Games you hated, then loved, and vice versa

Trelane

Trelane

Member
Any games you hated, then really enjoyed and vice versa. I'll start:

Hated then Loved
At first I hated SMT III, given it's barren world and enemy encounters everywhere, but then I started to really get into the setting and battle mechanics. Became one of my favorites.

Loved then Hated
Fallout 4. I was looking forward to this game after Fallout 3 and NV, but after playing it for a short bit and seeing how they butchered the gameplay and completely removed what RPG elements were left from Fallout 3 and NV, I dropped it. The story was trash too.
 
Hated then loved: Death Stranding
The game just simply didn't click with me. I dropped it after about 30hrs, decided to pick it back up months later and I just understood the gameplay loop. It became a really satisfying and chill experience. I now loooove it and cannot wait for DS2.

Loved then hated: Outer Wilds
I enjoyed the exploration and mystery but then that quickly wore off. Their was nothing compelling about going to a planet not knowing what you're looking for and getting obliterated, going through that on so many occasions I ended up hating the experience.
 
Like most threads with love and hate I imagine many people will take this too seriously as In literal love and literal hate, so I see this going well.

A game I came around on was animal well, definitely wasn't literal hate but it just wasn't biting me. But then one play session it just clicked and became one of my favorite knowledge puzzle games.

A goty contender for this year.

As for vice versa, I've not been subtle about it on here at all so most will suspect breath of the Wild. A game that cums quickly and becomes a repetitive bland bore and super disappointing as long time Zelda fan. I'm just not a minecraft kid so these games do nothing for me after 5 hrs or so
 
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For games not too much off the top of my head since I know what I'm getting into before a purchase, but I can point to genres.

Hated then Loved: Visual Novels
I used to think like many that they weren't real games but now I like them a great deal. Perhaps its my age, maybe its that I'm bored with much of what amounts for modern game design but sometimes I want a story, setting and atmosphere without all of the fluff and work that feels like modern games. Plus I've played a few that really tugged on the 'ol heartstrings which is the mark of good writing. I could also add strategy rpgs and turn-based rpgs to that list, since at a very young age I loathed them, wanted immediate action but grew to really appreciate them around the 4th grade thanks to a school friend that got me into D&D.

Loved then Hated: FPS's
Since Wolfenstein 3D I was addicted to them, Half-Life/Counterstrike was my SOAPS back in the day. COD, whatever, you name it I played it. But then almost like a switch I lost my love for first person games. Adventure and VN's aside, rpgs and shooters of any variety seem to just rub me the wrong way. I hate the directing or lack thereof. The goofy vision, whether limited by design so no peripheral vision or raising the FoV so much I end up with fish eye lens. But the story segments and disconnect it brings when games take away player control and agency with goofy cutscenes and story bits that completely take me out of the experience and make me wish I was watching a normal cutscene. I've for the most part enjoyed 3rd person games since my youth, but they completely overtook FPS's for me. Plus its a mark of talent and resources having to animate the PC. The only drawback to that for me is when modern games make the camera too zoomed in on the player character which obstructs like 75% of the screen such as the new Dad of Boy games and Space Marine 2. I would LOVE to see a studio like Naughty Dog give the Jak & Daxter franchise another go just to see the glorious animations and cutscenes again. The humor and colors were great too.
 
StueyDuck said:
Like most threads with love and hate I imagine many people will take this too seriously as In literal love and literal hate, so I see this going well.
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If you aren't taking the physical disc on long walks on the beach or destroying every copy you see in the store, I don't want to hear about it!
 
Trelane said:
If you aren't taking the physical disc on long walks on the beach or destroying every copy you see in the store, I don't want to hear about it!
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office space GIF
 
Demon's Souls. Absolutely hated it for the first time. At the time, I had become accustomed to games like Uncharted and Batman: Arkham Asylum and had forgot that difficult games could be rewarding. I played the first level of Boletaria and got my ass kicked to the point I said "fuck it, games shouldn't behave like this, they should be cinematic and have checkpoints every 2 minutes, hold my hand, suck my dick and have top notch graphics."

