The Most Disappointing Game You've Ever Played

[Zero Credibility]

... at least I can remember character names from NWN2.

I wish I didn't.

 

[Akasen]

I'll think about this one. Very well could be TESIV: Oblivion. That game cast a foul illusion upon my young eyes that I was able to see through as the years went by. I jokingly proclaim that my goal in life is to crush Bethesda. And now that I found the Codex, I think that it shall be "Crush Bethesda with the collective fist of my bros".

Although I played Sins of a Solar Empire recently and found myself horrifically disappointed. I was expecting a turn-based 4X game like Total War. Didn't think it would be a god damn RTS with 4X aspects.

 

[Crispy]

Although I played Sins of a Solar Empire recently and found myself horrifically disappointed. I was expecting a turn-based 4X game like Total War. Didn't think it would be a god damn RTS with 4X aspects.

SoaSE was never marketed as a TB game. It's also excellent, despite being RT (which can be slowed to a snail's pace). Duh?

 

[Akasen]

Although I played Sins of a Solar Empire recently and found myself horrifically disappointed. I was expecting a turn-based 4X game like Total War. Didn't think it would be a god damn RTS with 4X aspects.

SoaSE was never marketed as a TB game. It's also excellent, despite being RT (which can be slowed to a snail's pace). Duh?

Never said it was marketed as such, although that did seem to be my issue is that it wasn't really marketed asides from banners on Steam. Then I had some dumbfuck comparing it towards Civilization some months back and then later convincing me to buy it on sale.

 

[MicoSelva]

Most disappointing games for me:

- Neverwinter Nights
- Diablo III
- BioShock
- Mass Effect 2
- Lionheart
- Interstate '82
- Fallout 3

Also, to a lesser extent, both Icewind Dale games. Still enjoyed them, though. The first one's focus on dungeon crawling just wasn't exactly what I expected and wanted after Baldur's Gate and Torment. The second one was disappointing, because it failed to be better than the first one.

 

[DraQ]

Haven't played Silent Storm, but the way FO and Arcanum implemented throwing accuracy was hilariously retarded, and in FPP you can just be so much more precise with not just throwing (because skill system would obviously mess that up), but also with the intention - determining exactly where and how do you want your 'nade to go.

The reason for retarded weapon ranges is that the maps are compressed, not the isometric view. If you'd have an Arcanum style map which additionally would have 1:1 towns, then you could do long range target spotting using minimap.

True, you could help it with usable minimap, but it'd still be far less convenient than FPP - regardless of how large the area is, the full turn always takes only 360 degrees.

 

[Akasen]

Shit, how the fuck could I forget Diablo III? Worse part was that I couldn't say I didn't see it coming. Horid part is watching Blizzard do little to nothing to vocally address its issues. If they've said anything, I stopped paying attention months ago.

Saints Row the Third to some extent as well now that I think about it. It was like expecting your best buddy to come back, but instead you get his younger brother who is somewhat immature. Sure he's fun to be around, but sometimes you wish his older brother was here.

 

[Malhavoc]

I was very disappointed with Heroes of Might and Magic 4. It was just so radical with its changes in gameplay. Later on I realized some of those changes might have been for the best, but it still felt wrong switching up the formula that much.

Betrayal in Antara for obvious reasons.

Drakensang. After playing the Realms of Arkania series, this game was very disappointing. A shame, because you can tell Radon really did their best with it, but it came up short in almost every regard. At least River of Time made up a lot.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

True, you could help it with usable minimap, but it'd still be far less convenient than FPP - regardless of how large the area is, the full turn always takes only 360 degrees.

Yeah, but you still get a LARP simulator instead of a proper emulation of the tabletop.

 

[ColCol]

Hard to name just one, But:

Fable
Spore
BioShock

 

[Karmapowered]

Oblivion.

Staring for the first time like dumbfunded at a vulgar Khajit highwayman decked out in full level-scaled Glass, or whatever that armor was that had the horrible piss-moldy metallic tint to it.

With Fallout 3 and Dragon Age 2, I had ample warnings about what I was about to be served, if I decided to proceed. Fable was more like trading my money for a good laugh at the expense of Molyneux' impending senility. Neverwinter's Night 2, I knew it was too good to be true, since some reviewers kept selling it as the spiritual heir to PS:T.

But with Oblivion, the game had literally taken the best of my lack of preparation, forcing me to swallow my pride for hours, to refrain from any gratuitous violence towards banal-shit-boring NPCs, to keep dealing with their incessant and meaningless whining requests sending me all over the place, in the hope that the game would somehow improve over time. I wanted it to be good, dammit!

Sadly, even the most advanced Zen techniques were of no use when innocent minds with their sweet, sweet TES lore delusions get raped in such a brutal fashion.

 

[DraQ]

Yeah, but you still get a LARP simulator instead of a proper emulation of the tabletop.

Are you aware that using the term "LARP simulator" without fucking knowing what it means makes you look like a fucking moron?

Also, "proper emulation of tabletop" only means that you don't get what tabletop is *about*.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Are you aware that using the term "LARP simulator" without fucking knowing what it means makes you look like a fucking moron?

Because terms can have only one meaning!

Also, "proper emulation of tabletop" only means that you don't get what tabletop is *about*.

Tabletop is about gaming table and miniatures. I think you meant PnP.

 

[DalekFlay]

Jedi Knight 3: Jedi Academy

Oh fuck, the memories. They burn.

 

[Xavier0889]

Jedi Academy was probably one of the easiest games I've ever played.
Edit: obviously I finished it on every difficulty level.

