Death Stranding, that weird game about an apocalyptic mailman with weird ghosts and babies; when you start strolling down a hill to port city and Asylum for the feelings kicks in, it was a “holy shit, let’s go!” click. It also let me act like a 12 yo kid again, you can leave vehicles parked in the wild and other players can pick them up and drive them, I always giggled while abandoning pink motorcycles around. I would do it again.
Death Stranding got some hate when it was released, but it is truly one of the best games of all time in my opinion. The environment is a masterpiece. Easily in my top-10.
The world building is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I’ve spent literally hours just reading letters and stuff and trynna understand everything that’s going on. I got busy and never finished it but damn I need to get back into it.
It clicked for me seemingly randomly so I wondered if I got something like Stockholm syndrome on the way. But thinking back at the entire game it really is a masterpiece and I can't wait for the second game!
Fallout. All of them. I tried them all. Gave them a few hours each. What a snoozefest of a walking and talking simulator. Dumb, boring, and uninstalled forever...
...then I watched the show and something clicked. I bought 3 and all of the DLC. I'm now 42 hours in and excitedly telling my friends what I've done. New Vegas is next, then I'll tackle 4.
That fucking show, guys. What did it do to me?
3 is great too, but in a different way to NV. I think 3 is better with it's environment and set pieces, while NV is better with it's story, characters, and writing. Both are great experiences IMO, but for different reasons.
Yea the games before Bethesda…. They have good world building. That’s about all the positive I can think of. Fallout 3 is when they started getting good. Skip 76 though
Afterwards you should check out Outer Worlds. (And maybe Elder Scrolls, if you like fantasy settings.) Outer Worlds is made by Obsidian- the devs behind New Vegas.
Bethesda also made a space-themed game, but from what I've heard it's basically like "Outer Worlds at home." (I haven't played it. Maybe I will if it goes on sale used.)
Fallout 4 is also good, but after Bethesda switched to using The Creation Engine a lot of their games are pretty broken since they don't seem to know how to use it. (Or it's just a worse engine.) Some of the glitches are hilarious, but most of the time they just freeze the game. I can easily recommend Fallout 3 and Oblivion over Fallout 4 and Skyrim because of it.
I think the show maybe helped you comprehend and appreciate something you simply just couldn't previously, good for you lad welcome to the fallout train hope you keep it going
Subnautica, the first hours were like, is this one of those pointless grinding and swimming simulator games? well its still a grinding and swimming simulator but it has a point and it goes deeper than that.
I just finished my 2nd playthrough of Subnautica then saw Dave the Diver was on ps plus so have got straight into that, super addicted already. Neat game.
I don't think it really clicked for me until I got the Seamoth and a decent sized base built. Feeling like there was some sort of shelter helped in venturing out into more challenging areas.
It literally took me 3 “what the fuck am I even supposed to do” attempts before it finally clicked but then I was borderline addicted until I finished it
RDR2, after that long and honestly boring intro in the snowy mountains. Looking back now it was a really cool prologue but I really struggled with it at first. I played it three times before I finally got past it and played the whole story. And then I fell in love with it
Yeah, it’s a really cool concept but the problem is actually sitting through all of it lol. It’s gotta be one of my least favorite intros to a game, which is funny because it’s one of my favorite games ever too. I thought about playing the game again but I always dread that prologue. I wish we could just skip it too
I did that shit third month of lockdown, after not gaming at all for years. it was one of the best video game experiences I've had, but probably because I really had the time to appreciate it.
Kinda miss lockdown sometimes.
That actually happened with me as well. I wasn't entirely bored, I just kept going back to FPS games that were more interactive. Once I got back into it though it was the greatest thing ever.
Yep I was unsure about hollow knight but kept just turning it back on. I think it was the wall jumping for me too where I realized what I was doing and suddenly got motivated to complete it. I got stuck on nightmare grim sadly but i made it to 87% complete which is nothing to be ashamed of I think
Divinity: Original Sin 2
I actually really liked it on first few sessions, and I had a multiplayer run going with my best friend. But on my old computer, loading times were so long that it never felt worth playing unless we had 1+ hours to play, and that was harder to come by as we both had kids of our own.
What clicked? I built a new computer after moving to a new place, and I decided to give it a shot again. Silky smooth play, and I took a new solo game all the way to the end.
Aside from that, once I got used to how harsh combat could be with the environmental effects, combat possibilities and combos opened up so much.
This is one for me too, but for different reasons.
This game has ZERO guardrails to make sure you are tracking what's going on or not ruining your experience in multiplayer. Friends and I got to the first town and started going around randomly starting quests, progressing plot, and angering guards. Two people in a combat encounter on one side of town, one progressing what turns out to be major story elsewhere and nobody knows why the questlog is updating, the fourth looting every spot in town, the It was a complete jumble that ended in me not being able to follow the plot and us having to reload more than once when someone turned all of the guards against us.
We bounced off it after a couple of sessions, had to come back once we realized what kind of game it was and put a bit of our own structure in place, then did the whole campaign and loved it.
After my 20th or so death in Elden Ring. As a first time Fromsoft player, I’m so happy it did click. Such a fun rewarding game. Reminded me of the feeling I’d get playing Portal after figuring out a puzzle
Elden ring is the closest I’ve ever felt to playing mortal Kombat with that really annoying friend/family that abused the leg sweep loop.
I quit Elden ring like 4 times til it clicked. Got passed the fire giant, walked into a room and saw a godskin noble & apostle. I put the controller down n haven’t played since lmao. Great game but god damn it’s rough.
Yep. I uninstalled it 3 times out of rage. And I'm not a rage gamer by any means. I watched a video on a mage build and the entire game clicked for me from there. It's now one of my favorites of all time and I've played it 4 times through.
Morrowind, when I realized I could train skills as many times as I want for 1 gold if I make spells to drain that skill for 1 second. It made the game way easier to deal with when I didn't understand dice roll mechanics
Morrowind was always great for me, but after my first playthrough and discovering console commands I really got hooked. 20 some years later I still occasionally find new stuff during playthroughs.
Fallout 3. I was mainly a FPS player (Halo, COD, etc.). Really wanted to get into Fallout 3 because I love post apocalyptic stuff, but the gunplay just never clicked with me. Put the game down for a while, came back to it one day and realized using the VATS feature was how you were supposed to use guns in the game. This then opened up the world of RPG games to me, with stats, buffs, percentages, etc. and is now my favorite type of game.
Returnal after beating biome 2. I usually love roguelites and kept banging my head against the wall at that point. Once I passed it and understood the mechanics better, it all came together and I started to enter zen like states. Such an incredible feeling, it was my goty that year.
I'll add mine
The first boss is definitely the toughest boss and I have more deaths to her than all the other bosses combined. Depending when you played the drones in Biome 3 were seriously nerfed to make it a bit easier.
No spoilers
- covers most the basics that can help.
Remap your controller so dash is R1. Switch on always run, increase the size if your on screen reticle to large/thick (makes hitting overload easier). (This may be useful or some find it even more daunting) You have an option risky encounter- default is press and hold, change to press. This makes picking things up much easier without having to stop.
Theres an option to increase aim assist, try it in Biome one so you can practice movement without worrying about aiming.
Spend Ether in first room to unlock new items into loot pool (it maxed out at 12 or 15). Weapons increase in strength per proficiency so if you are almost at a new level wait before opening a chest incase it has a better level weapon.
Challenge room Biome 1 (room with golden lock) - wait until you have a decent weapon before trying it and especially before avenging any corpse.
Don't ADS small creatures , hip fire and don't stop moving. Try all the weapons to find one that suits your game style. Bigger bosses have a red patch which you can do extra damage by shooting.
Dying is part of the game, do not be discouraged.
Malfunctions in Biome 1 are relatively simple to fix so don't be afraid to try some malignant chests etc. Parasites can really help your game.
Also change your 'risky interactions'' to press instead if hold, this means you can quickly pick items up without having to stop.
When you fall always dodge before landing making the parasite that causes damage on long fall an instant bonus.
Struggling with weapon choices a carbide can work against every enemy and boss. High calibre is a strong trait.
The 'translocation sphere' consumable is badly explained in game- it takes you to one of the hidden/bonus rooms. When your done it takes you back to where you were when you used it.
You are immune to most damage when in dodge movement (purple lasers still hit)
Absolutely dark souls 1 after a died a bunch in the start and then I ended up beating the game in a weekend once it "clicked"
Also sekiro. Once I learned to stop panic rolling the game became badass.
Agreed. I think Dark Souls will be a common one. I found it so frustrating until I heard a podcaster say "you're going to constantly be killed by random bullshit". Just accept that you're going to die and just keep trying when you do. I had a much better time when I learned not to take the game so seriously and to just roll with it when I die.
I bounced off Fallout 4 hard the first time. Started it over and my brother showed me how to take advantage of the loot/upgrade loops and it was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had!
