Zero-judgement zone Well-loved games that you couldn't get into

[Slumber]

Any Naughty Dog game after Uncharted 2.

I feel that Naughty Dog hasn't made any sort of meaningful improvements to their gameplay design(Uncharted 3 was actually a step back at launch), and those neat set-pieces that drove the important gameplay segments in 2 stopped being neat almost immediately in 3, and it's only gotten worse since then.

When they tried to move away from big action set-pieces in The Last of Us, I though it started to expose more problems with Naughty Dog's game design. How automated everything is, and how frustrating it is when games yank control away from you to tell you a story. While I will give Naughty Dog credit for how they write their characters, how they write their stories is another thing entirely, and it only makes the moments where they force you into scripted gameplay segments more frustrating. It's becoming a bigger and bigger barrier for me to get past with each new Naughty Dog game.

And it keeps getting MORE frustrating that modern western game development seems to start in meeting rooms with a big whiteboards that say "COPY NAUGHTY DOG".

Edited January 21, 2017 by Slumber

[Lantairu]

Earthbound. I got to the third song or whatever the things you're collecting are and I got bored of it. I love the music, and the story is interesting, but I just couldn't get into the gameplay.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I downloaded Ocarina of Time for the 3DS in the E-shop yesterday because it was on sale and one of the most beloved videogames of all time.

Honestly I was very afraid of this game, because I normally am bad in adventure games mainly because of its puzzles. However I was a bit experienced in Zelda already by playing A Link Between Worlds, a game I could get into quite well despite being a newcomer, so I finally gave OoT a try.

However OoT overwhelms me totally. I stuck in the first dungeon already, Deku Tree, multiple times and can't come further without watching a LP. Yeah, I'm really awful in Zelda games.

[デッド]

Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam.

I'm a big fan of the M&L RPG series, but I just can't get into the game. It feels rather uninteresting and dull compared to other titles in the franchise. 

[Night Zap]

Cities: Skylines. I normally like city builders a lot, but it just didn't click with me. One thing that annoys me is that it seems like if you don't plan your streets from the very beginning, you're pretty much forced to tear down lots of buildings to fix the evergrowing traffic jams.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Since I've only played newer games of the series so far (4, Apocalypse and Devil Survivor) this one seems like it's aged very badly. Arbitrary rules whether a demon can be talked to, treasure chests that require you to walk in circles for three minutes to get anything worthwhile, seemingly rather limited fusion options and way, WAY too many random encounters in some places made it not much fun for me.

[Stargirl]

Xenoblade. It's sad really because I hardly scratched the surface on that one and now that I've let it sit I can't seem to get myself in the mood to play anymore.

Pokemon games. There's a bit of story surrounding this. Back in the day I was loving Fire Red but it wasn't my file so I didn't get very far. Then my brother found a corrupted copy of Leaf Green that had a chance of reseting every time you turned off the GBA. For some reason I put myself through the continuous torture of trying to get as far as I could. Finally, I had a chance to play HeartGold with a file all to myself, but then my brother decided to delete that file because I was "setting myself up for failure." It was more of an excuse for him to play then drop the game after 3 weeks. Totally not bitter.

After that I lost interest in Pokemon games, though not completely. HeartGold is still on my low priority list.

[Punished Dayni]

28 minutes ago, Hashuni Mei said:

Xenoblade. It's sad really because I hardly scratched the surface on that one and now that I've let it sit I can't seem to get myself in the mood to play anymore.

Pokemon games. There's a bit of story surrounding this. Back in the day I was loving Fire Red but it wasn't my file so I didn't get very far. Then my brother found a corrupted copy of Leaf Green that had a chance of reseting every time you turned off the GBA. For some reason I put myself through the continuous torture of trying to get as far as I could. Finally, I had a chance to play HeartGold with a file all to myself, but then my brother decided to delete that file because I was "setting myself up for failure." It was more of an excuse for him to play then drop the game after 3 weeks. Totally not bitter.

After that I lost interest in Pokemon games, though not completely. HeartGold is still on my low priority list.

Honestly, that just sounds downright crappy.

And yeah, if you figure a way to play HG, I do recommend it. HG/SS is at least my second favourite in the series. 

