When was the last time you made a completely blind game purchase and you liked it?

KàIRóS

Member
It just happened to me last week, I bought Fate/Extella Link along with a bunch of other games and I didn't expect this game to be the one I would end up playing the most, I think I'm about to finish it and I'm not joking when I say this might be the best Musou game I've ever played, the gameplay loop is so fucking addicting, the crazy thing is, I had never ever consumed any other piece of media related to the Fate franchise prior to this, I just saw it had a discount and that it was a Warriors type game and just said "ehh I'll bite, it's really cheap" and I'm not understanding a whole lot about the story but the rest is so good that I'm actually thinking on checking out the animes and other stuff from Fate, totally recommended to anyone who likes the genre.

PZbTP8wmdG12WunDVwHVmzYMkeiqpIch.png
 
Is that the newer musou fate game or the older one? I know I played the first.
Anyway most recently for me would be that new Rune Factory game. The beginning is kind of tutorial hell but it's pretty fun once you get into it.
 
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

I hate RPGs, especially JRPGs (which this game essentially is). I can basically count the number of JRPG franchises I love on one dick.

But my cereal friend recommended the game to me, knowing what a hard sell it was. And I said "screw it" and ended up diving right in.

Turns out, that game does almost everything perfectly, and, most importantly, respects the player's time (something I take serious issue with most RPGs). It's become one of my favorite RPGs of all-time.

Dove in blind, was completely blown away by how much I loved it. If that game doesn't win GOTY, I'll eat a bowl of legos live on camera.
 
Last edited:
Hades 1 blew my face off and I never saw it coming. Incredible game.

Helldivers 2 bc it launched with some decent buzz and was cheap. Never expected to get hooked on it, but sunk 600+ hrs of playtime into it (and counting).
 
This one might not be completely blind. I knew of the series and all but I will go with Bravely Default 2 on Switch. I was really happy with how the game turned out. The music and character development reminded of the old RPGs I grew up with. Still need to complete the extra content after the credit roll. Might just have to pick this one up again and complete it with the Switch 2.
 
Is that the newer musou fate game or the older one? I know I played the first.
Anyway most recently for me would be that new Rune Factory game. The beginning is kind of tutorial hell but it's pretty fun once you get into it.

The second one and I also didn't knew that lol, talk about going full blind on a game.
 
Many of the VR games I've bought on Quest 3 have been bought 'blind' or rather VR goggled. 🥽. (I just realized I don't have a VR emoji.
Some have surprised me.
I thought Beat Saber was going to be some stupid fruit ninja knock off but it might be the most played VR game in the world.
Richies Plank is a lot more than just a plank.
Arizona Sunshine I bought thinking it was a silly horror game, turned out it's one of the most fun VR shooters.
 
Last edited:
I bought Eastward without knowing anything about it, I liked the art and that was it and the game is one of the best indie games I ever played, I will do another playthrough this year
 
Mischief Makers on the N64

I was young and had birthday money to spend, and something about the box sold me. The game ended up being absolutely incredible.

I don't buy blind anymore. Not because of money, but because of my time, which is far more valuable these days.
 
 
Vanquish on PS3.

I was using a gamefly-like rental service and had a couple games on queue. I put Vanquish as my 3rd or 4th game on the list not expecting it be sent next, and it did. Had no idea what i was getting into and almost returned it before deciding to take the plunge.

To this day it's one of my fondest gaming experiences and one of my proudest platinums.
 
Last edited:
Bought the first Atelier Ryza not having played any game in the series and ending up getting 100% completion for it. The crafting system was just soooo fun and addictive (wrapped in a chill and wholesome vibe).

To a lesser extent Elden Ring Nightreign. Not that I'm unfamiliar with FromSoftware or Elden Ring, but bought the game having no idea what it actually was going to be, aside from something multi-player. Completely loved it and binged it harder than any other recent game.
 
In general I don't do blind purchases.

But I bought Turrican on Amiga 500 when strolling about in a computer store and seeing the box art and screens on the back. Turned out to be one of my all time favorites.
 