About a year later I decided to try it again because everyone still raved about it and I felt I was missing out. I picked a new class and suddenly everything clicked. I saw the masterpiece that From Software so carefully crafted and I finally managed to beat the whole game. I then proceeded to play Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 and 3, Bloodborne, Sekiro and Elden Ring, all in chronological order and platinum everyone. Today I'm a massive Souls-fan, I love the Souls-like genre, I love difficult and challenging games and I don't really care about cinematic games anymore. You could say Demon's Souls changed my entire taste in games.
 
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Hated then Loved
Can't think of any

Loved then Hated
Recently Satisfactory

Loved the first 25 hours but after that reality set in and I saw that it's never-ending. Usually I like those type of games but I uninstalled it today.
 
Coming from playing and loving souls games, at first I though Dragon's Dogma was too easy and kinda hated it enough to drop it.

A few years later I tried it again not looking for a challenge, but a comfy adventure game. It became one of my favorite games.
 
Red Dead Redemption 1. Did not like it the first time i played it. Marston was just doing everyone's bidding and was lead around by people who obviously were lying to him. Liked it the second time i played it. Loved it the third were i guess i didn't care about it anymore and just really liked getting lost in a western environment.
 
Hated then loved: Dead Space 2. I rented it on the 360 back on release, played it for about a half hour, and was too nerve-wracked to continue, so I returned it. I've played and beaten it around 8 times since. It's one of the GOATs.

Loved the hated: Can't think of any. I tend to love games and then drop them, but that's not out of hate.
 
Best I can do is i hated cyberpunk 2077 first but after many years i started appreciating it, but I do not love it.
 
Back in 2018, there was a humble bundle that included Dark Souls 3. I had heard about the series, but never thought much of it. Though I decided to try it and see what it was about.
I hated it. In part because of the controls. In part because I was more into FPS, at the time. In part because I was used to play faster games, such as Ninja Gaiden and Bayonetta.
So after a few tries, I gave up, without even defeating Gundir.
Many years later, Elden Ring was getting a ton of Goty awards and so many people speaking highly of it. I bough it and love it, but only after pushing trough the first few hours.
Then I decided to try Dark Souls 3 again. And now I love it. Except Farron keep, that swamp can sod off.
 
Loved then Ehhhh

Control. I'm replaying it and especially after Returnal which does many similar things way fucking better gameplay-wise imo, it just feels okay? The controls and mechanics just feel loose and kind of stiff at once, evade into sprint feels off and the enemy and encounter variety isn't good. I also am really hating the mod collecting. Constant duplicates and babysitting the menu and all secrets and exploration amount to "cool...another boring mod".

I don't know, it's still leagues better than AW2 but I wish Remedy actually polished the gameplay and focused on that for once. Definitely nowhere near as into it as when it came out.
 
I accept verbal agression: when I first played Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I hated it so much I didn't even reach 1/4 of the length of it. Now it is one of my favorite games ever.
 
Prey 2016.

Couldn't figure out at first as I was playing it like an fps. Hated almost everything about it. Dropped it for a couple of years but kept hearing people talk so highly of it.

Picked it up again and played it right. Now it's one of my all time favorites.
 
It was annoying, when people praised Halo in 2000s, because their game trailers didn't appeal to me at all!
Then I bought Halo Reach just to make sure I was right and... I felt ashamed.
Halo Reach and Halo 3 appeared to be fantastic games!
 
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Gran Turismo 1.
Hated, because didn't understand how to pass the test, where you had to break (I thought it was a max speed test).

Then enjoyed every single minute of the masterpiece!
 
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RCX said:
Prey 2016.

Couldn't figure out at first as I was playing it like an fps. Hated almost everything about it. Dropped it for a couple of years but kept hearing people talk so highly of it.

Picked it up again and played it right. Now it's one of my all time favorites.
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Even as a massive stan for Prey, it's a tough one to pick up at first. Arkane always has these weird "boxy" controls and Prey is no exception. The character feels weird and stiff, Dishonored has the same issue. I played the demo initially and it left a not-so-stellar impression.

Ended up being one of my favorite modern games possibly.
 