[eclipse]

I tried to get into the Zelda series multiple times.  I kept getting annoyed by the mechanics, so I figured it was a sigh, and stopped.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I dislike the mechanics in Zelda games too, at least in the 3DS games.

Autoequipping apparently doesn't exist and the changing from weapon to weapon isn't very handy for me at all. Furthermore I really dislike the camera angles in OoT. And this game doesn't really give me the hints I'd like to have. These fortune-teller-stones don't help me at all. I still have to visit Princess Zelda in Hyrule Castle right now, but I can't get into it because the guards don't let me pass. For almost two I've not figured out how to get into this fricking castle. Apparently I need bombs to destroy a rock, but I don't own a bomb bag for the bombs and I have no idea where / how to get one.

I must admit ALBW was quite enjoyable even for a Zelda-newbie like I was since it was rather short, the puzzles not too hard and the world map not all that huge.

 

Also I forgot to mention Pokémon in general.

I really like its gameplay, but I can't stand most of these monsters. I prefer roundbased RPGs I can control humans.

Monster Hunter is also a series I'm not interested in at all.

[BrightBow]

3 hours ago, Eleanor Hume said:

I dislike the mechanics in Zelda games too, at least in the 3DS games.

Autoequipping apparently doesn't exist and the changing from weapon to weapon isn't very handy for me at all. Furthermore I really dislike the camera angles in OoT. And this game doesn't really give me the hints I'd like to have. These fortune-teller-stones don't help me at all. I still have to visit Princess Zelda in Hyrule Castle right now, but I can't get into it because the guards don't let me pass. For almost two I've not figured out how to get into this fricking castle. Apparently I need bombs to destroy a rock, but I don't own a bomb bag for the bombs and I have no idea where / how to get one.

I can at least tell you that you are on the wrong track with the bombs, you don't need bombs to get into the castle. In fact, it's impossible to even get bombs before visiting Zelda for the first time. Though, you do need to hatch an egg to wake up an obese farmer. ....yeah, I totally agree that Ocarina can be rather unintuitive. I can easily imagine people getting stuck trying to find the Kokiri Sword or trying to get through the web on the floor in the first room of the Deku Tree, and whatnot.

Edited January 24, 2017 by BrightBow

[Brand_Of_The_Exalt]

Pokemon, Final Fantasy (except the one on the NDS whose story was so sad, can't remember its name), Star Fox (except Assault that was fun to play), 2D Marios. 

[Sylphid]

On 22.1.2017 at 3:19 PM, Night Zap said:

Cities: Skylines. I normally like city builders a lot, but it just didn't click with me. One thing that annoys me is that it seems like if you don't plan your streets from the very beginning, you're pretty much forced to tear down lots of buildings to fix the evergrowing traffic jams.

I have this problem with pretty much all city builders (exceptions being those that don't put focus on traffic), so I don't see how this is particularly bad in Skylines.

[Zera]

19 hours ago, Eleanor Hume said:

I dislike the mechanics in Zelda games too, at least in the 3DS games.

Autoequipping apparently doesn't exist and the changing from weapon to weapon isn't very handy for me at all.

What do you mean by "auto-equipping"? In any case, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword streamlined the item-swapping process.

Edited January 25, 2017 by Zera

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

16 hours ago, BrightBow said:

I can at least tell you that you are on the wrong track with the bombs, you don't need bombs to get into the castle. In fact, it's impossible to even get bombs before visiting Zelda for the first time. Though, you do need to hatch an egg to wake up an obese farmer. ....yeah.

Farmer means, the farmer in the Lon-Lon farm?

9 minutes ago, Zera said:

What do you mean by "auto-equipping"? In any case, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword streamlined the item-swapping process.

I can't tell about the mentioned games because I've only played ALBW and OoT yet, but in latter I have to equip by clicking in the menu each obtained armory like the Deku Shield. The thing is that I tend to forget it in battles. Happened to me when I had to fight the plants or trees who shoot nuts and I had to reflect them with the Deku shield. It took me almost 30 minutes how to find out how to beat them. Just didn't have the shield equipped. (this wasn't in the Deku Tree, but in the other dungeon next to Link's home). As for the Deku Tree you have to equip it to have access to enter the tree.

