# Video games that you loved but ohers hater or neglected? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 27, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975 "2015-05-27T19:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/61 "2015-05-31T11:23:40Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > Emphasis added. > > And that was precisely the problem a lot of people had that I never understood; so many people came into BioShock 2 with negative predispositions because they were opposed to _any_ game that revisited Rapture. So really, anything that 2K could’ve possibly done in the second game to build upon BS1 was already criticized by default just for being set in Rapture in the first place. No, reusing Rapture for a different story is fine. And telling the story of SuperCommunist using Rapture tech/ADAM to create her dream evangelical socialist cult, abducting girls to build her utopia and so on is fine. But not both at the same time, because \*that \*makes no sense :). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/62 "2015-05-31T14:26:11Z")
I just want to say that after getting the idea of “easy mode” in DA:O from this thread I put it on and played all day yesterday and, man, just breeeeezed through the game. It’s wonderful now and I’m actually enjoying myself. I beat the impossible dwarf chick golem level without losing a guy! ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/63 "2015-05-31T15:17:29Z")
> [@Aghris](#): > > I loved Thief 4 to bits. It’s definitely not a perfect game, but after 10 years I chose not to be too picky and it didn’t disappoint. I’m also one of the few who really like DA2. > > On the other end of the spectrum, I hated DA3, although that is widely regarded as a perfect game. I spent 200+ hours into it, and in the end nothing of what I did mattered in the end. I still beat the end boss with three button presses. It disappointed me more than ME3, which in fact I loved. > > I guess I’m weird on my likes and dislikes. DA2 and DA3 suffered the same “nothing you did really mattered in the end” problem. But we hate DA2 for it because the journey to get to the end was sloppy. The journey in DA3 was fresh and satisfying, so we forgive it for the turd it dropped on us in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Aghris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@Aghris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aghris)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/64 "2015-06-01T06:48:45Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > DA2 and DA3 suffered the same “nothing you did really mattered in the end” problem. But we hate DA2 for it because the journey to get to the end was sloppy. The journey in DA3 was fresh and satisfying, so we forgive it for the turd it dropped on us in the end. I’m completely the other way around on this. DA2, despite its faults, felt much more cohesive to me. The story felt tighter, maybe because the game was shorter. DA3 on the other hand I played for ages. The idea of the war table was great, as was being able to customize the keep. But none of that mattered, and it felt that it should. Whereas in DA2 I felt that the few choices I made actually helped the story along. When I finished DA2 I thought: “that was cool”. When I finished DA3 I thought: “was _that_ it?” ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/65 "2015-06-02T21:32:57Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > I might be the only person who absolutely loved BioShock 2. > > I still think it’s the best BioShock out of all three. It just got a lot of needless hate because people thought it was a 2K cash grab. Shame. I haven’t seen any widespread dislike or hate for Bioshock 2. I loved it, better gameplay, more interesting options, visit different locations, find out some background on the Little Sisters and the Big Daddies, what’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/66 "2015-06-05T22:01:53Z")
I’ll go with The Saboteur. Running around Nazi-occupied France as a surly Irish mechanic turned resistance fighter, blowing up radar installations, tanks, armored cars, bridges, and derailing trains? Yes please. Climbing buildings and traversing rooftops a la Assassin’s creed and sniping Nazi’s from rooftops? Absolutely. Running over Nazi patrols in my Silver Dart racecar? Yup. Oh the memories. So fun. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/67 "2015-06-06T05:17:54Z")
