What games surprised you in terms of their quality?

[veloper]

Sleeping Dogs. I thought it would be an enjoyable romp through Hong Kong with serviceable gameplay. Instead I got perhaps one of the best open world games of this gen. It may not look like much, but Sleeping Dogs is nothing but quality.

I'm seconding this. I originally bought Sleeping Dogs as a time sink while waiting for another game and I ended up loving it and continued to play it well after the game I was waiting for was out.

Thirding this. At long last a GTA-style game where the combat doesn't blow.

 

[dl_wraith]

I got Sonic Generations as a gift from my brother on my birthday, and I didn't enter it with low expectations per se, but I did not expect it to be the game that's the closest to perfect I have ever played. I am dead fucking serious, I cannot find any criticism for this game!

You, Sir, I applaud. [claps]

There was me thinking I was a freak for thinking Generations was a great game. Even made the 3d levels work a lot better than Adventure/Heroes/2006/Unleashed.

 

[thesexyoffender]

Sleeping Dogs. I thought it would be an enjoyable romp through Hong Kong with serviceable gameplay. Instead I got perhaps one of the best open world games of this gen. It may not look like much, but Sleeping Dogs is nothing but quality.

I second this, fantastic combat and driving, and although they wouldn't compete with GTA 5 I thought the graphics were alright as well

 

[spartandude]

The Witcher 2, i had no idea what i would think going in to it. I had played the first one and stopped after a few hours (about 10) due to boredom. But i heard good things about the second so i picked it up during a steam sale.... and my god did i LOVE it. It has even surpassed KotOR II (another game that fits this thread) as my favourite game of all time.

 

[Deceptive_Trixter]

Threads of Fate, just picked that game up randomly. Spent hours playing it, too bad it's short.

 

[Suave Charlie]

Gears of War: Judgment... /raises flame shield.

On top of that it's ending is better than 3's which isn't saying much. A game could end with a cutscene of happy dreams and serenity (BioShock) or pseudo-gameplay narrative bullshit (BioShock Infinite) and it would still have a better ending than Gears of War 3 but still, there's that. Gears of War: Judgment was the game we needed to get Gears of War back on track after the disaster that was 3.

Considering GowJ sold awfully and the player base fell off more or less immediately, I really can't see it getting the series any further installments.

Also, 3's story was so-so, full on required reading the books to really get it, but at least it took longer than an evening to finish. Also J's story... nothing happened, it's so totally inconsequential.

I'll gladly debate the gameplay mechanics, top of my head I can't think of any changes that improved any aspect over 3.

Also, replacing horde with survival.. wut.
Overrun was fun for a bit.

OT: Minecraft Feed the beast modpack. I'd played MC to death on xbox, and finally got a non shitty computer and got recommended to try mods out for the first time. I was blown away with all the content and how, for the most part, polished everything was. By guys who do it as a damn hobby..

 

[JagermanXcell]

Ninja Theory's DmC - I know DMC3 was mentioned but after all the fanboy mewling that went with the reboot I ignored it and wrote it off as a departure of what I liked in the franchise. I almost smashed my head against a wall in disgust at my own stupidity when I actually played it. IT. WAS. AWESOME. Lesson learned: Never listen to "fanboy rage".

Have you tried DMC3? Cause unlike DmC it actually adds new gameplay elements to the hack n slash genre deeper then space. DMC4 goes beyond even that in terms of depth.
DmC is an average hack n slash in comparison, if you enjoyed it thats fine, but maaaaaaaybe just this once its nice to listen to fanboy rage. :3

OT:
I just bought Sleeping Dogs and wow. My first though was "Oh... GTA in Hong Kong."
Instead I got satisfying fluid and well animated combat, little touches like environmental animations on top of an open world game that lets you slow mo bullet time out of a mobile car?
GTAV aint got nothin on this!!!

Persona 4. Pretty self explanatory. Just some RPG I thought, I'd be ok at best I thought.
GOTY 2008 and forever.

Metal Gear Solid 3 the first time I played it.
I was one of the few people who enjoyed 2 minus its problems. Then I dove into MGS3 not knowing anything except "Stealth with Snake in Forest".
Then of course I played it. Thanks MR. Kojima. ;_;7

Dark Souls. Also self explanatory. Just some hard game I thought. Would smash my controller in disgust from losing I thought.
GOTY 2011 and forever.

 

[Ryotknife]

Kingdom Hearts 1

Come on, lets be honest here, the game sounded on paper as nothing more than pure fanservice. The fact that it turned out to be a stellar game that even adults can enjoy despite its kid's theme is impressive.

Crisis Core: FF7. For a game whose ending (and a few major events) were already known as it is a prequel, they managed to craft a wonderful rich story. Even though you know how its ends, it still hits you like a ton of bricks.

 

[OneCatch]

Tomb Raider (2013). I was expecting a crappy Uncharted clone (which is itself already a crap series), and instead I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It had a great world which was fun to explore and probably the best third-person shooting mechanics since Gears of War.

I was going to say the new Tomb Raider, not because of the gameplay, but just because of the graphics. That game is superbly optimised compared to it's peers (Far Cry 3, Crysis 2/3, Hitman Absolution, etc).
Most games I end up tinkering with graphics or getting wound up about fps (I find smooth gameplay important), but with that I literally just turned it on, maxed the graphics, and never thought about it again. Other devs take heed!

 

[Mister K]

I have some of those:

Def Jam: Fight for NY. I bought it when I was a hip-hop/rap loving kid (don't judge me) and I enjoyed it. I replayed it later when I became more of a rock fan and it is still surprisingly good. Nice gameplay, neat character creation and style system, also really not bad story for a FG.

Pacific Rim videogame (PS3 and Xbox 360 one). For a 10$ movie tie-in game it is pretty damn good. Plus, I can play as Cherno Alpha!

Also, honorable mention to Dragon Age II. I played DA:O and I thought that it was fine. NOT good, just fine. Then the whole "DAII SUX LOL!" story started and I, willing to understand what is the big deal is, played it myself. I thought (and still think) that it's a good game. Yes, locations are repetative, you can't equip your allies with gear and mages are a bit imbalanced (but DAO had the same problem, so...) but it's still good. Story where I am not a chosen one who has to *inhale deeply* SAVE THE WORLD, better combat, and good non-stereotypical characters (most of them, at least). Yeah, I enjoyed it.