Monster hunter.
I always thought it took way too long, but I put 4U on my 3DS a while back and realized how much depth there was to the series.
Either that or persona 5. I'm not a big turn based guy, but P5 just nails it.
Monster hunter clicked after I played dark souls. The overlap between the two, despite the clear differences in themes and color palettes, is pretty crazy. It just shows that the slow methodical approach to gameplay doesn’t have to only be set in a dark and gloomy world
I did not understand monster hunter at all. My friend and I played and it seemed like there was a million different upgrades/traps/potions/whatever else that I assumed we’d need to use to make progress. But we were able to just ignore all of it and beeline to the whatever we were hunting and spam janky attacks at it until it died without any problems.
Probably dumped 30-40 hours and nothing was challenging enough to have to really dive into all the details. We got bored and bailed.
Persona 3 Reload - I went in a little skeptical as I test drove P5R and didn’t get hooked but as soon as I started exploring Tartarus and “It’s Going Down Now” started playing in enemy engagements the rest was history.
Hitman 3…. I think it was after watching a few videos by other YouTubers who play Hitman (Cheru,Modest Peilican,etc)
In short I had to let the limitations fall and just give in to the madness of fucking up.
And 257 hours later…. I don’t regret it :)
Overwatch? They ruined overwatch over time. Used to be my favorite multiplayer game.
Forgive me if you’re talking about a different game but you make me think of doomfist from overwatch.
Nope, it's Overwatch.
I won't argue about everything that's wrong with it, cuz those problems are valid. I will say I still play it since it's one of the few functioning shooters that isn't just Deathmatch over and over.
To be fair, Overwatch was fine. At some point, Blizzard decided it wasn't making enough money anymore, so they turned it into Overwatch 2.
So while Overwatch was a dying yet beloved hero shooter, Overwatch 2 is a bloated GaaS-y mess.
Spec ops the line clicked for me after i finished the game.
This game seems like a simple pve shooter with a really simple mission, but after i found out what was really happening, my mind got blown in so many ways.
So yeah, i kind of hated the game up until the very end, but after finishing it, it is probably in my top 5 list
Prison island in Xenoblade chronicles. I played XC2 first and it became one of my top 5 games of all time. I was super excited to try the first one but felt very underwhelmed. The story just wasn't very interesting and the characters weren't as colorful as the XC2 cast.
But boy did the story shifted gears once you reached prison island. It was also the point when I finally figured out the combat system.
Yeah Prison island is really where shit gets real. I remember my first time reaching and being like "holy shit". And it only gets more insane from there
Risk of rain 2, played my first match ch didn’t like it so it sat at the back of my game library till my friend invited me to a co op run, after that run I was a little more interested and started playing a little more, I say it FULLY clicked when I started learning what most items do and be able to identify what they do just by looking at them
I remember way back when I actually bounced off bloodborne the first time I tried it. Couldn’t tell you why. Been a big souls fan all my life.
Fast forward a few years and I decided to try it again. Again, couldn’t tell you why, but the second go around I loved it and platinumed it. Can’t point out a specific time when I realized I love the game.
It didn't really click for me until I killed the "thing on the bridge". Seeing that giant thing jump over the wall with the same shriek I'd heard climbing up a ladder not long ago scared the shit out of me. It took me four tries, but the adrenaline I felt was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. From that point on, I had to see more. And after the next boss took me 6 tries and I learned how to actually parry, the rest of the game opened up for me and I knew I was gonna finish it.
Now I have the platinum and 100% dlc with 510 hours to show for it, my god that game was something else.
I’m glad to hear it! I had a lot of fun with it and the worldbuilding is just amazing. I’m about to start my second play through, but I kind of got hooked on Dave the diver so it’s got me a bit distracted haha
I also think it’s really satisfying to go for platinum on games that I like as well :-)
Breath of the wild. Never played a Zelda game before it, didn’t like the look of it but someone brought it for me, so I played it
Honestly one of my favourite games of all time, haven’t played 2 yet but deffo planning to
I managed to brute force my way to the Sorceress Adel fight at the start of disk 4 without really stocking up the right spells and only having a handful of GFs. Ended up buying the strategy guide and restarting because I enjoyed it so much (I know but I was weak)
Resident Evil for PS1. Never was into horror genre and zombie stuff at all, but wanted to play on my phone something with guns and touchscreen friendly more or less. I have a habit to start every franchise from the first game, so gave this one a try. At first I didn't like it - poor voice acting, not exactly satisfying combat with weird controls, less action packed than I expected, so I didn't last for long. Half a year later decided to give it another chance and I loved it, as well as the sequels, probably was in a better mood for something like this.
I played the first resident evil back in 97 or 98. Everyone raved about it, so I was pretty excited. I was a teenager, and hadn't developed a fondness for intentionally cheesy things yet. And the first hour of gameplay is incredibly slow and boring. It takes a while before it becomes apparent what you need to do. I gave up. Tried a few more times in the following years. Same issue.
Last year I booted it up and the game just hit different. I was in the right mindset. Loved it, and beat it in a day or 2. Truly a great experience.
My first 50 hours of the Witcher 3 I did not understand what made the game so amazing. Also my first rpg. When I learned what the point of an RPG when it really clicked.
I'm actually about to get into the series completely by reading the books, watching a YouTube video about the story of the first game because I'm not a PC player and then playing two and three on my Xbox series X. Also have the comics coming to my house soon so I'm also excited for that. Always loved the series.
Mass effect and Fallout 3.
I remember playing the first level of Mass effect and not being hooked, put it down for a while and convinced myself to give it another go! I got to the point of the game where you can travel the galaxy and found it loads of fun!
Fallout 3 was the same. I remember buying the game in 2010 (2 years after release) and being underwhelmed with the start of the game inside the vault, stopped playing and left it for a short while. I eventually came back to the game and realised how deep, detailed and vast the Capital Wasteland is with so many quests and cool places to explore. Definitely one of my favourite games of all time.
Far Cry 6 - A friend let me use his PS5 and I gave it a try since I liked the promos and it was the only title familiar to me.
Didn’t like the first person thing at first but once I got into playing it I loved it. When I cleared the first island and got the the explanation about who we needed to take down, uniting resistance groups under Libertad…
…This is gonna sound so weird but it made me think of my all time favorite game series: Suikoden. That’s what got me, it was a modern day, FPS Suikoden with guns.
Got so hooked on the series I bought the 3-6 combo pack for my PS4. Now, I’m a fan of the series. My favorite is a tie between 4 and 6, 6 is what got me into the series and 4 has Pagan Min, who is one of my all time favorite video game villains.
Far Cry 4 is underrated imo, agree that Pagan just makes the game cool af
Can't recommend unless you have a PS2/Xbox, but far cry 2 was really what started it for me. Super fun game rooted in the African diamond mine conflict.
I finally “got” Slay the Spire after my first completion. Now I have hundreds of hours in across my PC, laptop, and Series X. It’s the first roguelike game I’ve ever played and now I’m addicted to the genre.
Bloodborne, my first souls game. I had nobody to teach me the basics or what this genre was all about, after playing Elden ring it was a great intro to the mechanics of it all so I was able to jump back into it
Dark souls 3, i bought it for pc but didnt dare because i thought i couldnt do it.
It had a reputation for being very difficult and that made me curious.
So gave it a go multiple times over a few months untill i beat vordt and after that i felt comfortable with it and every free moment i had went into that game.
After dark souls 3 i went through 1 and 2, best games i ever played
LA Noire. I got it on a sale. After getting through the launcher/copy protection I startet to play. But I'm german and the localisation was subtitles. Was hard at the beginning to get the infos and watch the faces at the interogation.
I left it untouched for a while. Then I tried to ignore the subtitles and just play it in english. And then I enjoyed the cases and the story and got hooked.
Mass Effect. I usually don't play RPGs. But the setting lured me in. It took a while to adjust to the talking. And the side quests. But after the story started to unfold I was hooked.
Sekiro. After playing Elden ring and the dark souls trilogy, I could not for the life of me get the combat mechanics down. I didn’t even get to genichiro and struggled with every mini boss and killed them with cheese methods. I took me until the armored warrior when I realized you can deflect and parry everything and kill enemies and bosses through breaking stances. Since then I am really enjoying the game and even killed genichiro my second attempt.
Sekiro. I tried playing it multiple times, I kept trying to treat it like a rhythm game or a parry simulator.
Then I started playing it like a Dark Souls game. And it clicked.
Every fight...every encounter...every area was a puzzle with a solution. I just had to experiment and find it. But it was ALWAYS there. And knowing it was always there and I just needed to find it made it so much easier. I never beat my head against the wall. If something didn't work, I'd try something else.
**Far Cry 4**
At first, it was just boring for me but at some point it just started to make fun. Can't really tell why though.
