What do you think are the most overrated video games of all time?

[dscross]

There are games that have not stood the test of time or just were overhyped at the time of release. Others are the result of fan-based nostalgia or reviewers that are loyal to certain franchises. Whatever the reason, there are many games that are overrated out there.

What are the games that you feel were oversold to you, that simply weren't as good as you were led to believe, or the mainstream fandom just annoys you?

Note: I'll put some of mine further down when I have got your views because I don't want to influence the discussion.

 

[Hawki]

I really dislike threads like this. I'm liable to use the word "overrated" in discussion, but ask yourself - is a game overrated, or do you simply not like it as much as others? A lot of the time, I'd say it's the latter, and I include myself in that analogy.

But fine, since you asked:

-BioShock (I actually really like this game, but while it's a very intelligent game, I don't consider it an artistic masterpiece in the same way that others do)

-Diablo II (a good game, but one I don't enjoy playing. To be frank, I prefer D1 and D3)

-Doom II/Doom 2016 (meh - Doom 1 and Doom 3 are better - if anything, I consider Doom 3 to be underrated)

-Half-Life 2 (it's...okay, I guess? Decent in story and gameplay, but nothing that's worth a meme that's gone for over a decade)

-The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (it's a good game, but I prefer the other 3D Zeldas I've played)

-The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (it's fine, it's average, but I don't get what the fuss is about. It's aged even further when compared to A Link Between Worlds, which surpasses it in every way)

-Path of Exile (dull, repetitive, boring - call me a newb, but I prefer Diablo III)

-Super Metroid (good game, but I prefer Zero Mission and Fusion)

-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (average game, enjoyable, nothing too special)

-Resident Evil 2 (very good game and one I enjoy, but I feel it's a tad overrated - I don't get why everyone loves RE2 when RE3 came right after it)

 

[stroopwafel]

Probably Bioshock, Half Life 2, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto, Mass Effect series, anyhthing Bioware etc. Though, if I don't enjoy a game as much as others who am I to say it's overrated? Actually, it's not hard to see for me why people really enjoy those games.

-The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (it's fine, it's average, but I don't get what the fuss is about. It's aged even further when compared to A Link Between Worlds, which surpasses it in every way)

-Super Metroid (good game, but I prefer Zero Mission and Fusion)

-Resident Evil 2 (very good game and one I enjoy, but I feel it's a tad overrated - I don't get why everyone loves RE2 when RE3 came right after it)

Noooooo. Those are some of me favorites. I don't think ALttP aged poorly(that goes for most of the top tier snes games). A Link Between Worlds felt more like a (really good) homage to me rather than a genuine successor.

 

[dscross]

Halo series (having great online options and decent AI isn't enough to warrant 9's and 10's)

Bioshock series (a once-decent story and upgrade system isn't enough to warrant 9's and 10's)

Call of Duty series (see Halo comments minus the AI)

GTA series from 7th gen onwards (great attention to detail in equally sterilized worlds isn't enough to continually warrant 9's and 10's)

Assassin's Creed series (an initially cool concept marred by monotonously shallow design from the beginning isn't enough to warrant 9's and 10's)

Bethesda RPG's (quantity over quality isn't enough to continually warrant 9's and 10's)

Uncharted series (stellar presentation isn't enough to continually warrant 9's and and 10's)

Some of the above have lost their critical luster a bit lately, but overall they have been historically over rated.

Let's not even get into Nintendo games, as the last few generations they haven't even technically been reviewed on the same curve as everything else.

 

[DefunctTheory]

It's a tough question these days. I think the nostalgia is fading for my generation, so it's hard to find a game that was both overrated then, and still considered amazing now, by the kind of people that still care. What that leaves is mostly just a lot of games I personally despise/did not like, but which generally fall under the 'Different Strokes' category.

Only game I can think of I feel is overrated and people will agree with me sooner or later is Dark Souls 3. Personally hated it with every fiber of my being, but I still understand why others did like it. But I think that, in 5 years, people are going to view it a lot worse than how they view it now - As others do Dark Souls style games and let you scratch that itch, it's level flaws, pacing, and truly boring visuals are going to get more and more obvious and harder to ignore.

-Doom II/Doom 2016 (meh - Doom 1 and Doom 3 are better - if anything, I consider Doom 3 to be underrated)

Oh, and Doom 2016, a totally 'Ok' shooter that got felated just because it was different from what we've come to expect these days. But I'm not sure how many people would disagree with me there - I noticed that people stopped talking about Doom 2016 really, really fast. I suspect that's because most people realized that the more they thought about it, the less it stood out, and the worse the game comes off.

