Your favorite game in a series that everyone else thinks is the worst?

[JCgames]

Title Kind of says it all. What game do you love in a series that you hear people all the time saying how horrible it is?


The Witcher, For me this one is easily the best. The herbalism and potion stacking was a extremely fun mini game. The zoomed out ISO play, with just clicking around the map was more like dancing than combat. spins, blocks, parry, flips, and of course slice! To me it was such a mistake removing that from the latter games. I wish there were more action RPG's played in Iso.

Mass effect Andromeda. The vaults were one of my all time favorite settings in any video game i've ever played. It was so alien and unique. It kinda reminded me of that sci-fi film Prometheus but was even better in a technological sorta way. The Nomad was so much fun to drive in game i even bought the real life version.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Np9fjf9CNc
I loved driving around on the planets, listening to the chats especially between Peebee and Drack, it was a million times better than those elevator rides or yesteryear. On top of that upgrading it and your weapons/armor was also great. The new JJ's and dodge mechanic was also a lot of fun. Melee and closer ranged combat is so much better in this game. Maybe some might think it is kinda Arcady, but hey we are talking biotics, so why not? Sure there was no renegade shep, and you were limited to 3 skills per profile, but i thought the way you could mix and match and just build what ever was way more fun. I will also say that the male ryder i thought wasn't as good, but female ryder was so hopeful and so well voiced. It was very refreshing to have that kind of optimism in a game. I've played the game 2 times, and I'm on my third. Sure i'll play the new ME rerelease, but for me andromeda is the best over all.

Thief 3 deadly shadows. Sure i liked the others but honestly i always would get suck on a mission, or just loose interest. But Deadly shadows was the one for me that broke the cycle. The story was so compelling and the NPC's like the hammarites and the pagans were all sorts of creepy. Besides it only has the single best level ever made in the name of the cradle. I was freaking out when i played it, at 3am, with the lights out, i was seriously spooked. If i was younger i probably would o had nightmares for a week. There is even a mod now that takes out zoning, which was one of the biggest pet peeves of mine. The other were good, but for me this was the one that checked all the boxes for me.



So whats yours?

 

[DXCHASE]

Assassins Creed 3. I enjoyed it, i enjoyed the setting most of all. At the time of its release i thought it was a great game and a lot of stuff from that game, like sailing in ships and fighting, were built upon into other full seperate games, idk, i liked that better than a others, i loved others more, but i loved this one and this one gets crapped on the most.

 

[Mazer]

I'm one of those Far Cry 2 apologists that exist on every forum. Where FC1 was a shiny roller coaster and FC3 onwards have been power fantasy sandboxes, I feel like FC2 is the Dark Souls of FPS's. It's demanding, withholding, and at turns exhilarating and demoralising.

I loved the buddy system, I loved the dynamic fire which was neutered in every following entry, I loved the physical map and compass. I admittedly wasn't as crazy about how fast the outposts respawned, or the unnecessarily punishing recurrent malaria. But the need for careful preparation and a planned approach to every combat encounter made it feel like a precursor to modern survival games or something like Metro Exodus.

 

[Brian Boru]

I'm one of those Far Cry 2 apologists that exist on every forum

And I'm one of those who rank FC2 dead last in the series

But you can get me back, because it looks like Primal gets a lot of stick from many, and it's my #2 FC game—would be my #1 if it wasn't for the tedious boss fights.

 

[mainer]

For me, I would pick Pillar's of Eternity 1 over POE: Deadfire. Only a 2 game series (thus far), but the 1st game felt more old school, party-based RPG than POE2. POE2 made great strides in graphics, lighting, combat, and companion interactions; but I feel that POE 1 had the better story, with an ongoing and evolving main quest that would take the entire game to solve. Plus, the 2 White Marches DLC were some of the best.

Choosing between the 3 Gothic games, I always go with Gothic 3. Such a huge open world, with complex faction interactions and great combat. Most people who've played the Gothic games choose Gothic 2 as the best, but I still prefer 3. Riddled with bugs and incomplete quest lines, but a dedicated community patch corrects most of that.

I like the original Two Worlds over Two Worlds 2. The original Two Worlds had a massive open world map, fun combat, great environments, and interesting exploration. Oh, it had it's issues, but I had far more fun in the first game, than I did in the 2nd; where they kind of "dumbed down" some of the crafting mechanics, and reduced the size of the explorable world.

Title Kind of says it all. What game do you love in a series that you hear people all the time saying how horrible it is?




