30 Days of Video Games

[#AR]

I thought all of the games except Falsebound Kingdom were trash. And I too liked it back in the day.

For the most part I agree, Although I did like playing some of the World Championship games to pass the time. I spent a good bit of time on World Championship 2006 when I had a GBA.

[Rinzler]

Anyone who follows me in the status updates will know why I was so dissapointed in this game. Speed stages are good, but everything else (treasure hunting, shooting) was just so monotounos and boring that I just couldn't bring myself to like it.

[Kuzu]

So I'm guessing you're not looking forward to episode 2 and future episodes?

[Jeffhog]

Apologies for putting it more bluntly than I should have, but... well, to be fair, we're talking about games wehate. I loathe this series' very existence, and I despise seeing it get the praise I don't think it deserves.

Seeing Call of Duty not only score far above Sonic Colors and Generations, but also outscore both of the Demons' Souls games along with Kirby's Return to Dreamland and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (games I hold in extremely high regard as some of the greatest I've ever played) just vexes me to no end. I know personal bias comes into play here; it's the very reason I loathe this admittedly mediocre at worst series as much as I do.

Seeing games like Portal, Sonic, Demons' Souls, and all of Nintendo's first party franchises (well... bar maybe Zelda; I've seen that get plenty of attention at my school) pass the mass public generally unnoticed makes every mention of the words "Modern Warfare" "Cod" or "Call of Duty" feel like a punch to the face to me. I hate it.

And there's more: The same people that love these games complain about Pokemon and Zelda failing to evolve. I say fuck that. Both Pokemon (in the form of Black and White) and Zelda (with Skyward Sword) have evolved leaps and bounds more than the jump from Modern Warfare to Modern Warfare 2 to Black Ops to Modern Warfare 3. I hate it.

And yet another thing: You could feed a small country with the money this shit makes, while masterpieces like Viewtiful Joe and Okami make so little money that entire teams are dissolved because of it. I hate it.

My hatred for this series comes from hypocrisy and overexposure. I have no ill will toward any gamers who legitimately enjoy it. So I'm sorry if my post came off that way.

Edited January 18, 2012 by VizardJeffhog

[Silencer226]

My least favorite game is going to Final Fantasy XIII. I never played a Final Fantasy game before this one, so I was going based off the hype alone. That was mistake number one, listening to Sony fanboys never pays off at all. Anyway, upon purchasing this game I was greeted with a nice shiny case (ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohh), and I insert the disc, see nice CG animation (oooooooooooooooooooooooh), then start the game. Nice opening cinematic starts to play, and then i actually start playing. The beginning of the game to me was actually kind of fun, I was kicking ass as Sazh and Lightning... Then dear lord, I met... the other characters...

I met the overzealous douchebag known as Snow, who's main goal in life is to be a fucking hero but that falls flat on his fucking face when he realizes "hey, I'm just a pathetic dumbass who just managed to get several people killed with my "heroic idiocy". Then came Hope... this kid was just annoying, I understand what happened to him was sad boo hoo, but to be completely honest I didn't care. Venille, annoying and I'll leave it at that for her. Basically the entire cast save for Sazh and Lightning, annoy the ever living shit out of me.

Anyway, after working my way towards the so called "Open area" of the game, I realize whoever finds an area full of Jurassic Park rejects that can instantly kill you because some ass thought it would be smart to put in creatures that you aren't supposed to fight until later in the game in the area. No, Gran Pulse is basically Jurassic Fucking Park, and everything I was told by people who enjoyed Gran Pulse was like this "its more open, and there are sidequests"... These sidequests were basically "go beat the shit out of this thing, come back get a spill from a Cieth... blah blah blah "thank you", they crystalize and you're left with nothing.

Anyway, after getting out of that hellish nightmare, I am confronted with the tower area... If this wasn't the most tedious bullshit area to navigate through I don't know what the hell is. I have to activate statues, fight all these enemies, rinse and repeat over and over again, make it to the damn top to fight a stupid boss, and upon beating him, rush to a fucking save point because the dumbass developers thought spawning in tough as hell enemies right after a boss fight was a smart idea. You don't earn cash from defeating enemies... instead you get shit to sell, but the shit you have to sell is also used to upgrade your weapons but you need to buy new stuff... hmmm tough decision.

