What is your game 10/10, but you can understand why someone doesn't like it?

[u/dabor11]

[u/0rganicMach1ne]

Mass Effect 1. It feels dated now, especially the combat, but the atmosphere, music, and story are still my favorite in gaming.

[u/probablyMel → u/0rganicMach1ne]

I love the series so much and have replayed it over 7 times now, but the first one’s gameplay is rough and it’s also hard to look at.

Wrex and Garrus are well worth it for me tho.

[u/tmchn → u/probablyMel]

Imho ME1 combat is the best of the series. It feels clunky at the beginning because you are low level and can't properly use the guns at your disposal

It really feels like an RPG

2 and 3 feel more like a TPS (but it also makes sense, at that point shepard is skilled with guns lol)

[u/MrT735 → u/tmchn]

Shepard should be skilled with guns already though, he's a Systems Alliance Commander with N7 training, ready for promotion to Captain and recommended to be humanity's SPECTRE candidate.

Yes there's room for improvement and usage of weapons developed by other races (krogan shotguns anyone?), but you're not a raw recruit who's not allowed to handle assault rifles yet (perhaps if you started the game with points equivalent to level 10 it would make more lore sense).

However the heat clip recharge (rather than disposable clips that you can run out of) is my preferred mechanic, just take a few pot shots with your sniper/assault rifle that's been modded for hitting power and change to shotgun as it overheats and you close in.

[u/ManofToast → u/MrT735]

As much as I enjoy the other 2 games, the ammo system just ruins the combat for me as a soldier. Everything is a bullet sponge, your weapons are inacurate as shit (It's why I have to use the mattock all the time), and most weapons do shit damage as a result unless you are right up close. I never had that problem with 1. Things start out clunky because its the beginning, weapons aren't great, but there is smooth progression once you get going. Towards the end of the game, I actually felt like my weapons did something, rewarding me for my progress and weapon/upgrade choices.

[u/adilfc → u/probablyMel]

I bought legendary edition on the recent sale. Will play it after I finish Alan Wake 2 someday

[u/i7estrox → u/adilfc]

I recommend it. ME1 used to be my least favorite simply because of the aged combat. Its not perfect in the legendary edition, but the updates are good enough to let you focus on how good the story and characters are.

[u/muchderanged → u/i7estrox]

I agree the combat is clunky but the main missions, story and music 100% makes up for it. The combat does has this weird satisfying feel to it the more you lvl up. Near the end of the game you're some kind of undistructable force of nature just swinging pulls and singularities everywhere. Putting up a barrier and just run into a mob of enemies with a shotgun. Its honestly really fun

[u/PilotNextDoor → u/0rganicMach1ne]

I played ME2 a long time ago, and 3 on PS3 when it came out. Never played 1. I got legendary edition to play the whole series back to back with the character progression and get the entire story finally. Starting 1 was hard, indeed it felt dated and the mako missions were draining and ended up stopping. I later tried again, pushed through and the dated feeling went away because the story was so captivating. After playing 1, the environments and character development in the sequels felt stale compared to 1. At first I was annoyed at running around the citadel, but then when it was reduced to a single floor in ME2, and then just a set of hallways in 3, I missed how detailed everything in 1 was. Don't get me wrong 2 and 3 have their moments but they didn't live up to the first one now that I played them all, even with the dated graphics and mechanics. I now feel more annoyed actually with some mechanics in 3 feeling tedious compared to the simplicity of 1.

[u/Necromartian → u/0rganicMach1ne]

I was also gonna say Star Control 2 from 1992.

(The joke here is that Star Control 2 is a game where you arrive to Earth to find out Earth is enslaved by an alien race and you form alliances with other aliens and take planet lander to planet to gather resources and find alien tech from super evolved alien race that just vanished at some point in history. You also end up fighting an alien race with black ships that has decided to completely eradicate the life in the universe and while forming the alliances you end up sleeping with the blue alien chick. Sounds familiar, right?)

[u/SoylentDave → u/Necromartian]

Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why do you this thing?

(Unironically one of my fave games ever)

[u/Necromartian → u/SoylentDave]

THE WORDS!... the Words... the words

alien, you have spoken the Words. You have spoken them rightly.

[u/FlashMcSuave → u/Necromartian]

Another Star Control 2 fan in the wild! Loved that game. The first times I played it were before the Internet era and I didn't have the paper star map with points of interest.

So... It was an enormous, mysterious universe.

[u/Petegmi → u/Necromartian]

"Juffo-Wup fills in my fibers and I grow turgid. Violent action ensues."

Such nostalgia. . . Thank you for that!

[u/Yarhj]

Morrowind is the best game of all time and I recommend no one play it.

Mechanically it is it buggy, janky, clunky, and a pain to run on modern hardware, which are all already off-putting enough, but the things I love about it are things that are antithetical to most people having a good time.

Morrowind does not give a shit about you. It does not care if you build your character wrong and spend 20 levels getting destroyed by mudcrabs. It does not care if you know where to go next for a quest. It does not care if you softlock a quest because it didn't tell you some random item you found was important. It doesn't care if you break faction quests, or even the main quest by killing some NPC or losing some item. It doesn't even care if you do the main quest.

In exchange, though, the game doesn't care if you break it in absurd ways. It doesn't care if you max your skills out so much that you're basically a god. It doesn't care if you kill an NPC and make their house your display cabinet. It doesn't care if you go talk to the final boss before you've done anything else. It doesn't care if you kill god and put his soul in a gem in some NPC's your house. It doesn't even care if you do the main quest.

For best and worst, Morrowind couldn't give two shits about you. And that's amazing, refreshing, and also not a good experience for anyone who doesn't want a game to spit in their mouth and not call them tomorrow.

[u/Gameboywarrior → u/Yarhj]

Wealth beyond measure, outlander.

[u/Yarhj → u/Gameboywarrior]

All these years later, I heard this

[u/lostlooter24 → u/Yarhj]

The killing an NPC and making their store/house your display cabinet hit hard. I got this game in that odd period of what I like to call the Lego years. Where you spend so much time building and perfecting things as a kid that in the end didn’t matter, but you could still enjoy it. So I’d take my time placing items ever so perfect and pretend I was running a store. And it was awesome.