Edited January 25, 2017 by Eleanor Hume

[BrightBow]

1 hour ago, Eleanor Hume said:

Farmer means, the farmer in the Lon-Lon farm?

Well, the farmer in question is currently not actually in the Lon-Lon farm. He is napping at the castle and lying in the path of some boxes that you need to push in order to get into the courtyard. You will inevitably find him on your way to Zelda, so sorry for bringing him up, I didn't intend to confuse you, I was merely joking about how silly this whole infiltration mission sounds, as well as giving you a hint about an item you will need to get past that point, just in case you didn't get it already. I suppose I could try to explain the whole process in case you are interested:

First you need the egg. You get the egg from the farmer's daughter Malon. Malon is initially at the market and you need to talk to her at least once. Afterwards leave the town towards Hyrule Castle, go right back into the town and then leave towards the Castle again and you should see Malon in front of you, right next to the vines that you need to climb to get over the first gate. I believe you need to talk to her multiple times before she will give you the egg. Once you have the egg, simply wait until the next morning for it to hatch.

As for getting into the castle, climb up the vines I mentioned to get past the first gate. Afterwards you need to sneak past some guards. The second barrier is a fence surrounding the castle. It's impossible to get through the main entrance but you can climb up the hill that's left of the staircase that leads to the fence. From there you can jump past the fence and into the Castle's moat. Swim through the moat until the end. Get out of the moat and you will find a bunch of boxes as well as Malon's father napping. There is a hole in the castle wall which leads into the courtyard but you need to push those boxes around to reach it. Once you are inside the courtyard, you will have to do some more sneaking. Fortunately if you get caught, they will only drop you right outside the courtyard next to the boxes, so you can try again immediately.

Also, you need to enter the courtyard during the day. If you enter it at night, you will see some guards that you can't get past, period. I suppose they are there to ensure that the cutscene with Zelda takes place during the day.

I hope my english skills were sufficient to explain this.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Eleanor Hume said:

Farmer means, the farmer in the Lon-Lon farm?

I can't tell about the mentioned games because I've only played ALBW and OoT yet, but in latter I have to equip by clicking in the menu each obtained armory like the Deku Shield. The thing is that I tend to forget it in battles. Happened to me when I had to fight the plants or trees who shoot nuts and I had to reflect them with the Deku shield. It took me almost 30 minutes how to find out how to beat them. Just didn't have the shield equipped. (this wasn't in the Deku Tree, but in the other dungeon next to Link's home). As for the Deku Tree you have to equip it to have access to enter the tree.

I'd say that was an intentional feature. It's to teach the player that they can go left and right on the item screen to see more menus. Later in game you get equipment that you can swap between with their own strengths and weakness. At the start of the game when there's so little room to progress it makes sense to force the player to discover the feature but if the player progress more to when the world is more open and they haven't figured out yet that they need to equip a specific shield then they will find themselves much more at a loss as to what to do because there's so m any other potential areas and items that might be the solution.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

1 hour ago, BrightBow said:

Well, the farmer in question is currently not actually in the Lon-Lon farm. He is napping at the castle and lying in the path of some boxes that you need to push in order to get into the courtyard. You will inevitably find him on your way to Zelda, so sorry for bringing him up, I didn't intend to confuse you, I was merely joking about how silly this whole infiltration mission sounds, as well as giving you a hint about an item you will need to get past that point, just in case you didn't get it already. I suppose I could try to explain the whole process in case you are interested:

First you need the egg. You get the egg from the farmer's daughter Malon. Malon is initially at the market and you need to talk to her at least once. Afterwards leave the town towards Hyrule Castle, go right back into the town and then leave towards the Castle again and you should see Malon in front of you, right next to the vines that you need to climb to get over the first gate. I believe you need to talk to her multiple times before she will give you the egg. Once you have the egg, simply wait until the next morning for it to hatch.

