Games you were reluctant about buying, but took a chance on .. Did you end up liking it?

I gave Red Dead Redemption 2 a chance and I ended up liking it. Arthur Morgan is a great character and I loved his story. The music in this game is also really great. Don't think it gets enough credit. The environment is also incredible. Good writing as well. While Rockstar campaigns feel familiar, the missions were of good quality. Now would I take it as the 2018 GOTY over God of War? Nope lol.

How about you, SW? What games were you reluctant about, but gave it a chance. Did you end up liking it?

YS. Came to it relatively late, picked it up dog cheap on Steam, like £2 for Ys: The Oath in Felghana. One of my fav IP's of all time now. Love pretty much every game barring the original (3) and still need to play the recent two, but be surprised if don't love those.

Also led me on to checking out The Legend of Heroes, which is also super duper dope.

Detroit: Become Human. I didn't think I'd like it - but I really did. Very unique experience

XCOM: Enemy Unknown comes to mind. Bought it in a sale over a year after release, and let it sit in my library for many months after that. Knew it by reputation, and was wary of it for that.

Turns out to be one of my favourite games of the last decade. Firaxis had better have XCOM 3 cooking away somewhere.

Wasn't expecting much from SoR4 tbh, almost put off playing it. Ended up beating it the night I got it, jumped right into mania mode after that, and put in like 70+ hrs over the following couple of weeks lol. Still get the itch to play it. Unexpectedly one of my favs this year, great game.

Similar with Death Stranding, remember that first big gameplay showing, something like 40 mins, thought it looked like shit. Ended up being a damn good game.

Nioh took me by surprise as well, had like zero faith in Team Ninja after what they did to Ninja Gaiden. Ended up being the best combat in a ARPG, even better than some full on action games.

I was a little hesitant on getting Animal Crossing: New Horizons as I never played a game from the franchise before. It’s a very enjoyable and relaxing game and I’ve had a lot of fun with it so I’m definitely happy with the purchase.

FF7 Remake. I was hesitant because it is split up into parts and the gameplay looked like Kingdom Hearts from watching videos but I ended up loving it. Unlike KH you can't spam your way through the game and actually need to form strategies to defeat certain enemies.

Life is Strange. I only bought it due to want something light after platinuming The Surge. Ended up really enjoying Max's teenage drama adventure. The ending is pretty stupid though.

@NathanDrakeSwag: Enjoyed the combat but there is obvious flaws especially in hard mode. In chapter 15 or 16 there is this enemy that will ambush you just before the valkyie fight on top of the fallen plate and oh my fking hell I swear its harder than hellhouse and the upcoming boss combined. Wasted all my magic onto them in hard mode and it still wont die.

Literally just happened for me with AC Valhalla. I haven't really liked an AC game since Black Flag and would not call myself fan of the series.

I liked the Viking theme and decided to give this a try after not liking Odyssey at all, and i'm actually really enjoying it 15 hours in. We are back in lockdown here and I was desperate for escapism I can pour hours into.

They removed the annoying loot system from the last couple games and the story/writing/voice acting is actually not bad. Probably helped that I went in with very low expectations but so far I'm very pleasantly surprised.

for me it would be Dead Rising. I was reluctant on purchasing it was released during the 360 and PS3. But gave it a chance on the re-release. I ended up enjoying it.

Subnautica and Hotline Miami both looked neat but I expected them to suck...I was wrong

Titanfall 2. was expecting another COD clone. got excellent SP FPS.

RDR2 I gave chance after chance and it didnot hook me.

Risen 2 and Dead Island I liked on PC after being on the fence about buying.

Took a chance on Risen 1 after finishing 2 but I didn’t like it.

Subnautica is a good one, I generally don't like survival/crafting type games but its one the few exceptions

MGS4 on PS3. I didn't really like MGS 2 or 3 so I wasn't bothered but all the hype behind MGS4 and the 10/10 here on GS made me cave ...ended up playing about three hours of it and hating the game anyway.