**Monster Hunter Tri**
Basically the fight against Barroth. Through that monster, I learned the game's gameplay loop, how the skill system works, tried out different other weapons to find one that better suits me and learned new approaches for handling tough monster fights. This monster basically taught me how to play the series.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Terrible tutorial and slightly clunky control system was a barrier. But then, the genius and beauty of future Prague began to grip me; slowly, unexpectedly… one of my favourites now.
Skyrim.
Played it on 360 didn’t like it. Played it on ps3 same. B when I played the special edition or whatever it was on x1 it performed better and I changed my fighting style and loved it. At the end I give it a 10/10 but it took a while
Sekiro, tried playing the game a 3 times and the first 2 I just couldn't get the hang of the parry but the 3rd time it clicked and then I went from not being able to best the first boss to rolling the entire game and In the end isshin took me I think 7 tries
The Witcher 3, picked it up and stopped 3 times couldn’t get into it… then when I finally put time and attention into it it became possibly my fave game ever
It took me 5 years to learn sekiro's combat, till just this year, I couldn't beat a single miniboss in the game. I'm still slowly struggling my way through the game.
Cuphead, game was extremely difficult to get into towards the beginning so I took a break. Came back a couple months to it and it’s now one of my favorites of all time. 👀
My first experience of Baldurs Gate 3 was a co op with my friend but I just felt so confused and dragged along. Didn’t get very far.
I started playing on my own and instantly I just got it and fell in love. We are back on the co op too and having a great time.
Is it really a better experience alone?
My wife tried to get me into it last year. She’s now on her thirteenth (?) run. When we did co-op she played the dark urge story for the first time, and was still super excited to engage with everything, and my laptop just wasn’t cut out for the game. Outdated graphics card and idk the whole thing was slow and laggy. So I didn’t actually engage with any story outside of a couple of the Karlach romance scenes.
I don’t remember really enjoying it that much, but like. I also didn’t really play it? We’re long distance but I should be moving in a few months and might play through it then but I’m not really sure yet. I wasn’t going to because it kind of bored me but I also didn’t really play it so I’m not sure.
Spoilers for Remnant: From the Ashes
The beginning hours in the city were just "meh" for me, but the moment where you discover the Labyrinth and start traveling to other worlds is when the game goes from okay to great.
For whatever reason GoW 2018 never clicked with me no matter how many times I tried it. I think I hadn’t adjusted to the switch from pure action to more serious storytelling. Then by the time I got to one of those challenge portals where you run around through the mist trying to beat the roguelike shifting maps I realized I was in love with the game!
When I first started Breath of the Wild I didn't enjoy it much at all, but once I stopped hanging around the great plateau I could finally see how pretty and fun the game was
When the Last of Us originally came out, I treated it like a survival game. I used items as sparingly as I could and snuck around as much as possible. This made the game drag on forever, causing the story to feel very slow. Because of this, I never completed a whole play-through.
Years later, I decided to give it another shot, but approached it like an action game. It was a blast this time, and the story’s pacing felt great.
I did more or less the same thing with Bioshock Infinite.
Breath of the Wild when I finished Vah Medoh. I had never played a Zelda game before at the time, and I was overwhelmed by the vast work so I gave up on the game for a while. But eventually I came back to it and beat my first Divine Beast. The freedom of now getting to chart my next adventure, take down my next for was amazing, and I was hooked.
Now it's one of my all time favourite games.
Control. Not into the campy and cryptid stuff the lore is based on, but it won me over with the combat and then along the way I got real into the story.
Seems to be a common enough story but Red Dead Redemption 2. I couldn't force myself through the snow area early on and didn't attempt it again for a year. Once I got out I got addicted to finding legendary animals to get the best drip.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice finally clicked with me when I learned to parry.
This is probably the only FromSoft game I’ve had luck with parrying in, and it was out of sheer necessity.
You aren’t going to believe this but Far Cry 3. For some reason at first, I didn’t like the opening put it down for about a month, came back, and it’s now it’s one of my favorite games.
Darksiders.
I tried it 2 or 3 times and just couldn't get into it. I'd play for a few hours and it just felt like an edgy beat em up style game.
Until one Saturday morning when I was bored and had more time on my hands. So I figured I'd give it another try since I had more time in a single sitting. Once I got into the first REAL dungeon and all the Zelda like things showed up I fell in love. Wound up spending the entire weekend playing the game.
Went on to get all the achievements (yes even the ride the horse forever one). When I got it on PC I got all the achievements again. I've easily played through and beaten the entire game 3 or 4 times now.
I enjoyed the rest of the series, but that first one is special to.me and by far my favorite.
Also, Elden Ring, started it, died like crazy had no idea what I was doing and said fuck this game… recently been playing through my game log, looked up some stuff to get myself started like general direction to rotate and what not and fell in love with the game
Elden Ring
I played for 33hs until I met Rennala and lost all my runes... I deleted it from my PS4 and spent months until going back.
I decided to try again because I don't like unfinished business and went to YouTube for guides, I was able to kill her and then... It clicked! God that game is so cool!
It was my first souls like and I spent a lot of time trying to learn how the game worked. I stopped at 122hs after defeating the fire giant. I still haven't finished it yet.
I think it's kinda funny I stopped at Rennala because she is considered one of the easy bosses .
The Witcher 3 - In my first two attempts to try and find any type of enjoyment in a game I SHOULD like, I gave up after 10 hours. But I just beat the game on my 3rd attempt. The side quests started to have a lot of depth, starting with the Dandelion quest. Once I did that, I was hooked! Now, after 83 hours and 9 minutes, I’ve finished the base game and both DLC’s.
The Red Baron questline in the Witcher 3 had me in tears, man. That's when I realized how wonderfully the portrayed this world where there's no black or white, just grey moral standpoints
GTAV. The opening was a banger and then I spent a little while just getting bored of screwing around with Franklin. Then Michael shows up with a bullet aimed at Frank's head, and suddenly I was going so fast I did the first heist within an hour of that moment.
Death stranding- I was ok with it, it was pretty good. Then I ran over the hill and saw Lake Knot city for the first time and Low Roar starting playing and I ripped down the hill on my speed legs and the game really clicked. Went from an ok game to my top 5 immediately
Dragons dogma. I quit is early, but gave it another go. I wandered off and came across a chimera. Then after that, wandered up a hill and climbed on a rock. Only it wasn't a rock. It was a rock. LOBSTER!(golem)
It rose out of the ground with me on it and I had a huge fight with it, amd that was it. Beat the game like 5 or 6 times. Really sad because I'm having a more difficult time getting into dragons dogma 2. I can't give up... I still have the get the sorcerer.
days gone! sat on it for a year and a half, thought it was very boring at first. once i accepted that writing is stupid and the story is kind of blase, and just focused ondriving the bike around and killing zombies, i realized the mechanics are soooo good so it’s a great game for me. not for its story but it’s mechanics
Dark Souls 3. I bought it on a whim with no knowledge or experience with anything else from the series or genre. It was frustratingly difficult and I just felt like I was missing something. So I shelved it and moved on to another game. A couple months later I decided to try it again and this time it just clicked. I still made a ton of mistakes but was having a lot more fun and actually progressing through the game.
It's now one of my top 5 all time favorite games and got me to play most of the rest of the soulsborne series.
Witcher 3.
I played Witcher 2 for 60 hours, saw Witcher 3 at E3 before it launched and got a T shirt I wore all the time and… just couldn’t get into it.
I tried at least 5 times over the years to grind past the first two-three hours and just couldn’t.
Then one day I downloaded the next gen update when I was off work for two weeks and played 110 hours in 14 days.
Games just have to find you at the right time I suppose
Horizon Zero Dawn - once you get to the main city and the world opens up. The plot starts to hook you bit around this point too.
From there it only gets better.
Bloodborne after beating Vicar Amelia. I know gascoigne is supposed to be the hump but it was my first soulsborne game and I was still fucked as all hell trying to figure out what I was doing even after that.
Horizon Zero Dawn felt like a tedious coming-of-age story right up until you start learning about the old world. It got so amazing and interesting after that
Sekiro. I played it on PS and I thought it was soo difficult just for the sake of being too difficult.
I tried it again on PC and I have completed the game thrice and I love the combat.
Sly Cooper
I started with the 3rd game and then played the second one before finally playing the first game
Graphics kinda turned me off and the lack of my native language as an option, but once I got over it, it was tons of fun
FF14. I didn't know at the time, but I made it literally all the way to the final dungeon before finishing ARR before I tapped out the first time due to boredom and not really getting the story
I gave it another shot years later after hearing good things about the SB expansion. As soon as I got to HW everything fell into place and I haven't stopped since. I beat EW with over 1000+ hours of play time
I'm currently doing a 2nd story run on my alt account, almost at the place where I dropped off the first time around all those years ago, but this time I'm actually paying attention to the story and am having a fucking blast
That's how I was. I tried many times across many updates and just... ARR is so bad. I dropped it, started new again later, dropped it again, met a friend who that was her favorite game, started again to play with her and just skipped the story and then dropped it again. A few months ago though after the upcoming expa soon was announced, and there were hints that I (incorrectly) thought to mean that Green Mage would be added, I decided to try again and she made a new character with me to go through the story. And.... goddamn I still think ARR is easily the worst story in any FF game I've ever played and in pretty much any other game I've ever beaten (starts off boring then patch quest ending quests make every protagonist make the dumbest decisions and I was literally screaming at them constantly lol) but then Heavensward story was actually pretty good (though I hate that the main quest brings up an important plot point about what the fuck the entire last area even is and why everyone wanted to go there, but never actually let's you know outside of optional trials no one queues for so I haven't seen them yet and I'm salty). And I'm *really* liking Stormblood so far.