As for getting into the castle, climb up the vines I mentioned to get past the first gate. Afterwards you need to sneak past some guards. The second barrier is a fence surrounding the castle. It's impossible to get through the main entrance but you can climb up the hill that's left of the staircase that leads to the fence. From there you can jump past the fence and into the Castle's moat. Swim through the moat until the end. Get out of the moat and you will find a bunch of boxes as well as Malon's father napping. There is a hole in the castle wall which leads into the courtyard but you need to push those boxes around to reach it. Once you are inside the courtyard, you will have to do some more sneaking. Fortunately if you get caught, they will only drop you right outside the courtyard next to the boxes, so you can try again immediately.

Also, you need to enter the courtyard during the day. If you enter it at night, you will see some guards that you can't get past, period. I suppose they are there to ensure that the cutscene with Zelda takes place during the day.

I hope my english skills were sufficient to explain this.

Heh, it's ok!

You didn't confuse me, I know now what you meant.

 

I guess my main problem with this series is that I don't really belong to the target group of this series. It took me more than a quarter decade to overcome myself finally to play a Zelda game on my own. I watched my cousin playing the original for the N64 like 17 years ago. I knew already that this game and series will overwhelm me. However after the years I still had interest in this series and began with ALBW.

On the one hand I like games which force me to think, and pretty much each Zelda game has lots of interesting and challenging puzzles so far as I know.

But on the other hand I get mad pretty fast, whenever I have the feeling I'm totally lost because this game forces you to do sth. onobvious. Also the case in the series.

I got confused when I came close to Gerudo Valley, and suddenly the owl was shown up again. He indirectly instructed me to discover the area and the Hylia Sea, although I still had to visit Zelda in Castle Hyrule. So I discovered the valley... for nothing... except for hearing Gerudo Valley's theme in its original form.

 

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

I'd say that was an intentional feature. It's to teach the player that they can go left and right on the item screen to see more menus. Later in game you get equipment that you can swap between with their own strengths and weakness. At the start of the game when there's so little room to progress it makes sense to force the player to discover the feature but if the player progress more to when the world is more open and they haven't figured out yet that they need to equip a specific shield then they will find themselves much more at a loss as to what to do because there's so m any other potential areas and items that might be the solution.

Alright, I see.

I noticed that the game is made to let the player discover the area, the menu and the battle system more or less by itself.

Honestly I found ALBW more beginnerfriendly in this. Ravio was somewhat a tutorial guide and explained the equipping and swapping of weapons explicitly.

[Sentacotus]

GTA series never really appealed to me. Sure its an open world but i would just use cheats and sandbox for 5 mins and get bored.  A running joke my friends had was that we never actually played the main game we just found the weapons and tank cheats and dorked around for a couple of minutes lol.

[euklyd]

- FFVII and FFXII, both of which I enjoyed but then never really felt any strong pull to continue. As a rule I don't generally enjoy "standard" JRPG battle systems unless they have something extra to keep me interested (Trails in the Sky, Baten Kaitos, Golden Sun) or a legitimately superb plot / characters (Xenoblade, Trails in the Sky, Baten Kaitos), and neither FF really stood out in that regard.
I intend to continue both, since I did enjoy them. I just didn't enjoy them enough. I haven't tried any other mainline FFs to compare (FFXIV doesn't count).
Not counted as "standard" battle systems: any TRPG / SRPG, fast paced action gameplay (TWEWY, Kingdom Hearts).

- Majora's Mask, which is weird because I fucking love Zelda games and mechanics it's very similar to the games that I like best.

- Any non-Adventure Sonic game I've tried, which is at least Heroes + several 2D Sonics.

- Overwatch (or any other shooters). Overwatch and Splatoon are the closest I've come to actually getting invested in a shooter, but eventually I realized "wait a minute, I would have more fun playing Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo GameConsole," and so stopped.

I didn't hate – or even particularly dislike – any of these games, they just didn't make me feel like finishing them.

[Parrhesia]

Oh yeah, I really wanted to give Earthbound a chance but man the gameplay was just... punishingly bad.

[henrymidfields]

I only was recently able to get into the 3D Zelda games, starting with Ocarina of Time 3DS. The creepy enemy encounter music was omething I was only able to overcome when I played the 3DS version. I tried to get into Twilight Princess, but the creepy spiders, the rather tricky way of defeating them, and the creepy enemy encounter music in the Forest Temple drove me off. I'm hoping that I can re-challenge that and overcome my fear, though, because I saw a couple of LPs, and from one, the final battle featuring Zelda's light arrows looks so epic. (Seeing that scene was the main reason why I started appreciating Zelda, actually.)

