Game franchises where you like less popular entry the best?

[Hades]

Majora's Mask, in my opinion, is leagues ahead of Ocarina of Time. Lynch me.

Why would we lynch you for the truth?

For me its still a tie between Wind Waker and Majora's mask but I found the atmosphere in both of those games just so much more impressive then that of Ocarina of time or any other Zelda game.

My favourite Mario game is Sunshine rather then Galaxy or 64. The beautiful tropical setting struck a good cord with with me.

 

[ChristopherT]

I like the third Project Zero better than the second, which generally seems to be a no-no, i just never cared for the renewed battlesystem in Zero 2 and i liked the apartment sequences in the third game, while it was oddly cool to revisit old locations from the first game. (Something that could also be viewed as lazy, but i kinda liked it, it worked in this game).

Earlier this month I noticed the first three were all on Playstation Network, and having the second one, and having not yet played the third, I want the third so bad, I have to wait till November though.

OT:

Final Fantasy VIII - 8, yes, it's my favorite Final Fantasy, I like characters, I like the summons, I like the music, I like the junction system even if it can be abused, and when I first played it I could sadly relate to Squall so he has since always had a place in my heart. With Final Fantasy IV being my second favorite, with it's story feeling a lot like an adventure with characters coming and going, Cecil going through a character change, the death of other characters, it has a lot going for it where is just feels really different for me from the others.

Mobile Suit Gundam Zeonic Front - not sure if Gundam fans don't like it, only I don't really hear anyone talk about when I do see people talking about Gundam games. It's either unknown, or people just don't care. Either way it's the best Gundam game I've played.

 

[aozgolo]

As far as Zelda goes, my favorite is Twilight Princess, imagine my surprise when many people claim such disdain for it. That being said I never played Wind Waker or Ocarina of Time but I have a hard time believing I would enjoy either more than Twilight Princess.

For Mario it's hard for me to say because of the classic marios I don't know which ones are held in the highest regard. I love Super Mario Bros. 3 more than any of the other platformers, but overall Super Mario RPG is my FAVORITE of any of them, but whether it counts or not is up for debate.

on a slightly different note, I also found Wrath of the Lich King to be the most enjoyable expansion for World of Warcraft, I know plenty of people who prefer classic WoW or BC, but for me the height of that game came with the WotLK expansion.

 

[Fireaxe]

Relative to Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past was easily a less popular Zelda entry and it's my favourite by far (but maybe it's unfair to compare 2D/3D).

Prefer The Witcher to The Witcher 2 as well.

Also prefer Warcraft 2 to Warcraft 3 (partly because nostalgia, partly because the AI is less of a spaz -- hard AI in Wc3 is perfectly capable of totally shutting down and doing nothing, and partly because the campaign is legit hard).

 

[Nouw]

Bioshock 2 is my favourite Bioshock game because it did everything a sequel to Bioshock 1 should have done. I honestly couldn't care less that Bioshock 1 and Infinite have more compelling stories, Bioshock 2 has a simple but consistent story from start to finish and makes up for what it may lack in the story department with its gameplay. They added new enemies, gene-tonics, plasmids, environments and etc. These aspects worked in Bioshock 1 and so all 2K Marin had to do was separate what worked well and what didn't and improve what didn't work well. They improved hacking, I daresay it's kind of enjoyable, and the plasmid/gunplay. The latter makes this game much more enjoyable than the other games, especially Infinite where Irrational fucked up. I have a love/hate relationship with Infinite because it has a lovely soundtrack, interesting characters and a beautiful world to 'explore.' I say 'explore' because exploration is more or less taken out, and this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things Infinite did wrong but I won't get into that. Go watch some Youtube video instead. Despite the series being renowned for its story, characters and world-building, gameplay still comes first for me and it really baffles me how Infinite went backwards despite having two games to work with.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I really like the 2nd and 3rd Mass Effects over the first one. I know it's more expansive and shit but let's be honest, the combat was fucking shocking. After playing the improved ME2 and 3 I just can't suffer through it anymore.

As much shit as ME3 gets from the ending and lol Mr Plot Armour Ninja Guy is stupid as fuck, the game is really fuckin' good.

It does try to reference EVERYTHING that ever happened in 1 and 2, if I had to use the term "fanwank" that would be ME3. I'm not so sure I liked it really, it's a bit over the top.

Oh and human EDI was straight out of a bad fanfiction, I have no idea what the hell they were thinking.

 

[VanBasten]

If you google "best mass effect poll" ME2 wins most of them.

Notable exception is on this forum, where it ties with ME1.

 

[putowtin]

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

I love the game play, I love the story, no he doesn't assassinate that many people, but that ties in with the fact that by this stage in his life, Ezio has had enough. He looks at his lifes work and thinks "was it worth it?" and by the end he has his answer.

Also tie in the animated movie and you've got a fitting (if not sad) end to my favourite man to don the assassin's hood.

 

[SilverBullets000]

Well, I had quite a bit of fun with Blood Omen 2 back in my youth. You can imagine my surprise when, years later, I hop on the internet to find that it's the least liked of the series.

Then again, my opinion of it changed to after I played Defiance, so I guess I can't say it's my favorite in the series anymore. Then again, it was at one point, so I guess it deserves mention here.

As far as Zelda goes, my favorite is Twilight Princess, imagine my surprise when many people claim such disdain for it. That being said I never played Wind Waker or Ocarina of Time but I have a hard time believing I would enjoy either more than Twilight Princess.

