Games You Like, But Most Do Not

[DisobeyedCargo]

Just now, Ronnie said:

Pepsiman is legit. Temple Run wishes it had that much character.

Oh yes, Pepsiman is the game of the century.

[Omegaprism]

I'll go with a couple of deep cuts from my Dreamcast library: Plasma Sword and Psychic Force 2012. Both are sequels to super niche fighting games, and both are considered by many to be a step down from their predecessors. I, however, really liked the new characters and crazy art style that Psychic Force 2012 had, and liked the gameplay just fine. Plasma Sword is not a great game, but I really liked the universe it was building on, and I don't care what people say, the plasma combo system in the first Star Gladiator was slow and clunky, and the sequel tried a lot of new and interesting things, including one of the first (and best) instances of cinematic camera work when someone used a super, a universal counter system, and my favorite, the plasma field, which gave every character a unique power-up for a few seconds, like growing to giant size, infinite super bars, turning invisible, becoming super fast, shooting out tiny bouncing exploding clones of yourself, making your attacks unblockable, freezing time, etc. It was awesome! Sadly, the Star Gladiator series is another one of those orphaned capcom properties, so the chances of getting a sequel or seeing any of the weird-yet-awesome character designs in any of their newer games is all but nil.

I fervently wish Capcom would just make a "Capcom vs itself," game just so Rival Schools and Star Gladiator could get some more exposure.

[Fala]

I like Dynasty Warriors because it's the successor to the Golden Axe beat 'em ups now that Beast Rider killed the franchise and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is prime Fire Emblem material.

[KoimanZX]

On 7/24/2017 at 2:27 AM, Slumber said:

I'm gonna have to stop you there, and tell you that, no, that's not why people dislike SS. People were already saying shit about the game shortly after release, weeeeell before Egoraptor's video, and it's the first time I remember a lot of people saying it "broke the Zelda cycle", because it skipped the honeymoon phase where everyone was absolutely enamored and loved it. Right off the bat, people were split because of waggle(As improved as they were over TP, are still a major hurdle for a lot of people to get over), the constant babying with Fi stopping you from you all the time, lack of an actual world to explore, and the heavy reliance on recycling levels later in the game. Hell, I saw people who were upset that it retconned Minish Cap. 

 

You are right that Skyward Sword's problems are pretty obvious. My comment was more in reference to the habit of many to bash a piece of media simply because some Internet celebrity said that said piece is bad. I guess I made it seem like the general consensus was being dictated exclusively by Egoraptor (I could give a futile rebuttal by saying that said "many" and not "everyone", but the statement was still poorly worded and from a place of ignorance) and I guess I should own up to that.  

[Slumber]

1 minute ago, KoimanZX said:

You are right that Skyward Sword's problems are pretty obvious. My comment was more in reference to the habit of many to bash a piece of media simply because some Internet celebrity said that said piece is bad. I guess I made it seem like the general consensus was being dictated exclusively by Egoraptor (I could give a futile rebuttal by saying that said "many" and not "everyone", but the statement was still poorly worded and from a place of ignorance) and I guess I should own up to that.  

Fair enough. It's not like I don't make hyperbolic and overly general comments here and there.

[henrymidfields]

I'm surprised that gamers seem to have issues with Skyward Sword. On the other hand, I'm glad to see that the game's story is really appealing - I just bought the game as my first to play on the Wii, so to hear good news in regards to that is encouraging.

As for my game for this topic? Pokémon XY, in which a lot of people in Bulbagarden seem to dislike. Me? It was the game that brought me back to Pokémon, and I'm happy to bask in a region that actually resembles it's real-life inspiration for the first time since Johto! That was back when actual Japan-with-Pokémon was a thing before GF ditched that idea. Even better is when the villain is inspired from real-life right-wing European politics from the 1930s, which real-life France had an activist who modelled his own political views based from such before the Vichy Regime came in.

[Sentacotus]

Another one to add to the list Rome Total War and even Rome II.  Count this one up to me being a history buff.  I'll also add Skyward Sword I did rather enjoy the more precise combat system and the better story than previous zelda titles leading up to it IMO save for Majora's Mask.

