In your opinion, what video games disappointed you the most?

[Armagon]

2 hours ago, lightcosmo said:

Something about it's battle system felt a little to basic to me. I can't remember if they had the boost system in that game or not, but it was something about one and two I really liked. strategically manipulating turns was really in depth for such a simple combat system.

It did have the Boost system but yeah, Episode III's battle system was simplified compared to previous entries. Not that i mind though because i found it to be the best of the pre-Blade Xeno games.

• Xenogears' battle system is fine but outdated (Gear battles especially)
• Xenosaga Episode I was supposed to have a better version of Xenogears' combat but failed.
• Xenosaga Episode II's battle system was actual hell (E.S battles were fine tho)
• Xenosaga Episode III's battle system has aged the best

Especially after Episode II, a game in which every battle takes eons to complete, i was really glad to have a more simple but fast combat system in Episode III. That said, i won't deny that previous games did have more depth to their combat systems (even if i personally found them to be badly implemented) so if you didn't like Episode III's combat system for being too simple, i can understand that (especially since endgame can be cheesed with Erde Kaiser Sigma). 

1 hour ago, Decerd said:

All of the Kingdom Hearts games except for Birth By Sleep: KH doesn't deserve anywhere near the popularity it's garnered. It has Birth By Sleep, but outside of that, this is one the most overrated gaming series period.

Agreed. Let's be real, Kingdom Hearts only got as popular as it did thanks to the Disney side of it. It didn't get popular on it's own merits. I also take issue with the fanbase berating people for not playing the games in chronological order. Like, yes it has an overarching story but the story isn't that good outside of the first game. Kingdom Hearts 3 is supposed to be a finale of sorts but the story was irrelevant for 60% of the game. You can play KH3 as your first KH game and be fine.

57 minutes ago, Etheus said:

Actually, I'd expand that to say that Square is the most overrated developer in the industry

I think what it is is that Square is pretty much the entry level for JRPGs, especially nowadays. Like, i love Xenogears but the guys who made it left Square after they were fucked over in favor of Final Fantasy (and i consider Xenogears a Monolith Soft game anyways). Square Enix was better in the SNES-PS1 era but nowadays, their games just don't appeal to me personally. Speaking of Square Enix games....

Octopath Traveler: I forgot to mention this but Octopath is another game that ended up disappointing me. Visually and musically, the game was amazing. Gameplay-wise, i had issues. The battle system is heavily in favor of multiple characters so for the first few fights when you're by yourself, battles are against you, especially boss fights. I remember doing Primrose's route and the first boss took forever to die. The other issue i have with the game is for a game that was marketed as a character-driven game, there sure aren't a lot of character interactions. You have eight protagonists and none of them interact outside of little skits. 

[Lightcosmo]

13 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It did have the Boost system but yeah, Episode III's battle system was simplified compared to previous entries. Not that i mind though because i found it to be the best of the pre-Blade Xeno games.

• Xenogears' battle system is fine but outdated (Gear battles especially)
• Xenosaga Episode I was supposed to have a better version of Xenogears' combat but failed.
• Xenosaga Episode II's battle system was actual hell (E.S battles were fine tho)
• Xenosaga Episode III's battle system has aged the best

Especially after Episode II, a game in which every battle takes eons to complete, i was really glad to have a more simple but fast combat system in Episode III. That said, i won't deny that previous games did have more depth to their combat systems (even if i personally found them to be badly implemented) so if you didn't like Episode III's combat system for being too simple, i can understand that (especially since endgame can be cheesed with Erde Kaiser Sigma). 

 

Really? I actually kind of liked episode II's battle system, it does take a while to get used to, though. I guess I don't understand how the E.S. battles work that I struggled so much, then. Maybe it's just me. Also, Erde Kaiser Sigma? what's that? I don't really think it's fair to judge based of balance/difficulty, since that varies per person. So, that doesn't affect me.

Is there anything to note about III that's of importance? gameplay wise, I mean. Like the skill paths I kind of just winged it and I suppose maybe that made it a little difficult as well.

Edited March 27, 2019 by lightcosmo

[DarthR0xas]

Disney Infinity: This was just a bad game, plain and simple. I really love Disney, so I had hoped for the best, but I got it and it wasn't much more than a mediocre world builder with some incredibly bland campaigns. The figures weren't even that cool, which at least Skylanders had going for it.

Dark Souls: Alright, so I've basically been hearing amazing things about this series from the moment it came out, but I avoided getting it until the Switch remaster. Upon getting said remaster, delayed mind you, I put it into the console, played it for about 3 hours, and haven't touched it since, except for a one hour retry about a week ago.

Hyrule Warriors: After playing FE Warriors, this was just a mess. There were a grand total of 4 playstyles I liked, the maps were mostly dull and boring (Twilight's was good). The plot was boring, the controls unresponsive at points, and overall not a fun experience.

Super Mario Maker: Mario Maker was really fun, the issue is that a lot of the user generated content isn't particularly good. It's like Nintendo Labo, a good idea that just doesn't have the refined single-player content needed to properly sustain it over time. Played it for about a month before I got bored, still really fun and I can't wait for the sequel. 

The World Ends With You Final Remix: Oh my god I don't understand how this can be so bad. Not the plot, that's amazing, as is the artwork and music. Basically they nailed the presentation. But the gameplay is so god-awful that I just can't stomach it. It's the same issue a lot of people here have with Echoes (I really enjoyed Echoes and still do to this day, but that's just my opinion). It did make me really want to play the original, which I'll get around to doing one of these days.

Animal Crossing New Leaf: I might've just came into this game with the wrong mindset, since I expected a bit more stimuli. Paying off loans just wasn't very fun.

Kirby Planet Robobot: Another case of a fun game that was over too fast. I beat it in one day, one day of a lot of fun, but it was still just one day. And it didn't really seem replayable like the other Kirby games, there were like 3 levels I remember, the final really hard one, the boss fight, and the one with driving Waddle Dees since it was adorable.

Fire Emblem 6: Everyone else here is harping on the other FE games, but no one mentions what I feel is the most disappointing one, FE6. After FE5, it's a downgrade in literally every way. The plot, characters, graphics (mostly), music, gameplay, EVERYTHING. Most of the characters just aren't as relateable as those in basically any other FE game, bar FE1 & 2 since NES, but even then I'd say FE1 and 2 are better games than FE6. They look better (although admittedly this is just bias since I love the NES sprites, they look so cool), they're more innovative, and they're generally more fun.

