Games you thought you wouldn't like, but you did.

We need a Lighter and Softer version of this thread.

I'll start. I thought I wouldn't like Donkey Kong Country Returns. It seemed like a nostalgia cashin, and while I loved Retro's efforts with the Metroid Prime games, I was expecting a fairly easy and short platformer (Since the Prime games are pretty easy and short). Also, I didn't expect great visuals, since the graphics reminded me of the mediocre looking (IMO) New Super Mario Bros Wii.

When I played the game, I loved it. The graphics are excellent at conveying a cartoony aspect while still innovating in other ways (I particularly loved the sunset levels and the FREAKING GIANT HORDE OF SPIDERS!!!). The game difficulty is ridiculously hard (In a good way) and has a decent length, and some of the level design is really clever. It's now my favorite Wii game.

So yeah, any experiences you had where you expected a game to be mediocre or bad, and it surprised you?

EDIT: Why'd I say Rare instead of Retro? Stupid R's.

edited 20th Jan '12 6:06:57 AM by Scardoll

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

I went into MGS2 after hearing my friends bash it constantly.
Loved it.

I went into Star Ocean not expecting much, but found myself pleasantly surprised.

I also didn't think I'd like Katamari a few years back. God I love Katamari now.

Mega Man fanatic extraordinaire

Demon's Souls. At first, what I was hearing from it didn't really interest me: Really hard, almost no story, and strange online features. But my bro decided he might like it so he bought it.

I have since put well over 200 hours in it. And the only reason I didn't put more in it was because Dark Souls came it.

Minecraft too, since it seemed so simplistic. And the graphic were kinda putting me off. But it proved that bad graphics!=bad games.

Probably more that I can't remember.

Edit: Oh yeah, TF 2. Who would've though a war-themed hat simulator could provide this much fun?

edited 19th Jan '12 9:55:24 PM by MisterC

Who's an angry moth? You are! Yes you are! You're the fuzziest and angriest moth! Original pic.

Skyrim. I've had bad experiences with pretty much every other modern WRPG I've played besides it. The setting didn't instill me with hope. But then...little details were found...and I found I enjoyed being a self hating racist khajiit...

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

MGS 2. Expected it to be up its own ass and incoherent but the game itself made a fair bit of sense to me. Also gameplaywise it was really fun and I enjoyed all the layers of meta.

Alpha Protocol. Expected it to be terrible due to the reviews but I was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed it and the crapload of choices available. It's the game that made me ignore reviews altogether.

Prototype, thought it would be a mindless boring gorefest but I still checked it out cause it was cheap. I was surprised that, while the combat was a fun gorefest, the storyline was actually pretty good for the setup.

Hold up, wasn't Retro Studios the developer behind the Prime trilogy?

So. Let's all pause for a moment to smell what the Rock was, is, and forever will be... cooking.—Cave Johnson

Uh. Yes. Retro Studios handled the Prime series.

Mega Man fanatic extraordinaire

Bionic Commando 2009. I was very very skeptical of it due to the change in tone and character design. However I found it to be immensely thrilling and engaging, with silky smooth controls, and an old-school feeling.

Oh yeah, I should add Touhou to my list.
I saw the fandom first and didn't even find out there were games until they had driven me to near madness. As a result, I didn't think they would be very good, or rather, they would be a convoluted mess of romance and stupidity.
The games, however, were amazing and I loved them.
Still hate the media based on them.

Mega Man fanatic extraordinaire

I guess I'll add on to that, Undefined Fantastic Object. With all the complaints about the UFO system and high difficulty I'd heard, I had doubts.

I love the UFO system, I love the music, I love the cast, and I even love the challenge.. Despite my inability to clear it on Normal (the only game in the entire series that I haven't done so), it is my overall favorite.

Subterranean Animism is in a similar boat, but I didn't have quite as many reservations.

edited 19th Jan '12 11:10:44 PM by hnd03

So. Let's all pause for a moment to smell what the Rock was, is, and forever will be... cooking.—Cave Johnson

Metroid Prime. I didn't expect to hate it, but I'm a huge fan of Super Metroid and the other 2D games, so I was expecting a pretty average FPS version of Metroid. It's great, though. If anything, I like it more than Super.

