Well that was much better than expected.

[kasperbbs]

Fallout 3. It was probably the first game of this type that i have ever played. So i wandered into Megaton after leaving the vault, talked to some random people and got myself a couple of not so exciting quests which i was too lazy to do so i decided to tinker with the bomb and it turns out that my skill level is too low for that, so i figured that this game was not worth bothering with. Tried it again after a month and fell in love with it, can't even remember why.

 

[Seneschal]

Teen Wolf was like that to me too. I thought it would be funny crap, but it turned out surprisingly inventive and intriguing. I like how it's structured, with season-long mysteries that slowly unravel as the characters wade deeper into the supernatural. It's still firmly rooted in the guilty-pleasure young-adult supernatural-romance thing, but thrives because of it, not despite.

The Vampire Diaries (the first two seasons mostly) is similar. It's a glitzy highschool vamp-romance, but it also has surprisingly intricate season-long multi-layered schemes. Fortunately, now that it wore out its welcome, its sister-show The Originals took over with the same freshness as S1 TVD, only with secret wars over New Orleans in place of the teen romance.

 

[laggyteabag]

Telltale's The Walking Dead

When I first heard of a Walking Dead game being in development, I was excited, but then that excitement suddenly and very quickly went after I saw the art style of the game, and after seeing who was making it. Telltale had a very bumpy past before it released The Walking Dead, but when I did eventually buy the game (just after episode 5 had been released, and after reading how great the game was from, well, just about everywhere), little did I know that it was going to end up being my favourite game of 2012.

Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Korra

I used to watch Avatar on TV when it first came out, and from what I remember from it, I really enjoyed it. But alas, 'twas a time before we could record anything, so I ended up missing most of the episodes and bouncing between seasons, and eventually is stopped running all together. On holiday in 2011 I noticed that a trailer for The Legend of Korra had been announced, and I was interested, but I promptly forgot about the show's existence. In mid-2013 I decided that I would watch some of my favourite cartoons from when I was younger because I never got to watch all of any of them, starting with Shaman King, and promptly moving onto Avatar. Once again, I had no idea that I would love it so much, especially for a show that aired on Nickolodeon, but alas, I regard Avatar as being one of the best things that I have watched on TV, rivaling Game of Thrones, Band of Brothers, and Firefly.

Mass Effect

Once again, another example of me missing the hype, and only actually deciding to pick up the franchise after it had been completed. My friend had borrowed the first Mass Effect from his cousin, and promptly started to tell me how great the game was, as it happened, I went home and Mass Effect was on sale on Origin for around £5 so I decided to believe the hype, bite the bullet, and I decided to pick it up. Turns out that Bioware are actually pretty good at making games. I then promptly purchased 2 and 3 after completing the first game. Yeah, it was money well spent.

 

[lacktheknack]

"A Series of Unfortunate Events".

When Mom gave me the first one when I was 10, I was really skeptical. It looked like the exact opposite of something I would normally read at the time (I liked fantasy).

Best children's series of all time. ALL TIME. Even if the last book was a bit disappointing.

 

[COMaestro]

For me, the Harry Potter series. I was REALLY tired of hearing about it around the time the first movie was in theaters. My mom wanted to go see it and I went with her because she doesn't like to go alone and my dad rarely goes out to the movies. I ended up enjoying the movie a lot more than I thought I would, so I went ahead and read the books and found them to be fantastic. They start out somewhat simple, but the complexity grows in each book, much as it should if a kid were growing up with the books as they are written.

Also, the movie Thor. Didn't know much about the superhero and the trailers didn't do much to excite be about it, but I wanted to see it just to keep up with the Marvel movie continuity. Found it to be a really good film, though I felt his personality change happened a little too quickly to be believed.

 

[shteev]

Kung Fu Hustle. My expectations were low, but to this day I rate some of the action sequences within it as the most amazing things I've ever seen done on film. Watching it gave me one of those melancholic senses that I'd never be able to watch it for the first time ever again.

The World's End. The appeal of this one was largely nostalgic, as I'm the same age as the characters and spent my time 20 years ago doing exactly what they did to the same soundtrack. I've watched it time and again and am still sometimes rewarded with things I didn't notice on earlier watchings... and in fact I've come to appreciate Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz more now as I'm watching out for hidden extras in those more closely (whereas previously I'd been lukewarm to those two, mostly because I didn't find them as funny as Spaced).