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep: Aside from KH:Com, which I only consider a KH game in plot, this is the worst KH game out there. It's the introduction of the Command Deck, a system which is inferior in all ways to the KH1/2 style of doing things that I don't get why they switched from. Gameplay is a broken mess, which gets incredibly bland. I get what they were trying to do with the melding system, but all it really does is make me look up a guide online, and cross-reference it every 30 minutes when I go to do some more melding. It was more tedious than fun. And you could break the combat incredibly easy. By the fourth world of the game I had Thunder Surge, and by the fifth Mine Square, and by that point I didn't need to meld anything else except to get skills. I had most of the skills I needed by the third world, but there were like two that I wanted that took forever to get. But the main issue with the combat is the lack of impact of the keyblade. They feel like they do barely any damage, despite having these distinct swiping arcs. KH1 had a similar style, but in that game the keyblade did meaningful damage. KH2 has it perfect, and is a master-class in action RPG design. Here, I was at a point I felt was overleveled, go to the next world and my keyblade is doing next to no damage. Either enemy health is way too high, or keyblade damage is too low. And the zoomed in camera, just why? They had it right with KH2, zoom it back so we get a better view of the action. Too many times I got caught off guard by something I couldn't see, which would lead to a lot of damage. The one time I played BBS, I played it on Critical. And it is one of the most poorly optimized things I've ever seen. Some worlds are piss easy, while others are legit impossible without grinding. Sleeping Beauty had me raging for over an hour at the boss, to whom I finally beat and proceeded to forget to save, resulting in another hour of frustration, while the next world, either Cinderella or Snow White, were so easy I only died once between the both of them, and then the difficulty spikes. The curve is all over the place and not fun in the slightest. Again, KH2 had it right, at least on Critical mode. The game has a steady increase in difficulty, all the way up till past the end of the game and into the post game. Bosses have defined patterns with telegraphed moves, proper staggers, and revenge values. The combat is so awful, they had to remove all of those to make the bosses even challenging. Look at Xehanort in Terra's story. He's designed like a KH2 boss, which is to say, decently well by most standards, yet the combat of this game is so poorly designed, and is such an atrocity, that he's piss easy. A well designed boss is incredibly easy since the combat is so skill focused that anything that staggers is exploited. The story, well it's a KH game. I liked the more personal narratives, if only they had a better performance backing them. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing performances in this game. Mark Hamill is a god as usual, Jesse McCartney continues to be pretty darn good, but dear lord they screwed Jason Dohring and Wilma (I forget her last name) hard. When they were allowed to emote, they were pretty good, and Wima was amazing, but most of the time they spoke in a dull monotone. It made their campaigns even more of a chore. I could keep going on, but compared to the rest of the KH series, which is amazing and my second favorite series of all time, this is an utter disappointment 

ARMS: Worst for last. Arms is so boring, so bland, so forgettable that I only remember it by the unrivaled sense of buyers remorse I have with it. The real issue is the complete lack of good single player content, something that was never fixed. You have grand prix, which is boring after three times through and offers next to no story, and then you can either do more bot matches or go online. There is nothing here to flesh out the characters. And if there's one thing I'll give Arms, it has amazing character design, but they do sweet f-all with them. Next to no expansion on them. Gameplay is alright, but aside from the unique features of the characters, some of which actively make them worse, there's nothing else to analyze under the hood. For kicks and giggles, I watched the final of Nintendo's Arms tourney, and the strategies used there were the exact same ones me and my friends used in some of our first games in Arms, since it's just jump around and angle your punches a bit. Now that Smash is out, it's basically worthless. I could write more, but complaining about BBS took a lot longer than I realized, so I'll leave it at this

[Sarki Soliloquy]

Only gonna go with games I've played here. I could be here all do dispensing hot takes for general franchises or games I've never played, but I'll spare you such pretension. (S'pose I shouldn't have to remind you that my opinions are not wholly reflective of my enjoyment of these games?)