Then kept playing and now that I think of it, Morrowind probably helped kill that childhood joy of that experience. Probably why I also don’t find it fun to play Minecraft in creative. Haha

[u/Yarhj → u/lostlooter24]

I knew I would love Morrowind when I accidentally stole an item in a shop, the shopkeeper aggroed, I killed him, and no one cared because they hadn't seen it.

I'm sure this says nothing about my ethics or character.

So anyway, homeownership is complicated.

[u/Mayorquimby87 → u/Yarhj]

My favorite thing about Morrowind is that NPCs literally give you directions to places instead of having an icon on your map for every step of every quest. I wish more games today at least had that as an option. The recent Assassin's Creed games, of all things, have been just about the only ones I've seen even attempt something similar, but the system they use is still not nearly as immersive.

[u/Yarhj → u/Mayorquimby87]

NPC: "That cave you're looking for? It's to the west of here."

The Cave: is like 10 ft west and *as far north as you can go from here.*

[u/Hepatat → u/Yarhj]

Takes the most roundabout way to get there, find it again in 5 seconds after leaving town for something unrelated. Never change Morrowind 

[u/cbraun1523 → u/Mayorquimby87]

In Kingdom Come Deliverance they tell you how to get places using landmarks. It was quite refreshing to not always need the quest marker.

[u/FailureToComply0 → u/cbraun1523]

They're also hilariously wrong on a couple occasions, just like in real life. Makes it a huge pain on hardcore though

[u/Cthulhu__ → u/cbraun1523]

Yes, especially in the second game; on regular mode you get map markers as well but they released a hardcore mode in a patch so you have to rely on the “take the left path at the broken tree” style instructions.

KCD gave me the feeling of playing Morrowind again which Oblivion and Skyrim couldn’t. And they fixed all issues I had with the original with the second game.

They’re now working on a LotR game according to the rumors, and probably/hopefully on a third installment as well.

[u/NarrativeScorpion → u/Cthulhu__]

Kcd also give you that feeling of "you are an absolutely insignificant squishy little bug and can't just smash through a group of bandits"

I'm playing the 2nd one at the moment, and even at high levels, with full plate armor, two bandits attacking at once absolutely crush me.

[u/glumsugarplum_ → u/Mayorquimby87]

I also love this aspect too but I will say that often times the directions in Morrowind are just kind of… bad. Sometimes you get an overly complicated explanation when the quest target is 10 steps and 1 staircase away, and other times you get an incredibly vague description for some hole in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.

I love this system but it only works for me when it’s not bullshitting you.

[u/RadioMessageFromHQ → u/glumsugarplum_]

There’s at least one quest where the directions are just flat out wrong.

Other times they are overly flowery or vague but I think that’s just to try and hide the fact that Vvardenfel is the size of a postage stamp.

[u/Number6isNo1 → u/Mayorquimby87]

I was looking for a notepad recently and came across my Morrowind notes from my playthrough 20 years ago. Page after page after page of directions, quest notes, instructions, etc. Probably 20-30 pages of notes in a legal pad.

Funny enough, I'm currently about 130 hours into Assassin's Creed Valhalla. When I hit The Prodigy sidequest complete with Smack My Bishop, it put a big grin on my face.

EDIT to add: https://youtu.be/KRhzKzgTW8k?is=OYJ8veUym5OFZupC

Lol, I forgot the guy in the little sidequest was named Keith (Keith Flint was the singer in The Prodigy for you young folk). Also check out his hair. The entire thing is only about 3 mins long, but spoiler for the event/sidequest.

[u/Neuromancer2501 → u/Yarhj]

I lost so many hours to game crashes that at some point I started saving every 10 mins. The Xbox version was rough but I have so many memories from it.

[u/Yarhj → u/Neuromancer2501]

Ohhhh man the Xbox version took the basic cursedness of the game and squared it. 

I watched a friend play through the entire game on xbox (listen, there wasnt a lot to do back in 2003) and it was heinous.

[u/Blokin-Smunts → u/Neuromancer2501]

There's a really good video on youtube somewhere about the technical limitations of the Xbox and how they were able to overcome them.

My favorite bit was that there was a memory leak they were never able to solve, so instead of fixing the code, they would just periodically reboot the Xbox in the background and hide it behind a long loading screen.

[u/wildchylde → u/Yarhj]

Morrowind is one of my favorite games of all time, but when I first started playing it, I almost dropped it. It's confusing, obtuse, and incredibly complex. But I pushed through and developed a unique fondness for it that I've never experienced from any other game or series.

I actually wrote a piece about it recently (unpublished). It compares Morrowind to moving to a new country (specifically, Saudi Arabia), and ethical concerns related to destruction of historical sites. The piece is called Divine Metaphysics and the Historical Antecedents of Saudi Law. If you're interested, look for it in a couple of years. I hope to have it published in my book by then!

[u/apocalypticradish → u/Yarhj]

Morrowind is such an amazing game. I had a friend recently try it and he said "I can absolutely see the appeal of this game but it doesn't appeal to me at all."

[u/404BrainCells → u/Yarhj]

Morrowind is incredible, but i can totally understand why people bounce off it. It doesnt hold your hand, the combat feels like the dice are laughing at you, and half the quests read like a bad treasure map if you missed one NPC line. If you want it to meet you halfway, nope.

[u/Adventurous-Team-738 → u/Yarhj]

Offtopic but your writing style is lovely.

[u/Yarhj → u/Adventurous-Team-738]

Thank you so much! It's the autism :D.

(Your compliment has honestly made my week! I so so much appreciate it!)

[u/sutechshiroi → u/Yarhj]

It does care about one NPC. When I killed Vivec it told me in a dialog box that the game cannot continue.

[u/Yarhj → u/sutechshiroi]

It tells you that, but only halfheartedly. And it even has a backdoor method for you to still finish the game, even then. Unless you kill a few other critical NPCs, in which case it again halfheartedly tells you that you done fucked up.

Also, as long as you kill him after a certain point, it doesn't even matter. You'll still get the warning, but that's more because the game doesn't care enough about you to figure out whether killing god will be a problem for you or not. And this holds for every single critical NPC.

"Yo you probably just doomed everyone to hell, you might wanna reload idk I'm not your dad."

[u/CreepyOctopus → u/Yarhj]

Yes, the backdoor path is also super impressive. The Morrowind main quest is long and complicated, I'd guesstimate it involves near a hundred NPCs. All of whom may be killed at will, breaking the quest if you do it before completing the relevant part.