Ok, I can see some of the games I would have mentioned have already been mentioned here is one of my overlooked favorites. I’m talking about Midwinter by MicroProse. Lots of players you get to play. Lots of vehicles to tool around it and fight in and load of enemies to wipe out. It had a 3d world. All of this in 80’s gaming. It was highly reviewed, spawned a sequal but it is largely forgotten about today but it was groundbreaking in so many fun ways. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/68 "2015-06-06T06:32:05Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > I’ll go with The Saboteur. Running around Nazi-occupied France as a surly Irish mechanic turned resistance fighter, blowing up radar installations, tanks, armored cars, bridges, and derailing trains? Yes please. Climbing buildings and traversing rooftops a la Assassin’s creed and sniping Nazi’s from rooftops? Absolutely. Running over Nazi patrols in my Silver Dart racecar? Yup. Oh the memories. So fun. Ooh, ooh, which reminds me (by way of the sequel) : hardly anybody knows about [Freedom Force](http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/41282-freedom-force-windows-screenshot-freedom-force-faces-a-tough.jpg). Tactical RPG spoofing the Golden Age of comic books with fantastic, over the top voice acting and a generally camp atmosphere. It will never not be awesome to clobber wiseguys FOR FREEEEEEDOM! with the Staff of Liberty, while they go “cheese it, the law !” ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/69 "2015-06-06T08:21:47Z")
Freedom Force is utterly delightful, and it’s sequel is also fantastic. The only problem with them is how linear they are, as it reduces replayability. If someone were to take the gameplay, and bolt it onto an XCOM style base management, procedurally generated mission metagame, it would be pretty much the best thing ever. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/70 "2015-06-06T15:24:42Z")
I loved Freedom Force! Only reason I didn’t mention it is it didn’t seem to be ignored at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/71 "2015-06-12T12:42:02Z")
Bumping this thread for a heads up : it’s that time of the year. Gabe Newell is doing a smash-and-grab on your beer money again, using many of the games that’ve been mentioned in this thread. With the Summer Sale/Flash sales, _Ghost Master_ is currently on Steam for less than one euro. Both _Freedom Force_ games can be had for 4 bucks. _Recettear_ is 4 bucks also. All three _Thief games are under 4 bucks each, and the latest one is 12 or so. Remember Me_, 10 bucks. Sunny summers are way overrated, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/72 "2015-06-12T16:07:22Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Ooh, ooh, which reminds me (by way of the sequel) : hardly anybody knows about [Freedom Force](http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/41282-freedom-force-windows-screenshot-freedom-force-faces-a-tough.jpg). Tactical RPG spoofing the Golden Age of comic books with fantastic, over the top voice acting and a generally camp atmosphere. It will never not be awesome to clobber wiseguys FOR FREEEEEEDOM! with the Staff of Liberty, while they go “cheese it, the law !” I have this on my Steam, but I can’t actually get it to run in Windows 8. I admit, I didn’t try very hard, as I think I got them during a past Steam sale ---
**Author:** ![BrianJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/54ee81/32.png) [@BrianJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrianJ)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/73 "2015-06-12T16:51:03Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I just want to say that after getting the idea of “easy mode” in DA:O from this thread I put it on and played all day yesterday and, man, just breeeeezed through the game. It’s wonderful now and I’m actually enjoying myself. > > I beat the impossible dwarf chick golem level without losing a guy! Yeah, on easy you don’t need to worry about friendly fire, so your mages can nuke with impunity. 😃 The 2 specs mentioned earlier have to be unlocked, so its unlikely you will get to use them, if you haven’t found them yet. They are typically useful for subsequent playthroughs. DAO was my favourite game, so am a bit surprised at all the dislike of it. Parts of it do drag on, like the Deep Roads section you just completed, but I still really enjoyed the story and banter between companions. DA2 I was disappointed in the story, and found some of the characters one dimensional. Anders, for instance talked about the mages/templars and ONLY the mages/templars for most of the game, same with Fenris. Isabela, well, non stop sexual innuendo. She was plainly written to appeal to teenage boys. DAI was ok. Long and MMO like, which is fine with me. The story was ok, but I found the ‘inclusive’ content came across as a bit preachy if you chose the ‘wrong’ option. my real issue with the game was the horrible combat and UI, especially on PC. ME3 some liked it, some didn’t. I also played it much after the hullabaloo of the endings passed. I thought the ending insulted my intelligence, quite honestly. “In Synthesis, machine and organic DNA will merge into a single happy being”. What?:smack: ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/74 "2015-06-12T18:59:45Z")
I loved Command and Conquer Renegade, which I understand is not the common opinion. I also enjoyed C&C4, which changed the mechanics of the game quite a bit. No more base building or resource gathering, just pump your units out and go find people to smash. C&C3 was a huge grind at the later levels (especially time-limited missions where you start with nothing) and I only played the first few levels of Red Alert 3 because it was even worse with the grinding. