Incline Games you thought were shit, but you kinda like 'em

[eXalted]

Apparently DA:O, a game so hated here on the Codex is now among the favourites of a lot of people here. All that because "I didn't know back them about the trash that is going to be released after that".

So what other games have you hated back then but now you kinda dig (and you feel a little ashamed of yourself deep inside)?

 

[Frozen]

Diablo 3 but I played it years after release. Good for a single player H&S. Rage, OK FPS.

 

[krilcebre]

Gothic 3. Pure shit compared to its predecessors, but looking at it right now, it could easily pass as a decent game, provided it's patched and everything.

 

[DalekFlay]

Apparently DA:O, a game so hated here on the Codex is now among the favourites of a lot of people here. All that because "I didn't know back them about the trash that is going to be released after that".

It won our game of the year and plenty of people liked it then. Don't be brainwashed by the edgelords.

 

[Whipped Cream]

Fallout 4. Dialogue system, RPG mechanics, quest design and writing were all terrible and caused me to ragequit the game after about 40 hours.

But when I came back to the game 8 months later and tried to approach it not as if it was a Fallout game, but as if it was a Far Cry game, I found that the core gameplay loop of explore, shoot, loot, build, craft, repeat was still quite fun and it kept me playing for another 80 hours untill I got bored.

Also, Fallout 76 looks so bad that it makes practically any game look good in comparsion.

 

[GewuerzKahn]

Fallout New Vegas and Kotor 2.
I thought those two games are quickly made cashgrabs sequels. So, I ignored them for a long time. My bad.

Diablo 3 but I played it years after release. Good for a single player H&S. Rage, OK FPS.

I bought it this year for the Switch (no stupid always online requirements) and played it on the highest available difficulty as a Necromancer. It was just a boring experiance. This game is just piss easy (i'm not good at hack'n slash games) and It feels like you are just following the next quest marker. There is no sense to explore location or to loot shit. Is just don't get Diablo 3.

 

[aweigh]

Fallout: New Vegas.

I thought it was heresy to play it because it followed the blueprint of the cursed Fallout 3 which had killed my beloved FO series, and I was extremely butthurt about that. For a long time I refused to play F:NV thinking it would be a betrayal... but then I played it and now its tied with FO1 for best Fallout game for me. What a fucking amazing game F:NV turned out to be!

Proud to say I've never played a single second of FO3, FO4, or Skyrim. I did sadly, to my shame, play a bit of Oblivion when it came out just to see the graphics... I apologize for letting my morals slip there. I only played a few hours of it though, so I can still go to Heaven when I die.

 

[DalekFlay]

Fallout 4.

I'll say "Bethesda Game Studios games since Morrowind" in general. They're all bad in numerous ways, and piss me off at the lost potential, but I still played them all a ton anyway. I'm not someone who can put a 100 hours into something and then pretend I never enjoyed it.

 

[Lord Commissar Alexer]

Kingdom Come Deliverance, during the beta i thought meh but afterwards with all the dlcs i came to really love it.

 

[Starwars]

When it came out, Arcanum annoyed me something fierce. I appreciated a lot of things about the game but there are just so many shitty things in it that tends to get in the way of the good stuff.

I still feel like that but the whole package still grew on me to become one of my favorite games.

 

[anvi]

Rift, I tried it in beta and thought it was another boring generic WoW clone, which it kinda was. But I got dragged into it at release by some friends and it turned out to be great. The combat was so interesting and satisfying to play, like tactical combat but in real time. Also I loved the feel of the locations, especially the haunted undead forest place. Also I loved how each class could act as any of the key roles, so a rogue could be built as a tank or a healer or a dps. The Mage tank was really interesting and the healer mage was great too, cursing the target with a spell that heals people who attack it, etc. Also you could change your role and build outside of combat, so it helps get groups together. Cool game, shame it lacked content and then they dumbed the hell out of it after release.

 

[octavius]

Fallout. Rage quit first time because I could not control Ian and his little friend in combat.
Now I recognize it as one of very few CRPGs where you can actually role play in a somewhat meaningful way.

 

[Whipped Cream]

Proud to say I've never played a single second of FO3, FO4, or Skyrim. I did sadly, to my shame, play a bit of Oblivion when it came out just to see the graphics... I apologize for letting my morals slip there. I only played a few hours of it though, so I can still go to Heaven when I die.