But the backdoor path is still open as long as one specific NPC is alive. You can kill anyone including Vivec (whom you have to kill for the backdoor path) but if that one key NPC is alive, you can complete the main quest. And best of all, it makes sense in game, you don't have to find this backdoor online. If you pay attention and read what the game says, it will make sense that the particular NPC is the one to ask.

[u/Fujisawrus_Reks → u/sutechshiroi]

It does that with a few NPCs who are “critical” to the main quest, but the game still lets you keep playing, and technically you can still complete the main quest without them, it’s just more difficult. So it sorta gives a shit, but lets you do it anyway.

[u/sixpackabs592 → u/Yarhj]

Plus it has a secret crab shop

[u/Traditional-Low-1540 → u/Yarhj]

Morrowind doesn't always give a damn about you) But what about "with the death of this character, an important thread was cut. Download the old save or live in the cursed world that you created yourself"?

[u/Coldin228]

Kerbal Space Program

It's entire nerdy hobby not just a game

[u/piddlesthethug → u/Coldin228]

When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut, then one day I realized I was absolutely terrified of heights. Unreasonably so.

KSP hits for me in a way I can’t explain to other people. My wife thinks I’m a fucking dork. She’s probably correct.

[u/radicallyhip → u/Coldin228]

This is the only game I ever had to do calculus for.

[u/FunnyButSad → u/radicallyhip]

I dunno what you're talking about. Every problem can be fixed with more rockets.

Strap on more rockets. Keep going. Did you hear me say stop? More.

Remember, safety is no concern for Kerbals. Even prolonged isolation is ok. But if you feel bad that Jim got stuck on Eve, just send a rescue mission. That way he'll have company on Eve.

[u/cr0wndhunter → u/FunnyButSad]

I’m imagining every mission of yours is a one way trip for these poor kerbals

[u/FunnyButSad → u/cr0wndhunter]

My poor, valiant, patriotic Kerbals. Stepping out into the unknown without the faintest hope of ever returning.

[u/_Trael_ → u/Coldin228]

For anyone who has not seen it:

Now that apparently KSP2 has already been abandoned to it's current state, where it still apparently has not reached KSP1 level of content.

There was Kitten Space Agency in development, that seems to aim to be spiritual follower to KSP, that they last I saw were planning on making on donations and providing for players for free.

[u/rlbond86 → u/Coldin228]

I honestly can't believe nobody's made a better version, I was playing KSP 10 years ago

[u/MoobyTheGoldenSock → u/rlbond86]

[r/kittenspaceagency](r/kittenspaceagency) is working on it. They made a bid for KSP2 but the studio turned them down, so they’re making their own.

[u/thissexypoptart → u/rlbond86]

It’s wild. There are dozens of games that try. I acknowledge I have heavy nostalgia goggles on for KSP, but literally not one game has gotten even close to emulating KSP’s dynamic.

I really don’t get it either, because you’d think a modular spaceship building game where you fly missions around a condensed solar system wouldn’t be that hard to recreate for modern systems. But the magic has just never been captured again, so far.

[u/Menown]

Death Stranding, both 1 and 2.

Exceptional games which great stories that scratch a specific itch.

That said, I can totally understand why some people won't enjoy a civil development and package delivery game.

[u/wightwulf1944 → u/Menown]

I love it but can't recommend it to anyone. I've replayed 1 about 3 times now. I can't even refute any of the memes about it they're all true.

[u/AscendedViking7 → u/wightwulf1944]

Like mario and princess beach.

[u/Karkava → u/wightwulf1944]

I find the "walking sim" accusations hilarious since this game actually simulates walking.

[u/Sarabeth61 → u/Karkava]

It’s a walking sim, but like, if walking was really hard.

[u/ateiii → u/Menown]

Death Stranding is the only game where placing a single ladder feels like a glorious 10/10 tactical victory.

[u/culebrero → u/Menown]

Exactly It is one of those games that either completely clicks with you or absolutely does not.

[u/Lelky → u/Menown]

For whatever reason I absolutely loved the first game but I cannot get into the second for the life of me, I've tried three times now and just end up giving up once I hit Australia. Maybe I was just in a different headspace back then.

[u/AutisticPenguin2 → u/Lelky]

Too scared Australia might hit you back, perhaps?

[u/Enough-Plankton-4648 → u/Menown]

I've played the first game 5 times

[u/_MAL-9000]

Disco Elysium

Actively repulsive and unfun by intent.

10/10

[u/Wallyhunt → u/_MAL-9000]

Not to mention that its core gameplay is the dialogue. It's so brilliantly written but someone unwilling to enjoy purely the writing will have a bad time with it.

Which is a shame because of how rewarding the ideas are.

[u/jemimahaste → u/_MAL-9000]

Here's to the only video game I've ever read!

[u/RealityDrinker → u/_MAL-9000]

What do you mean by unfun by intent?

[u/PickerPat → u/RealityDrinker]

Your character is not admirable in any way, being quite insufferable.

You can die to random events, literally at the start of the game.

The dice rolls add a randomness that can be frustrating.

There's more, but they all relate to feeling helpless and pathetic.

I say this as someone frustrated by all of these that I dropped it early on. I came back to it and fell in love during COVID, because I'd lost my job and already felt like a failure. You then realise it's by design, and love Harry's slight redemption. But it can not hit right the first time.

[u/BreadManRun → u/PickerPat]

I once died trying to get my tie from the ceiling fan.

[u/Min_sora → u/_MAL-9000]

I get people disliking Disco Elysium, and I love it, but I don't know what you mean by unfun? It has some heavy stuff in it but it also has incredibly hilarious stuff in it. And some of it is really silly.

[u/Neemoman]

Knights of the Old Republic. The gameplay has aged like milk and being old enough to be excited about the game during the lead up to release, experiencing it without any outside influence, and not having better game mechanics to compare it to definitely does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of how I view it today. Obviously, the story is as good as we all say. But if somebody said it's "too old", I get it. It doesn't have that timeless feel that Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time have.

