Home Gaming FFD: What games have you been completely wrong about?

FFD: What games have you been completely wrong about?

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99

wrong

It takes courage and strength to admit when you’re wrong. There’s some political brouhaha brewing over in the UK, and the man’s an absolute pillock but at least David Cameron’s done the honourable thing and resigned. Or, perhaps, he’s just abandoned ship before it sinks out of cowardice. It would be lovely if our own upper, upper management did the same – but that’s unlikely to happen. But enough about the real world.

Have you ever been completely wrong about your thoughts and opinions on a video game? If you’ve been reading for a long time, you may recall that Gavin once heaped praise on Army of Two, convinced that it was destined for greatness. It wasn’t. It was a middling shooter that’s only spawned worse sequels.

And of course, there’s the infamous Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 incident, where our own Darryn handed the game an E3 award, only for it to be one of this generation’s great big stinkers. Zoe thought Evolve was going to revolutionise multiplayer games. I’m not without fault either; I played 10 minutes of Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden and though it would be a good game. I’m still convinced Street Fighter V is good.

Of course, it swings the other way too. With my love for JRPG’s diminished, I thought I’d hate Xenoblade Chronicles, but it was charming and endearing. I wasn’t expecting Telltale’s Borderlands games to be any good either considering how cookie-cutter their work’s become. I also didn’t expect to get sucked in to Viva Pinata, but that’s a thing that happened.

You tell us! What games have you been completely wrong about. What games were you convinced would be great, but only left you feeling sad. What games were you convinced would be rubbish, but have pleasantly surprised you?

Last Updated: June 24, 2016

99 Comments

  1. Ottokie

    June 24, 2016 at 10:32

    Terraria xD

    What a masterpiece of a game, wish I gave it a chance 2 years ago when I bought it.

    Reply

    • The Order of the Banana

      June 24, 2016 at 11:18

      Terraria is amazing! I actually think it’s better than Minecraft.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        June 24, 2016 at 11:18

        Oh no you didn’t! Don’t make Notch bust out his swears!

        Reply

        • The Order of the Banana

          June 24, 2016 at 11:19

          Pfft Notch is a little girl who wears oversized bloomers.

          Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    June 24, 2016 at 10:37

    Alpha Protocol was a big surprise for me, it got crap reviews, everyone hated it, I got it out of the bargain bin for a silly price, and it was great.

    Final Fantasy 8 was a memorable let down with its tedious combat & annoying protag. And that’s the best FF game? Wow. 😛

    Reply

    • Ir0nseraph

      June 24, 2016 at 10:45

      Grabbing a game out of the bargain bin helps, since the game was cheap and expectations low, the question is if you had to pay full price for Alpha protocol would you still feel the same ?

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        June 24, 2016 at 10:48

        That probably helped but I think so, I really enjoyed the game play & the story was very cool. I remember thinking while playing it that I couldn’t understand why people said it’s bad.

        Reply

        • Ir0nseraph

          June 24, 2016 at 10:49

          I think shadow warrior was that game for me, grabbed it on special but if I had to pay full price I would still have enjoyed it.

          Reply

    • Pariah

      June 24, 2016 at 11:15

      tl;dr

      Reply

    • Ottokie

      June 24, 2016 at 11:16

      “Final Fantasy 8 was a memorable let down”

      (?°?°??? ???

      Reply

    • chimera_85

      June 24, 2016 at 13:26

      That game had such a great premise but the execution was horrendous. Same with Dead Island.

      Reply

      • BagofHammers

        June 24, 2016 at 17:09

        Ugh, Dead Island, what pile of crap.

        Reply

  3. Kromas GG

    June 24, 2016 at 10:41

    Overwatch.

    Reply

    • Ir0nseraph

      June 24, 2016 at 10:43

      Me too, I really didn’t think a MP only game at full price would stand a chance, I thought it would go the way of Evolve.
      Must say I am happy i was wrong enjoying the game to the max at the moment.

      Reply

      • Kromas GG

        June 24, 2016 at 10:46

        I posted on Lag 2 years ago that the trailer looks amazing yet I would never play the game.

