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Games with mediocre or bad gameplay, but great visuals, music and presentation
- Thread starter MrBadger
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Pseudo_Sam
Survives without air, food, or water
Journey, Bastion, Uncharted, Skyward Sword.
pinkurocket
Member
Uncharted is mentioned a lot here. I have to say when I played the first Uncharted, I was hoping for puzzles end exploration but got a game with a very linear path going from shootout to shootout. Was disappointing and it made me not care about the rest of the series. However the games are truly stunning with great design.. So it fits this thread all though it's closer to the 'mediocre' end of the stick rather than flat-out 'bad' ..
Honestly, I kind of get visions of Silent Hill games (original trilogy) for this topic. Amazing atmosphere, visuals, stories ... But christ those controls and that combat. The 'gameplay' is definitely awful, though it makes up for it in pacing and overall theme.
Honestly, I kind of get visions of Silent Hill games (original trilogy) for this topic. Amazing atmosphere, visuals, stories ... But christ those controls and that combat. The 'gameplay' is definitely awful, though it makes up for it in pacing and overall theme.
Going to echo Ni No Kuni and El Shaddai here.
Ni no Kuni is horribly balanced, the gameplay in some aspects is just awful. Why do I have to switch back to Oliver if I want to use fucking items? Jesus that's stupid. Also the AI is godawful, might as well just let them die or in the case Oliver somehow dies before them, use them to revive him and that's it, they basically just serve as meatshields and nothing else. The game is gorgeous but damn the mechanics are just frustrating.
El Shaddai in that like was mentioned is just breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately the gameplay is simple and repetitive. The different weapons offer basically no combos, and with only three weapons with no way to upgrade them, things get old fast. Still really pretty though.
Ni no Kuni is horribly balanced, the gameplay in some aspects is just awful. Why do I have to switch back to Oliver if I want to use fucking items? Jesus that's stupid. Also the AI is godawful, might as well just let them die or in the case Oliver somehow dies before them, use them to revive him and that's it, they basically just serve as meatshields and nothing else. The game is gorgeous but damn the mechanics are just frustrating.
El Shaddai in that like was mentioned is just breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately the gameplay is simple and repetitive. The different weapons offer basically no combos, and with only three weapons with no way to upgrade them, things get old fast. Still really pretty though.
You ate right out of his hands man.
Edit: my favorite horror series, Silent Hill, has a few entries that for this thread I'd say.
IncandescentPrecept
Banned
Ocarina of Time.
Actually, I think we more or less agree on Sony. Their biggest games fit in this thread, but a lot of their other stuff do not. Definitely agree with you on Team ICO making amazing games from a gameplay perspective, and I know they fund a lot of smaller stuff - like Tearaway - that might not.
Natureboy99
Banned
Missed Tearaway eh? Also their PS4 world sculpting game will be incredible, if the initial demo is anything to go by.
Team ICO has been working on something very difficult, but they are working.
outunderthestars
Banned
Pretty much all AAA games.
Oh, and all of the garbage that Square is pushing out of it bowels.
Tearaway is a terrible game wrapped in an incredibly charming vaneer. Awful combat, zero exploration, zero player choice outside of playing dress up dolls, clunky mechanics, etc.
Oh, and all of the garbage that Square is pushing out of it bowels.
Tearaway is a terrible game wrapped in an incredibly charming vaneer. Awful combat, zero exploration, zero player choice outside of playing dress up dolls, clunky mechanics, etc.
I can see why people dislike the stories, characters and such in Nintendo-games since its more or less non-existant in most of their games, however, this thread was about gameplay, and there I feel you would have to criticize the mechanics themselves. For Zelda, which is a game about puzzle-solving, exploration and combat, I think it is very easy to be critical of the combat, and in some of the games the exploration-part, but very hard to do with the puzzles and general dungeon/level-design as they are simply masterfully crafted. Skyward Sword was no exception here, but it did have a very poor exploration-part to it, with the three hub-areas and whatnot, which in my opinion makes for a decent point of criticism, however the combat in the game was on the other hand very fresh and complex, and unlike anything ever seen in another game before or since - giving this particular Zelda a huge boost mechanically. So I disagree heavily with you on this game
grosvenor_92
Member
the thread.
