Games you didn't expect to like but ended up loving

If a game you thought would be ok but turned out to be amazing, does that count for this list?

Because that's how I felt about the original Xenoblade Chronicles

Yes, that game that seems to be universally regarded as one of the best JRPG's of all time. I heard a lot of praise from one guy, then heard some praise about it from other people. They had it in such high regards, but i didn't really think the game was as good as they were saying, even though I never played the game.

I was so very wrong

Shulk came out in Smash 4 not too long afterwards. I guess I was also partially turned off by the "I'm really feeling it" memes that popped up. Yet I still decided to go find a copy of Xenoblade Chronicles since apparantly this character's game was amazing or something. It didn't take very long for me to really get into it. The characters, the music, the battle system, the story.... good lord. All of it was fantastic. The game deserved every bit of praise that I was hearing about it and it quickly became one of my favorite games.

It's probably why I like the RPG genre so much now. I probably wouldn't have been motivated to give games like Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle a shot had this not been an important stepping zone.

If it doesn't count, then I have one more series. Gears of War.

See, I hadn't... really played any shooters outside of older PS2 ones like Call of Duty: Big Red One, whcih I enjoyed enough, but it was still kinda eh to me. Didn't really like shooters all that much. Anyways, some years back my mother got me an xbox 360 as a christmas gift, as well as a copy of Gears of War 1 and 2. I didn't know how it'd turn out, due to my past experiences but those games were surprisingly fun to play through. Who'da thunk Chainsaw guns would be hella fun? At this point the only game I haven't played is Gears of War 4, but that's only due to not having the console it's on. If I did I'd buy it 100%.

 

I love Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney. Such an interesting story, great characters, epic music... Seriously, even if you never play the Layton games, listen to the music.

Mine would be Persona 4. My friend had introduced me to Persona via 3, and I really disliked it. The dark tone and rap-based music really turned me off to it, and I wouldn't have even played P4 except that the same friend understood where I was coming from and assured me that this one was different. And he was right. P4 is one of my favorite games of all time.

 

LoZ The Minish Cap: I mentioned it in a different thread, but it's stuck on my mind now. When I got it, I was expecting something barely-canon and silly, but it's honestly my favorite top-down Zelda game tied with Link Between Worlds: better even than the Oracles and Link's Awakening. Seriously, check it out if you get the chance, it's a blast.

Borderlands 2: Yes I love Zer0, and I emulate his speech, not always that way. When I first saw people playing Borderlands 2 in the student lounge at school (we were able to hook up game consoles we brought from home into the TV), I thought it was silly, vulgar, stupidly violent, and lowbrow. After I got into it, I found out that it was a lot of what I want in a game: a setting and humor similar to Ratchet & Clank, controls identical to Far Cry, and cel shading visuals and profound storytelling segments like American comic books with a dash of Wild West themeing. I'm glad I caved and tried it.

Starbound: I tried Terraria, and it was okay. I considered skipping by Starbound, but after I tried it, I found it fixed most of what I didn't like about Terraria: it was scifi more than fantasy, it had many worlds and no left and right boundaries, and building/breaking the world was so much faster and better. I just wish I could play multiplayer with my friends.

Nier Automata: The story starts confusing, and the very long first mission made me think the entire game was going to be fighter jet bullet hell. Not so. The story gets slightly less confusing, and the gameplay is 50% kinda-bullet-hell and 50% really-bullet-hell. Somehow, I love anyway, despite bad decisions with camera angle.

Mario vs Donkey Kong: So my second video game ever (?) was Donkey Kong on the brick GB. It left its mark on me as a fantastic game, and Mario vs DK I went into with no expectations aside from "I don't think I've enjoyed a Super Mario game since 64". But this game is clearly a spiritual sequel to GB Donkey Kong. Controls, level design, soul; everything is there (except I don't like the art style).

 

Probably LOZ: a link between words. It was my first zelda game, and I didn’t enjoy it at first. I got stuck in the second dungeon. After I beat it, I loved the game.

 

Definitely Undertale. The only reason I picked it up in the first place was because so many of my friends recommended it, and I really didn't expect it to live up to all the hype surrounding it. I was glad to be proven wrong. To this day, it's still one of my favorite games of all time.

 

Most of you guys seem to go for things like RPG, action, fighting, and the likes of them. But not for me.