        Well guess I totally got it wrong.

        Reply

        • Ir0nseraph

          June 24, 2016 at 10:48

          I have been giving one of the guys in the group endless crap about overwatch, luckily he seems to have forgotten about it 😛

          Reply

        • Pariah

          June 24, 2016 at 11:17

          I am the total opposite. I thought I was going to be all over that shit. Turns out, I was over it before it released.

          Reply

        • Pariah

          June 24, 2016 at 11:18

          Wait. I mean.. GIT GUD NUB SCRUB GG DELETE DOTA. Wait, wrong game? Huh? Where am i??

          Reply

          • Yondaime

            June 24, 2016 at 13:05

            I have online games because of this. It made my first few MMO experiences completely crap.

      • Kromas GG

        June 24, 2016 at 14:49

        Evolve … lol. 4 charcters and 3 monsters with the ability to buy more at almost the same price as the game. At least everything content wise in Overwatch will be free (knock on wood).

        Reply

    • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

      June 24, 2016 at 10:49

      Yes

      Reply

  4. Umar

    June 24, 2016 at 10:42

    Uncharted. Thought it was JUST another adventure game…nope. U4 blew me away in both is story and gameplay

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      June 24, 2016 at 11:20

      Meh, I read the reviews. Kak game, 4/10. 😉

      Reply

      • Umar

        June 24, 2016 at 11:24

        Please sign my petition to remove this comment!

        Reply

  5. Alien Emperor Trevor

    June 24, 2016 at 10:43

    Oh, and WARFRAME. That changed my mind on F2P games being stupid.

    Oh what the hell, let me try this silly F2P game, it has nice looking graphics… over 1k hours later.

    Reply

    • Ottokie

      June 24, 2016 at 10:44

      Agreed WF is the prime example of what a F2P should be

      Reply

      • Pariah

        June 24, 2016 at 11:06

        Heh. Prime.

        Reply

      • The Order of the Banana

        June 24, 2016 at 13:24

        Warframe is Life!

        Reply

  6. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    June 24, 2016 at 10:49

    The Division, thought it would be great but it wasn’t.
    Overwatch, thought it wasn’t worth all the hype but it was.
    Also, all the feels for those that bought Evolve and Battleborn

    Reply

    • Ir0nseraph

      June 24, 2016 at 10:51

      The beer is packed I presume and you’re getting ready to support boks in person ?

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        June 24, 2016 at 11:30

        XD

        Reply

    • Ottokie

      June 24, 2016 at 10:51

      Evolve on steam does even have a discount. Still at R409, seems the devs don’t even care anymore

      Reply

      • Ir0nseraph

        June 24, 2016 at 10:52

        I am really happy it’s one game I never touched, since you can’t even get any value out of it solo.

        Reply

  7. R4ziel

    June 24, 2016 at 10:52

    I was wrong about Dota all those years ago. I laughed at people playing Dota 1 at Liberty lan and always thought myself better than them because I dont waste my time… One day my brother insisted I join him for Dota 2 and I thought Ill prove my point about it being stupid.

    Fast forward a couple of years, 3500+ hours, almost R10,000 spent on a free to play and I am still loving Dota and everything around it. I watch more tournaments in game and on twitch than most people play, and I love the whole scene around it. I might have to admit at some point in my time I might havebeen sligtly wrong about it being crap.

    Reply

    • miaau

      June 24, 2016 at 11:18

      What do you spend almost R10 000 on in that game? I ask because I know almost nothing about it.

      Reply

      • R4ziel

        June 24, 2016 at 11:21

        I am someone who values anything I like very highly. I have spent endless amounts of money on skins for the heroes I want, maps, loading screens, announcer packs and so forth.
        They are all a resonable price and look amazing, but everything you buy in Dota is cosmetic and doesnt change the game at all.
        You do not need to spend a single cent if you don’t want to, but for me it makes the game prettier and I dont mind helping valve as i see the kind of money they put into tournaments.

        Reply

        • miaau

          June 24, 2016 at 11:23

          Hey, that is totally cool in my book. As long as it makes you happy, that is all there is to it. And, of course, it did not take food away or something like that, all good.