Tekken Tag Tournament 2. I've always liked Tekken but this is the first time I've been able to sit in front of it for hours by myself without needing the human interaction of multiplayer. Swapping between 2 characters seems like such a small addition to the game but it's transformed my experience of playing it. Actually... Tekken 1 as well! I have very fond memories of the first time me and my friends sat down to play that game. We spent an hour or so taking the mickey out of how terrible it looked, how slow and cumbersome it played compared to Street Fighter 2, and how Battle Arena Toshinden was clearly the better game on the PS1. Seven hours later we were still playing it

 

[Howllons-y]

I went to watch the Lego Movie a few weeks back with a few of my mates that I knew from University #UniLads

Not the friday nights out that we used to do!

I have to say that sitting down to see the film I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but I doubted Lego could find a way onto a film screen successfully. Also, I was wondering what backstory or anything they have to go on with Lego (it reminded me of the time when they said the film Battleship was based on the 1-on-1 game 'Battleship', which I just laughed at the idea that they could even suggest that a film could be based on that).

I thought during the first ten seconds that the film was going to be played completely straight and I feared what I had gotten myself into for the next hour and a half.

After these ten seconds though, the tone completely changed and I loved the film from that point up until the very end. I was very surprised and I will get it immediately when it comes out on blu-ray/3d/dvd.

Great film.

I just had that same experience today, although I had more of an idea of the backstory thanks to MovieBob.

 

[Mojo]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it other than @Legion had an avatar came from it. They have pretty good taste in anime so I stuck with it, even though the first two episodes were... not very appealing.

Boy am I glad that I did. If you're an anime fan, or even if you're not, I highly recommend it. It's basically the Neon Genesis Evangelion of the magical girl genre, but better.

You actually reminded me that I've had the entire series on my hard drive for almost a year now and still haven't gotten around to actually watch the thing. I'll have a decent amount of free time in two weeks, really should check it out then. Since you seem to recommend it even for people who don't really know much about anime, got any tips before starting? (Besides not giving up after the first two episodes?) I currently have NO idea what its about or anything.

 

[Vigormortis]

FTL is one of a few recent examples for me.

I went in expecting another pretentious indie game with "quirky" but ultimately awful gameplay, visuals, audio, and controls. I expected a game that was being lauded with such praise simply because it wasn't like anything in the triple-A market.

I came out with it being one of the best games I've played in years. It made its way into my list of "favorite games ever" and easily deserves a seat in the annals of the gaming greats.

The same can be said, to one degree or another, of Dota 2, Outlast, and Terraria.

 

[Yossarian1507]

Attack on Titan for me. I somehow missed the hype, the loud fanbase, the countless fan videos and shopped funny screenshots until I got bored one day and just thought "hey that Attack on Titan thing, that was supposed to be good I think i'll give it a go"

Suddenly best anime of 2013, probably the best Shounen anime... ever and it's Game of Thrones on a particularly shitty day when it comes to the death count. The manga especially. Yeesh.

I hadn't watched a single battle anime for years then AoT comes along and knocks it out of the park. I guess the amount of slice of life comedy animes I was watching until then made me forget what a good Shounen anime looked like.

Same here. I got fed up with popular Shounen series, because they started to completely run out of ideas (Bleach being the main offender). Then I got fed up with every other anime series, for unexplainable reasons for me. Something like 3-4 manga/anime-less years go by, and one day I had a conversation with my friend, who prepared an amazing Jinx (League of Legends) cosplay for the convent she attended. I thought she'll get first prize, hands down, but as it turned out, no. She lost with group of people cosplaying Attack on Titan.

Me: Isn't that the anime, that half of my Facebook friends bang on about non-stop for something like half a year?
Her: Yeah. That cosplay was good, but I think they won, because everyone loves Attack on Titan.
Me: Fine, then I guess I'll see what this fuss is all about...

25 episodes later, it was something like 3AM with work waiting for me in the morning, and yet the first thing I did was reach for a manga. Wow, I didn't expect it to be THAT good.

---

Also, Titanic. I watched it when I was something like 10 years old, so I didn't really understand it that much, so all that stayed with me from it was Leonardo Di Caprio "pretty boy" jokes. As Leo started surging on my favorite actors list in the last few years, I decided to give Titanic another go. My God, it's beautiful. I almost started crying during scenes with doomed passengers during their last moments. Really, a masterpiece for the ages, I'm ashamed that I dismissed it for so long.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Game of Thrones (the tv show)

Held off watching it for the longest time because I considered fantasy a zombified genre that only had power fantasies for 12-year olds on offer. And boy, was I proven wrong. After watching the show I read the books like a maniac.