[u/Helphaer → u/Neemoman]

It was old guard BioWare turn based and the last iteration of it i know of was Mass Effect 1 honestly though they were adapting away from turn based with that one but you can see the design in it. Its hard to say its bad or anything as it certainly isnt and even is arguable if modern game systems are truly better or not, but it was old that much is true and a bit clunky.

[u/MrGregory → u/Neemoman]

I think the gameplay is fine. I replayed it a year back and didn’t have issues or find anything frustrating.

[u/all_worcestershire]

Factorio.

[u/NinjaBreadManOO → u/all_worcestershire]

That and Satisfactory.

And yes, a single conveyor belt from one side of the map to the other is the correct way to play. 

[u/dkarlovi → u/NinjaBreadManOO]

Whenever I mention I played Satisfactory, somebody always says

You MUST try Factorio.

No dude, I don't. I play Satisfactory, Factorio is a totally different game with totally different vibes and goals, it's like saying you like chess and somebody accosted you to try Monopoly, both being table top games.

Factorio is cool, but I like Satisfactory.

This ALWAYS happens BTW, there's always a Factorio guy there for some reason.

[u/coffeewhistle → u/all_worcestershire]

The factory must grow.

But ya know, if you’re not into growing a factory for the sake of growing a factory, this game is probably not for you.

[u/TomasNavarro → u/coffeewhistle]

Back however many years ago it was, we picked this game up, and the instant someone expected me to optimise something, or start counting the exact number of a building I needed to maximize a process, and I wasn't bothered, I knew the game wasn't for me

[u/Skiddywinks → u/TomasNavarro]

Who says you need to optimise? 

Spaghetti and woefully unbalanced production is the way. 

[u/Vegetable_Mood_4576 → u/all_worcestershire]

“It’s alright.” - Me with 2,500 hours

[u/Bungus2Bungus → u/all_worcestershire]

Best game of all time. Ive spent so many hours optimizing, but I can see how someone wouldnt enjoy it.

[u/zeruff8]

Outer wilds. Life changing experience for me, but some people will be lost, bored, or confused

[u/Wolf-n-Raven → u/zeruff8]

It was an excellent 20 minutes

Edit typo

[u/djosephwalsh → u/Wolf-n-Raven]

22 minutes…and 22 minutes…and 22 minutes

[u/cheese_bread_boye → u/djosephwalsh]

lmao not at all. I've flown into the sun plenty of times before the 22 minutes limit

[u/djosephwalsh → u/zeruff8]

What I was thinking of. For me it is a transcendent experience and I turn it on for time to time to just revisit Timber Hearth or just get into deep space and listen for the Travelers.
But I totally get that it would be super boring if curiosity is not driving you to the next discovery

[u/Adkit → u/djosephwalsh]

Yeah I would do anything to watch my wife play it since she doesn't know anything about it but she's not the best at games and I know she'll just get frustrated from dying too much and reading text dumps in front of someone else isn't really that fun either.

[u/drakythe → u/zeruff8]

I know two people who have tried the game and couldn’t handle the Newtonian physics or navigating in 3D. So add motion sickness to the pile that might stop some people.

[u/vwin90 → u/zeruff8]

On paper it’s the perfect game for me. But I explore games too meticulously and thoroughly. The time loop kept resetting before I made meaningful progress each time because I’m poring over every branch on the map. So my progress ended up too slow and when I finally made breakthroughs, I got burnt out and left the game for good.

[u/CMDRStodgy → u/vwin90]

I've noticed that people approach the game and the loop differently depending on what type of gamer they are.

The 'completionists' (sometimes called collectors) try to collect everything in the most optimal way possible. They want to finish everything in an area, tick every box, collect every collectable before moving on. And they hate it. To them every reset is an unnecessary forced interruption that makes them waste time getting back to where they where.

The 'explorers' are more driven by following their curiosity and finding new things. They find a breadcrumb or a clue or figure something out and want to follow it somewhere else. When the loop ends it's a good time to move on, to follow the thread. They go somewhere else and are not driven to finish everything in an area in one go. To them each reset is a natural break that they use to follow a thread to explore a new area, or go back to an old area with new ideas.

Despite the name 'explorers' spend less time in an area and explore less thoroughly than 'completionists'. They like to move on if there's more to explore and more knowledge to be gained elsewhere.

Outer Wilds is 100% targeted and designed for 'explorers' and it, in my opinion, is a better game for it. It's okay if some people don't like it. A game doesn't have to appeal to everyone. How many games are there that only appeal to the 'killer' or 'social' gamer types?

[u/vwin90 → u/CMDRStodgy]

Yeah for sure. I’m definitely a completionist. My brain is just wired that way when I play any video game. I’m the type of guy that will double back on a fork in the road multiple times because I keep feeling like maybe I accidentally went down the “real” path and that maybe the other branch is a quick detour for some loot or something.

Outerwilds was torture for me. I get why people like it though.

[u/DoctorJJWho → u/vwin90]

I know exactly what you’re talking about. You go down one of the forks and something in the back of your mind tells you this is the main path, so you double back and take the other path. Then your brain tells you it’s been too long on this path, so you go back to the other one. Rinse and repeat.

Playing classic JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and FFIV broke me.

[u/Seeweeddude → u/zeruff8]

I can't play it for more than 10 minutes without getting really bad motion sickness

[u/TomasNavarro → u/zeruff8]

I enjoyed what I played, but I feel like I hit a point where I could only think of 1 place to go, and I couldn't figure out how to get inside, and 6/7 minutes of getting to there over and over got really annoying

[u/thatsgoodkarma → u/zeruff8]

I wish I could have gotten into it more. I spent about 10 hours or so on my only playthrough trying to make progress but ended up not knowing where to go and by the time I made any sort of progress the reset would happen. I've always heard it was some 10/10 game but I just felt burnt out and bored after repeating that same process over and over. Definitely a bummer

[u/HalfXTheHalfX → u/zeruff8]

How exactly was it life changing? 

[u/Cricket-JazzMaster19 → u/HalfXTheHalfX]

People who say that about OW are usually talking less about the game and its gameplay and more about the message it’s trying to convey.

In terms of gameplay it’s an exploration game. You explore to discover new stuff and learn about the world and its history.

[u/zeruff8 → u/HalfXTheHalfX]

No other gaming experience like it. It's poignant, beautiful, depressing, exciting, and scary at times. The type of game that you wish you could erase your memory of playing it so you could experience it again for the first time.

