Gaming Disappointments

[roskelld]

!!!!!!!

Bloody hell. Thats just wrong.

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Not in the way I played it.

I was really hoping to get spooked out by the sanity system, and the previews and interviews all running up to the games release really made it out to be something spectacularly scary. Denis Dyack went on and on about how it was going to scare the bejesus out of you when playing.

But the execution just wasn't that, and it hampered my enjoyment of the game, I felt as though I had to kick start the insane effects to come into play. The only other time was during battles when you didn't have time to fix your sanity, but really all the concentration there was placed upon combat and any effects were lost in angry outbursts. I was hoping that the sanity effect was uncontrollable from the players point of view, and all the moving round corridors and through rooms while the baddies weren't having a go was the time when the sanity system should have been playing around with you. Sadly that was left to only a few points in the game, and made it feel much less dynamic for it.

The graphics took a huge leap from the point of the 1st world war church section, the architecture, lighting and camera system all seemed to click in to place at this point as if all the previous levels were produced for the N64 and then quickly converted over to the GC (which in a lot of ways they were).

[MikeF]

For me it has to be Starfox Assault. I was so looking forward to it, but once it arrived boy was it a major disapointment, it survived in my house for a day whilst it was completed and then sold on.

[Mr. Pickle]

The wind waker for me. I love Zelda games, but can't get into it. I've tried so hard to love it, but the magic isn't there for me

[angel]

Not in the way I played it.

I was really hoping to get spooked out by the sanity system, and the previews and interviews all running up to the games release really made it out to be something spectacularly scary. Denis Dyack went on and on about how it was going to scare the bejesus out of you when playing.

But the execution just wasn't that, and it hampered my enjoyment of the game, I felt as though I had to kick start the insane effects to come into play. The only other time was during battles when you didn't have time to fix your sanity, but really all the concentration there was placed upon combat and any effects were lost in angry outbursts. I was hoping that the sanity effect was uncontrollable from the players point of view, and all the moving round corridors and through rooms while the baddies weren't having a go was the time when the sanity system should have been playing around with you. Sadly that was left to only a few points in the game, and made it feel much less dynamic for it.

The graphics took a huge leap from the point of the 1st world war church section, the architecture, lighting and camera system all seemed to click in to place at this point as if all the previous levels were produced for the N64 and then quickly converted over to the GC (which in a lot of ways they were).

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ah but mate the sanity system was more of a novel twist than a massive feature...once you got used to keeping your sanity in check it hardly showed itself. what about the evilness of the game? the pure evil unfeeling for humans massive gods that would just use people as pawns. Infact all the characters you playin meeting grisly ends....the concrete tower full of people? i thought that was amazing. being forced into it and then seeing the dawn sun rising over a twisted mass of bodies. Jesus! or the book room with the characters all appearing as they met their ends. Or the massive tripods (old bbc sci fi) style city under the house....i was stunned. Or realsing alex roivas is savior backwards. or the church boss that just splats you as soon as you meet him....setting up a revenge later on. or the passing of time of the locations!.

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3rd best game on the cube for me (after RE and MP)

[Troublegum]

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but my biggest disappointment was Final Fantasy VII.

WAIT.

It's only right that I should point out: I'm NOT a massive RPG fan.

However, during 1997 when Playstation mania was at an all time high, the hype and praise heaped upon this game was too much to ignore. It was being hailed by everyone as the greatest thing in the history of the universe ever - a game that would change the industry.

I had never played any Final Fantasy game before, and it must be said, my experience with RPGs was (and still is) fairly limited. The crushing disappointment of playing the thing was like nothing I've ever experienced. The graphics and concept of the game could not have been faulted at the time, but the dull process of trudging through it is what I found most disheartening.

CARRY ON.

[Simmy]

Confession: i have never played Final Fantasy VII

[roskelld]

ah but mate the sanity system was more of a novel twist than a massive feature...once you got used to keeping your sanity in check it hardly showed itself. what about the evilness of the game? the pure evil unfeeling for humans massive gods that would just use people as pawns. Infact all the characters you playin meeting grisly ends....the concrete tower full of people? i thought that was amazing. being forced into it and then seeing the dawn sun rising over a twisted mass of bodies. Jesus! or the book room with the characters all appearing as they met their ends. Or the massive tripods (old bbc sci fi) style city under the house....i was stunned. Or realsing alex roivas is savior backwards. or the church boss that just splats you as soon as you meet him....setting up a revenge later on. or the passing of time of the locations!.

#

3rd best game on the cube for me (after RE and MP)

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I don't disagree with any of those points you make about the story; that's why it was a disappointment in so many ways for me, because it offered so much and gave so much, yet it wasn't complete. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the settings etc... I just didn't feel as though it was the same game as what Dyack was promising, even though all the components were there to do it. If they didn't have the sanity system in there, it probably would have played a much more focused experience and my thoughts wouldn't have been sidetracked by this limp feature. The truth is it's easy to see how the sanity system could have produced a real jarring feature, uncomforting and spooking up the player no end. Silent Hill has managed a similar setup in the past, SH2 really put you in a place where you didn't know up from down, it was unsettling and uncomfortable, and for that I loved the game. Eternal Darkness had all the elements, it just didn't get them all in the box correctly.