Berserk

Happened over time. I read the first 3 volumes and thought it to be the stupidest, most juvenile and macho overblown "PHWOAAARRR!!!" power fantasy manga I'd ever read. But when I read it and then read it for the second time I started to see all the layers beneath all the gore and tits, and now I consider it to be up there with ASOIAF as one of the best fantasy works I've seen. I still think the first story arc is the very worst the series has to offer though.

The Vision of Escaflowne

This series resurrected my faith in fantasy fiction. I'd seen it previously in elementary school and by Jove the feels when I heard the theme song for the first time in years. But then I was even more blown away when I discovered it's a really fun and adventurous series even without the nostalgia factor.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Never were my expectations proven wrong so hard. When I saw the trailers it seemed their only selling point was that the effects were by WETA digital, and I was certain it was going to suck ass. But when it got all the rave reviews, I went to see it and holy shit! I'd never been so pumped after seeing a movie before or since.

The Truman Show

I considered it very good already, but when I saw it for the first time in years about a year ago, I realized it was a goddamn masterpiece, and has aged in a way 99,9% of films only dream of. It's downright scary how the culture that was barely in its infancy when the film was made has grown to fruition almost exactly how it was depicted in the film.

Spirited Away

Saw it when I was young enough to remember it only as this ultra-weird animated film that wasn't Disney. Then I saw it again after I watched Ponyo. Now it's my favorite film of all time, and am really sad that I didn't get to see it properly as a kid.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Wasn't blown away by it initially, and didn't really rave about it throughout either. But only after watching the final episode the pieces clicked together and I realized what a masterful and exquisitely rare series I'd just watched.

 

[Coakle]

Risen - Game

I bought it on sale as a stopgap while I was waiting for 'better' RPGs to come out. Easily one of the best purchesing decisions I've made.

It turned out to be a very organic RPG. The entire game takes place on a pretty small island, but it's filled with dangers and plant life that lend give it a sense of mystery and vastness. It was an RPG that rewarded knowledge of an area and experience more than martial prowess. It was engrossing.


Witch Craft Works - Anime

What I expected:

An anime Harry Potter/Twilight fanfiction where Bella is a guy. That it would be a mediocre show played completely tongue-in-cheek. The summery for the show is one of the most unappealing things I've read. I expected to drop it after the first episode.


What I got:

Witch Craft Works is funny. The show squeezes every drop of humor from its premise. Sure, Ayaki's nonchalant delivery of her lines is god-tier and it has great visual gags, but what really pulls this show together is impeccable comedic timing. It allows the show to keep the plot lighthearted and prevents the more 'serious' aspects of the show from crowding out the best parts. Tower Witches.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Fringe, created by J.J. Abrams so I was skeptical after watching Lost and being disappointed with the wasted potential. Anyway I loved the X-files as a kid and didn't think it'd be anything but a cheap knockoff. Started watching it a week ago and now I'm on season 3 already.

Some of my favorite quotes so far:

Astrid: Walter, what's wrong?

Walter: Either a green unicorn just raced across the lab, or I accidentally took some LSD.

-----

Walter: Peter, hold on to these tight. Anti-gravity osmium bullets. Shoot Observers with these and watch them float away like balloons.

Peter: If we shoot 'em they're dead. Why'd we want 'em to float away?

Walter: ...Because it's cool.

-----

Walter: The only thing better than a cow is a human! Unless you need milk. Then you really need a cow.

Walter <3

 

[The Wykydtron]

Attack on Titan for me. I somehow missed the hype, the loud fanbase, the countless fan videos and shopped funny screenshots until I got bored one day and just thought "hey that Attack on Titan thing, that was supposed to be good I think i'll give it a go"

Suddenly best anime of 2013, probably the best Shounen anime... ever and it's Game of Thrones on a particularly shitty day when it comes to the death count. The manga especially. Yeesh.

I hadn't watched a single battle anime for years then AoT comes along and knocks it out of the park. I guess the amount of slice of life comedy animes I was watching until then made me forget what a good Shounen anime looked like.

Same here. I got fed up with popular Shounen series, because they started to completely run out of ideas (Bleach being the main offender). Then I got fed up with every other anime series, for unexplainable reasons for me. Something like 3-4 manga/anime-less years go by, and one day I had a conversation with my friend, who prepared an amazing Jinx (League of Legends) cosplay for the convent she attended. I thought she'll get first prize, hands down, but as it turned out, no. She lost with group of people cosplaying Attack on Titan.