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/75 "2015-06-12T21:44:06Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Ooh, ooh, which reminds me (by way of the sequel) : hardly anybody knows about [Freedom Force](http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/41282-freedom-force-windows-screenshot-freedom-force-faces-a-tough.jpg). Tactical RPG spoofing the Golden Age of comic books with fantastic, over the top voice acting and a generally camp atmosphere. It will never not be awesome to clobber wiseguys FOR FREEEEEEDOM! with the Staff of Liberty, while they go “cheese it, the law !” One of my favorites ever. It was also very mod-able at the time, there was a huge database of skins and builds for hero’s, powers, etc. I remember having an overpowered GI Joe team based all around martial-arts and guns that was fun as hell to play. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/76 "2015-06-12T22:37:17Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > I have this on my Steam, but I can’t actually get it to run in Windows 8. I admit, I didn’t try very hard, as I think I got them during a past Steam sale Yes, it seems kind of janky on modern setups, but thankfully the jank is relatively easy to work around (by the standards of abandonware anyway :)) : find the game’s .exe, set it up to run in Win98/ME compatibility mode and checking the “deactivate desktop composition” and “deactivate visual themes” tickboxes. Then close Steam, find the Steam .exe and run \*that \*in WinXP SP3 mode. Relaunch Steam, then launch FF from Steam as normal. At least that worked for me. Just don’t forget to set Steam back to regular mode and reboot it when you’re done playing/want to play other games and you should be golden. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/77 "2015-06-12T23:32:58Z")
Nobody remembers Arx Fatalis - it was hugely overshadowed by the similar-looking Morrowind - but it was a terrific, tight, atmospheric RPG that was unfairly neglected. Less open-ended than the latter, but it had this great claustrophobic feel to it. The “tracing runes” magic system made sense, even if it was often frustrating in the heat of battle - basically you had to walk in with the hand movements for your best spells _memorised_, or you were going down - but best of all was that you had to _prepare_ for missions: you weren’t going to just find food, potions, weapons or magic , so you had to put in time making or organising what you needed, including learning the spells before you set out, or you’d get your arse kicked by some toerag sorcerer who’d done his homework. It was hugely immersive, and it would have made a killer online game against other players… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/78 "2015-06-13T20:47:36Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I just want to say that after getting the idea of “easy mode” in DA:O from this thread I put it on and played all day yesterday and, man, just breeeeezed through the game. It’s wonderful now and I’m actually enjoying myself. > > I beat the impossible dwarf chick golem level without losing a guy! Huh? I have all sort of troubles playing CRPG because I’m absurdly clumsy with a keyboard . But I never had the slighest problem with DA : O…beause it’s pausable. You pause, give orders, unpause, etc… So I fail to see what your problem was. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/79 "2015-06-13T21:04:39Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Another game I really loved that was not exactly hated but just kind of forgotten was Majesty. It was a Kingdom Simulator. This looked interesting, but looking it up, I see that’s it an RTS, a genre that I hate in that it consists in clicking quickly on buildings, corraling troops, clicking on some other part of the map to get themm to fight there, etc… Basically I only like games where I can stop and think about my next move. If I’m in any way rushed to act, I’m going to dislike the game. So, how works “Majesty” from this point of view? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975/80 "2015-06-14T01:38:09Z")
Pretty well, actually. Majesty’s schick is that you don’t actually control your adventurers. You’re the king, so you build structures, recruit characters, and then they basically roam around doing what they want. You can encourage them to do what you want by setting rewards and bounties on things. So, if there’s a minotaur rampaging, you might put a 500 gold bounty on it, and then the adventurers who want money will go try to kill it, and then go back and spend the money you gave them on items and so on at your shops. So you’re not so much rounding up troops and sending them at things as you’re setting flags on places and things and then putting money on it and hoping the characters will pay attention to you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-loved-but-ohers-hater-or-neglected/720975.md?page=5)