[KoimanZX]

15 hours ago, henrymidfields said:

As for my game for this topic? Pokémon XY, in which a lot of people in Bulbagarden seem to dislike. Me? It was the game that brought me back to Pokémon, and I'm happy to bask in a region that actually resembles it's real-life inspiration for the first time since Johto! That was back when actual Japan-with-Pokémon was a thing before GF ditched that idea. Even better is when the villain is inspired from real-life right-wing European politics from the 1930s, which real-life France had an activist who modelled his own political views based from such before the Vichy Regime came in.

The funny thing is that I had a similar thing happen with me. I dropped out of the series around the end of Generation 4 and sort of skipped Generation 5 (I played through White 2 after I finished Y just to help fill out the PokeDex). The Fairy type was intriguing enough for me to give the series another go. Needless to say, I still play the games; especially after discovering Gardewaifu and the other waifumons Smogon (I like to watch Pimpnite with his goofy sets and theme teams on YouTube). Kalos is a pretty cool region with an interesting aesthetic. I also like how grinding for levels was made so much easier with the restaurants and the O-Power feature (Generation 6 marked the first time I bothered to raise Pokemon to level 100).

[saisymbolic]

FFX-2. Say what you will about the outfits, but the gameplay was magnificent. The battles were the right amounts of fast-paced and action-packed. I honestly thought it utilized the ATB the best. I'm not a huge fan of the story, though I will admit some moments made me tear up or giggle a little.

[henrymidfields]

1 hour ago, saisymbolic said:

FFX-2. Say what you will about the outfits, but the gameplay was magnificent. The battles were the right amounts of fast-paced and action-packed. I honestly thought it utilized the ATB the best. I'm not a huge fan of the story, though I will admit some moments made me tear up or giggle a little.

Oh, I forgot to mention this too. Though, in my case, it was really awesome having a "happy ending" story of sorts. The lighthearted story may be otherwise unfitting in a FF game. Here, however, I have no problem, because the happier sequel indirectly shows just how screwed up Spira was in X(-1), and also makes Yuna and Co's ultimate victory against Sin in the original all that more awesome. Plus, even this bubbly story still have some bittersweet or tragic moments (the Guados and Yuna's aeons in particular, and well, the inevitable change all across Spira in general) so it's not as if the entire game tastes like diabetes. I think at least some people seem to forget this when criticizing X-2's story/setting.

Edited July 27, 2017 by henrymidfields

[Armagon]

I like Sticker Star. It's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. For being a handheld Paper Mario, i think it works. It doesn't really deserve the hate it gets imo.

As for Color Splash, mmm, i don't know what the general opinion on this game is but i like it too. Color Splash is better than The Thousand Year Door. Yep, i just said that.

[Jedi]

8 hours ago, saisymbolic said:

FFX-2. Say what you will about the outfits, but the gameplay was magnificent. The battles were the right amounts of fast-paced and action-packed. I honestly thought it utilized the ATB the best. I'm not a huge fan of the story, though I will admit some moments made me tear up or giggle a little.

I'm going to 3rd this actually.

[Azure Sen]

Mind Zero: It got a lot of flak for being a rip-off of Persona 4, some of which isn't entirely undeserved but a lot of which is over-exaggerated by people who never played the game. The game's battle system is way more interesting and more customizable than Persona 4's (...mostly because you could actually customize all your characters' skill sets in-depth, instead of just the main character), and the summons in Mind Zero function more like actual summons. The only real downside is that the game's story ends with no real resolution, but that's mostly because they were setting up for a sequel that never came.

Resident Evil 6: Minus the rancid pile of CoD-ripoff garbage that is Chris's campaign, RE6 is no worse than competent. Leon and Helena's campaign actually succeeds at being tense and dare I say scary at times, Sherry and Jake's campaign is more akin to 4 and 5 and works in that regard, and I am 100% biased towards Ada so I love her campaign regardless. Helena, especially, I hope shows back up in future games/spin-offs.

On 7/26/2017 at 4:04 PM, LordOTaco said:

Another one to add to the list Rome Total War and even Rome II.  Count this one up to me being a history buff.

