Ever Hate a Game, Then Revisit it Years Later and Love it?

[gf78]

As the title says, was there ever a game you absolutely couldn't stand or never gave it a chance, only to revisit it down the road and enjoy/love it?

Mine is a big one and probably surprising to many. Its Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time. Back on release day in Novemer 1998, I was supposed to be going in to work for an 11:30PM/midnight shift. But I was excited, called work and fibbed that I was having car trouble and would be a little late. So I hit Walmart and got in line for the midnight release. Had to get that Collector's edition with its shiny, chromium cover!  And I did!  The whole way to work and during my shift, all I could think about was getting home and playing Zelda!  The Zelda overworld theme played on repeat in my mind all night long!  So when I finally got home and was unwrapping the game, my hands were nervously shaking with excitement.

It was then that my dreams of that classic music and Zelda swordplay was replaced with the horror of fetching stuff and a buck tooth goober blocking me from getting to the Deku tree. The classic gameplay was replaced with sneaking past guards, a big-ass field, playing a musical instrument and Navi's annoying ass repeatedly going "Hey listen!"  I couldn't accept it. I didnt want to!  I put that game away and left it alone. I returned to it a few times, but just couldn't do it. It wasnt until Twilight Princess came out that I returned to Zelda.

Because I am a collector AND a Zelda fan overall, I bought the various versions of this title as well. So yesterday, after finishing Link Between Worlds, I said what the hell. It's been over 20 years since I played it. Why not give it a shot? 

And I have to say, I'm really getting engrossed in it. Maybe it's part because I'm older and don't have the same old preconceived notions. Maybe it's because I'm not enraptured by the likes of Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII, Crash Bandicoot and other PlayStation heavy hitters. But I love it. I'm still early on, having just finished the Lost Woods. But I'm enjoying the adventure. My resistance to gameplay mechanics like playing the ocarina have melted away. I was actually kinda giddy when I played the notes to make Epona cozy up to me.

So there it is. I absolutely hated this game with every fiber of my being. For two decades, I avoided playing it and shook my head with people who talked about how much they love that game and stood, mouth agape when I told them I despised it. Many would tell me it was not only the game that made them fall in love with Zelda, but gaming as a whole.

So, anybody else have a story to share?

[kamikazekeeg]

Resident Evil 1 Remake.  I tried to play that game twice over the years, but I just hated the controls.  I bought it on PS4 when it came out, played for like 10 minutes, quit, got rid of the game.  Last year though, with the lead up to Resident Evil 2, I thought I'd give it one more shot, so I used a PC trainer to mod the game, I think I gave them better costumes and I removed the door opening screens, persevering with the controls and beat it.  By the end, I was actually enjoying a lot of the game.  I still think the controls are clunky and not fun to use, but the actual game stuff with exploration and puzzles I liked.  Not the best example since I had to basically alter the game to enjoy it more (Door loading, no joke, I figured in my head, probably takes up like a literal hour of game time with how often you go through the doors), but its close enough.

[pacgamer89]

The closest thing that comes to mind is goldeneye for n64 but that was mainly because my first time playing it was against people that only ever played it in multiplayer mode.

[bikingjahuty]

This was during my childhood, but my aunt got me Ocarina of Time for my birthday one year, and I honestly knew little about Zelda and had never played a Zelda game before either. It has just come out a few months prior. She got it for me because an employee at the Software Ect. store she bought it at highly recommended it for the N64. I remember wandering around Kikoriki Forrest for over an hour trying to figure out what the hell to do, and by the time I realized I needed the shield and sword to get to the Deku Tree I didn't care anymore and turned it off. A friend of mine at the time asked if he could borrow it and I had no problem letting him. He had it for about 6-months and got to the Forrest Temple, but due to a bit of a falling out I took it back.


A few weeks later I decided to try it out again and this time it just clicked. I beat the Deku Tree dungeon, got the spiritual stones, became an adult, blew through all the temples, and beat Ganondorph. That game changed me and got me heavily into the LoZ series. It's still my third favorite game of all time, and at one point it was number 1 and then 2.