Mass effect Andromeda. The vaults were one of my all time favorite settings in any video game i've ever played. It was so alien and unique. It kinda reminded me of that sci-fi film Prometheus but was even better in a technological sorta way. The Nomad was so much fun to drive in game i even bought the real life version.

I loved driving around on the planets, listening to the chats especially between Peebee and Drack, it was a million times better than those elevator rides or yesteryear. On top of that upgrading it and your weapons/armor was also great. The new JJ's and dodge mechanic was also a lot of fun. Melee and closer ranged combat is so much better in this game. Maybe some might think it is kinda Arcady, but hey we are talking biotics, so why not? Sure there was no renegade shep, and you were limited to 3 skills per profile, but i thought the way you could mix and match and just build what ever was way more fun. I will also say that the male ryder i thought wasn't as good, but female ryder was so hopeful and so well voiced. It was very refreshing to have that kind of optimism in a game. I've played the game 2 times, and I'm on my third. Sure i'll play the new ME rerelease, but for me andromeda is the best over all.

So whats yours?

While I'd never say that ME:A was the best of the 4 ME games, it is greatly under appreciated. ME:A did have the best combat mechanics of any of them, and the driving mechanics (especially when when you upgraded), were also the best of the series. The environments were varied and tricky at times to survive in, and the vaults were challenging and mysterious. ME:A did have some issues (in my opinion), the worst being that EA/Bioware just dropped it, they didn't even try to evolve the game (like, what happened with the Quarians).

 

[Pifanjr]

I really liked Far Cry 2, as well as all of the Assassin's Creed games I've played (up until Rogue, which I still need to finish). I think I would put the first Assassin's Creed at the top, not because it's the best of the series now, but because of how it made me feel when I first played it.

However, I don't really keep up with how everyone else feels about the games I like, so I'm not sure if there are any games I love that most other people hate.

 

[Mazer]

FC: Primal is probably my second favourite, maybe because its one of the only entries other than FC2 to remain fairly challenging through the whole game. Games 3-5 tend to be broken once you've got a scoped bow and a heavy machine gun. The survival style mode in Primal makes it feel like a whole new game too.

 

[Brian Boru]

Games 3-5 tend to be broken once you've got a scoped bow and a heavy machine gun

You'll have to pry my bow from my cold dead hands—as many heavies have done—but for sure on the HMG with the spray-and-pray names like Ripper, Shredder, Buzzsaw etc. I tried each for an episode whenever it became available, and then never again—I forget which FC it was, maybe 4, which had one of those with a scope and suppressor!

Same with riding elephants in 4, they all make it way too easy.

survival style mode in Primal makes it feel like a whole new game

FC does a great job on wildlife in general, but the wildlife in Primal is a class apart, that and the beautiful world were the highlights for me.

Then the unique setting with no guns. I'm not a melee fan, but I found the club, spear & bow play very enjoyable. Bee bombs and cruise owl missile ftw!

 

[Krud]

For me, I would pick Pillar's of Eternity 1 over POE: Deadfire. Only a 2 game series (thus far), but the 1st game felt more old school, party-based RPG than POE2. POE2 made great strides in graphics, lighting, combat, and companion interactions; but I feel that POE 1 had the better story, with an ongoing and evolving main quest that would take the entire game to solve. Plus, the 2 White Marches DLC were some of the best.

I'll have to revisit the first one's DLC; I stopped playing after I accidentally finished the main quest. (I know it warns you of a point of no return, but for whatever reason it didn't click for me that it was the final stretch.) I hadn't even completed most of the NPC story arcs yet, come to think of it. I liked the story and whatnot, but I always felt like I was scrounging for XP.

 

[Zloth]

I liked PoE1 better than 2. Heck, I didn't even finish 2. I would have given up on it 50 hours earlier if I hadn't kept hoping it would get better.

I'm with @mainer on Two Worlds being better than Two Worlds 2, too. TW2 (not to be confused with Witcher2) was fun at first but got really boring after about 20 hours or so. I tried playing it twice, once with a mod that added an over-arching quest that was pretty neat, but it just never grabbed me. The first was far more fun for me. Certainly nothing close to the greatest of all time but a good, average RPG.

Not so much with Gothic, but I played 3 pretty close to when it showed up. I think I lasted longer than most but I still bailed about half way through. Haven't been back since. I've heard it's getting the "Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines" treatment from modders but so far I haven't found the time.

I liked Witcher 1 much more than Witcher 2. W2 had some good stuff and I got fairly far but I kept having to drop the difficulty to easy and the easy difficulty was VERY easy.

I like X:Rebirth a lot while pretty much everyone else seemed to hate it. I stuck around to the end, though, plus I added a few choice mods to minimize its nasty small-talk system.

