Games you don't like, but respect

[bigfatcarp93]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

It's a great game which I'm sure a lot of people like (not to mention it's GORGEOUS with that amber-and-black color scheme), but I just can't stomach that kind of trial-and-error gameplay.

 

[Strelok]

I also applaud it for bringing puzzles to the shooter, it was a nice touch.

Physics puzzles maybe, but it certainly didn't bring puzzles to the FPS genre. Games like Dark Forces did that well before Half Life.

For me Halo is a cancer on the FPS genre, but I respect one game from the series for trying to break the cookie cutter pattern developed for this abomination, no I am not talking about the horrendous RTS, I mean ODST. The one that actually brought likeable, relate-able characters to a series known to have a nameless, faceless card-board cutout as a main character, and meaningless flat, uninteresting story. I rather enjoyed ODST, and played it again co-op. For that the Halo series isn't a total write off.

 

[Vault101]

Elder scroll series

overated...bland and if it really is the epitome of the single player RPG expereince than I'm out

but I have to bregrugingly respect a game that doesnt do the "add multiplyer to everything" bullshit

 

[DementedSheep]

EVE Online.

I respect the game immensily for it's goal, and it's philosophy. It's one of the few games to even come close to creating a completely player driven universe and setting. Not to mention it earns a ton of bonus points for going with a fairly untapped setting; starship driven combat and commerce over the usual sword and sorcery that MMORPG's tend to go for.

But despite that, you couldn't pay me enough money to spend another minute in that hellhole.

See, the greatest lauding I can give to EVE is also the thing that makes me stay right the fuck away from it; it's player driven. Give players that much power, and they turn into monsters with morals that would make a mongol raider puke and the most hardbitten gang banger grimace. Playing this game as a new player is like walking into a general pop prison yard wearing a sign that says "Hey! I rape children and snitch to cops!" Unless you're already set with the more powerful corporations and have contacts to make sure you're not among their cannon fodder from the get go, you are not a player in EVEonline, you are a VICTIM, you are meat to be fed to the established powers. No thanks.

If you want the experience of playing EVE online, go wear a Klan outfit in the middle of Watts. It'll be cheaper anyway.

Pretty much this^
I respect what it is doing but I've tried to play it and it's just really not a game for me.

 

[Angerwing]

COD 4 and onwards: I don't really enjoy playing these games, especially not on the console, so I never got into the multiplayer. I respect the massive following it has on its servers, but I've never been particularly keen on any of the COD games.

Got to agree with EVE, HL2, Halo, and the Mario games. Oh, and I'll add the Zelda games, because I never had an N64, and never played them beyond an hour or so.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Just the entire Playstation Franchise of Consoles. I appreciate them for the fact that they made Consoles more of Multimedia players (CD for 1, DVD for 2), and I appreciate them for giving us a lot of great games (The original Crash games and Spyro games, the Kingdom Hearts Series and more), I just can't for the life of me like them at all. They're not my Console...

 

[LarenzoAOG]

I respect BLOPS2 for making a villain that didn't boil down to "Terrorist Russian" and actually trying to make him a relateable character, as well as implementing a branching storyline, regardless of the fact that it's quite a few branches short of a tree, as well as its seeming self awareness. When my white American special operations soldiers had to protect the future rich people floating city from the dirty, brown, foreign proletariat I thought "they either know what they're doing, or they've gone full retard," I like to believe they knew what they were doing.

Although I didn't like the game and didn't think it was in any way good aside form it's mechanical competency I do respect Treyarch for doing something different.

 

[Matt9102]

No More Heroes. I played the second game and loved it, which is probably one of the main reasons I couldn't enjoy the first. Enemies blocked way more often in medium for the first game than they did in hard for the second game. The open world really just felt empty, and the entrance fee for the ranking matches is pretty much my biggest gripe. I really like the bosses, and I forced myself to complete the game just to see it through, but this is one that won't be getting a replay from me. While I enjoyed the over-the-top action that is pretty much associated with No More Heroes, I didn't like the steps involved to get to it.



Also, Destroyman's nipples are the best part of the game.

 

[Vigormortis]

Bioshock immediately comes to mind.

I have the utmost respect for the skill and talent behind crafting such a masterpiece. But, for one reason or another, I could never get into it. Something about the gameplay felt too....disjointed and unrefined. Even so, that game was, again, a masterpiece.

Planetside 2, as well. If I'm to name something a tad more contemporary.

I've tried several times to play, but never find anything overly compelling. Very derivative, but not compelling. Though, I certainly understand the appeal. As such, I have the utmost respect of the game, if only for it's scale. The technical feat of it is impressive.

Mass Effect would be another.

I applauded Bioware for crafting such an intricate series with such varied, interwoven narratives. That said, I've never really enjoyed playing them; for many reasons.

Even so, to craft such sprawling tales, with varied paths, that all mesh expertly (until the ending, of course) takes very skilled and creative minds. Bioware are certainly among the upper echelons of the medium.

