similar to the word of mouth post, what game did you not expect much from but loved it?

Submitted ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com⁩ to ⁨patientgamers@sh.itjust.works⁩

Aby game that you heard about and thought “meh it’s just another xyz style game. How good can it be?” But you gave it a go anyway and it turned out the game was really good.

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portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I regret this post now. So many games I want to try now. Folks, there’s only so many hours in a day spare for gaming!

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invertedspear@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Bioshock. It was expected to be just another FPS but with an interesting “magic” system. What it turned out to be was a narrative played from the first person. My room mate played it as a standard run and gun, and was rightfully unimpressed. Taking it slow, exploring, and passing attention to all the little bits of story made it amazing.

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- portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yes, same exact experience here with that game.
  
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dkppunk@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Epistory

I found it on Steam and thought it looked interesting. It’s a typing game and I’m pretty good with typing, so I picked it up. I played games, but not much and usually it’s just World of Warcraft.

Once I started, I played that game for 12 hours straight. It had me hooked immediately. The visuals are absolutely beautiful, the story is intriguing, and the gameplay is so much fun. I do not finish games very often, but I finished that game in a single weekend.

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the16bitgamer@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Rollercoaster Tycoon.

It’s just a game on a cereal box how good can it be?

25 years later…

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- AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Same for chex quest. Free video game that was better than it had any right being.
  
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Mac@mander.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Westerado: Double Barreled

It has a good charm and humor. Easy to play on a whim and easy to stop and come back to (like at work :p ). Is fairly short but has decent replayability.
I played on Deck.

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AquaTofana@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Fields of Mistria.

Saw it recc’d here on the indiegames community as a new version of Stardew Valley. I figured it would be fun as I’m a fan of cozy games, but I didn’t realize how fun it was going to be.

It’s still in early access and Ive got 100s of hours logged and I’m eagerly awaiting the next update. The characters and idle dialogue is fantastic, and it solves a lot of the things that frustrate me about SDV (as a SDV lover of course).

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amino@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
poker

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MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Peak

I played half of shore solo. Gave up. “This is too easy/simple”

Tried again with friends. Took us 3-4 attempts to final get to the top. A lot more fun that my first impressions.

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chameleon@fedia.io ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The whole "don't look anything up before playing it" genre of cryptic puzzle-ish games where saying nearly anything about it is a spoiler. There's not all that many of them, but somehow they're all games where people go in with no expectations and either love it or bounce off of it really fast. The entire internet can scream at you to play Outer Wilds, but nobody wants to tell you why.

Out of the ones I played, I had the lowest expectations/highest payoff for Void Stranger; on the surface it looks just like a pretty average sokoban with gameboy-styled graphics and a surprisingly good soundtrack. And that's pretty much what it is, except the sokoban isn't really why you play it, even though you're gonna be playing a lot of it.

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Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
CrossCode.

I picked it up on sale cause it looked like something I would like. It sat in my steam library for years before I played it on a whim.

What I didn’t expect was an incredible story that would have me gripped till the end. Absolutely an awesome game.

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Wrufieotnak@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Funnily enough Hollow Knight. I saw the release of the Grimm Troupe DLC on GOG and was interested by the art style. I thought, hey a metroidvania, it’s been a while since I played one. The rest was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had, precisely because I didn’t expect anything.

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- portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That would be my one also. I thought it to be another platformer, but the story and progression had me hooked
  
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- spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Second this. I shout from the rooftops how much I love HK.
  
  Silksong is proving a touch less perfectly balanced, and as a sequel a smidge of the novelty has worn off, but still, extremely good.
  
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Redkey@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Die Hard (for the NES)

Warning: You MUST read the manual!

At first glance it might look like a simple top-down scrolling shooter like Commando or The Chaos Engine, but it’s so much more. It’s very free and open, with seven floors to explore, and once the in-game timer ends you must go to the 30th floor for the final showdown. The thing is that there are a few ways both to pick off the terrorists singly or in pairs, and to extend the time limit. If you just hide in some corner of the building and wait for the timer to run out, you’re going to get mown down by 30 armed terrorists in a fairly small space. But if you’re good you can use that time to wipe out almost all of the terrorists, leaving only the leader Hans himself to face you, which is much more manageable.