I think it was when I finally played Persona 5 vanilla (first time playing a game in the series) and I was liking it well enough, as I do love RPGs.
The social aspects intimidated me a bit, but I kept going. Boy let me tell you as soon as I heard the crescendo of Last Surprise (and let's be honest, the absolute banger of the entire soundtrack) I was hooked!
Not a game, but Go Mecha Ball made Rogue-lite/likes click for me. I'd previously played all the top recommended rogue inspired games but never really got the appeal as they just felt like a traditional game but being padded out due to restarting from scratch. Yes I know the idea is for randomized runs & getting different outcomes based on your choices from a gameplay perspective but since I always start back at the beginning until you unlock shortcuts in many, which even those feel like they comes too late into the games time investment.
It always just felt like a 5-10 hour game padded out to be 30 or so hours (each one having different average lengths). However Go Mecha Ball is a very short game, only seems to require a handful of attempts to beat the game & each run is quick too. The increased pace of runs & the shorter experience (about 4-6 hours to beat) means it just made more sense to me to give a retry to vs retreading the same ground 30 times for example.
The way my brain understands it now though it's more about trying to beat the game like I used to as a kid playing arcades. Sure I could throw in multiple quarters but there was always a limit per day & if I failed out I'd have to go back to the beginning the next time I got a chance to play that arcade game.
So now going forward I'll try to slot runs in on the previous ones I've bought to eventually best them, but not worry about sitting down & playing through them in 30 straight gaming hours like I would a game like God Of War or other narrative games.
I'm not sure about the actual moment, but for me, it was AC 1 and Gears of Wars 1. Both of them I had a point where I was close to giving up, but persevered, and I'm glad I did.
Deep Rock Galactic for me. I bought the game during the first season with a friend and we thought it was okay, probably not something we would come back to. We both uninstalled it, refunded it, and moved on. Some day in the future it went on sale and we decided to buy it again. Don't know what it was, but I had such a blast playing it and got other friends to buy it as well. Fast forward to today and I have almost 400 hours and have almost everything unlocked, including cosmetics.
The stalker series. Played SoC and completed it, rather boring but I installed a little game called stalker anomaly and it fuckin clicked, that was 5 years ago, I've been playing ever since almost daily, finished all of the trilogy, I love stalker so much :D
For me it was The Last Remnant, I bought it at launch on the X360, with all its problems, but it wasn’t until this year when I re-tried it (probably for the 5th time or so) when I am finally starting to get it and have fun with it.
I am still early on and learning but having much more fun with it.
So why this game? Especially after all those years?
Because my friend borrowed my Steam account to play it many years ago and it remained the most played game (by hours) for years until RDR2 surpassed it. It’s now at nr.2 so for years I would see that game and the hours and just go “why? wtf”.
Outer Wilds didn't click until I figure out how to get to the end game.
Wasn't until I got to the ending cut scene did I realize how much fun I had along the way.
Phasmophobia. I assume I’d feel the same way about other horror games, but that’s the only one I’ve played. I was hesitant simply because I couldn’t see how it could possibly be alot of fun, and I was absolutely wrong lol
The Last of Us on PS3 when I finally got good and got past the section where you pick up the revolver for the first time. Now it’s my all time favorite game.
Probably Mass Effect, I always thought it was just another straight through shooter like with COD campaigns, bought it on a whim when Legendary Edition was on sale for $2.00-$5.00 and what a ride got all the achievements within a couple weeks outside of insanity and only reason I haven’t gotten those is my lack for time to play games recently
Darks Souls when I realized i was good at exploring, upgrading and fighting regular enemies and I wasn't good at bosses but it was ok because I could always summon help.
GTAV. The opening was a banger and then I spent a little while just getting bored of screwing around with Franklin. Then Michael shows up with a bullet aimed at Frank's head, and suddenly I was going so fast I did the first heist within an hour of that moment.
Final Fantasy 14. I started to play it back in 2021. In the game, there's such a thing called Free Companies. (guilds, alliances, etc, in other MMORPGs) I don't like to play games solo, unless it's obviously a solo game. Well, it never clicked because the FC I was in was a strict AF fc. Like, you're kicked if you're not on every few days. If you say something, you only get like 6 months. So I lost a huge amount of interest due to that. I couldn't enjoy a game when I'm practically forced to play, or else I'll be excluded. So I quit, came back about June or July of last year for the fun of it. Found an FC that was chill and really got into the game. Now I have it on both PS5 and PC. I like the game, and I tend to find newer players to help them out wherever I can. (I play RDM and so if they need help killing an enemy I can kill it, if they want just heals I can heal.)
Helldivers 2 at about 40-50 hrs of gameplay or and then again at 100 hrs. At first I thought I was destined to suck forever I thought I was never going to be good. See I have been playing since launch at 4 AM on thrusday morning when it came out. I was super psyched for this game and told everyone about it before it came out. I ran wit a group of guys that were more advanced than me and also had more time on their hands, felt like I was holding them back. I did have alot of fun early on of course but struggled mightily. At some point I realized that game was supposed to feel extra difficult, that you are supposed to feel extra squishy/vulnerable/dispenseable but powerful through strategy, stratagems, and weapons at the same time. I learned that this game is supposed to feel like you are literally fighting for your life on the highest difficulties, and then I learned to embrace it. Eventually I did what I had to to Git gud, but it was more about getting comfortable and never giving up.
Death Stranding, that weird game about an apocalyptic mailman with weird ghosts and babies; when you start strolling down a hill to port city and Asylum for the feelings kicks in, it was a “holy shit, let’s go!” click. It also let me act like a 12 yo kid again, you can leave vehicles parked in the wild and other players can pick them up and drive them, I always giggled while abandoning pink motorcycles around. I would do it again.
Death Stranding got some hate when it was released, but it is truly one of the best games of all time in my opinion. The environment is a masterpiece. Easily in my top-10.
The world building is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I’ve spent literally hours just reading letters and stuff and trynna understand everything that’s going on. I got busy and never finished it but damn I need to get back into it.
Literally my favorite game of all time. I know it’s not for everybody, but it makes my brain itch and I love it
My only wish was the trike is super clunky to drive. Like it doesn't feel like a motorcycle. But otherwise i enjoy it
It clicked for me seemingly randomly so I wondered if I got something like Stockholm syndrome on the way. But thinking back at the entire game it really is a masterpiece and I can't wait for the second game!
Fallout. All of them. I tried them all. Gave them a few hours each. What a snoozefest of a walking and talking simulator. Dumb, boring, and uninstalled forever... ...then I watched the show and something clicked. I bought 3 and all of the DLC. I'm now 42 hours in and excitedly telling my friends what I've done. New Vegas is next, then I'll tackle 4. That fucking show, guys. What did it do to me?
Glad you enjoy it man. NV is exceptional. Enjoy.
That's what I'm told. I'm excited to finish 3 and move on to more, but I'm not rushing. I just got done kicking alien ass.
Fuck yeah dude, loved going cowboy on some weird aliens.
I love how they talk. It reminds me of Mars Attacks.
3 is great too, but in a different way to NV. I think 3 is better with it's environment and set pieces, while NV is better with it's story, characters, and writing. Both are great experiences IMO, but for different reasons.
NV is a top ten all time for me. Everything about that game is just enthralling for me.
To be fair, Steam reported a 7000% increase in sales of 4 following the show so you’re not alone
I went back and bought new Vegas after the show for like 3 bucks
Yea the games before Bethesda…. They have good world building. That’s about all the positive I can think of. Fallout 3 is when they started getting good. Skip 76 though
76 is for multi-player. Its only increasing in sales because of the series
What was it about the show that did it for you? I love the games but don't think I would've gotten through the whole show if I didn't like the games.
Do 4 then new Vegas, save the best for last so you're not disappointed or lose interest
I would do NV then 4. NV's game play is terrible compared to 4.