• Kirby's Epic Yarn: I've never met a Kirby I didn't like, but this one ages the least well. Didn't help that it released during a subpar console cycle w/ a drought in traditional 'copy Kirby' platformers, but this is the 1st full-fledged Kirby platformer that leaves no reference for play from what the previous games gave me? If it was Prince Fluff's Epic Yarn, I might've dismissed the game outright, and even then I wouldn't be so sour remembering my playthrough w/o menial Kirby branding presence. Otherwise, the excessively trivial collectibles, no game overs, & saccharine soundtrack/visuals took Kirby's charming, storybook fare and made a 'therapy game' from it.
• Kirby Star Allies: 4th game in a tiring Return to Dreamland engine, and the polish in the scope soon dulls to leave little to be desired. While this game perhaps blows Return to Dreamland out of the water in co-op & replay value, the levels felt constrained to a claustrophobic degree to fit 4 (frustrating AI) players. Takes all the gimmicks you loathe from its contemporaries (forced puzzle segments, RNG collectibles, etc.) Boss fights/elemental interactions/level schemes becomes hard-to-follow clusterfucks that sometimes chug down the framerate. Dream Friends are too fleshed-out that they could've been put to better use in a fighting game. Personally, didn't live up to the hype & the omission of a certain dreary-eyed nemesis as the final/true boss fit just too perfectly for the lore that any shock value I was building to didn't deliver.
• Super Mario 3D Land: I can sum most of this up as how it was too pedestrian compared to the Galaxy series gameplay & art wise that the entire game felt clunky & soulless. Levels & scenery feel so cobbled together that even Super Mario 64 looks sober.
• Super Mario Pinball Land: The atrociously-compressed graphics, the flimsy controls, near absence of presentation? It just drops you right in & expects you to be totally fine when there's already too little to want you to keep going - no matter how many times you lose. How do you fuck up a pinball game this bad?
• Metroid: Other M: A contrite, delirious mess of my 1st introduction to Metroid proper. I can't say whether it was my unfamiliarity with the series or the clunky level progression & storytelling. But I dropped it barely into its 1st quarter because of how trapped I felt in the level. Memorable in all the wrong ways for its discourse.
• Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright/Conquest: 'LOL wut more to say? Enuff w/ t3h waifu animu mechanics & chirren, LMAO Corn's story is soooo edge ow!!1! Nx ti3m dun split muh FE liek dis is Pokeman.'
• Animal Crossing: City Folk: Wild World was already such a change of pace that it stands much stronger on its own. But unlike New Leaf perfecting what it gave us, City Folk is nothing more than a sloppy rehash where the major selling point of the game (y'know, the city) served not much but a barren locale to force some of the recurring town guests & shopkeepers around. Little else to do, no new hour themes/K.K. tracks, villager management is a bitch that can ruin hard work landscaping, & most importantly - 'animal tracks' AKA having your grass erode quicker than you can ever replace just because its frequently walked.
• Pokémon White/Moon/Y: In order of which I played. Gen V was so underwhelming compared to IV that I couldn't invest myself too much in any merit the story might have. Certainly doesn't help that the new Mon were uniquely hideous compared to previous dex w/ no returning Mon until late game (although Cofagrigus will always be the gold nugget in the rough - best Poké change my view). I ended up experiencing the 3D jump that blew everyone away in Gen VI w/ Gen VII, and while I much prefer the Hawaiian setting & a lot of the improvements introduced there, I still got a familiar, yet blasé Pokémon adventure that perhaps I missed too long. Just holding out for the franchise's Breath of the Wild/Odyssey moment that dashes away all the wild grass & route climbs for a region that builds upon all the right staples whilst giving an environment that feels alive even when I turn off the game. But that might be too much to ask for given how healthy the franchise is.
• Soulcalibur IV: If V wasn't so abysmal, IV might look even worse. While still a solid entry that enamored me with its quasi-historical mystique, it lacked a really meaty story mode or a breadth of single player campaigns that always drew me to the series whenever friends weren't around. Lackluster compared to the last two. Also, Star Wars should never come a pin's drop in the ocean horizon near any fighting game for perpetuity. Most especially an 'artsy' one like Soulcalibur.
• Scribblenauts Unlimited: Good for a chuckle or two, makes a wonderful GTA-esque shitpit to unleash as much chaos as you're able. But the novelty wears away quick when an idea as heady as using the full English language to affect the world is only used for boring ad-libs. No, the user-generated content wasn't much help against this either.
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2: Having enjoyed the 1st 2 Dawn of Wars much, it was awkward enough going from everything they've built up to Black Crusade to a format that gives-and-takes from what made the strategy of the earlier titles great. Even the playable armies & their customization got the shaft. Not so much as bad game as it was the wrong game for me at the wrong time.
• Shantae & the Pirate's Curse: Having come of the likes of Shovel Knight & Spelunky, I've known of Shantae & heard nothing but praise for her games as far back as the GameBoy. But once I got maybe to the 4th world, I dropped it because it bored me as another pedestrian indie platformer that tries to hard to be Metroid, Castlevania, & I guess Yoshi's Island. Its like it didn't know what it wanted to be - you get a forced chase segment in the 2nd world, then you're sidetracked into a watered-down stealth mission in the 3rd. The characters & humor were more annoying than funny, but hey, at least I can jam to some sick Vert tunes.
• Retro City Rampage DX: GTA never really appealed to me - it was one of those ridiculously-overhyped franchises that you'd spend more time around otherwise when your dudebro friends want to hang out & blow shit up. Suppose the occasional 5-star police chase suckered me through a soberingly-retro 'demake' of the same game, but add the 8-bit, Nintendo, & washed-up 80s movie bits-and-bops for a thrill rush punctuated along loosely following a lackluster story. Once the new car smell faded away, it just felt nebulous to keep up with.
• Azure Striker Gunvolt 2: Overall no where near as exhilarating as the 1st one. While a handful of the new level themes (maybe a boppin' idol jam or two blush over), character designs, story twists, & visuals still leave an impression on me after getting to both true endings, the whole package is two steps forward & three steps back. The 3DS's top screen already had meager real estate for the UI in the 1st one, but the cluttered, skewed dialogue windows are distracting as they are annoying. Some of the new mechanics & equipment were either poorly-explained, overwhelming, or a bitch to map comfortably. Accounting for a lot of these changes, the 'keep up the score, don't get hit, get out' action platforming that shined through the 1st just gets weighted down juggling all these 'options'. Copen's entire campaign somehow fucks up timeless Mega Man Robot Master equip gameplay with his swerving, momentous movement. Did I mention he's also one of the most unlikable anti-heroes I've ever played? He never develops out of being a stubborn racist, and not once is it played in any way that justifies him despite nasty real-world parallels. I was just supposed to think he's cool the whole time.
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: If it was possible to hate a game by the people who proselytized it to me alone, then Skyrim can never be invited to the Christmas party with everyone else. That oh-so-spectacular Bethesda game that all your poser friend throw away their time around you with by forcing you to watch them play. Having been forced to play myself for the sake of feigned commonality, just like any other Fallout or Elder Scrolls, not once have I remained bored and demotivated throughout my entire time playing. Awful controls, stiff movement, boring setting, FPS elements, boring combat.
• Spore: This might be the only sandbox exploration sim I've sunk the most time into this side of Animal Crossing. Overhyped out the gate, playing through all 5 stages of life & using everything in the creators enough times soon leaves not much else to do. It quickly becomes busywork. The Galactic Adventures expansion did give it a lot more replay value than I expected, that too soon became limited. Almost to the point where the missions cannibalized the rest of the game.
• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance: Kingdom Hearts as a whole is an offense to all storytelling & critical acclaim. But with friends, I've orbited this maudlin fluff-fest someone making two of my most abhorred properties oddly palatable on scale alone, that at least I had some stock in how the mainline Xehanort Saga would unfold. As a game, the Kingdom Hearts combat system is actually really fun (no wonder I wore out the demo uses). But Dream Drop Distance really isn't worth having to plod through one of the most egregious stories ever penned, and the timed character switches really break apart the few bits of action & spectacle you'll get.
• BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle: What should be the crossover fighter to twist my knickers into a Mobius strip, fails in all the areas that make something like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or Super Smash Bros. itself masterpieces. Inconsistent roster picks (#TaoRiteNow) across 3 franchises made worse by holding half the roster for ransom, a battle pace that feels almost too fast at times, a godsawful excuse for a crossover story, lack of single-player content or art galleries, poor matchmaking, Resonance Blaze is shitty X-Factor, & what the fuck even is the point of Crash Assault? While RWBY couldn't have been the more perfect Cinderalla story pick for the main line-up, that still doesn't wash away how bad the show is.
• Skullgirls: A far cry from anywhere near a bad game, but perhaps a bad package. Especially having been locked out in the base version due to the Lab Zero fallout, where there's not much else to do apart from an average VN story mode & arcade. Really appreciate the gameplay, animation, tutorials, & art style here. But major points off for how insular the humor & nerd culture references are incorporated with the subtlety of a Dreamworks movie. Its not cute that you nod all these obscure fighting games, anime & comic books at such a vapid rate. Its desperate. The style & milleu are clearly doing you favors, but that will only take you so far without the substance to elevate it.
• Fate/EXTELLA: Never liked Dynasty Warriors games or any adjacent genres to it. They're always too redundant & plodding in your objectives and combos. So segment that between the exposition & metaphysics of the Fate/ series & you get a BlazBlue dilemma where you have two polar-opposite genres half-baked upon one another. Never mind keeping track of the dialogue boxes mid-battle with a Japanese dub. I want to put up with the grand scale & legendary stakes of one of my favorite franchises, but the insipid combat & awkward presentation are going to make clearing all paths a chore.
• Lunar: Dragon Song: A former friend gifted this to me out of the blue, and dropped it in the 1st quarter over how pedestrian & lackluster the JRPG experience was here. Completely uninspired story & dialogue with flat anime clichés. I also remember how confusing the battle system was presented to you. IIRC, one mechanic involved switching between collecting XP & loot after battle. Off-brand Final Fantasy isn't much better than the actual thing.
• Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars: I struggle to describe how uncomfortable this mess of an attention-deficit dungeon crawler/dating sim made me feel. Like, not in a morally repugnant or shocking way. But its use of sex & childrearing as the premise to gameplay. Just because it doesn't commit to it. No eroge, just 10 seconds of anime girl silhouettes bobbing to cheesy serenades. Found it to be insulting how one-dimensional & nicey-nice the bachelourettes were. Its so riveting to get invested in a potential S Support when our first impression is how bad you wanna watch the birdies or some tripe. How is this blueballs bluster is even a sequel?
• Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan: Guess you would call this one a dungeon crawler where you're supposed to chart pregen'd maps? From the gameplay to character to story, I just got a pedestrian impression bound around an arbitrary series staple that turned me off quick. At least its 3DS app select jingle makes a soothing clock alarm!
• Disgaea DS: At a glance, this port is not too different from its PS2 progenitor. But there's a lot of reductions in quality from omitted voice lines to less impactful graphics that just take the charm down a few notches. The Prinnies took a hard hit here.
• Battleblock Theater: I usually enjoyed The Behemoth's work. But the repetition in level elements, underdeveloped characters & setpieces just don't invest me through the adventure like Castle Crashers or Alien Hominid did. Has one of the most underwhelming plots & final bosses I've scantly forgot too.