The nine layers of Hell:
1. Limbo: "I've bought a couple of Bethesda games and played them, but I didn't like them."
2. Lust: "I think that Betheda's games suffer from many major issues, but I still feel the itch to play one occasionaly."
3. Gluttony: "I may talk trash on the Codex about Betheda's games, but each time a new one comes out I still play it for a 100 hours. Well, except for Fallout 76 of course."
4. Greed: "I loved Oblivion, Fallout 3, New Vegas and Skyrim. I was really hyped for Fallout 4, but I was dissapointed by how dumbed down it felt compared to New Vegas and I was upset when Fallout 76 was announced to be multiplayer only. I just wish that Bethesda would go back to making great games like they used to do. I need my Bethesda fix."
5. Wrath: "I enjoyed Fallout 4 and tried to stay cautiously optimistic when Fallout 76 was announced. I preordered the game, but I was very dissapointed with the state of the game when it shipped and said many mean things about the game on the internet."
6. Heresy: "Yes, Fallout 76 is quite buggy, but I still had a lot of fun playing it. I feel that I got my money's worth."
7. Violence: "Enough with the Fallout 76 hate train already! Yes, the game has major issuses, but many of us really like it! If you don't like it then don't play it!"
8. Fraud: "Most of the issues that Fallout 76 had when it launched are fixed now. The game is great. You should buy it. No, Bethesda are not paying me to say that."
9. Treachery: "People who don't like Fallout 1st are just salty because they are poor. Only 99 dollars for one year is a steal. It saves you 57 dollars compared to paying 13 dollars a month! Ooooh, new Atom shop items!"

 

[Vlajdermen]

Mass Effect 2. Yeah, it's dumb, both in writing and gameplay, but I just like it. I played it as I was just starting to get into RPGs, so I feel about it the same way I feel about Dragonfall, just not as strongly.
The amount of flavour dialogue in places like Citadel is charming, even if it is cartoonish. It feels like they had fun writing it. Plus, I just really dig its art style and atmosphere.
The quests are okay, though they could've done with more variety. They often boil down to "talk, shoot, talk", but the levels don't feel copy-pasted. I'm not gonna defend that paragon/renegade shit, though.

 

[DalekFlay]

Mass Effect 2. Yeah, it's dumb, both in writing and gameplay, but I just like it.

Same. I'll also say I'm such a slut for sci-fi that anything with that kind of space opera setting gets a massive handicap from me. I was even able to get some enjoyment from Andromeda for that reason, despite how thoroughly shit it was.

 

[Swigen]

Diablo 3. Playing through it again with the Necromancer and I think I’m having a good time!

 

[Martyr]

Witcher 3. I love the soundtrack and the graphics but hate the cutscenes and quest compass.
Kingdom Come Deliverance. too many cutscenes, which are also too long. most of the main quest is boring. but it has a lovely open world and non-fantasy medieval settings are always the best.
every Bethesda game after Daggerfall. they're shitty compared to Daggerfall (and Fallout, in the case of Fallout 3 and 4) and they're shitty as RPGs, but also enjoyable timesinks.
Mass Effect: Andromeda. the gameplay itself was utter garbage, but I liked the exploration and the graphics. and it constantly reminded me of Star Wars.

like I always say: it's fine to enjoy popamole and decline, as long as you're aware that these games are popamole/decline.

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

popamole central

but it had a weirdly compelling art direction (nazi-inspired) and a really NICE exploding crossbow

time bending mechanics were serviceable and rote when you were railroaded in the city but once you were on the road there were some decent opportunities for some imaginative kill sequences

had a half life 2 vibe and game construction too (city-road trip-city)

i liked it

 

[RegionalHobo]

metal gear revengeance, shit plot, meme tier characters and garbage gameplay in between bosses

that said soundtrack and bosses are good enough that i actually had a lot of fun with the game

breath of fire , dragon quarter. it s objectively shit and the worst in the series but the only one i've replayed god knows why

 

[luj1]

Games you thought were shit, but you kinda like 'em

Kingdoms of Amalur

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

oblivion

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

Darkest Dungeon. It's not a "shitty game" necessarily, but it's a very shallow game once you figure it out and get past the initial difficulty. You pretty much stun/damage over time the entire game, the combat tactics are very boring in that way. So much more could be done, and I recall in early access it was actually fairly tough but then it gained a surge of popularity that had the developers cave in to the quick-time-event brainlets.

With that said, DD has one of the best soundtracks in the past ten years easily. Awesome music all around. I was actually pissed that the OST not only cuts and horribly mixes the various battle themes but also omits variations of battle themes in the hallway, full torchlight, no torchlight, etc. The visuals are cool and I like how it has a dark comic book aesthetic. Great sound effects, critical strikes carry actual weight to them even though your unit never actually moves or animates properly.

Basically, DD is really good at disguising its shortcomings. I like everything about it except the gameplay which is due to how almost every encounter feels the same and follows the same strategy no matter what.

 

[Kitchen Utensil]

Dark Souls
When I first tried it I thought it was shit, probably like all the other hyped decline of the era, and put it down an hour or so after reaching Firelink Shrine. Thank god I gave it a second chance a couple of years later.

Hollow Knight
Well, I didn't think it'd be shit exactly, but thought I'd probably not get over the art style. Very happy I tried it anyway.

 

[DalekFlay]

but it had a weirdly compelling art direction (nazi-inspired) and a really NICE exploding crossbow

time bending mechanics were serviceable and rote when you were railroaded in the city but once you were on the road there were some decent opportunities for some imaginative kill sequences

had a half life 2 vibe and game construction too (city-road trip-city)

i liked it

I remember enjoying Timeshift as well, and Singularity. Not sure how much of that had to do with FPS games of that era mostly being terrible though.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Lands of Lore, Darkest Dungeon... Might and Magic 6.