[Shimmyhill]

I didnt like FF7 - bored me too tears.

However as far current gen, Im with Goaty with Burnout 3 - i lved it for a week and then it just became samey. I really liked the first 2 but 3 after initial play seemed almost soulless. Big dissapoitment as it had potential.

[Simmy]

it surely has to be Driver3! the little screenshots that trickled out looked AMAZING at the time (as did they Getaway, for that matter) and people starting anticipating it more and more and more and.......well..... i remember the day i first read a review and couldn't believe the score OR what i was reading. i eventually got around to playing it, and it was truly DIRE

[Tig]

Troublegum, dont worry i feel the same way. Sadly for me im playing through FF7 now, and after completing skies of arcadia, i cant help but be disappointed so far with FF7, still im not off the first disc so ive still got lots to see so ive still got hope!

Eternal darkness' sanity effects were great. They wernt meant to scare but to confuse. Did you ever walk into a room FULL of uber powerful bad guys and go 'Oh SHIT!' and try and leg it back out of the room, but before you manage it they hit you and it goes back to before you went into that room? Or how about coming up to an enemy and trying to fire your shot gun, only for all the bullets to disappear? Or how about being stuck to the spot as enemies rush at you. There were lots of fun ones too like you shrinking, or being cut in half or becoming a zombie, but it did make you question wether the next section was real or fake.

And the bathroom scene, that made me jump!

[roskelld]

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but my biggest disappointment was Final Fantasy VII.

WAIT.

It's only right that I should point out: I'm NOT a massive RPG fan.

However, during 1997 when Playstation mania was at an all time high, the hype and praise heaped upon this game was too much to ignore. It was being hailed by everyone as the greatest thing in the history of the universe ever - a game that would change the industry.

I had never played any Final Fantasy game before, and it must be said, my experience with RPGs was (and still is) fairly limited. The crushing disappointment of playing the thing was like nothing I've ever experienced. The graphics and concept of the game could not have been faulted at the time, but the dull process of trudging through it is what I found most disheartening.

CARRY ON.

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You sit in the same realm as many of my friends. Being sold a game whose TV advertising promised something that the game wasn't. It's not the most returned game in the world (or uk at least) for no reason. It inherited most of the flaws that have plagued many Japanese RPG, random battles, and having to harness them to progress through the game even though they aren't critical to moving through the story.

One of my friends actually persevered with it, but he avoided the random battles as much as he could. The game ended for him at the port while fighting the water boss (it's been many years so I'm afraid my description is a bit poor), he just wasn't powerful enough to kill it, no matter how hard he tried, his only option was to go back and fight random battles until he was high enough level, that he wasn't willing to do, so the game went back.

I myself who had reached and breezed though that section, had spend many a boring hour fighting in the random battles (more than I really needed to) in order to power up my characters and prevent such a happening.

I can't argue that even though I enjoyed the game, it was a disappointment for many people and the reasons are clear.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

I think Broken Sword 3. I loved the first 2 so much, and the third one had so much potential and got some great reviews. At the end of the day though, it was a game plagued by bugs, huge loading times, a substandard 3D engine, badly executed ideas which sounded bad to begin with (the 'action' sequences) and a plot that more or less fell apart 75% into the game.

Now I did play it, and I did finish it because I am/was a fan of the series. It just nags me that it could and should have been so much MUCH better.

[Gwynster]

Broken Sword II is one, I feel. It's a brilliant game right up to near the end, where I became stuck. I did what everyone stuck on a point 'n click does (that is, try anything and everything till something happens). A couple of things happened, but nothing worthwhile that I could see.

I checked GameFAQs and it gave me precise instructions... only for me to see it referred to options I had already done in another order. That was when it dawned on me I was actually in a dead end of the game, and would have to restart right from the beginning.

Revolution are fucking bastards.

[mezzanine]

You sit in the same realm as many of my friends. Being sold a game whose TV advertising promised something that the game wasn't. It's not the most returned game in the world (or uk at least) for no reason. It inherited most of the flaws that have plagued many Japanese RPG, random battles, and having to harness them to progress through the game even though they aren't critical to moving through the story.

One of my friends actually persevered with it, but he avoided the random battles as much as he could. The game ended for him at the port while fighting the water boss (it's been many years so I'm afraid my description is a bit poor), he just wasn't powerful enough to kill it, no matter how hard he tried, his only option was to go back and fight random battles until he was high enough level, that he wasn't willing to do, so the game went back.

I myself who had reached and breezed though that section, had spend many a boring hour fighting in the random battles (more than I really needed to) in order to power up my characters and prevent such a happening.

I can't argue that even though I enjoyed the game, it was a disappointment for many people and the reasons are clear.

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Random battles don't really make a bit of difference in the end. Try playing something like Saga Frontier (actually, don't) were the onscreen monsters are too difficult to get past or just rush at you. It ends up being even worse as at least with random encounters you can find objects which reduce the chance of fighting a battle.

What kills a RPG is a poor, easy or too hard battle system and in retrospect I don't think FFVII has a very good one.