[Rapier]

• Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - Hey, shitting on Shadow Dragon is popular, but still. It's inadmissible to ressurrect a very old game that definitely didn't age well in terms of game design and mechanics, then expect it to work again after we've been pampered with so many new mechanics for the series. The map quality is also dubious at best, although Shadows of Valentia takes the cake for having some of the worst. It brought a cool reclassing mechanic and different difficulties, but that's it...? FE12 was significantly better as a remake, and so was SoV.
• Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 - It's not a bad game, but what does it add, even? Copen is so broken, it's doubtful much thought was given to his gameplay. Dividing the stages and bosses feels like a cheap way to make you play with each character separatedly, yet all it accomplishes is making the game very quick to beat. I used to buy the excuse for dividing the stages due to the different gameplays, but in the end there's a time trial/free play mode where you can access them with any character, so it became pointless.
• Megaman X5 - It's mediocre at best, for me. It feels like a lazy carbon copy of X4, as much of that game was conveniently taken for X5 (even X6 feels more original, and it's a mess of a game). The level design is dubious at best, the bosses are way simpler and repetitive, the game has a random chance to screw you over by taking a character from you permanently due to plot reasons and obtaining parts in this game is a grindy chore.
• Freedom Planet - 'Disappointing' is a bit harsh, but I expected it to be better. The gameplay is interesting, but having too many gimmicks in your stage as well as having them being huge really managed to bore me very quickly. It doesn't help that the characters and story are saturday morning cartoon quality.
• Terraria - Don't get me wrong, I loved the game when it was first released and played it a lot. On hindsight, though, I now realize how terribly repetitive the game is, and how the initial surviving/exploring is so boring. It is a good game, but I think it didn't age well and I find myself avoiding it merely because of its start and repetitive mining grind.
• Minecraft - For the reasons above, although I find Terraria a much better game due to its roguelike design. It was really good when it came out and felt like a cool physics simulator with survival elements, but later I couldn't really bother playing an aimless game where you have no goals or objectives.
• Wargroove - Another of these games where saying they disappointed me is a bit too extreme, but there are things where it could've been much better. The maps are overly long and the game is sluggish, the music repetition gets boring very quickly, and to be fair I'm not seeing much unit difference between all the factions, other than the ocasional specific hero or monster. It is a fun game to play, but being sluggish hinders me from enjoying it as much as I would.

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by Rapier

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon: It was the first fire emblem game I played the day it came out, and I figured it being Marth's story would make it a big deal. I wasn't expecting the removal of supports, a meek cast of characters, and icky graphics compared to the GBA games. My interest in Fire Emblem pretty much died during the end credits of this game, only coming back years later when I discovered Path of Radiance while hunting through used game bins. To this day I still haven't reconciled my thoughts on this game, every attempt at a replay ends at like, chapter 2. Meanwhile I'm playing the original on the Famicom online app and kind of enjoying it.

Paper Mario Sticker Star: I dunno how I was so blindsided by this game. I vaguely remember reading and liking what I heard about the game from Nintendo Power and Iwata Asks interviews. I guess the lesson learned here is that even a nintendo game can be creatively bankrupt. I didn't even bother getting to the halfway point of this game on my first playthrough. Though I did go back for a retry years later. Oddly enough all of the game's good environments and story telling are in that second half, but this is still a shockingly mediocre game. I still can't tell you what it's trying to accomplish.

