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

leveskikesko

leveskikesko

CAGiversary!
Feedback
1 (100%)
I'm a little tired of the negativity from other threads, so I decided to combat them with this thread.

As for me Bioshock. Big shocker to me, I had no interest in it for the most part, in fact the main reason I checked it out was based purely on the hype. I had no idea it would have the most atmospheric and beautiful levels I've ever experienced. It really felt like I was playing a movie. If it weren't for the amazing demo I probably wouldn't have ever picked it it up or at least not as soon as I did. Developers, demos do help A LOT....if they're good.

That's the big one that stands out to me, what are yours?
 
Dreamfall: TLJ (pc)

Bought it cheap at best buy a year ago or so, never opened it.

While I was moving into my apartment, I hadn't set up internet yet, so I needed some offline games to play. I opened it up and started playing, and could not stop. Went from 0 interest to my top 5 list. One of my favorite games of all time.
 
Dead Space, havent heard much of it until a few weeks before release, boy it really brings Survival Horror back to it roots while still giving it a modern edge, I feel like I never played a game such as this before....great stuff
 
Patapon. Bought it sealed for 8 bucks right after release, played it once, and then put it on the shelf. Then once I actually sat down and put some time into it, it's one of my favorite PSP titles of its year.
 
Killer7. I got it after loving the hell out of No More Heroes, but most people I talked to said that the game was all style and no substance. I wish I had written down the names of "most people I talked to" so I could remember not to ask their advice in the future.

Oh, and Prince of Persia: Two Thrones. Still doesn't quite give me the good memories of Sands of Time, but I was prepared for it to be absolute shit after Warrior Within.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Killer7. I got it after loving the hell out of No More Heroes, but most people I talked to said that the game was all style and no substance. I wish I had written down the names of "most people I talked to" so I could remember not to ask their advice in the future.
[/quote]

People said that? really? crazy.

Killer 7 has probably the most complex and well thought out substance I've ever come across no matter what form of media. Books and movies have yet to even go there.
 
RE4 - Went in with no expectations and was blown away.
Bully - Love this game to the core. Heard it was mediocre but I really loved it.
Paper Mario:TTYD - Never played Paper Mario and got this on clearance on a whim. Great game.
We
 
Saints Row.

It looked like a half-retarded, painfully blatant GTA knock-off that did everything worse than GTA. While that's all true, that didn't stop it from being a lot of fun.
 
Resident Evil 4: I pre-ordered it 4 days before it came out, knew nothing about it. I was amazed.

Tales of Symphonia: I was told about this game from a friend. 3 weeks of renting it later, I just bought it. Then 3 days later I beat it.

Call of Duty 4: Not for the multiplayer, but the campaign. Truly amazing. If only Veteran were a tad bit easier. Also, I consider it to be the only game I should've paid full price for (I bought it on Christmas Eve).
 
Lunar Knights.

I liked Boktai 1, but never got to play Boktai 2. I had absolutely no hype or interest what so ever for Lunar Knights when it came out, I just completely passed on it. Picked it up recently and I absolutely love it.

Crackdown

Played this game when I first got my 360 and I didn't care for it at all. Felt too much like GTA San Andreas (the only GTA I even cared for) so I dismissed it quick. Last weekend I for some odd reason got the desire to play it again (a whole year later albeit) and I love this game. I can't even fathom as to why I disliked it before. It absolutely kicks the shit out of GTA IMHO.
 
Rock Band. I loved Guitar Hero II, was looking forward to 3, and then my friend started telling me about Rock Band. At first I thought "what could compare to GH?" but now that I've bought it, I can never place Guitar Hero on the same level.

Amazing game.
 
Guitar Hero III for me. I bought it for $40 at the Guitar Center sale thinking I might as well give it a shot, and i've been in love with Guitar Hero/Rock Band ever since.
 
Pikmin 2. Never played part 1 and had no interest in 2, but finding a nintendo title for 10 dollars on clearance was all the convincing I needed. Great game.
 
Resident Evil 4 - I hated the traditional RE games, and even though I knew RE4 was different I didn't buy it until I was able to get it for $10 at TRU. It's now one of my favorite games of all time and I can't wait for RE5.