FFVII on original PS. I didn't like the look of the game and just wasn't interested at all. A friend said I should definitely play it so I went to buy it and it had sold out everywhere. Probably about 5 years later I noticed it on a shelf at a games market, it was preowned so bought it for a few quid. Its my 2nd favourite game of all time.

Several years ago, but I got talked into buying Hellgate London because "it's made by the Diablo II devs!". It sucked. Hard.

Also, I knew Blizzard was nothing like past Blizzard, and pretty much knew Diablo III was gonna suck. Got it anyway hoping it would be good (since all my friends did) and yeah. It sucked.

Took a chance on Hunt: Showdown. Knew very little about it other than it looked cool. Turned out to be an awesome game, and the only battle-royale-ish game I've ever enjoyed. Played it for 400 hours so far, and I don't plan to stop. It's too hardcore for most people here, though.

Took a chance on Wreckfest, hoping it would be as fun / more fun than the Flatout series. It wasn't, but I don't regret the purchase.

Got Blasphemous even though it got lukewarm receptions. Glad I did, it's really cool.

Got Assassin's Creed Origins, even though I hate the series, because people said it was very different from other AC games. It wasn't, and the game sucked. Those things that were different from the other AC games just made it even worse.

Most games I'm reluctant towards I don't end up getting, as I'm usually right that they're not worth it.

Days gone for me wasn’t sure but loved the setting I stopped playing as had so many frame rate issues and oh boy it made my PS4 noisy! Will definitely be one of the first games I try on the 5

I tried it on PS5 and it plays much better from what I saw. I think you'll be happy 🙂

@SolidGame_basic: That’s good to hear was the only reason I stopped playing! All I need now is my PS5

I wouldnt say i was reluctant to get the following but they were a bit of a shot in the dark for me

1) Animal crossing. the first one i played was on the DS and i found it really interesting. the whole character interactions and how all that worked was brand new to me. then i got new leaf on the 3DS and really enjoyed that. i havent got the switch game as the series seems to have gone on a tangent that i am not so interested (the writing has been on the walls for years). correct me if i am wrong of course but nintendo seem to be focused on the collecting and decorating and making an area your own rather than the actual character interaction side. So yeah: a series i enjoyed playing but i dont think i am the target audience any more.

2) Persona 5: i was hesitant to get this. the review opened with excitement over the art style in the menus (which, to be fair, look frickin sick) but.....that's concerning. but i took a punt anyway as it was the last game to get for my Ps3 (its a PS3 game remember). i actually liked quite a lot about it. the style, the premise, the music, the battle system...all great stuff. but i really didnt like the real life side of the game and there seems to be a lot of it. it also never seemed to really get going (i got as far as the middle of the second dungeon). that real life element seems to be a big part of the persona series sooo....yeah. not for me. i can see the appeal though.

3) Monster hunter. I should hate monster hunter. time limits are one of the major sins in games in my book. that alone should kill it for me. But i love the series. I started with tri and, it wasnt love at first sight i have to say. it does not do a good job of introducing itself. I initially tried the greatsword in the early pre great jaggi quests. too slow. then i tried the lance. to slow also. then i went witht he SnS. more like it but it took me nearly 40 mins to kill a great jaggi (stop laughing...:( ). then i ran into barroth and he walloped me silly. i was scratching my head over this a bit until i saw a simple piece of advise that made it all click: "put your weapon away". all of a sudden the game made sense and i continue to play the series now. i'm not gods gift or anything but i can hold my own and its great fun.

4) Souls games. I have tried 2: Demons souls and dark souls 2. I just dont like the combat in them. Everything else is great but there is a lot of combat so if i dont like it i'm not going to get on with the series.

5) ys series. I cant remember if i started with ys celceta on the vita or Ys origins on steam. think it was Ys origins. Ys origins was solid but it was with celceta that the series became a little guilty pleasure of mine. Ys on the vita was great. sadly i was in the middle of Ys8 when my vita crapped the bed. i miss my vita *sniff* :(. i must pick it up again on steam at some point though.

