Games You Were NOT Excited For That Turned Out To Be Gems!

Crackdown for sure.

I won it in a contest and only wanted it for the Halo 3 beta but from the second I started playing I fell in love trying to get all those orbs.

To this day, I am only missing one orb.
 
Perfect Dark N64

I was with my cousin at gamestop and we were looking around for some games. Well he saw this perfect dark game and saw that it had coop so he made an impulse buy.

Now up until this game we couldn't stand fps games, but damn that game changed our minds! It was pure awesome.

Also Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

I kept procrastinating on buying it because I wasn't too interested in it, but then it became hard to find. I finally found it recently for cheap at gamestop, and couldn't put the game down! Great game.
 
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[quote name='heavyd853']Yakuza!

I didn't even think about it until Markman talked about how much he loved the series and I randomly looked at a trailer for 3.

I played through the first game in like 5 days, so awesssssssome!

Stomping on faces will never get old.[/quote]

YES. Yakuza/Ryu Ga Gotoku.
 
For me, it's Portal. I thought this was a throw-in game to pad the number of games included in the Orange Box. Little did I know that this would be one of the best games I have ever played.
 
Lego Star Wars. Being able to play with one of my most favorite childhood toys combined with one of my favorite childhood movie series, and being able to kill Jar Jar Binks made this a gem for me.
 
[quote name='captainfrizo']Castlevania: SotN - It was my first encounter with the Castlevania series, I purchased it on a whim when I found it on Cleraance at Target. It's one of my best impulse buys ever.
[/quote]

This one. Back in the day my dad used to play games and he bought this on a whim. My friend came over and said "YOU HAVE THIS ONE?!?!" and we played the crap out of it for the next couple of weeks. To this day I think I've beaten it about 7 times. Great game.

Also, Baten Kaitos. The first one. I needed a new RPG to play and this one looked decent enough. No real hype here, but once I played it, I didn't want to stop. Excellent story, music, everything. Oh, and I paid ~$35.00 for it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
 
I was a bit paranoid about Resident Evil 4 since it was clearly throwing a lot of classical surivival horror conventions out the window. However, once you accept it as an action game instead, it became THE game of the generation.
 
[quote name='VAD3R or Fro']Lego Star Wars. Being able to play with one of my most favorite childhood toys combined with one of my favorite childhood movie series, and being able to kill Jar Jar Binks made this a gem for me.[/quote]

I'm glad to hear this game is good because I spent my $55 Circuit City "free" gift card (along with a 10% off e-coupon) on Lego Starwars: The Complete Saga and Infinite Undiscovery.
 
Dark Sector... I didn't expect much from the game, but I really enjoyed it.
Assassin's Creed - didn't know what they game was going to be, but I have to say it turned out to be a classic.
 
SSX3. I never really played the other games too much. I heard about it from some friends, picked it up and played it for about 50+ hours in the first 3 days of owning it. It is probably one of my favorite games.
 
Ring of Red - I had no idea whether this game would be good, turned out to be one of my favorite mech games ever

SSX Tricky - I usually get bored with sports games but the fantastical settings and generally manic tone kept my attention.
 
Although Blood Omen 2 wasn't the best, the legacy of kain series of games was one of the best stories ever made....I've never played a series of games that had me so interested for what was to happen next.

These games didn't get the best reviews so I believe that many people missed out on how great these games actually were.:applause:
 
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de Blob - Got it with the TRU B2G1 free sale last Sunday and I finally decided to play it yesterday. I'm basically fidgeting in my chair right now wanting to play it again. But, then I remember that I have to celebrate my friend's birthday today.

This is why backlogs form, people!!!
 
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Picked it up cuz it was 10 bucks at Fry's. Never heard much about the game, now the AA games are some of my favorites out of all my DS games.

SKATE. - I loved the Tony Hawk games up till number 4, SKATE. seemed to be a more authentic and realistic skateboarding game than the new Tony Hawk games, so I figured I give it a try. Best skateboarding game ever, I can never play a Tony Hawk game again.

Kingdom Hearts - When I first heard about the game, I was skeptical as to how they were going to meld the Disney and Square universes together and make something interesting and fun, but wasn't too childish. Now it's one of my favorite games of all time.
 
Very old game but still good, Guerilla War for the NES.
Tales of Symphonia, now I love the Tales games.
Rock Band...one of my favorite games, introduced me to a lot of great bands.
 
I picked up The Bourne Conspiracy used a couple of weeks ago, only got it cos a B2G1F was on and they didn't have anything else I wanted.

I was expecting it to be rubbish, but I actually enjoyed playing through it.
 
frag, I felt the same about phoenix wright!

It looked like some wacky Japanese game, that all the otaku would love regardless of its quality. But it has a lot of charm and good writing for a video game. Color me surprised.
 
Dewy's Adventure

I picked it up at GameStop for $8 when they didn't have something else I was looking for. I then stuck it in a pile and avoided it. I thought I would have problems with the control and then my son told me his friend had it and hated it.

I can't stop playing it. The control is annoying at times, but it's never overly so and it doesn't detract from the fun and inventiveness. It reminds me of several other games in one, but in a good way.
 
[quote name='Calamityuponthee']Condemned[/quote]
[quote name='manthing']Xiii[/quote]
Agreed ^

[quote name='whoknows']Forgot to mention Jeanne D'arc. I bought it with no expectations, but it turned out to be awesome.[/quote]

:whistle2:s Didn't I trade it to you?
 
Shadow of the Colossus...had some lame name before it was changed to SotC, gameplay looked to be dull (only boss fights?). Got it as a christmas present and thought it was one of the best games ever.
 
Fire Emblem GBA, never was a fan of anything RPG, still not but loved this. Got it for $10 back a few years ago at BB, knew it got good reviews and needed for my GBA collection. I popped it in a few months later and had so much fun with it. Still haven't beaten it but I actually cared about the characters and the gameplay and strategy was great.
 
Let's see here...
Heavenly Sword was amazing even though many people jsut called it a GOW ripoff =/
Stuntman is still one of my favorite games to this day.
Indigo Prophecy is still one of my favorite games to this day.
Call of Duty 3 is my favorite Call of Duty =/


The biggest surprises have been Portal and Bioshock- unoriginal, but true :)

(and if means anything, the Valkyria Chronicles demo made it go from $20 buy to must-buy-now)
 
Skies of Arcadia.
I went in not really knowing what to expect and the game blew me away. One of my favorites of all time.
 
Puzzle Quest for me. Picked it up on a whim when I first got my DS...and now it is one of the few games I've played through multiple times, and the ONLY game I own on multiple systems.
 
Zelda: The Minish Cap. To this day, one of the only games I've ever completed. :eek: I bought it at a KB Toys clearance sale for $10 and I played the hell out of it for hours on end.
 
Jet set radio - thought the demo was eh, i still bought it full price day 1 cause i wanted a new Dreamcast game never regretted it. Same goes for Gundam wing side story 0079
 
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune - I thought the game was a Tomb Raider rip off and never gave much thought into it. After I got a PS3, I decided to give it a rent; and I can honestly say its one of my favorite games now in this current gen.
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