Super Mario Bros.
It’d be a cheat to mention GTA (or any game in the genre), FPS or Madden, because I don’t ‘like’ them, but I also haven’t actually played them. I have watched other people (usually my son, except for Madden) play them, and I know they’re not for me, but it’d still be a cop out to say “No me gusto.”
Yeah, I know which one you’re talking about :). But that’s the player’s choice though, not the game’s.
Outlast. It was widely touted as a very scary, intense game. I found it tedious, and the story was pretty incoherent, even for a find-the-notes horror game. (As a counterpoint, it had some very well-crafted jump scares, and I’m told the DLC helped with the story.) It was badly paced, in my opinion, padded with unnecessary repetition.
Outlast 2 also has pacing problems, but is much better crafted overall. Having watched a playthrough, I think I would have gotten bored with it, too.
I don’t know how popular it was, but Watchdogs 2 had me for a while, then pissed me off. Those damn circuit puzzles. F those. More recently, the new Doom can go to Hell. I loved it at first, but it was too hard for me, I’m not ashamed to say it. I’m no good at the fast paced turn/aim/shoot/switch weapons/aim/don’t get killed games. I enjoy my video games with a few cold beers, and that don’t mix with Doom.
Every Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare 3, maybe even since Black Ops. Black Ops had a balanced, fun multiplayer. Since then it’s favored the “pro” gamer, who kills you endlessly and repeatedly. Going 2-24 with the 2 kills being luck is no fun at all.
Same with the Battlefield series. If you’re not a long-time player and expert you’re cannon fodder. There’s no point for a casual gamer.
WoW. Tried it coming from CoH/V and the combat system was way too different for me.
[ul]
[li]Fallout 3 and Skyrim: fun for the first hour but just tedious after that. [/li][li]The Dark Souls series, I like the look and idea, the gameplay left me bored. [/li][li]*Metal Gear Solid 5: *30 minutes of being a crawling simulator, exposition about previous games, fetch quest, uninstall. [/li][li]Assassins Creed: the first one was terrible with the number of times it took control for a cut-scene, got so frustrating I didn’t bother with the rest (even after getting some as part of a bundle on sale). [/li][li]Mass Effect 1 & 2: came the these late (again got them as a bundle on sale), story didn’t grab me and they looked very out-dated - I’ve got HD texture mods somewhere so I may give them another go soon. Waiting for Andromeda to go on sale.[/li][/ul]
I don’t mind a little T&A in my games, I’m not a prude and would not mind my character getting laid from time to time. It was really the treatment of women as collectible achievements that I found to be gross.
Is it necessary to know the plot of the first Witcher to enjoy the other two games?
I have the unpopular opinion of disliking the modern gaming industry in general. I hate the trend of focusing on story and turning video games into interactive movies weighed down by cinemas and huge exposition dumps. It started in the '90s with FMVs and became terminal somewhere in the mid-00s. Plus games are weighed down by so much busy work.
Sand box games leave me cold. The FPS genre consists of slow, unimaginative, brown military shooters. Sequels and remakes of old awesome games don’t hold a candle to the originals (CS: GO, StarCraft II, Diablo 3, Doom 4). Bleh. Now when I play games, which is rare, I play retro hipster trash like The Binding of Isaac or Axiom Verge. I’ve turned into a stereotype!
I still watch walkthroughs/let’s plays of games from time to time. Since most of the worth from games nowdays is from the story there’s no point in wasting money on actually buying them if you can just watch them. Plus this way you can skip the tedious busy work. Water pipe puzzles in Bioshock? RPG grinding? Running across a giant empty field? Skip!
I think the last mainstream title I liked was Portal 2, and even that was mostly focused on story with the freedom of the original taken away. I never played any of the Dark Souls games, which is a series which supposedly goes against everything I just complained about, but I’m not sure if I’m interested at this point in my life spending dozens of hours dying over and over again.
I haven’t played COD since MW2, it was pretty clear where the online play was going even then.
Battlefield is 1000 times better if you play with a group and have voice coms. I’m not a top player, usually around the middle of the pack at the end of a game. I find if I’m having an off day I run as a medic or support and revive/heal/resupply the rest of the team. Tons of points that way.