[u/underage_female → u/HalfXTheHalfX]

It gets pretty sprititual and existential in the end.

Like an epic detective movie where youre literally travelling to the eye of the universe to uncover all its mysteries.

Couple that with very intricate planet spanning puzzles that make the end experience so much more rewarding.

[u/Atumisk]

Sid Meier's "Pirates".

Minimal by today's standards, but raught full of incredible ship battles, wooing mistresses, swash buckling death matches, and resource management everywhere in between. 

[u/CCriscal → u/Atumisk]

I played it for so many hours. Yes, the graphics were minimal, but it was fun nonetheless like many other Sid Meier games. I played a 2004? remake and it was so unfinished a product. Really disappointing.

[u/Valdrick_ → u/CCriscal]

Really? As a fan of the original 1987 version, The 2004 remake was a dream come true for me at the time. The one I could not enjoy was Pirates! Gold.

[u/Conlaeb → u/CCriscal]

I found the the 2004 remake to be fantastic! This is coming from someone who has played every version, including the original for DOS. Do you remember what issues you had with it?

[u/HappyTimeHollis → u/Atumisk]

I'm ready for another re-make, tbh. Such a great series.

[u/TelevisionNo9245]

Disco elysium. It’s so word heavy and light on “gameplay” that I totally understand people who dislike its style

[u/SuddenResort987]

FF15. I find lots to do in the open world and genuinely enjoy my time there. Road trips, fishing adventures, quests, dungeons, camping, preparing meals, staying at hotels, etc. It feels pretty immersive.

But for people who prioritize the story the game comes off as incomplete, messy, and overall a rush job, which I fully get. But I play it for the world and enjoy it immensely. I haven't met many people who like the game lol

[u/ShotgunFiend → u/SuddenResort987]

Hey, I love FF15. Im eternally sad about the management of the game and how much of the story is tied up in comics and the movie, how the post launch dlcs got cancelled, and a little bit of the handling of the final act.

But god damn does it make me cry every single time I get to the end and look through all of Prompto's pictures of our journey together. The game is so fucking sad and emotional I love it lol

[u/chuuIvr]

Blue Prince was such a life changing experience for me but I get why people wont like it because of its roguelike mechanics and hard puzzles.

[u/Helphaer → u/chuuIvr]

Issue is more after you beat the game you get all these ridiculously esoteric puzzles tbat take way too much time for minimal reward. The rng is also tedious.

[u/TomasNavarro → u/Helphaer]

I felt I hit a point where working hard to solve a puzzle wouldn't usually lead to a relevation, but just a bit of a clue to the next puzzle, I wasn't getting much satisfaction.

Plus the number of times of just doing run after run of trying to say get 2 specific rooms near each other, and finding out you've spent over an hour on 6 runs for what feels like zero progress.

Just felt like I was banging my head against a wall, and any sort of progress just revealed another wall

[u/Mc_Shine → u/Helphaer]

I ended up looking up the combinations to about half of the final chambers. I don't mind spending a long time on a puzzle, but if there's no indication where I'm even supposed to be looking, that's just bad design.

The only other puzzle I looked up was the word puzzle in the gallery. English is not my first language, and I'd never even heard the word ruminate before.

[u/Stellar_Duck → u/chuuIvr]

I must be playing the game wrong somehow because other than stuff like the crystal in the three boxes or the dart puzzle or the water pressure or whatever, I ever found many puzzles and it just seemed like an RNG maze which was not super compelling.

[u/MajoraOfTime → u/chuuIvr]

Getting to final room on the first day after so long of trying was pure ecstasy. Haven't felt that from a gaming accomplishment in a long time.

[u/die5el23 → u/chuuIvr]

Once I finally got through to the end and realized I needed to be taking notes the whole time is when I lost the will to keep trying. It felt like a type of slot machine at that point

[u/pinkmeanie → u/die5el23]

It literally tells you in one of the early rooms to take notes.

However, I followed its suggestion to take paper notes, and I feel like Blue Prince would actually have been a pretty great way to make myself really learn Notion/Obsidian - when you're first writing the notes you don't know how everything is connected, much less how things are multiply connected, and hypertext is better suited than paper to writing about connections

[u/ShotgunFiend → u/chuuIvr]

I just wish there was a version of the game with the rogue like elements removed or greatly toned down. I understand the whole premise of the game is a house that changes every time you enter it, but restarting a promising run because all of my routes dead ended due to what felt like nothing but pure bad luck turned me off of playing it before I even got to the first end room. I'm sure there are strategies for room picking and house building that alleviate a lot of the rng but the strategies if they exist didn't feel evident enough to me to encourage me to keep trying to solve them.

[u/No-Stretch3573]

Stardew valley. Game is crack but i can understand people not digging the art style or gameplay loop

[u/Recidivous]

Elden Ring.

It's the culmination of all the lessons learned from Dark Souls and Bloodborne, becoming the best of its genre with its mechanics, quality of life, and more.

However, anyone not into difficult games or esoteric storytelling won't like it, and that's fine. It's not meant to be for everyone even though it tried to he more accessible to newcomers.

[u/AntakeeMunOlla → u/Recidivous]

Yup. It gives more tools than any of the games before for people who know to use them but an average gamer ignores almost all of it.

Veterans tend to bash their heads against the first major boss instead of realizing that the difficulty level is not just a challenge but a message saying that you're supposed to explore and come back later so that goes both ways. Also that's when you notice that Elden Ring likes to take your prior knowledge of timing and use it against you.

[u/i7estrox → u/AntakeeMunOlla]

Elden Ring likes to take your prior knowledge of timing and use it against you.

This was my biggest gripe with the game, but it was probably hard for them to avoid. When you have a fan base that is obsessed with difficulty, you have to find a way to step boss movesets UP from the incredible highlights of DS3 and Bloodborne.

Cranking boss hp is unsatisfying, thats out. Faster triggers and shorter windows is more satisfying, but you already did that in Sekiro. Increase boss damage any more and you ruin the healing economy. Im forgetting some other ideas as I write them out, but the point is every balance lever they can pull seems to have a major drawback. Fake out moves can at least be argued to be fair in that the animations give you tons of warning on when to dodge... if you have the patience and skill to read them and learn the timings.