 

[dfphetteplace]

Bioshock. I tried to get into it once and couldn't. I just bought the first 2 in the last Steam sale and will be giving it another try.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I used to play League of Legends quite a bit, though I got burned out after a couple months. After that, I picked up Dota 2 and I haven't gone back. While DotA is by a long way the stronger game, I have to applaud League for doing what would seem impossible to a lot of people:

They made Defense of the Ancients accessible to new players.

There's a lot of design decision in LoL that veteran DotA players disapprove of, but were necessary to take the strain off new players: for instance, the river is now a dead straight line, turrets are stronger, lack of gold penalty for dying, etc. The character rotation system also gives newer (and older) players an incentive to try new champions, and there are other decisions that work similarly to DotA but change the way the game works. For instance, two 'super' jungle creeps mean that river control is still a major part of the game, and recall being free albeit one-way changes the dynamic of when and how to leave the lane...

Despite that, I'd say that it's still a difficult game. Though lacking the same depth DotA has, it's still got enough to remain interesting even after you've gotten into it.[footnote]As long as you pace yourself, anyway - I definitely got burned out on it.[/footnote] So while I prefer the actual game of Dota 2, League of Legends still holds a lot of my kudos.

 

[Justin Colee]

I'd have to say Borderlands 1 and 2, my friends really enjoy them, I got about a 1/4 of the way through both of them and never finished. Just not my type of game I suppose.

 

[SonOfMethuselah]

Pretty much any and every fighting game.
That's not to say I never enjoy fighting games, but for the most part, I don't have the time/skill (probably) to learn the ins and outs of a character well enough to ever compete with another player. I usually can't even beat your standard arcade mode on any difficulty other than the default 'normal' difficulty.
I respect the simplicity/complexity mechanical mix that a lot of fighters sport, and I respect the people who can master these mechanics, (though I absolutely hate the people who think that this makes them some kind of semi-divine being, and get a huge 'holier-than-thou' hard-on, which, unfortunately, seems to be a large percentage of the people who play fighters online), but for the most part, fighters are not my cup of tea.

I could say the same about Starcraft. I'm fairly decent at most RTS games, but I've seen people play this, and the upper echelon is absolutely nuts. Starcraft is not for me, but I respect the game for creating such a hugely devoted audience.

Also, Dragon Age II. I didn't actually dislike this game very much, and I know people give it a lot of flak, but I respect Bioware for the experiment that was this game. I don't think it was a rushed cash-in to ride the bandwagon of popularity the first game had, I think they were legitimately trying to experiment with the core mechanics of the experience. It's a shame that they didn't just make this some kind of expansion pack, but, still, I give it props. I hope that the third game proves to be a more widely enjoyable experience, though.

 

[PunkRex]

GTA

Its done some interesting things to the market, but it bores me to tears.

Pretty much any and every fighting game.
That's not to say I never enjoy fighting games, but for the most part, I don't have the time/skill (probably) to learn the ins and outs of a character well enough to ever compete with another player. I usually can't even beat your standard arcade mode on any difficulty other than the default 'normal' difficulty.
I respect the simplicity/complexity mechanical mix that a lot of fighters sport, and I respect the people who can master these mechanics, (though I absolutely hate the people who think that this makes them some kind of semi-divine being, and get a huge 'holier-than-thou' hard-on, which, unfortunately, seems to be a large percentage of the people who play fighters online), but for the most part, fighters are not my cup of tea.

This, AAAAAAAAAAAALL of this. I enjoyed the 'Naruto gekitou ninja taisen' series but other fighters really don't do it for me. I recently tried 'BlazBlue'... couldn't get past the 2nd round...

 

[babinro]

Typically over the top tactical games that require a lot of upfront player knowledge to appreciate.
IE) Xcom, Neverwinter Nights 2, FTL.

I'll get into these games from time to time like I did with Civ 5.

 

[Dwarfman]

Dragon Age unfortunately. It does look like an impressive game, but whenever I tried it out it just never felt right.

 

[Overusedname]

God of War.

I prefer the timing-based multi-weapon button mashing combos of Devil May Cry to the Light-Heavy combo system, the system God of War uses always gets bland and repetitive to me. And while the second and third ones went off the narrative deep end, the first and the PSP ones had a very interesting and compelling story, where Kratos was actually half of a real character.

Same for me.

I didn't think the combat was as...immersive as most seemed to think it was, to say the least. And story wise...I really didn't like how it eventually progressed. It used to be a greek tragedy, but I feel like it just got wrapped up in it's coolness factor. There's nothing wrong with that, but when the story starts out with some compelling subtext and ends up as a really well-presented gore fest....I dunno, kinda didn't do it for me.

I certainly admire the style, being a mythology nerd myself. I think the writing was great in the first game.

 

[Erttheking]

Another one for EVE. From what I've heard, the game is nothing short of massive with literally everything under the sun being possible, to the point where it is possible to destroy every last thing in the game (but it'll take awhile) but if I were to go anywhere near it I'd end up getting my rectum destroyed. I WANT to play it, but I just know that it'll end badly.