NOT well-recieved games that you like and won't stop defending.

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

I think Max Payne 3 is probably the best third-person shooter ever made and a far better show of Rockstar's writing and gameplay than GTA. It often gets criticized for being sluggish, having too many unskippable cutscenes and being a bad Max Payne story. The only one of those I agree with is the cutscenes. I would have liked more of the cutscenes during the levels to be replaced by gameplay that tells the story.

Alien: Isolation. The game has lots of problems, but being cheap generally isn't one of them. Some people hate the overpowered AI and would rather play stealth games in which their opponents follow the same scripted patrols every time. IGN gave the game a mediocre review, which no doubt hurt its sales, but that review shows how inept the reviewer was.

And in hindsight, playing on Hard difficulty ? which I only did because Isolation actually describes it as ?the recommended way to experience the game? ? was a terrible decision. It means the Xenomorph can get you anywhere at any time, giving you no opportunity to avoid death, and run you down if it hears so much as a pin drop. Sure, a flamethrower blast or Molotov cocktail can ward it off for a moment, but alien-repelling resources are extremely scarce. Don?t make the same mistake I did.

The stealth wasn't that hard or frustrating. He just sucks. Supplies are anything but scarce. I hate the fact that they're only scarce on the later added Nightmare difficulty, which disables the HUD and maps and makes the alien far too much of a magnet to you.

]

Completely agree about Isolation. I hate saying Git Gud, but he really should have. I handled it on Hard because 1: I stealthed EVERYWHERE 2: I was actually conservative with my fuel and molotovs, only using them to save my butt from death, not to be able to speed through a section.

But a bad reception? I found far more positive reviews than negative, to the point where a lot of people (me included) were saying this was the Alien/Aliens franchise game we've deserved but never got.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Mass Effect 3. It's my favourite game in the trilogy, and the multiplayer was surprisingly solid. The ending was weird and overly ambiguous, but I guess I'm used to that shit so it didn't bother me.

 

[Xan Krieger]

In addition to Mass Effect 3 and Deus Ex Invisible War I'm going to say Rumble Roses XX, it was a solid wrestling game with good mechanics, the sex appeal was just the icing on the cake. It's one of the few xbox 360 games I still play.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Duke Nukem Forever.

Mind you, it is flawed. But it is nowhere near as terrible as people make it out to be. It manages to make me laugh dispite the jokes being outdated, and the gameplay is rather varied. Being shrunk down to the size of a rat really makes for interesting level designs. Docotr Who Cloned Me is icing on the cake, and much more polished.
I do think that GBX gets wrongfully blamed for it regarding this game, since it is 3D Realm's mess they got thrown in the lap.

Only real complaint I have is that Dukevision gives me a headache due to the high pitched noise.

 

[Dalisclock]

I think Max Payne 3 is probably the best third-person shooter ever made and a far better show of Rockstar's writing and gameplay than GTA. It often gets criticized for being sluggish, having too many unskippable cutscenes and being a bad Max Payne story. The only one of those I agree with is the cutscenes. I would have liked more of the cutscenes during the levels to be replaced by gameplay that tells the story.

I actually really liked MP3 as a game. It's more the story,atmosphere and the character I didn't like. I think MP is better suited to a pseudo-noir atmosphere then the tropical/"Man on Fire" thing they did in MP3(so the New Jersey bits worked a lot better for me then much of the rest of the game).

Of course, the elephant in the room is basically that Max is pretty much forced to stay on the sob train as long as they keep making these games. I liked the whole bit about him being a hollowed out man in MP and the fact that getting his revenge in MP2(and then not getting punished) only made his state of mind worse, but in MP3, they pretty much took that to "MY LIFE IS TERRIBLE. EVERYTHING SUCKS. I CAN'T ENJOY ANYTHING". Each game ends with Max finding some kind of peace with himself, and then by the beginning of the next game he's back to being a broken wreck.

Frankly, it's getting a bit tiresome. MP3 needed to either handle the 2nd emotional reset better then they did or find a way to write his character without it. That's the real flaw of the game.

 

[votemarvel]

The combat of the game was great. Bioware finally dropped this mixed system in favour of something that actually worked. Though I could go for lesser number of waves/encounters.

This is something I've never understood.

The combat in II is certainly visually more appealing but it is the same system as in the first game, the only real difference is that you had to hammer a button on the consoles to do basic attacks (they later patched auto back in).

So, do you people have games like that?

Oddly enough it is the first Mass Effect and it's combat.

Perhaps it is because I went in expecting a Bioware RPG and not a third person shooter, but I love the combat in the first game far beyond the poor replica of Gears of War it became in the two sequels.

I often use Dragon Age II when talking about the first Mass Effect. DAII hid the dice-roll behind a false front of melee combat and people loved it. Yet Mass Effect hides it behind a false shooter front and people really dislike it.

 

[aozgolo]

"Not Well Received" seems a bit too vague in my case, there are many games I love that were not well received when originally released, but have since gained a cult following. Two from the SNES era in particular:

Earthbound and Secret of Evermore

The first game fell victim to a rather poorly thought out marketing stint (one ad even said "This game stinks!") and sold rather poorly in the US, but has since become a cult classic beloved by many and often makes the "Best RPGs of the SNES" lists.

Secret of Evermore also received an undeserved bad rap during it's release. Secret of Mana, released as Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan was a pretty big hit, receiving high praise and selling well in the US despite very little press coverage. Around this time, Squaresoft launched a North American division and their first game was an action RPG that had similar mechanics to Secret of Mana, and due to it's popularity, the game was titled "Secret of Evermore" to capitalize on the success. It backfired however as close to it's release, plans to localize and release Seiken Denetsu 3 outside of Japan were scrapped. Many fans presumed that Secret of Evermore's release was done in lieu of the Secret of Mana sequel, despite two separate dev teams being involved. It unfortunately didn't sell well and was the first... and last game by Squaresoft USA. It did get decent praise from media but not enough to save it. It is still a very fun and well designed game IMO.