I also didn't really like Mother 3. Maybe if it wasn't Mother 3, but titled something differently, then it would have been easier for me to appreciate the game for what it was, but I couldn't get over how such a depressing game could be related to Mother 1+2. Again, however, I am hoping to shake that prejudice; I shall be seeing an LP by one of the Serenes Forest folks, and give it a second chance.

Gen 3 of Pokémon is actually my least favourite generation. Why they didn't actually conceive what they thought as Alola for that point in that Pokémon development timeline instead of making a fake-Kyushu region is something I never understood. It's even worse with ORAS because it came after XY and the Kalos region - something that actually felt like a Pokeverse version of its real-life region for the first time since Johto did.

BW I have a love-hate relationship with. Good story, but plagued with the utterly crap timing of the DS Wi-Fi shutdown, which made gameplay even less enjoyable than it was sort of with the stinginess of the experience payout. (And NO, the unreliable encounters of Audinos did NOT help.) Long story short, I started playing Black 1 on December 2013, expecting the Wi-Fi service to last for a couple of years more. I intended to complete the Unova Pokedex via Wi-Fi trading. Cue the announcement from Nintendo in Feb-March 2014, and with their fucking retarded bullshit reason of wanting to basically force customers to move onto the 3DS. Now I had to rush through Black 1 in a couple of months to complete everything; it did not help that this happened when I was struggling to get the fourth badge. Especially when Nintendo had the Lawson Nintendo Power ROM service, the Famicon Disc System, and the Game Boy repairs well into years after their respective console's final game releases, the abnormally early DS Wi-Fi shutdown was a huge slap in the face. This is when I decided that Nintendo is a greedy pig who no longer cared for customer service; it certainly does not bide well when the time comes after the last games are released for the 3DS.

Oh, and don't get me started on that certain franchise featuring that sissy dago plumber, and that stupid bitch.

Spoiler

Yep, the above sums up my suggestions for improvements to the Mario franchise.

 

Edited March 19, 2017 by henrymidfields

[Knight Falchion]

Oh yeah, the Mother series is another one. I tried to get into it twice- once when Earthbound Beginnings was released, and a second time with Earthbound. I had figured the quirky writing and plot would be enough to keep me interested since that's what happened with the Drakengard series and NieR, but it turns out I have a much lower tolerance for boring turn-based gameplay than for boring action-oriented gameplay.

[Tango]

The Tales of series. I only ever tried Tales of the Abyss, and it seems like a genuinely fun and well made RPG, but my god, the anime tropes. I couldn't stand it. I probably only got about 25% through the game before quitting forever because the plot and characters are so tropey, dull, and annoying to me. It's a shame, because the series looks really good! I probably won't pick it up again anytime soon.

[Busterman64]

Let's see...