Doom III was, in my opinion, rightly junked. But lets not go there.

 

[CaitSeith]

Overrated means "people enjoy this game too much". What kind of party-pooper are you to tell others how much they should enjoy games?

 

[dscross]

Overrated means "people enjoy this game too much". What kind of party-pooper are you to tell others how much they should enjoy games?

I really dislike threads like this. I'm liable to use the word "overrated" in discussion, but ask yourself - is a game overrated, or do you simply not like it as much as others? A lot of the time, I'd say it's the latter, and I include myself in that analogy.)

What's your beef guys? It's purposely a discussion about personal preference and what INDIVIDUALS think are overrated. I didn't even put my own views at the top. I think you have both just been triggered by the word itself because you've seen heated arguments about it in other threads.

By the way, overrated does not mean people enjoy this game too much. It means to have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved, which is FINE for people to criticise if they are being reviewed. The definition of the 'deserved' part really depends on your own preference, which is what this thread is meant to be about.

Edit: Maybe I should have written critically overrated since it so clearly got under your skin.

 

[Exley97_v1legacy]

Overrated means "people enjoy this game too much". What kind of party-pooper are you to tell others how much they should enjoy games?

I'm going purely on *critically* overrated, as in games that were okay/good but for some reason were fawned over by the press/game reviewers/YouTubers. Here are just a few off the top of my head.

GTA IV -- Still not sure why this game got perfect/near perfect scores. Did anyone actually play the MP version?
Crysis -- Bleh....great graphics do not automatically make a game great.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess -- a good game, and I like the wolf stuff adn all, but I found it pretty boring overall.

 

[stroopwafel]

Only game I can think of I feel is overrated and people will agree with me sooner or later is Dark Souls 3. Personally hated it with every fiber of my being, but I still understand why others did like it. But I think that, in 5 years, people are going to view it a lot worse than how they view it now - As others do Dark Souls style games and let you scratch that itch, it's level flaws, pacing, and truly boring visuals are going to get more and more obvious and harder to ignore.

Dark Souls 3 is probably in my top 5 games of all time, right next to Bloodborne. The art direction, the atmosphere, the combat, the enemy variety, the stage design; there is really not a single part of DkS3 that I don't love. I played all the 'Souls' games in chronological order but there is just a flow and smoothness to both Bloodborne and DkS3 that really sets them apart. Though, DkS3 feels more like 'Bloodborne with knights' but that is probably the reason I love it so much. So much insane creativity and imagination in both those games.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Spoiler

Only game I can think of I feel is overrated and people will agree with me sooner or later is Dark Souls 3. Personally hated it with every fiber of my being, but I still understand why others did like it. But I think that, in 5 years, people are going to view it a lot worse than how they view it now - As others do Dark Souls style games and let you scratch that itch, it's level flaws, pacing, and truly boring visuals are going to get more and more obvious and harder to ignore.

Dark Souls 3 is probably in my top 5 games of all time, right next to Bloodborne. The art direction, the atmosphere, the combat, the enemy variety, the stage design; there is really not a single part of DkS3 that I don't love. I played all the 'Souls' games in chronological order but there is just a flow and smoothness to both Bloodborne and DkS3 that really sets them apart. Though, DkS3 feels more like 'Bloodborne with knights' but that is probably the reason I love it so much. So much insane creativity and imagination in both those games.

I'm not going to try and argue you into not liking it (A futile endeavor, and kind of a dick move even if it was possible), but I can honestly say that I have NO idea what you mean. The level layout was terrible (And the switch away from a branching world a major misstep), the visuals were so bland my eyes literally glazed over while I was playing on several occasions, and everything was about as smooth as a gravel smoothie.

And I of course wont get into the gameplay, as I think it's the most defensible part of the game, even though I hated it more than I've ever hated anything in a video game.

Never played Bloodborne, as I don't have a PS4. But once people started comparing DS3 with Bloodborne, it killed any urge I had to buy the system.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I didn't care much at all about Bioshock. It had a somewhat unique setting and good enough atmosphere, but I just disliked the shooting and dealing with enemies in general. And the story felt way too depended on audio logs, which made all the characters feel disconnected from my character and the world itself. Maybe this was the point, but it made all the shocking reveals have no impact on me.

Resident Evil 2 (very good game and one I enjoy, but I feel it's a tad overrated - I don't get why everyone loves RE2 when RE3 came right after it)

It introduced us to Leon, Claire, and Ada; three of the most popular Resi characters, it was the first introduction to Racoon City, the police station is still one of the most beloved settings in the franchise, and the zapping system was pretty unique at the time and still sort of is. It had Lickers, it had Mr. X, it had Hunk.

