General Gaming What is one game that changed your perception of the genre and/or series it is part of?

[Chris-]

A recent example for me is Smash Ultimate. I played the original on N64 as a kid, but given my sporadic ownership of subsequent Nintendo systems (had and sold both the GCN and Wii, never bought the Wii U) and dislike of fighting games, I never really played the later entries in the series. But after getting a Switch earlier this month I felt like I had to get Ultimate, and I've surprisingly really enjoyed it. Given my previous experience with the series, I always thought of it as little more than a party game, but really taking the time to learn the mechanics has given me a newfound appreciation for the game/series and fighting games as a whole. I've actually found I prefer the standard competition set up as opposed to 4+ players with items, and I have a greater appreciation for high-level play (even if I still don't quite understand all the nuance). I'm actually looking forward to getting Switch Online and getting my ass kicked.

[skillzdadirecta]

Ass. Creed Origins has made a series that I had zero interest in one of favorites. Currently playing through Odyssey now, then will go back and play all of the older games.

Tom Clancy's Endwar and Halo Wars introduced me RTS games. Xcom did the same for turn based strategy games... there are others.

[Keyser_Soze]

But it's not a fighting game.

 

Personally I find it hard to answer this question. Something like Monster Hunter World would be a good answer but it doesn't necessarily change my perception of the series, it's just that they took it of the 3DS so the graphics, controls and overall performance are better. I still perceive those other ones as not as good because they aren't accessible.

Like the way you're putting it makes it seem like "wow I was totally wrong about these games, so if I go back and play the older ones maybe I will enjoy it just as much" which is not the case.

[5timechamp]

I still remember the first time I tried Age of Empires... opened the whole genre at the time.

[XxEvil AshxX]

21 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Ass. Creed Origins has made a series that I had zero interest in one of favorites. Currently playing through Odyssey now, then will go back and play all of the older games.

Tom Clancy's Endwar and Halo Wars introduced me RTS games. Xcom did the same for turn based strategy games... there are others.

 

If you're using Origins as your litmus for the series' predecessors, you're in for a rough ride.

 

I'm finally nearing the end of my marathon play through of the series, but I started at the beginning. Even still, it's tested my sanity at times.

[skillzdadirecta]

5 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

If you're using Origins as your litmus for the series' predecessors, you're in for a rough ride.

 

I'm finally nearing the end of my marathon play through of the series, but I started at the beginning. Even still, it's tested my sanity at times.

 

Na I know Origins was a big departure from the series. I'm still interested in the overall lore and world.

[Keyser_Soze]

2 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

 

I'm still interested in the overall lore and world.

 

After playing the first 4 games you won't be.

[XxEvil AshxX]

46 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

After playing the first 4 games you won't be.

 

I found the Ezio trilogy pretty enjoyable. So far the low points have been AC, ACIII, and Unity. Currently in Syndicate and am liking it despite the AC fatigue.

[Bacon]

Assassins Creed 3. Suddenly, the entire series was fucking dog shit. 

[Kal-El814]

Golden Sun made me think that maybe most JRPGs were never that good to begin with. I stand by that.

[Keyser_Soze]

19 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

I found the Ezio trilogy pretty enjoyable. So far the low points have been AC, ACIII, and Unity. Currently in Syndicate and am liking it despite the AC fatigue.

 

AC is one of the best games in the series. ACII had an ok story but then Brotherhood and the other one took it to next level stupid. ACIII is a bad game with a good story. Liberation isn't too good either.

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Kal-El814 said:

Golden Sun made me think that maybe most JRPGs were never that good to begin with. I stand by that.

 

Golden Sun isn't a good JRPG (series) though.  It doesn't do enough right outside of the puzzles, which are still a poor man's Lufia 2.

[Dre801]

I agree with the modern AssCreeds.  Pre Origins, the franchise did nothing for me.

[Bacon]

49 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

good story

[Mercury33]

1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

AC is one of the best games in the series. ACII had an ok story but then Brotherhood and the other one took it to next level stupid. ACIII is a bad game with a good story. Liberation isn't too good either.

 

😂😂😂 lol wtf are you talking about. 3 has arguably the worst and most boring story in the whole series. The first hour is great. Then when you stop being Kenway...sheesh. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Yeah, AC III had the most dull story and characters in the series. I slogged through it and was glad when it ended. It's my least favorite in the series, unless you count Liberation, which I don't. 

[Keyser_Soze]

1 hour ago, Mercury33 said:

The first hour is great. Then when you stop being Kenway...sheesh. 

 

That first hour is amazing and unlike anything else done in the series which elevates it above the rest of the series.

[cusideabelincoln]

ACIII definitely ruined the series for me.  Could not get into it at all, and somehow the mouse/keyboard controls were really bad.

