Games/Series you love, but also don't...

[kamikazekeeg]

Odd title for sure, but what brought this up for me is that Sega is supposedly doing an HD collection for the first Sonic to Sonic CD, and it got me abit excited, as I do have a general enjoyment for Sonic, but as I found out with Sonic Mania, I don't really like playing Sonic games.  I think the music is great, visuals are great, the characters can be a lot of fun, but the classic Sonic gameplay I just realized I don't really enjoy anymore.  It's mostly just a lot of fast running and smacking into stuff you can't see. 

I think the only time I could say I really like 2D Sonic gameplay is with Generations, because they pulled the camera back so you can see what is coming better.  I was also a huge fan of the original Archie comics, I ready like 100 issues of that before falling out with it.  It's the only time Sonic ever had a good story.  So it's an odd thing, where I don't really like playing most of them, though there is nostalgia built into Sonic, but there's a lot I still like about the series.

Persona 5 would be another.  Musically awesome, the visuals and flair it has to UI and battles is great, I love that everyone you play gets a cool alt-world outfit for themselves to wear, but that game drags so much, I dropped it after 30 hours.  Pure palace fights were cool, but alot of the stuff outside was killing my interest, especially knowing how long I'd be playing the game.  It's a game I wish I could've liked more, but I'll just be happy listening to the killer OST and whenever the next Persona comes out, I'm sure there'll be a lot for me to enjoy there too, just not as a game.

[undertakerprime]

For me that would probably be Zelda, because it’s so up and down to me.
Link to the Past is legit one of my top games of all time. Link’s Awakening is great. Ocarina of Time is good (if overrated).
But OTOH…
Zelda II is a tedious chore. I don’t like Majora’s Mask. Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild put me to sleep from boredom.

[telly]

One that comes to mind to me because I'm playing one right now is the Mega Man Battle Network series. LOVE the world concept and gameplay, but the writing, translations, and story are always really bad, and the music is so damn repetitive.

[aliensstudios]

The Fire Emblem series - I really enjoyed Path of Radiance and the Game Boy Advance games, but anything on the 3DS and Switch were awful in my eyes; they feel like they cater to that weird anime fan culture that I know nothing about, yet I kept playing them thinking they would get better.
Side scrolling Metroid games - while I really love Metroid 2 and Super Metroid, stuff like Fusion and Zero Mission I could never get into. Metroid Dread has got to be the most overrated game in the series, as I found it to be a boring, poorly made Metroid game. It was an absolute chore to play through, but I kept thinking it was going to get better; it never did. In this day and age, there are Metroid style 2d games that are actually better than Metroid. Hopefully Prime 4 is as good as the first three Prime games.

[pzeke]

For me it's Pokémon.



That's essentially how I feel the franchise has been going lately.

Second I would say is Kingdom Hearts; I used to be obsessed, but the story got so convoluted I simply lost interest. There's the argument that the spin-offs have beefed up the story, but they've drawn out things unnecessarily, so much so that the franchise feels like that one scene in Seinfeld where George is trying to get the last drop of ketchup...



I recently watched the trailer for KHIV, and felt absolutely nothing. No goosebumps, no nostagia—nothing.

Side scrolling Metroid games - while I really love Metroid 2 and Super Metroid, stuff like Fusion and Zero Mission I could never get into. Metroid Dread has got to be the most overrated game in the series, as I found it to be a boring, poorly made Metroid game. It was an absolute chore to play through, but I kept thinking it was going to get better; it never did. In this day and age, there are Metroid style 2d games that are actually better than Metroid. Hopefully Prime 4 is as good as the first three Prime games.

Now this is exactly me, but with the Prime games.

[kamikazekeeg]

For me it's Pokémon.

This is a big one for me to, I like the basic gameplay for Pokemon, Pokemon themselves are pretty dope, but I think Pokemon has generally terrible games.  They come across like budget indie games despite being one of the biggest game franchises in the world.  I want to be excited for Pokemon games now that I actually play them on a console, but damn is it a struggle with everything they are lacking.

[vivigamer]

Jak & Daxter
After an excellent Platforming experience with The Precursors Legacy, Naughty Dog seeked to expand the series and in doing so I felt it lost a lot of the charm form the original. Jak 2 had a much darker/edgier tone and I took an instant disliking to it. There was also a heavier focvus on combat/shooting as opposed to Platforming - Platforming elemetns are still in the level design but the shooting makes it feel like a completely different game. Jak 2 & 3 aren't terrible games, I can certainly appreciate them but the direction the series went was farfrom what I initially invested in with the 1st game.

Yakuza/Judgment
While I like the Yakuza games, I felt the spin-off Judgment was far to safe to the point where it felt like the same game with a few extra gimmicks - Ones that I didn't even enjoy like the tailing mission either... I didn't find the story as compelling and hated the games fighting stances - I eneded up beating the last boss wielding a sofa... I still intend to give Lost Judgment a go, but I felt the series needed to feel different - Something more on the lines of the developers other game Binary Domain. Ironically, the next official game in the Yakuza series did with introducing turn-based combat.

