shortly after completing it. I didn't even bother with Bioshock 2, but I did play 3 and I really enjoyed it. I might go back to 1 if the remaster is real to see if my opinion has changed though.
Anyways, my answer is Bioshock. I understand why its a highly regarded game, but I struggled to get through it. I tried so hard to like it, but by the end I was bored. I traded it in shortly after completing it. I didn't even bother with Bioshock 2, but I did play 3 and I really enjoyed it. I might go back to 1 if the remaster is real to see if my opinion has changed though.
Some of the posts in this thread are just ridiculous. I mean I can understand someone saying they didn't like The Last Of Us OR Uncharted OR God Of War OR Dark Souls.
But some of the posts where people are picking 5 or 6 games that include stuff like GTA(series), MGS, RDR, Souls series just seems silly. I would love to know what kind of games these people enjoy. I'm fine with some people not enjoying a "mainstream" or AAA game here and there. Hell i'm guilty of that.
I think what bothers me most is when people give these vague statements like "it's boring". This thread should be called, see who can dislike the game with the most critical acclaim.
But some of the posts where people are picking 5 or 6 games that include stuff like GTA(series), MGS, RDR, Souls series just seems silly. I would love to know what kind of games these people enjoy. I'm fine with some people not enjoying a "mainstream" or AAA game here and there. Hell i'm guilty of that.
I think what bothers me most is when people give these vague statements like "it's boring". This thread should be called, see who can dislike the game with the most critical acclaim.
Parapraxis
Member
Recently, Metro 2033 and Metro 2033 Last Light, nope, just don't get it.
neurosyphilis
Definitely not an STD, as I'm a pure.
-Everything from Nintendo, not named Zelda
-Gears Of War
-Gears Of War
Batman: Arkham City.
I loved Arkham Asylum. Arkham City has a 96 (!) on Metacritic. I absolutely despise Arkham City. Asylum was such a tightly built experience; every nook and cranny of that space felt meaningful, and the mechanics felt fresh and fun. In City those mechanics lost their novelty quickly and the game world got so bloated and dull. It felt like the strengths of that series was rooted in the more claustrophobic Arkham Asylum and the mechanics were built for that kind of world and gameplay, and bringing them into a huge open world destroyed a lot of the appeal for me. I really tried, I wanted to like it because I liked the previous game so much, but nope. Ugh, I just get this queasy feeling whenever I think about it.
I loved Arkham Asylum. Arkham City has a 96 (!) on Metacritic. I absolutely despise Arkham City. Asylum was such a tightly built experience; every nook and cranny of that space felt meaningful, and the mechanics felt fresh and fun. In City those mechanics lost their novelty quickly and the game world got so bloated and dull. It felt like the strengths of that series was rooted in the more claustrophobic Arkham Asylum and the mechanics were built for that kind of world and gameplay, and bringing them into a huge open world destroyed a lot of the appeal for me. I really tried, I wanted to like it because I liked the previous game so much, but nope. Ugh, I just get this queasy feeling whenever I think about it.
Small Mailman
Member
Uncharted
I just find the whole thing so god damn boring! I'm sorry! I don't know why! I play and enjoy games that are so similar to it but for some reason.... I just can't get into it.
I just find the whole thing so god damn boring! I'm sorry! I don't know why! I play and enjoy games that are so similar to it but for some reason.... I just can't get into it.
Violence Jack
Member
The Last of Us. It was pretty good, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
Dark Souls. I'm still going through it now, and I'm honestly not all that impressed. It's challenging, but just not for me. I plan on playing through the other games though just for completions sake. Thought Bloodborne was much better.
MGS 5. Just got way too repetitive for me to truly enjoy. That, and I wasn't a fan of the story nor the reveal at the end.
GTA 4. I hated this game. It just wasn't very fun to play after a while, and I couldn't get into the story at all. And the frequency that your friends, colleagues, and love interests contact Niko just drove me nuts.
