Everyone says it is shit...but I liked it!

[Ladonna]

I just got to thinking, after reading some horrible reviews,about a game I enjoyed, that it might be amusing to have a thread where you let the cat out of the bag on 'that game' (or games...) that you enjoyed...yet just about everyone else thinks is shit.

My first entry is;

Origin Systems Windwalker.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/windwalker

Everywhere I turn, everybody seems to think this game is rubbish. Yet I remember clearly wanting this game badly, watching a friend play it, and finally purchasing it for myself (when I had the money). I played the thing for many, many hours on my C64, and enjoyed it quite a bit. The combat encounters took some getting used to, and not everything was picture perfect, but the exploration, the ways to accomplish objectives, and the various hidden areas to find (that included new characters and quests) always made it worth while sailing off into uncharted waters.

The game had an air of mystery and adventure, and you never new what you were going to find. It was quite an achievement after all the time I had spent exploring and completing all sorts of different quests, when I stranded the alchemist in the astral plane and kicked the Evil Warlord (tm) down the stairs. Good times.


I recently read the Addicts playthrough of this game, and thought he had given it short shrift. And the 'storm effects' that he carries on about didn't seem to have the same ill effect on the C64 version. But there you go. This is my 'shit' game.

Whats yours?

 

[Mustawd]

I saw the addict's post on that too. Hard to imagine that game not being shit. Man, you weren't kidding on the thread title.

 

[CyberWhale]

I don't like shitty games.

 

[Ladonna]

I asked people to post about shit games they liked, I didn't ask shitposters to post.

 

[thesheeep]

Dungeon Lords.

Can't help it.
It is clearly shit (honestly, there is no arguing it), but it has a charm that drags me into the game each year for some days.
I find the game to be wonderfully awkward. And the combat is actually fun.

Oh... don't buy the recent re-release, it is a total rubbish gameplay "overhaul" that basically makes everything much, much worse.

I asked people to post about shit games they liked, I didn't ask shitposters to post.

You are mistaken. There is a hidden text that comes with each post one makes on the forum.

 

[nomask7]

From best to least good:

TES: Arena
Two Worlds
Gothic 3
Sacred 2
Borderlands

Arena has the best dungeons & mood of pretty much any game I've played.

Two Worlds was a promising start to a series that hadn't yet been spoiled by cross-platforming and consoletardism. There was no tutorial. You could go anywhere from the start, level-scaling (other than bandits) was subtle if not nonexistent, the world was open and large, the monsters numerous (far less numerous in the console versions), the soundtrack was good, loot was cool and grinding was addictive. I liked it that there were no boss battles until the end. Character progression had a nice amount of freedom and things to figure out. There was a warrior+magic build I discovered that would become very powerful if you knew what you were doing. Iron man games were a thrill. I was so hyped about Two Worlds 2. What a disappointment. Console holocaust - never forget.

Gothic 3 had a lot of freedom, nice soundtrack and mood, and some great locations (especially the whole snowy north). It didn't really have proper boss battles. Some see the combat as the most problematic thing about it, but it didn't bother me. It's not necessarily a game where you're motivated to grind a lot though. There's some secret loot but you find it via exploration, not grinding. In a way that's a good thing, but it's not as addictive as Diablo-type of loot systems.

Sacred 2 is a good Diablo-clone. It has mega bosses every now and then, which I dislike, and the world isn't as open as it could be (many corridor or quasi-corridor like environments), but it's a solid and rather addictive game otherwise. It's also huge. I've never actually finished it, though I've played the beginning a few times and once pretty far and another time about one-third way through. I think the beginning isn't badly done at all - you have some freedom to explore and grind beyond what's expected, and it feels rather satisfying.

Borderlands is a little too repetitive in terms of enemy types, but it's a Diablo-clone + modern FPS done well nevertheless. I don't like it that it forces you to do pretty much all the side quests to be powerful enough to advance in the main quest - and I never atually finished the game - but the gameplay otherwise feels well done. The beginning doesn't inspire admiration but once you get into the game it's OK.

 

[Grimwulf]

Hellgate: London. Couldn't make myself stop playing this crap when it came out. Can't really say why.

It's basically single-player MMO and almost everything about it is worthless.

 

[thesheeep]

Borderlands

There are people claiming Borderlands is shit? o.O
It is a good game on all accounts (if you like the H&S/FPS mixture genre). The only thing really wrong about it is that the latest entry is pretty much a cash grab, as it offers nothing new. Could be a total conversion of Borderlands 2 actually. At a full price.