          I am not sure I would do that for any game, but I do not care cosmetics that much, how things look and all that. All different peoples.

          Reply

          • R4ziel

            June 24, 2016 at 11:29

            Well I like to support the games I play, and that is the way i support Dota. With Warframe Ive also spent stupid amounts of money to get what I want.

            I don’t agree with it in all games but the developers or studios that actually show they do something with the money you put into the game its justified.

            Cosmetics in my book is a legit way to sell anything in their model, as long as it doesnt give you any edge in the game whatsoever. W
            hen it becomes game altering and Frikkie with his dads credit card can pay to win, that is an issue.

          • miaau

            June 24, 2016 at 11:32

            I play some free online games AND I hate the in your face, pay to get faster Exp, better weapons and stuff. Annoys as well.

            I think Dota have done it right and possible one of the reasons for the very large group of active players/

          • R4ziel

            June 24, 2016 at 11:35

            I hate the free to play model especially for the “Get everything you want for R1000”, that is something I will never support and shy away from it as much as I can.

            What I love the most about Dota2’s cosmetic things is, when I watch a torunament live through my game client, my cosmetics for their stuff is used. I see my map, my HUD, I hear my announcer. It is still the game the way I like it, but I can watch the pro teams play. I think that is the main thing that Valve did right, you can make the game the way you want it.

          • miaau

            June 24, 2016 at 11:36

            That sounds frigging awesome.

            Wish I had more time…. Would like to learn a bit more about Dota

          • R4ziel

            June 24, 2016 at 11:37

            I am not very good at the actual game, and I don’t play too many games anymore, but I love watching the games and seeing the top tier teams perform. I watch most of the tournaments and I love the strategy around it as well as the production value.

            That is always a brilliant way to learn about the game.

          • Matthew Holliday

            June 24, 2016 at 12:26

            Even better is the fact that you can choose to use the casters stuff aswell.
            Having the choice is awesome

      • Matthew Holliday

        June 24, 2016 at 12:24

        The great prices on items are deceptive.
        you spend 2.50$ here and there, 3 years later, you discover your inventory is full and you dont ever remember spending all that money.

        Reply

  8. kieker

    June 24, 2016 at 10:54

    Team Fortress 2, I thought i would give it a go to scratch the 1st person shooter itch brought on by playing the Overwatch beta (until I could actually afford to buy Overwatch). I thought it was just a generic first person shooter with different models for characters and a lot of hats. Pleasantly surprised by i.e. the gameplay interactions between classes (pyro being able to ignite snipers arrow for instance). Might continue playing still even if I do decide to get Overwatch

    Reply

  9. Ghost In The Rift

    June 24, 2016 at 10:56

    Mass effect 1, i thought it was gonna be a type of “Gears of War” spin off, boy was i surprised and owned up by supporting the sequels, then again Evolve comes to mind on downside.

    Reply

    • Matthew Holliday

      June 24, 2016 at 12:22

      Also never had faith in ME1, I played some of it and thought I could never get into this.
      Went back a year later, and 4 playthroughs later I was all like “yeah this is pretty good”

      Reply

  10. Pariah

    June 24, 2016 at 11:05

    Terraria. It came as part of a humble bundle, but I had NO interest in those damn open world minecraft crafting clone shit games. Installed because meh I’m bored, may as well. 500 hours later and it’s one of my all time favourites.

    Reply

  11. Pariah

    June 24, 2016 at 11:08

    Gears of War on the flipside. There was so much hype, and people raved about it non-stop. I loaded it up, 5 hours later watched the end credits and thought to myself “that’s it?” – and traded it in the same day. I was hoping for something more. But it wasn’t anywhere near worth the hype. The only fun I had the entire game was the final boss fight. Literally, the first bit of actual fun I had. And that was it. Game done.

    Reply

  12. miaau

    June 24, 2016 at 11:11

    Deus Ex:HR I have looked at that type of stealthy game before, notably Thief and Thief Gold back in the day and was almost 100% sure I would not like it.