Borderlands 2. After getting through BL1, I just couldn't be bothered to keep going with BL2. I found it horribly boring for the single-player campaign.
Dark Souls. I'm still going through it now, and I'm honestly not all that impressed. It's challenging, but just not for me. I plan on playing through the other games though just for completions sake. Thought Bloodborne was much better.
MGS 5. Just got way too repetitive for me to truly enjoy. That, and I wasn't a fan of the story nor the reveal at the end.
GTA 4. I hated this game. It just wasn't very fun to play after a while, and I couldn't get into the story at all. And the frequency that your friends, colleagues, and love interests contact Niko just drove me nuts.
Borderlands 2. After getting through BL1, I just couldn't be bothered to keep going with BL2. I found it horribly boring for the single-player campaign.
banefirelord
Banned
I feel that. Asylum's my fourth favorite game of all time. I didn't hate City, but something felt off about it. Hoped things would get better with Knight and...nope, Knight was probably my least favorite game of last year. How the mighty fall.
There might be better examples, but the first game coming to my mind is Borderlands.
I had always been curious about Borderlands saga, and last year Borderlands 2 (I think it was '2') was one of the monthly games in PS Plus. I gave it a try with my best hope, and it was 30 minutes until I realised it was not my kind of game at all.
I had always been curious about Borderlands saga, and last year Borderlands 2 (I think it was '2') was one of the monthly games in PS Plus. I gave it a try with my best hope, and it was 30 minutes until I realised it was not my kind of game at all.
shiftplusone
Member
I was going to make a similar topic (one that wasn't going to get as "x is overrated shit!" as this one) about franchises you keep coming back to but can't explain why, but this works
Uncharted(series). I played all 4 that are out now. I hate the connect the dots style of "platforming," I think the shooting has been bad in every one of them, I hate the encounter design, I don't really care about the characters.
MGS4 and 5. was a fan of 1-3 and some of the side games, 4 and 5 didn't work for me. 4 was a mess that I could kind of appreciate but 5 I straight up didn't like.
GTA5. I can't explain how much I hated this game. I got over the "you can just fire rockets at an intersection and see the chaos" in 2004 with San Andreas. I disliked Michael and Trevor maybe more than any other GTA protagonist (Franklin was okay). I didn't like shooting the guns, I don't like driving the cars, and the online was negative fun.
"There's so much to do! you can play golf in it!" The golf sucks. "Well you don't have to play golf, you can play tennis!" the tennis sucks.
Not gonna get into Bethesda games either but all of them can go on this list
EDIT: and Uco is right. fucking borderlands.
Uncharted(series). I played all 4 that are out now. I hate the connect the dots style of "platforming," I think the shooting has been bad in every one of them, I hate the encounter design, I don't really care about the characters.
MGS4 and 5. was a fan of 1-3 and some of the side games, 4 and 5 didn't work for me. 4 was a mess that I could kind of appreciate but 5 I straight up didn't like.
GTA5. I can't explain how much I hated this game. I got over the "you can just fire rockets at an intersection and see the chaos" in 2004 with San Andreas. I disliked Michael and Trevor maybe more than any other GTA protagonist (Franklin was okay). I didn't like shooting the guns, I don't like driving the cars, and the online was negative fun.
"There's so much to do! you can play golf in it!" The golf sucks. "Well you don't have to play golf, you can play tennis!" the tennis sucks.
Not gonna get into Bethesda games either but all of them can go on this list
EDIT: and Uco is right. fucking borderlands.
PetulantChild
Banned
Pretty much any JRPG outside of Mainline SMT. Clicking through menus to watch the same animations over and over and over again barely even constitutes gameplay in my eyes.
Shadow Of The Colossus and Ico. Both games felt like playing through the worst parts of a Zelda game on infinite repeat.