Kingdom Hearts
I also agree with Kingdom Hearts, while I am still excited for the new one, to see it instantly announced along with more mobile trash has put me off considerably. It was the same issue with Kingdom Hearts 3 which was meant to be a big finale but then the mobile junk that coincided with it has a story which expanded beyond the release date of the main game which lessend my hype for the main game. I know KH is known for it convolution, but the mobile games in my opinnion are the biggest offender.

Persona Series
I have a very off-on relationship with the Persona games. I really enjoyed Persona 3 FES, the games style and combat was fantastic. However the game felt so long due to its calendar structure system - It's not a game you can take are your own pace and it's a very long experience! I tried playing Persona 5 aqnd it already began to drag within beating the 1st dungeon. i now have the Royal Edition on my backlog to play but the timesink is intimidating.

Also, another feature about the series is it's expansions into other genres. I am terrible at rythmn based games so to have a canon story based title with a dancing game is a nightmare and puts me off playing P4 & P5 even more. I can tolerate the Arena fighting games and the P5 Strikers Dynasty Warriors game but I know I will not enjoy a dancing game which does put me off the original products.

Another sidenote is my intense hatred for silent protagonists - More so in modern games that have voice acting with all the other characters. This isn't exclusive to Persona, it's put me off many JRPG's of the past. What's even more annoying about Persona however is that in the Anime adaptations, the protagonist has a voice and does interact with the events happening! So it is a design choice which I feel is painfully dated. I can enjoy even minimal interactions like in Resident Evil 7 with Ethan, at least he reacted to the events which were going on. I remember watching the introduction to Xenoblade Chronicles X and seeing the party talk around the silent Avatar which broke the scene and interest in the game - Shame as Xenoblade Chronicles 1 I consider the best JRPG in years!

[telly]

Oh yeah.... Kingdom Hearts is way up there for me too. Surprised that I forgot about it.

Same with Pokémon.

[burningdoom]

Legend of Zelda

I adore the 2D entries, but am bored by the 3D entries except for Breath of the Wild (which I loved).

[bikingjahuty]

Funny you mention Sonic since I just beat Sonic and Knuckles for the first time. I actually really like the Sonic franchise, especially the 2D games, but just thought I mentioned that lol


But for me, these would apply.


Metal Gear Solid Series: These games look so F'n cool and I really appreciate all the innovations several entries have brought to the table over the years. Especially the first Metal Gear Solid entry just looks so amazing and late 90s-ish on the PS1 and every time I've picked it up I desperately want to like the game. However, this franchise has never clicked for me the way it has with most. The #1 reason I've never been able to get into most Metal Gear Solid titles is because I HATE Stealth games with a passion. I find them tedious and boring, and literally waiting around for someone to walk by or go around a corner for a few seconds is the antithesis of fun for me when I play a game. The only Metal Gear game I've ever been able to enjoy is Rising, and even that pissed me the hell off when I played it due to some questionable game design. But yeah, I really want to like this one, but cannot get past the genre.


Dragon Quest/Warrior Series: These games seem like they'd be right up my ally, at least when it comes to JRPGs, but I've never been able to get into them. And trust me I've tried! I tried playing IV, VIII, and XI, and each one I got bored out of my mind a few hours in and quit. I love the art of these games and they have an extremely devoted fanbase which makes me want to get into them even more. I just can't seem to get into them despite how cool they look otherwise.

[gngtiger]

Not necessarily a series, but Nintendo as a company. They make it hard to boycott them.

Their business decisions are so bafflingly stupid it exceed all logic and reason. They copyright strike YouTubers who upload their music, but they make no efforts to publish the music themselves (besides scant soundtracks here and there). They make upgrades to online services that add not enough that's worthwhile to justify price increase. Will they listen to fan feedback regarding this? No. They ONLY look at sales numbers, which is especially tough on all the content creators who feel pressured to buy it for review/comparison purposes. They cancel online eShops leaving the games to not be sold by the anymore, but when that happens and others emulate them online for others to enjoy (usually without a profit), and that registers as a net loss for them? Yes, I know they can, since that's in their realm of copyright, but they really need to take fan input seriously. I legit wrote a college essay on Nintendo's business practices because of how much sheer stupidity there is
Being a Nintendo fanboy sucks, but there is an upside.
The Switch has tons of great games, whether that be through first party or ports. Sure, the console doesn't have the best capabilities, but it's also portable, and it can play The Witcher 3, Skyrim, and many other breathtaking games nobody would dream of working either on Nintendo or portable hardware. Let's go back to the first party games for a second. Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild are some of the best in their respective series, not to mention Metroid Dread, the new Kirby, and WarioWare Get it Together (all of which I need to play eventually). Yes, Witcher and Skyrim are impressive, but the Switch also has Cave Story, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Undertale, a Hat in Time, Stardew Valley, Minecraft, Terraria, Streets if Rage 4, Scott Pilgrim, Fez, Shantae, Ori and the Blind Forest, Cuphead, Rayman Legends, Grim Fandango, 10 kinds of Tetris, The Mega Man, Castlevania and Pac-Man Collections, and of course, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.

