Video game epiphanies.

[Nomanslander]

Ever had this moment, you be playing a game and either A) hating it. Or B) not getting it. But you keep at it until something clicks. And then all of a sudden you get it, and you love the game. As for me I just had this moment with Max Payne 3. At first I was annoyed by the controls a bit, I thought the cover system sucked, plus I kept dying from doing the wrong things. But then that moment of clairvoyance stepped in and I got it. For one thing Max Payne 3 is NOT a cover base shooter, and the cover system in the game only exists as more of a crutch. I kept dying a lot, but then I wasn't, and all of a sudden I was a bullet dodging ballerina from hell destroying every Jersey Shore lookalike in my path. Pure concentrated awesome! But enough plugs for that game. Anyone else have a similar moment to share? ^^

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Bayonetta when you "get" and can perform dodge offsetting.

Also, when I played Mercenaries on PS2 I had an epiphany and realized the GTA games were kinda crappy. Mercenaries really let you complete any mission a ton of very different ways, it was so fun figuring out how to not piss off the game's factions. Mercenaries was developed in a fashion where each mission (environment and enemy positioning) was designed separately and then all of the missions were put on an empty canvas (so to speak) to create the open/sandbox world whereas in GTA the world in created first and the missions are then created in hope that they'll be good (and most of the time they aren't).

 

[TrevHead]

Ninja Gaiden Black, Those black ninjas that throw exploding daggers were really kicking my arse, I must have spent a day or 2 struggling with them. Then I realised that the jump attack homed into enemies and made combat 10 times easier. Before I was just relying on standard ground combat and wall jumps but I kept on getting a dagger in the back.

I was playing Sword of the Samurai 3 last week and was hoping to get to grips with the parry system so I could get past the last segment of the game (village side). Alas no joy, in-fact I'm not even sure the parry system works properly.

The new CAVE shmup Akai Katana. Slash mode has a unique method of play where you have to charge 2 meters to go into phantom mode and unleash a special attack. Getting the hang of that and using it at a optimal time where you have a lot of bullets onscreen and your attack turns them all into gold was very satisfying. Its like hitting the jackpot on a gambling machine and it lights up like a chrismas tree.

 

[Dandark]

Dark souls. I was hating it because I couldn't get the hang of the combat system and it felt clunky and unwieldy then it just clicked and suddenly I was having fun with the game.

Up untill Anor Londo.....

 

[The Wykydtron]

I had this when I first played League of Legends.

"what you don't tower dive everything? You don't chase a guy back to his base? Your ultimate isn't completely infaliable? WTF?!"

I actually get the overall mechanics of the game now but i'm still like this with most of the new characters I try.

Then again I always go for the most interesting looking Champions, not the most practical. This leads me to the present where i'm desperately trying to learn and do well with Orianna, the unmistakeably hardest to play and most technical Champion in the entire game.

Cassiopeia may share her 100% difficulty slider but Orianna far outstrips her in terms of utility and lack of pick up and pwn potential.

You randomly pick Orianna for the first time you're going to fail. Hard. But once you kind of get the hang of her basics, it's just so satisfiying when you actually outzone the enemy you're laning against just by having them be in constant fear of The Ball poking at them when they try to last hit.

Plus she's just adorable.

 

[The Abhorrent]

Metroid Prime
This one didn't really start out being "bad", but about a couple hours into the game I had a realization of sorts while moving between locales... it captured the feel of Super Metroid perfectly. It was something of an epiphany, even if it did little more than cement Metroid Prime's greatness.

Shadow of the Colossus
Again, it didn't start out "bad". What happened was during the third colossus, trying to climb up it, I accidentally pulled off the sword-launch trick. Trying to run up his weapon, he hefted it up and sent me flying into the air; with a mix of determination and luck, I managed to grab ahold of his head and begin slaying the titan. One of those "I can't believe I just did that!" moments.

Might add some more later when I think of them.

 

[Jolly Co-operator]

The controls in Twisted Metal (2012) where giving me a bit of grief, but it eventually clicked. Frankly, it's hard not to enjoy a game at least a little bit after you've just destroyed an ice cream truck with a flaming chainsaw

 

[That_Sneaky_Camper]

Just Cause 2. The game didn't start out bad, but the moment it clicked for me was when I realized I could do all this zany shit. You want to hijack a jet and ram it into the enemies down below? Go ahead. You want to put explosives on a car and then drive the car into the middle of a checkpoint, jump out, and then detonate the car thus killing everyone at that checkpoint? Have at you. You want to jump off a building and rain down rocket fire from your RPG as you're descending to the ground? More power to you.

I could honestly go on, the sheer, "I wanna fuck around and have zany fun.", factor is enormous.

Captcha: Done that. Ironic, no?

 

[Vault101]

Assasins creed 2...

who's this kid in the white hood?..what about Altiair?..wheres the tower? the order? the ceremony? this kid isnt an assasin...he's an asshole

but then I realised the game was about the journey into becoming an assasin, when ezio grew his beard, where he beacame an assasin (I also bothered to read the codex towards the end)

 

[Dryk]

Every time I come back to TF2 I spend a few hours hopping back and forth with the most pathetically mistimed, 2-foot high rocket jumps. Then at some point it just clicks, and I go back to screaming across the map and crumpling into a mangled heap next to some unsuspecting Sniper.