Paychonauts 1 for original XBox. 4 year old son & I walked into a K-Mart, checked the clearance rack, and we both liked the art and price. We played it everyday until we beat it. Such a great game. I loved the boy scout and camper theme a bunch, since I was one as a kiddo.
 
Hero's Adventure: Road to Passion.
Looking at screenshots, it might not look like much, but it is a fine nonlinear turn-based rpg, with multiple endings.
 
Maybe the Xenoblade games, I know nothing about its legacy, but grabbed the first one blind knowing that the 3rd was coming out in a year and ate it up.

And probably most Tales games. I don't watch any trailers or material about them at all, but when a new one is released, I just buy it knowing nothing about the mechanics or characters.
 
Monster hunter world.

Came out the same day as DBFZ but the servers for that game were shit at launch so my friends and I started looking for something to play. One of them came across MHW and said "holy shit its kinda like dark souls but you can have a CAT as your partner!!" And I was like "…sold!"
 
Bayonetta on the X360. Really only bought it to annoy my brother who was super excited for it. Copies got released on base early so I bought it so I could taunt him about playing it first. Worked out because I loved it and it got me into to Kamiya games. Too bad the sequels sucked.
 
Mario Kart World.

Before that, the GTA Trilogy (was a buggy mess but still managed to finish GTA III, which I never could when I was a kid)
 
Soulstone Survivors on Xbox Series X. I recently got back into Vampire Surivors and finally unlocked every character. So I googled similar games on Xbox and Soulstone Survivors popped up as coming out that week. Didn't even look at reviews. Bought it and have been really enjoying it.
 
How are we classifying blind purchase here?

I think the last truly blind purchase was probably a 2nd hand Mega Drive game without a box about 30 years ago. Captain America and the Avengers. Voice clips from that game are still stuck in my head.

The last time I walked into a shop and picked up a game off the strength of the box art probably Urban Reign on PS2, which was because it was a Namco game and had Law and Paul as guest characters. Fun game, albeit frustrating at times.

The last time I bought a game without a decent amount of prior knowledge of whether I'll definitely enjoy a game? Hard to say. I didn't do too much research on the Monster Hunter World/Rise bundle and I'm loving World right now.

Edit: OG Demon's Souls was a bit of a gamble, I nearly imported but then it came to Europe anyway
 
Last edited:
Best blind purchasse I ever made was Pirates! for the C64. I bought it because who doesn't like pirates, ninjas or samurais when they are young. I even used my own money. Probably one of my favourite games of ALL time. I was normally into sports or arcade games.

A local import store in my area somehow got a shooter called Apydia on Amiga very early. Needless to say the soundtrack and game are burnt into my brain decades later.
 
You need to ask PC gamers because on consoles it's mainly going to be sociopaths and rich people's kids buying modern games based on box art alone.
I buy games on Steam without looking into them first because there's no risk involved and buying single player games without doing research makes it feel like you're doing your own thing and you've "discovered something".
This only works on PC as PS4/5 consoles blast game news, game update nags and social garbage killing any feeling that you've discovered something on your own.

IRL the maximum effect comes from buying used PS1 and PS2 games based on box art.

Booting a PS1 or PS2 console directly into a game allows a pure focus on the game in an entirely distraction free UI that's invisible while playing games.
The true "PlayStation" UX of the PS1 and PS2 is superior to PC in this regard and that enhances the "discovery effect" a great deal.

Modern PlayStation would be better off to adopt Steam's same 2hr refund policy and then get 100% of the PS game review videos on youtube pulled down.
Watching someone else play a game is not the same as playing that game yourself and countless people get turned off on games that they would have enjoyed if they'd played blind.
Forcing people to buy blind would force people to get the added UX boost when they find a game that works for them.
 
E33 lately, mostly to support a young french studio and because I was intrigued by the trailer and setting.
I've never been into JRPGs at all so far, but it was only a cultural thing, I just can't get into the classic JRPG trope, it doesn't even speak to my inner child, I just find it cringey.
Now I'm craving for more westernized JRPGs
 
Ignored Horizon: Zero Dawn completely in every magazine it was shown or every video they showed on YouTube, but as soon as it was released I bought it and it was amazing.
Loved every minute of the game.
 