Die Hard wasn’t high on my list at all when I first played it in the 1990s, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s still one of my all-time favourites. But ever since AVGN did a video on it, it’s become popular to dump on it.

Most “complaints” that I see about this game either show that the person hasn’t actually played it for themselves at all, or are solved by reading the manual. Funnily enough, in that AVGN video he even says something like “Maybe this would make sense if I read the manual, but f*** that, who reads manuals?”

The only negative thing I have to say is that IMO the “foot power” meter, which affects movement speed, runs out a bit too quickly even when you walk everywhere instead of running. That being said, I’ve only noticed it on later replays, and I don’t recall it being a problem the first time I played it all those years ago.

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- dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Thank you for posting this. I’ll have to check this out - I slept on this for all this time. You don’t see many scenario-style games… ever? The fixed timer and resources sound like quite the challenge.
  
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- sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  who reads manuals?
  
  In the 90s, everyone who wanted a shot at understanding what was going on. Games didn’t have a ton of text, so the manual was the way to learn the controls, get backstory, and even some hints for obtuse puzzles.
  
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  - Cyberspark@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    And social media wasn’t a thing, nor YouTube, nor forms for sharing it really known. Reading the manual on the way home, getting excited to play it was part of the experience.
    
    Super Mario 64 was, by memory, one of the first to have tutorial-like directions and informational instructions in game with more in the first few levels. Even then reading the manual still helped. I was genuinely shocked when Skyrim just omitted a manual entirely compared to the thick booklet Oblivion came with.
    
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rbos@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Space Engineers. Little space ship building game, why not.

1500 hours later…

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- portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’ve just been reading the bobiverse books and wondered about it as a game and this looks perfect. Thanks
  
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  - rbos@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Yeah, btw what really got me into it was the Scrapyard mod set. Splitsie has a series on YouTube about it, and also some very good tutorials.
    
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Gerudo@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Spiritfarer Was not ready for that emotional rollercoaster from a “cozy” game.

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- portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I looked it up and wasn’t all that excited by it, but figured I’d give it a try anyway based on this thread Yep, thanks, I’ve not got a hope in hell in doing anything else for while now. :D
  
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- Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  A thousand times this. There were a lot of stories that made me cry, but Alice had me sobbing. When you had to walk slowly to stay with her, I felt like I was walking with my grandmother towards the end.
  
  Incredible game.
  
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  - Gerudo@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I had lost my grandad a few years prior and never really dealt with it. My Grandma was already declining and only had months to go. I went in 100% blind to Spiritfarer and started it because I wanted something laid back, and I enjoyed the art style. Talk about a gut punch.
    
    That game, at that time, had the same effect that watching Grave of the Fireflies had back in the day. It still sticks with me to this day.
    
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essell@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Ixion

Thought it was another generic fun little city builder.

And it is only it has some absolutely unique mechanics that are fun, a really good approach to unlocking through research, and a genuinely beautiful setting.

Seriously, the music, the story and the voice acting make it a genuinely rich experience.

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- dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Ixion had me at the trailer. Not many games or movies hold that kind of sway over me, and I was so richly rewarded for giving it a shot.
  
  My only frustration with the game is how low replay-ability is, and how the overall plot is fixed. You can make some different decisions along the way, but you’re not going to impact the story all that much.
  
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  - essell@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    True.
    
    The biggest change during my replays is how I interact with the spheres!
    
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- luxyr42@lemmy.dormedas.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I churned out on my first attempt to pay the game on release,but am really glad I gave it a second try after it got a few patches.
  
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Baggie@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Bounced off voices of the void the first time, couldn’t get through the tutorial. Had a friend recommend it again, have done multiple play thoughs and is now any favourite vibes game.

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mohab@piefed.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Hellsinker.

I kept hearing it’s a “one-of-a-kind shmup” and it’s a “shmup that somehow plays like an action game”, so I tried it twice and couldn’t see why it’s praised.

Third time I was like “OK, ima read the manual, read guides, and give it one final shot.” and holy shit, what a game. I’ll probably be playing it forever, TBH.