Pokemon Gen 4: Maybe it was because I was getting older and the kids at school had quit playing by this point, but man was this generation of games rough for me. Good innovations for multiplayer and competitive play, but none of it matters if you've got nobody to play with, and how many people had access to wifi in the mid 2000s? The gameplay of Diamond is slower than its ever been, it's HM Hell, and I hope you like Ponyta because that's your only option for fire types if you didn't pick Chimchar. The big nail in the coffin though was Pokemon Battle Revolution. I just assumed it would continue the Pokemon Colosseum side series of games, or else just be a Pokemon Stadium 3. I thought the former was the future for this series, while the latter would have been nice as well with mini games and being able to play the handheld games on the tv. I was so bummed out at the ease of migrating pokemon from handheld to console and how cool that feature would be in a good game. The Gold/Silver remakes were good, but for me it was like "duh, a remake of a good game will always be good"

Resident Evil 6: I love 5, but not this one. I recognize that's a weird thing to say, but 6 just feels like I'm being condescended to for being a longtime fan of this series. I want to laugh at this game, the way other people do who have no connection to the series, but I feel like I'm the butt of the joke.

Fallout 2: The only game on this list in which I was an informed adult expecting a great game after research. After the buggy mess of the first game, I figured a sequel on the same engine could still be good if you make some adjustments and fix some mechanics. No effort was made on this front, and existing issues from the first game just get amplified here due to a focus on greater gameplay variety and role-playing potential. I once read in an interview (that I'm still trying to hunt down and confirm I didn't imagine it) that every town and its associated NPCs and quests was written by a different staffmember. That makes a lot of sense, this game has no tonal consistency. And it's hard to imagine a lot of these events occurring in the same world. Like one quest where you help out a Casper-esque ghost find a valuable heirloom compared to a later quest where you investigate supposed undead only to find out it's ghouls trying to scare off raiders - because supernatural elements don't exist in this world, silly.

I can think of some others that kind of disappointed me on release, but I don't feel those feelings in retrospect like I do with the above entries. My opinion of all the games I play is rarely negative and only gets higher with time.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Glennstavos

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, lightcosmo said:

Also, Erde Kaiser Sigma? what's that?

It's probably the most broken magic spell in the JRPG genre. There's four different Erde Kaisers and you can only get the last one (Sigma) by getting the rest and completing a small sidequest chain. Erde Kaiser Sigma costs 99 EP to use but one of the equippable items you get in the mentioned sidequest chain cuts down every EP cost to 1 with no drawbacks. With Erde Kaiser Sigma, you essentially end every fight in one turn and the final boss will die to it in three hits at most.

1 hour ago, lightcosmo said:

Is there anything to note about III that's of importance? gameplay wise, I mean. Like the skill paths I kind of just winged it and I suppose maybe that made it a little difficult as well.

Nah. The skill paths are designed so that you can only invest in one of them and that's kinda upsetting but the gameplay is pretty simple.

1 hour ago, lightcosmo said:

I guess I don't understand how the E.S. battles work that I struggled so much, then.

In Episode III, E.Ses had energy which could be reduced or increased with equipment. The amount of energy you have is what determines how many attacks you can use as well as what type of attacks. The more energy you have at the end of your turn, the earlier you get to act. Also iirc, the Boost system wasn't present in E.S battles.

52 minutes ago, Sarki Soliloquy said:

The 3DS's top screen already had meager real estate for the UI in the 1st one, but the cluttered, skewed dialogue windows are distracting as they are annoying.

You know you can turn those off, right?

I do agree with equipment being jank and irrelevant though. I didn't bother with it outside of giving Copen more Bullits.

I love Gunvolt but i do wish Inti put more effort into the level design, especially after they've shown what they can do in their Blaster Master Zero series.

[Ertrick36]

The only game that managed to disappoint me was Grand Theft Auto: Online.  The worst thing is, back when I was looking forward to it, I wanted it to be like what it became today, but back then it was so barebones that I simply couldn't bring myself to play it much.  And now these days I just don't like online action-oriented games with as heavy RPG elements as GTA Online has, and I like free-roam games with such RPG elements even less.  Either way, I had more fun with GTA IV's sandbox type of multiplayer than I ever did with GTA Online.  Though maybe that also is because I don't really have friends I play with online anymore.

I don't hate GTA Online, even with its annoying microtransaction practices that practically every MMO exploits their fans with, I just...  It just wasn't as fun as it could've been for me.

55 minutes ago, DarthR0xas said:

Fire Emblem 6

Chapter 14 of that game (the desert one with Sofia) is a major disappointment.  It contains all the worst sins a FE game can commit from a level design standpoint.  You have:

• Annoying fog of war
• Limited mobility for most units thanks to the desert tiles
• Wyvern rider ambushes
• A level 1 unit joining you in a chapter where you're starting to see promoted enemies among the standard issue (instead of as just bosses); worst of all, she's a squishy mage, and the other unit you obtain at the start of this chapter is a cavalry mage (granted, she's a promoted one, but still, she can hardly do dick with all that goddamn sand everywhere)
• A time limit - the biggest cock tease of all; as soon as the sandstorm causing the fog of war clears up, you are no longer able to get the gaiden chapter associated with this chapter (which also is lost if you don't keep squishy Sofia alive), which means you get screwed out of the true ending
• Anakin Skywalker's worst nightmare

Oh, and I'm not a big fan of the treasure hunt in that level, either.

I'll beat that game at some point, but Chapter 14 just infuriated me so.

1 hour ago, DarthR0xas said:

Hyrule Warriors: After playing FE Warriors, this was just a mess. There were a grand total of 4 playstyles I liked, the maps were mostly dull and boring (Twilight's was good). The plot was boring, the controls unresponsive at points, and overall not a fun experience.

It seems I'm not the only one that preferred FEW.

Never even finished Hyrule Warriors' main story.

And this is coming from a pretty big Zelda fan.  Some of my favorite games of all time are Zelda games, and a couple of them are actually how I got into gaming in the first place (Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past).

But Hyrule Warriors?  I dunno, just didn't click with me quite like FEW did.  Didn't help that some of the movesets were actually bad (granted, the number of bad movesets can be counted on one hand I'm pretty sure, but still, talk about a waste), while FEW movesets all ranged from pretty good to goddamn fun.