Did Rome Total War go through a popularity drop recently? Last I checked, people still loved the original, and I'd certainly count myself among those that do if it has suffered a popularity drop (I actually just beat a Rome long campaign as the Brutii). Rome II I have more issues with mostly because the devs yet again felt the need to include a poorly-balanced mechanic to screw you over when you get too powerful because they couldn't figure out any other way to balance the endgame and the only plus I'd give the civil war over Realm Divide is that you can actually prevent the civil war but it's still a solid entry regardless post-Emperor Edition.

On 7/23/2017 at 10:24 PM, Azz said:

Final Fantasy XIII. I actually like the main cast, even Lightning. Also the linearity does not bother me. I always liked a more story based game and that is what XIII is. Though, I will concede, it did not need two sequels, especially XIII-2 which is a mess story wise.

This too. FFXIII gets a lot of undeserved crap despite having a solid story and characters and a fun if slightly unpolished battle system and I wholeheartedly agree that both XIII-2 and Lightning Returns are terrible, for different reasons.

[NinjaMonkey]

Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

Edited July 28, 2017 by NinjaMonkey

[Sentacotus]

14 hours ago, AzureSen said:

Did Rome Total War go through a popularity drop recently? Last I checked, people still loved the original, and I'd certainly count myself among those that do if it has suffered a popularity drop (I actually just beat a Rome long campaign as the Brutii). Rome II I have more issues with mostly because the devs yet again felt the need to include a poorly-balanced mechanic to screw you over when you get too powerful because they couldn't figure out any other way to balance the endgame and the only plus I'd give the civil war over Realm Divide is that you can actually prevent the civil war but it's still a solid entry regardless post-Emperor Edition.

 

It is a popular game but alot of people prefer Shogun 2 and Medeval 2 quite alot.  Both of which are great games.  Most people who play the original Rome load up a mod called Rome Total Realism which have units and factions that more accurately reflect the era and its more balanced by most accounts (in short its a total overhaul).  Yeah I'm not too much a fan over the whole must have a Realm Divide mechanic thrown in there.  Of course its historically accurate but is me being able to conquer all of Russia as Rome historically accurate?  lol.  I still like it though

[Etrurian emperor]

On 26-7-2017 at 10:04 PM, LordOTaco said:

Another one to add to the list Rome Total War and even Rome II.  Count this one up to me being a history buff.  I'll also add Skyward Sword I did rather enjoy the more precise combat system and the better story than previous zelda titles leading up to it IMO save for Majora's Mask.

I always thought the original Rome had a very solid reputation. Rome II less so due to launching several years before it should have. I tend to be a big fan of the series....when my PC can run them.

I'd say Assassin's creed 3. It has a reputation of being the game were repetition really began to set in for a lot of people. But I liked it a lot, especially thanks to its setting which I find really weird due to me blaming it for choosing the wrong revolution to focus on. But they handled its focus really well. There must have been a lot of pressure to portray the Americans as the clear good guys, to some extend they caved in(Connor has no real reason to detest the British other then marketing ones) but things like depicting Washington as a sub par, bumbling and morally ambiguous commander and showing the Americans are more into slavery and Native oppression were fairly risky and respectable decisions. I also think its got one of the better stories due to Nathan Kenway, easily the best Templar of them all.

Also Dragon age 2. I agree with all the complaints and have some of my own too but it came out pretty good for a game that was apparently only given a year of development time. Its not Origins but its got its own smaller and more personal style. The smaller setting really sold the impression that the party members had lives that didn't resolve around the main character.

Quote

Yeah I'm not too much a fan over the whole must have a Realm Divide mechanic thrown in there. 

Its such a shame. Shogun might have been the perfect total war game if not for that stupid mechanic. It reeks of artificial difficulty. I personally also find it a strong charm that I can choose who to go to war with and who to ally with in a total war game. Realm divide just takes that away and forces you to be at war with everyone all the time, no matter how closely allied you were before. 