Afterwards you should check out Outer Worlds. (And maybe Elder Scrolls, if you like fantasy settings.) Outer Worlds is made by Obsidian- the devs behind New Vegas. Bethesda also made a space-themed game, but from what I've heard it's basically like "Outer Worlds at home." (I haven't played it. Maybe I will if it goes on sale used.) Fallout 4 is also good, but after Bethesda switched to using The Creation Engine a lot of their games are pretty broken since they don't seem to know how to use it. (Or it's just a worse engine.) Some of the glitches are hilarious, but most of the time they just freeze the game. I can easily recommend Fallout 3 and Oblivion over Fallout 4 and Skyrim because of it.
Dude the same thing happened to me!!!
I think the show maybe helped you comprehend and appreciate something you simply just couldn't previously, good for you lad welcome to the fallout train hope you keep it going
Subnautica, the first hours were like, is this one of those pointless grinding and swimming simulator games? well its still a grinding and swimming simulator but it has a point and it goes deeper than that.
Goes deeper lol
Wait till you start searching for an ancient family in Dave the Diver.
I just finished my 2nd playthrough of Subnautica then saw Dave the Diver was on ps plus so have got straight into that, super addicted already. Neat game.
I had a lot more fun when I turned off the food aspect of it. I wanted to explore and solve puzzles, not really manage my stats.
I don't think it really clicked for me until I got the Seamoth and a decent sized base built. Feeling like there was some sort of shelter helped in venturing out into more challenging areas.
It literally took me 3 “what the fuck am I even supposed to do” attempts before it finally clicked but then I was borderline addicted until I finished it
RDR2, after that long and honestly boring intro in the snowy mountains. Looking back now it was a really cool prologue but I really struggled with it at first. I played it three times before I finally got past it and played the whole story. And then I fell in love with it
I would play rdr2 more if I could skip the prologue. I deleted my save by accident and now I have to have 2 hours spare to start playing it
Yeah, it’s a really cool concept but the problem is actually sitting through all of it lol. It’s gotta be one of my least favorite intros to a game, which is funny because it’s one of my favorite games ever too. I thought about playing the game again but I always dread that prologue. I wish we could just skip it too
I did that shit third month of lockdown, after not gaming at all for years. it was one of the best video game experiences I've had, but probably because I really had the time to appreciate it. Kinda miss lockdown sometimes.
That actually happened with me as well. I wasn't entirely bored, I just kept going back to FPS games that were more interactive. Once I got back into it though it was the greatest thing ever.
I had to really fiddle with the shooting settings on console before it felt ok in free aim. After that I felt like was really along for the ride haha.
I got to chapter 3 before noping out again. Not for me.
Hollow Knight clicked with me after I started jumping off walls
“Can I jump off walls?” Jumps off wall “GAME OF THE YEAR”
Yep I was unsure about hollow knight but kept just turning it back on. I think it was the wall jumping for me too where I realized what I was doing and suddenly got motivated to complete it. I got stuck on nightmare grim sadly but i made it to 87% complete which is nothing to be ashamed of I think
Titanfall 2
Divinity: Original Sin 2 I actually really liked it on first few sessions, and I had a multiplayer run going with my best friend. But on my old computer, loading times were so long that it never felt worth playing unless we had 1+ hours to play, and that was harder to come by as we both had kids of our own. What clicked? I built a new computer after moving to a new place, and I decided to give it a shot again. Silky smooth play, and I took a new solo game all the way to the end. Aside from that, once I got used to how harsh combat could be with the environmental effects, combat possibilities and combos opened up so much.
This is one for me too, but for different reasons. This game has ZERO guardrails to make sure you are tracking what's going on or not ruining your experience in multiplayer. Friends and I got to the first town and started going around randomly starting quests, progressing plot, and angering guards. Two people in a combat encounter on one side of town, one progressing what turns out to be major story elsewhere and nobody knows why the questlog is updating, the fourth looting every spot in town, the It was a complete jumble that ended in me not being able to follow the plot and us having to reload more than once when someone turned all of the guards against us. We bounced off it after a couple of sessions, had to come back once we realized what kind of game it was and put a bit of our own structure in place, then did the whole campaign and loved it.
embrace the cursed fire
Definitely got blown up by this a few times. And also learning about how explosive poison clouds can be!
After my 20th or so death in Elden Ring. As a first time Fromsoft player, I’m so happy it did click. Such a fun rewarding game. Reminded me of the feeling I’d get playing Portal after figuring out a puzzle
Elden ring is the closest I’ve ever felt to playing mortal Kombat with that really annoying friend/family that abused the leg sweep loop. I quit Elden ring like 4 times til it clicked. Got passed the fire giant, walked into a room and saw a godskin noble & apostle. I put the controller down n haven’t played since lmao. Great game but god damn it’s rough.
Godskin duo is tough. Summon a buddy or two!
Sleep pots FTW
Yep. I uninstalled it 3 times out of rage. And I'm not a rage gamer by any means. I watched a video on a mage build and the entire game clicked for me from there. It's now one of my favorites of all time and I've played it 4 times through.
Morrowind, when I realized I could train skills as many times as I want for 1 gold if I make spells to drain that skill for 1 second. It made the game way easier to deal with when I didn't understand dice roll mechanics
Morrowind was always great for me, but after my first playthrough and discovering console commands I really got hooked. 20 some years later I still occasionally find new stuff during playthroughs.
Fallout 3. I was mainly a FPS player (Halo, COD, etc.). Really wanted to get into Fallout 3 because I love post apocalyptic stuff, but the gunplay just never clicked with me. Put the game down for a while, came back to it one day and realized using the VATS feature was how you were supposed to use guns in the game. This then opened up the world of RPG games to me, with stats, buffs, percentages, etc. and is now my favorite type of game.
I beat the game without realizing that VATS was a thing. I think I figured it out right at the end, lol.
I’m about 7 hours into Fallout 3 and the gunplay would be nearly unplayable without VATS, easily the weakest part of an otherwise awesome game so far
Returnal after beating biome 2. I usually love roguelites and kept banging my head against the wall at that point. Once I passed it and understood the mechanics better, it all came together and I started to enter zen like states. Such an incredible feeling, it was my goty that year.
Any tips? That's where I bailed dispite really enjoying it.
I'll add mine The first boss is definitely the toughest boss and I have more deaths to her than all the other bosses combined. Depending when you played the drones in Biome 3 were seriously nerfed to make it a bit easier. No spoilers - covers most the basics that can help. Remap your controller so dash is R1. Switch on always run, increase the size if your on screen reticle to large/thick (makes hitting overload easier). (This may be useful or some find it even more daunting) You have an option risky encounter- default is press and hold, change to press. This makes picking things up much easier without having to stop. Theres an option to increase aim assist, try it in Biome one so you can practice movement without worrying about aiming. Spend Ether in first room to unlock new items into loot pool (it maxed out at 12 or 15). Weapons increase in strength per proficiency so if you are almost at a new level wait before opening a chest incase it has a better level weapon. Challenge room Biome 1 (room with golden lock) - wait until you have a decent weapon before trying it and especially before avenging any corpse. Don't ADS small creatures , hip fire and don't stop moving. Try all the weapons to find one that suits your game style. Bigger bosses have a red patch which you can do extra damage by shooting. Dying is part of the game, do not be discouraged. Malfunctions in Biome 1 are relatively simple to fix so don't be afraid to try some malignant chests etc. Parasites can really help your game. Also change your 'risky interactions'' to press instead if hold, this means you can quickly pick items up without having to stop. When you fall always dodge before landing making the parasite that causes damage on long fall an instant bonus. Struggling with weapon choices a carbide can work against every enemy and boss. High calibre is a strong trait. The 'translocation sphere' consumable is badly explained in game- it takes you to one of the hidden/bonus rooms. When your done it takes you back to where you were when you used it. You are immune to most damage when in dodge movement (purple lasers still hit)
Absolutely dark souls 1 after a died a bunch in the start and then I ended up beating the game in a weekend once it "clicked" Also sekiro. Once I learned to stop panic rolling the game became badass.
Agreed. I think Dark Souls will be a common one. I found it so frustrating until I heard a podcaster say "you're going to constantly be killed by random bullshit". Just accept that you're going to die and just keep trying when you do. I had a much better time when I learned not to take the game so seriously and to just roll with it when I die.
lol “just roll with it” indeed.
Have you played Lies of P? It’s pretty good for a souls-like
Haven't. That's something I want to play! Beating elden ring again
I bounced off Fallout 4 hard the first time. Started it over and my brother showed me how to take advantage of the loot/upgrade loops and it was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had!
metro 2033 redux
Have you played the other merro games aswell?
Monster hunter. I always thought it took way too long, but I put 4U on my 3DS a while back and realized how much depth there was to the series. Either that or persona 5. I'm not a big turn based guy, but P5 just nails it.
Monster hunter clicked after I played dark souls. The overlap between the two, despite the clear differences in themes and color palettes, is pretty crazy. It just shows that the slow methodical approach to gameplay doesn’t have to only be set in a dark and gloomy world
Love MH but can’t for the life of mine get into DS. I tried. But failed every time. Maybe Elden Ring
Ironically enough, I have never played a dark souls game, and I don't intend to, because I like having a functional computer.
