Games you enjoyed way more then you expected when you bought them.

[happyninja42]

Or because, you know, Star Wars is fantasy? People who think that Star Wars is sci-fi are just flat-out wrong. Just because it's set in space doesn't make it sci-fi.

Eh, it's a mixture of both really, depending on the particular story being told. Rogue Squadron for example, is pretty much scifi. If the story has anything to do with the Force, and those who use it, then yeah, it's starting to put on it's fantasy pants.

But, there are still lots of elements of it, that are about as stereotypically scifi as you can get, so I don't think they can be entirely discounted.


OT: Binary Domain. This game, apparently has a really adamant fanbase, and after playing it, I can understand why. It was a pretty standard, middle tier over the shoulder shooter game. But, it had a lot of interesting mechanics to it. The combat was simultaneously cool and fun, but also kind of hilariously silly at times. The way the ending was calculated, was determined in part by your relationship with your squadmates. So, in short, if you didn't take the time to bring them all out to play, and boost your rep with them via gameplay, it would make the ending worse, by various degrees. They changed up the setting and layouts of the maps a lot, making it really enjoyable.

Jon's reaction in this video, basically sums up my thoughts. It's a kind of cocaine influenced shovelware, but....it really does a lot with the characters, and genuinely was a lot of fun to play.

Dragon Age II. I bought it about a year after release, having heard nothing but how much of a disappointment it was compared to the first, how meh all the characters were, how much they repeated environments, and so on. However, I found that while the environments did indeed get repeated a lot, and the gameplay was definitely dumbed down from the original, the lower stakes of the story was actually pretty refreshing, giving me the feel of a man/woman simply trying to make their way in the world rather than trying to be some big grand hero/ine, and I couldn't disagree more with the people who felt the new party members were disappointing.

Agreed. I thought DA 2 was a perfectly good game. I actually replayed that one a few times, to try the different playstyles, and a few variations on endings. I usually don't like a game enough to replay it at all, much less multiple times. I loved the dwarf companion you had, especially when he started vocally narrating what your character was doing in public, like he was dictating his memoires. "Hawk said defiantly to the drunken thug." "Ok seriously man why are you saying that?" "Hmm? Oh, sorry, just working on my phrasing for my novel about you." Just super funny to me. I actually do that IRL as a result of that. I use it to kind of break the ice with people who are slightly awkward. If they respond to a question hesitantly, I'll say "She said with hesitation." Which usually makes them laugh, and loosen up, to explain what they are hesitant about.

 

[Baffle]

Days Gone. Everyone (well, reviewers) was crying about it but I really liked it. Quickety quick, micro <machine gun noise>.

 

[Worgen]

Days Gone. Everyone (well, reviewers) was crying about it but I really liked it. Quickety quick, micro <machine gun noise>.

I keep being tempted to grab that one.

 

[Baffle]

I keep being tempted to grab that one.

IMO it's worth it (obviously). A few irritating missions, but what game hasn't? I just though it was well done. Open world without being too open world.

 

[happyninja42]

Days Gone. Everyone (well, reviewers) was crying about it but I really liked it. Quickety quick, micro <machine gun noise>.

yeah I think I mentioned that one earlier in this thread myself. That was definitely a sleeper game for me, in how much I enjoyed it. I even made an entire thread about Skizzo, and my love of his character, up until the end at least. The thing that I was most surprised by, was the overall writing, and acting from the supporting cast. They just, put a lot more heart and depth into their performances, than I was really expecting. Little things, like the relationship between the nurse and her lover, and with the MC and the conflict there. I liked how you could, upon finding signs of a horde, if you were familiar with the location, know where to find them, based on their feeding/watering habits. So you could either avoid them, or hunt them. How the fast travel actually considered the route taken, and if you didn't make the route safe, you couldn't FT along that route, forcing you to FT out of the way, using up more fuel/time.

Just, a lot of little things that made that game way more fun than I expected.

 

[BrawlMan]

OT: Binary Domain. This game, apparently has a really adamant fanbase, and after playing it, I can understand why. It was a pretty standard, middle tier over the shoulder shooter game. But, it had a lot of interesting mechanics to it. The combat was simultaneously cool and fun, but also kind of hilariously silly at times. The way the ending was calculated, was determined in part by your relationship with your squadmates. So, in short, if you didn't take the time to bring them all out to play, and boost your rep with them via gameplay, it would make the ending worse, by various degrees. They changed up the setting and layouts of the maps a lot, making it really enjoyable.

Always thought about getting it, but Vanquish spoiled me. I know this game came from the Yakuza team, so that's plus. It's the closest you're ever going to get to a Snatcher sequel or a Bubblegum Crisis video game.