Pretty much every game I liked if I surpassed the 100 h mark at some point I'll hate it for sure, that's why I quit earlier for that specific reason, mostly wrpgs

About games I started hating, that applies to older games or a long series I hesitated to play but with accessibility, pretty sure that initial hate has vanished and no longer exist, that applies Halo, Killzone, ff, mm, star wars, mass effect and other games I don't remember.
 
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I hated Ghost of Tsushima on PS4Pro (30fps). Was just so repetitive and bland.

Played it again on PS5 (60fps) and platinumed. Terrific game.

Ive saod before - RDR2 at 30FPS is still a PS5 GOAT, but GoT just couldnt do it.
 
hated to loved? this game:

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first playthrough: hated how bizarre the main character was, hated the investigation stuff, hated the interviewing stuff, hated how clunky the gameplay could be...

second playthrough: for whatever reason, I very quickly realized i was playing a beautiful, incredible, no-hold-barred, over-the-top, naked gun style parody of a 40's crime noir novel/movie, deadly accurate, & almost effortlessly hilarious. & i continue to replay this game as often as any other in my replay rotation. sheer genius/madness (& i'll likely never know if it's all intentional or unintentional)...
 
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My first few hours in STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl were frustrating. It was so janky and I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be doing. Then when I got into my first underground bunker mission I realized the goal of the game was to make me feel completely alone and terrified with oppressive atmosphere and it was SO GOOD at it. Instant love.
 
Hated monster hunter in my brief try on psp, loved when i decided to give world a second chance when they released the demo on ps4.

(More like a third chance because after 30 min with the demo i was fucking done :lollipop_grinning_sweat: )
 
Hated, then loved

- Demons's Souls. I kept getting kicked in the nuts wherever I went in the game (thankfully it had a stage-select structure, or even more people would have dropped way earlier). I quit, more from puzzlement than frustration. Then I gave it a second chance and at one point, it clicked. Of course I played most Souls games after that.

- Xenoblade. Just too big at first, with tons of clumsily explained mechanics that I didn't fully grasp even after having beaten the game twice. I dropped it for three or four years. Then I went back to it and this one, too, clicked hard. I loved everything about the story, the world, the characters, even if it was a 480p game I was playing in the mid-2010s. Most people will need to watch a fee videos to understand everything related to the stats and the combat (the same can be said for Souls, btw), but boy, what a ride.


Loved, then hated
Sadly, this is the majority of games I spent a lot of time on in the past. I'm abashed by how much I suck at pre-gen 7 games that I remember becoming very good at, especially 2D games and early 3D. The other day I booted up SNES Super Star Wars and Jesus eff, how did I beat this on a daily basis for a while as a kid? It's absolutely brutal, and it's no Ghosts 'n Goblins. The classics are classics for a reason: they played very well, and still do. Whenever you have to fight with the idiosyncrasies of a game to come to like it, especially when it has issues with its moment-to-moment gameplay, you know that game probably won't age well.
 
Hated then Loved
At first I hated Metal Gear Solid on PS1 when I played it in 1999. I found the initial gameplay rather boring as I had'nt played any stealth game before this. I kept on trigerring the alarm and it was frustrating. I was so frustrated with the game that I went to the local store to get a refund or exchange, but they declined for some reason that I dont remember. And I am glad they did. Once I learned the stealth element and progressed through the game, it became one of the most memorable game I have ever played.

Loved then Hated
I think Skyrim fits the bill here. I loved the game at first. The graphics of the game at the time was exceptional. But once I reached level 30, I found the game rather boring. I didnt finish the game as I became bored late in the game.
 
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Deus Ex Human Revolution

Probably don't know why my brain didn't liked it at first. In my second attempt I became obsessed with the game. Incredible game.
 
Hated than Loved
Fallout 3 - I played this after Borderlands. Lack of vehicles, took me a while to get used to walk kilometers on foot.

Loved than Hated
Death Stranding - I was super excited about Kojima's new game. Got so repetitive, felt like a torture.
 
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near said:
Hated then loved: Death Stranding
The game just simply didn't click with me. I dropped it after about 30hrs, decided to pick it back up months later and I just understood the gameplay loop. It became a really satisfying and chill experience. I now loooove it and cannot wait for DS2.
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Out of curiosity what made you enjoy it at the end ? I am at the step where I drop it after like 10/15h because the gameplay is completely dull for me. Thinking to go back to it at one point to see.