So anyway, after the long tedious battle through the tower I made my way to some deserted city... full of enemies, I basically press the control stick forward and eventually run into the stupid face boss guy thing, and upon seeing a new boss battle pop up less than 30 minutes after the last one, I shut the game off, shelved it and probably won't play it ever again.

The gameplay was boring, switching to paradigms wasn't hard but most definitely fucked me over on several occasion's, especially when the characters have to do a 5 second switch animation while being bombarded with attacks (stupid fucking idea). I also hate how every fucking battle drags on way too long, I am fighting a regular enemy not a fucking boss, why is it taking me 10 minutes to beat this faggot! Oh wait, I have to get that gauge all the way filled up, then attack it furiously once it gets up there... so boring... boring... boring.

[mcsleepy]

Least Favorite Game - Sonic Riders Zero Gravity

Since the subject is least favorite, I imagine that means "game I like, just like the least", and not "game I flat out hate." I don't hate the Riders series. I think it's ok for the most part, but I felt "Zero Gravity" was a step down from the first "Riders" in almost every single way possible.

To start off everything feels slower for some reason. The boost system was also changed. Air Boosts from the previous game were replaced with a Gravity Boost. Basically the Air Boost could be used as long as you had "Air", which was the fuel for the boards, and a chunk of air was used every time you boosted, and the boost would come out right away. In Zero Gravity, the boost takes forever to actually start, and it eats away at the fuel like crazy, even during the really long start up where you don't move. You basically get one big boost per lap, instead of a bunch of boosts per lap. The game also tells you when it's best to boost, which makes it more like a set piece than a technique which rewards the player for managing to keep the fuel gauge up.

Another gripe I have with this game is that it also throw the reason the characters are even on the boards out the window. Supposedly the boards could travel faster than Sonic could run. Now there's a power up that opens up some really good shortcuts, and considerably speeds up whoever got it. The power up is the speed shoes and forces the character off the board and makes them run way faster than anyone who happens to still be on their boards. This irks me to no end because unlike SASASR, every character in the game can probably keep up with Sonics running speed without it being to weird, so theres no reason for them to even be on the boards to begin with.

Last thing I'm gonna say is that it got rid of the trick system as well. In Riders after going off a ramp you would move the control stick and the character would do trick (similar to Sonic Generations), doing more would net you more Air. If you bite off more than you can chew and land on the ground while doing a trick, the character wont receive the extra Air and slow down because of a bad landing. In Zero Gravity, you just have to time a jump off a ramp and you'll get the extra fuel. Just seems like it was simplified when it didn't need to be.

Also it's much less colorful and in my opinion looks worse than Riders 1.

[\gunther]

I was struggling so hard to think of something. I've been thinking about this for several days, and yet nothing has been coming to mind.

Until...

My least favorite game (that I've played) has to be...

You, sir, just brought back memories of one of the most painful summers I endured. My memory is hazy, but I'll see how well I can express my dread.

First of all, the game plays almost completely different than the actual, real life card game. You can only attack specific targets, some cards have different effects, etc. It feels so much more restricted and takes so long to get used to if you're used to playing the real deal.

A change in play mechanics wouldn't be much of a problem, if there weren't so many damn limits on what you could put in your deck. Got a good card you want to add in? Well fuck you, it's probably make the allowed value of your deck go waaay overboard. Can't use it until you grind, grind, grind like crazy! Oh, want to advance in the story? Well fuck you, your deck is shit. Grind more, you pussy!

And really, that's all it was for me; purpetual grinding. Advancing in the story was nothing more than trial-and-error. Usually I would end up winning by sheer luck. Maybe I just sucked at it, I don't know, but the point is that few video games have enfuriated me so much that I mentally blocked it for eight long years of my life.

At least I got some free cards with the game.

[Marcello]

Hard question again :-/ There are a lot of games I don't like, but least favorite?

The game was just a huge disappointment for me. I played the first at my uncles, but never got it myself. So when 2 came out I got all excited and bought. I was irked by it becoming so edgy, but I thought as long as it's as fun as the first. whatever. Then I played it and there were guns, vehicles and more making into a platforming GTA. I never completed the game and just sold it. I still plan on rebuying it one day to actually complete it, though.