Yeah, happened with TW3, ended up loving it. I had tried the previous games and they didn't click with me so...

CONTROL!

Looks so boring in trailers, but man the atmosphere in this game is some of the best i've ever experienced in a game!

And the gameplay is fun too

Alice: Madness Returns. I was interested when it came out but reviews were lukewarm. I wrote it off and forgot about it. Saw it on sale years later for a couple bucks, and put it in the backlog pile for another year. Finally played it after some youtube vid reminded me I owned it. It's great, though it does get repetitive after a while. Basically a gen 6 platformer with gen 7 visuals.

Animal Crossing New Horizons... Its a charming game and relaxing way to spend a hour on a Sunday morning with some coffee and the sun rising.

Days Gone. When I first started playing it, I did NOT like it. But the more I got into it, the more I had a blast with it. It seems like a slog at first, and it kind of is. Deacon is kind of a weird ass character to engage with, always muttering to himself. And, I'm not gonna lie, there are some pointless missions. But, build yourself up, and get your bike right, and you become a freaker killing machine like it shows in the ads.

Could they have done with less rando attacks out in the open? Sure. But the combat always keeps you on your toes, and looking for creative ways to take down hordes is fun. What they have they can build a better sequel with.

Shadow of Mordor.

I thought it would be am average hack and slash, but after i tried it i loved it.

Games i didn't have high hopes for but loved

Streets of Rage 4

Remnant From the Ashes

Shadow of Mordor

Mad Max

Child of Light

to name a few this gen.

Solid,

RDR 2 is one of the best games of the generation, you could have picked something more surprising lol.

For me it was Day's Gone, I have never bought a game with MC score less than 70, and usually don't even buy games less than 80. This game got 6/10s every and expected it to be terrible, but I genuinely enjoyed it and thought it was a great game.

Gravity Rush Remastered is the first. So many things about this game seemed like a red flag, but I ended up loving and platinuming it.

Also Prey. Had a fantastic time with that and would never have played it if not a friend highly recommending it.

Katana Zero comes to mind... it was not on my radar at all, and didn't even know what it was. But it was on sale and I was desperate for something different. It turned out to be one of the best games I've played in the last few years. Loved it.

@strategyfn: I really enjoy Risen I even got platinum trophy in part 3

The Avengers was a big risk, and whilst I enjoyed the story, the performance was sporadic and the end-game (lol) content was laughable. Overall... Shite.

Not a game I was reluctant to buy since I just had no interest in it but then it came up on Gamepass. Vampyr. I had every reason to hate it before even playing it because I totally loathe every lame ass 'adventure' game that Dontnod have ever done but hey it was free.

Anyways, I loved it, really great game. I can't wait for Vampyr 2. Sadly they are still producing more and more of their endless Telltale style adventure games that aren't actually games at all so when they are done shitting out their total shit stuff hopefully they will get round to making a sequel to the only good game they ever made.

Uncharted, started with the 3rd and didn't like it. Had no idea what was going on etc.

Tried again a year later from the first. Ended up playing the entire series.

Well, I'll say Bloodborne now. Been playing that shit all day long. I was hesitant because every time I kidnasortaliked Demon's Souls it pissed me completely off. I've never finished it, despite starting many times. Bloodborne... is just way more enthralling for me. I like the fact that my character doesn't control like a 70's robot. I've already died a number of times, but it feels like "yeah, I had that coming. Better get-more-gud" instead of "whythef*ckismycharacterincapableofresponsivenon-jankybehavior *smashes controller*". Wish the framerate wasn't so painful... but I'm gonna sink a ton of time into Bloodborne. I can tell.

Lol, Bloodborne was one of the first games I tried on PS5 to see if it got an FPS boost. Nothing yet 😕

@SolidGame_basic: well, I'm playing on my old version-1 PS4, so you know I'm getting the premium experience :-P

COD cold war. I knew I wouldt care for the standard multiplayer much, but I bought it since it was an add on to Warzone. Im surprised how much I like zombies though.