[Mercury33]

The entire 25+ hours of ACIII  I was just thinking “why in the holy hell did you make stop plying extremely charismatic and interesting Templar and force me to play as arguably the WORST main character in all of gaming.”  I hated Connor so much 😂

 

 

Back on topic I feel like God of War and Breath of the Wild are obvious answers. Goldeneye as well. I never liked shooters till that came out. 

[ARZ]

Never really played shooters until Halo landed

KOTOR changed the way I looked at RPG's

 

[XxEvil AshxX]

I'm going back a ways, but I thought turn based rpg's we're boring as hell until I played Final Fantasy III on SNES and it blew my mind.

 

Top Spin 2 taught me that a video game where you hit a ball back and forth could have depth and strategy. It did help that I already liked the sport though.

 

Forza Motorsport made me love Sim racers. Forza Motorsport 2 made me hate Sim racers. Forza Motorport 3 made me love Sim racers that were only kinda Sim.

 

Rainbow Six 3 on Xbox was "dumbed down" from the PC version, but for me that was a good thing since R6 and Rogue Spear required more pre-planning than I was interested in.

 

Admittedly all my examples are pretty old. Nowadays I will give anything a try but genres are blurrier than ever and the Advent of streaming, YouTube, etc usually gives me a pretty good idea of what to expect from a game. 

 

 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

Final Fantasy X made me appreciate turn based JRPGs. For some reason Pokémon felt different, but FF and other more “grown up” RPGs seemed silly to me having turned based combat. For turn based combat FFX was pretty fast. 

 

 

KOTOR made me appreciate western RPGs and not think they are all non-linear, directionless, muddy messes, that don’t care if you run in circles all day. 

 

 

Metal Gear Solid made me appreciate stealth gameplay. When I read about the game in a preview featured in either EGM or Gamepro I thought it sounded so boring. A game where you try to avoid combat? Bleh. Forgot about the preview until after I played a rental of the game and loved the shit out of the game. 

 

 

Sonic Adventure made me realize that Sonic’s best days were behind him. 

 

 

Zelda Wind Waker made me love the franchise for the first time. I thought the N64 games were ugly and had horrible cameras. My sister loved both N64 games and played them both for hundreds of hours. She did not own a GameCube so I preorder and bought Wind Waker for her. She ended up not really getting into the game, but I decided to try it and I fell in love with it. 

[dualhunter]

Divinity: Original Sin gave me an appreciation for turn based RPGs where movement costs action points. I never had an issue with the kind of turns most JRPGs used where you just picked a single command per character each round but then I tried Shining Force. After barely making it through a single battle and seeing the pathetic amount of cash I got compared to the cost of the inn, I swore off everything turn based (with the exception of DQ/FF style turn based JRPGs). Eventually I did play the GoG version of the original Fallout and with a guide for stats & weapons (ranged weapons with the right stats to make them effective makes the combat feel more immediate rather than having to waste a turn or two getting close before you can do serious damage),  it was a positive experience. I had initially avoided DOS and I got it from a contest. I didn't think I'd end up liking it more than more real time stuff like the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale but I did. While it hasn't made me go searching for other turn based games, it has made me more open to turn based and I wouldn't want to play DOS/DOS2 in real time.

[gamer.tv]

Persona 5. I didn’t think I had the patience for long and involved games but 80 hours later, I made it.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Final Fantasy X turned one of my favorite series into hot garbage and I feel like it never really recovered.

[The Dude]

40 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Final Fantasy X turned one of my favorite series into hot garbage and I feel like it never really recovered.

 

I'm pretty opposite with FFX although I do feel it was riiiiight on the cusp, for me X is the last game that still feels like a final fantasy game despite losing the over world. The rest of the game I actually really enjoyed, the music is the last they truly resonated with me and I didn't hate the story. The characters were hit or miss for me. 

 

I do like 12 tho even tho it's nowhere near my favorite. 

 

I'd say tho FF13 is the one that really tainted the series for me and XV further solidified it in a casting of gold.. I find the last few games in the series to be completely awful. 

[Remarkableriots]

FF XI & XIV are the two best games in the series!

[Nokt]

Resident Evil 2 Remake is the first RE game I think I'm actually going to beat. 4 was cool, but I don't find it as good as people claim it to be.

Pokemon Diamond(?) was when I started to realize that this was a very tired franchise that had little to no innovation.

Starcraft 2 is when I started realizing that I didn't like RTS games very much. Not that I played a ton of them, but I played a bit of C&C growing up as well as Warcraft 1-3.

 

 

 

[Bloodporne]

I had seen my friend rave about Demon's Souls being so different and great and amazing and didn't get the appeal watching him play for about 20 minutes.

 

He ended up talking me into Dark Souls when that was released as a way to get back into video games in general. Dark Souls 1, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne have become some of my absolute favorite games of all time since and FROM has shot to the top of my coolest devs of all time list.

[TwinIon]

MGS:V made me enjoy the series for the first time.