 

[Surf Solar]

>Exploration inherently better in FPS games than iso games

 

[Anac'raxus]

Black and White, I guess. I generally skipped stuff like MoO3 and PoR2 because I read comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.*, and knew they'd be disasters (Codex seems to be the best replacement for CSIPG*, btw). I have been disappointed when publishers pull support for games before they were stable (ToEE, Cutthroats), but that's not a question of disappointing gameplay.

 

[Crispy]

>Exploration inherently better in FPS games than iso games

I think there's some validity to this statement if it's modified to read "FP" games, not FPS games.

This is, or was, the entire appeal behind the TES games. I think Bethesda's goal the entire time was to, wait for it, immerse the player into the environment, giving them the opportunity to truly see what it is they're exploring, to be able to "feel" it, to even, eventually, be able to directly interact with the environment.

Don't tell me that during your PnP D&D years, if you had any, you had no desire whatsoever to be able to get down further onto the tabletop surface on which your lead painted figurines were standing and be able to pick that little chest's lock yourself or to be able to see the dungeon corridor you were tromping down through your own eyes.

If you say you never did, I think you're lying to yourself. The entire point of roleplaying -- not strategy -- games is to be able to insert your own consciousness if you will into the character you're playing, in order to experience first hand the danger, excitement, and wonder of slaying dragons, collecting handfuls of shiny gems and swinging swords, if only in your mind's eye.

You cannot explore any of these environments better than when in first-person, as this is the way the human body is already designed. The only way to make up for it if it's not available, as in a PnP or iso CRPG session, is to have someone or something narrate to you what it is you're "supposed to be" seeing.

Disclaimer: as a Codexer, I am not necessarily endorsing FP games over iso games in any way, shape, or form.

 

[Surf Solar]

I don't know. When I play FP games, exploration is usually awful and boring to me. No FP game yet has managed to not feel utterly artificial and always fails to "immerse" myself, because you can look at ugly corner XY directly with your character, rather than having the entire game world abstracted, details filled with your own mind (or juicy text descriptions). Look in this corner that looks exactly the same like the other for some small object etc. In most of the ISO games you have a button to highlight all items on ground. It's personal preference, I rather see my guy running around from above and don't want to "directly" control him, pressing W all the time, it bores me to tears mostly and I just can't grasp how people want moar and moar of this..

 

[Crispy]

And that's a very good point. The appeal to that absraction stems from a preference for books over movies, other things that parallel that. But coming strictly from an exploration standpoint, it's rather difficult to argue with FP, is it not?

If your mind is organized much more in a way that you'd prefer an overview, iso's your preference. Hence strategy, tactics. If, however, you're geared more towards that dreaded thing called immersion (which I've always admitted is probably my fancy -- can't escape my nature, I guess), then you look at iso as a substitute, a surrogate for the entire point of the thing.

But again, I do love my tactical games. Look at X-Com, look at so many other games. Converting something like that to FP is a crime.

 

[Turjan]

This is, or was, the entire appeal behind the TES games. I think Bethesda's goal the entire time was to, wait for it, immerse the player into the environment, giving them the opportunity to truly see what it is they're exploring, to be able to "feel" it, to even, eventually, be able to directly interact with the environment.

I play TES games in third person whenever I can. I only switch to first person during battles, because of better aiming. Or in very narrow spaces.

Don't tell me that during your PnP D&D years, if you had any, you had no desire whatsoever to be able to get down further onto the tabletop surface on which your lead painted figurines were standing and be able to pick that little chest's lock yourself or to be able to see the dungeon corridor you were tromping down through your own eyes.

If you say you never did, I think you're lying to yourself.

I still play PnP D&D, and I never did what you want to tell me here. Actually, I don't like minis very much. Some people say they help them with immersion, but for me, they have the opposite effect. Whenever the minis come out, I go into boardgame mode and immersion ends. But I guess that is beside your point (we both agree that the look from above isn't really immersive).

Then again, I guess that this means that I never feel that this character that I play is me. I enjoy the experience, but I never think that I am personally in this game. It's never more than my avatar, and I'm fine with watching him struggle down there.

 

[Crispy]

Then again, I guess that this means that I never feel that this character that I play is me. I enjoy the experience, but I never think that I am personally in this game. It's never more than my avatar, and I'm fine with watching him struggle down there.

This is really at the heart of the matter and illustrates it as being essentially a psychological issue. Perhaps even a difference in personalities (of the player himself).

It actually forms a pretty good bridge between the warring parties of FP vs. iso and the wise gamer uses it to cross over whenever he wants to enjoy the benefits of either side.

 

[Crispy]

By the way, this is precisely why putting things like mini maps and healthbar indicators in FP games is so retarded; why abstract something that my character should only be able to see or to feel in a direct manner due to the fact that I'm playing a first-person game in the first place? You're contradicting the entire premise and ruining the experience.

It's exactly why I immediately disabled the Quest Compass in Oblivion, why I had to disable the HUD in Far Cry 3 (which makes it a far more enjoyable game), etc., and why I always prefer minimalistic info feedback when playing games like this. I'll call up the map when I feel I need it. Give me audible grunts and groans when I'm hurt. Unless it makes sense "realistically" within that world that I'm playing (e.g. a radar unit in an aircraft or a spell that senses nearby lifeforms) I don't want it!

 

[DalekFlay]

FPP is more immersive but isometric can be prettier. Which is more important for exploration is up to you.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Don't tell me that during your PnP D&D years, if you had any, you had no desire whatsoever to be able to get down further onto the tabletop surface on which your lead painted figurines were standing and be able to pick that little chest's lock yourself or to be able to see the dungeon corridor you were tromping down through your own eyes.

No. Miniatures are pretty because they are small.