"Hated" then loved : Dark Souls.
Friends couldn't stop speaking about it. I give it a try, at a friend place and found the atmosphere too dark/grim for my taste and gameplay too clunky. I concluded it was not for me. They still couldn't shut up about it so I give it another try and liked it a bit better.
I ended up buying it and loving it. Still my best game ever by a large margin.

Loved then hated : Final Fantasy XVI
Hyped like crazy. Loved the demo. I loved the beginning of the game : settings, combat, characters, story... Then the combat became quickly bland and repetitive. Story dragged too long and fell apart. Sidequest were a real chore and uninteresting. And realized there was no RPG mechanics. Had to push myself to finish it.
 
Hated than loved
Cyberpunk. Hated at launch, so many bugs, missions freezing etc. Never seen a game with drastic improvements after launch and grew to love it.

Loved than hated:
Any sport game lol.
 
Not hate, but i didn't like the Witcher 3's combat system for quite a while, so i didn't play the game although i wanted to, then after a few years i kept at it until i got the hang of it and loved the game.
 
Tried the Dying Light demo a couple times and never cared for it. Third time was a charm, sold me on the IP and is one of my favourite games from last generation.
 
Mr Hyde said:
Demon's Souls. Absolutely hated it for the first time. At the time, I had become accustomed to games like Uncharted and Batman: Arkham Asylum and had forgot that difficult games could be rewarding. I played the first level of Boletaria and got my ass kicked to the point I said "fuck it, games shouldn't behave like this, they should be cinematic and have checkpoints every 2 minutes, hold my hand, suck my dick and have top notch graphics."

About a year later I decided to try it again because everyone still raved about it and I felt I was missing out. I picked a new class and suddenly everything clicked. I saw the masterpiece that From Software so carefully crafted and I finally managed to beat the whole game. I then proceeded to play Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 and 3, Bloodborne, Sekiro and Elden Ring, all in chronological order and platinum everyone. Today I'm a massive Souls-fan, I love the Souls-like genre, I love difficult and challenging games and I don't really care about cinematic games anymore. You could say Demon's Souls changed my entire taste in games.
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My sentiment almost mirrors your word for word, but I told Demon's Souls to, "Gargle my balls."
 
tumblr_m37gmeeUQZ1rtnif8o1_500.gif
Skyward sword was hard to stomach at launch than I put feelings aside during the pandemic and enjoyed it throughly, the temple design is an all time achievement, very good NPCs,

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And the story is a service to classic Zelda lore.
 
Hated then Loved:
Monster hunter. My very first was Monster Hunter Freedom 2 on PSP. Played a bit of it and ended up getting horribly frustrated with the combat. I was struggling with killing just a Giadrome. I ended up shelving the game, ruling it as "not for me". Maybe a year or so later I found Freedom Unite on the shelf in a store, and for SOME reason I picked it up despite knowing that I disliked 2. That started the spiral. Something eventually clicked and I played through all of it. I went back and played through the First game on PS2 and kept playing more and more of the series. I loved the series since.

Sekiro : Man getting used to this game was a huge chore. I almost refunded the game on steam due to it. The combat while very similar in feel and control to Soul's games, is nothing like them. I couldn't adapt. I watched one video of someone (I forget who it was), showing me exactly what I'm doing wrong, and that's all I needed to figure out the game. Eventually I tried again with a fresh mind and it clicked. Now its become one of my favorite games in From Software's library.

Loved then hated:
Hardest question as I've enjoyed most everything Ive played. And everything I'm about to list I still enjoy to some extent. But If I had to go back and say which games I enjoyed less the longer I played them. Then I have a few in mind.

Breath of the Wild : I enjoyed what I played however much of the game falls apart for me when the gameplay loop defaults me into finding Shrines and exploring a very empty world. Too much open space with not a lot in that open space. The core dungeons from the Divine beasts had very interesting concepts, but you spend 5 minutes in each of them, with a "blobby" monster at the end that looks identical to the other 3. Combine that with the weapon degredation, and many many other factors. The longer I played the game, the less I enjoyed. I haven't played the game again, and I have 0 interest in returning to it.

