Video games you want to like, but don't? / Video games you wished you liked more?

Only game that truly springs to mind is NFS: MW (2012). I played the hell out of HP (2010) & still love it to this day (though playing the re-release, doesn't feel like it's aged well). But with MW, I bought & sold it less than a week. I don't know what it is, but it felt like Criterion just decided to mix up the physics engine & I just could not get it. There were little things about the game that I wanted to play, but as long I was annoyed by how the cars handled, there was no point. Felt like a major letdown after all the time & joy spent with HP.
 
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Well I thought Control was pretty overrated, I wanted to like the game because it reminded me of Infamous in many ways. Unfortunately it turned out to be one of the most dull experiences in my 20+ years of gaming. Finished it, shelved it and haven't played it since.

That game was pretty much the tell-tale of the 8th gen for me.
 
V-Rally 2.
Whether you call it Test Drive or Need for Speed V-Rally 2, this is a game I got years ago that I want to enjoy, but every time I've tried, I simply cannot get into it. I am just not fond of the way the cars handle, it feels twitchy and if I go off course, theirs a good chance I am going to overturn my car. However, my biggest problem with this game is the AI because it seems the moment I make a single mistake, they'll pass me and pull so far ahead I will never see them again in most cases. Even if I don't make a mistake, they'll be on my tail at all times just waiting for me to screw up. (which will eventually happen)

I've spoken to submaniac93 and SuperFrizzio, who really like the game, and I've asked for advice from them on how to play it and I've tried various other things. That said, I feel like I have given it a fair chance, but I just cannot get into this game. I want to like it because I love rally racing, but like a lot of what I have posted here, it's just too hard and feels like one of those games where if you mess up once, you're done, and it doesn't give you enough of a chance to catch up if you fall behind. It ain't as bad as Test Drive 6 for instance but could be toned down quite a bit.
 
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Pretty much everything! For some unknown reason, I do not like 99.999% of video games out there. There are very few games throughout my life that I liked at the time, and even fewer that I still like now. I wish I did find them addictive and enthralling, as most other people seem to, as it sounds like it could be fun. I'd like to like video games in general, but I just don't, despite trying lots of them.
 
McLaren
Only game that truly springs to mind is NFS: MW (2012). I played the hell out of HP (2010) & still love it to this day (though playing the re-release, doesn't feel like it's aged well). But with MW, I bought & sold it less than a week. I don't know what it is, but it felt like Criterion just decided to mix up the physics engine & I just could not get it. There were little things about the game that I wanted to play, but as long I was annoyed by how the cars handled, there was no point. Felt like a major letdown after all the time & joy spent with HP.
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I feel like a sucker for buying up the DLC packs thinking it'd get better.... There were small things to enjoy here and there, but it felt like a less fun version of Burnout Paradise. Which is actually what I was looking forward to with the original trailer that they put out, but even the multiplayer ended up being irritating. The game lacked any character (not actual people, I mean style) to make it stand out, I don't mind "sterile" games but this didn't feel right to me.

I would also agree with everyone else here on Forza Horizon 5, but most points were already mentioned here. Really feeling burnt out on it and feeling like getting cars as an annoying chore without much satisfaction in rewards.


One that comes to mind is Wolfenstein Young Blood, where I always was interested in the Wolfenstein gameplay, but didn't really care for the sneaking parts. (Loved Doom 2016 and Eternal) So I figured playing a modern Wolfenstein game that's focused on co-op would at least make it fun even if the story was blah and the main characters are very unlikeable. Co-op games always seem to have some enjoyment out of them, even if the game isn't the best. Don't know how the Easy Allies review called the sisters "cute," but they were seriously irritating and grating to listen to. The gun-play was actually fun, but the RPG elements of accidentally entering an area that has high level enemies that take you out in seconds sucked what enjoyment there was. It has potential to be at least a fun co-op game, but the annoying characters and RPG level gates made it hard to like.

I know I have more games I could list, but can't quite think of them at the moment.
 
Spongebob Squarepants Supersponge.
I used to like this game, in fact, I even talked about it in one of my own threads a while back, but nowadays, the game has not stood the test of time for me. I no longer enjoy it as I used to anymore, I didn't get very nostalgic playing it again in recent years, if anything it kind of killed it and left me feeling rather empty inside instead, and I genuinely wish that wasn't the case. I want so badly to enjoy this game again, but much like I said previously, the reasons I found myself not enjoying the game anymore were because:
  1. I didn't like the health system being based on how many spatulas you collect and the fact they fling all over the map when you get hit just triggers my OCD.
  2. The controls were just so sensitive and I did not like how Spongebob was controlled.
  3. The game just got too hard at some points, partially due to what I said in #2, had some nasty difficulty spikes, and I think I even had to use cheats to beat some of them. Yet, go figure I could breeze through the last level. 🤷‍♂️
The music, the level design, and the menus are all pretty memorable for me, but sadly it's all overshadowed by what I said above and it prevents me from getting any proper enjoyment anymore. It's a shame it doesn't hit me like it used to because I really want it to and who knows, maybe things will change when I revisit it someday, but I'd be surprised if it does.
 