 

[BrawlMan]

Mr. X's Nightmare is more addicting than I realize. I have to force myself to put down the game, just to play something else.

 

[happyninja42]

Always thought about getting it, but Vanquish spoiled me. I know this game came from the Yakuza team, so that's plus. It's the closest you're ever going to get to a Snatcher sequel or a Bubblegum Crisis video game.

I would recommend picking it up on a deep sale if you can. I mean, one of the team members is a french robot, with an ascot. And he's ridiculously fun to have in your team. Most of the squad in fact, have got really endearing personalities. The only one that was really grating on the nerves, for me at least, was the giant black guy from america. Because they made him about as "Black Dudebro" as you can make a character, without sticking a bucket of popeye's chicken and a watermelon under his arms at all times. I don't know if it was intentional to make him such an uncomfortable collection of racial/USA cliches, or just a case of lost in translation to a japanese development team? But, yeah it was bad enough that I basically never took him anywhere, his dialogue was really frustrating.

It's not a very long game, but for what I spent on it, I definitely feel I got my money's worth as far as enjoyment goes.

 

[BrawlMan]

I would recommend picking it up on a deep sale if you can. I mean, one of the team members is a french robot, with an ascot. And he's ridiculously fun to have in your team. Most of the squad in fact, have got really endearing personalities. The only one that was really grating on the nerves, for me at least, was the giant black guy from america. Because they made him about as "Black Dudebro" as you can make a character, without sticking a bucket of popeye's chicken and a watermelon under his arms at all times. I don't know if it was intentional to make him such an uncomfortable collection of racial/USA cliches, or just a case of lost in translation to a japanese development team? But, yeah it was bad enough that I basically never took him anywhere, his dialogue was really frustrating.

It's not a very long game, but for what I spent on it, I definitely feel I got my money's worth as far as enjoyment goes.

I saw a playthrough with the former Two Best Friends. They got the best ending where everybody lives. There is a way to farm the best relations with everyone in a specific chapter and shooting section. I do not remember the black guy bothering me much. He was fine all things considered on my end. Didn't hate him, but better portrayals of blacks have been done better in games, East or West.

 

[happyninja42]

I saw a playthrough with the former Two Best Friends. They got the best ending where everybody lives. There is a way to farm the best relations with everyone in a specific chapter and shooting section. I do not remember the black guy bothering me much. He was fine all things considered on my end. Didn't hate him, but better portrayals of blacks have been done better in games, East or West.

Yeah I've seen that "best ending with everyone at good reputation", but I honestly just couldn't stand him and his dialogue. Mainly because it would do things like force you to be a douchebag with him, if you wanted to boost your rep. Like early on in the game, you have a dialogue choice, regarding whether you guys are going to play nice with the other countries, or basically just be all "gung ho USA baby! we got each other's back and fuck the rest!" kind of line from him. Keep in mind, you are part of an international peace keeping team. The whole POINT of you guys showing up, is to play nice with the others. But, if you disagree with his jingo USA USA!! kind of stance, you get negative relationship with him. So in order to not be an asshole by proxy, I have to act against his behavior, and risk having a bad ending regarding him. Or accept that I'm going to RP as something of a douchebag (which the guy does kind of do anyway, to be fair I guess), to make him happy, which just rubs me the wrong way personally.

I just personally accepted that he wasn't going to like me, and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[BrawlMan]

Like early on in the game, you have a dialogue choice, regarding whether you guys are going to play nice with the other countries, or basically just be all "gung ho USA baby! we got each other's back and fuck the rest!" kind of line from him. Keep in mind, you are part of an international peace keeping team. The whole POINT of you guys showing up, is to play nice with the others. But, if you disagree with his jingo USA USA!! kind of stance, you get negative relationship with him. So in order to not be an asshole by proxy, I have to act against his behavior, and risk having a bad ending regarding him. Or accept that I'm going to RP as something of a douchebag (which the guy does kind of do anyway, to be fair I guess), to make him happy, which just rubs me the wrong way personally.

I know the choice you're talking about. Pat intentionally screwed up that one, but still got the best ending. That one I know I did not like. It was odd seeing that. I know it's a Japanese game, but even by the early 2010s, the Yakuza team knew better. Then again, not the first time they've done a negative portrayal of foreigners (unless one's they know, then they're one of the "good ones"). A couple of the Yakuza game games have this problem when portraying Chinese or Koreans.

 

[andycyca]

I mean, really its both, right?

The setting is unmistakably sci-fi, but the story and themes are very much fantasy. It cannot be just one, because if all of the sci-fi stuff was ripped away, or all of the fantasy stuff was ripped away, it wouldn't resemble anything close to the Star Wars that we know.