Thought of this as I clicked on the thread and despite the not so great gameplay I still liked it. The visuals and soundtrack however are amazing
The two titles that come to mind immediately are
and
Both had stellar production values and charming art/sound but the game play just fell completely flat for me. I really wanted to love them but I never finished either.
With Little Big Planet the platforming just felt really off to me. I didn't really enjoy playing the game at all but I loved the overall aesthetic and creation tools. It's just really a shame they are tied to such an physics engine for all the platforming.
Puppeteer was amazingly beautiful and inventive and charming and I wanted to love it so much but the gameplay was more frustrating than fun. I found myself at a complete loss on what exactly I was supposed to be doing on a regular basis and the whole cutting mechanic just felt like a punishment whenever I had to use it. It's a shame really. Everything else about the game was great.
and
Both had stellar production values and charming art/sound but the game play just fell completely flat for me. I really wanted to love them but I never finished either.
With Little Big Planet the platforming just felt really off to me. I didn't really enjoy playing the game at all but I loved the overall aesthetic and creation tools. It's just really a shame they are tied to such an physics engine for all the platforming.
Puppeteer was amazingly beautiful and inventive and charming and I wanted to love it so much but the gameplay was more frustrating than fun. I found myself at a complete loss on what exactly I was supposed to be doing on a regular basis and the whole cutting mechanic just felt like a punishment whenever I had to use it. It's a shame really. Everything else about the game was great.
TLOU's control is not fast or precise in the way something like Vanquish is, but it's still easily the freshest and most innovative "third person" combat design for me this gen.
The united puzzle/stealth/melee/scouringing/combat elements form a single experience that is unmatched in the third person shooter genre; even though these individual elements aren't great when taken individually.The stealth sucks compared to something like MGS, for instance, but TLOU blends combat and stealth a lot more seamlessly to create something unique. There's just a lot of interesting "micro puzzle" moments overlapping in its gameplay, it NEVER boils down to just "taking cover and shooting."
It's pretty terrible at close-quarters Infected combat, though, it just always feels like a mess.
Uncharted 2 has good-to-great (traditional) encounter design though it is traditional.
The united puzzle/stealth/melee/scouringing/combat elements form a single experience that is unmatched in the third person shooter genre; even though these individual elements aren't great when taken individually.The stealth sucks compared to something like MGS, for instance, but TLOU blends combat and stealth a lot more seamlessly to create something unique. There's just a lot of interesting "micro puzzle" moments overlapping in its gameplay, it NEVER boils down to just "taking cover and shooting."
It's pretty terrible at close-quarters Infected combat, though, it just always feels like a mess.
Uncharted 2 has good-to-great (traditional) encounter design though it is traditional.
lol
Good shout, but I would mention P3 which had even worse gameplay.
Definitely was serious. All those games are average at best and are also overrated like crazy.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
In an effort to be edgy and controversial I'm going to name a popular game from a company I don't care for.
^Lol, that's always what these threads devolve into, or so etimes start as. It's really easy to tell who was truly disappointed by the gameplay, and who is just hating on games from a company they don't like. Makes it easy to know who is a fanboy and who isn't though!
Anyways, time for my gameplay letdowns.
Nailed it.
Great graphics for the Wii.
Phenomenonal soundtrack. Brilliant mix new tracks, remixes, and old songs.
Excellent presentation all around. Great menus, animations, and stuff.
But the gameplay was so whack. Clunky, slow, and tripping, balance...ugh.
They even managed to ruin stuff like the Home Run Contest.
Not to mention the extremely lazy Target Smash.
Don't even get me started on online.
Sucks that the game I have been the most hyped for ever turned out so mediocre outside of the superficial stuff. Really hope Smash 4 is a return to form, but I'll keep my expectations in check this time.
I also offer:
Gorgeous game. Can't blame Gametrailers for giving it best graphics that year (or was it GameSpot? Lol). But good grief, was this game a snooze fest. One of the few games I never touched again after finishing.
Sadly, Yoshi's Wolly World will likely turn out the same way. Prove me wrong, Feel-Good.
