Your favorite bad game: be it story, gameplay, art design, graphics, etc.

[Xprimentyl]

Did you play the PC version, that eventually got patches and updates, or the consoles? The console version never received any updates, so people on those systems were stuck with what they got. I think the other major problem being it was 2012. This is when the depiction of women in gaming became a really hot button issue, and Duke's capture the babe mode set off a ton of nuclear offended people. I am not defending mode, some of these people went way overboard.

I played DNF on Xbox 360, so wasn't privy to any patches or updates, but I'm not bothered by that; I got more than my low expectations anticipated. And I never even heard of the Capture the Babe mode, but a quick YouTube search and yeah, that idea was probably one of the first conceived at the beginning of the 11 year dev cycle as it SCREAMS late '90s/early 2000s where stuff like that was mostly relegated to PCs and not offered on the wider-spread console market. DNF was that crude frat jock who showed up 2 hours late to a black tie affair wearing khaki cargo shorts and a Tommy Bahama shirt; probably a fun enough guy, but wrong place, wrong time...

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization

It's a pretty potato story, and it's no masterwork of style, variety, gameplay, etc. But I really liked my time with it compared to previous games, like Hollow Fragment. The story of how people treat AIs in games was interesting (If not exactly taken far enough). Some of the interactions/dialogue/fanservice were awful. But it was still a fun game to enjoy. I love the soundtrack, it's got some pretty excellent songs. The main boss theme and final boss themes are pretty high on my list in their respective categories

 

[BrawlMan]

Wanted: Weapons of Fate - While not exactly bad in gameplay, though limited, other parts of the game are bad. It's an obvious title that was rushed for release to tie in to the movie's release on DVD. The graphics scream early next-gen with the brightness and bloom turned up high, and the piss yellow filter and dog shit brown for most early and some late levels. An Unreal Engine 3 game. You also only get three types of weapons, pistol, dual pistols, and dual sub-machine guns w/explosive bullets. You can never wield shotguns or assault rifles which is stupid and no justification is made for it in game or story. Otherwise, WOF is one of the better Gears clones to come out in the 7th generation. You have the bullet curve mechanic where you can kill enemies from a distance, if you line up your shots just right. You even get a Max Payne style kill cam if you shot mook(s) from a far enough distance. You get more of the bullet curve meter after beating certain end chapter bosses. The game is like a proto-Vanquish. You can slide in, out, or over cover activating bullet time (as long as you have one adrenaline bullet on the meter). Melee kill enemies when close enough or if they directly on the opposite side of your cover, and can use them as human shields (that part mostly scripted when they not aware of you). You can usually get this game for $5 or less now, so give it a shot. The game is only 3 hours long.

 

[wings012]

I had a sweet spot for the Zone of the Enders GBA game. The Fist of Mars. The gameplay was basically a terrible version of Super Robot Wars with a cooky aiming mechanic and dodge mechanic which basically ensured you critically hit everything and dodged everything once you figured it out. The story wasn't bad but it was fairly typical stuff. In retrospect it really wasn't a very good game but yet I played through it twice.

 

[Inazuma1]

I will always have a soft spot for Killer7. Everything about the game is pure jank: On rails movement going from intersection to intersection with only 1 correct path, a pseudo-cel-shaded artstyle it uses to cover up the fact all the models are low poly and craggy looking, the nearly useless special abilities that you only rarely have to use, the list goes on. Sloppy aiming control with enemies that demand precision shooting that's borderline unfair and will test your patience. A story that is so impenetrable that it takes at least 3 playthroughs to wrap your head around, and even then you won't fully get it because half the damn story was cut from the game!

I've seen Killer7 described as a game of not just style over substance, but one where the style IS the substance. And I love it to death despite every flaw you can point to.

 

[BrawlMan]

I've seen Killer7 described as a game of not just style over substance, but one where the style IS the substance. And I love it to death despite every flaw you can point to.

That is actually most of Grasshopper's/Suda 51's line up of games.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I've seen Killer7 described as a game of not just style over substance, but one where the style IS the substance. And I love it to death despite every flaw you can point to.

I really need to get back on and finish Killer7 sometime. I only ever got as far as Mission 2; could never figure out how to handle the Giant Smiles.

 

[BrawlMan]

I really need to get back on and finish Killer7 sometime. I only ever got as far as Mission 2; could never figure out how to handle the Giant Smiles.

I recommend chip and ironicus. they have a pretty good play through of the game.