I don't get that either, actually. It went for the quasi-realistic look that most of the fans really wanted, added in some really cool items, and brought the best helper character for the series, as well as one of the better stories. I can see others holding Waker on a higher pedestal because of its exploration, but I can't fathom any reason they would think Ocarina is better.
...well, other than pure nostalgia, but then they're just blinding themselves since Twilight was basically Ocarina 2, minus the Ocarina.
...well, and opinions, but, y'know, who even uses those anymore?

 

[josemlopes]

Portal 1, I think Portal 2 was to long for what it had to offer and overall it worked better as a more straightforward puzzle experience rather then having parts where there really wasnt all that much to do or try.

 

[The_Echo]

In the Kingdom Hearts franchise, I tend to agree with the majority that Birth by Sleep is the best.

But I also consider Re:coded to be the most fun, and 358/2 Days to be the closest thing to garbage that the series has ever been. As far as I've seen, most people seem to consider Re:coded shit in some nondescript way, and think its plot has zero relevance to the rest of the series, while they praise Days for its plot and being... fun? somehow... Basically my opinions on the DS titles directly oppose those of the majority.

Conversely to the topic at hand, in Metal Gear Solid, it seems like Peace Walker is universally loved, though I thought it was... well, horrible and boring in almost every way. I place Metal Gear Solid 4 as my favorite in the franchise currently (as I understand there are a fair few that didn't enjoy it much).

 

[GundamSentinel]

Final Fantasy XII, hardly unpopular but placed against the juggernauts of the series like VI, VII and even X, Final Fantasy XII rarely gets a mention and I can't understand why. It's an amazing game with an amazing setting, great story, and tons to do. I haven't even beaten the game yet and it's easily my favorite Final Fantasy.

I'll completely agree with that. FFXII was great.

Batman Arkham Asylum. I didn't much like the open world of Arkham City. It lacked urgency and the story development wasn't as great.

Demon's Souls. Atmosphere for me is everything in games like these and Demon's Souls did it a shade better than Dark Souls. Boletaria was a more tragic world, and seemed more lonely. Plus the soundtrack was better. HO-HOHOHO-HO! Granted, Dark Souls had Ash Lake. :O

Oblivion. Skyrim had a better world, but Oblivion seemed like a better game to me. I found the quests much more interesting and involving.

Fallout 3. I didn't like the Mojave. What's the point of an apocalypse in a desert? I much perferred wandering the Capitol Wastelands. Again, the atmosphere seemed more fitting.

Knights of the Old Republic II. Sure, in places the game was an unfinished mess, but it was darker and edgier than the first one. Plus I liked the characters more.

 

[Karoshi]

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

I love the game play, I love the story, no he doesn't assassinate that many people, but that ties in with the fact that by this stage in his life, Ezio has had enough. He looks at his lifes work and thinks "was it worth it?" and by the end he has his answer.

Yes! Revelations is my absolutely favourite game in the series. Istanbul is a wonderful city to explore and I loved how Altair's story tied in, as well as the surreal Desmond sequences.

DmC.

For all it lacks in difficulty compared to the rest of the franchise, I feel it more than makes up for it in style. It's got the most visually interesting levels (at least to me; The neo-gothic architecture prominent in the rest of the franchise is neat, but never really grabbed me), the switch to finally having a fully third-person camera instead of a mixture of third-person and fixed-camera makes it much less clumsy to navigate in and out of combat, and the combat system itself just feels like it flows much more naturally.

Yeah, DmC has incredibly beautiful levels and smart level design. It captured the spirit of Devil May Cry especially in its gameplay and atmosphere... and all that was forgotten due to really awful PR management.

I really wish it had a sequel, although I don't think it sold enough to be eligible for one.

 

[IronMit]

Prince of Persia Warrior Within. It was my first PoP game.

Portal 1 - I couldn't even complete portal 2...the second set of tutorial mechanics half way through the game and 'look for the one white wall in a cloud of black' made me loose interest

 

[Dragoon]

ODST is my favorite Halo game.

I know a lot of people don't like it, I understand why as well, but I like it because I think it's the most unique.
A quasi-open-world Halo game with audio logs that had a very light stealth element. And when they said you're not as strong as the chief, they meant it and it really shows.
I don't know, I find it really good is all.

LOVEEDDDD ODST, I really gotta buy that game again and replay it. It was a lot better than 4...Jesus Christ that was a mess.

I agree, I loved ODST. It was so atmospheric and I loved the flashback thing. The parts where you play as The Rookie where very good in my opinion, that feeling of being alone and vulnerable was great. Plus I love the ODST armor xD

 

[Sparky184]

I would say that Rayman 3 is my favourite Rayman game and Sonic CD is the best Sonic game. Pretty sure those are the least popular. People normally jump to Rayman 2 and Sonic 2 or 3 for said franchises.

 

[bafrali]

First Assassin's Creed game. Sequels vastly improved game mechanics but they stretched out to much for their own good. I liked that white aesthetique that was prominent throughout the game. Everything seemed cold, lifeless and scripted just like you were in a simulation of the real life!

Oh and the Doctor was singlehandedly more interesting than the assassin's youth community.

 

[aozgolo]

Fallout 3. I didn't like the Mojave. What's the point of an apocalypse in a desert? I much perferred wandering the Capitol Wastelands. Again, the atmosphere seemed more fitting.

While I do think New Vegas is my favorite Fallout game that has a lot more to do with the story and the mechanics, as far as setting I found FO3 superior. If I could take the depth of character writing and story, as well as actual choice and consequence that New Vegas had and put it into FO3 I'd be happy as a clam.