[wartoy]

I hated mega man then I beat mega man 2 and 3 then decided to give mega man another shot and loved it.Also hated Double Dragon 1&2 then beat Double Dragon lll went back to 1&2 and loved them too.I realy hated Just Cause for Xbox 360 I played it again years later and could not put it down. I finished the game and unlocked a full 1000 gamer score. Now I think it's one of the best games I ever played.

[kypherion]

Closest thing that comes to mind is Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I tried playing it a while ago and got frustrated and said "fuck it" and stopped playing. I picked it up recently and am now having a blast.

[Agozer]

Closest thing that comes to mind is Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I tried playing it a while ago and got frustrated and said "fuck it" and stopped playing. I picked it up recently and am now having a blast.

I need to go back to Sigma. I've had it since it launched, and between the grueling difficulty and the rather poor signposting (especially in Vigoor), I sort of got stuck and then other games came out. I've had no such issues with Sigma 2 or 3 RE, probably because both seem to be more linear in nature.

[ferraroso]

Nothing comes to my mind right now... Maybe Mario Kart 64?
However, I could name here dozens of games I used to love and, after revisiting years later, started to hate... Haha

[kashell]

There are two games.

Legend of Legaia is the first one. I bought it with hard earned allowance money and was completely annoyed by its slow pace and heavy grinding. I made it as far as the Berserker before calling it quits. It was just too much of a slog. About 10 years later, I decided to give it another chance because its sequel ended up becoming a top ten favorite. The second time around was much more enjoyable. Either I got "better" at RPGs, or I was just in the right mindset. Legend of Legaia is a tough game. It's an arduous and long campaign, but it's so satisfying. I still prefer the sequel (an unpopular view) but the first isn't without merit.

The second is Grandia. Unlike Legend of Legaia, I just grew bored and overwhelmed with Grandia. The boredom came from not being invested in the story. The overwhelming feeling came from the maps being too massive and from feeling the need to speak to every NPC multiple times. Game Arts was known for giving personality to every area they could in their games, and Grandia was no exception. Again, it took a good ten years or so before I decided to give it another chance. And again, everything just fell into place with it. The story and characters were fun, and it was enjoyable taking the time to speak to the NPCs. Also, the combat was a blast.

[gf78]

Following up:  I just completed the Forest Temple and am having an absolute blast. My only real complaint is the janky camera. But being an N64 game, all the ear li y titles had janky camera controls.

[shatterstar69]

The Last of Us.  I played it until I met the clickers and kept dying so I shelved it in disgust. Revisited the Remastered version on PS4 a few months ago and could not put it down.  The game is definitely one of the best games of its generation and I can't wait for the second one.

[shfan]

This isn't even a rare occurence for me, off the top of my head this happened with several xbox 360 games - Saw, Splatterhouse, Resi 5, Resi 6 and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements. The reverse is true as well, old favourites aging poorly or being replaced by something better, but it is surprising how many games i've gone back to and thought "what the hell was your problem?"

[ferraroso]

After thinking for a while, I finally found one!

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

I'm a huge fan of Ace Combat as a whole and the fifth instalment is my favorite by far.
When I first got Ace Combat Zero, I was expecting to see a story focused on Jack Bartlett and Pops, but instead we got Cypher and Pixy.
At the time, I hated the game's live action cutscenes, its story and some apparent retcons of what had been previously established in Ace Combat 5, but now, playing it again after 13 years, I can finally see that not just the flight mechanics are on point and that most of the missions are a lot of fun, but also that it holds itself pretty well as a solo entrance in the series. And finally, after Ace Combat 7: Skies Unkown, I can understand how the whole "A World With No Boundaries" thing has been a recurrent theme in the world of Strangereal and in Bandai Namco's United Galaxy Space Force project as a whole since, at least, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere.
(I'd still like to play an Ace Combat -1 or Ace Combat Zero 2 focused on Bartlett and Pops, though...)

[oldgamerz]

The only 2 I can think of now is "Starcraft 1 with the expansion pack" and "Oddworld:Abe's Oddysee" On PC. Starcraft is really the only strategy game I got into, I really am not into Stratagy games, especilly turn based RPG's but I love Pokemon becausse it is not super complicated as lets say Phantasy Star 2?

I don't currently like turn based strategy other then Pokemon, but in Pokemon you can't really lose the game if you lose a fight but in a game like Phantasy Star 2 if you lose a single fight then you get game over.