Me: Isn't that the anime, that half of my Facebook friends bang on about non-stop for something like half a year?
Her: Yeah. That cosplay was good, but I think they won, because everyone loves Attack on Titan.
Me: Fine, then I guess I'll see what this fuss is all about...

25 episodes later, it was something like 3AM with work waiting for me in the morning, and yet the first thing I did was reach for a manga. Wow, I didn't expect it to be THAT good.

---

Also, Titanic. I watched it when I was something like 10 years old, so I didn't really understand it that much, so all that stayed with me from it was Leonardo Di Caprio "pretty boy" jokes. As Leo started surging on my favorite actors list in the last few years, I decided to give Titanic another go. My God, it's beautiful. I almost started crying during scenes with doomed passengers during their last moments. Really, a masterpiece for the ages, I'm ashamed that I dismissed it for so long.

Well AoT cosplay does have a particularly stylish look. It's the really short jackets and cool boots that sell it. Actually considering the AoT fanbase if they were wearing anything to do with the Survey Corps it's an automatic win. Swanky as fuck minicapes yo'

Jinx cosplay is pretty cool actually, props to anyone who can pull it off. You need hair colouring, body paint, invulnerability to wardrobe malfunctions and really long hair. Oh and red eye lenses if we're being picky

I could never cosplay since it would have to be totally perfect for me to be happy with wearing it, everyone else could say it was awesome and i'm just pissed it was one colour shade wrong. One day I might try Phoenix Wright cosplay though, it's only dependent on how good your local hairdresser is and if you have the cash for a perfectly correct shade of blue suit.

OT: Thinking about it again, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (yes it is a word) was totally awesome and I never expected anything from it. I've never been into MGS before because the cutscenes are too long and the controls were fucking wank (you have to hold 3 oddly positioned buttons to aim your gun in MGS3 nevermind aim properly) but Revengeance had the good old Platinum Games symbol on it and yet again they prove themselves as the masters of fighting game mechanics.

The first fifteen minutes of the game has more quality in it than some full games, I liked the story, the music was awesome and it has the new best video game ending of all time.

NANOMACHINES SON.

 

[ForumSafari]

OT: Thinking about it again, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (yes it is a word) was totally awesome and I never expected anything from it.

That's my pick too, it was sold to me as 'you can play Raiden and fight in an action game'. Too bad guys, I already played Dirge of Cerberus so I'm not falling for it.

Then I bought it for twenty odd pounds on Steam and it's one of the best games I've played this year, albeit with a few minor niggles. The first boss fight set the tone for the entire game and it does well to sustain that over the top feeling.

 

[Drummodino]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it other than @Legion had an avatar came from it. They have pretty good taste in anime so I stuck with it, even though the first two episodes were... not very appealing.

Boy am I glad that I did. If you're an anime fan, or even if you're not, I highly recommend it. It's basically the Neon Genesis Evangelion of the magical girl genre, but better.

You actually reminded me that I've had the entire series on my hard drive for almost a year now and still haven't gotten around to actually watch the thing. I'll have a decent amount of free time in two weeks, really should check it out then. Since you seem to recommend it even for people who don't really know much about anime, got any tips before starting? (Besides not giving up after the first two episodes?) I currently have NO idea what its about or anything.

Go into it blind like I did. Don't look up reviews, don't listen to people talk about it (except me now). It's one of those things best experienced with as little prior knowledge as possible. Just know that it gets better as it progresses.

 

[Raine_sage]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it other than @Legion had an avatar came from it. They have pretty good taste in anime so I stuck with it, even though the first two episodes were... not very appealing.

Boy am I glad that I did. If you're an anime fan, or even if you're not, I highly recommend it. It's basically the Neon Genesis Evangelion of the magical girl genre, but better.

You actually reminded me that I've had the entire series on my hard drive for almost a year now and still haven't gotten around to actually watch the thing. I'll have a decent amount of free time in two weeks, really should check it out then. Since you seem to recommend it even for people who don't really know much about anime, got any tips before starting? (Besides not giving up after the first two episodes?) I currently have NO idea what its about or anything.

In a nutshell the anime is about the nature of sacrifice, hope, and despair, and how helping others for selfish reasons begins to take a toll on people.

It's very multi layered and there are a bunch of different interpretations, I don't think I've seen two reviews that came away with the same message aside from the obvious themes I listed above. Madoka's strengths definitely lay in its art direction, if you find time after the series is over, definitely check out the first two movies. Which are basically a retelling of the core story, on a higher budget, with a lot more polish. You'll catch things you missed the first time watching, while still enjoying a relatively fresh experience.