    I played half the tutorial, the first mission, on a mates PC and then bought the game for Xbox 360, so quickly.

    Master of Orion 3: I was sure it would be awesome. I played it loads. I was wrong. It was actually a bit samey and crappy, even with the great fan made mods. I put in about 300 hours into it and I was wrong.

    Reply

  13. The Order of the Banana

    June 24, 2016 at 11:14

    I’m usually right about everything. I know, it’s annoying isn’t it, fam? But, I will gladly admit that I was wrong about Skylanders. I spent one afternoon with the game (a few years ago), enjoying it with my nephew and it changed my opinion about the game.

    Reply

    • miaau

      June 24, 2016 at 11:15

      You are not secretly my wife, are you? I ask because she is also usually right about everything.

      AND that is not nearly as sarcastic as you might think!

      Reply

      • The Order of the Banana

        June 24, 2016 at 11:16

        Did you take out the trash? If not… yes.. I am your wife. Now get back to work and give me your credit card. I need to get some shoes!

        Reply

        • miaau

          June 24, 2016 at 11:18

          She has almost 40 pairs. She insists on buying these ultra cheap R60 things that break after two to four months and then buys more. And does not throw them away……

          Reply

          • The Order of the Banana

            June 24, 2016 at 11:18

            Dude, my missus does the same. It drive me up the wall.

          • miaau

            June 24, 2016 at 11:21

            When we bought the new house (6 years now, crap), she had a box of over 50 that I threw away. Literally 50. Old, things, 10 years, ALL very cheaply made.

            Men: I have takkies, formal shoes and sandals. And I paid a lot for each. Years ago. In about 2 years I will replace some.

          • The Order of the Banana

            June 24, 2016 at 11:22

            hahahaa! 😀

          • The Order of the Banana

            June 24, 2016 at 11:22

            I don’t get the shoe-thing though. All you need is a pair for walking & living, a pair for the office and some loafer thing for the home (and winter).

          • miaau

            June 24, 2016 at 11:25

            YES.

            Only 1 thing. I have a few pairs of cheapish sandals, as quite often when going away for the weekend I do not pack, my wife does, then I leave work a little early on Friday and we go. But she often forgets to pack sandals and going into the hot areas of SA without sandals is not fun, so I tend to buy on the Saturday morning from the nearest town, often Northam (Oppie Koppie place, but never done Oppie Koppie). That annoys me.

    • The Order of the Banana

      June 24, 2016 at 13:27

      Same with Disney Infinity – now I have a plastic box filled with figurines and two years of great gaming memories. I can’t wait for the young Banana to get a little older so that I can introduce him to the Infinity games.

      Sigh! Such a pity, Disney pulled that dick move and cancelled the series. 🙁 Damn you to the seven hells Disney!!

      Reply

  14. DarthZA

    June 24, 2016 at 11:26

    Overwatch. Hype killed. Expected too much. It’s just a team fortress 2 with more characters. I’m bored of it with only 30 our so games. PvZ still my favourite in this genre.
    Gears of war. Bought it cause everyone was playing it. Thought it was going to be a shallow 3rd person shooter that I would sell in a week. Stole my life for a year.
    Battleborn. This was given to me as a gift. Was expecting another shooter like overwatch. Not even in the same genre. A meeting of multiple genres and it works really well. Close to 100 hours now and still loving it.

    Reply

  15. Alien Emperor Trevor

    June 24, 2016 at 11:26

    Let’s not forget the bestest GOTYest Kojimaest MGSV!

    That was some memorable salt when people got to chapter 2.

    Reply

  16. miaau

    June 24, 2016 at 11:31

    Proposal: Next FFD: Best opening Cinematic for a game, regardless of actual game quality:

    Old School
    Diablo 2 Expansion opening video was awesome.
    StarCraft Broodwars.

    Mass Effect 1, gripped my wife and I, as short as it was. Who where the aliens? What was a Spectre? A turian? We had to play, to find out. Good opening, pulled us into the story.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      June 24, 2016 at 11:32

      Warhammer 40k DoW 1. The End. I win.