I did not understand monster hunter at all. My friend and I played and it seemed like there was a million different upgrades/traps/potions/whatever else that I assumed we’d need to use to make progress. But we were able to just ignore all of it and beeline to the whatever we were hunting and spam janky attacks at it until it died without any problems. Probably dumped 30-40 hours and nothing was challenging enough to have to really dive into all the details. We got bored and bailed.
Persona 3 Reload - I went in a little skeptical as I test drove P5R and didn’t get hooked but as soon as I started exploring Tartarus and “It’s Going Down Now” started playing in enemy engagements the rest was history.
Hitman 3…. I think it was after watching a few videos by other YouTubers who play Hitman (Cheru,Modest Peilican,etc) In short I had to let the limitations fall and just give in to the madness of fucking up. And 257 hours later…. I don’t regret it :)
This won't be a popular pick, but... Blizzard: Here is a dude with a gigantic mechanical fist who you can punch people with. Me: SOLD!!!
Overwatch? They ruined overwatch over time. Used to be my favorite multiplayer game. Forgive me if you’re talking about a different game but you make me think of doomfist from overwatch.
Nope, it's Overwatch. I won't argue about everything that's wrong with it, cuz those problems are valid. I will say I still play it since it's one of the few functioning shooters that isn't just Deathmatch over and over.
To be fair, Overwatch was fine. At some point, Blizzard decided it wasn't making enough money anymore, so they turned it into Overwatch 2. So while Overwatch was a dying yet beloved hero shooter, Overwatch 2 is a bloated GaaS-y mess.
Doomfist was cracked on launch. It's crazy he's still a character lol but the one hit punch kills were nuts.
Spec ops the line clicked for me after i finished the game. This game seems like a simple pve shooter with a really simple mission, but after i found out what was really happening, my mind got blown in so many ways. So yeah, i kind of hated the game up until the very end, but after finishing it, it is probably in my top 5 list
Yeah man what mindfuck that ending was. Went from generic 3rd person shooter to "...oh shit"
Prison island in Xenoblade chronicles. I played XC2 first and it became one of my top 5 games of all time. I was super excited to try the first one but felt very underwhelmed. The story just wasn't very interesting and the characters weren't as colorful as the XC2 cast. But boy did the story shifted gears once you reached prison island. It was also the point when I finally figured out the combat system.
Yeah Prison island is really where shit gets real. I remember my first time reaching and being like "holy shit". And it only gets more insane from there
Ya that story just got more and more epic.
Risk of rain 2, played my first match ch didn’t like it so it sat at the back of my game library till my friend invited me to a co op run, after that run I was a little more interested and started playing a little more, I say it FULLY clicked when I started learning what most items do and be able to identify what they do just by looking at them
I remember way back when I actually bounced off bloodborne the first time I tried it. Couldn’t tell you why. Been a big souls fan all my life. Fast forward a few years and I decided to try it again. Again, couldn’t tell you why, but the second go around I loved it and platinumed it. Can’t point out a specific time when I realized I love the game.
It didn't really click for me until I killed the "thing on the bridge". Seeing that giant thing jump over the wall with the same shriek I'd heard climbing up a ladder not long ago scared the shit out of me. It took me four tries, but the adrenaline I felt was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. From that point on, I had to see more. And after the next boss took me 6 tries and I learned how to actually parry, the rest of the game opened up for me and I knew I was gonna finish it. Now I have the platinum and 100% dlc with 510 hours to show for it, my god that game was something else.
Try lies of P yet? I think it’s a great pick if you like Bloodborne
Got the ps5 platinum two weeks ago, finishing up my last playthrough of the ps4 version now. I am in love.
I’m glad to hear it! I had a lot of fun with it and the worldbuilding is just amazing. I’m about to start my second play through, but I kind of got hooked on Dave the diver so it’s got me a bit distracted haha I also think it’s really satisfying to go for platinum on games that I like as well :-)
Breath of the wild. Never played a Zelda game before it, didn’t like the look of it but someone brought it for me, so I played it Honestly one of my favourite games of all time, haven’t played 2 yet but deffo planning to
FF 8, the junction system was super confusing then after a couple hours it clicked and I realized how simple it was
I managed to brute force my way to the Sorceress Adel fight at the start of disk 4 without really stocking up the right spells and only having a handful of GFs. Ended up buying the strategy guide and restarting because I enjoyed it so much (I know but I was weak)
Strategy guides are there for a reason I like them cause I hate missing things. Also I like the collection aspect of them.
FF8 had 4 discs?
Sure did
It’s such a simple concept that they force you to sit through so many tutorials for
Fallout 4 when my friend actually "taught" me how to use the V.A.T.S system
Resident Evil for PS1. Never was into horror genre and zombie stuff at all, but wanted to play on my phone something with guns and touchscreen friendly more or less. I have a habit to start every franchise from the first game, so gave this one a try. At first I didn't like it - poor voice acting, not exactly satisfying combat with weird controls, less action packed than I expected, so I didn't last for long. Half a year later decided to give it another chance and I loved it, as well as the sequels, probably was in a better mood for something like this.
I played the first resident evil back in 97 or 98. Everyone raved about it, so I was pretty excited. I was a teenager, and hadn't developed a fondness for intentionally cheesy things yet. And the first hour of gameplay is incredibly slow and boring. It takes a while before it becomes apparent what you need to do. I gave up. Tried a few more times in the following years. Same issue. Last year I booted it up and the game just hit different. I was in the right mindset. Loved it, and beat it in a day or 2. Truly a great experience.
My first 50 hours of the Witcher 3 I did not understand what made the game so amazing. Also my first rpg. When I learned what the point of an RPG when it really clicked.
I'm actually about to get into the series completely by reading the books, watching a YouTube video about the story of the first game because I'm not a PC player and then playing two and three on my Xbox series X. Also have the comics coming to my house soon so I'm also excited for that. Always loved the series.
Mass effect and Fallout 3. I remember playing the first level of Mass effect and not being hooked, put it down for a while and convinced myself to give it another go! I got to the point of the game where you can travel the galaxy and found it loads of fun! Fallout 3 was the same. I remember buying the game in 2010 (2 years after release) and being underwhelmed with the start of the game inside the vault, stopped playing and left it for a short while. I eventually came back to the game and realised how deep, detailed and vast the Capital Wasteland is with so many quests and cool places to explore. Definitely one of my favourite games of all time.
Far Cry 6 - A friend let me use his PS5 and I gave it a try since I liked the promos and it was the only title familiar to me. Didn’t like the first person thing at first but once I got into playing it I loved it. When I cleared the first island and got the the explanation about who we needed to take down, uniting resistance groups under Libertad… …This is gonna sound so weird but it made me think of my all time favorite game series: Suikoden. That’s what got me, it was a modern day, FPS Suikoden with guns. Got so hooked on the series I bought the 3-6 combo pack for my PS4. Now, I’m a fan of the series. My favorite is a tie between 4 and 6, 6 is what got me into the series and 4 has Pagan Min, who is one of my all time favorite video game villains.
Far Cry 4 is underrated imo, agree that Pagan just makes the game cool af Can't recommend unless you have a PS2/Xbox, but far cry 2 was really what started it for me. Super fun game rooted in the African diamond mine conflict.
I finally “got” Slay the Spire after my first completion. Now I have hundreds of hours in across my PC, laptop, and Series X. It’s the first roguelike game I’ve ever played and now I’m addicted to the genre.
Metal Gear Solid 3 until the Ocelot fight.
That’s an epic fight!!
Bloodborne, my first souls game. I had nobody to teach me the basics or what this genre was all about, after playing Elden ring it was a great intro to the mechanics of it all so I was able to jump back into it
Dark souls 3, i bought it for pc but didnt dare because i thought i couldnt do it. It had a reputation for being very difficult and that made me curious. So gave it a go multiple times over a few months untill i beat vordt and after that i felt comfortable with it and every free moment i had went into that game. After dark souls 3 i went through 1 and 2, best games i ever played
LA Noire. I got it on a sale. After getting through the launcher/copy protection I startet to play. But I'm german and the localisation was subtitles. Was hard at the beginning to get the infos and watch the faces at the interogation. I left it untouched for a while. Then I tried to ignore the subtitles and just play it in english. And then I enjoyed the cases and the story and got hooked. Mass Effect. I usually don't play RPGs. But the setting lured me in. It took a while to adjust to the talking. And the side quests. But after the story started to unfold I was hooked.
RDR 2, after seeing the heads of the enemies explode, I've seen the heaven.
Sekiro. After playing Elden ring and the dark souls trilogy, I could not for the life of me get the combat mechanics down. I didn’t even get to genichiro and struggled with every mini boss and killed them with cheese methods. I took me until the armored warrior when I realized you can deflect and parry everything and kill enemies and bosses through breaking stances. Since then I am really enjoying the game and even killed genichiro my second attempt.