Metal Gear Solid 3. I seriously don't understand how anyone likes this game. It's like they decided it would be a good idea to take the fast arcadey stealth of MGS1 and 2 and slow it down to a crawl all while requiring you to stop every 5 minutes to go into a menu. Not to even mention that it made borderline every character in the series' motivations boil down to "DA BAWS" despite The Boss doing literally nothing the entire game that would explain why anyone would think she's so cool. Wow she can do some Judo, meanwhile other people in the same game are shooting bees out of their eyeballs and can shoot electricity out of their hands.
Shadow Of The Colossus and Ico. Both games felt like playing through the worst parts of a Zelda game on infinite repeat.
Metal Gear Solid 3. I seriously don't understand how anyone likes this game. It's like they decided it would be a good idea to take the fast arcadey stealth of MGS1 and 2 and slow it down to a crawl all while requiring you to stop every 5 minutes to go into a menu. Not to even mention that it made borderline every character in the series' motivations boil down to "DA BAWS" despite The Boss doing literally nothing the entire game that would explain why anyone would think she's so cool. Wow she can do some Judo, meanwhile other people in the same game are shooting bees out of their eyeballs and can shoot electricity out of their hands.
CadetMahoney
Member
Batmans
Last of Us
Uncharted
Last of Us
Uncharted
I can't believe I forgot this one.
I never use the word "insulting" but that's what I thought about this game. It treats you like an idiot.
RespectThySole
Member
Agree with this one too. I couldn't complete RoTR. So dull.
- Monster Hunter
- Bioshock games
- Tomb Raider 2013
- First Person Shooters and Action games like Dishonored. Though I loved the Metroid Prime games, I might be biased
I finished TR 2013 but man, I found myself mostly questioning why some things were there instead of enjoying the game, so I'm really hoping RotTR is a much better game.
Rapscallion
Member
Earthworm Jim
I love platformers, and the Genesis/SNES era was home to some of the greatest games. Earthworm Jim is revered by many as being one of the best games of the era and I've tried countless times to play through the game. It never clicks. I never see the appeal. It has really expressive animation, but the game plays incredibly poor and the level design and gameplay mechanics just aren't up to snuff.
I've tried multiple times in multiple different years to play the game, thinking "this will be the time I finally understand it" and it never works out.
I love platformers, and the Genesis/SNES era was home to some of the greatest games. Earthworm Jim is revered by many as being one of the best games of the era and I've tried countless times to play through the game. It never clicks. I never see the appeal. It has really expressive animation, but the game plays incredibly poor and the level design and gameplay mechanics just aren't up to snuff.
I've tried multiple times in multiple different years to play the game, thinking "this will be the time I finally understand it" and it never works out.
Heebie Jeebies
Banned
I don't know if it was critically acclaimed or not, but i cannot for the life of me get into Borderlands. At first I didn't have a PC good enough for acceptable performance, and now I just seem to die every 10 minutes. Quests are an absolute chore to get through and I don't find it fun at all. I've moved onto Wolfenstein: The New Order (a properly fun game) and I doubt I'll go back to Borderlands anytime soon.
pixelpatch
Junior Member
Metal Gear Solid - I just think that it doesnt give you the free-rein it could and almost spells things out for you
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
The Uncharted series. I like the stories, but the constant repetition of "10-minute gunfight, run a bit, weak puzzle, scale a cliff, 10-minute gunfight" makes it a slog for me to play. I'm sitting out UC4 because of it.
MetalGearZed
Member
Dishonored. I wanted to love it, but the PS3 version gave me a headache.
Cropduster89
Neo Member
Naughty Dog
Uncharted - A dull shooter interspersed with non-interactive boredom sections that look great in screen shots but play like a child's connect the dots book. And a tonne of cut-scenes for a smug plot that bored the hell out of me.
The Last of Us - A hodgepodge of whatever AAA game mechanics were popular at the time that still manages to feel like a poor mans RE4. And again, a story that thinks it's the business but reeks of dry predictable teen fiction.
All been down hill since crash bandicoot 3.
Also all telltale games. You can recreate the "Choose your own cutscene" experience just by flicking through a load of tv channels you don't want to watch.