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

I was surprised by the first trailer of Kirby and the Rainbow Curse during E3 2014. I wanted to get it for my former Wii U, but I didn't need it and skipped it because I changed my mind about it.

Reasons:
-It is difficult for me to control by using the game pen on the Wii U game pad.
-The lack of Copy Abilities in this game
-It's bland and uninteresting for me.

Yep, I am glad that Kirby and the Rainbow Curse isn't ported to the Nintendo Switch. I prefer Kirby and the Forgotten Land over Rainbow Curse for obvious reasons.
 
I want to like the Borderlands games. Maybe it's because I've played them solo but I just can't really get far in them at all despite wanting to try the different gun and different way you can build your classes in the endgame.
 
Nier Automata for me, tried playing it once, took multiple hours to beat the first level, it was by far the most difficult and confusing game I’ve ever played, felt like I needed to be pushing 7 different buttons at all time, like playing Guitar Hero at the hardest difficulty. So I gave up after that, which sucks since everyone’s been raving about it for years and I like the aesthetic of it. I love both Bayonettas but I haven’t played any other Platinum games.

Ni No Kuni is another one, found the combat so difficult and all the systems so convoluted even though I love Studio Ghibli, it was well produced and the music was great. Made it about halfway through and never bothered trying the second game.

Also, and not a popular opinion, but Gran Turismo 3. Felt like such a huge letdown after the first two games to me, luckily I fell back in love with the series with GT4, only to have that love tested with GT5 and GT6.

Sonygamer455
Twisted Metal 2.
Big fan of Twisted Metal, got into it in 2011 with Head-On, then Black, and the 2012 game, but I had wanted to play Twisted Metal 2 long before any of them and I eventually did in mid to late 2012. The game had a cool soundtrack, nice maps, interesting characters, and great endings for them. It had just about everything I could ask for in a Twisted Metal game, however, all this is greatly undermined by the game's harsh difficulty. The AI cheats like no other game I've ever played. They spam their special weapons and freeze missiles at a rate you could never achieve without cheats making it easy to get killed and it doesn't help the health pickups don't respawn fast enough.

I want so badly to like Twisted Metal 2 more, but it's just too hard, unfair and generally, you die way too easy in this game. And I'm not trying to sound like a sore loser here, I've played through the entirety of Head-On, Black, and the 2012 game, even beating ATV without cheats in Head-On and 2012's story on Twisted difficulty with all golds. So I am aware Twisted Metal likes to challenge you, but Twisted Metal 2 just takes this too far and makes the game unenjoyable as a result. If they just fixed the AI and made them actually play within the game's limitations and made the health pickups respawn a little more, it'd be another TM game I'd love.
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Twisted Metal 2 was one of the foundational games of my childhood. Absolutely agree that the AI spams techniques it should be impossible to do, and it’s completely unfair, but I still find it fun at least. But then again I’ve never beaten it. I used to be able to get to the final boss battle against Dark Tooth but could never beat him. Had the first 3 games for PS1, haven’t really played any of the later games since I found Black’s whole edgy aesthetic really lame. TM1 was boring and TM3’s physics and graphics sucked so TM2 always felt like a happy medium and it’s just painfully PS1.
 
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Pokémon Legends Arceus.

They definitely tried to go out of their comfort zone but man, after the novelty a free-ish exploration wears off, nothing about the game is good except for the very very end with the twist villain and I'm wondering why wasnt the rest of the game like it.

Action RPG elements are really bad and it leads to every boss being terrible apart form the one with the villain. I also ended up not liking overworld catching, it makes the Pokémon feel like generic collectables than things you care for and raise to kick some ass. You can do most of the game without doing a single battle, granted doing so, might have the villain curb stomp you everytime.

I also argue the new Pokémon designs were definitely at their weakest. I love Hisuian Samurott and that's about it. Every other Hisuian form, I much rather the original form and don't get me started on Dialga and Palkia origin forms :lol:
 
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RESHIRAM5
Pokémon Legends Arceus.