 

[Skruff]

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Yes, the ending was a bit bizarre (especially since it never got a sequel), but outside of that, I thought it was a really spectacular game, and it came to be one of my unexpected favorites of the last console generation. Good story, great characters and acting, and gameplay that I thought was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, it was mostly ignored by players and ho-hummed by critics.

 

[Skruff]

Banjo Kazooie, Nuts and Bolts: When you get over the fact that it's not Banjo Kazooie 3, it's a really fun vehicle creation sandbox game. Most of the minigames are fun, the game is challenging, the worlds are extremely fun to explore.

Yes! This! When I first got it, I was underwhelmed, mostly because I tend not to enjoy racing games of any sort, but then I started playing around with it and customizing my vehicles a bit (although I never completely got into the creativity aspect of it, other than doing the minimum structural work required to proceed). Next thing I knew, I'd blown 30+ hours on the game and was really enjoying it! I've got Rare Replay for the XBox One now, and it's on my list of games to revisit soon!

 

[Xprimentyl]

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Yes, the ending was a bit bizarre (especially since it never got a sequel), but outside of that, I thought it was a really spectacular game, and it came to be one of my unexpected favorites of the last console generation. Good story, great characters and acting, and gameplay that I thought was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, it was mostly ignored by players and ho-hummed by critics.

Agreed. I picked it up from the bargain bin and was shocked it turned out to be really good. It's an easy, cathartic beat-em-up which is already good enough, but when you add to that really beautiful environments and some of the most well-written characters of the last generation, and you get something special everyone should play.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Aliens: Colonial Marines. Yes, it deserves to be torn to shreds due to its' false advertising of much better graphics than in the final product. But behind all the controversy and a rather stupid plot is a solid FPS that knows how to keep the combat encounters varied, the weapons effective but distinct and absolutely nails the look of Aliens. It is not a great game, but it is a solid game that kept me entertained for longer than it had any right to.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Splatterhouse remake. A decent God of War 'em up with some problems and annoying load times, but I've played through it multiple times and found it legitimately fun and functional. Also, Jim Cumming's best performance ever, IMO.

Duuuuuude too true! I had so much fun with that game. There's nothing wrong with a good ol' serviceable beat em up now and again. Plus I loved the Halloween/horror aesthetic and the characters were pretty cool as well.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Add another in the camp of Star Fox Zero being one I'd defend. It's not without its flaws, its motion controls without an option to fully turn them off is pure bullshit. But I still think it's a good game. Its 7/10 is the most it deserves with its faults, but a lot of the arguments put against it aren't very great. One thing I see a lot is people whining that it's too much like SF64. But it wasn't all that long ago that we had people crying for a game to be more like SF64, and that it's the high point in the series. So when we finally got a re-imagining of SF64, people whined and cried it's too much like fuckin SF64. WHAT EVEN. Be satisfied you stupid people!

This is hilariously accurate though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlCOW6IFLbo

 

[Catnip1024]

Alpha protocol. That was one of the best 3rd person games of last gen. It's the only game i played back to back upon completion, so i can see what my other choices do ( as well as change my gameplay style). Definitely needs a sequel.

I second this. It was flawed and glitchy, but it tried to do something new, and largely did it well. Even the glitches tended to be more on the hilarious side than the gamebreaking side (the way the legs stretch when he walks up stairs).

I also had no issue with the ending for Mass Effect 3. I wouldn't attempt to defend it though, because it's all down to personal preference.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Watch Dogs. ?Hype train? debacle aside and taking it for what it is and not what it was supposed to be, Watch Dogs is actually a competent, beautifully realized open world that's a lot of fun to explore. Unlike a lot of open worlds that offer distractions to break up the main story, Watch Dogs' open world actually supplements the story; you are a vigilante and your actions dictate how the people of Chicago interact with you when they see you. Plus, getting hacked by other players, suddenly turning your single-player experience into ?hide-and-seek? multiplayer, is the kind of uniqueness that makes Watch Dogs so worthwhile.

 

[Kerg3927]

Put me down as another one for DA2 and ME3.

DA2 was a mixed bag and wasn't as good as Origins, mainly because Origins had arguably the GOAT NPC personalities. But DA2 was a pretty good game, and it had the best combat and some of the most interesting and challenging boss fights of the three games. It was far better than Inquisition in what I consider the three most important areas for an action RPG: story, characters, and combat.

ME3 was the best Mass Effect game for the first 98% of the game, up until starbrat. And the ending, while a bit of a letdown and headscratcher, wasn't all THAT bad...

Spoiler

if you pretend that the ridiculous synergy ending doesn't exist (or is just a joke/trap) and choose destroy or control.

Overall, I rank ME3 about equally with the first two games in the series. It's a great game.

 

[StatusNil]

Alpha protocol. That was one of the best 3rd person games of last gen. It's the only game i played back to back upon completion, so i can see what my other choices do ( as well as change my gameplay style). Definitely needs a sequel.

Very much this, an excellent game that happened to have a number of issues. But an excellent game nonetheless. Where muh Beta Protocol at, Obsidian?

 

[Strazdas]

The Saboteur. Sure EA fucked it up the ass and forced it to run in an awful game engine that bugs out and turns game unplayable if you use a resolution above 720p but damn that game was fun as hell and its visual styling was extremely well done. Loved playing it even if its historically absolutely incorrect.