I don’t mind it either when it has a point and purpose and when it’s not just “LOOK AT 'EM JANGLIES !”.
To give you an example of what I’d call gratuitous, I remember an otherwise unremarkable conversation with an NPC in Mass Effect 2 where, I shit you not, the point of view would jump from my character’s face when she was talking, to the other character’s lovingly detailed and modelled butt crack (mildly NSFW I suppose) when she was replying. That’s just tacky as shit and, frankly, kind of insulting. I felt kind of the same about some of the nudity in Witcher 2. Not all of it, but some. None in W3 however, so they learn.
Not really. The general setting of the games is explained (or just shown) in the later ones ; as are the key plot points - Geralt lost his memory, he doesn’t know why or how ; he’s being followed or possibly is following a band of spectral riders called The Wild Hunt for reasons vague and unclear ; and over the course of the first game he saved the life of King Radovid of Redania (which is the setting’s Not_Poland).
As for the specific plot of 1, which had to do with a secret society stealing witcher secrets and using them to build an army of mutants to undermine the kingdom ; it’s barely mentioned again. Some characters come back, and there are slight references here and there but you won’t feel like you’ve missed anything if you don’t know what you’re missing, if you follow my meaning.
I got bored with Witcher 3 after I hit the city and the wheels totally fell off the game’s pacing as I was asked to run back and forth through the town on missions.
I tried Dark Souls II and didn’t care for it but that only sort of counts. I don’t really have time for the “2hard4u Tru Gamerz Only” genre so it’s almost like sports or racing games – not really my thing from the start so it’s unfair for me to bring it up.
Personally, I love the Novigrad missions. It’s such a beautifully realized city.
I agree. I don’t have Super Twitchy Reflexes but frankly I don’t enjoy getting shredded by foul-mouthed 12yos or people who clearly don’t leave their computer much except for basic necessities.
If you want something accessible for a casual gamer, Overwatch is the place to be - it does an excellent job of catering to both the casual and hardcore demographic IMO.
Different strokes. Most people I’ve mentioned it agree that the game slogs down in that part, though they usually lamented that I gave up as they enjoyed what came after.
I’ve only played Battlefield 1 but find that I do well enough. The game is objective and team based so someone who plays a medic and literally just tosses bandage packs, pokes people with the syringe and helps capture locations will be more productive (and likely a higher scorer) than the sniper who spends the game perched on a rock and tending to his K: D ratio. I’m hardly pro, I play with some friends once a week on Friday nights, but we usually come in on the upper half of the board and it’s not unusual for some of us to be on top or make the wall of fame afterward. But, like Battle Pope said, it’s much better with a headset and friends. Five half-competent people coordinating is better than five good people all doing their own thing.
Try as I might, I just could not get into any of the Ultima games.
I tried Mass Effect 1. The gameplay felt clunky, the difficulty curve was way to high, those stupid “land in your vehicle and drive around” parts were boring, and the “choices” felt superficial and obvious.
Dark Souls / Bloodborne games. I’ve partially played most of them. I really enjoyed the mechanics, exploration, and general fighting and looting gameplay of the series. I really hated the ridiculous boss / PvP difficulty spikes required to progress however. That shit isn’t fun.
Horrible #1: The grind of battling a boss dozens of times until negative-reinforcement patterning and rote move memorizing finally get you the win. This was unfortunately 25% of the content and a required gated means to progressing.
Horrible #2: Mostly optional PvP that I can ignore, until ‘that one level’ where a mandatory fight against an over-leveled griefer player becomes mandatory. After about 20 fights, I finally found a kind soul who just stood there and let me kill him to progress past.
City-building/RTS games, e.g. Sim City, Warcraft, Civilization, etc. They bore me to death. The only one I ever enjoyed was The Ancient Art of War, and that was way back in 1984 and appropriately simple and primitive for its time.
See, I feel like that’s part of the charm and even addictiveness of these games. Because there is no high as high as getting completely owned by the same boss 20 times, managing to bring him to 5% health then getting owned again, rage quitting, coming back and THEN beating them.
Yes, it’s intensely annoying, but much like tantric sex the point is that when you FINALLY come all the way to the ceiling, it retroactively makes the previous 8 hours of bone-crunching frustration worth it.