Other than that just keep an open mind while watching. The story attempts to fake you out a couple times so if you ever go "ugh I can't believe they're going to do X" keep watching because chances are X isn't what you think it is.

OT: Durarara for me. I had friends reccomending it to me for years, but the thing is I'm a social watcher. I have trouble starting on a show or a movie unless I'm watching it with someone. So finally my friend and I sat down to watch together and I'm hooked. I love the non-linear story, I love the cute characters, I like the way it's not so much about a "main character" as it is about a bunch of colorful people and how they make up a living breathing city.

 

[Yossarian1507]

Well AoT cosplay does have a particularly stylish look. It's the really short jackets and cool boots that sell it. Actually considering the AoT fanbase if they were wearing anything to do with the Survey Corps it's an automatic win. Swanky as fuck minicapes yo'

Jinx cosplay is pretty cool actually, props to anyone who can pull it off. You need hair colouring, body paint, invulnerability to wardrobe malfunctions and really long hair. Oh and red eye lenses if we're being picky

Okay, okay, we had a wig (properly made), so hair was a secondary problem... But yeah, body paint (which I helped with, and I was damn proud of my work on it), costume, and especially weapons (which me and my friend made from a special foam, and then painted it in right colors, lots of work, but it looked spot on) took a LOT of effort, but it was damn worth it. So now you can imagine my opinion on AoT, when I heard that all our hard work was good enough only for a 2nd place, because AoT and it's cosplay (I didn't attend the convent itself, but from what I heard, it was Eren, Mikasa + [supposedly really well made] really tall guy painted as Colossal Titan) beat our hard work. And yet... Yeah, AoT is just awesome, plain and simple, I just cannot be mad at it.

OT: Oh yeah, I got another one, although it's an overall performance award - PS Vita. I bought just because I had spare money, and I really wanted to play Virtue's Last Reward and Danganronpa (and it was worth it just for that, amazing games), but as a PSN+ owner it turned out I got a steady influx of free games... And then I started buying what's interesting... And holy cow! Tearaway, Soul Sacrifice, Ys, Toikuden, TxK. Wow, wow, wow, I never thought there will be a moment, when in my spare gaming time, I'll neglect PC, and stationary consoles, to play handheld games in my own house. Definitely, my most positive gaming surprise in 2014 so far.

Captcha: Black like a tar... Wait what?

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia:

When I first watched the first episode, I didn't see it as anything special or worth picking up, so I didn't bother watching it when it was airing. I decided to pick it back up after it finished airing just to pass the time, and it ended up being the best anime I've seen that year, with an interesting plot and mystery, stylish visuals, and a great soundtrack.

Girls Und Panzer:

I expected to be more juvenile and gimmicky, but it really did end up being rather tame, being more about tanks than it was about cute-girls-doing-cute-thing-and-there's-tanks-somewhere-too. Also, despite no one dying, the tank fights were surprisingly intense. It was just a fun watch.

Chihayafuru:

The only reason I watched this was because it looked pretty. I'm not into sports or card game anime, but I loved the hell out of this one. It has one of the most likable female leads I've seen in an anime, and the karuta games more intense than any moment in Attack on Titan (Which I do like, by the way.)

Oblivion Island:

I'm not a fan of CGI anime, like, at all, and the only reason I really watched this was because Christine Marie Cabanos was in the dub and I find her insanely adorable. What I got was a fun, innocent little movie that was surprisingly touching at parts. The CGI, while wasn't Pixar or Dreamworks quality, was very colorful and fairly creative. There was even a character that I grew so attached to that I literally screamed at my screen when something happen to him (Not spoiling what, though.) If a movie can get that sort of reaction out of me, it's a sign of a good movie.

 

[Fox12]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it other than @Legion had an avatar came from it. They have pretty good taste in anime so I stuck with it, even though the first two episodes were... not very appealing.

Boy am I glad that I did. If you're an anime fan, or even if you're not, I highly recommend it. It's basically the Neon Genesis Evangelion of the magical girl genre, but better.

Damn, what's with the Japanese having to turn everything into psychological horror?

You know what Sailor Moon needs? Psychological horror.

Gundam is great and all, but do you know what it could use? Some psychological horror.

You know what Pokemon needs? You guessed it. Psychological horror!
Reminds me of Narutaru. The beginning is slow as dirt, but holy cow does the book get good. Basically Pokemon, of all things, meets Neon Genesis. Only more depressing.

In any case, I may try this out, is at least has me curious.