Games you didn't like... but finished anyway

[Beautiful End]

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier. I was expecting the game to get better at some point. I'm also a big fan of Jak and Daxter, so I HAD to finish it. It had everything in its favor to be a good game: Great characters, good setting, sky pirates, new powers...and yet, it just managed to make me hate the game and regret ever buying the game.

Musashi: Samurai Legend. Almost the same as above; it had an ok story, interesting characters, good combat system, ok plot, and yet the game never bothered to develop any of those elements fully. I only finished it because by the time I was fed up with it, I figured I was about to finish it.

Brink: The game was actually fun. But gods, the AI just made me want to punch a nun! I finished it only because the campaign mode is around 5 hours long, so at least I didn't suffer as much.

Devil May Cry 2: The sequel of one of my favorite PS2 games. What could go wrong, right? Anyway, I never quite got the story, Dante felt bland and the ending was even more confusing and dumb than the whole game. Another game where I was expecting for it to get better later on.

Final Fantasy VII: (WARNING: I do not want nor care about a fan war! This is my point of view, whether it's right or wrong is irrelevant. Thank you). I love me some FF. FFVIII was my first FF and my favorite one. So I bought FFIX. I liked it too. So I bought FFVII next. I mean, it was supposedly the best FF out there. Oh, what a disappointment. Cloud just seemed to be eternally depressed and unlike other FF characters, he doesn't seem to get over it at all. Hell, he even keeps at it in the movie. Whatever his motives were didn't matter; I wasn't glad to be controlling a character that seemed sad all the time in contrast to his caring friends. The story was confusing and from day 1, I knew Seph was the bad guy. So why did it take me so long to reach him? They played with the whole Cloud/Tifa romance but it never truly took off, so why even bother? Despite what everyone tells me, moving around (Map, environments, etc.) felt weird to me; at times I didn't know if I had reached a dead end or if I needed to keep on clicking randomly around in order to find something interesting. And the ending didn't really do it for me. After all that happened, I was expecting something better, something other than a future where everyone's dead and nature has claimed back a city...somehow.
By the time I popped in the third disk, I was praying for it to be real short so that I could get it over with. Not only was this game a disappointment, but it also makes me wonder why is this game so popular.
(AGAIN! Other FFVII fans, don't lecture me about this. This is my point of view. kthx)

 

[BoredDragon]

The only two games that I didn't like that I ended up completing was Halo: Reach and Fable 3 mainly because I felt like I had some kind of obligation after playing and enjoying the other installments of each series. Other than that I don't really have anything.

However, I sometimes play popular games that I almost know I'm going to hate just so I can have a legitimate opinion about them. The latest installment in that ongoing list was Battlefield 3; I could not bring myself to finish the horrid campaign.

 

[anon_gamer1001]

oblivion as i love the elder scrolls but i had to force myself to see oblivion through...it just wasnt that good

 

[Vault101]

Red faction gurrella

I actually liked the game..it was was decent enough I saw it to the end but it feel flat in alot of areas

HOWEVER there were somthings it did really well...if you went exploring, and actualy around where the moraurders lived...it was a very creepy atmosphere, pretty amazing in a way

 

[mbug]

Final Fantasy 12....

I can kind of agree with you on that. FF hasn't truly been that good since they've abandoned turn based combat. I don't mind the bar (what is it called APB bar?) that fills up so you know when it's your turn. Actually I like the TBCS of FFX best.

yeah i mean the gambit(?) system wasnt that bad but not only that... the story line was... just boring. I honestly dont even remember anything about the story.

Agreed on FFX, i loved the fighting system it was the perfect fighting system for me in a final fantasy game.

 

[AD-Stu]

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit was the latest one - if I wanted to play a Burnout game, I'd have bought a freaking burnout game. There was so much potential in this game and it was all squandered with the hideous, hideous execution. Finished it out of spite as much as anything.

KOTOR 2 was probably the other - I didn't outright hate it, but it was so frustrating that if I hadn't enjoyed the first one so much I probably would have just given up on it. Playing it a second time some years later with the restored content mod installed helped a bit.

 

[Snotnarok]

Grand Theft Auto 4, I hated it by the time I got to the end. Hanging out with friends in a game? When did it become the Sims? Other huge gripe were the roads wound up empty of people and cars at times. Times Square with 6 cars and 4 people? No.

That's when I found Saints Row and never, ever looked back.

 

[Mayamellissa]

Final Fantasy 12....

I can kind of agree with you on that. FF hasn't truly been that good since they've abandoned turn based combat. I don't mind the bar (what is it called APB bar?) that fills up so you know when it's your turn. Actually I like the TBCS of FFX best.

yeah i mean the gambit(?) system wasnt that bad but not only that... the story line was... just boring. I honestly dont even remember anything about the story.

Agreed on FFX, i loved the fighting system it was the perfect fighting system for me in a final fantasy game.

I thought in all honesty I was the only person who thought that. and i agree on your' take about the story. It felt almost like it was seriously detached from itself. Once I'd finished it I was like "that's it? Where's the romance and serious emotional attachment?"

 

[mbug]

Final Fantasy 12....

I can kind of agree with you on that. FF hasn't truly been that good since they've abandoned turn based combat. I don't mind the bar (what is it called APB bar?) that fills up so you know when it's your turn. Actually I like the TBCS of FFX best.

yeah i mean the gambit(?) system wasnt that bad but not only that... the story line was... just boring. I honestly dont even remember anything about the story.

Agreed on FFX, i loved the fighting system it was the perfect fighting system for me in a final fantasy game.

