Your top 10 'Major Disappointment' games or: 'I want my money back!'

[JDR13]

Having a choice does not make something non-linear. KOTOR was good at giving the illusion of being non-linear. All of the "story development choices" came down to simply choosing a light or dark side action.

Don't let me get started on the levels themselves. The maps in KOTOR were probably the most linear I've ever seen in a crpg. With almost no freedom to explore whatsoever. I do understand that's a different subject though.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Every game starts the same everytime.

Not true, there are four different beginnings in wizardry 8 for example.

 

[Sorcha Ravenlock]

My list:

1. Oblivion. I loved Morrowind, but Oblivion took out all the things that made Morrowind fun and replaced them with things I didn't care for, like levelled list, tortured corpses and the worst sort of hell: the same Oblivion instance over, and over, and over again.

2. KoTOR2 Again, I loved KOTOR1, the twist got me by suprise. KOTOR2 just didn't do it for me, the story didn't suck me in, I couldn't care less about the NPCs, I just wanted my Carth back!

3. Dungeon Siege2 I liked DS1, unlike most of you. I appreciate simple hack'n'slash at times, but then it should stay simple. DS1 had that right, just like the original Diablo. DS2 tried to stick all sorts of nonsense onto the game, and had a horrible Save and Death system, taking away from the simple click-click, kill-kill that made the first one enjoyable for me.

4. Divine Divinity 2. Being tied to your nemensis, a dmon from the worst pits of hell, would have been a lot more enjoyable if he didn't sound like Fozzie Bear from the muppets. DD1 was fun, even though it did slack the pace at times and lacked direction, but DD2 was bad.

5. Final Fantasy X. We bought a PS2 earlier this year, and I couldn't wait to try the Holy Grail of JRPG... only to find it was really a movie where I occasionally got to walk three steps, and if one of those steps was in the wrong direction I got punished with tedious turnbased combat that took way too long. If there would have been any way to skip that I would have grabbed a bucket of popcorn and appreciated the movie. But after being forced to play some sort of underwater rugby (WTF? I hate sportsgames, so what is something like that doing in my RPG?) I gave up.

There have been other games that just weren't to my liking (like BG2, and the Fallout series,to give examples) but that was just me. i bought them to try them out and didn't like them, no biggie. These games however I bought after either playing the game in the series before them, or because I bought the hype, and so I class them as dissapointing.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Divine Divinity 2.

This game does not officially exist, I think you mean beyond divinity.

 

[txa1265]

This game does not officially exist, I think you mean beyond divinity.

I left it alone becuase she was clear in the description ... sort of like people who call Jedi Academy 'JK3'

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

This game does not officially exist, I think you mean beyond divinity.

You are right. The game's name is indeed "Beyond Divinity".

It was formerly known as "Riftrunner", but the name was changed.

Divine Divinity 2 is yet to be made, and most of the Larian community expect the "next gen RPG" to actually be (Divine) Divinity 2.

 

[Sorcha Ravenlock]

This game does not officially exist, I think you mean beyond divinity.

True, my mistake, I ment Beyond Divinty ofcourse

 

[JemyM]

Star Wars Galaxies: This is a true "I want my money back". I waited, and payed, ages for the Star Wars MMORPG that never came.

Dungeon Siege: I thought we would see a real roleplaying game, but DS was a very linear diabloclone with less than average amount of story/subquests.

Pools of Radiance 2: I tried hard, but the long battles took me down.

Half-Life 2: 100% Linear and no content/story

Eye of the Beholder on Gameboy Advance: Despite everything they did they ended up with a worse game. How was it possible?

Vampire: Redemption: Diabloclone on the storytelling system's grandfather?

Most recent Sierra adventure titles: No wonder Sierra eventually dropped their adventuregames. Most games after their SCI engine had lost their charm.

Simon the Sorcerer 3d: The ugliest "popular" game ever made, I think there's no contest. Also a very painful game to play.

Paradise: I expected alot thanks to Syberia, but from the beginning to the end I did not feel for the characters, I did not knew who the characters were and I barely had a clue what I was doing.

 

[xSamhainx]

I had problems with V:TR as well, but calling it a Diablo clone is bewildering to me. How would you arrive at that?