Killer7

Chip and Ironicus is a website full of videos of nerds playing videogames

chipandironicus.com

 

[Inazuma1]

That is actually most of Grasshopper's/Suda 51's line up of games.

In a way yes, but the sense of the style overtaking the substance is much less pronounced in his later games. No More Heroes and Killer is Dead are Ninja Gaiden style brawlers where you're rewarded for racking up long hit streaks without taking damage while giving you much more control over how the character moves. Killer7 is essentially an on-rails shooter where every non-boss enemy can be beaten by shooting the glowing 'fuck me here' light on their bodies. Or if you're playing Killer8 mode then just shoot the limbs like a madman picking up whatever little doses of blood you can while sometimes getting lucky and hitting the hidden weakspot

With so little in the way of gameplay on offer and the story being as incomprehensible as it is Killer7 is pretty much forced to fall back on its style, aesthetic, and characters. And the game just gleefully runs with it. Where else are you going to see a Lucha Libre wrestler packing twin grenade launchers who suplexes rubble out of his way and blocks a bullet shot at him by headbutting it? Or the cutscenes in one mission being shown in FMV sequences animated by Studio Madhouse? Or a boss character being a fatalistic parody of Magical Girl anime tropes? Only in Killer7.

 

[meiam]

I had a sweet spot for the Zone of the Enders GBA game. The Fist of Mars. The gameplay was basically a terrible version of Super Robot Wars with a cooky aiming mechanic and dodge mechanic which basically ensured you critically hit everything and dodged everything once you figured it out. The story wasn't bad but it was fairly typical stuff. In retrospect it really wasn't a very good game but yet I played through it twice.

I played trough it twice too (iirc there was some sort of alternate path at some point). Honestly I mostly love the PS2 ZOE game so that's why I played trough it, but yeah the gameplay was kinda redundant since dodging/criting was so easy, I probably got hit like twice in the entire game the second time. The GBA was a weird era where they couldn't quite port console game to it so instead they made weird alternate type of game that didn't quite work.

I'm playing trough sd gundam cross generation ray at the moment, it's fun in the same way a pokemon game is fun, where the actual fight aren't that complicated and the interesting aspect is just collecting new mech, and there's a shiton of them.

 

[BrawlMan]

In a way yes, but the sense of the style overtaking the substance is much less pronounced in his later games. No More Heroes and Killer is Dead are Ninja Gaiden style brawlers where you're rewarded for racking up long hit streaks without taking damage while giving you much more control over how the character moves. Killer7 is essentially an on-rails shooter where every non-boss enemy can be beaten by shooting the glowing 'fuck me here' light on their bodies. Or if you're playing Killer8 mode then just shoot the limbs like a madman picking up whatever little doses of blood you can while sometimes getting lucky and hitting the hidden weakspot

With so little in the way of gameplay on offer and the story being as incomprehensible as it is Killer7 is pretty much forced to fall back on its style, aesthetic, and characters. And the game just gleefully runs with it. Where else are you going to see a Lucha Libre wrestler packing twin grenade launchers who suplexes rubble out of his way and blocks a bullet shot at him by headbutting it? Or the cutscenes in one mission being shown in FMV sequences animated by Studio Madhouse? Or a boss character being a fatalistic parody of Magical Girl anime tropes? Only in Killer7.

Not that I disagree, but with no more heroes and killer is dead their style over substance is much more pronounced when compared to other mid or high tier action games. honestly, at its worst was with lollipop chainsaw of all things. I like Juliet and most of the characters in that specific title, but the gameplay is just meh. It was your typical hack and/with zombies and 80s references and humor. It was a character and the other characters around her that made it interesting, but it hails in the comparison of all a grasshopper previous title. Shoot killer is dead I found more interesting by comparison. if you gave me a choice between killer7 or lollipop chainsaw, I would take killer7 every single time despite LC, technically having better combat. the more recent No More Heroes which is a side story that takes place before the third game that's coming out later, plays more like an isometric brawler. With cooldowns and actual less moves compared to NMH1 and 2. though to make up for it, Travis strikes again celebrates all things suda51 and grasshopper studios. And when I say all things, I mean all things. ou even get connections and conclusions the previous grasshopper suda51 games. I actually have to get on that game cuz I have not started it yet.

 

[Inazuma1]

I really need to get back on and finish Killer7 sometime. I only ever got as far as Mission 2; could never figure out how to handle the Giant Smiles.