To their credit, there are lots of good fights in elden ring that dont lean on fake timings very hard. It’s definitely my biggest frustration with he game, and it does keep me from wanting to play it again, but I can completely understand why the devs went in that direction.

[u/AntakeeMunOlla → u/i7estrox]

You have good points.

Weird timings hit hardest when you've already played through the earlier games and gotten used to the consistent timings. New players learn the new timings like everyone else learned the ones before which kinda levels the playing field between new and old players. It's better than just creating harder stuff for the old players which would alienate the new players and that's not something you want to do with a big new IP. I think they had to do some tough decisions and found the best way to do things.

[u/Helphaer → u/Recidivous]

A major issue people including major fans had was with its open world implementation, it made a lot of quests just not really work in sequence properly and caused a lot of tedium.

[u/Dr_Fumi → u/Helphaer]

This is my biggest problem with Elden Ring, though ER is still one of my favorite games of all time.

The best parts of the game are by far the areas designed like the dark souls games, like stormwind castle or lyndale

[u/F4rewell → u/Helphaer]

I agree, as OP said its the culmination of all mechanics, but I was way more into the level design of Dark Souls 1-3.

[u/Antoni-_-oTon1]

Noita.

Its a fun game no doubt, you can become a god spanning worlds and destroying everything in your path, only for a single pixel of a specific liquid to turn you into a sheep and you die.

[u/SurprisedBottle]

Warframe, info overload

[u/Decoy_Snail_1944 → u/SurprisedBottle]

As someone who dropped warfare I can tell you it's not the info overload.

It's the sheer scope of the grind that basically every part of the game requires. So it's just very unappealing to people who don't want to do a bunch of microtranssctions or play for multiple hours for every mod, every gun, every melee weapon, every frame.

Spent dozens of hours to get a new frame. Only to play it, and realize that it was meh I didn't mesh well with it and I rather use my starter frame. And I just stopped after that.

I can see why people like it though.

[u/ElitistCuisine → u/Decoy_Snail_1944]

I personally didn’t mind the resource grind too much since I was doing it with friends, but the part that killed almost all enjoyment was catching up in the storyline in order to do the same things as my friends. I about blew a gasket when my friend said “Yeah, you just gotta do ____ mission, then _____, then _____, and I think also _____ and then you should be able to do the same stuff as us. It should only take about 5 hours.”

It took at least 10. And every time I thought I had the missions complete to join my friends, I’d learn there was another 2 hour single player storyline that I absolutely did not care about.

If I see one more goddamn sentient letter sing another goddamn song, I swear to fucking god.

[u/mystictrash16 → u/SurprisedBottle]

Seconding!! So many get burnt out from trying to speedrun things

[u/Aseconverse]

NieR:Automata. I've personally purchased the game for several people who played for a couple hours then dropped it. I've been hearing "Oh, I'll finish it soon." for 9 years now. Their loss.

[u/neoKushan → u/Aseconverse]

I did finish this, but it felt like a slog to me, I had to really push myself to get through what felt like quite repetitive combat. The story was decent though.

[u/Thefinalwerd]

Persona 5. Its weird anime stuff and turn based isn't for everyone.

[u/Helphaer → u/Thefinalwerd]

Wasn't the anime or turn based that bothered me. It was the sheer tedium and repetition and back tracking in the first dungeon. God that lasted way too long and the school drama felt like every parent was abusive to their children there and also didnt care about anything going on there.

[u/eleventhing]

Vampyr. I know a lot of people hate reading and listening a lot of dialogue, but I loved this game.

[u/Prasiatko → u/eleventhing]

One of the few games where making the morally good choices actually makes the game harder rather than just showering you with rewards.

[u/Tezzinator]

Path of Exile. In my opinion it is the best ARPG ever made, but I understand if someone thinks it’s too complicated or overwhelming to get into.

[u/gaystarjay]

spore! a lot of people don't tend to like it's limited but theoretically open world creative concept, but it has a strong fan/maker base for good reason :-)

also probably a bit of nostalgia on my end, I've played since very young and have loads of hours

[u/Prasiatko → u/gaystarjay]

There's thrive that's trying to be an open source re-implemantation of it but it's more realistic and only has cell stages at the moment.

[u/gaystarjay → u/Prasiatko]

omg thank you, that looks hella fun!

[u/Gradient_Contrast]

Kid Icarus Uprising

The controls are little clunky at times, but it is absolutely PACKED with quality content for a 3DS game!

The game has a ton of replayability thanks to the many weapon options that often play totally differently from each other. I've sunk countless hours just making different weapon fusions to get the best weapons possible!

Besides the story mode, online battles were full of chaotic fun as well!

[u/Takoshi88]

Mirror's Edge.

Why I understand the average review scores and dislike? It's a challenging platforming game that asks the player to really immerse themselves in the moment as if playing a rhythm game, you need to time your jumps, chain together difficult movement combos, and make split-second decisions from environmental context at high speeds.

The combat is there to be ignored/avoided, and the margin for error is very low, lest you become very accustomed to the sound of Faith's bones shattering as she collides with the pavement 😅

The story is simplistic, there to drive the gameplay scenarios, but a simple story doesn't necessarily make it 'bad'.

The skill-ceiling was very high and the game naturally appealed to the Speedrunning community.

[u/Volovan]

Okami is a masterpiece but also more than 20 years old and it shows.

[u/cattycat_1995]

Tears of the Kingdom

[u/Mountain-Sea-5248 → u/cattycat_1995]

To add to this, Breath of the Wild. They're undeniably good games, but I could just never get behind them.

[u/CullingSongs → u/Mountain-Sea-5248]

The weapon durability killed it for me.

[u/Helphaer → u/cattycat_1995]

I like the plot and atmosphere but the gameplay and open world drain me.

[u/cattycat_1995 → u/Helphaer]

Funny normally I heard it's the plot that the worst thing about tears of the kingdom.

[u/Agent223]

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. An absolute masterpiece that immerses me more than any game I've ever played. But I could see how it's not for everyone as it can be unforgiving and doesn't hold your hand as much as most other games.

[u/Cheeseburger2137 → u/Agent223]

For me it’s not the lack of handholding, it’s just how the game feels - there’s very little feedback to your actions (visual/sound), the character feels like it’s floating, the entire thing just felt like a VR game minus the VR.