Bioshock - I had little to no interest in this, and was truly amazed by the demo. I played through my brother's copy in a few days.
 
Lost Odyssey for me. It got sub-par reviews therefore I didn't buy it right away. It's until I got a trade off from here that I truly realize how awesome the game really is. I don't think people give it enough credit.
 
:whistle2:k That's weird, post ended up longer than I intended. :whistle2:\"

Fable: Lost Chapters - I bought this one for $6 from familyvideo last year after seeing it on the 360 BC list and went in without high expectations. I loved almost every moment of it. The combat and magic were so fun, the music was fantastic, and there were so many silly and fun things to do outside the main story line. Now I'm completely excited for Fable II and can't wait for Tuesday.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - When I first played the demo on the week it came out, I wasn't particularly impressed, it had great graphics, but the game didn't seem anything special. Months later, I ended up getting a subscription to GameFly and decided to give this game a chance. After playing the first chapter, I kept it and blew through it that week. It's not the most original game ever, but almost everything about it is just done so right - the graphics, the gameplay, the amazing animation, voice acting, music, and all the little things just add up to what I'd say is one of the most refined video games I've ever played. It remains my favorite game of this console generation (beating out games I actually was hyped for, such as MGS4 and SSBB) and the only game I've gone back (or even plan to) to get trophies for.
 
Uncharted...didnt expect much but totally pulled me in

Rock Band 2 ... thought it was going to be rock band 1.5 and i have already played and enjoyed it way more than the first one
 
Saints Row- seemingly a GTA ripoff, I popped it in for some Achievements and couldn't put it down until I got my Pimp Cane Shotgun. The over the top gameplay made it a very entertaining and likeable tale.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant- Didn't expect too much from it, but the characters and unorthodox story telling made it one of my favorite RPGs.

Tales of Vesperia- it was so utterly and completely engrossing with painstaking production values. It came out of nowhere for me, as I'd never played a Tales game before. It completely tossed my expectations.
 
Crackdown was a pleasant surprise here as well. I got it as the third title in a B2G1 used from EB, and I actually like it the most of all three games I got. I like its over-the-top action. In a similar fashion, I've been playing the crap out of Mercenaries 2. It got middling reviews AFAIK, and definitely has some technical issues, but it's just fun in a Rambo/overkill sort of way.

I actually don't get really excited about games anymore....maybe it's information overload, or games overload, etc. I am getting excited about Fallout 3 and Fable 2 the more I read about them...but i cancelled my preorder for Fable due to that snafu. Plus, Christmas is coming up, I'll just put it on the list.
 
This is rather unorthodox, but.... When I first tried out Suikoden 3 at launch, I didn't give it a fair chance since it was so unlike the first two. After about 30 minutes of playing, I returned it to the store. Flash forward 6 years later, I find it at GS used for 15 bucks and decide to try it again. 80 hours later, I regret my initial decision. The game was a little TOO long and had its fair share of flaws, but fuck, I had a damn good time playing it most of the 80 hours.
 
I'll third Uncharted.

Also Enchanted Arms (which has been much better than I expected)

Shadow Hearts (first one)

Suikoden II (which was the first one I played and got introduced to by a friend)
 
Portal.

I tend to not care how highly rated a game is, nor use it as a prerequisite for determining what I should/should not be playing. Likewise, I get annoyed as shit really quickly when I see the same joke repeated over and over and over by a group of people who generally lack creativity and unique judgment, and instead just like to reiterate certain things in order to prove they are in on the joke.

That all said, I always wanted to try it, but lacked a PC to do so. Once I fixed that problem, I tried the game out. Absolutely sublime. Turns out all the clueless idiots that talked about cake the whole time conveniently left out all the actual brilliant pieces of dialogue, so the game was fresh and new and clean and simply exquisite. Great writing, great gameplay, and crisp atmosphere.

That's all I've ever really wanted.
 