It had a lot of new characters, monsters, and environments that have become iconic in the franchise. It's not too weird that people still hold it in high regard.

RE3 was a continuation and slight refinement of 2, but it didn't have the same level of cool, new shit.

 

[Yoshi178]

the GTA series.

 

[stroopwafel]

RE3 was a continuation and slight refinement of 2, but it didn't have the same level of cool, new shit.

I was really hyped for RE2 and that was in no small part thanks to the RE2 demo that was with RE director's cut. It was like Resident Evil, but bigger and better. RE2 also felt different enough not being trapped in the same location and all. The third game indeed refined the formula further but in many ways it felt like RE2 was missing the third disc. From the 'traditional' Resident Evil games RE2 is still my favorite though. Well, that and RE Remake. RE2's classic status is well deserved in my opinion. With such limited technology they created an amazingly immersive experience.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Anything that is clearly nostalgia fueled love. I hate your childhood. I hate my childhood too. Stop tainting everything with our childhoods!! Bah! Not even bitter. Why am I still alive? Sorry. Nevermind. Oops. Everything's back to normal now. Leave me alone.

 

[Casual Shinji]

RE3 was a continuation and slight refinement of 2, but it didn't have the same level of cool, new shit.

I was really hyped for RE2 and that was in no small part thanks to the RE2 demo that was with RE director's cut. It was like Resident Evil, but bigger and better. RE2 also felt different enough not being trapped in the same location and all. The third game indeed refined the formula further but in many ways it felt like RE2 was missing the third disc. From the 'traditional' Resident Evil games RE2 is still my favorite though. Well, that and RE Remake. RE2's classic status is well deserved in my opinion. With such limited technology they created an amazingly immersive experience.

I am quicker to return to RE3 than RE2, because that game is just a lot snappier (it also has the quick-turn, plus the PS3 port of 2 has very shitty image quality). But yeah, Resident Evil 2 was just such a leap, and introduced me to so much I ended up loving about the franchise going forward.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

GTA series (by far and away)
Halo
Gears
Uncharted
Resident evil
Bioshock infinite - worst AAA FPS ever ever made
COD
metal gear solid
Tomb raider (especially reboot ones among the worst games on planet)
The witcher 3 wild hunt
Assassins creed
Final fantasy
Zelda
Mario

and lots i can remember

 

[Hawk of Battle]

The last of Us is the game that springs to mind best for me. People raved about this game for years before I finally sat down and played it and... I was not impressed. At all. The shooting mechanics were just lifted from Uncharted, but worse, the main character (I forget his name, I literally didn't care about him) was utterly bland and boring and the 20 year time skip after the intro didn't establish anything about him even several hours after the fact, the woman you travel with early on's sudden death (I would spoiler that, but you, like I, probably won't care) was completely un-impactful because, again, I didn't know anything about her anyway, the enemies were all way too fucking hard (which wasn't helped by the extremely limited ammo and wonky shooting) and the fucking clickers are the most bullshit of enemies with their 1 hit kill crap (also, echo-location doesn't work that way).

The final straw for me came once I had finally gotten somewhat competent enough with the combat and stealth to traverse a rather large section, slowly and methodically taking down a bunch of dudes along the way, when whoops, I fucked up, triggered an alert, every remaining enemy in the area immediately rushed to my position (I can only presume they all had a hive mind and/or perfect omniscient knowledge of my location) and I got killed. Then the game respawned me... right at the start of the alert, only now every enemy I had previously killed were also miraculously alive as well. This was not the first time I had gotten frustrated by the games combat and I decided to call it quits there.

The only good thing about that whole game was Ellie. She was awesome. But not enough for me to finish the whole damn thing.

 

[dscross]

For me, the two most critically overrated games of all time have to be Resident Evil 4 and Ocarina Of Time. They are good games. Even great games. But two of the best games of all time, of their generation, or of their own respective franchises to date? I don't think so.

 

[Tanis]

There's a LOT of 'indy' games that people seem to shit themselves over because of their 'so retro' style, which just means they look like crap and the AI cheats.

Also:
FF7...just...it's a fine game, but it's not nearly as 'revolutionary' as some folks think it is.

 

[DefunctTheory]

...and the AI cheats.

Weirdly, 'cheating AI' is often the best AI. If it's programmed to consider the 'experience' of playing in addition to actually trying to beat you.