Hey folks! Here’s an interesting thing that happened with me: I love action RPGs, I love western RPGs, I was addicted to Skyrim. So when The Witcher 3 launched, one of the most well received open world action RPGs I loved it, right? Well… No. In fact, for some reason I can’t really understand I could never play more than 2 hours before dropping it.
I restarted that game about 5 times before, never liked it, wished I could refund it.
Until about two weeks ago I randomly decided to try it again and… oh boy, let’s just say I’m a child considering if I should sleep for work tomorrow or continue playing all through the night.
Does anybody else have a game that they couldn’t like but it suddenly clicked and now they enjoy it?
It kinda happened for me with Fallout New Vegas. I was maybe 11 and never played anything from the series. I spent my time killer hobo-ing my way through but I always felt like I was missing something, then I started reading negative opinions about it online and got influence by that, so I dropped it. After some time I played Fallout 3, liked and thought it was much better than New Vegas and decided to give NV another shot (I was at 12 or 13 by then). I loved it to the point where it is probably on the top of my emotional top 10. It got me into 50s/60s music, got me interested in politics and ethics, made me become a fan of science fiction and old school RPGs focused on story and a variety of approaches. Really a fantastic game
That’s what’s up 🤙
NV is by far my fav Fallout game. I think I’ve replayed it more than any other game. And I still find new stuff every playthrough.
Same here, even if tbf I almost never finish new playthroughs. I usually get lost in some side quest I never encountered, or ones I never approached that way (think about the cannibals in the strip)
I was on like the 5th playthrough and somehow realized I never encountered the Boomers. No idea how I didn’t make it to that part of the map before.
The first Dark Souls. At the time I had played Demon’s Souls, but didn’t really play games for the challenge so I was very much not used to those types of games. Was also a diehard FPS player.
But a good friend, the same one that introduced me to Demon’s Souls, gifted me Dark Souls. It was a game a genuinely enjoyed, but couldn’t quite find my groove. I’d create a character, get to a certain point, then feel lost or too frustrated to proceed. So I’d stop playing for a few months, then pick it up again and roll a new character.
This trend repeated for a while, and I DID progress farther every time. Eventually, I hit a wall with one of the bosses and raged quit. So fast forward to my inevitable return to the game, instead of starting over I just went right back to that boss and tried again, and again, and again… and actually won?! That was the moment I feel like my gaming potential was awakened.
From Software fanboy, but also truly invested in a good challenge.
Unrelated, but I’m polishing of Nioh 2 now with NG+ and the DLC
I have DS3 sitting on my shelf and will probably play it some time. For me the reason I haven’t even booted it up is the reputation… I’m a pretty good twitch gamer, but I play games to relax, not to feel stressed. I often turn the difficulty a layer or two down from what I can handle, because I’m not really playing to be seriously challenged most of the time. I get plenty of that in real life.
Haha you and me both commented about dark souls literally minutes apart, what a world.
Stardew Valley. I pirated it because I really didn’t think I would like it, but was curious about all the positive buzz that was going on around it. Played for maybe 45 minutes and decided that it wasn’t for me. I think it was two weeks later that I picked it back up again because some article wouldn’t stop singing it’s praises. Start playing, look up, 4 hours had passed.
So I bought the game and proceeded to put over 200 hours into it.
Then I bought it on Switch and put like 160 hours into it.
Then I bought it on Mobile and put like 60 hours into it.
Never thought I’d click so well with some silly farming game.
I have heard so many good things… might need to add a new game to my Switch
You might want to opt for PC if that’s at all your style. The mod scene in Stardew is very strong.
It is mad cozy in Switch handheld mode though
Switch at PS5 household only, though the allure for PC is strong
I had a similar experience with The Witcher, but the first one. Bounced off the game twice. Third time was the charm. I fell in love with it and then ended up playing the other games in the series as they came out. I’m not sure what made me keep trying, but I’m glad I did.
Long before that, when Morrowind was released, I couldn’t quite understand it. I had grown up on JRPGs, and the openness of Western RPGs was confusing. I kept trying and eventually fell in love with it too. This opened up a whole new genre for me.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown had a similar effect for turn-based strategy games and Elden Ring for Soulsborne games. I’m still looking for the games that will open my eyes to several genres. I occasionally try games in genres I don’t typically like in hopes this will be the one. It’s really cool to have that new door opened for you.
I can’t get into turn-based trategy games. I really have to be in the mood for it, but then I’ll put it down for too long, and I just can’t get back into the story later.
I’ve tried a few, and it’s the same thing every time.
I’ve never been able to have Skyrim or Witcher 3 click for me, despite trying a few different times (because so many seem to regard them as gold standards of action RPGs, a genre a do like!)
But, to answer your question, for me its probably Stellaris (and, through that, many of the weighty 'paradox games).
I’d always liked games like Civ (Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri being the first 4x that grabbed me, back in the 90s). But, ‘Paradox games’ were something I tried a few times, and bounced off of every time. They’re just a different beast, in terms of ‘weight’.