 

[JDR13]

I'm even more confused by his opinion of Half-Life 2.
I agree with it being 100% linear, but how can you say it had no story? Compared to most first-person shooters, I thought HL2 had a fascinating story.

 

[KazikluBey]

HL2 obviously does have a story, but I found it to be quite poorly told. Most of the time I had no idea why I was running around shooting at things. The way the president (or whatever he was) tried to guilt trip you for destroying all he had tried to build up just felt ridiculous when I had had no idea what it was I was actually doing throughout the game.

Far Cry had an incredibly cliché story, but it was told in a much better way, and it always gave me a clear idea of the current and overall objective, unlike Half-Life 2.

 

[txa1265]

I had problems with V:TR as well, but calling it a Diablo clone is bewildering to me. How would you arrive at that?

I did a little write-up on VtM:R a while back ... here are some snippits:

Once you become a vampire (c'mon, you knew it was coming!) the plot - while still very good - becomes very linear. You basically move from main-quest item to main-quest item, with no extraneous interactions or side-quests. If this sounds somewhat unsatisfying for an RPG, that's because it is! It is a decent story thread that would be immensely satisfying for an action game or FPS, but not in a RPG.
...
the controls all made sense, the HUD was informative and intuitive ... and that the gameplay was pretty mediocre. It is the feeling of trying to control the action of four characters simultaneously in a game like Rune. Sound hard� it is. It would be easier if the NPC AI was better - but it isn't. My best strategy ended up being to equip the team well, control Christof, hope for the best and carry plenty of resurrect scrolls, and then take it as a discipline as soon as I could.
...
Action RPG�s tend to suffer as they are more about combat and less about plot and development. Yet most action RPG�s offer either tons of sidequests or unique characters to play. Vtm: Redemption offers neither. There are no sidequests, no party choices, and there is only so much you can get out of the character development options due to the need to play 'team cleric' as mentioned above.

 

[JemyM]

I'm even more confused by his opinion of Half-Life 2.
I agree with it being 100% linear, but how can you say it had no story? Compared to most first-person shooters, I thought HL2 had a fascinating story.

Storytelling... delivering the story... HL2 had very little of that. For most of the game the only thing you do is to run around, shooting zombies and look for the most obvious path to the next area. There was no talking among soldiers, no radiochatter, no wierd documents or e-mails to read, no dialogue save from the ending, no cutscenes in which you "almost" grab the villian. All this hassle with never really knowing WHY? Furthermore, the protagonist do not say a single word through the entire game like he was a mute. Also, are not Gordon Freeman supposed to be a SCIENTIST? If he is, why cant he solve a single thing by using his head? We never get to know Gordon even if we play him. The NPC's are also faceless nobodies without background or story behind them. You never have a sense of urgency, of a task that must be fulfilled etc... none of what happens feels important because Valve failed to make it feel important.

Im comparing it to other First Person Shooters like F.E.A.R, No One Lives Forever, FarCry and Doom 3, that have familiar reoccurring characters, lots of in-jokes you can read in mails/documents etc, radio chatter, many talking villians, all in all the world feels alive, the task ahead feels important and you feel for the characters.

As a fan of good storytelling techniques, good stories, interesting characters, clever dialogue etc, I was really diappointed in Half Life 2. It only have a single plus in the edge thanks to Dog. His cutscenes was the only thing I find memorable with HL2.

 

[JemyM]

I had problems with V:TR as well, but calling it a Diablo clone is bewildering to me. How would you arrive at that?

When I say Diablo Clone I mean the interface and gameplay is very similar to Diablo. You run with your mouse, you attack with right button, you drink alot of potions very quickly, taking on hordes of monsters often several at a time, seemingly thrown in for the combat alone.

 

[txa1265]

Storytelling... delivering the story... HL2 had very little of that.