Up there with Crimzon Clover World EXplosion for me now.

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0li0li@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
No Rest for the Wicked

Reviews were pretty harsh and videos did not make it look that great. It’s been my main squeeze for about 100 hours now, having me put other games on hold only to return to it every evening after work.

Not even done yet, but currently, it’s a very solid EA game.

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- fibojoly@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Absolutely amazingly beautiful game. The cutscenes…
  makes me think of Arcane every time I load it up.
  
  And then, it turns out it’s got solid gameplay, if you like Dark Souls type of games. It’s got that oomph to the fighting. That visceral feel that really makes the fighting enjoyable, although brutal. It’s got room for improvement for sure, but they keep polishing it and every time I come back it’s better. It’s hard to believe it’s only a fraction of the full game, too!
  
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caut_R@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Probably Slipstream. I just bought it cause cheap and it turned out to be an absolute vibe.

Also, Far Cry 3. Turns out I don‘t mind putting checkmarks on collectibles and just find it oddly relaxing.

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- spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Just finished Far Cry 3 (and 4) in the last year. Excellent game(s). Taking a little pause b4 the last two
  
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  - caut_R@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Funny enough, 5 hasn‘t really clicked for me yet cause there‘s no icon spam on the map I can checkmark LOL. Hope you‘ll have a good time with em!
    
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ButteryMonkey@piefed.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Balan wonderland. It looked like a dumb kids game graphically, and I never saw it cost more than $10 new. How good could it actually be?

Picked it up because why not, $10. And it’s actually a great little platformer with cute and engaging mechanics.

I wish the clock did something if you complete it; spawning the kings is a gigantic pain and very confusing for something that does nothing at all, but it’s a very cute little side project, so it should have had a purpose. The use of consumable costumes sucks. It should just be an unlock thing rather than needing to farm the level, since farming is just standing next to the spawn point, which is tedious and dumb. Other than those two minor complaints, it is really engaging and a lot longer than I was expecting. Lots of hidden stuff, great level design, and just complicated enough to make you think without being overly frustrating.

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- Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I love that you dig it but don’t even call it by the right name, Balan Wonderworld, because it was named so poorly hahahaha
  
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B0NK3RS@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Mad Max

Could have been just movie tie-in garbage but is a solid top 20 game from last gen.

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- CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That game was so much more fun than reviewers made it out to be.
  
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EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
People Playground.

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rulray@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Strange Horticulture.

I expected some entertaining puzzles for an afternoon, but I really liked everything about it.

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- zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I played it with my partner but then we took a break and came back to it a while later. Forgot who we were helping and ended up with an ending we weren’t aiming for. Fun gameplay for a pair otherwise.
  
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alltheweird@thelemmy.club ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I was a teenage exocolonist

I thought it was a pretty cute narrative game but the amount of love, story, mechanics and possible outcomes blew my mind and no week goes by that I don’t wish I could play it again for the first time.

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zerofk@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Thomas Was Alone.

I stuck at platformers, and don’t like playing them. But this game, and most especially its narration, made me fall in love with quadrilaterals.

I won’t say more, but if you haven’t tried it please give it a chance.

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- portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Will be adding this to my installed games soon. Thanks
  
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sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Headlander

I don’t usually like Metroidvanias, having played a bunch of mediocre ones, but Headlander really sucked me in for some reason. Basically, you’re a head without a body and steal other bodies to use their abilities. In a sense it took everything I knew DMT about the genre and flipped it on its head (pun begrudgingly intended).

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Pika@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Minecraft.

I usually hate creative builder games with a passion, I joined fairly early in the alpha process and fell in love with the blocky design.

Then when i thought the game couldn’t get more engaging, forge was released for it and mods started being made and it opened a whole new universe that I’m /still/ playing today.

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- FoolHen@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Also was Minecraft for me, but different story.
  
  Back in 2011 o so someone told me it was a game where you could do anything: build anything anywhere, craft, fight, explore an unlimited world… But without mentioning the graphics and that it was made with cubes. I was a kid back then, so I believed it would be realistic graphics. Imagine my disappointment when they showed it to me.
  
  But I actually watched some videos after and tried it myself and absolutely loved it.
  
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