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

The battle system is heavily in favor of multiple characters so for the first few fights when you're by yourself, battles are against you, especially boss fights. I remember doing Primrose's route and the first boss took forever to die

This doesn't last for long, once you've a full team and subjobs, things speed up. And if you get the four hidden subjobs before doing the Chapter 4s, you may find yourself slaying bosses in 2 broken full-boosted and debuffed and buffed attacks. I can understand the criticism though. And on the whole, the game didn't quite click for me either, I prefer the Bravely games from the developer.

 

10 hours ago, omegaxis1 said:

I played Etrian Odyssey Nexus. Expected something fun. Am severely disappointed. I honestly cannot get myself invested so much. 

Soon as I eventually finish it, I'll return the game for credit.

Did you test the waters with one of the eShop demos for a prior EO? I feel sorry for you if you didn't. 

The franchise is for a niche audience, I'm one of them, but I can clearly see why it wouldn't appeal to others. An old-fashioned dungeon crawler with a very thin plot and nonexistent characters is bound to be limiting. And admittedly, the gameplay which is the heart and soul of the franchise can be more of a hassle than it absolutely should be if the team you make lacks for synergy (I experienced this back with EOU2).

Edited March 28, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Shadow Mir]

The only game I can think of that I was disappointed by off the top of my head is Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon.  It felt rather archaic for a remake, largely because it lacked a lot of the new features that we were pampered with in between the original and this game, and most of the added stuff was not implemented well at all, especially the weapon triangle. My overall thoughts could be summed up as "This is the best they could do with a title that was almost 20 years old?" I'll let it be known that it's one of the few games I couldn't find any redeeming features for, and eventually sold.

EDIT: Binding Blade and Sacred Stones aren't much better. The former tends to get boring quickly, with map design that makes most of SoV's maps look tame (because its long winding maps get old fast, and the gimmicks some of the gaidens have DO NOT HELP), and the gameplay is lacking too. The latter is too short and easy. Both of them have forgettable characters and lame plots, too (say what you will about Fates' story, but even it manages to be better than the piles of pig excrement that are these two games' stories).

Edited March 28, 2019 by Shadow Mir

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

This doesn't last for long, once you've a full team and subjobs, things speed up. And if you get the four hidden subjobs before doing the Chapter 4s, you may find yourself slaying bosses in 2 broken full-boosted and debuffed and buffed attacks. I can understand the criticism though. And on the whole, the game didn't quite click for me either, I prefer the Bravely games from the developer.

I'll say this, i only played both Octopath demos so the battle system probably does get better but after hearing that the character interaction was super minimal, that was the killing blow for me. Characters are often more important than the story itself and game marketed as being character-centric should have way more character interactions than what made it into the final game.

[Interdimensional Observer]

32 minutes ago, Armagon said:

I'll say this, i only played both Octopath demos so the battle system probably does get better but after hearing that the character interaction was super minimal, that was the killing blow for me. Characters are often more important than the story itself and game marketed as being character-centric should have way more character interactions than what made it into the final game.

Again, I see the problem. Isolating each character in their own bubble of a story didn't help with interactions, if they allowed two or three tales to interweave at a time, it'd have helped.

At the least, I could see them combining the ends of Ophilia's and Cyrus's journeys, since both end with opposing the occult. Both Therion and Olberic end opposing thieves, so they could go together. The medicine man who saved Alfyn is the man who wrote the journal that motivates Tressa to go on her adventure, so they could go together at the end. This would leave Hannit and Primrose together by process of elimination, except I don't think the tales would really be made to work as one, unless they somehow tied Redeye to Primrose's father's murderer. Rewriting the villains wouldn't be bad though, since as is they are very lacking for screentime and thus shorn of characterization themselves.

Whether to weave earlier the same as the end weaves, which is say have Alfyn and Tressa go hand in hand from Chapter 2 onwards. Or to switch it up, have Alfyn team up with Cyrus in Chapter 2, then he goes with Ophilia in Chapter 3, and then 4 and Tressa. One could ponder in detail a hypothetical redesign of Octopath. They could do away with the Chapter format altogether whilst keeping the nonlinear structure too.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[omegaxis1]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Did you test the waters with one of the eShop demos for a prior EO? I feel sorry for you if you didn't. 

The franchise is for a niche audience, I'm one of them, but I can clearly see why it wouldn't appeal to others. An old-fashioned dungeon crawler with a very thin plot and nonexistent characters is bound to be limiting. And admittedly, the gameplay which is the heart and soul of the franchise can be more of a hassle than it absolutely should be if the team you make lacks for synergy (I experienced this back with EOU2).

Nope, so yeah, messed up a lot.

Like, I was okay with the system since I played Persona Q, but at least that game has a story and is interesting enough for me to enjoy. But this game, nope.

[Ertrick36]

2 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

Both of them have forgettable characters and lame plots, too (say what you will about Fates' story, but even it manages to be better than the piles of pig excrement that are these two games' stories).

That is a hot take if I've ever heard one.

Unfortunately, I haven't played enough of either of them to give a definitive opinion.  I did play through Blazing Sword's Eliwood Mode, and I did quite enjoy that game's story.  Helps that it had the same kind of assassin side story that New Mystery did, and a similarly sympathetic pair of characters to come along with it.  Also helps that it didn't pull BS like Chapter 14 of Binding Blade (seriously, I can't harp on that map enough, it is an utter abomination of game design, it's like the devs got drunk, high on meth, and really angry and made a map in that state of mind).

[Roland]

7 hours ago, Decerd said:

 

• Devil May Cry
• Metal Gear Solid 2

5 hours ago, Armagon said:

 

Agreed. Let's be real, Kingdom Hearts only got as popular as it did thanks to the Disney side of it. It didn't get popular on it's own merits. I also take issue with the fanbase berating people for not playing the games in chronological order. Like, yes it has an overarching story but the story isn't that good outside of the first game. Kingdom Hearts 3 is supposed to be a finale of sorts but the story was irrelevant for 60% of the game. You can play KH3 as your first KH game and be fine.

 

See, if Kingdom Hearts didn't have a story that's anywhere near as complicated as what we actually got, I'd have a different opinion on KH as a whole.

5 hours ago, DarthR0xas said:

 

Fire Emblem 6: Everyone else here is harping on the other FE games, but no one mentions what I feel is the most disappointing one, FE6. After FE5, it's a downgrade in literally every way. The plot, characters, graphics (mostly), music, gameplay, EVERYTHING. Most of the characters just aren't as relateable as those in basically any other FE game, bar FE1 & 2 since NES, but even then I'd say FE1 and 2 are better games than FE6. They look better (although admittedly this is just bias since I love the NES sprites, they look so cool), they're more innovative, and they're generally more fun.