Way too many series to list. Let's just say I'm regularly fall prey to Critical Backlash at this point, to the point that I can go check a review for most non-mainstream games, switch any negative words for positive words and vice versa, and you'd have my opinion of the game.

Sonic Rush Adventure. I was only like, 11 when it came out, so I never experienced the other games. Since Sonic 2006 came out not far before and I heard of the overwhelming negative publicity, I didn't have much regard for the Sonic series, so when I started playing the game with a friends DS I was expecting something crappy, but damn was I wrong.

Metal Gear Solid oddly enough. Before last year, the only experience I had was the NES game (which I didn't like) and vague memories of playing a Demo included with Playstation Underground magazine, which I hadn't enjoyed. So I went into the first game with a reserve of skepticism.

Game wound up convincing me to buy a PSP just for the portable installments, and in fact I'm about the replay the entire series, just because its that freaking good. Seriously the MGS series should be a mandatory religion—there's not a single person on Earth whose life would not be enriched by playing them, or at least the PS 2 trilogy.

Also, growing up, pretty much any time I got into a new genre was a case like this—they always seemed too weird and exotic at first. RP Gs and strategy games especially—for the longest time, I couldn't play them. But they were interesting enough that I kept trying, and now I'm a fanboy.

visit my blog!

A trilogy normally consists of three parts (although that's not always the case). Unless I missed something, there are only two MGS games for PS 2.

@topic: Saints Row 2. I only knew that SR is a GTA rip-off and didn't expect much of it. Then I read that the second game is much better and has more own ideas, so I bought it, still not expecting something really great, but at least fun. Well, it turned out to be really great.

edited 20th Jan '12 4:35:43 AM by Nyarly

People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.

Just Cause 2. I didn't expect much from what seemed like another GTA ripoff. To this day, however, I still like it better than GTA.

Chernobyl is now a tourist attraction. great. [1]

@Nyarly - I was counting the first MGS. I know, technically not a PS 2 game but... details details.

visit my blog!

This - "The graphics are excellent at conveying a cartoony aspect" - applies to New Super Mario Bros for the Wii. Okay, YMMV and all and I'm very biased in the favor of Italian Plumbers so I'll be quiet.

I didn't think Lego Harry Potter would be amazing. It was.

Sonic The Hedgehog 4

I am completely, utterly, and thoroughly done with Sola Sonica and 2D

I told this story before, but I originally thought Unreal Tournament 2004 was gonna be a boring game, but my parents insisted I try it out (for some reason). Verdict? Favorite FPS of all time and the game that got me interested in game design. Thank you, Unreal Editor!

Also, I initially thought Killing Floor would be a standard campaign FPS with a Pv P multiplayer system. Then I found out it was coop survival against waves of zombies, and I thought I wouldn't like it based on that because "what fun is it if you can't shoot other players?" How wrong I was. My favorite zombie shooter ever, much better than Left 4 Dead in my opinion.

edited 20th Jan '12 2:12:35 PM by MrPoly

I was expecting just that and nothing else. There was a surprising amount of innovation outside of the cartoony aesthetic.

edited 20th Jan '12 6:35:19 PM by Scardoll

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

Dead Rising. EGM's bitchy little E3 preview terrified me into thinking that the game'd suck, but it turned out to be one of my favorite games things ever.

I liked it better when Questionable Casting was called WTH Casting Agency

The Wiiware remake of Dr Mario adds a mode called Virus Blaster. I wasn't sure about it, since it pretty much fuses the classic game with mandatory remote movement. Once I tried it, I was really surprised that I enjoyed it. Actual drag and drop gameplay, much like a computer mouse! And this was the first Wii game which I felt used motion controls in a way that seemed natural, simple, and not tacked-on.

Probably Spiral Knights. I thought that I would give it up after a while, but it definitely grew on me.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

I thought of myself as not being much of a Visual Novel sort of person, because I don't particularly care for Dating Sims.

But then I played Ace Attorney, largely to see how Shu Takumi held up on the way to making Ghost Trick (which I also didn't expect to like nearly as much as I did in the end), and found that not every visual novel has to be about romance after all.