Dark Souls 2, 3 and Elden Ring : Blastphemous to say I know. Much of what I enjoyed with the souls games, exist in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1. Primarily Demon's. Bosses were far more interesting in design and gameplay. They weren't all health sponges, or bosses where the cycle was "go in roll and parry" to win. Demon's had variety of environmental tricks with many of their bosses that would give you an advantage. It was far more interesting and engaging when I have a boss that's blind, and I learn how to take avantage over him and his environment.
For my overall opinion, just look at Mathewmatosis' video on this subject. It basically mirrors how I feel about this series. He can explain it 100x better than I ever can.
Elden ring falls under this as well, but even more egregious.

Again, none of these are bad games, and I've enjoyed them too. 70+ hours in breath of the wild, and well over 100 hours in each of the souls games/elden ring. They just all apart the longer I played them. And honestly, I dont think I'll return to em like I have with other games.
 
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The biggest example for me has got to be Starcraft, when it first came out I wasn't very much into PC gaming (despite dabbling with the AoE2 that came with my dad's PC) and when my friends spent so much time playing it lan instead of mp console games, I HATED it. For some reason I was really judgemental and couldn't be swayed on it the first few months, in fact I didn't even realize how similar it was to AOE lol, but once it clicked it became one of my favorite titles ever.
 
Opposite. Loved, then hated.

Hate is too strong a term but Minish Cap. Still adore the game but the kin stone mechanic has not aged well. Turns the game into a total slog. Otherwise the game is a total dime.

I'd even lump in SH2. I played through it last year and yea, I think I'm done with that game. It's still a dime of course but I just did not enjoy the gameplay at all after a few hours and couldn't wait for it to be over. I'll stick with playthrough videos if I ever want to revisit it.
 
The Saint said:
The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. Man, what an idiot I was for jumping on the hate train way back then. I realized several years ago what a fool I was for being such a hater sheep and now I badly want this trilogy on PS5 and Switch.
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I love FFXIII, only dabbled in 2 and I enjoyed it. Never played 3 though. XIII is so damn good but I get why some people don't like it. All the same, it is not the terrible game that many people make it out to be. It also has one of the best OSTs of all time and helps to carry the game. It's that good.
 
Demon's Souls. I absolutely HATED it.

I was working at a game studio when the game originally dropped on PS3, I somehow didn't hear much about it but my boss swore I'd love it. I was in QA long enough at that point where I had already developed a keen eye for issues. I loved the art, the vibe, the music, but there were so many things about it that I just hated and just didn't click. I remember specifically raging at the whole "players attacks collide with walls and environments, but enemies do not" thing. It especially didn't help that I was working in a position where I was actively bugging/logging bugs that revolved around clipping and gameplay. That one point where you have to move from turret to turret while waiting the dragon's fire breath to let up did me in. Because I was in a turret and the breath clipped through the wall, gently tapped my foot and I instantly died. I immediately when into "fuck this game" mode, and sold it, lmao.

Fast forward years later, and I continue to Gamefly Dark Souls and the sequels/other games just to give them a chance, and again, they never clicked. It was frustrating because so much about it seemed like it was up my alley, I mean, there were SO many Berserk references too, why don't I like it?!

It wasn't until the Demon's Souls Remake dropped on PS5 where I decided to give it another chance, and it clicked. But this time, it clicked HARD. So much so that when I beat that, I immediately went into Dark Souls, then Dark Souls 2, then 3, then Sekiro. All of this was done before Elden Ring where I dumped a TON of hours into it. Now, I absolutely love all of them, and can't stop loving them and wanting more. I STILL haven't finished Bloodborne, and have had my copy at the ready, I was just waiting for a remaster/remake for the longest. I think the progress on emulation makes me happy I waited as it's something else to look forward to, I'm also so glad I still have my copy at the ready.

I think in the long run a lot of it revolved around patience. When Demon's Souls first dropped I was 24/25, and when the remake dropped I was 36. So, I didn't let go so easily. It also helped that the remake was VERY pretty to look at, still one of the prettiest games I've seen with my own eyes personally, especially on a HDR display.

Now, I'm a HUGE fan, and I couldn't be happier.
 
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