They definitely tried to go out of their comfort zone but man, after the novelty a free-ish exploration wears off, nothing about the game is good except for the very very end with the twist villain and I'm wondering why wasnt the rest of the game like it.

Action RPG elements are really bad and it leads to every boss being terrible apart form the one with the villain. I also ended up not liking overworld catching, it makes the Pokémon feel like generic collectables than things you care for and raise to kick some ass. You can do most of the game without doing a single battle, granted doing so, might have the villain curb stomp you everytime.

I also argue the new Pokémon designs were definitely at their weakest. I love Hisuian Samurott and that's about it. Every other Hisuian form, I much rather the original form and don't get me started on Dialga and Palkia origin forms :lol:
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I sold it on eBay after about 10 hours because I didn’t like the environments at all. Thought the open world would be nice but I lost interest quickly.
 
Tomodachi Life for the Nintendo 3DS

In 2014-2015, I used to like to play this game. But in 2020, I lost interest in it as it was not fun to me anymore because it lacked the LGBTQ option. Yep, this 3DS game received backlashes for its lack of LGBTQ couples in 2014. Its lack of LGBTQ couples is an unrealistic issue. :grumpy:
 
Speaking as someone who's ancient by gamer standards (i.e. over 40), it feels like the bottom dropped out for both indie and AAA games when it came to new ideas compared to the unpredictable eclecticism of the PS2 era. Yeah, there were lots of wannabe FPSes and GTA clones back then, but things feel even more stale now, in the sense that there are very few settings that seem like the kinds of places I want to spend 50 hours poking around in. Skyrim completely burned me out on fantasy settings so I'm just not feeling the whole Elden Ring hype, I never really clicked with survival horror (Resident Evil games are a lot more fun for me to actually watch other people Let's Play), and every time I hear another "spooky stuff happens in a space station" premise I just want to go back to Prey. The indies have shifted from "let's do a new take on this old classic style" to "let's do a newer take on the new take" and I just can't get excited for a wave of "this is just like the games you loved on SNES" titles for what seems like the tenth year in a row, even if a couple titles in that vein (Hyper Light Drifter and Hollow Knight in particular) won me over thanks to unique art direction.

Also, can we get a moratorium on synthwave soundtracks? Drive was in 2011, the novelty's kind of worn off.

That said, this is a racing game-centric forum and in the service of being on-topic about games I wish I liked more, Forza Motorsport 7 is definitely up there. Finally, an installment of my favorite racing series that includes weather and night racing, and it... just doesn't click? The obvious culprit is career mode, which tried to make things more "motorsporty" by instituting that homologation system that just fell flat. I get that doing Balance of Performance tweaks on a roster of 700-plus cars is some kind of tricky arcane sorcery, but the whole idea of building a road car into a race car is most fun when it feels limitless. And without the ability to do the kind of full customization that kind of endeavor allows -- widebody kits, stripping out and customizing the interior, even the simple-seeming ability to put decals on the windows -- the limitations actually stood out more than they had on previous games.

Overall the whole game really served to emphasize how tricky it is for the Gran Turismo-rooted model to make track day-style racing feel more like a big-time FIA-sanctioned race weekend, especially when I want to reenact some Group 5 Silhouette race or a late '80s Le Mans battle and I'm going up against a jumble of anachronistic opponents, some of which have Spongebob liveries. Horizon is hyperactive and stylized, Assetto Corsa is realistic and serious (in a make-your-own-fun way), and there's Forza Motorsport somewhere in the middle trying to figure out which of those it wants to be -- and collecting (figurative) dust on my hard drive in the process. I'm still excited about the potential for the new Forza to finally lean more directly into the Motorsport aspect of things -- all it has to do is pick up the ball that Project Cars dropped and institute a sense of actual rising-to-the-top career progress, maybe even incorporate some (gasp) personality and humanity into the story. It doesn't have to be a Need for Speed or even GRID Legends grand narrative or anything, just give me the feeling that there are stakes and rivalries and history behind what's going on in the game. You know the sense of knowledge and enthusiasm that went into writing about the DLC cars on the website? That, but across the board, please.
 
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Cars 3: Driven to Win

In 2017, I used to like this game, but later, I lost interest in it.

Reasons:
-There are no DLCs/updates for this game.
-Small roster of characters
-Bad voice acting
-No story mode
-The lack of online multi-player.