There's this rhythm game, Arcaea, that I first played for an event in another forums. Originally planning to just play whatever required by said event, I ended up getting hooked to the point of creating an account to keep the savefile. It also unexpectedly became the very thing drawing me into rhythm games in general.

 

I had a game(art of conquest) recommended by my friend. At first I didn't like the game as it is similar to strategic game like coc, rise of civilization(don't be offended). When I started playing, I slowly got hooked as I can attacked other player who is online and make lots of friendly player. I play the almost every day. But now I decided not to play it anymore as I spent too much time on it. I have an important national exam this year.

 

Undertale- I discovered the game at its growing popularity, but avoided it for a while because I just tend to avoid hypetrains and come in later on. It just so happened that my bf was playing it and kept referencing it to me, to a point I was like 'FINE! just so I can understand you.' and then weeks later I was the one throwing Undertale at him instead.
Crash Bandicoot- I grew up with a Playstation and GBC, and although many of my early video game memories hold Spyro, Rugrats in Paris, Educational games (such as Sesame Street), and Pokémon close... I did have Crash 1. Crash 1 was insanely difficult, I couldn't get past stage 2 ever. Then my cousin took my Crash 1 disc and threw it across the room like a Frisbee- the game got massively scratched up and never played the same since. To this day, that game freezes at start, after stage 1,2, 3, or ultimately after the first Boss. I have never reached the 2nd area, and it will probably stay that way on this disc..
I abandoned Crash for a long long time till the Crash N.Sane trilogy got announced and many many people on youtube started to do retro-reviews and playthroughs of the original games (just like people did with Spyro when Reignited was revealed). I grew interested in trying Crash again, but my copy of Crash 1 is busted- Luckily for me, I have a retro/modern (has all eras of gaming, including a arcade cabinet!) game store.. and it had 1 copy of Crash 2 and 3 left. They failed to fix my Crash 1, but games don't last forever alas.
2 and 3 are miles above Crash 1, and I've enjoyed playing them. Haven't completed them, but enjoying them none the less. ^^ If I fail to find Sw/Sh for my birthday I miiiiight get N.Sane Trilogy if it's out there..

 

so, I tend to stay towards the Nintendo console side of the gaming franchises, but some games I ended up playing and liking (when I thought I wouldn't) are:

Sonic Lost World: I thought this game was gonna be terrible but in the end I ended up liking it more then I thought I would (especially since everyone threw hate at it for being so bad)

Sonic and the Secret Rings: same thing as Sonic Lost World, except I tried it, didn't like it, my bro tried it and by him trying it again I did also and beat the game.

UNDERTALE: Ok so going into the game, I thought is was gonna be another MEME game, so my standards were pretty low as you can imagine, then my brother got the game and raved about it (saying stuff like when he gets home from college he was gonna "make" me play the game) so that is legit what happened, he got home, I played it, and now....it is my Favorite game I have ever played. (deltraune is kinda tied for second with Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2)

 

So I'm pretty bad at games that involve driving cars. I sucked at Need for Speed as well as the driving aspect of GTA V and so I thought I would hate Rocket League. It's a lot of driving around to hit a ball. I come with good news though! I'm doing fairly well and it's pretty fun. It does take a while to get used to it though but I can tell I'm getting a whole lot better.

 

definitely didnt expect undertale to be as good as it is

 

Pokémon TCG! Didn't know what to expect from it, since it didn't release from America. I wanted a dose of nostalgia but didn't want to long journey of the main games. This game was worth playing, it has depth and is fast to pickup & beat in a week.



Played all the way until the end. I could play and build decks with first and second generation of TCG cards, which are harder to find these days. On top of that discovered more cards I didn't know existed.

Similar to the main games, you battle your way to become TCG Chamption but an evil organization steps into your path along the way. The mechanics and system effects are cool enough to keep battling, less repetitive since you can change play style Without training/leveling up whole new characters over again.

 

Undertale!! It was one of those things that everyone started talking about, and I was more than a little annoyed that it drowned out my other fandoms, but once I tried it - aw man I loved it and it remains one of my favorite games/stories to this day.

 

For Me, This Will Goes To Assassin's Creed, Legend Of Zelda, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry 5 And Resident Evil 4.

Assassin's Creed The Whole Series
Before Loving It, I Do Saw The Playthrough And Saw My Older Sister Playing The Mobile Ver.