This is also a runner-up:

I bought it because I wanted a normal Yugioh card video game, maybe similar to Pokemon TCG for GB, but I got some weird board game. I sold it together with Jak 2.

[supersonikku]

Least Favourite Game:

This was hard at first as I pretty much enjoy all games. I know that's like admitting that you murder puppies on the internet, people think there’s something wrong with you… but if I'm playing a game no matter how bad it may be, I’m having a good time. Maybe that’s because when I was younger I was too naïve or distracted to notice flaws in games and now I’m in my mid-twenties I’m just happy when I have time to relax and play anything.

So I thought this was going to be tough, then I remembered a certain game which…well I certainly wouldn’t say I “hate” it, I think that word is banded around far too much, but it drives me crazy. Mostly because I wanted to love it so badly.

LEGEND OF ZEDLA: MAJORA'S COCKING MASK

"Yo"

I love Zelda games. I’ve played nearly all of them and never had trouble finishing any of them. Windwaker would make my Top 5 ever, but damn you to hell Majora you can shove your mask up your arse.

I first tried this at university when I borrowed the Legend of Zelda Collectors Edition from a mate for the GameCube. It was actually really exciting getting, what was to me, a brand new Zelda game to play. I’d never owned an N64 but had played through Ocarina on the Bonus Disk that came with Windwaker.

With Majora I got up to the end of the second dungeon I think and packed it in from frustration. About half a year ago I was talking about it with a lad at work, it’s one of his favourites and he said I should give it another chance. I agree’d and thought maybe I’d been a bit hasty to dismiss it back in the day so I borrowed his N64 and the actual cartridge. This time after getting my ass handed to me multiple times, I didn’t even beat the boss in the first dungeon.

I know this game has a lot of fans (glad there’s no neg-rep button on here anymore), I can tell its not a “bad” game and I can see why people would enjoy it, but to me it does everything in it’s power to prevent fun. A tedious, directionless slog of guesswork and bizarre design choices. The difficulty is not even the main issue to me, it’s the time gimmick. Running through the first dungeon a second time, getting keys I’d already retrieved before because of a necessary time rewind, it suddenly dawned on me what a miserable time I was having. Thinking back it might have been because I had to turn the game off and saving requires you rewind the game back to day 1….is that right? Doesn’t sound right, sounds like a load of shit. At this point I think I’ve forced the memories from my brain.

I know I only got 2 dungeons in and it’s not fair to base an opinion of a game on that, also there are people reading this wanting to scream at me that I hate it cause I suck at it, but the topic is “least favourite game” and having played what I’ve played of it, this is my least favourite game. Who the fuck saw a Deku Scrub in Ocarina and thought “damn I wish those guys were playable”. I don’t want to run around town finding hidden children, I don’t want stealth sections where I play as a bush and most of all I don’t want to be stressed out, annoyed and fighting against the main gimmick of the game. I want to twat spiders in the face with a sword.

Child search and stealth section both in WindWaker too actually now I think about it and I didn't find those bits overly tedious. Must be the will of Majora.

I like the atmosphere of an impending doomsday, the moon and the creepy mask salesman though. I would actually really like to watch someone play through the game who knows what they are doing ( in person, no youtube ).

Honourable mention to Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility on the wii. I’ve never played it myself but the Mrs went through a phase of addiction and the music and soundclips are burned into my brain forever.

[Marcello]

supersonikku: Did you ever slow down time in MM?

[Cola]

Alright, my least favorite game has to be an old one.

Spy vs. Spy for NES might be a good game, although it doesn't seem that way to me. Maybe it's because I don't have an instruction manual, but I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW THIS GAME WORKS. AT ALL. Movement is sluggish, controls are a bit wonky, I really don't like it at all.

A quick internet search later, I learn that you're supposed to gather mutiple items and sabotage your opponent, but also that single player is really boring and best played with a friend. And the items are always in the same places. I mean, REALLY? Ugh, I don't like this game at all, the graphics aren't that good either. Ugh, Spy vs. Spy NES, please die in a fire.

[Your Vest Friend]

Least favourite game, now that IS an easy choice.