Guitar Hero II: I really thought the idea of playing air guitar was hokey at best, but on a lark, I bought the 360 version when circuit city had the 1600 XBL pts deal. It sat in a corner and I had buyers remorse for about 2 months. Then I finally popped it in. Although I didnt previously know many of the songs, I really got into the game. I was playing it som much that my wife had to ask me "Is this your favorite game?" I hadnt thought about it at the time, but upon reflection, it really is one of my all-time favorites. I play GH3 and Rock Band as well, but GH2 was the real gem.

Similarly, I adore the Ace Attorney series. Again, on sort of a whim I bought the first: Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney and have been hooked since. I've played all three PWs and I am about to start in on Apollo Justice: Ace Attoney thanks to the GS B2G1 sale.
 
Sonic Chronicles. I don't think I could've been less sure about this game when I saw it, and normally I'm one to try out most Sonic games (Sonic Riders & Heroes are still fun, IMO). When I threw down the cash for it and started it up, all my doubts were gone. Plays like Mario RPG, but with stylus control that isn't awful. Funny dialogue also made this great, and half of the funny stuff comes from Big the Cat.

Good good game.
 
Pokemon Snap. Never really cared for the Pokemon games, but goddamn this game was awesome and simple that I replayed it more times then I want to count.

Gun. Simply awesome, but short and had one of the most cheapest fucking bosses known to man, but still loved it.

Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. Still one of the best open world games I've played.
 
Fable 1: Somehow I completely missed the Molyneux hype train, it was an unknown to me when i rented it on a whim. It took me entirely by surprise. I bought and played through the lost chapters when it came out also. It was just as fun the second time around...

Bully: Another game that I missed out on when it first came out. Very entertaining take on high school & open world gameplay.

Yakuza: I bought this game based on the ravings of fellow CAGs. Although the localization messed up the dialog, the underliying greatness is demonstrated in the mix of rpg elements, crime noir, and brawler gameplay.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Resident Evil 4: I pre-ordered it 4 days before it came out, knew nothing about it. I was amazed.[/QUOTE]
You pre-ordered a game you weren't excited about?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: It's Buffy, how could I be exicited about that? It turned out to be excellent with one of the best fighting engines in any game.

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb: Same developer as Buffy but it got horrible reviews, it turned out to be even better than Buffy. Unfortunately The Collective hasn't any games nearly as good as either of them since.

The Punisher: It looked like just another licensed game by a developer that hadn't made anything great before. But it has a good shooting engine and good atmosphere.
 
Hot Wheels Turbo Racing and Beetle Adventure Racing for the N64. Hot Wheels Turbo Racing had a fun Stunt Mode. Beetle Adventure Racing is what the Gran Turismo series wishes it could be.
 
Izuna the Unemployed Ninja... popped that shyt in for a bit and got hooked!!!

also I recently got this:

9bah05.jpg


played it a bit and fell in love, so I went out and got a copy.

I hear Heavenly Guardian sucked... this game is more of a spiritual successor to Pocky n Rocky
 
Final Fantasy X-2: Oh man, did FFX-2 blow me away. Sure, the story's not the best, but it's non-linearity and amazing battle system kept me hooked. The entire lighthearted tone of the thing was a nice break from the typical Final Fantasy angst-fests as well. I prefer it to the original FFX.

Harvest Moon: One of those I'd-heard-good-things-about-it games that I start on a whim, only to become completely addicted to it. It's the only game I've bought on Virtual Console that I've beaten before; the rest are either games I'd never played or never finished. However, aside from the SNES original, the only other game in the series that I've since bothered to play has been Rune Factory.

StarCraft: I started out playing this game at LAN gatherings with friends; the game was enjoyable, but nothing spectacular, I thought. However, once I played the single-player campaigns some time later, I got hooked on those fairly quickly, and got similarly hooked on Brood War once I got ahold of that. I can't wait to see what Blizzard has in store for StarCraft II's story campaigns.
 
I picked up Metroid Prime after it had been out awhile and knew it had great reviews. I just didn't expect it to be as awesome as it was. Probably, the most appreciation I've had for the complete experience and design of a video game.

Also, finally beat RE4 on the gamecube a few months ago and loved it. It just kept ratcheting up the story and gameplay beyond my expectations.
 
:pc: Fallout - One of my buddies lent his copy back in high school and I was amazed. The storyline, combat, and customization were amazing.