Hyperdimension Neptunia: Re;birth1

Bought it ten years ago during a deep sale on Steam, looked fun, all I knew was that it was a JRPG about the console wars, but didn't know anything about the characters (other than they were physical embodiments of consoles) or the combat system, quickly became one of my favourite series.
 
Hyperdimension Neptunia: Re;birth1
Bought it ten years ago during a deep sale on Steam, looked fun, all I knew was that it was a JRPG about the console wars, but didn't know anything about the characters (other than they were physical embodiments of consoles) or the combat system, quickly became one of my favourite series.
Steam could boost sales by randomly injecting some kind of discount when browsing games if you buy a game within a tiny window of time.
$10 off for the next 10 seconds...
And it would be a deal where you'll never get the same game on discount twice.
Once you've bought it it's faster to play it than to look up reviews and you get a full refund if you don't like it.
 
Even before the Internet rot my soul I obsessively searched for information about games in magazines. So, possibly some Master System or SNES game. Alex Kid in Shinobi went pretty well…
 
Boy I don't know about truly blind.... Maybe:
6mQzjgB.png

I had heard of Monkey Island but didn't really know anything about it. And of course I had seen the Indy movie.. anyway long story short these games were all winners, 100% flawless victory.

But even when I was like 7 or 8 we were consulting the pages of EGM and the like to figure out what games to get.
 
It just happened to me last week, I bought Fate/Extella Link along with a bunch of other games and I didn't expect this game to be the one I would end up playing the most, I think I'm about to finish it and I'm not joking when I say this might be the best Musou game I've ever played, the gameplay loop is so fucking addicting, the crazy thing is, I had never ever consumed any other piece of media related to the Fate franchise prior to this, I just saw it had a discount and that it was a Warriors type game and just said "ehh I'll bite, it's really cheap" and I'm not understanding a whole lot about the story but the rest is so good that I'm actually thinking on checking out the animes and other stuff from Fate, totally recommended to anyone who likes the genre.

PZbTP8wmdG12WunDVwHVmzYMkeiqpIch.png
LMAO if you actually try to get into Fate you'll quickly discover it's a vast decades old franchise that spans VN's (where it originated), LN's, anime shows, anime movies, video games, and especially an infamous and insanely profitable mobile game
 
A lot of times when there was not enough informations (no internet, few magazines)
Last time I can remenber was Shining in the Darkness for Megadrive. Since then we have an overflow of infos that made almost impossible not knowing anything about a game
 
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

I hate RPGs, especially JRPGs (which this game essentially is). I can basically count the number of JRPG franchises I love on one dick.

But my cereal friend recommended the game to me, knowing what a hard sell it was. And I said "screw it" and ended up diving right in.

Turns out, that game does almost everything perfectly, and, most importantly, respects the player's time (something I take serious issue with most RPGs). It's become one of my favorite RPGs of all-time.

Dove in blind, was completely blown away by how much I loved it. If that game doesn't win GOTY, I'll eat a bowl of legos live on camera.
I pretty much pre ordered this after I saw some promotional art of what would eventually become the game's cover, I knew almost nothing else about it besides it was supposed to be a traditional RPG

This is why I'm one of the rare owners of the PS5 Lumiere Edition, which currently goes for insane amounts of money on eBay lmao

I'm not selling mine though, I will treasure it on my pile of PS5 games. It's not just my GOTY, it's arguably the best RPG I've played in over 20 years. The only thing I think can be compared to it is Final Fantasy X and that came out back in 2002
 
Used to make blind purchases all the time back before the internet became a thing. Blind purchases was the norm during the Nintendo Entertainment System Era and prior. all you really had was box art. :messenger_grinning: Now I can't find a single game that doesn't have a full description cum-blasted in my face before hitting the buy button.
 
Last edited:
Couple days ago. I don't really go off anything but my own opinion 99% of the time. There is 1% of the time where I haven't heard of something and someone I trust gives me a good recommendation, but most of the time I just do it myself. Same with music.
 
Top Bottom