The main issue I have with Spinball is the controls; they feel sticky and unyielding, so movement is very sluggish and restricted. This is the one thing that prevents me from getting any further into it than Toxic Caves, I just cannot make it to where I should go due to the controls being too shit to handle Sonic properly. The graphics also look very...ugly for a Sonic game. I've seen other games with graphics like it, but they make them suit the feel of the game's tone. This just feels like a mess. I don't bother myself with the other things about the game, although I will say that the music is at least okay-ish. Went into it with no expectations and managed to go out with the same. I for one am perfectly willing to let this sit on the non-canon pile, even if it also cements Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine there as well.

[Kamicciolo]

With a combination of the forum being SOPA'd right now, and me being on a friends computer, I'll make this day's entry brief(er than usual, also explaining lack of picture ).

Day #3 - Kami's Most Horrible "Makes Ninjashark's entry look like gold chicken" Least Favourite game he ever liked Least!

Anyway, I'll elect Bulletstorm as my least favourite game I've played. While it probably does have its merits, it's story, characters, environments, and gameplay just hasn't captivated me in anyway, to the point that I can't get myself bothered to play past the first mission. I know this means I'm basing this position on roughly a 5 minute playthrough at best, but I honestly couldn't get myself motivated to play the game (not to mention that this is probably the only game I've actually taken this attitude to).

Edited January 20, 2012 by Kamicciolo

[Covskin]

Right, I'm assuming if this is "Least Favourite", that we'll have "Worst" (and even "Most Disappointing") later on. With all that in mind, I've got to repeat what others have said.

Shadow The Hedgehog.

I was hoping to avoid the Sonic franchise throughout these 30 days, to try and be original, but I have to give up already.

Shadow the Hedgehog, whilst not a terrible game, just does so many things wrong, and that includes concept. Who really thought an overblown, gritty cartoon anthromorphic hedgehog firing realistic-looking guns was what the fanbase wanted? I could forgive the alien guns, but seeing Shadow with a pistol just looks ridiculous.

The gun gameplay was also poor. The game just automatically targets enemies in the general direction you're facing. A good guy and a bad guy standing next to each other? Well, little Jimmy, you have a 50/50 chance of targetting the right one. Might as well kill them both though, because no matter which side you're on, everyone else wants to kill you.

Also, fuck Westopolis. Not because its a terrible level, or the worst in the game. But it is not good enough to play 10 times to see all endings.

The tone of cutscenes, as hinted before, was pathetic, especially "Where's that DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald?".

Its not the worst game I've played, but its just so lacklustre, especially in the middle of a personal resurgence in Sonic fandom (having only come back in 2002), that I can't recommend it, nor do I wish to play it again.

[Carbo]

Since my last post drowned out rather quickly I'm just going to remind everyone that Day 4 begins tomorrow at 3:00 PM GMT. Forums are still going to run a bit slow for the next five-to-six hours due to the SOPA blackout so you guys get extra time to rip and tear.

[Jimbo]

Least Favorite Game:

I can't really say I have a game that I personally hate.

I can easily say that this piece of shit comes close though. Its nothing more than a time killer, with little to no purpose. It isn't even entertaining, its just fucking stupid. The only redeeming fact about this garbage is that it was free to download, but besides that I hate it.

[Lucky]

DAY #3 - LEAST FAVOURITE VIDEO GAME

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

So, I was originally going to ramble on about this and then realised if I did I'd be here all night, because whilst I've played plenty of games that are technically worse, Nuts & Bolts is the one that left the worst impression on me just for the fact it took everything about a game I adore, tore it to bits, and then trampled all over it. So for that reason I'm going to keep this as short as I can.

The original Banjo-Kazooie is one of my favourite games of all time, and despite having no particular love for Tooie, it at least stuck to the formula that made the series work to begin with. N&B, on the other hand, feels like someone sat down and asked themselves how they could make a game that was as different from BK as possible, whilst making fun of everything that made the series what it was (no, I don't find the script amusing and it baffles me why so many people say "at least it captured the spirit of a Banjo game!" because it got old after two minutes. Hur dur, let's just do the whole self-deprication thing over and over and over, because people are gonna loooove that... yeah, no), came up with some ugly, blocky redesigns just to hammer the final nail in the coffin, and then went ahead and threw N&B together.