I thought in all honesty I was the only person who thought that. and i agree on your' take about the story. It felt almost like it was seriously detached from itself. Once I'd finished it I was like "that's it? Where's the romance and serious emotional attachment?"

I thought the exact same thing O.O When I finished it I kinda sat there and said "...That's it?" it was a struggle in itself to finish the game. It just seemed unfinished... then they brought out the 2nd one on ds and i tried to play through that...but i just couldnt. just could not do it =/

 

[Vlywncint]

Prinny for the PSP, Brute Force for the xbox, Homefront PS3, Need for speed, Burnout, Alter Echo for the ps2 (though it was nice to finally kill that last boss)

 

[Mayamellissa]

Final Fantasy 12....

I can kind of agree with you on that. FF hasn't truly been that good since they've abandoned turn based combat. I don't mind the bar (what is it called APB bar?) that fills up so you know when it's your turn. Actually I like the TBCS of FFX best.

yeah i mean the gambit(?) system wasnt that bad but not only that... the story line was... just boring. I honestly dont even remember anything about the story.

Agreed on FFX, i loved the fighting system it was the perfect fighting system for me in a final fantasy game.

I thought in all honesty I was the only person who thought that. and i agree on your' take about the story. It felt almost like it was seriously detached from itself. Once I'd finished it I was like "that's it? Where's the romance and serious emotional attachment?"

I thought the exact same thing O.O When I finished it I kinda sat there and said "...That's it?" it was a struggle in itself to finish the game. It just seemed unfinished... then they brought out the 2nd one on ds and i tried to play through that...but i just couldnt. just could not do it =/

I didn't even want to play it because I was so disappointed in 12.

 

[Odd Water]

Final Fantasy XIII

I really couldn't stand this game for so many reasons, all of which everyone has heard before so no reason for me to go on it again.

But hey, saying I finished it is giving it some credit. I couldn't finish Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. That game was so much worse to me.

 

[violent_quiche]

LA Noire. Just the whole feel of that game didn't sit right with me.

I was gonna say this, I just didn't really realize I didn't like it until I finished it. It was very bland. Not much to it.

Most recently would be Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Interesting and tactical Assassinations that were in the first game completely vanished. Also I hated the Apple of Eden segments with every fiber of my being.

Agree with both. The story was the only part of LA Noire I found vaguely engaging so I rushed through the case files with the aid of a bare bones guide just to finish the story, but even that wasn't much chop. It was the game that hardened my Pastafarian Theory of Game Design. Story is to gameplay as sauce is to spaghetti: it provides flavour and definition but it is ultimately a garnish. A bowl of well cooked pasta will survive a mediocre sauce- if only too fill you up if not satisfy)- but the best sauce in the world won't save a mass of unsatisfying starchy pulp.

As for Brotherhood, it took the great advances of AC2 over the original and rode them into the ground. Technically passable but nothing fresh enough to stop it from becoming a tedious slog towards the end. I still might pick up Revelations when it hits the bargain bins, but only for the sake of being a completist- reviews & comments suggest more of the same.

 

[Mistermixmaster]

Shadow of the Colossus

Oh god, this. I bought it cheap, since people have always been praising it, but I can not understand why. I still have only fought three of them, but I lack any motivation to continue unless I feel masochistic.

Another one though, which is more recent is Ace Combat: Joint Assault for the PSP. Skies of Deception was good for the PSP, then they ruined the second game by making enemies dogfight at 200km/h in FIGHTER JETS?! The hell? The controls were a bit iffy as well, and the story was sh*t. I mean, normally you'd have a bad-ass enemy to fight (See: Excalibur, Hrimfaxi, etc), instead they used the same enemy "boss" plane every two missions with a small twist. 6 hours of my life that I won't get back, just because I was stupid and wanted to see if it got better at the end...

 

[Reptiloid]

Max Payne. Some of the combat situations really got on my nerves to the point where I wasn't enjoying it anymore. Scripted enemies appearing behind you and shooting you in the back immediately, enemies behind doors who are locked on your position before you even enter, firing the very millisecond you go through the door. Aaah, I can feel the rage just thinking about it!

I'd be damned if I'd let the game beat me though!

 

[major_chaos]

I barely managed to drag myself through the original Deus ex, hoping I would eventually stumble on whatever it was that made people say it was the greatest game of all time (despite its countless flaws) but sadly I never did.
I also finished the original mass effect even though I didn't enjoy it that much, mostly just so I could have a save to import into mass effect 2.
Also soul nomad on the PS2,I loved the game at first partly for the writing, partly for the gameplay,but towards the end it just started to drag on and I barely managed to bring myself to finish it just to see the ending.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Ever played a game that you didn't really care for but, for some reason, were determined to see through to the end?

Most recently I finished Shadow of the Colossus for the first time, having attempted to do twice before but having given up both times. I guess it just seemed like one of those games you have to get through at least once.

Some people complain about having to travel through the empty wastelands and deserts between each Colossus, but that I actually didn't mind. That's not to say the game didn't test my patience though. The Colossi, while impressive to behold, made for extremely monotonous enemies, your horse controls like it's drunk, high and sleep depraved and the ending was (for me, at least) extremely disappointing.

Yes, yes, and yes. I was really bored out of my skull on this game. Very little to offer in my opinion, but i finished it.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Two worlds. I dont know why.....

 

[VaudevillianVeteran]

I've done it a few times, but the one that stands out in my mind the most is Limbo. God I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't for me. I think I cheered when I made it to the end.