I largely agree - I'll quote bits of my review on this one:

The story of HL2 is enjoyable, if thin and light, and unfolds in a natural way as you play through the game. There are no real surprises, as you know what is happening, and basically who your friends and enemies are throughout the game. But the most important thing is that it works. You want to get to the end, you care about the NPC's, and you want to do the right thing. Not that you have any choice, as the plot is scripted to the extreme, and you are basically carried on-rails through it
...
Valve made this game look much less linear than it really is. They did a good thing in using physics to hide linearity - basically you walk an obvious path, see nowhere to go, look for a physics answer - sink something, break something, weigh something down, float something, etc. This is basically the next generation of 'find the keycard' plot progression, and I was pretty sick of it by the end of the game.
...
And the AI? At no time did I get flanked as I often did in Far Cry, even when there were flanking positions available
...
The weapons in HL2 suffer from what I call the 'Jedi Effect'. They are generally OK, but there is one weapon - the gravity gun - that is so good that the rest of the arsenal pales in comparison. Unfortunately, you need the rest of the weapons. The pistol is more effective than in almost any other FPS I remember, but I don't know if that is a good thing
...
it is very linear and nothing is really in your control ( I tried to kill a few important NPC's just to see ... you can't). Therefore replaying HL2 is like watching a movie again as opposed to playing a game like Knights of the Old Republic again - you are doing it to experience the same things again, rather than get a fresh experience

 

[JDR13]

"it is very linear and nothing is really in your control ( I tried to kill a few important NPC's just to see ... you can't)."

I found that comment kind of odd considering it's that way in almost all games. They obviously have to make some(important) NPC's immortal for story purposes.
Good review btw

@JemyM

"no cutscenes in which you "almost" grab the villian"

" Furthermore, the protagonist do not say a single word through the entire game like he was a mute"

The 'no cutscenes' and silent protagonist were design decisions that have stayed consistent since the original Half-Life. The devs said they chose to do it that way to better keep you immersed in the experience. The story is told through scripted events that you witness through Freeman's eyes, rather than a cutscene where you suddenly have no control over your character or the camera.

I rather like the fact that Gordan Freeman never speaks. It leaves more to the imagination. They even poke fun at it a little during the course of the game, like when Alex says "Man of few words, aren't you".

I'm not disagreeing with you though. I realize that not everyone likes the same approach.

btw: F.E.A.R. also used the silent protagonist.

 

[txa1265]

Good review btw

Thanks - it was my first official one for GamerDad.

I found that comment kind of odd considering it's that way in almost all games. They obviously have to make some(important) NPC's immortal for story purposes.

Thing is, at the time, so much was being made of it being a living, dynamic world ... in reality, all 'allies' were immortal, 99.95% of doors were locked, and there was 1 path at all times.

btw: F.E.A.R. also used the silent protagonist.

I've had the 'silent protagonist' argument countless times over the last 2 years ... and I see both sides of it. Personally I don't like it - but over time I've come to clarity over *why* ... it is because unlike in so many games, people actually converse *with* Freeman, and his unreactiveness just frustrates the crap out of me:
NPC - Hey Freeman, how bout some lunch?
Freeman - ...
NPC - Yo man, you hungry or something?
Freeman - ...
NPC - I mean, jeez, man, you just took out 500 guys, you must want a little something, or at least a soda?
Freeman - ...
NPC - Well, how 'bout I get us some Friggin' Chicken? (get the ref?)
Freeman - ...
NPC - OK, you just sit here - I'm outta here!
Freeman - ...

 

[JDR13]

It's definitely an acquired taste that's not for everyone.

One thing I would like to point out though. All allies were not immortal. In fact, very few of them were.

 

[txa1265]

It's definitely an acquired taste that's not for everyone.

I actually look at it as bad design - there are a few routes: you are active observer, and people speak 'around you'; or you're an active participant and you reply, or 'this'. I see what they are saying about not wanting to have speech to break immersion, but many other games have non-talking protagonists ... they are just not spoken to in a way that suggests reply.

One thing I would like to point out though. All allies were not immortal. In fact, very few of them were.

Yep ... I overstated because I thought I had added this quote from my review:

Late in the game you get a ‘team’, who basically serve as bullet soaks to keep you alive, since you have little strategic squad control over them. I estimated at least thirty rebels hit the dirt following ‘the Freeman’.

 

[JDR13]

Despite all the criticism, I noticed you gave it 4 1\2 stars.(out of 5)