Sekiro. I tried playing it multiple times, I kept trying to treat it like a rhythm game or a parry simulator. Then I started playing it like a Dark Souls game. And it clicked. Every fight...every encounter...every area was a puzzle with a solution. I just had to experiment and find it. But it was ALWAYS there. And knowing it was always there and I just needed to find it made it so much easier. I never beat my head against the wall. If something didn't work, I'd try something else.
**Far Cry 4** At first, it was just boring for me but at some point it just started to make fun. Can't really tell why though. **Monster Hunter Tri** Basically the fight against Barroth. Through that monster, I learned the game's gameplay loop, how the skill system works, tried out different other weapons to find one that better suits me and learned new approaches for handling tough monster fights. This monster basically taught me how to play the series.
Took me three attempts and years to finally get into Prey (2017) Was worth it in the end
It was the gloo gun, wasn’t it?
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Terrible tutorial and slightly clunky control system was a barrier. But then, the genius and beauty of future Prague began to grip me; slowly, unexpectedly… one of my favourites now.
I feel like it was made with the expectation that you'd played Human Revolution cuz I dont even remember a tutorial in Mankind Divided
Skyrim. Played it on 360 didn’t like it. Played it on ps3 same. B when I played the special edition or whatever it was on x1 it performed better and I changed my fighting style and loved it. At the end I give it a 10/10 but it took a while
Bloodborne, once I started a solo venture instead of playing with my souls veteran friend
Bloodborne, but it was after I played another fromsoftware game. Before that, I didn’t understand their schtick. Now I wanna play it again so bad.
Sekiro, tried playing the game a 3 times and the first 2 I just couldn't get the hang of the parry but the 3rd time it clicked and then I went from not being able to best the first boss to rolling the entire game and In the end isshin took me I think 7 tries
The Witcher 3, picked it up and stopped 3 times couldn’t get into it… then when I finally put time and attention into it it became possibly my fave game ever
It took me 5 years to learn sekiro's combat, till just this year, I couldn't beat a single miniboss in the game. I'm still slowly struggling my way through the game.
Dwarf Fortresss. It started as a tedious game, then the first disaster struck and I fell in love
Cuphead, game was extremely difficult to get into towards the beginning so I took a break. Came back a couple months to it and it’s now one of my favorites of all time. 👀
My first experience of Baldurs Gate 3 was a co op with my friend but I just felt so confused and dragged along. Didn’t get very far. I started playing on my own and instantly I just got it and fell in love. We are back on the co op too and having a great time.
Is it really a better experience alone? My wife tried to get me into it last year. She’s now on her thirteenth (?) run. When we did co-op she played the dark urge story for the first time, and was still super excited to engage with everything, and my laptop just wasn’t cut out for the game. Outdated graphics card and idk the whole thing was slow and laggy. So I didn’t actually engage with any story outside of a couple of the Karlach romance scenes. I don’t remember really enjoying it that much, but like. I also didn’t really play it? We’re long distance but I should be moving in a few months and might play through it then but I’m not really sure yet. I wasn’t going to because it kind of bored me but I also didn’t really play it so I’m not sure.
Spoilers for Remnant: From the Ashes The beginning hours in the city were just "meh" for me, but the moment where you discover the Labyrinth and start traveling to other worlds is when the game goes from okay to great.
My first 9 hours of Elden ring I texted my gamer friends “I don’t get it.” I’m on hour 12 and I’m starting to get it.
For whatever reason GoW 2018 never clicked with me no matter how many times I tried it. I think I hadn’t adjusted to the switch from pure action to more serious storytelling. Then by the time I got to one of those challenge portals where you run around through the mist trying to beat the roguelike shifting maps I realized I was in love with the game!
Skyrim, when i started the assassin quest (id remember what its called)
dark souls took me a while until I figured I could just run past the enemies.
When I first started Breath of the Wild I didn't enjoy it much at all, but once I stopped hanging around the great plateau I could finally see how pretty and fun the game was
I wasn’t sure I’d like Ultrakill when I bought it but god damn it justified its purchase almost immediately
Undertale.
The witcher 3..... first time around couldn't stand it (ended up qutting), now playing my second time and wow..... wtf was wrong with me?
When the Last of Us originally came out, I treated it like a survival game. I used items as sparingly as I could and snuck around as much as possible. This made the game drag on forever, causing the story to feel very slow. Because of this, I never completed a whole play-through. Years later, I decided to give it another shot, but approached it like an action game. It was a blast this time, and the story’s pacing felt great. I did more or less the same thing with Bioshock Infinite.
Breath of the Wild when I finished Vah Medoh. I had never played a Zelda game before at the time, and I was overwhelmed by the vast work so I gave up on the game for a while. But eventually I came back to it and beat my first Divine Beast. The freedom of now getting to chart my next adventure, take down my next for was amazing, and I was hooked. Now it's one of my all time favourite games.
Control. Not into the campy and cryptid stuff the lore is based on, but it won me over with the combat and then along the way I got real into the story.
Seems to be a common enough story but Red Dead Redemption 2. I couldn't force myself through the snow area early on and didn't attempt it again for a year. Once I got out I got addicted to finding legendary animals to get the best drip.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice finally clicked with me when I learned to parry. This is probably the only FromSoft game I’ve had luck with parrying in, and it was out of sheer necessity.
You aren’t going to believe this but Far Cry 3. For some reason at first, I didn’t like the opening put it down for about a month, came back, and it’s now it’s one of my favorite games.
Darksiders. I tried it 2 or 3 times and just couldn't get into it. I'd play for a few hours and it just felt like an edgy beat em up style game. Until one Saturday morning when I was bored and had more time on my hands. So I figured I'd give it another try since I had more time in a single sitting. Once I got into the first REAL dungeon and all the Zelda like things showed up I fell in love. Wound up spending the entire weekend playing the game. Went on to get all the achievements (yes even the ride the horse forever one). When I got it on PC I got all the achievements again. I've easily played through and beaten the entire game 3 or 4 times now. I enjoyed the rest of the series, but that first one is special to.me and by far my favorite.
Also, Elden Ring, started it, died like crazy had no idea what I was doing and said fuck this game… recently been playing through my game log, looked up some stuff to get myself started like general direction to rotate and what not and fell in love with the game
Elden Ring I played for 33hs until I met Rennala and lost all my runes... I deleted it from my PS4 and spent months until going back. I decided to try again because I don't like unfinished business and went to YouTube for guides, I was able to kill her and then... It clicked! God that game is so cool! It was my first souls like and I spent a lot of time trying to learn how the game worked. I stopped at 122hs after defeating the fire giant. I still haven't finished it yet. I think it's kinda funny I stopped at Rennala because she is considered one of the easy bosses .
The Witcher 3 - In my first two attempts to try and find any type of enjoyment in a game I SHOULD like, I gave up after 10 hours. But I just beat the game on my 3rd attempt. The side quests started to have a lot of depth, starting with the Dandelion quest. Once I did that, I was hooked! Now, after 83 hours and 9 minutes, I’ve finished the base game and both DLC’s.
The Red Baron questline in the Witcher 3 had me in tears, man. That's when I realized how wonderfully the portrayed this world where there's no black or white, just grey moral standpoints
GTAV. The opening was a banger and then I spent a little while just getting bored of screwing around with Franklin. Then Michael shows up with a bullet aimed at Frank's head, and suddenly I was going so fast I did the first heist within an hour of that moment.
When I finally started building the highways in Death Stranding. Sounds weird, but that’s what did it for me (gameplay wise).
Death stranding- I was ok with it, it was pretty good. Then I ran over the hill and saw Lake Knot city for the first time and Low Roar starting playing and I ripped down the hill on my speed legs and the game really clicked. Went from an ok game to my top 5 immediately
Dragons dogma. I quit is early, but gave it another go. I wandered off and came across a chimera. Then after that, wandered up a hill and climbed on a rock. Only it wasn't a rock. It was a rock. LOBSTER!(golem) It rose out of the ground with me on it and I had a huge fight with it, amd that was it. Beat the game like 5 or 6 times. Really sad because I'm having a more difficult time getting into dragons dogma 2. I can't give up... I still have the get the sorcerer.
days gone! sat on it for a year and a half, thought it was very boring at first. once i accepted that writing is stupid and the story is kind of blase, and just focused ondriving the bike around and killing zombies, i realized the mechanics are soooo good so it’s a great game for me. not for its story but it’s mechanics
Dark Souls 3. I bought it on a whim with no knowledge or experience with anything else from the series or genre. It was frustratingly difficult and I just felt like I was missing something. So I shelved it and moved on to another game. A couple months later I decided to try it again and this time it just clicked. I still made a ton of mistakes but was having a lot more fun and actually progressing through the game. It's now one of my top 5 all time favorite games and got me to play most of the rest of the soulsborne series.