Yeah, in 2020, I had my former copy of Cars 3: Driven to Win sold and replaced it with my new copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
 
Test Drive 4.
Given my love for Test Drive 5, the 2002 game, and Offroad 2, it's not difficult to imagine why I would want this one as well. Was pretty happy to find it, but upon playing it, it just wasn't too enjoyable. Haven't touched it in a while, but my reason for not enjoying it was pretty much everything I said about Test Drive 6 earlier excluding the credit system. I really wish that wasn't so because both this and 6 would be great games if the handling and ai was tweaked a bit, but as it stands, I find it hard to enjoy.
 
Call of Duty World at War.
Yet another game that fits this description:
Sonygamer455
Or maybe you do like it, but not as much as you want to?
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Much like NFS 2015, I like this game but not as much as I want to. I've been a big fan of COD zombies for years and have played Black Ops 1-3 a lot, but I never could get into World at War much at all. Since I have played them years before I got World at War and all the zombie maps from World at War exist in Black Ops 1's DLC 4 (which I also played first), I think that is a huge part of why I cannot get into the game. Being used to the enhanced visuals of the Black Ops 1 versions of the maps and then playing them on World at War just feels like a downgrade for me. Sure it had custom maps, different weaponry, the marines on Verruckt, different zombie sounds, and possibly more I am forgetting, not even this was enough to win me over and I always felt like I was better off playing Black Ops 1, which I prefer much more. You could say Black Ops 1's very existence kind of ruins World at War for me, especially since I have a nostalgic attachment to it.

Another huge reason I think I never could get into World at War is that I have only played it on PC and not console like the others. I highly prefer console over PC with immersion being the factor that separates the 2 for me and since I don't have World at War on console, you could say I never got what I feel is a proper experience of the game like I did with the others. I don't know why I never did, but as of recently, I am honestly thinking about getting it on PS3 in hopes maybe I will eat my words on this later.

I am sure if I had played this first my thoughts would be very different and I am confident when get it on console, it will be. For now though, I have little interest in the game and I wish that wasn’t the case.
 
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Forza Horizon is a game I like but the lack of Simulation options just destroys a game that could be incredible…. Let’s take a Lamborghini that has 1 inch clearance and go off roading. Then we can crash into walls and light poles 🤮
 
ctdc67
Forza Horizon is a game I like but the lack of Simulation options just destroys a game that could be incredible…. Let’s take a Lamborghini that has 1 inch clearance and go off roading. Then we can crash into walls and light poles 🤮
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It's not that for me, I want to like it but I just got bored of the same thing over and over. I played the first two a lot, dabbled with 3 and that's where it ended, (despite owning 4 and 5 is on GP etc). I think it's really stale now.
 
I'd go with anything after Forza motorsport 3, but that's too easy. I'll go with something I'd probably receive a bit more flack for.

Dead Space. Having played Doom 3, I seriously was hoping this one would have a leg up over it, in the sense of the horror atmosphere.

It just doesn't do it for me. The Intro felt too boring and drawn out, the third person point of view pretty much gave me "Resident Evil In space" vibes.

Didn't bother with the sequels.
 
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Mario 64

Clunky controls with horrendous camera angles even for the time. Mario Kart 64 is also pretty bad. Mario is clearly better series-wise but like for like, it lost out to Crash Bandicoot massively this gen.

Destiny & other games like it

Everyone I know plays them and I just think they're uninteresting.
 
All forza games since fm4, fh series included, recent fifa games (I installed them, play for like 30mn then yeah, nope it doenst click) same for nba2k games.

AC Valhalla, trying my best to finish it but I just can't, nothing really appeal to me, game isnt bad, but there's still lots of glitches that make my day miserable each time I try to continue where I left.
 
Cod: Warzone

Loved it for the first year and a bit but as soon as Vanguard got integrated it took a big dive.

There were always no recoil guns, with cheesy perks and items you can use. But now it’s worse than ever.
At least before VG you had a choice to use something a little harder but you would benefit from a faster ttk.

That option doesn’t exist anymore, it’s either you use zero recoil guns or you are screwed. Then there are perks like serpentine and combat scout, one lets you take more bullets while sprinting while the other shows the outline of an enemy player through walls if you land a shot on them. Don’t even get me started on movement speed of VG weapons, another broken and poorly thought out part of the game.

There are plenty of other things I can get into, but the point is Sledgehammer really ****ed this game up with their world war woke game getting integrated, I hope they stop making cod games and have nothing to do with Warzone 2.
 