 

I'd played some of the games, but I just couldn't deal with the ponderous plotting and endless cutscenes that sandwiched the entirely mediocre gameplay. With MGS:V I could basically ignore all the nonsense, and enjoy the gameplay that had finally evolved into something that felt modern and exciting. I loved being able to make choices about how to approach most of the missions, and not being instantly failed for taking an "alternative" path.

 

I could probably say the same thing for RE4. I think tank controls were one of the worst inventions in gaming, and freeing the series from that anathema made me finally able to enjoy it.

 

To a lesser extent I think the same thing about Metroid Prime 3. I still maintain that a first person platformer that doesn't allow you to control your movement and viewpoint at the same time is a bad idea. With MP3 you could finally look around while you move, and it instantly felt better. I know I won't find a lot of agreement on this one, but I always felt like the first two games got a pass on their obvious control failures because so much of the rest of those games were so well done.

 

I'm not really sure if any of these actually answer the original question, because they didn't really make me enjoy their predecessors after the fact.

[Bloodporne]

4 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

MGS:V made me enjoy the series for the first time.

 

I'd played some of the games, but I just couldn't deal with the ponderous plotting and endless cutscenes that sandwiched the entirely mediocre gameplay. With MGS:V I could basically ignore all the nonsense, and enjoy the gameplay that had finally evolved into something that felt modern and exciting. I loved being able to make choices about how to approach most of the missions, and not being instantly failed for taking an "alternative" path.

 

I could probably say the same thing for RE4. I think tank controls were one of the worst inventions in gaming, and freeing the series from that anathema made me finally able to enjoy it.

 

To a lesser extent I think the same thing about Metroid Prime 3. I still maintain that a first person platformer that doesn't allow you to control your movement and viewpoint at the same time is a bad idea. With MP3 you could finally look around while you move, and it instantly felt better. I know I won't find a lot of agreement on this one, but I always felt like the first two games got a pass on their obvious control failures because so much of the rest of those games were so well done.

 

I'm not really sure if any of these actually answer the original question, because they didn't really make me enjoy their predecessors after the fact.

I actually dislike the motion controls in MP3 and flat-out can't stand that they added them in MP1/MP2 for the trilogy reissue back then. I sincerely think the original controls worked perfectly fine in the games' contexts, I see no failure there at all myself. 

 

RE4 has tank controls. I think the combination of tank controls and fixed camera angles is many people's issue. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Metal Gear -- Made me appreciate just how good story telling could be in a game

 

AC2 -- I finally started to like open world games -- a game finally came that had a living/breathing open world

 

Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2 -- Finally, an RPG that actually had fun combat and moment-to-moment gameplay

 

RDR2 -- The combination of a (relatively) good story (for a game), combined with a vibrant open world really got me into the concept that open world games might be for me...

===============

As someone who has enjoyed the AC series, and recognizing there were some down entries (specifically AC:Revelations, AC:Unity and the original AC being the worst) -- I still think that AC:Origins was far from being the best game in the series.  I enjoyed ACIV, AC2 and AC2: Brotherhood (and probably AC: Syndicate) more...  Although I think we had a thread dedicated to this discussion a few months ago.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

2 hours ago, Bloodporne said:

 

 

RE4 has tank controls. I think the combination of tank controls and fixed camera angles is many people's issue. 

RE4 doesn't have tank controls. It doesn't control like modern RE games do, but it's light years beyond the original games. WTF you talking about? My old grip with RE4 was that I couldn't walk and shoot.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

19 hours ago, The Dude said:

 

I'm pretty opposite with FFX although I do feel it was riiiiight on the cusp, for me X is the last game that still feels like a final fantasy game despite losing the over world. The rest of the game I actually really enjoyed, the music is the last they truly resonated with me and I didn't hate the story. The characters were hit or miss for me. 

 

I do like 12 tho even tho it's nowhere near my favorite. 

 

I'd say tho FF13 is the one that really tainted the series for me and XV further solidified it in a casting of gold.. I find the last few games in the series to be completely awful. 

I haven't finished a mainline FF game since X. I disliked the characters, the story, and the music was mostly mediocre. I hated running in a straight line for the entire game and not having an actual world map to explore. It just sucked.

 

I played quite a bit of XIII, but eventually gave up and will never go back. Never played XII, though I watched my husband when he played through it recently and it seemed okay, but I probably won't ever bother with it. No interest in XV. And I have no desire to play MMOs, though XIV has my favorite song in all of video game music.

[Bloodporne]

30 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

RE4 doesn't have tank controls. It doesn't control like modern RE games do, but it's light years beyond the original games. WTF you talking about? My old grip with RE4 was that I couldn't walk and shoot.

I'm talking about it having tank controls. You hit back, he walks backwards slowly, there's a quick-turn button, no strafing. They're the same tank controls as previous games with an over-the-shoulder view and taken out of its previous fixed camera environment, making it much less cumbersome because you're never walking against the camera angle. Obviously there's the aiming system added on top but the character movement was still tank style.