 

Binding Blade really is the weakest of the GBA trilogy.

[Decerd]

5 minutes ago, Roland said:

Sadly no, Mr. Would-Be-Memelord, I'm not. While DMC 1's story is fun in it's own right, the game has just aged extremely poorly, and IMO is objectively lackluster gameplay wise. And before you bring up DMC 2 and DmC: Devil May Cry, the former is trash and absolutely nobody likes it but just because it's worse than DMC1 doesn't mean it should be a lackluster as it is, and the latter is basically the opposite of DMC1. Amazing gameplay, crappy story, and I don't know about you, but I prefer to play a game that's fun to play through that doesn't hold up on the writing side as opposed to a game that's a slog to play through with only a good story to show for it.

As for MGS2, I don't get why Kojima felt the need to go out of his way to make it a "revolutionary prophecy" (read: Preach session) instead of making MGS2 a fun stealth sequel where we play as Snake, the actual badass, instead of Raiden. There's no way you can defend this move, it's BS and Kojima should've know better.

Also, just a heads up, it's not a good idea to use a Negan meme. I don't know if you're trying to be funny or if your genuinely upset, but using any kind of joke from that guy will land you in hot water. Just saying.  

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Ertrick36 said:

Also helps that it didn't pull BS like Chapter 14 of Binding Blade (seriously, I can't harp on that map enough, it is an utter abomination of game design, it's like the devs got drunk, high on meth, and really angry and made a map in that state of mind).

Actually, Blazing's desert is a subsection Chapter 14 Binding, with some geographical modifications (getting rid of Arcadia for one).

They also changed the objective from seize to rout, relocated the heroes' starting position (which is actually different in Hector Mode), replaced the weakling allies with a godly NPC, changed the gaiden requirements and made it not needed for unlocking the final chapters (on Hector Mode, it is needed to change 1 line of Nergal's and unlock a CG).

On Hector Hard Mode, and maybe Eliwood Hard Mode, they brought back the blinding sandstorms. But you don't need to play HHM to beat the game once, it is only there for the challenge.

So there is a whole slew of changes that were made, despite basically Blazing using part (not the whole, and that in itself is a great improvement given the desert already slows you massive) of the same map, which makes it much less nightmarish.

 

32 minutes ago, Roland said:

Binding Blade really is the weakest of the GBA trilogy.

It's also the first, and the hardest, much like Advance Wars 1. In neither case was the game refined, it was crude, and then processed into a smoother sequel, if easier. Comparing Sacred Stones to Dual Strike isn't totally unreasonable either, since both are more of the same, which is good, but they aren't quite so well thought through, and pretty easy.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Roland]

7 minutes ago, Decerd said:

Sadly no, Mr. Would-Be-Memelord, I'm not. While DMC 1's story is fun in it's own right, the game has just aged extremely poorly, and IMO is objectively lackluster gameplay wise. And before you bring up DMC 2 and DmC: Devil May Cry, the former is trash and absolutely nobody likes it but just because it's worse than DMC1 doesn't mean it should be a lackluster as it is, and the latter is basically the opposite of DMC1. Amazing gameplay, crappy story, and I don't know about you, but I prefer to play a game that's fun to play through that doesn't hold up on the writing side as opposed to a game that's a slog to play through with only a good story to show for it.

Okay then, lol. While yes, I do agree that DMC1 hasn't aged well in comparison to 3, 4, and 5, I wouldn't necessarily call it bad. It's still a great game, despite how old it is.

7 minutes ago, Decerd said:

 

As for MGS2, I don't get why Kojima felt the need to go out of his way to make it a "revolutionary prophecy" (read: Preach session) instead of making MGS2 a fun stealth sequel where we play as Snake, the actual badass, instead of Raiden. There's no way you can defend this move, it's BS and Kojima should've know better.

....Huh? I don't know what you mean when you say MGS2's story is preachy. It's definitely prophetic, but I never saw it as preachy. And as far as Raiden goes, yes Snake is cooler, but again, Raiden works for the type of game MGS2 is.

8 minutes ago, Decerd said:

 

Also, just a heads up, it's not a good idea to use a Negan meme. I don't know if you're trying to be funny or if your genuinely upset, but using any kind of joke from that guy will land you in hot water. Just saying.  

What? It's a joke. How will me posting a Negan joke get me in hot water?

 

[Slumber]

2 minutes ago, Roland said:

Okay then, lol. While yes, I do agree that DMC1 hasn't aged well in comparison to 3, 4, and 5, I wouldn't necessarily call it bad. It's still a great game, despite how old it is.

It's worth pointing out that a game being disappointing doesn't necessarily mean it's bad.

I wouldn't call a number of games I mentioned bad, they just don't live up to the expectations set up by us before we played them.

Oh, and since MGS was brought up, I forgot to mention

• Metal Gear Solid 4: Between MGS4 putting all of its eggs into the narrative basket and MGS5 putting all of its eggs into the gameplay basket, I'd take MGS5 over 4 any day of the week. Primarily because MGS5 bothered to put its eggs into a basket that was woven properly. Even though MGS has always been appealing for its crazy narrative, it helps that none of the other games felt like they were shitting on previous entries simply to explain plot points like MGS4 did.

[Decerd]

6 minutes ago, Roland said:

Okay then, lol. While yes, I do agree that DMC1 hasn't aged well in comparison to 3, 4, and 5, I wouldn't necessarily call it bad. It's still a great game, despite how old it is.

 

To you. I love the DMC games, but 1 is a game I would not play again not matter what, second only to 2.

6 minutes ago, Roland said:

....Huh? I don't know what you mean when you say MGS2's story is preachy. It's definitely prophetic, but I never saw it as preachy. And as far as Raiden goes, yes Snake is cooler, but again, Raiden works for the type of game MGS2 is.

"Technology will rule the world! The government is evil! Everything is a cospiracy!" Kojima should've left his personal beliefs out of that game, and it shows. And you can try and swing it whichever way you want to, Raiden is cancer, and his "Upgrade" to an edgy Ryu Hayabusa rip off didn't help him at all.

8 minutes ago, Roland said:

What? It's a joke. How will me posting a Negan joke get me in hot water?