Edited July 29, 2017 by Etrurian emperor

[Sentacotus]

On 7/29/2017 at 11:02 AM, Etrurian emperor said:

I always thought the original Rome had a very solid reputation. Rome II less so due to launching several years before it should have. I tend to be a big fan of the series....when my PC can run them.

 

It does its not bad by any means definitely probably the first most people play.  Rome II not only launched pretty late but it was bogged down by several performance issues pre-Emperor Edition update although now its perfectly playable.

Edited July 31, 2017 by LordOTaco

[Pixelman]

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Very few games feel as rewarding as this one. The game kicks your ass hard but when you finally gain the skill necessary to accomplish certain things (i.e. conquering Death Mountain, beating the boss of a temple, etc.) you feel on top of the fucking world

Even though I rarely play Zelda games (they aren't my cup of tea) this is easily my favorite one

[Rapier]

Mega Man X6.

Yes, the game is bad and very obviously beta because of its rushed development, but I learned to deal with that fake difficulty with poor level design as a kid. I actually enjoy it more than X5, which has no excuse for being dull, boring and copying X4 in many areas.

I also like Gate, and if Zero didn't appear in this game we could have a nice interlude between X5's ending and the Zero series' beginning. It's one of those games that I really wish it had been worked on as much as it deserved.

[Slumber]

Suda 51/Grasshopper games. Mostly:

Killer7 - One of the harder games to say as one people "dislike", but it didn't get great reviews, despite its status as a cult classic. Totally fucking weird and awesome.

Shadows of the Damned - One that got decent review scores, but was pretty trashed by other Suda fans for not being "weird enough". Still a solid, fun, RE4-styled third person shooter, and my tolerance to toilet humor let me enjoy more of the writing than most people probably would.

Killer Is Dead - Mediocre reviews(The game got torn apart because you play a male prostitute and the part of the game where you're sizing up and giving clients gifts during dates made reviewers think that Mondo was basically ogling and soliciting the women for sex, rather than the other way around) and not really celebrated by Suda fans. Which is weird, because it's probably the best playing game Grasshopper's ever made. Another totally weird, far out game, and actually a pretty competent character action game. Some of the side stuff is... bizarre(The dates are definitely weird and a bit off-putting) but those things really aren't major enough to really detract from this game for me.

Let It Die - Probably the most fully fleshed out single-player F2P game I've played. You can probably go more than 40 hours in that game without paying a cent. Definitely still janky and a total BS at times, but I got waaaaaay more time out of it than I ever though I would, and I enjoyed a good chunk of that time.

The only major one that either split the Suda fanbase or wasn't reviewed well that I won't really go to bat for is Lollipop Chainsaw. I think the game's pretty funny, but I don't really enjoy actually playing it that much, and some of the fanservice is too much.

Edited August 3, 2017 by Slumber

[Lerandel]

Super Mario Bros. 2 (International version): I think it turned out to be for the better that this version got released outside of Japan. The original Super Mario Bros. 2 was way too difficult and sometimes a bit unfair in some spots, and even Shigeru Miyamoto didn't feel it turned out how he expected. He then turned Doki Doki Panic: Dream Factory to Super Mario Bros. 2, and that was one of the smartest moves Nintendo made.

[KoimanZX]

57 minutes ago, Rapier said:

Mega Man X6.

Yes, the game is bad and very obviously beta because of its rushed development, but I learned to deal with that fake difficulty with poor level design as a kid. I actually enjoy it more than X5, which has no excuse for being dull, boring and copying X4 in many areas.

I also like Gate, and if Zero didn't appear in this game we could have a nice interlude between X5's ending and the Zero series' beginning. It's one of those games that I really wish it had been worked on as much as it deserved.

I found X6 to be quite easy with Zero (only Infinity Mijinion, Gate, and High Max gave me that much trouble, and even then I still am able to beat them with some effort). The only levels I found that difficult were the Gate levels and Infinity Mijinion's stage. Zero easily breaks that game in two (I can beat Commander Yammark in approximately 10 seconds just by bum-rushing him and the Z-buster makes short work of Rainy Turtloid in tandem with Blaze Heatnix's move to break the crystals on his back). I swear, Zero is basically the Easy Mode of the game, even with the barely functional weapon from Shield Sheldon.