And finally, there's the Naruto Storm games. Kinda obvious ones. Outstanding graphics and animations, especially during boss fights. But the gameplay is basically just mash circle a lot, with all the cool moments during the bosses being overly long QTEs.
Anyways, time for my gameplay letdowns.
Nailed it.
Great graphics for the Wii.
Phenomenonal soundtrack. Brilliant mix new tracks, remixes, and old songs.
Excellent presentation all around. Great menus, animations, and stuff.
But the gameplay was so whack. Clunky, slow, and tripping, balance...ugh.
They even managed to ruin stuff like the Home Run Contest.
Not to mention the extremely lazy Target Smash.
Don't even get me started on online.
Sucks that the game I have been the most hyped for ever turned out so mediocre outside of the superficial stuff. Really hope Smash 4 is a return to form, but I'll keep my expectations in check this time.
I also offer:
Gorgeous game. Can't blame Gametrailers for giving it best graphics that year (or was it GameSpot? Lol). But good grief, was this game a snooze fest. One of the few games I never touched again after finishing.
Sadly, Yoshi's Wolly World will likely turn out the same way. Prove me wrong, Feel-Good.
And finally, there's the Naruto Storm games. Kinda obvious ones. Outstanding graphics and animations, especially during boss fights. But the gameplay is basically just mash circle a lot, with all the cool moments during the bosses being overly long QTEs.
Piston Hyundai
Member
Pretty much any game made by Wayforward.
Charm can only take your middling platformers so far.
Charm can only take your middling platformers so far.
Tearaway is terrible.
Team Ico has had both thimbs stuck up their ass for 10 years and never had *anything* to show for those 10 years.
At least DNF had updates from time to time.
deriks
4-Time GIF/Meme God
Earthbound I agree, but Golden Sun and Wind Waker has a great gameplay.
I would say:
and this:
FlowersisBritish
fleurs n'est pas britannique
Who here remember El Shadai? that game was gorgeous with some amazing music and visual design. Gameplay was only "Alright" but never really expanded past the first half hour.
PeregrinSe7en
Member
the thread.
and yet, i had more fun with it that anything platinum games has ever put out
super-famicom
Member
The Last of Us
Little Big Planet was so charming with everything aside from the actual platforming mechanics. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fun enough to keep playing for years despite amazing looking levels from the creation tools.
*reads thread*
Woof. Never setting foot in here again lol
*reads thread*
Woof. Never setting foot in here again lol
AcademicSaucer
Member
Persona 3 & 4 are my bane, the dungeon crawling parts felt half baked and i couldnt care less for the social links part .
what does platinum have anything to do with this post?
timetokill
Banned
Naughty Dog last gen jumps to mind for sure. The gameplay ranges from mediocre to "okay" but let's be honest, these games are about presentation first. And second, third, fourth, fifth...
Others :
Madworld
Flower, Journey
Kirby Epic Yarn
Little big planet... Such awful platforming
Others :
Madworld
Flower, Journey
Kirby Epic Yarn
Little big planet... Such awful platforming
Naughty Dog made Crash 1-3 and CTR and Jak series, games were gameplay was first and foremost.
Just wanted to say I agree wholeheartedly and that the train sequence in Uncharted 2 is the single most impressive piece of design and development work I saw in all of last gen. Just a jaw-dropping amount of things that come together near flawlessly. There is so much going on there, and it's so hard to notice a lot of it because it all feels so natural.
timetokill
Banned
I meant to put last Gen. Though jak2 was pretty awful.
Basketball
Member
The game has an amazing artstyle, artwork, great voice acting, awesome designs all around
but man the gameplay is the definition of mediocre - can get real repetitive
The Last of Us or Transistor or other similar answers might not be your cup of tea, but you can't argue that they're objectively bad or mediocre on that front. The Last of Us' multiplayer is regarded as one of the best in the past years. Transistor has a great blend of real-time and turn-based combat and strategy.
Edit : And Zelda. I mean come on.
Edit : And Zelda. I mean come on.
More like compared to four other action games (Bayo, DMC, Gaiden, Darksiders 2) its great on its own and much better than a majority of action games