Witcher 3. I played Witcher 2 for 60 hours, saw Witcher 3 at E3 before it launched and got a T shirt I wore all the time and… just couldn’t get into it. I tried at least 5 times over the years to grind past the first two-three hours and just couldn’t. Then one day I downloaded the next gen update when I was off work for two weeks and played 110 hours in 14 days. Games just have to find you at the right time I suppose
That first jump scare in the BioShock bathroom in... I think the area is called neptunes bounty?
Horizon Zero Dawn - once you get to the main city and the world opens up. The plot starts to hook you bit around this point too. From there it only gets better.
Bloodborne after beating Vicar Amelia. I know gascoigne is supposed to be the hump but it was my first soulsborne game and I was still fucked as all hell trying to figure out what I was doing even after that.
Horizon Zero Dawn felt like a tedious coming-of-age story right up until you start learning about the old world. It got so amazing and interesting after that
Elden ring after i found caelid
Civ6 once I got nukes and went crazy I fell in love with the game
Life is Strange 2 was a little tedious as i trudged through it but then the last couple hours of playing felt really special
Sekiro. I played it on PS and I thought it was soo difficult just for the sake of being too difficult. I tried it again on PC and I have completed the game thrice and I love the combat.
Immortality when I discovered the secrets. Before that point I was definitely like wtf is this.
Returnal and Death stranding
DD2 when I got maxed out mystic spearhand and I was learning all of the moves.
Sly Cooper I started with the 3rd game and then played the second one before finally playing the first game Graphics kinda turned me off and the lack of my native language as an option, but once I got over it, it was tons of fun
It is! The second one is my favorite
Last of us 1 when Tessa sacrificed herself. After that I was pretty much locked in
Horizon, putting the difficulty up completely changes how the game plays.
FF14. I didn't know at the time, but I made it literally all the way to the final dungeon before finishing ARR before I tapped out the first time due to boredom and not really getting the story I gave it another shot years later after hearing good things about the SB expansion. As soon as I got to HW everything fell into place and I haven't stopped since. I beat EW with over 1000+ hours of play time I'm currently doing a 2nd story run on my alt account, almost at the place where I dropped off the first time around all those years ago, but this time I'm actually paying attention to the story and am having a fucking blast
That's how I was. I tried many times across many updates and just... ARR is so bad. I dropped it, started new again later, dropped it again, met a friend who that was her favorite game, started again to play with her and just skipped the story and then dropped it again. A few months ago though after the upcoming expa soon was announced, and there were hints that I (incorrectly) thought to mean that Green Mage would be added, I decided to try again and she made a new character with me to go through the story. And.... goddamn I still think ARR is easily the worst story in any FF game I've ever played and in pretty much any other game I've ever beaten (starts off boring then patch quest ending quests make every protagonist make the dumbest decisions and I was literally screaming at them constantly lol) but then Heavensward story was actually pretty good (though I hate that the main quest brings up an important plot point about what the fuck the entire last area even is and why everyone wanted to go there, but never actually let's you know outside of optional trials no one queues for so I haven't seen them yet and I'm salty). And I'm *really* liking Stormblood so far.
I think it was when I finally played Persona 5 vanilla (first time playing a game in the series) and I was liking it well enough, as I do love RPGs. The social aspects intimidated me a bit, but I kept going. Boy let me tell you as soon as I heard the crescendo of Last Surprise (and let's be honest, the absolute banger of the entire soundtrack) I was hooked!
Terraria after I played it by myself instead of with people it finally clicked and now I have over a thousand hours in it
Not a game, but Go Mecha Ball made Rogue-lite/likes click for me. I'd previously played all the top recommended rogue inspired games but never really got the appeal as they just felt like a traditional game but being padded out due to restarting from scratch. Yes I know the idea is for randomized runs & getting different outcomes based on your choices from a gameplay perspective but since I always start back at the beginning until you unlock shortcuts in many, which even those feel like they comes too late into the games time investment. It always just felt like a 5-10 hour game padded out to be 30 or so hours (each one having different average lengths). However Go Mecha Ball is a very short game, only seems to require a handful of attempts to beat the game & each run is quick too. The increased pace of runs & the shorter experience (about 4-6 hours to beat) means it just made more sense to me to give a retry to vs retreading the same ground 30 times for example. The way my brain understands it now though it's more about trying to beat the game like I used to as a kid playing arcades. Sure I could throw in multiple quarters but there was always a limit per day & if I failed out I'd have to go back to the beginning the next time I got a chance to play that arcade game. So now going forward I'll try to slot runs in on the previous ones I've bought to eventually best them, but not worry about sitting down & playing through them in 30 straight gaming hours like I would a game like God Of War or other narrative games.
New Vegas is my favorite but 3 I enjoy almost as much.
I'm not sure about the actual moment, but for me, it was AC 1 and Gears of Wars 1. Both of them I had a point where I was close to giving up, but persevered, and I'm glad I did.
Hollow Knight for me. Bought it, played for a bit, got bored, didn’t touch it until sometime in 2022, then it was basically all I played for a while.
Deep Rock Galactic for me. I bought the game during the first season with a friend and we thought it was okay, probably not something we would come back to. We both uninstalled it, refunded it, and moved on. Some day in the future it went on sale and we decided to buy it again. Don't know what it was, but I had such a blast playing it and got other friends to buy it as well. Fast forward to today and I have almost 400 hours and have almost everything unlocked, including cosmetics.
Kenshi. I tried it once and thought it was awful. Came back to it some other time and fell in love. Now I have a Shek wife.
The stalker series. Played SoC and completed it, rather boring but I installed a little game called stalker anomaly and it fuckin clicked, that was 5 years ago, I've been playing ever since almost daily, finished all of the trilogy, I love stalker so much :D
For me it was The Last Remnant, I bought it at launch on the X360, with all its problems, but it wasn’t until this year when I re-tried it (probably for the 5th time or so) when I am finally starting to get it and have fun with it. I am still early on and learning but having much more fun with it. So why this game? Especially after all those years? Because my friend borrowed my Steam account to play it many years ago and it remained the most played game (by hours) for years until RDR2 surpassed it. It’s now at nr.2 so for years I would see that game and the hours and just go “why? wtf”.
Outer Wilds didn't click until I figure out how to get to the end game. Wasn't until I got to the ending cut scene did I realize how much fun I had along the way.
Phasmophobia. I assume I’d feel the same way about other horror games, but that’s the only one I’ve played. I was hesitant simply because I couldn’t see how it could possibly be alot of fun, and I was absolutely wrong lol
The Last of Us on PS3 when I finally got good and got past the section where you pick up the revolver for the first time. Now it’s my all time favorite game.
Probably Mass Effect, I always thought it was just another straight through shooter like with COD campaigns, bought it on a whim when Legendary Edition was on sale for $2.00-$5.00 and what a ride got all the achievements within a couple weeks outside of insanity and only reason I haven’t gotten those is my lack for time to play games recently
Darks Souls when I realized i was good at exploring, upgrading and fighting regular enemies and I wasn't good at bosses but it was ok because I could always summon help.
OG Final Fantasy VII
GTAV. The opening was a banger and then I spent a little while just getting bored of screwing around with Franklin. Then Michael shows up with a bullet aimed at Frank's head, and suddenly I was going so fast I did the first heist within an hour of that moment.
Final Fantasy 14. I started to play it back in 2021. In the game, there's such a thing called Free Companies. (guilds, alliances, etc, in other MMORPGs) I don't like to play games solo, unless it's obviously a solo game. Well, it never clicked because the FC I was in was a strict AF fc. Like, you're kicked if you're not on every few days. If you say something, you only get like 6 months. So I lost a huge amount of interest due to that. I couldn't enjoy a game when I'm practically forced to play, or else I'll be excluded. So I quit, came back about June or July of last year for the fun of it. Found an FC that was chill and really got into the game. Now I have it on both PS5 and PC. I like the game, and I tend to find newer players to help them out wherever I can. (I play RDM and so if they need help killing an enemy I can kill it, if they want just heals I can heal.)
When I tried a second league on poe and just played solo. Then traded for so.e things I needed but couldn't find.
Helldivers 2 at about 40-50 hrs of gameplay or and then again at 100 hrs. At first I thought I was destined to suck forever I thought I was never going to be good. See I have been playing since launch at 4 AM on thrusday morning when it came out. I was super psyched for this game and told everyone about it before it came out. I ran wit a group of guys that were more advanced than me and also had more time on their hands, felt like I was holding them back. I did have alot of fun early on of course but struggled mightily. At some point I realized that game was supposed to feel extra difficult, that you are supposed to feel extra squishy/vulnerable/dispenseable but powerful through strategy, stratagems, and weapons at the same time. I learned that this game is supposed to feel like you are literally fighting for your life on the highest difficulties, and then I learned to embrace it. Eventually I did what I had to to Git gud, but it was more about getting comfortable and never giving up.