In the movies (because I haven't watched the series) if you remove the scifi setting, you still have pretty much a fantasy story (the hero, power, the monomyth, etc) But if you remove the fantasy elements, there's not much scifi other than, well, the setting.

One of the key defining features of the scifi genre (IMO) is the societal comment, talking about what should and shouldn't be done, the consequences and impact of ideas/ideology on a particular society. There's not much of that in Star Wars.

But I agree that it doesn't have to be one or the other

 

[Hawki]

I can nomiante the following:

-Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (I only really bothered with this because it's sci-fi rather than MMS, but I really enjoyed it. It's popcorn, but it's tasty popcorn)

-Doom (as in, the original - I didn't expect I'd like it much, but I played it and enjoyed it), and Doom Eternal (really didn't like Doom 2016, but I love Eternal)

-Gears 5 (I didn't have high hopes for this, but played it, now my #2 Gears of War game)

-Halo 5: Guardians (similarly I had no high hopes for this, but yes, being a rarity, I quite like H5)

-Heroes of the Storm (not fond of MOBAs, but tried this, became the only MOBA I really enjoyed)

-The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (didn't have high hopes for this, but having played it, it's criminally underrated)

-Lord of the Rings Online (the only MMO I've ever enjoyed)

-Overwatch (kind of a similar scenario as Heroes of the Storm, just replace "MOBA" with "hero shooter")

-Resident Evil 2 Remake (this is kind of stretching things, as I kind of had reasonable expectations going in, but I still enjoyed it way more than I expected. This pretty much got me back into the RE franchise by itself, after going cold turkey after 5)

-Various Sonic the Hedgehog games, including Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Lost World, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4

-Spyro the Dragon 2 & 3 (sort of - I played the Reignited Trilogy back to back, and really didn't care for Spyro 1, so I approached 2 with dread, but then 2 turned out to be really fun, and 3 even more so)

-Star Fox Zero (way more enjoyable than I thought it would be)

-Torchlight (as simple as this game is, there's something about comitting mass murder with cartoon graphics that's so...appealing)

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Yeah that was a nice surprise too. I enjoyed how much depth they put into that proto-typical greek tragedy tale. It felt like the first John Wick film for me, where there was actually an emotional drive for the protagonist that I could get behind, and empathize with. But both GoW 2/3 and JW 2/3 just felt like soulless cash grabs to milk the fan love. Though I do always give GoW 3 props for the most epic tutorial EVER. Most tutorials have you go fight some fucking rats in a basement, or some random street thugs. But not GoW 3, OH FUCK NO. No your tutorial is you riding on the back of a fucking TITAN OF THE EARTH, storming Olympus itself! While the gods hurl down attacks at you, and their soldiers swarm the titan, forcing you climb around on her and fight them off. THEN, you kill a FUCKING GOD as your "congratulations, you have grasped the basics of the mechanics of this game" In a fantastically, genuinely EPIC fight. It FELT epic scale. Most of the rest of that game though, just made me feel more and more sick at having to play through this monster's story.

All the more reason they need to pull out all the stops for the opening to Ragnarok. I understand why GoW 2018 had a more subtle opening (even though the Stranger fight was still badass), but there’s no excuse to not return back to some of the series roots of an epic opening boss battle that gives you goosebumps while screaming “FUUUUCCCKKK YEEEESSSSS!!!! THIS IS WHY I BOUGHT THIS CONSOLE!!!”

 

[happyninja42]

All the more reason they need to pull out all the stops for the opening to Ragnarok. I understand why GoW 2018 had a more subtle opening (even though the Stranger fight was still badass), but there’s no excuse to not return back to some of the series roots of an epic opening boss battle that gives you goosebumps while screaming “FUUUUCCCKKK YEEEESSSSS!!!! THIS IS WHY I BOUGHT THIS CONSOLE!!!”

well I mean....there is a reason, kind of the reason that was established with the GoW18 game. That Kratos is not that angry person any more. Given the way the game ends, I doubt they will open the next one with a massive battle. They're still setting up Ragnarok after all. I could totally see them doing that with game 3 though. Game 2 will end with everything being unleashed, a good cliffhanger kind of ending. Game 3 could then transition directly into an open battle with the gods.

They could do some kind of in media res I guess, like show Atreus in training for battle, and Kratos took him to one of the more lethal realms along the world tree, as he's trying to toughen him up for the battle he knows is coming. That could work sure. Personally though, I'd actually prefer more character development, and setup. Especially since we are doing a significant jump in time, during a period in a boy's life that a LOT of things can change and develop.

But yes, I do appreciate the desire for the epic opening of GoW 3. I share it on one level, I just think it's a little too soon right now, narratively speaking.