[roskelld]

Not the game per say, but the last room in Far Cry.

Why go through the effort to create such a title, only to do something as amateurish as throw a load of bad guys in a room and hope for the best. I attempted the final room for about 4 hours and eventually gave up, thinking I don't have to waste my time like this, it's not entertainment.

It was a big shame and left a very bitter taste behind, for a game to be so good through out and to ruin it in one room, one room out of a whole game.

[Simmy]

I checked GameFAQs and it gave me precise instructions... only for me to see it referred to options I had already done in another order. That was when it dawned on me I was actually in a dead end of the game, and would have to restart right from the beginning.

i LOVED the 1st game, i really did. the opening, with the music and the bird flying off in the distance... that always sticks with me. beautiful imo

[Hawkeye]

Many high profile games this gen have left me cold.

I was a huge fan of the old Playstation and I bought a PS2 at launch with the thought of MGS2, FFX, Wipeout Fusion and Oddworld Munches in mind. The first three I ended up hugely disappointed with and the fourth was alright at best (when it finally appeared as an Xbox game).

In fact with the two Oddworld games on the original Playstation being my favourite games on that system I can't help by cry at their output this gen. I know Strangers Wrath has a big following on this forum, but other than the pretty graphics I thought it was an awfully boring game.

Two forum favourites in Ico and Halo 2 disappointed me too. I had follwed Ico for ages (partly due to my MGS love at the time and HK praising it during it's development) and I bought it at its release and hated the game. With Halo 2 I was never a huge fan of the original, but I did at least enjoy it, but Halo 2 is one of the most soul crushingly deprssing games I've tried to force mself to play through.

[Simmy]

Ico and Halo 2 disappointed me too

....gah!! cant......breathe....

[Hackign]

Final Fantasy VIII.

After the pure genius of VII (still my favourite game ever) I was sorely disappointed with VIII. This may be due to the fact that I read everything about the game before release so I knew who everyone and everything was (I went into IX without prior knowledge and loved it), but the only thing I really loved about the game was the music, everything else was a bit meh.

[Simmy]

Final Fantasy VIII

i really, really liked that game actually. my first ever attempt at playing a FF game. i never did complete it, as i found it a little overwhelming at the time but thoroughly enjoyed the experience

[James Ape]

Pikmin 2 and Metroid Prime 2.

Pikmin lost the timer, and became a tedious collect- a- thon. There were some decent puzzles, but there was nothing really compelling me to craft a strategy against the clock - neutering the whole experience with random ,but similar, 'dungeon' levels. Many people felt losing the timer was a plus- I never understood this, as it ripped out the very essence of what made the first so much fun.

Yeah I think Pikmin 2 missed the timer. I can't understand why people didn't like it. Still a good game though.

[Hackign]

i really, really liked that game actually. my first ever attempt at playing a FF game. i never did complete it, as i found it a little overwhelming at the time but thoroughly enjoyed the experience

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That's probably it. FFVII was my first FF so everything was so new and amazing to me.

It all depends on which one you experienced first.

Plus no game can compare to a game I think to be the best ever so I was bound to be disappointed.

[scruffycat]

KOTOR II, I loved the first and I bought this last week to give myself a break from Warcraft. My god it's dull. People have told me that it picks up after the first few hours, between 2 and 5 depending on who I am talking to. I don't want a game that gets better after 5 hours of tedium. I want a game that grabs me from the start, perhaps I just don't feel I can justify putting the time in on something so unrewarding anymore. Finding the same graphical and gameplay 'bugs' that I found in the first didn't help either. I will carry on with it, it may well get better, but it's annoyed me a lot.

[Boutros]

Fable.

Been looking forward to that one for ages.

Started playing it, didn't click, never touched it again.

[Fry Crayola]

Syphon Filter: Omega Strain. Now, I'll confess to having not played it, but hearing nothing but bad things about a next-gen sequel to a fantastic series is a major disappointment.

[ryodi]

i LOVED the 1st game, i really did. the opening, with the music and the bird flying off in the distance... that always sticks with me. beautiful imo

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Agreed. One of the reasons I bought the PSOne version was just so I could watch that intro from the comfort of my sofa. I loved the first two Broken Sword games but the third just seemed like hard work with horrendous loading times, sound issues and bloody stealth! The first section of which was where I gave up.

[Broker]

the xbox

[senor_herer]

Deus Ex 2

After the sheer brilliance of the original I was so horrified by the dumbed down P.O.S. sequel that I couldn't bear to play past the first few levels. Soooooo disappointing.

[Robo_1]

Syphon Filter: Omega Strain. Now, I'll confess to having not played it, but hearing nothing but bad things about a next-gen sequel to a fantastic series is a major disappointment.

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How could I forget that one. Without question the most gutting disappointment this gen. I persevered with it for about two hours in absolute disbelief that it had been allowed to ship at all, never mind follow up what was arguably the best third person action series of the Playstation era. Shocking more than dissapointing, utterly terrible...very possibly the worst game I've played this gen, so so sad

[Simmy]

what was so bad about syphon filter:OS?? i have never played it... just curious