I'll admit that I've never played past Banjoland and it took me long enough to force myself there, and that's kind of a testament of just how bad an impression the game left on me, because I do tend to be a bit of an achievement whore and under normal circumstances would have carried on just for the sake of completing it and getting it out of the way. But I honestly could never bring myself to do so with N&B because pretty much everything about the game does nothing but encourage me to turn it off again after a few minutes. And it's quite sad, because it's probably the closest thing we're ever going to get to Banjo-Threeie and I wanted so badly to like it, but I can't.

[Danj86]

Since my last post drowned out rather quickly I'm just going to remind everyone that Day 4 begins tomorrow at 3:00 PM GMT. Forums are still going to run a bit slow for the next five-to-six hours due to the SOPA blackout so you guys get extra time to rip and tear.

And you were worried that chaos would break after introducing negative topics. Haha, so silly...

Now if you'll excuse me...nobody hates on the Raving Rabbids and lives! Jeeves! Hand me my rocket launcher...I'll be back...

Edited January 20, 2012 by Dan-imeJ86

[supersonikku]

supersonikku: Did you ever slow down time in MM?

I can't really remember to be honest. I'd guess not, unless you get that ability quite early on. I sunk quite a lot of hours into the game to make the little progress that I managed but it's all a bit of a blur! Sounds like a handy trick though.

Now I'm feeling like I want to try again from the start....goddamnit.

[Marcello]

I can't really remember to be honest. I'd guess not, unless you get that ability quite early on. I sunk quite a lot of hours into the game to make the little progress that I managed but it's all a bit of a blur! Sounds like a handy trick though.

Now I'm feeling like I want to try again from the start....goddamnit.

You have it once you get the ocarina and Song of Time. You have to play the Song of Time backwards. You can also skip half a day by playing each note twice (Right Right AA Down Down)

[JezMM]

I can't really remember to be honest. I'd guess not, unless you get that ability quite early on. I sunk quite a lot of hours into the game to make the little progress that I managed but it's all a bit of a blur! Sounds like a handy trick though.

Now I'm feeling like I want to try again from the start....goddamnit.

You have it once you get the ocarina and Song of Time. You have to play the Song of Time backwards. You can also skip half a day by playing each note twice (Right Right AA Down Down)

Incidentally, just so it doesn't seem completely cheap and random to you that you get this song without the game telling you - you "learn" it from the dancing Scarecrows in the main Clock Town Shop/Astral Observatory. It's not a song you actually have to "learn" within the story like most, he teaches it to you through a quite reasonable-to-work-out riddle.

The inverse song of time slows down the time from about 72 minutes per cycle to a good 2 and a half or so hours.

Edited January 19, 2012 by JezMM

[Carbo]

Pardon for the delay, some personal tragedy struck and I had to attend to some engagements. Anyway time to gush again.

Day 4 - Your Favorite Video Game Series.

[PSI Wind]

So, least favorite Video Game, huh? Hmmmm, I guess I would say:

Now granted, it's not THAT bad of a game, but the problem is that I just don't feel compelled to finish the damn game. I expected a little better from videos I've seen and stuff, but I got it used for $10, so I shouldn't be complaining too much. The combat feels too stiff and doesn't feel like I'm actually hurting the enemies in the same way the Zelda series makes me feel. The graphics are beautiful and shows the GCs power, I'll give it that much, but eh.

Pardon for the delay, some personal tragedy struck and I had to attend to some engagements. Anyway time to gush again.

Day 4 - Your Favorite Video Game Series.

Awww piss. I posted mine a little late. Does it still count?

[Semi-colon e]

Favourite series? Sonic, naturally.

Grew up with it, loads of different characters and environments, great soundtracks in almost every game, a rich history that was well referenced in Generations, and speedy platforming fun in a way no other series has gripped me with. Oh yeah, nostalgia is also a part of it, but I guess it would be for most of us.

I grew up with Pokemon as well and that gripped me a hell of a lot, but I'm nowhere near as into it anymore as I once was, while Sonic is still a big part. Other series I've really grown to like lately I got into too recently to have as much history with. Even by process of elimination, it's Sonic once again. It's just a no brainer really. I really can't add much to that as on this forum it's kind of obvious why Sonic is going to be some people's favourite series.

Edited January 19, 2012 by Semi-colon e

[Carbo]

Awww piss. I posted mine a little late. Does it still count?

I'll let it slide just this once since I was an incompetent dolt with the times and have no right to criticize.