Post your favorite poorly-received video game

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pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Evolution 1&2 for the Dreamcast.

I grew up without exposure to JRPGs past the SNES stage and they were the first 3-D JRPGs I played and I loved them to death. It had randomized dungeons and the whole "dig up ancient tech" theme along with the generic evil empire but something about it just won me over with the first one and I instantly bought the 2nd the day it was released.

# ¿ May 13, 2013 06:47

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 23:56

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

grittyreboot posted:

Fable 2 and 3. I love how incredibly stupid the NPCs are. You could be a murderous super villain who spent hours slaughtering innocent bystanders, but you could make them love you by dancing a silly jig enough times.

Also it's super easy and fun to break the game's economy.

Fable 3 has a special place in my heart for the "Henry VIII" achievement. You had to marry 6 different characters, and kill 2 of them. I was already the King of Albion and need 1 more so I went down to the brothel, married a whore, took her out to the docks and shot her so her body fell in the water. Achievement successful!

When telling that story to one of my friends he just stared at me with a shocked look on his face.

# ¿ May 14, 2013 02:24

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Pick posted:

Yeah, what I love about the DA2 companions is they're people who set off every red flag (except for Aveline). Hawke has terrible friends. Literally two different friends cause two completely different wars! Well loving done you guys!

Plus, it kept the Dragon Age tradition of having companion-specific approval, which Mass Effect desperately needed. And sometimes the way it's used is great. I love that quest where we have to help the dwarf brothers, and if you have Aveline with you, she says something like "I should be glad we offered to help, but honestly I'm getting kind of sick of having to do this all the time."

(I also did think the gameplay was more fun; I liked the waves.)

In my mind, all that is true as well. I really loved the framing device they used for the story, too. Dragon Age II is about how heroes are made. Some dipshit ends up stumbling into a bunch of crap and then someone a lot smarter makes a good story out of it.

The whole "Varric making stuff up to gently caress with the Seeker's head" should have been used way more often, so what at first seemed magnanimous and heroic was instead completely accidental. There also should have been a lot more stuff like being able to give Isabella over to the Arishok and how surprised everyone is when a mage PC sides with the Templars. Up until Meredith goes crazy with her demon sword the pro-templar side is literally the only right answer as every single mage encounter up to that point is an evil blood mage.

It wouldn't have taken much to make the game much better in terms of dialogue, pacing, plot etc. but Bioware was so hung up on the "dark gritty action fantasy" concept they gave up on any pretense of subtly.

poptart_fairy posted:

Obsidian wouldn't have Gaider passing DA2 off as a heroic journey and showing how legends are made.

Obsidian would've have had a lot more possibilities for conflict with your party members, like being able to smash the magic demon mirror when Merrill gets super obsessed with it or sacrificing her to the demon she summoned for some permanent upgrades.

# ¿ May 14, 2013 10:14

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Ularg posted:

Even though it's marketing was a complete failure I absolutely adored this game. It was basically my Mass Effect before Mass Effect. It's such a shame that it couldn't take off because for all its faults I really liked the universe. Not to mention the intro blew my mind when I was younger.

I remember seeing an ad for this game in a theater before the movie started. In 2005 that NEVER happened for video games.

# ¿ May 17, 2013 02:05

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Honest Thief posted:

Nier when the first images and trailers came out it looked like one of those 128-bit games up-ports you would see back in 06, only it was coming out in 2010, but, when a sudden influx of good word of mouth started to spread I bought the game just to see what the fuss was all about and surprise, surprise, it's a fun and dare I say smart game.
It's a very old-gen game in design, but a very functional one, and keeps things fresh so that the mashy-but-fun combat engine doesn't get old; but what people mention when talking about Nier is the story, and drat right they should. Somehow, Cavia, the devs, found out that coupling their dark storytelling with actual functional gameplay makes for a memorable experience, and with Nier we get a strong narrative that plays with your expectations of what a game from a big publisher can do.

Nier had this weird reviewer spread where half really liked it, 4/5 etc, and the other half despised it, so the metacritic average was 67. One reviewer savaged the game because he couldn't figure out the fishing mini game and quit 1 hour into the game.

It was easily the best JRPGish game of that console generation. Probably the only time in the past couple years I played a game for the multiple endings rather then using youtube to view the content.

# ¿ May 29, 2013 21:38

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Smoking Crow posted:

I like Yoshi's Story. I don't care that it is baby easy and that it is a lovely remake of Yoshi's Island. It has a lot of nostalgia for me and I still like the music.

I also like Sonic Unleashed. It's the best looking Sonic game ever with the best physics. I love the setting. I love the day levels. If they would have tightened the controls, frame rate and gotten rid of were-hog, it would have been a classic. I can even tolerate Chip.

Sonic Unleashed is this weird bastard of a Sonic Title that ended up poorly reviewed because the Day missions were near perfect, but the werehog levels were completely terrible and the average result was a mediocre game. Most other terrible Sonic games were just poorly made overall, and it took Sonic Generations for them to realize that all people want is Sonic racing through well designed levels, no fighting, no search for the emeralds, just gotta go fast.

# ¿ Sep 21, 2013 22:50

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Inspector Zenigata posted:

I'm right there with you, friend.