In short, I love Nintendo as a game developer, not so much as a corporation.

[pzeke]

Jak & Daxter
After an excellent Platforming experience with The Precursors Legacy, Naughty Dog seeked to expand the series and in doing so I felt it lost a lot of the charm form the original. Jak 2 had a much darker/edgier tone and I took an instant disliking to it. There was also a heavier focvus on combat/shooting as opposed to Platforming - Platforming elemetns are still in the level design but the shooting makes it feel like a completely different game. Jak 2 & 3 aren't terrible games, I can certainly appreciate them but the direction the series went was farfrom what I initially invested in with the 1st game.

[...]

Kingdom Hearts
I also agree with Kingdom Hearts, while I am still excited for the new one, to see it instantly announced along with more mobile trash has put me off considerably. It was the same issue with Kingdom Hearts 3 which was meant to be a big finale but then the mobile junk that coincided with it has a story which expanded beyond the release date of the main game which lessend my hype for the main game. I know KH is known for it convolution, but the mobile games in my opinnion are the biggest offender.

The first Jak & Daxter game is one of my all-time favorites, and while I like the series as a whole, I agree with your assessment. As for Kingdom Hearts, I enjoyed 358/2 Days and have read good things about Birth by Sleep, but I sincerely think the series peaked with the second game.

This is a big one for me to, I like the basic gameplay for Pokemon, Pokemon themselves are pretty dope, but I think Pokemon has generally terrible games.  They come across like budget indie games despite being one of the biggest game franchises in the world.  I want to be excited for Pokemon games now that I actually play them on a console, but damn is it a struggle with everything they are lacking.

Oh yeah.... Kingdom Hearts is way up there for me too. Surprised that I forgot about it.

Same with Pokémon.

Aside from ROM hacks and fan games, which there are by the truckload, and I personally think are the best option, there's a slew of nice alternatives to Pokémon that are worth checking out and are sure to scratch the itch. Off the top of my head there's Nexomon, Coromon, Automon, Monster Crown, as well as Siralim Ultimate and Monster Sanctuary. Add to those Cassette Beasts, Creature Keeper, and Totama, which are still in development, alongside a host of others that show promise. And of course there's also the other more official "clones" like Digimon, Monster Rancher, Monster Hunter Stories, and Ni no Kuni.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and there's also Eternal Eyes for PS1.

[kashell]

I immediately thought of Xenosaga. A fun series with lots of potential. But cutting the number of games down from six to three was a major downer. The second game was terrible so that's extra unfortunate.

[megasilverx1]

Mega Man X
This series feels like a roller coaster in terms of quality. I love X1 and X4, but all the other games range from okay to bad to me. The Classic series is fairly consistent in terms of quality which is why I find myself returning to that series more often, even though I like the gameplay of the X series more.

Pokemon
I'm down to play pretty much any mainline Pokemon game from gens 1-5, but once they went 3D, I (and I feel like a lot of fans going by what I've seen) they started to go downhill. It's to the point that I have zero interest in the gen 9 games and didn't even bother with any of the recent Pokemon game releases after Sword/Shield.

Mother/Earthbound
I really find this series to be charming and full of personality, but other than Mother 3, I really did not enjoy Earthbound Beginnings or Earthbound. I don't mind old RPGs at all; like I have no problem going back to the NES Dragon Warrior/Quest games and the original Pokemon games. I'm pretty sure it was the very limited inventory and difficulty spikes that kept me from enjoying the first two Mother games. Mother 3 also has a rather limited inventory, but I didn't notice it nearly as often and the game didn't have any major difficulty spikes that I can remember.

[bikingjahuty]

Pokemon
I'm down to play pretty much any mainline Pokemon game from gens 1-5, but once they went 3D, I (and I feel like a lot of fans going by what I've seen) they started to go downhill. It's to the point that I have zero interest in the gen 9 games and didn't even bother with any of the recent Pokemon games.

This has become a big one for me in recent years. I grew up being OBSESSED with Pokemon, especially during the gen 1 and 2 years. I idolized this series for the better part of my late childhood and early adolescence in the late 90s and early 2000s. And while I enjoyed Gen 3 a little less than Gen 2, it wasn't until Gen 4 when I really started to notice some pretty big cracks in the franchise. I didn't even beat Gen 5 and surprisingly I actually enjoyed Gen 6 quite a bit despite obvious flaws. But Gen 7 is what really broke my enchantment with the franchise and it has never recovered. I bought Sword reluctantly to see maybe if it could somehow reignite that spark, but I quit 10 hours in due too severe boredom. I didnt even bother with Arceus and I couldn't care less about the new Gen they announced a month ago. Funny enough though I replayed Red Version last year and adored it despite how "inferior" it is to later titles. I've just sort or accepted that Pokemon stopped being for me about a decade ago and I doubt I'll ever be able to get into the newer releases post Gen 6 ever. I'm happy I at least still love Gen 1,2, 3 and can receive some enjoyment from 4 and 6 still.