Similar story with Sword of the Stars 2, which came out in a horrible mess. It was kinda fun after a year and a half, though.

 

[QuabityAssuance]

Mirror's Edge Catalyst is an awesome game. i think people like to drag on it because it's by EA, but from my experience it's a polished, engaging game that's better than the first. world traversal is open-ended, and the smoothness of that traversal just depends on your timing.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTCj6OiRQu8


i've also seen people trash the combat system, but watch someone who's good at it and then try to knock it, i dare you

i also really just like the animations, the weight of your movement, and the sound design. it all just coheres into visceral gameplay, once you get in a nice rhythm.

 

[Frindis]

*looks around quickly, then tumbling around the closest corner* Postal 2 & Manhunt 🙉

 

[Zloth]

DUDE!!!

 

[Mazer]

@Frindis is channeling my inner edgy teenager.

 

[bh3bh3]

Suikoden. The game can be compared to the Anime One Piece since the protagonist has the skills to recruit new companions.

 

[mainer]

Without a doubt, mass effect is the answer. There are so many bugs and glitches but man this game still rocked my world. It was one of the best series i have ever seen and i am still looking forward to the next game coming out soon. The series got a lot of hate for the andromeda spin off, but i think that is normal for a story that is being set up for a much bigger universe in the long run. We might even see the reapers make a return in the next mass effect game and shepard too!

Most people point to ME2 as the best, but I've never been sold on that idea. I loved all 4 ME games (even ME:A), but the original ME trilogy stands alone as one of the best and immersive gaming experiences I've ever had. For me, the trilogy is one game. If I replay ME1, I always play ME2, then have to play ME3. The story arc between the 3 games is just incredible, and something you just don't see anymore. And I've played them back to back to back so many times. I just can't imagine playing only one of them.

Choosing which one is the best of the 3, I don't think I can do, but like you, there's something about ME1 that just immersed me into this whole new world (universe/galaxy) that very few games have done since. ME2 & ME3 were great, but made greater by the DLCs. People often complain about the combat, the Mako, and other mechanics of ME1, but it still stands out to me for the introduction to characters like Garrus, Liara, and Wrex. ME2 & ME3 are stronger because of ME1. I greatly look forward to the remaster to see the changes Bioware made to the first game.

 

[mainer]

@JCgames

I agree that ME1 had certain gameplay issues, like certain environments being reused, somewhat awkward combat mechanics, and planet exploration with the Mako was sometimes bland, sometimes frustrating; like driving up mountains, bouncing around, just to get to an anomaly (and fighting the occasional Thresher Maw was just a matter of strafing in circles and firing the Mako's cannon). Even with all of that, it just sucked me into the story and companions. Conversation choices mattered, and there were some conversations you might never even experience.

I remember one playthrough where I flirted heavily with both Liara and Ashley. It came to a head in a scene (I think the com room), where they both confronted me and told me to choose one or the other. I only had that happen once).

DA2 also had it's issues with combat, and reusing maps, but the story and characters are what drove it. Plus, I think it provides a huge link between DA1 & DA3.

I always play a paragon Shepard, and you're correct, that a very high paragon level is required to broker peace between Tali and Legion. You can also save both the Quarians & the Geth, and have them support you against the Reapers.

It is a great ride, and I think the 3 ME games stand as One. It will be interesting to see what Bioware will do with the next installment.

 

[Krud]

I liked Witcher 1 much more than Witcher 2. W2 had some good stuff and I got fairly far but I kept having to drop the difficulty to easy and the easy difficulty was VERY easy.

I loved both Witcher 1 & 3 (though I only played the spruced-up version of 1), but I've never really gotten anywhere in 2. I want to, but I've never gotten more than a few hours into it, if that. Not sure what it is about it. I think someone told me it gets better once you get past the opening section, but I've never managed it yet. Though I suspect a lot of it was spoiled for me in 3 anyway by way of references.

 

[McStabStab]

Battlefield V. It was a snowball effect where some people wanted "historical accuracy" in a game that's already over the top. Some gamers were upset that there was a woman soldier with a prosthetic arm in the trailer - one thing led to another, and soon someone from EA was saying, "if you don't like it, don't buy it."

Meanwhile, the game is a blast to play, it looks incredible on the Frostbite engine, and I'm one of the few people who loved the Firestorm mode. Plus the later released Pacific Island maps are incredible. I'm still playing it leading up to the BF 2042 release. Haters missed out on this one.

 

[MindCrime]

Not a PC game, but Resident Evil Outbreak for the PS2 is one of my favorite REs overall but it was panned by both critics and gamers.