But, after having tried Stellaris and bounced off of it, I got talked into playing it multiplayer with some of my friends who play it more regularly, and having a knowledgeable person there to explain some of the weirdness and strategy to me made it all click.
And once I got that down, Crusader Kings and Victoria now were like, understandable to me. Though, I do think Stellaris is my favorite out of the bunch.
I’m going way back here, but I recently grabbed the original Doom, mostly to show my kids for historical value. I did play the shit out of the shareware version of the game, but I never got into the full game particularly… by the time I was old enough to survive the harder levels, there were fancier games out.
Now, I find myself surprisingly addicted to a 30 year old shooter. I had forgotten why this game is such a classic, it’s just… it’s just friggin’ good. In terms of fun and depth of play, it holds up just fine compared to far more advanced modern games.
Red dead redemption 2. Picked it up at launch, and wasn’t in the right mindset. Once I got a steamdeck, I tried it again, one of the best games ever made.
It truly is
I was the same with The Witcher 3. Tried it a couple of times, but only a year after the purchase did it click. Love that game now.
Vampire Survivors. I did like it in the beginning, but I started to get bored since I got stuck in the first map. I uninstalled it for a while then I installed it again last week. I’ve been playing on and off again, since I was basically just trying to get a lot of coins. I managed to reach level 20 and unlock the second map, then yesterday, I reached 27 minutes in the second map and now I’m addicted to it lmao. I got the magic wand without cooldown on that playthrough, and it was so satisfying to see everything just dying.
Same for me too. When I first tried Vampire Survivors I died so fast and didn’t understand what the fuzz was about. I simply uninstalled it. But after seeing some videos and looking at some guides (mainly about weapon combination), I give it another chance. This time, however, it clicked after combining some weapons as seen in the videos. Quite a funny game after that experience and it made me think about giving other games or genres a try.
Spent many tens of hours on V.S. Little gem of a game. At first I thought it was stupid, but it hooked me nonetheless, lol. Haven’t tried the DLC, yet.
I did try Halls of Torment, though, which is basically the same deal plus being able to aim in a direction other than the one you’re traveling in. Tens of hours there, too. :P
Deus Ex. The first one. I would always get kinda lost on the second to third level and lose interest, but once I got into it, I was INTO IT! It was all I played for a long long time, although eventually I stopped at Hong Kong because it was too dark to see and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it before I lost my momentum
Morrowind - played it when it first came out and had no idea what to do, then played it again a year or two later and loved it.
The Witcher 3 - I didn’t like The Witcher 2 so put it off for ages, but after the first boss fight I really liked it.
Breath Of The Wild - at first I didn’t like it so much, but after beating the first boss I got the hang of it more. TOTK is miles better though.
I got Detroit: Become Human as agiftx, but have only played about 20 minutes of it. Gonna give it another try when the summer is over.
Definitely one of my favorites! My fiancé doesn’t play games and at some point she didn’t want to continue playing, because that would be the end of the game for her, since she only wanted one story (I mean no second runs).
I encourage you to play it in autumn/winter 💪🏼
I recently played it and have a similar take. I’m really curious about what might have happened differently if I had made different choices, but right now that is still my story and I don’t want to ruin it with a second run or watching videos from other players.
I had the same experience with the Life is Strange series of games. I haven’t played Life is Strange 2 yet, but for the rest of the series I’ve only had a single run on each and am still not ready to change my story.
Yes! Life is Strange is one of those games too. We began Life is Strange 2 a month ago and we haven’t had much time to play again, but we already made some regrettable choices and decided to stay true to our story and whatever happens, happens.
Same happened for me with Deus Ex Human revolution. Back in 2012, I just didn’t understand the plot and the atmosphere of the game, and wasn’t a fan of the decision-making system. Last year, I plugged in my dusty PS3, started the game and I just had all the keys to a better understanding. Adam Jensen is a charismatic character and the scenario makes you want to go through the whole game in a row
Mankind Divided is really good as well. I’ve played every single main Deus Ex game ever made and they are all amazing, even Invisible War - it wasn’t as good as Deus Ex 1 but compared to most games it was still incredible. I really, really hope we get some more games.
Cyberpunk 2077 felt a bit like an open-world Deus Ex game too.
Yes i definetely agree for MD and the very first with JC DENTON. I must try the visual revision they made for that one
Currently playing through MD on deck now. I’m enjoying it but also taking my time with it.
I think this will be Disco Elysium for me. I keep bouncing off it, but I want to play it and so many swear it’s amazing. I’ve just been a bit too depressed and not focused enough I think to deal with the depth of it. I always end up playing something ‘cozier’.
Two games for me:
Trials Fusion: I expected/wanted a fairly easy going full-speed flow type of ordeal but only the first few tracks are like that. Only when I booted it up years later to have another look did it click as a ‘skill-based momentum puzzle game’. Finished the game, loved it, got Trials Rising, Evolution and 2 SE.
Death Stranding: got to somewhere early mid game, got bored running standard deliveries. One of my first open world games like this, I didn’t know when to move on with the story. When after a while I returned to the game and got back on track with the story it became one of my favourite games of all time.