      Reply

      • miaau

        June 24, 2016 at 11:33

      • miaau

        June 24, 2016 at 11:35

        How do you define the best?

        Gripping? Moving you into the story? or just a load of fun, but does not actually entice you to play more?

        Reply

        • Ottokie

          June 24, 2016 at 11:36

          FF8 opening. Like that 😛

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            June 24, 2016 at 11:41

            Yes, best nap I had in ages.

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          June 24, 2016 at 11:39

          Well if you haven’t seen it yet, it really gets the blood stirring & shows the gritty war-ravaged world you’re about to enter. Fantastic animation, rousing sound track, heroic characters – all the good stuff.

          Reply

        • Matthew Holliday

          June 24, 2016 at 12:07

          it sets the scene, the CGI was top quality, especially for what, 2004? 2005?, it was well directed / produced and over all it set the tone for the rest of the game.

          Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        June 24, 2016 at 12:05

        +1
        Also all of warcraft 3s cinematics, for a 2002 game, that shit was unreal

        Reply

    • R4ziel

      June 24, 2016 at 11:41

      Another brillaint opening cinematic was Carmageddon back in the day, only intro apart from Soul Reaver that i specifically remember.

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Maximum Effort

        June 24, 2016 at 11:42

        Carmageddon 1 intro, LOVED IT!

        Reply

        • R4ziel

          June 24, 2016 at 11:44

          Only when I played the game many many years after Carmageddon 2 came out I realized I could skip the intro, I watched that cinematic so much I could lipsync it haha. “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!”

          Reply

  17. Admiral Chief Maximum Effort

    June 24, 2016 at 11:31

    Evolve

    Reply

  18. Deceased

    June 24, 2016 at 11:43

    Dont Starve

    First Indie game I bought, honestly had no faith in Indie games up to that point and thought it would be shite
    My friend told me it was good – looked at it during a Steam Sale and picked it up
    Installed it at some point … Oh My Unholy GOD was it amazing!!!

    Still play it – like regularly
    In fact, I’d rate it much higher than some AAA titles that I own

    Reply

    • R4ziel

      June 24, 2016 at 11:45

      You should look at more indie games if you like that.

      7 days to die is awesome
      Ark : Survival evolved is almost not an indie game any more
      Subnautica
      The forest
      Stranded
      Space engineers

      All awesome games that is alot more fun than most AAA titles

      Reply

      • Deceased

        June 24, 2016 at 11:56

        Love 7D2D ( play it regularly )
        Don’t have Ark, and don’t think I’ll ever have it 🙁 ( will rather get Rust )
        Have got Subnautica – updates are just sparse 🙁
        Considering The forest with this sale
        Don’t know Stranded ( unless you mean Stranded Deep – which is epic )
        Also don’t know Space Engineers 🙁

        But it’s a spot-on great recommendation list for survival crafters 😀

        Reply

        • R4ziel

          June 24, 2016 at 12:01

          Ark is amazing, its like rust but with Dinosaurs and much better gameplay in my opinion. Regular updates and additions to the game makes is so much fun it is scary. Definitely have a look at that.

          Yes Stranded Deep is what I meant, still have to buy this one though.

          Space engineers is something amazingly unique I think. At first it feels like a minecraft clone and you dont really have much of a clue wats going on, but at some point you realize you dont know where to place this cargo container on your ship/base because your base is so intricate it could interfear with things.
          The game is so complex and open ended with amazing mod support. If you like 7 days to die you should definitely look into Space engineers. I love 7Dtd and Space engineers feels like the next step in the right direction after that.

          Hehe I love survival crafters, anyone else notice.

          I don’t want to ruin your weekend, and if I do I apologise, especially if you are not the type of person who likes waiting, but I would urge you to have a look at Planet Nomads, feel free to swear at me when youve seen the first video 🙂

          Reply

          • Deceased

            June 24, 2016 at 12:38

            Lul man

            Survival Crafters are great because you get an epic amount of playtime for the money you spent
            and each time is different 😀

            Will prolly add Planet Nomads to the wishlist ( Ark is still not my cup of tea )

  19. Dutch Matrix

    June 24, 2016 at 11:44

    Everything I bought in the last six months, to be honest. Doom being the biggest culprit of them all.
    The way it was hyped up by all I kinda expected something akin to going on a first date with a girl you really liked.
    But it was not. Oh sure, the action is frantic, the Marine bad ass and well, that is it. I play a level or two at most. Then get bored. Save and Exit to Main Menu? Yeah. That one please Sid.