Use Mask and his grenade launchers or Dan and his Collateral Shot ability.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I recommend chip and ironicus. they have a pretty good play through of the game.

Killer7

Chip and Ironicus is a website full of videos of nerds playing videogames

chipandironicus.com

Or Supergreatfriend's playthrough. He also goes through all the supplemental material and takes a look at some of the games that Suda51 made before Killer 7.

OT: As a follower of SGF's content, this is a very difficult question as there are so many bad games that I've had a great time watching LPs of. There are a lot of games that you couldn't call remotely good that have a huge amount of charm when viewed under the right light. Omikron, Shenmue, Quantum Gate, Sentient, Illbleed; I can't possibly choose a favorite among them. If I had to, I've watched the Illbleed playthrough more than any other bad game he's played. It's really something special.

 

[BrawlMan]

Or Supergreatfriend's playthrough. He also goes through all the supplemental material and takes a look at some of the games that Suda51 made before Killer 7.

Yep, him too. Seen a long while back.

 

[144]

When I think of bad games I like my mind always goes to Sonic Adventure 2.

Its probably the first and only Sonic game I really enjoyed although I think its a pretty bad game. But, gotta love that buttrock.

Love the buttrock. Gotta follow my rainbow, man!
But yeah, I remember playing this way too much, and even when replaying I still enjoy the parts other people didn't like, such as the not-Sonic-or-Shadow sections. I wonder why. It seems like it ought to be objectively bad, and that's that...

 

[Worgen]

Love the buttrock. Gotta follow my rainbow, man!
But yeah, I remember playing this way too much, and even when replaying I still enjoy the parts other people didn't like, such as the not-Sonic-or-Shadow sections. I wonder why. It seems like it ought to be objectively bad, and that's that...

Yeah, its the weirdest thing. I mean I don't even like any other Sonic games, but for whatever reason I still like that one. I mean I suppose I still haven't really tried getting into Sonic Generations which I just got on Steam sale, but I didn't really like any of the 2d sonic games, well I didn't like playing them, graphically they look great and they sound great.

 

[BrawlMan]

They said bad games. Bioshock 2 isn't a bad game. It's just not as good as Bioshock, and from what I've heard, Infinite.

Still say Bioshock 2 is better than Infinite. I don't care what ZP says.

Pit Fighter was another bad game I enjoyed playing in the arcades and Midway Arcade Treasures Vol 2. I've actually managed a no death/1cc run for all three characters. Get 3 players in, and it is just one giant, hilarious, cluster fuck.

​

 

[happyninja42]

Still say Bioshock 2 is better than Infinite. I don't care what ZP says.

Pit Fighter was another bade game I enjoyed playing on in the arcades and Midway Arcade Treasures Vol 2. I've actually managed a no death/1cc run for all three characters. Get 3 players in, and it is just one giant, hilarious, cluster fuck.

​

oh my god I remember that game. too funny. those video rendered games were janky as hell back in the day.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Advent Rising.

It's Max Payne meets Psi-ops meets Halo


You could sometimes randomly just do fatalities on the enemies. One of which included running up the enemies back jumping from their shoulder and kicking them so hard in the head it snapped their neck.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Actually, I thought of another Fire Emblem game that fits: Fire Emblem Echoes. It's a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden for the Famicom, which was released before a lot of things were codified into Fire Emblem. Unlike Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, Echoes keeps almost all of Gaiden's mechanics intact, including the awkward map design, characters that either move too slow or too fast, no weapon triangle, characters holding one item which can be a weapon or shield but not both, and only 1 point of speed necessary to get double hits in each direction, which means that it'll happen in basically every battle. Also, the enemies start out fine, but by Act 4 (of 5) you'll be facing an infinite swarm of powerful magic users that might randomly decide to teleport to your back line and gank your most vulnerable units, so that's fun.

The upside of all of this is that though it's a game from 1990, a lot of effort was put into making it look like a game from 2015. The updated art style might not be pure enough for the very few fans of the original game, but I think it looks great. The story, originally basically just 'go save the continent from the invaders and their mad god', now has actual depth and nuance to it, and the writing makes all the characters shine, both heroes and villains. Even the remixed soundtrack is incredible, and I've pushed through fights that I hated just to get to hear more of it. If you can deal with a whole lot of jank imported directly from 23 28 years ago, there's a very memorable and even fun game to be had. If not... just watch someone else play it on Youtube.