My First Impression Is On Killing People Which Is Not My Type And I Ignore It.

But Then When My Older Sister Playing Black Flag Ver. And Unity Ver. I Am Absorb To The Series: Like You Are In Like A Virtual Reality, Trying To Protect The History From Being Completely Being Exposed. And The Virtual Reality UI Is Really Sci-Fi Like.

Plus In Unity, You Got To Interact With The Character Outside Of Virtual Reality Which Always Gives You New Data About The History To Look On When You Take A Break From Story/Mission Mode.

While This Is A Complex Topic To Understand, But I Am Got Absorb To Learn The History With The Game.

Like Unity Ver. I Was Amazed On How They Bring The French Revolution Alive. And I Still Remembered I Played The Game And Suddenly I Am Good At Assassin People, And I Played It For Long Hours And I Still Remember I Am Trying To Solve A Series Of Riddle In Unity Ver. I Did Read The Novel Ver. Of The Black Flag And Brotherhood.

If I Can, I Want To Play Both Black Flag Ver. And Unity Ver. Both Of Them Is How I Become A Gamer In Recent Day.

And Damn, Only When We Sold The Xbox, I Learnt That In Unity Ver: There Is A Side Mission That You Have To Get The Documents And Bring It Back To Giovanni Cassini (Cassini Spacecraft's Namesake)! Damn, Now I Want Play Unity For That Side Mission As Not As A Gamer, But As Cassini Spacecraft's Fan!

Cassini Spacecraft: "(*Shooked*) What!?"

Legend Of Zelda

I Generally Like The Series, But In Breath Of The Wild, It Makes Me Become A Fan Of The Series! The Whole Game Is Overall Got My Attention.

Fire Emblem
Corrin's Involvement In Smash Bros. And Her/His Origin Game, Fire Emblem Fates Got Me Like And Become A Fan Of The Series. The Music And The Two Main Characters, Corrin And Azura Got Me Like "God, Half-Human, Half-Dragon!?" And A Certain Scene In The Game Where Corrin In Dragon Form Is About To Kill Azua And The Theme Song...The Whole Fates Series Got Me, Basically. And...Why The Heck Fates Is Not Presented On Tokyo Mirage Session!?

Final Fantasy
I Heard The Series, Over And Over Again With Growing Interest. It Is In Final Fantasy XV And World Of Final Fantasy That I Become A Fan, I Played The Demo Of Both Games. I Still Want To Play Both Games. Both Games' Story Got Me And The World Of Final Fantasy Music Is So Underrated.

Devil May Cry 5
I Never Heard About The Game Until My Older Sister Got It. I Am The First To Play In The Family And God, The Gameplay Got Me As A Fan And Trust Me, When I Didn't Get A S Or SS In Story Mode/Mission Mode: I Go Back To Those Stages And Try To Get It! I Told My Dad That The Game Is Like Final Fantasy Meet Resident Evil And Indeed, It Is That Immediately Hook Me.


Resident Evil 4
My True Gamer Beginning Is With This Game. I Was Age Of 9 When I Was Asked To Play This. My Dad Is A Huge Fan Of The Series, Despite He Is Scared And Often Now Play In Easy Mode. He Played All Games In The Series, Even Some In VR Mode. But Resident Evil 4 Is His First Resident Evil 100℅ Clear And Also My First Resident Evil Game. I Am Not Good In This Game At First, But As Time Grows, I Am Good In This Game.

Despite I Am Not A Fan Of The Series, But I Love This Game.


I Have So Many Games That I Didn't Expect To Like But Love It In The End. But I Have No Time For This Now. I Will Talk More About This After We Save The Pokemons In LV For Being Woopers Forevers.

 

Well, there's Wakfu, wherein I just got interested in the series, which led me to the game (which is quite good, if not for the general scarcity of players outside France), but there was one game, no entire series that I just wanted to try one day while being bored on homework... I played it once, and surprisingly, it was good~! I kept on playing it, trying all its available games, watched its animé, even played the spinoff games~! Its roguelike spinoff was the best tho... Then I read fanfictions about the game (don't judge ), through an email found a forum with others who equally like the game, and now am an proud member of said forum~! In short this game pretty influenced my life a lot~

Yeah it's Pokémon~