Been meaning to respond to this.
bloodyboyblue
Twisted Metal 2 was one of the foundational games of my childhood. Absolutely agree that the AI spams techniques it should be impossible to do, and it’s completely unfair, but I still find it fun at least.
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I can understand that. I might've overstated it a bit when I said it was "unenjoyable" because the game can still be fun and at times, it is, but it doesn't take much for it to become unenjoyable.
bloodyboyblue
But then again I’ve never beaten it. I used to be able to get to the final boss battle against Dark Tooth but could never beat him.
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And sometimes it's not always about winning, it's just about fun! Some of the games from my childhood I have never been able to beat, but that didn't stop me from enjoying them anyway.
bloodyboyblue
haven’t really played any of the later games since I found Black’s whole edgy aesthetic really lame.
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Although I love Black, I can understand why its dark theme wouldn't be for everyone because it contrasts very sharply with the previous games and not everybody was on board for that. Personally, I could take either one.
bloodyboyblue
TM1 was boring and TM3’s physics and graphics sucked so TM2 always felt like a happy medium and it’s just painfully PS1.
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And I get that. Since I bought the Playstation Classic, I got TM1 and from what I remember, it's a bit clunky and I couldn't really get into it because of that I think. I'll eventually have a post about this one sometime because it's yet another I could mention here. I ain't played TM3 though.
 
Was kind of tempted by the Steam sale for it, but it still left a bitter taste after trying it through the Xbox Game Pass.

Back 4 Blood

I spent so many hours replaying Left 4 Dead (1, not as much of 2) and hoped this would have scratched that itch that was left by L4D1. Gun-play is decent with some enjoyable feel, but you find yourself sticking to certain weapons due to the weapon upgrade system. However, unlike L4D, you don't feel like it's a slightly mindless yet relaxing game. Instead, you're bombarded with enemies to the point of there being little breathing room. I enjoyed the "quiet" moments in L4D, but it felt like there was hardly a break between hoards and it would become grating. Worst of all was the last few levels where they make it more difficult not by giving a decent challenge, but simply throwing an unreasonably annoying amount of on screen enemies.

Also doesn't help the level selection is linear and you can't just pick one little section that you enjoy to play over again. I'd just play with my brother so it'd at least be bearable, but the two AIs taking over the other two players were annoying. (Seriously hate the character Evangelo and his annoying voice-lines) I hoped it'd be an updated L4D with the same likeable replay-ability, but it doesn't feel that way. I find myself disliking any game that uses a "card" system for whatever gameplay addition too...
 
Demon souls and returnal.

I love the gameplay and the graphics on both having finally have tried them out on ps plus but in my mid 30's I just don't have the time or patience to restart each level from the beginning everytime you die, which is a lot of times.
 
Found another game that fit this perfectly, No Man's Land, I tried to like it, went back to it several time but despite my best effort, its just disapointing every time I reinstall it and try to play it a bit, hopefully skyrim dev's new space opera will be clicking more with me.
 
TypeRDC5
Demon souls and returnal.

I love the gameplay and the graphics on both having finally have tried them out on ps plus but in my mid 30's I just don't have the time or patience to restart each level from the beginning everytime you die, which is a lot of times.
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In Returnal: It's easier with Coop now.
 
Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec.
Yet another game that falls under this:
Sonygamer455
Or maybe you do like it, but not as much as you want to?
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I got this game when I was 12 not long after I got my PS2, but never really got into it much. It honestly came at an unfortunate time because I had got GT4 not long before and was already addicted to it. Not only that, but seeing as GT3 had worse graphics and far less cars than GT4, 12-year-old me simply could not find much reason to play GT3 over 4 and the game just ended up being overshadowed by it. (this was LONG before I knew about what went on with GT3's development) I did give it another go in 2007 when I got a cheat disc and did a bunch of things in there including having large amounts of cash and instantly winning the endurance races rather than playing them normally. Went back to it again in 2013 when I got a hold of some of the hidden cars thanks to a certain GTP member. However, I still did not get much enjoyment by doing these things and I later found that starting with large amounts of cash and cheating at the beginning of the game in general just ruins the experience for GT games. For me, it just takes the fun away of starting small and making my way up, which contributed greatly to why I got so much enjoyment from GT2, 4, 5 and 6 and since I never played GT3 that way, I didn't get into it.

Since I was young and very naive when I got the game, was way too distracted by GT4, didn't know much about GT3's development, and never played it as it was intended to be played, I obviously don't have much personal attachment to it nowadays. I honestly wish that wasn't so because I feel like I have been missing out on a great title for years now. Which is why I decided to start a whole new save game this week in hopes I can experience it the way it should have been all along. Maybe I am getting a little too discouraged from the super license tests, but so far I am not getting much from it and feel like I'd be better off revisiting another game, but I hope I will eat my words on this later. 🤞 At the end of the day, I like GT3, just not as much as I would like to and I hope maybe I can see it for what it really is now.
 
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