 

[JarlFrank]

From best to least good:

TES: Arena
Two Worlds
Gothic 3
Sacred 2
Borderlands

Except for (unpatched, the community patch p. much raised everyone's opinion about the game) Gothic 3 and maybe Sacred 2, none of these are claimed to be shit by the majority of gamers and/or the gaming press. Heck, not even by the Codex consensus, while Borderlands is considered mediocre by many I don't see people panning it as a shitgame.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I liked Dungeon Siege

 

[Watser]

And here I thought it was going to be another J_C thread.
Replayed 7th Guest not too long ago, fuck it hasn't aged well, and the FMV makes me cringe so much it hurts, but I quite like it.

 

[V_K]

Mistmare. I loved its setting and character system and was lucky to get relatively few bugs.
I can't quite say I liked Ruins of Myth Drannor as a whole, but I thought its non-linear dungeon design was fairly impressive.
Also, I don't know what the consensus on Shivering Isles is, but I kinda enjoyed that one.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I liked Dungeon Siege

I liked DS 1 and 2.

 

[Trodat]

I liked Dungeon Siege

First Dungeon Siege is awesome. I always loved the beginning, no bullshit AWESOME dragons or knights of holiness. One small farm, one small man, the journey awaits you.

I too enjoyed Gothic 3 (with community patch) but the Codex seems to hate it. It is not as good as Gothic 2 but still not bad at all.

 

[nomask7]

From best to least good:

TES: Arena
Two Worlds
Gothic 3
Sacred 2
Borderlands

Except for (unpatched, the community patch p. much raised everyone's opinion about the game) Gothic 3 and maybe Sacred 2, none of these are claimed to be shit by the majority of gamers and/or the gaming press. Heck, not even by the Codex consensus, while Borderlands is considered mediocre by many I don't see people panning it as a shitgame.

I'm going by Codex standards. And there's no game that everyone considers shit, so I'm judging based on my impression of how much a game is praised or criticised. If no one talks about a game, I assume they don't care for it.

Almost nobody here talks about Two Worlds except to say it's shit. Perhaps I've been more alert to comments about the game than you have, since it's one of my favorites.

Arena is almost completely neglected in favor of Morrowind and Daggerfall if not hated (I actually enjoyed it MORE than either of those games). I've heard people say negative things about it like its story is crap without saying positive things about it (I think its structure/story is great because it's so minimalistic).

And for the purposes of this thread, I'm assuming that mediocre = shit. I've played some console shooters and they're mediocre because the majority of modern shooters are like that. I've played at least one console Diablo-clone that was shitty but considered average or even good by console standards. If I compare Borderlands with those games it's freaking genius.

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

I too enjoyed Gothic 3 (with community patch) but the Codex seems to hate it. It is not as good as Gothic 2 but still not bad at all.

Yep, my first thought when I saw the thread title was Gothic 3. I even enjoyed it without the community patch, though obviously it's much better with it.

 

[Angthoron]

G3 would probably not be shit if the engine hadn't shat its pants at every step.

 

[NotAGolfer]

My guilty pleasure would be Robinson's Requiem.
Enjoyed the heck out of this one and it really is crap. But the survivalist aspect is very unforgiving and imo great.
Also great "acting" in the NPC dialogues.

Wouldn't recommend it though, the voxel graphics cause eye cancer.

...

If there was a Trash movie equivalent to computer games this would be a worthy candidate.

 

[Broseph]

Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption. It's not worth replaying and Bloodlines bettered it in every way, but it's not completely awful for a Diablo-clone-thing. The aesthetics (art direction and music) are pretty much what save it from the trash bin.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I found Two Worlds 2 entertaining.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Descent to Undemountain.
I can't really think of a sane person who would think that using a Descent engine would be a good idea.
It's clunky, buggy, really unfinished...

... and beautiful/entertaining at the same time.

 

[Grimwulf]

I found Two Worlds 2 entertaining.

Is this the best you came up with? Two Worlds 2? Well, let me remind you of something.

Planet Alcatraz was quite tolerable as far as I played it.

Shame on you.

Spoiler

Yes, I shall stalk you forever for that tag I got because of you.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Ha, I knew I was missing something.

Konung is kinda cool too.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I also loved Rage of Mages 2 (aka Allods 2).
It's one of these games where magic was pretty satisfying. Plus rather entertaining RT gameplay.

And it was developed by Russkies, which is surprising, because this game wasn't shit.

 

[Grimwulf]

Ha, I knew I was missing something.

Konung is kinda cool too.

Don't give me that troll. You are not trolling, you actually like russian games. Admit it.

I actually like russian games, I mean, they're bad, but also GOOD.

Look, I have Konung 2 & 3 on my system.

Don't even try to deny it. You vatnik.

I also loved Rage of Mages 2 (aka Allods 2).
It's one of these games where magic was pretty satisfying. Plus rather entertaining RT gameplay.

And it was developed by Russkies, which is surprising, because this game wasn't shit.

Do you know how does Allods franchise look today?

Spoiler