• Undertale...I just never had the interest...despite enjoying Earthbound quite a lot(heck, I didn't even know Undertale existed for a couple of months, despite it's huge popularity).
• Pokemon Gen 1 & 3...Gen 1, whether it be the original or remake, I was just never found it too interesting(I kinda found the region a bit..boring and uninteresting). Gen 3 isn't bad, but for some reason I always stop around the same point in the game(after gym 5). I don't know why, but I always do and I never really have too much interest to go back to it. But It was TECHNALLY my Pokemon game I ever played(along with the Gen 1 remake), which even then I only played for about 30 minutes the first time, then gave it in to gamestop(and didn't play it again for about 2 years or so). It did get me to try out Gen 4 (platinum) when it came out though and I cannot thank it enough for that(Don't care what others say, I love Gen 4 )!
• Crash Bandicoot()...yeah...this one is a bit weird for me... I can enjoy it when watching others playing it(like on Youtube), but me personally...not so much. Only game that every really had interest in was Crash 4(wrath of Cortex), but that's partly because my best friend's older bother wouldn't let us play the xbox he had when we were kids(but he hid that game and all we had was Sonic Heroes when we snuck and played it when he sleeped) and Crash Bash(the party game) which I had a demo for on the ps1 Demo disc. Then again, it might have to do with growing up with Spyro...or maybe not...Dunno...I respect Crash though! 
• Megaman (Original and X specifically)...like Crash, I enjoy watching others play it, but I don't have much interest. I played the original 1,2, & maybe 3, and  X7 & X8, which are pretty alright, but I never had much interest in the others much(I've only BEATEN X7 though). What's weirder is that I've played and enjoy the Zero series...it's weird, I know. Although, to be fair, I jumped into (and grew up with the) Megaman series with Battle Network(love that series), so maybe that has something to do with it...or I should just sit down and give'em another go.
• Starfox...I can see why others like it, but I'm not too big of a fan...yet I like Advetures...
• Final Fantasy XV...I'm not the biggest FF fan, but I do enjoy the games (even FF1, as simple as it is). So when I saw how XV had a similar playstyle to like say Kingdom Hearts(which I greatly enjoy), I was intrigued. However, after watching a few videos of the demo....I...kinda lost a lot of interest. It doesn't look like a bad game, it looks fun, but...it just didn't stick. Maybe because I kinda like seeing my enemies react to my attacks or something like that...speaking of which...
• Monster Hunter...I find it cool, but I couldn't really got into it.
• 2D Mario...Now this is partly because I grew up with 3D Mario & platforms more then 2D ones. That and I kinda suck at some 2D platforms and/ or they aren't as appealing...but it seems to be more with Mario for me). So It's just more of a preference really( I would say this is probably why Megaman and X don't do it too much for me, but I like Zero...and Sonic 3...so...eh...) 
• Animal Crossing...for guy who really enjoys Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons, I don't have much interest in AC whatsoever.

...If you couldn't tell,  my tastes are kinda weird for somethings(and/or some of my reasons are kinda a bit petty)...

 

1 hour ago, Star said:

The Tales of series. I only ever tried Tales of the Abyss, and it seems like a genuinely fun and well made RPG, but my god, the anime tropes. I couldn't stand it. I probably only got about 25% through the game before quitting forever because the plot and characters are so tropey, dull, and annoying to me. It's a shame, because the series looks really good! I probably won't pick it up again anytime soon.

I will say that it gets better near the halfway point, but I kinda can't blame you for feeling that way(Personally, Luke...gets much better, trust me. Mieu...love the little guy! Tear is...alright. Anise is ok, has a good few moments though! Natalie I didn't like at first, but she grew on me. I love Jade for being such a sarcastic jerkward, but still serious when he needs to. Guy is quite interesting. He isn't comfy around girls despite probably being the guy most likely to be able charm one. The reason why? ......I...rather not say...).

I only have Symphonia, Abyss, Phantasia, and (technically) Vesperia(I watched am LP of it)under my belt. If you can, try Vesperia, I don't think it'll be as "trope-y", it gets pretty dang dark and serious at times! I would say why, but you know...spoilers. Just give a while though to warm up though.

Edited January 28, 2017 by Busterman64

[Tango]

17 minutes ago, Busterman64 said:

I will say that it gets better near the halfway point, but I kinda can't blame you for feeling that way(Personally, Luke...gets much better, trust me. Mieu...love the little guy! Tear is...alright. Anise is ok, has a good few moments though! Natalie I didn't like at first, but she grew on me. I love Jade for being such a sarcastic jerkward, but still serious when he needs to. Guy is quite interesting. He isn't comfy around girls despite probably being the guy most likely to be able charm one. The reason why? ......I...rather not say...).

I only have Symphonia, Abyss, Phantasia, and (technically) Vesperia(I watched am LP of it)under my belt. If you can, try Vesperia, I don't think it'll be as "trope-y", it gets pretty dang dark and serious at times! I would say why, but you know...spoilers. Just give a while though to warm up though.

So I've heard; I believe it haha. I think Jade was my fave, he had a cool design too. 

Thanks, that sounds awesome! I was meaning to try a different one someday because I thought Abyss just might not be for me even though I generally like those kinds of games. I'll see how Vesperia is when I can! I do love dark stories.