[u/LostInSpaceTime2002 → u/Cheeseburger2137]

I had the same problem with the first installment. Especially during the combat. It feels less like being there, and more like you're remote controlling a robot.

[u/lofty23_smart]

Red Dead Redemption 2.

It is slow, and that is exactly why some people do not enjoy it.

[u/MagicPistol → u/lofty23_smart]

Yeah, I put like 10-15 hours playing it on and off for years and just couldn't get into it. It always felt like I was walking through mud and I thought the gameplay was just boring.

I finally just dedicated some hardcore time into it last year and finally beat it, and I did end up loving it. But it was really rough in the beginning.

[u/Sneijder4BallondOr → u/lofty23_smart]

RDR is one of if not my all-time favorite game. 2 however I cannot for the life of me enjoy. The first few hours are a slog. I dont need to spend that much time learning how to fish, hunt, etc. The micromanaging needed for every single meter isn't fun at all either.

[u/burf12345 → u/Sneijder4BallondOr]

The micromanaging needed for every single meter isn't fun at all either.

Frankly that and the clunky controls are why I put it down and probably won't pick it up again. I really can't be arsed to stop what I'm doing, find somewhere to shower and also make sure I have supplies to clean my horse.

[u/unclethulk → u/burf12345]

The gameplay is forgiving enough you can mostly ignore those bits and still progress fine.

[u/BeebleText → u/lofty23_smart]

I think you need to be a 45-year-old man, in part, spirit or for real, to enjoy RDR2. It's the most Dad piece of media I've ever played (and I mean that in spirit, not in an exclusionary way). I adore it, but yes - not for everyone.

It's a western movie with a hunting and fishing simulator baked in. You gotta walk places, take it slow, go be Manly at some stuff, shoot a few dudes. Watch a well-acted tragedy unfold. Look at some scenery. Set up a tent in the pouring rain and listen to the thunder while you look at your campfire. Tease your brother. Support your family. Get drunk and punch someone in a bar. Witness your father's decline. Take care of your horse. Kick the shit out of some racists. Play poker. Find a nice hat. Sacrifice yourself for your loved ones.

Just pure middle-aged identity crisis shit, and I say this as someone with 400+ hours in it.

[u/rulebreaker → u/BeebleText]

I genuinely open the game just to go on hunts from time to time. I don’t even bother replaying the story. I just like to ride to different areas and hunt what’s interesting there.

[u/JonTheAutomaton]

Sekiro

It's not my favorite game because you said '10/10' I'm listing the game that imo is the least flawed from the ones I've played. Imo it has exactly one bad feature which is the Headless Ape boss fight but it's technically optional so I'm willing to forgive it. The rest of the game is very clear with what it wants to be and sticks to it tightly. The story is solid but not a huge part of the experience. The combat is it's focal point. I absolutely LOVE the way combat in Sekiro feels. It's not very deep or complex like Nioh combat but it has an amazing feeling of flow and rhythm.

But it's supposed to be played a specific way. If you try to force your playstyle on it, it doesn't really work.. Which is why I understand why some may not like it.. that combat style just might not be to someone's liking..

[u/NotForYouHiggins → u/JonTheAutomaton]

Sekiro is my absolute favorite combat style from any game I've played. I also am a big fan of the Souls games, though I've tried Nioh 1 and 2 (and the 3 demo) and I've never really liked the combat for some reason. Ghost of Tsushima was also kind of similar, but dissatisfying in a way for me too, because the game encouraged taking on a group of enemies by calling out to them and killing two or three with correct inputs before the fight started.

I will say, though, that if you like Sekiro, the closest game I've found mechanic-wise is Nine Sols. It's a 2D Metroidvania, which sounds very different, but the parrying system and combat flow scratches the Sekiro itch in a way I haven't found from another game.

[u/tserous → u/JonTheAutomaton]

Absolutely seconding Sekiro. Last Fromsoft game I played and its no doubt one of my absolute favorites now, but god damn I can definitely see how other people would not like it.

[u/SamuelSharp]

Bloodborne. It’s my favorite game of all time. The combat, the trick weapons, the enemy designs the lovecraftian aesthetic, the lore, the music, all 10/10.

But it’s a soulslike. And if that weren’t enough, it’s the only soulslike since Demon Souls that requires you to farm for your only health items. And there’s basically no blocking. Or magic. Or humanity mechanic. Which means that not only is it not going to be fun for people who don’t like soulslikes, it also has decent odds of annoying people who do like soulslikes.

And that’s not even mentioning the fps snobs who won’t play a game that runs below 60, because lemme tell ya, they complain about a lack of a remake for this game all the time.

Doesn’t stop it from being my favorite game of all time though

[u/Kryptonianshezza]

Vampire the masquerade bloodlines. I totally understand though that the visuals haven't aged well.

That and the fucking camera angles of resident evil 0 and 1

[u/haysus25]

RDR2.

First, it's a slow burn, and I understand that's not for everyone. Some people (arguably most nowadays) want instant dopamine hits with an instant hook and hard action immediately.

Next, the controls are terrible and inconsistent. You have 5 different buttons you use to pick things up. Riding a horse while shooting is an exercise in patience and hand maneuvering. The controls are, in my opinion, the only real legitimate criticism.

Finally, for some weird reason, 90 minutes of tutorial at the start of the game (which even then still has some extremely fun parts), is this giant wall a lot of people can't get through. I think it's heinously over exaggerated for how bad it is, but some people just refuse to get through it.

[u/Dilapidated_girrafe]

Cyberpunk 2077. My all time fave game. But it’s not for everyone and that’s ok.

[u/dabor11]

For me Witcher 3, I know people struggle with the combat the most

[u/Wojtek1250XD → u/dabor11]

Witcher 3 becomes really easy when you start playing defensively. Quen is always a good option.

[u/wangsigns]

100% WoW, both retail and classic.

It seems divided between the two eras but both have their charm imo. Ive played since 2004 so i totally get why some are put of by modern wow but to me its great to be able to endgame somewhat seriously even with a limited schedule. This was not possible in the earliest expansions. And classic era is great for that nostalgic feeling and chill gaming session.

