Games you learned to love.

BEAR on 21/9/2008 at 01:33

Stalker:

I loved the premise but my computer was not the greatest and in the beginning I couldn't quite figure out aiming. I'm not sure what it was, but for some reason I just couldn't hit shit with the iron sights and it seemed like I just got into huge gun battles feeling like we were both using blanks.

After a while, I got the hang of it (without realizing it) and was able to enjoy the combat immensely. Add to that the atmosphere being :thumb: and it ended up being one of my favorite all time games.

Vraptor7 on 21/9/2008 at 02:58

I've had the same experience as heretic, in that most of the games that I initially hated and then grew to love became my favourite games. The ones that come to mind instantly are Super Metroid and System Shock 2.

I got Super Metroid bundled with my Super NES back in the day, so I wasn't playing because I already liked it or anything. It's a difficult game for a young, clueless gamer like myself at that time and it was more so because I had the Japanese version which meant that the manual was unreadable, and so I needed to figure everything out on my own. I would get stuck very often, especially in those areas you had to think to get out of (like the pit where the ostrich-like creature tries to teach you the speed-boost-jump ... which went completely over my head :tsktsk: *whoosh*) and if I didn't have a save that was relatively recent to those spots I'd be too bummed out to revert to them. The game is extremely foreboding and atmospheric as it is, and I'd get so solemn and moody after playing it and getting stumped. Eventually, after whole years, I managed to go back to it and play it with some modicum of intelligence and determination, and I beat it and it has become one of my favourite games of all time that I replay to this day.

Similar story with System Shock 2. I just didn't play RPG's at that stage of my gaming life, and so I really was unaccustomed to making decisions that are usual to all RPG's like choosing skills. I was completely stifled by the choice, and moreover the game gets difficult fast if you don't stick to a path and choose skills that strengthen your gameplay style. It was definitely a game I wanted to love, guides were no use and it only made me more dismayed that I couldn't get into it. It was only after I completed Deus Ex (a much easier and more forgiving game) that I went back to SS2, and managed to fully enjoy the experience all the way through and complete it. And it too is one of my very favourite games now.

thief0 on 21/9/2008 at 03:15

Thief. A short time after starting Bafford's manor, I immediately fell in love with the game.

Also, Hitman. At first, I just couldn't get into it because I didn't know what to do in the first mission of hitman 2 (the italian manor with the Don). But then I tried it a while later and loved it.

EvaUnit02 on 21/9/2008 at 03:24

Half-Life. My brother bought it upon release and I found the pacing to be awful. "Why am I riding on a train? Where are my guns?! It's like Unreal's first level all over again except far worse." I played well past the resonance cascade, I remember impressed by small things, but found the overall experience very bleh.
"Their mouth movements are animated, that's cool."
"I can order friendlies around and they have conversations with each other, that's neat. Their path-finding is rubbish though."
"Nice, the enemies are pretty smart, unlike the Quake and Duke 3D dummies."

I believe that I gave up on the game right after "Blast Pit". The toxic waste rivers and barrels must've been the final straw. "Screw this, I'm going back to Unreal networked games and Shogo!"

I revisited the game several months into 1999 and it finally all clicked. Half-Life's story delivery and atmosphere was incredible. After this I eagerly anticipating the release of Opposing Force, which I still consider to be one of the greatest expansion packs of all time to this very day.

raevol on 21/9/2008 at 05:45

Another vote for Morrowind. Felt awful and half-finished at first. The patches/expansions helped, and getting a new computer helped more, but it wasn't until I fully invested myself in enjoying the game did I love it.

Also Fable, though it was being able to play it on a mouse & keyboard that fixed it for me. And I don't love it to death, but I think it's very fun.

Thirith on 21/9/2008 at 09:28

Oh, and Operation Flashpoint, of course. Like Thief, it took me 3-4 attempts for the game to click.

icemann on 21/9/2008 at 10:19

Another vote for Deus Ex. I ABSOLUTELY hated and continue to hate the first level of that game. The rest of the game is totally fine, but that first level, gah. Love the game after that point.

Chasm is another game for me that I really enjoyed by the end, but starts off really average. By the time you get to the 3rd level in that game, the game kicks ass.

Shadowrun (snes) is 3rd on my list. Mostly due to the controls. I worship this game nowadays, but on my first play through I initially hated it due to the controls. But once I got used to them, and started experiencing the excellent gameplay and storyline to the game, I was completely hooked for life.

Thirith on 21/9/2008 at 10:50

I was underwhelmed with Deus Ex when I started playing it (and part of me still is), mainly because the sneaker elements don't quite play as well as Thief while the shooter elements don't quite play as well as in the big FPSes. Every time I played through the game, it took me one or two missions to resign myself to that... but then I enjoyed the game for bringing together all of those different playing styles, even if the individual styles are done better elsewhere.

van HellSing on 21/9/2008 at 16:39

That't just how DX is, better than the sum of it's parts.

Digital Nightfall on 21/9/2008 at 17:56

I think it's interesting that so many people have mentioned Thief, Deus Ex, and System Shock in this thread. I do not think it's because those games are prone to give a bad first impression. I think it's because there's things about them that some people simply will not like from the get-go, but the games themselves are so good, that most will overcome those dislikes.

(Well, except the beginning of Deus Ex, which I feel truly is bad... that's what I can add to the list. It took me over a year to get out of New York. Then I finished the game about two weeks later.)