The are hints of a good game, that is for sure. Playing around with the equipable parts is pretty fun and the music is pretty decent (although decent music seems to be a common thread with many bad games). The Nightmare system sucked with the annoying stage-light effect that obscured parts of the screen and the Virus Zeros crashing into X often without any way to dodge them. You just have to love that executive meddling forcing unnecessary installments into the series and ruining the canon (X8 and Command Mission were okay, though).  

[Rapier]

I remember Zero being OP in X5 and in X6 (mostly due to dash+saber loop abuse, which breaks anything in every PS1 game). Battles like these are absurd, like Blizzard Wolfgang's, where you only have to stay in place and fire with the Z-Buster to completely nulify anything the boss might try to do. This video shows how Zero breaks any boss in X6.

Again, this is also an issue in X4 and X5, but there the bosses' movesets don't allow as much freedom as X6's, so it is much easier to do the dash+saber or saber+jump loop abuse on X6's bosses than it is in X4 and X5.

Without being gamey, the only game where Zero isn't so OPed is X4 (from the PS1 titles). Even in gameplay he is the favored character

Anyway, imagine if X6 was fleshed out, had a customizable armor system as it seems it'd have, scrapped the fake difficulty and unfairness of the stages, improved the Nightmare System so that it isn't as cheap as it turned out to be and fixed its balancing issues. Maybe we'd see this in a Maverick Hunter X6.

Edited August 3, 2017 by Rapier

[DragonFlames]

Since most games I play are niche, I don't really know what's hated and what isn't, but from my knowledge I do have a few games that I love that others... don't.

Fire Emblem Awakening is probably the biggest one, although that one is liked by many people, but seemingly hated by just as many people, so I'm not quite sure.

A game I know is not very well liked in its community is definitely Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World, though the flak against that game has died down with Zestiria's release (another game I really, really loved). I don't really know why people didn't like Dawn of the New World, though. I, for one, really enjoyed its story, the characters (the two protagonists in particular are very well done and memorable as being something different from what I was used to until then), and the gameplay was fantastic, unlike anything I had ever played up until that point in my life. While Xillia and eventually Xillia 2 and Berseria topped it as my favourite Tales game, I still love my entry game to the amazing Tales franchise.

Another game I think people aren't too hot on is Final Fantasy XII, my personal favourite Final Fantasy game. With the recently released Zodiac Age remaster, I got to experience this game again and I loved it just as much as I did back on the PS2 where I first played it, if not more so.
Graphically, this game was (and still is) a masterpiece, far ahead of its time. The world of Ivalice is gorgeous and really fun to explore, the lore behind it all is amazing and they even payed attention to minor details such as different nations having different accents, the people of the Archadian Empire for example all have a British accent while the people of the Kingdom of Dalmasca have an American accent.
I also like the MMO-style approach to how fighting and especially loot works. While it may get frustrating at times to get that 25% chance chest with the awesome weapon to spawn, it feels very rewarding when you suddenly receive a powerful weapon early on that just steamrolls everything up until a certain point.
What I love most about this game is that it's story is vastly different from other JRPGs, in that it focuses more around political intrigue, the meaning of rule and peace as well as the concept of a predetermined course of history than around its characters (which are still very well done in my humble opinion). The game also lacks a specified protagonist. Everyone in your party will have their time in the spotlight.
While they aren't as deep as past games' characters, they are more like surrogates for you to experience their world and the ways in which it functions. Combine all of this with a fantastic soundtrack with atmospheric music, also different from other games in the genre, and FFXII stands as a very unique game in its franchise and is probably the franchise's most niche title, as I rarely ever see people talking about it.

Sorry for circlejerking these games a bit. I just like them a lot.

[Rapier]

Just remembered that I liked Megaman Battlechip Challenge. Yes, the Battle Network game where you don't act at all, you just set your Navi's deck with its own limitations, buy chips and hope the RNG is benevolent. And I'm perfectly ok with this type of "gameplay". I think it was better than the series' standard gameplay, which I could never like.