Negan is a psychopath with ill will towards anyone that's not him, and the same goes for everyone that praises him. quotes him, or posts meme or pictures. The fact that your posting a quote from him as a joke shows me you need mental help.

Gonna be honest dude, don't make topics like "What's a dissapointing game you don't like?" and then go and getting mad and posting a Negan meme in response. Don't dish out what you can't take.

6 minutes ago, Slumber said:

It's worth pointing out that a game being disappointing doesn't necessarily mean it's bad.

I wouldn't call a number of games I mentioned bad, they just don't live up to the expectations set up by us before we played them.

I agree. But I think DMC 1 is bad gameplay wise. Nowhere near the depth as later games. But thank you for being an actual decent person about this.

[Slumber]

7 minutes ago, Decerd said:

I agree. But I think DMC 1 is bad gameplay wise. Nowhere near the depth as later games. But thank you for being an actual decent person about this.

I think DMC1 plays well, but I think it's the most hurt by being fixed camera. Some aspects of the game balance are pretty wonky, too. Certain bosses melt with the right set-ups, but the final boss can be a massive slough if you're not prepared.

Overall, if it wasn't my first DMC, I'd probably give it a mention, too. I have a soft spot for it and would be totally fine with a remake of it.

EDIT: Oh, and those underwater segments are blights on the game even if you love it.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Slumber

[Roland]

7 minutes ago, Decerd said:

To you. I love the DMC games, but 1 is a game I would not play again not matter what, second only to 2.

Again, that's fine. I'm just trying to make sense of what your trying to say.

7 minutes ago, Decerd said:

"Technology will rule the world! The government is evil! Everything is a cospiracy!" Kojima should've left his personal beliefs out of that game, and it shows. And you can try and swing it whichever way you want to, Raiden is cancer, and his "Upgrade" to an edgy Ryu Hayabusa rip off didn't help him at all.

Okay, so you don't like the fact that MGS2's story has a heavy theme, basically? Well, MGS was always know for dealing with heavy themes writing wise. And listen, I get why you don't like Raiden, I do, but I think it's too much calling him a "Ryu Hayabusa" rip off, or whatever your trying to call him.

8 minutes ago, Decerd said:

Negan is a psychopath with ill will towards anyone that's not him, and the same goes for everyone that praises him. quotes him, or posts meme or pictures. The fact that your posting a quote from him as a joke shows me you need mental help.

Gonna be honest dude, don't make topics like "What's a dissapointing game you don't like?" and then go and getting mad and posting a Negan meme in response. Don't dish out what you can't take.

....What? 

[Ertrick36]

4 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

They did actually reuse the desert map tile-for-tile though, they just got rid of Arcadia and relocated the heroes. Then they changed the gaiden requirements and made getting it not needed for unlocking the true final battles (yet going to it is needed on Hector Mode if you want to change a line of Nergal's and get a CG).

On Hector Hard Mode (and maybe Eliwood Hard Mode- not so sure here), they did add the sandstorms back to the map. But fortunately only players looking for a challenge will have to deal with the blindness.

True, but instead of getting Cecilia and Sofia, you get Hawkeye and a really OP green unit in the form of Pent, and you're not put on a stupid turn limit (instead, you have to keep Hawkeye alive [not difficult, Hawkeye can hold his own unlike Sofia] and collectively obtain 700 EXP [basically get your team to collectively get 7 levels], both of which are much less stress inducing).  Darude Sandstorms would still make it frustrating, sure, and it'd be even worse if I were into LTC's, but as it stands it's... tolerable.

13 minutes ago, Decerd said:

As for MGS2, I don't get why Kojima felt the need to go out of his way to make it a "revolutionary prophecy" (read: Preach session) instead of making MGS2 a fun stealth sequel where we play as Snake, the actual badass, instead of Raiden. There's no way you can defend this move, it's BS and Kojima should've know better.

Guys, can't we all just agree that Metal Gear: Survive is the worst and most disappointing game in the series?

I mean, I know that there wasn't a whole lot to expect with that game since the first reveal trailer, but that doesn't mean it isn't a disappointment still.

1 minute ago, Slumber said:

• Metal Gear Solid 4: Between MGS4 putting all of its eggs into the narrative basket and MGS5 putting all of its eggs into the gameplay basket, I'd take MGS5 over 4 any day of the week. Primarily because MGS5 bothered to put its eggs into a basket that was woven properly. Even though MGS has always been appealing for its crazy narrative, it helps that none of the other games felt like they were shitting on previous entries simply to explain plot points like MGS4 did.

I think a certain cherished senator can sum up all the retcons and unnecessary explanations in that game with two words:

Spoiler

 

 

4 minutes ago, Decerd said:

Negan is a psychopath with ill will towards anyone that's not him, and the same goes for everyone that praises him. quotes him, or posts meme or pictures. The fact that your posting a quote from him as a joke shows me you need mental help.

Gonna be honest dude, don't make topics like "What's a dissapointing game you don't like?" and then go and getting mad and posting a Negan meme in response. Don't dish out what you can't take.

Okay, I... well, I just don't watch TV in general, and I haven't watched the Walking Dead, but...

How exactly does someone using him to make a joke make them a psychopath/suggest they're praising him?

At least agree with the sentiment of "don't dish out what you can't take", but I just don't understand this wild leap of logic.

[Slumber]

4 minutes ago, Ertrick36 said:

I think a certain cherished senator can sum up all the retcons and unnecessary explanations in that game with two words:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Pretty much. I remember getting a really bad feeling when nanomachines became a huge plot point just a few hours in.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Slumber

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 minutes ago, Ertrick36 said:

rue, but instead of getting Cecilia and Sofia, you get Hawkeye and a really OP green unit in the form of Pent, and you're not put on a stupid turn limit (instead, you have to keep Hawkeye alive [not difficult, Hawkeye can hold his own unlike Sofia] and collectively obtain 700 EXP [basically get your team to collectively get 7 levels], both of which are much less stress inducing).  Darude Sandstorms would still make it frustrating, sure, and it'd be even worse if I were into LTC's, but as it stands it's... tolerable.

My point was more they took what was awful, and through a score of changes, managed to make the map tolerable (no desert barring maybe Emmeryn's fall and Scorched Sands is actually good). This, despite the majority of the map coming from a prior game where it was absolutely atrocious. Just a clear case where IS positively learned something in map design and implemented it. I like that.