Every single sentence you (and everyone else) wrote made me want to buy this game more than the previous one. I'm a total sucker for dystopian settings, for FPS/RPGs, for arcane and opaque skill systems, etc etc etc. If it gets any cheaper, I'm going to purchase it.

It's been $2.50 every sale for the past few years.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2013 10:29

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Inspector Gesicht posted:

Bioshock 2 gets grief for being Bioshock 2: The Legend of Ryan's Gold and it's true that it's a cash-in sequel, but only on the publishers behalf. 2K Marin really did the best they could with the setting and it's a shame they didn't get to make an original IP before being laid off. I found the game poo poo and unplayable at first, before GFWL was removed, but it's stable now and I find it a lot more fun to play than the other two titles. There's a lot to recommend this game as an FPS with RPG elements:

Combat and Gameplay: You can hold as many guns as you like, you have no regenerating shield, you carry only half as many health kits as in the first game, there's no item crafting, there are no restrictions on what buffs you can equip, the hacking minigame is ingenious, you can save whenever you want and you will have to use every gun in your arsenal.

Some people may put off by the fact that in order to gain skill points, you have to engage in a semi-escort/tower-defence mission. This may sound awful, but it's a central game mechanic and you're given tools like mines, traps and turrets to deal with foes, so it's actually fun to play. There's nothing like the 11th hour bullshit like the escort-mission in Bioshock 1 nor the tower-defence in Bioshock: Infinite, both of those experiences were as welcome as a non-consensual bumfuck.

Pacing: This game starts slow, but it builds and builds and never stops, never runs out of goose. Each level introduces a new enemy, a new weapon, a new powerup, a new game-mechanic. There's no "Your Princess is in another Castle" horseshit, your efforts aren't wasted, you get a goal and you complete it and you move on. The game doesn't climax too early and leave you dissatisfied for the rest of the night, nor does it completely lose you halfway though with hippy nonsense about other dimensions, maaan.

Plot: The story is a bit of a mixed-bag. You have to suspend your disbelief that this underwater city overrun by junkie mutants is still going, eight years on, and that these newly mentioned characters hob-nobbed with the cast of the previous game. Once you get past the retcons it's a good story that improves as it goes. I'll give the multiple-endings credit for not being retarded like Bioshock 1 nor overly like Infinite, rather they nicely reflect on your actions. My biggest story praise goes to the...

DLC: Minerva's Den is the best DLC I've ever played and sets the bar for all DLC. It's concise, clever and the most science-fiction story this side of the Dandelion Girl. If the above doesn't convince you to play Bioshock 2 then at least watch Minerva's Den on Youtube. It's not to be missed.

Bioshock 2 has an 88 on metacritic. "Poorly-reviewed" is more then just the games goons aggressively hate.

# ¿ Dec 9, 2013 03:31

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Disco De Soto posted:

I might just get the second one, since the 'Game of the Year' edition is a reasonable price now. What characters are the most fun?

The DLC characters are regarded as a lot more fun and varied, especially Krieg. Each class is geared towards a specific type and has to be played as such. Zer0 might not be the best for a first playthrough because the emphasis on stealth skills when the game is all about crazy run and gun.

Also check the BL2 thread for how to change the loot drop rates. Even Gearbox admitted how bad they were by giving out so many free golden keys.

# ¿ Dec 9, 2013 11:49

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Wanamingo posted:

Anyway, to get this back on topic, Battlefield 2142. It has an 80 on Metacritic, but only a user score of 6.6. It had a ton of glitches, the weapons were unbalanced, one team got shafted on their vehicles, but it was fun. In the one game mode I always played both teams had giant fuckoff ships called titans that you moved around the map, and your objective was to destroy the other team's titan. It started out with everybody fighting for control over a couple of missile silos which would launch periodically and damage a titan's shield. After the shield was down the winning team would start assaulting the other ship and trying to blow it up from the inside, and the losing team would have to defend it while still trying to keep control over the majority of the silos. After you destroyed the titan's core the ship would start blowing up, and you'd have to do a little escape sequence where you ran out and parachuted to safety.

That sounds like the coolest thing ever, but a nightmare to make work right.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2013 07:19

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 23:56

pentyne: Nov 7, 2012

Primetime posted:

Despite only being about half a game KOTOR II was strangely addicting for me back in the day. Rushed story aside, something about the combat in that game was really satisfying to play/watch (for those that didn't play the game it was basically you selecting a general action while the fight played out based on dice rolls.) Plus it was set in the Star Wars Universe so you couldn't go wrong.

The game did have some pretty cool skill trees/ playstyles if you chose to use something other than double bladed lightsaber, and the early parts of the game that were fully fleshed out were decently written, and interesting enough to warrant at least a second playthrough. For some reason, I probably beat the game 5-6 times trying every different combat style/class and bringing along different teammates to get all the interactions in the game. I even played enough to figure out that dual wielding pistols was secretly the most overpowered combat style in the game if you used the right set-up.

Now that I'm thinking about it, does anyone know if the fan patch that was supposed to restore the 'missing' content was ever finished? I might have to get it on PC for a 7th playthrough now.

Yes. Sith Lords Restored Content mod, easy enough to find, there are quite a few gaming websites who wrote articles on it when they released the finished copy.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2013 04:12

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