    Reply

    • Darren Peach

      June 25, 2016 at 01:09

      I have a pet Donkey that I use to help kick sense into those who really need it….. You keen ?;)

      Reply

  20. R1ker

    June 24, 2016 at 11:52

    At the time when Arkham Asylum was about to release I thought it would be utter crap. I game on PC and comic book games did not really sit well with me at the time. Even after it released i still avoided it. Eventually found a demo of it on a pc format disk and out of boredom installed it to pass the time by. And the rest they say is history. Played the demo a zillions times until i finally find it in a corner at Musica

    Reply

  21. Matthew Holliday

    June 24, 2016 at 12:15

    CoD MW3, CoD Ghosts, CoD Advanced Warfare
    “This game is going to save the franchise” I thought
    Nope… Nope.

    Assassins Creed Syndicate
    “Game looks fun with a compelling story”
    Nope… Nope.

    Overwatch
    I never bought into the hype, trailers didnt interest me whatsoever.
    Caved into peer pressure and played the beta, thinking it was okay, but would never spend money on this.
    A week after the beta ended i caved and bought the game because it was calling my name.
    Good stuff

    Reply

  22. Yondaime

    June 24, 2016 at 13:08

    DOTA 2…..I still don’t get it, i don’t understand any of the warriors’ reasons for fighting, whenever i try it out its cluttered with whatever the hell is going on at the time and i just generally still hate it……YES I HATE DOTA

    Reply

  23. chimera_85

    June 24, 2016 at 13:25

    Uncharted.

    Owned a xbox 360 and my friend kept on showing me the game and I tried it and hated it. To be fair the shooting in the first game was quite bad but playing it from scratch I realised what a great game it was.

    Also Final Fantasy IX.

    Reply

  24. Greylingad[He Charges!]

    June 24, 2016 at 14:24

    Spec Ops: The Line, Oh my Shitsticks, what an awesome game that was, not gameplay wise, but that story had me glued…

    Reply

    • Darren Peach

      June 25, 2016 at 14:58

      Gameplay was meh but the story was top notch.

      Reply

  25. Kaihaku

    June 24, 2016 at 17:38

    Splatoon was a recent one. I wasn’t going to pick it up after watching gameplay footage…but fortunately there was nothing else releasing on the Wii U at the time so I picked it up on a whim. Easily my favorite competitive online game.

    Reply

  26. Darren Peach

    June 25, 2016 at 01:06

    Interesting topic. Half Life, Started it and didn’t think much, Tried it again a few months later and loved it. Mass Effect, Gave it very little time and only after a buddy urged me to play it, did I discover something epic. Another was Diablo 2. Even though I played the first, my initial reaction to it was meh. Boy I was wrong. I guess the lesson I learned was to try everything. I am up for games from any publisher, I actually dig the Xbox and if all else fails I will return to PC to play a title that deserves it. Why have room in your heart for hate ? Master Race, Console peasants, Solitaire and even Call of Duty, It is silly to exclude yourself from discovering a great experience. Hell, I even play online Pool on my phone.

    Reply

  27. Johann

    June 26, 2016 at 01:15

    Planescape: Torment…

    When I got it and started playing, I thought it was the worst DnD CRPG ever, problem was that I never knew about the Planescape universe and was disappointed when I didn’t have a choice in my character’s creation at the start. I stopped playing it a day after I got it and forgot about it, and started playing it again in the December Holiday as I didn’t have anything else to play.

    Long story short, I quickly realised that it was the best game I’ve ever played and will probably never play anything like it again.

    Reply

  28. Dane

    June 27, 2016 at 09:30

    Thought Far Cry 3 would be as tedious and flat as Far Cry 2. Still the best single player I have ever played through. All four times.

    Reply

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