Your favorite unfavored game?

joxer said:

Alpha Protocol? Sims:Medieval? Random Ultimas? Um… Guys…
I'm still waiting to see someone adores a game most critics gave less than 50%.
All games mentioned, unless I'm mistaken, are at least mediocre if not above average per critics consensus.

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He asked for games not considered good. I don't know what dictionary you're using but 50% and mediocre are not good.

Before I mentioned Stone Prophet, but I would also like to add Birthright: The gorgons alliance. I love that game and have probably put 300+ hours into it over the years. I enjoyed how there are so many possibilities in terms of starting territory and PC's. I would rate it in the high 80's/early 90's.

Another would be Boiling Point: Road to hell. I did a full playthrough and the game had so much potential despite the bugs. I would give it around 80%.

HordeQ said:

He asked for games not considered good. I don't know what dictionary you're using but 50% and mediocre are not good.

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I use just my head. Mediocrity is something that's still good. Not very good, not excellent, but good.
Per what dictionary only good titles are those critics or audience gave 7/10 or more? And even if I'll be persuaded into your mindset, how is Alpha Protocol not good or panned if it scored more than 7/10?
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/alpha-protocol

Not that Joxer cares much about reality - but mediocrity is, specifically, neither good nor bad. Well, or a reasonably even combination of both.

Actually, it's often used to point out low quality as well.

What I find surprising is that you guys even care about this. The thread is interesting whether pedantically following the title or not.

Stone Prophet and The Summoning. I loved both of those games in the early to mid 90's. Almost no one will talk about The Summoning. It seemed perfect for the time - an action based isometric rpg with puzzles/traps and large zones to explore.

RPGfreak said:

Do you posses a game that was panned by critics and isn't considered good by the gaming community, but in your eyes it is an absolute gem? A game that you cannot compare to other games no matter how great they are?

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I said in previous posts, panned IMO means it's below 50%, games some were numbering got 7/10, 8/10 and such, how can that be - panned?

And that game finally appeared.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/ravens-cry

Currently both critics and players aggro is less than 50%. And I just can't get enough of this game, it's so much fun to me I'm already replaying it.
Either I finally cracked and it's high time to visit a shrink, or people are blind.

Of Orcs and Men. I truly enjoyed the story and characters, though the mechanics were a bit of a letdown.

Tales of Eternia maybe.. is the only one that comes to my mind.

To me, the closest thing I can think of is Bladestorm in the PS3. I loved that game, yet checking it in Metacritic it's sitting at 58.

Probably Stonekeep. As much as it has been panned as mediocre, it was my first cRPG and nudged open the door for me. Previously, I had also played Exile 2: Wicked Phenomenon on TurboGrafx16, but it had (and has) a strong following.

Stonekeep started off fantastic, too bad it went downhill from there...

Keepsake.Does anyone remember this P&C adventure.Sure writing wasn't good and voice acting was bad(I lowered volume to 0 every time NPC Mustavio would speak) but gameplay was really great.Magical academy where game takes place was really well designed and puzzles where really good.Unfortunately because of reasons above and also backtracking game was slandered by most critics(game did have few scores above 90 but rest where bad ) and that is too bad since game is really good if you are into some hardcore puzzeling.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. I've have had so much fun playing this game. You can play it through as a mage, a warrior or an assasin. Or you can just mix everything as you please. Level design is really great as maps are designed to support all these various playing styles. Storyline is sadly forgettable, but characters are quite intresting. Goblins and orcs in particular are quite hilarious and remind me of their counterparts in Arx Fatalis.

Requiem - avenging angel. I don't think many will remember this game from 1999. It is a first person shooter where you play one of God's angels called Malachi. He has been sent to earth to set things on correct path. The 21:st century earth in requiem is not a nice place. Rebellious angels (=fallen angels) have already taken control over most of humanity's leaders and are suppressing the earth populace with a global totalitarian regime. The world in Requiem feels very dystopian like in half-life 2 or in 1984 novel. Big brother is watching everyone and life on earth is quite misserable. These fallen angels are pushing humanity towards the completion of the Leviathan, which is actually the first interstellar spaceship. It is said that with that spacecraft humanity will be able to reach for the stars, and touch Heaven itself, something which God cannot allow. So your job is stop that from happening and save mankind from Armageddon

In addition to impressive arsenal of traditional weapons, you also have all these godly powers (much like force powers in jedi knight) in your disposal, such as: turning enemies into pilars of salt, telekinesis (much like force push), stopping time, taking control of your enemies, summoning brimstones & lightinings etc.

One game which I'm not really sure how the press treated it, and I'm not sure how players feel about it. Mainly because I played it when I was younger and had no internet access. But, from the lack of any mention of it along the years, I have to conclude it wasn't celebrated very much. And that game is Giants : Citizen Kabuto. And absolute beast and amazing game. The most funniest game ever. And gameplay was also great. The only issue was the very high difficulty. But it was great. Highly imaginative and creative. And among the first games to features asymmetrical pvp multiplayer.

I'll also add D&D: Daggerdale to the mix of generally unfavored games that I really enjoyed. It's a fun little D&D campaign, with some hack n' slash action, fun combat, good character development and lots of cool loot.

I think I have a lot of favs that would fall into this category, but the most obvious one to me would have to be SpellJammer! As far as I know I'm the ONLY person who loved that game!

Thrasher said:

Well my 2 top unfavored picks are here:

1. PoR:RoMD - Massively large dungeons I just loved. Incredible variety of loot. Turned-based 3rd edition D&D combat. The outdoor areas are beautiful.

2. Alpha Protocol - Turning your enemies into your friends was a wonderful RPG device I have yet to see anywhere else.

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Amen on PoR2 brother. Atmosphere in the game really drew me in and I personally loved the combat. I would give it a second play through but it won't run on any of my laptops

Hellgate is still around. Expanded too, I believe? Hellgate Tokyo or something?
Flagship closed and the publisher got the games and has continued to support them.
http://hellgate.t3fun.com/Home/Home.aspx
I'd be interested to hear if you guys still like it.

I can't really think of a game of my own to add to this list.
The one already listed that I most agree with is Dark Messiah. I think it got a dismal score like 20% in my favourite gaming magazine at the time but when I played it years and years later I thought it was fantastic and I still think its first-person melee combat is unmatched today.

I wish I could agree about PoR2. I REALLY wanted to like that game. I've tried going back to it, tried it co-op, tried to find mods to fix it. I just can't get into it. I'd rather play PoR1 again.

ToddMcF2002 said:

Amen on PoR2 brother. Atmosphere in the game really drew me in and I personally loved the combat. I would give it a second play through but it won't run on any of my laptops

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That's a shame. I was hoping I could have another run. Did you try some of the compatibility modes?

RPGfreak said:

Mine are TechnoMage Soulbringer and Silver.

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Even though I just played the few opening hours of Silver, I wouldn't say it thrilled me that much. Soulbringer on the other hand was a game I really enjoyed and had fun with. Too bad for the ever black background which was really an unfortunate design decision ! Other than that, it was a really nice underrated game. The other games that received mixed reviews but I greatly appreciated though aren't numerous. I'd recall Albion (not quite sure about how bad this one was received ?) ; Dungeon lords ; Neuro hunter and Icewind dale, mostly for how badly it was received by players at launch.