:gc:/:360: Ikaruga - I remember playing a lot of top down shooters (back when there were arcades) and heard about this. Ridiculously difficult, but addictive)

:360: Bioshock - I remember one of my buddies kinda pressured me into buying it. "It's like System Shock..." he said. Having never played System Shock 1 or 2 I smiled nodded and purchased the LE. Played it for a couple days and shelved it. When I finally picked it up again I was just amazed at how good it was. Recently, I got the Brass Balls achievement. :bouncy:

:360: Bully: Scholarship Edition - I've always been kinda 50/50 on the open world games as I tend to have a short attention span, but once I started playing Bully I couldn't stop (I don't think I got past 8% in GTA4). Although, I'm kinda ittirated as I've finished the game and have gotten up to 99.05% and for the life of me can't find out what else I need to do to get the 100% completion achievement.

:ps3: Uncharted: Drakes Fortune - I think it was the modern day Indiana Jones aspect + amazing graphics that got me hooked. Popped it in and finished it a day later.
 
Crackdown, Crackdown, Crackdown. I thought that this game was going to be a piece of shit polished up by the halo beta. Boy was I wrong. Crackdown is in my top 5 Xbox 360 games.
 
A few come immediately to mind:

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.

GoldenEye - knew nothing about the game until I got some sort of promo flier thing from Nintendo with a $10 coupon about a week before its release. I had some money to spend from my summer job and the idea of four-player deathmatch interested me. So, I went to Target a few days later and purchased what would become one of my all-time favorite games. Ever.

San Francisco Rush (N64) - Heard kind of mixed opinions of it, but I loved it.

SSX - never been a huge fan of snowboarding games until I played this for a few minutes at a local mom and pop gaming store. I was amazed.
 
True Crime: New York City. When I initially saw it I thought it was going to be just another crappy open-world game, but then I played it and was shocked at how fun it was. The fighting engine put GTA's to shame.
 
The World Ends With You. I wouldn't have gotten it without a free $100 GC to Best Buy. After playing it, it deserves the $40 price tag.
 
[quote name='Rozz']True Crime: New York City. When I initially saw it I thought it was going to be just another crappy open-world game, but then I played it and was shocked at how fun it was. The fighting engine put GTA's to shame.[/QUOTE]

Seriously, this game does not deserve all the hate it gets. It's far better than any GTA IMO (keeping in mind I have yet to play 4).

Otherwise, Crisis Core for me. I expected it to be garbage after Dirge of Cerberus, but it surprised me and I enjoyed it a lot.
 
Oh yeah, Mercs 2. I wasn't interested much in it. But was hooked from the first time I popped it into my system. I literally had to move it onto my gaming shelf away from my 360 to let me play other games.
 
Yeah, I have to vote for Crackdown. I bought i used for $15 and though it would be lame at best. Then put it in to mess arounf and played it for fifteen hours straight. I eventually had to quit because I was falling asleep while shooting at Der Volk squads on roofs tops. God my neck hurt the next morning.

Sure it's got a painfully xenophobic theme and it's a robocop meets spider-man meets the hulk while looking for orbs in a GTA 3 format but it was so very playable. I think it may be one of the most minimalist yet fun games I've ever played.

My only complaint is that it seems like every single time I threw a grenade into a mob of gangers anywhere NEAR a street, an agency car(friendlies) would arrive, plow into the mob, and park their car on it before it exploded and then the agency would hate me for a while.
 
Rayman 2 on N64. Bought it because it was so cheap and it's by far one of my all time favorites.

POP: Sands of Time on GC. I heard good reviews and bought it but never played it. Only played it because I felt that I should atleast give it a go before I traded it in. Another one of my all time faves and I still have it.
 
XGRA Extreme G 4, I had no high hopes here. Parts 2 and 3 were straight wipeout clone garbage but part 4 which sadly will be the last really tried to have its own style. The races were fun and the weapons were spot on.

Breakdown , I don't even remember why I bought this. I had no thoughts about it one way or another but damn did that game deliver! I mean besides the FPS brawling being tons of fun once you get the hang of it the story was just phenomenal, I doubt many saw that twist coming .
 
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top