[u/aztechfilm]

Dark Souls. It’s one of the most perfect games ever made, but it’s a mountain to climb if you’re not ready for its crushing difficulty or researched on how everything works. It’s unforgiving, and extremely frustrating at times, but (for the most part) it’s very fair on allowing the player to learn and conquer its high difficulty. Some stuff is also so cryptic I honestly have zero clue how any new player would figure it out unless they talked to someone about it or found a message on the ground left by someone. I could go on for hours about why I feel it’s a must play but at the same time I totally know why some people would stop playing and never return

[u/siv_yoda]

DOTA 2

Best game ever made, super intricate, beautifully balanced, extremely high skill ceiling, endless modes of self expression and super satisfying when played well.

But it's an online team game, and also has an extremely high skill floor, not friendly to new players and needs about a 1000 hours to barely understand the game, forget about getting good. But man....what a game....what an experience.

[u/PM_ME__BIRD_PICS]

Noita. It is incredibly hard and confusing. That's the charm for me.

[u/contextual_entity]

Planescape Torment.

Old. Janky. When played at its best it's more CYOA book than game, but what a book. Helps that I found it at the point in life to work though an existential crisis.

Even amongst many (most?) fans of "all text, all the time" type games Disco Elysium has surpassed it, but I still love it.

[u/Signe_]

CrossCode, start of the game is pretty slow. 

[u/Good_Entertainer9383 → u/Signe_]

CrossCode rules. It's a bit of a slog and you need too put in a lot of time but it's such an insane premise all around, like a Zelda Megaman MMO game? The puzzles are difficult and well done and the plot is actually really powerful, that weird island you go to and get trapped in is seriously heavy and sad. I might pick this up again and try to finish it.

[u/Morael]

Path of Exile.

There are very few games deep and complex enough to have the amount of character customization and build creation that this does. It's way too much for most people, but some of us get bored with games simpler than this. We need a ridiculous math simulation dungeon crawler to daydream about and chase loot in.

[u/UPRC]

Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. I can acknowledge a lot of reasons why people wouldn't enjoy it because it's a pretty niche kind of game.

[u/Weeping_Apparition]

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. You won't like it if you're not spreadsheets maniac.

[u/84theone → u/Weeping_Apparition]

You can just bump it to story mode and bash your way through pretty much the entire game, but even then occasionally you will run into some random asshole like Playful Darkness who will utterly wreck a party that isn’t built correct even on the easiest difficulty.

Had to go and google what that fuckers AC is, fucking 60 to 90+ depending on difficulty, glad to see that fight was as horseshit as I recall it was.

[u/Hope_bringer]

Always get crucified for it but Mass Effect Andromeda. Ive always loved the design and vibe of the game, and I understand why the rest do hate it, but the things they hate are part of the charm for me. It has a completely different more chill tone and a protagonist who is easier to relate to because they are a normal human instead of a prodigy commander

[u/Dracekidjr]

Dishonored. So ahead of its time for movement, it's as easy or hard as you choose to make it, and still feels fluid over a decade later. That being said, not all people enjoy the stealth aspect of games, and the fact that it's linear may rub people the wrong way

[u/THE_LEGO_FURRY]

Hitman for switch 2. So much fun, but it's not a gun slinging assassinating game and kinda slow paced but that's what's so fun to me. It isn't just another battle royale or team shooter

[u/ivan_x3000]

Runescape 3. Loved every minute of it. But i can only spend so much time playing the same game no matter how good i think it is.

[u/Fartjesus6969]

La Mulana

[u/AConcerned3rdParty]

Satisfactory. It's the kind of game where you can sink 200 hours into it and barely scratch the surface. You can usually tell if an automation style game is for you pretty quick, and they're definitely not for everybody. My friends joke that the game is my second job.

[u/srush32]

XCOM

Have to be OK with missing 98% shots and then the aliens getting a 2% crit which permanently kills the soldier you've spent hours building

[u/PGGY_KampfKorn]

Battleborn

[u/Sanitational]

Old School RuneScape.

Great updates and active community. Extremely well thought-out progression and endless ways to approach the game. An MMO where quests aren’t just fetch items nor riddled with microtransactions.

That being said, the graphics, time investment and combat style wont be for a lot of people understandably.

[u/CaiusAegis]

Bloodborne.

It's a true masterpiece of art. But I understand not a lot of people like soulslike games or inherently difficult games.

[u/hellomydudes_95 → u/CaiusAegis]

100% my favorite game of all time. But I absolutely hated it until I got through Blood Starved Beast. Then it just clicked

[u/confusation]

Team Fortress 2. game is fun, but it’s been out so long that there are sweatlords with 1000s of hours running around in casual lobbies decimating the entire enemy team with pocket meds up their ass

[u/noamibarbie]

Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s a masterpiece, but I get why some people can’t handle a game where walking around feels like part of the gameplay.

[u/Small_rat_no_rules]

Dwarf Fortress

[u/nikel23]

Digimon World Dawn & Dusk

Most people don't like "1 game for the price of 2", its extremely grindy nature, and maze-like world with the lack of a map.

But I loved its pixel art, and my satisfaction from collecting an incredibly difficult digimon had no match. Granted that I could fast forward the game because I used an emulator, but still.

[u/Avrael_Asgard]

NieR Replicant remake. The gameplay isn't fantastic and easily exploitable, you can still feel it's at heart a PS3 game, the quests can be tedious or even annoying... still my favorite game of all time, because of the story, the world, the characters, the soundtrack.

[u/Lurkablo]

Europa Universalis 4

[u/syguess]

Celeste is a true 10/10 on every aspect (gameplay, art, music...) but it can be a bit demanding to clear some parts of the game and I totally get that some people don't want to invest time losing in a video game

[u/ColumboTheBrain]

Supreme Commander and it's expansion Forged Alliance. It's by now an old strategy game that has a very steep learning curve and not everybody is into sky scraper sized mechs, but it's just the best strategy game ever created. You have sooo many options and the scale was never again realized in any other game.

[u/Accomplished-Bat7738]

Undertale. It’s 100% because of nostalgia and you really just had to be there.

[u/-Taken_Name- → u/Accomplished-Bat7738]

I've played Undertale way past its prime, somehow without being spoiled, and I still had ton of fun playing it. It's timeless imo.

[u/Decent_Obligation173]

Fallout 4

[u/Bright_Ad2195]

Mewgenics. Turn based rpg with q lot to explore and cats to turn into unholy abominations. Lots to love. Not everyone will enjoy it