Meh maybe I'm just not a storyline person
Uncharted - A dull shooter interspersed with non-interactive boredom sections that look great in screen shots but play like a child's connect the dots book. And a tonne of cut-scenes for a smug plot that bored the hell out of me.
The Last of Us - A hodgepodge of whatever AAA game mechanics were popular at the time that still manages to feel like a poor mans RE4. And again, a story that thinks it's the business but reeks of dry predictable teen fiction.
All been down hill since crash bandicoot 3.
Also all telltale games. You can recreate the "Choose your own cutscene" experience just by flicking through a load of tv channels you don't want to watch.
Meh maybe I'm just not a storyline person
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This game was so well-developed, but it just was not enjoyable or entertaining.
What the... are you sure? Half-life's contemporaries were:
Unreal
SiN
Shogo
Blood II
Turok 2
Kingpin
Descent 3
You really sure about that?
What the... are you sure? Half-life's contemporaries were:
Unreal
SiN
Shogo
Blood II
Turok 2
Kingpin
Descent 3
You really sure about that?
Cropduster89
Neo Member
Unreal from the same time was pretty good though, and was just as much of a breath of fresh air, even though most of it's storytelling was environmental whereas HL was a bit more direct. Also Sin was pretty good in a fullon comic book cheese kind of way.
Agreed about OOT though.
SquashMatch
Member
Dark souls
Witcher 3, although I am going to give it another shot
Witcher 3, although I am going to give it another shot
lord_of_flood
Member
Mass Effect series
Fallout 3
GTA series
Assassin's Creed II
And a lot of other games like these. Let's just say I'm not a big fan of [modern] Western game design.
Fallout 3
GTA series
Assassin's Creed II
And a lot of other games like these. Let's just say I'm not a big fan of [modern] Western game design.
Have you tried the multiplayer ? It is of the same perfection as Quake III Arena
GravityMan
Member
Out of all the critically acclaimed games I've played over the past several console generations (and on PC), I can think of only one game that really sticks out that did not click for me at all. Grand Theft Auto IV. The whole thing felt very uninteresting and some things annoyed me. Traded it in after playing for 10 hours or so.
Fez may join my list, but I don't feel I've given it enough playtime. Same with Shadow of Mordor. And Xenoblade Chronicles X. Need to put more time into those games.
Uncharted series - the games themselves did click with me, but Drake himself not so much...I thought he was just OK. I liked his supporting cast (Sully, Chloe, Elena, etc) more...for some of them a lot more.
If this thread were created a month or so ago, I may have added Salt & Sanctuary to my list. It was immediately clear to me that the game was pretty well-made, but the first 4 or so areas, the combat, enemies, bosses, art direction, etc didn't really grab me. Fortunately once I got further in, the game really grew on me and now I enjoy it quite a bit. (The patch that added HUD/UI scaling also helped.)
My list of critically acclaimed games that DID click for me but I felt were still a bit overrated for one reason or another is a lot longer. Bioshock, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Final Fantasy VIII to name a few.
Fez may join my list, but I don't feel I've given it enough playtime. Same with Shadow of Mordor. And Xenoblade Chronicles X. Need to put more time into those games.
Uncharted series - the games themselves did click with me, but Drake himself not so much...I thought he was just OK. I liked his supporting cast (Sully, Chloe, Elena, etc) more...for some of them a lot more.
If this thread were created a month or so ago, I may have added Salt & Sanctuary to my list. It was immediately clear to me that the game was pretty well-made, but the first 4 or so areas, the combat, enemies, bosses, art direction, etc didn't really grab me. Fortunately once I got further in, the game really grew on me and now I enjoy it quite a bit. (The patch that added HUD/UI scaling also helped.)
My list of critically acclaimed games that DID click for me but I felt were still a bit overrated for one reason or another is a lot longer. Bioshock, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Final Fantasy VIII to name a few.
Collateral22
Member
MGSV and TW3.