 

[BrawlMan]

• Evil Within 1 and Evil Within 2. I prefer the 2nd game better because, of better focus and overall polish. The first game is good, but was buggy at launch, and the stupid letter boxing that needed to be patched out. The main reason I got the first game was due to 2BF and Seraphim17. The other reason being I would get better RE style games there, then RE at the time. EW1 felt more like a mental, abridged version of RE4, while EW2 had this awesome combination of RE 2 and 3 (with minor references if you know where to look). I just loved exploring in the game's semi-open world. You are rewarded for exploring and doing side quest reveals more about either Sebastian, the world and lore, or other characters. It's done in such an organic way that nothing feels forced.
• Resident Evil 2 Remake. This is most fun I've had with an RE game in a long time. I am one of the few that does not constantly sucks RE4's dick nor go overboard with the praise. I've played REmake2 more times than I care to count. It's just something with the gameplay loop that is so satisfying. I was not too surprised, but I never expected to do so many run-backs, finding all the secrets, or going for faster speed runs. One of The best remakes on 8th gen consoles.
• Resident Evil 3 Remake. I loved it more than caustic bitches on YT who go overboard with the flaws of the game. It has problems, but it's not that bad. The combat and shooting is air tight. I love how they handled the story and character better here, than the original, and I do not mind that there are little to no puzzles. The puzzles in og RE 3 sucked, and most were tedious time wasters. The only thing I dislike most of this remake was removing the self-defense items from REmake 2. I know it was done out of balance, but Capcom could have just as easlily nerfed how much damage sub-weapons cause. I would have preferred that over out right removal.
• Ikauraga - One of the most unique vertical shmups ever made. I am not good at this game, but I still love it for the soundtrack and wonderful polarity system. I never gave up my copy on the GC.

 

[Adam Jensen]

yeah I think I mentioned that one earlier in this thread myself. That was definitely a sleeper game for me, in how much I enjoyed it. I even made an entire thread about Skizzo, and my love of his character, up until the end at least. The thing that I was most surprised by, was the overall writing, and acting from the supporting cast. They just, put a lot more heart and depth into their performances, than I was really expecting. Little things, like the relationship between the nurse and her lover, and with the MC and the conflict there. I liked how you could, upon finding signs of a horde, if you were familiar with the location, know where to find them, based on their feeding/watering habits. So you could either avoid them, or hunt them. How the fast travel actually considered the route taken, and if you didn't make the route safe, you couldn't FT along that route, forcing you to FT out of the way, using up more fuel/time.

Just, a lot of little things that made that game way more fun than I expected.

Yup. A lot more fun than I expected, too.

The strangest thing about Days Gone is that it is written ENTIRELY in cliches and tropes. And yet, they work. They don't feel forced or too cheap. I was really surprised at how well it is put together.

 

[happyninja42]

Yup. A lot more fun than I expected, too.

The strangest thing about Days Gone is that it is written ENTIRELY in cliches and tropes. And yet, they work. They don't feel forced or too cheap. I was really surprised at how well it is put together.

I know! I mean they don't really do anything different with the zombie apocalypse genre, and you can be relatively certain to know what's going to happen plot wise. Character deaths, sudden but inevitable betrayals, secret twist reveals, the whole package. It's not doing anything really new? But it's doing what we all know for the genre, REALLY well.

 

[Adam Jensen]

I know! I mean they don't really do anything different with the zombie apocalypse genre, and you can be relatively certain to know what's going to happen plot wise. Character deaths, sudden but inevitable betrayals, secret twist reveals, the whole package. It's not doing anything really new? But it's doing what we all know for the genre, REALLY well.

There's comfort in its predictability. I'm a bit tired of attempts to make video games deep and edgy, which ends up just shallow and pretentious. There's nothing pretentious about Days Gone. It's so unbelievably sincere in everything it does, which I find very charming in a way. It feels like a really well made B movie.

 

[BrawlMan]

I'm a bit tired of attempts to make video games deep and edgy, which ends up just shallow and pretentious. There's nothing pretentious about Days Gone.

As much as I love story driven/single-player games, this has become an issue on all spectrums of gaming. Some worse than others, but they're (mostly the AAA) are trying so hard to be "art" or impress people who don't game/dislike video games it comes off as insulting and alienating. I know when Hotline Miami came out, nearly everyone on board was trying to do the same thing or something similar with "decontrsucting" game violence and the player character so much, that a lot of people were forgetting to make a good or fun game first.

It's why I like Streets of Rage 4 so much. It's video game ass video game. It plays things mostly straight, but to satisfying degree with a few heartwarming moments I did not see coming.