Top 20 games I Love everyone else Hates

Top 20 games I love everyone else Hates

That's it! These are games that I love that everyone else seems to hate!


20) Final Fantasy Dissidia NT

 I think that we can all agree on Dissidia on the PSP being pretty darn good... even if the customizable movesets weren't really my thing. Dissidia NT added 3more characters, although sacrificing a few, had better graphics, had 3 on 3 battles and even streamlined the combat... yet it was victim to poor reviews.
 I'll admit that I can understand why people disliked it so much: It doesn't have many modes, there're lees costumes per character, grinding for customization items can be a drag, keeping track of three opponents can be cumbersome, having to go through various menus just to select characters can be tedious, no offline versus and having a set moveset for every character can irk some people.
 But me? All I saw was Dissidia trying to copy Gundam VS, a franchise I adore. So I get Gundam VS-like gameplay but with human characters AKA everything I've ever wanted. I also love not having to select every move for a character, knowing that I have to work with what I have and not have to waste time selecting what works. And lastly, despite the lack of modes... There are enough characters and enough permutations of teams as not to feel too repetitive.
 Say what you will, but Dissidia manages to fit right in my niche.

19) Resident Evil 6

 Critics were mixed about it, fans despised it, I had a blast with it. People called it foul when hidden beneath the Resident Evil banner they found a co-op third-person shooter that wasn't concerned about scaring you, but rather, offering thrills.
 There's a place for horror in videogames, but people need to face it: Resident Evil was never very scary to begin with. Granted, Resident Evil 1 did put survival at its forefront, but as soon as Resident Evil 2 hit the scene you, the player, became a walking weapon of mass destruction, armed with an arsenal and enough ammo to blow most of your opposition to smithereens.
 It's true that Resident Evil 6 can feel a bit disjointed at times, but considering how gameplay is pretty much the same between all arcs... it's not as jarring as people make it out to be, that said, campaigns are distinct enough as for everyone to have their personal favorite, mine being Leon's which managed to feel like a proper action-horror romp.
 Speaking of gameplay, that's what really sells this game, no other third person shooter, that I've played anyways, offers the same amount of weight to how characters move and react, making every shot you land feel satisfying, and taking control of such a heavy character makes your movement feel very exciting. It's a fantastic ride, just don't expect to soil your pants.

18) Breath of Fire - Dragon Quarter

 Dragon Quarter is this low on the list because I feel like the game has been slowly gotten vindicated by history, slowly but surely people are growing more accepting of it... even if I come across the occasional slight against it by popular Youtubers or the such...
 Let's start with the fact that the game is hard as nails, so hard as to call Dead Souls the Dragon Quarter of action games. You will die in this game, either because you hit the Dragon Drive limit or because the opposition just grew too strong. Which means that you'll be replaying the game over and over and over and over again. Or, if you play your cards right, you can simply amass stat-boosting items and then use them on a fresh new file, the file that will be The Run.
 It's a complex game, and not a game for everyone, but it's hard not to enjoy just how deliciously dark and edgy everything is, with a somber, depressing and oppressive setting complimented by rusty colors. And it's you, Ryu, fighting against everyone to get Nina to the top of the underground, towards the open land. It's easy to get involved in Ryu's mission, and boy, can the game get exciting when you're running low on supplies and have to decide whether it's time to reset or carry onwards.
 I'll never forget my last stretch on The Run, I had ran out of Saving Tokens and my Dragon Drive counter was dangerously high, so I had to marathon all the last bosses back to back to back to back. I remember how tense I was during the final boss group fight, as I chipped away at the enemies' health, and, somehow, persevered all the way to the end. I love this game.

17) DmC - Devil May Cry

 This game should not be here since its Metacritic score is so high, but despite that, fans hated this game. Which is alright, their loss.
 DmC is living proof that 'gamers', and I hate that word, hate change. As soon as Donte was revealed, the game never had a chance. It's true, Donte is a dick... but classic Dante was even more of a prick, so get your facts straight. At least we saw Donte care about someone, and not in a 'fill your soul with light' kind of way... not that it would matter, since classic Dante changes his personality with every game he's starred in.
 It's true, the combat is not as good as previous games, the lack of targetting being inexcusable, but despite that, the game was fun to play. Combat was a bit more style over substance, and if you really cared about being stylish, there were plenty of button gymnastics waiting for you, as you swapped between weapons mid-combo and what-not.

16) The Hobbit

 Maybe I can't look at this game without rose-tinted glasses, but... I love Sierra's The Hobbit. I've fond memories of playing this game, early in the morning, on the PC, during Christmas Season as soon as my parents woke me up and left for work.
 Gameplay is a bit wonky, very wonky by today's standards, but I can't help but find it endearing. The game has this whimsical cell-shaded look that makes objects stand out. It's a beautiful, colorful game despite how much monster-slaying Bilbo has to do.
 It's fine if people hate it, it is a low-budget game after all, but honestly, you could do so much worse as far as Middle Earth games go.

15) Advance Guardian Heroes

 The original is considered a classic, I wouldn't know, since I never played it. But, for whatever reason, this game received lukewarm reviews, to say the least. I remember reading Gamespot's review and, despite how average the score was, I couldn't help but feel interest in the peculiar artstyle displayed on the screenshots. So I emulated the game.
 And I loved it. And I purchased it first chance I got, and since then, I would go on to beat the game over and over and over again. And when I wasn't feeling it, I would play the fun VS mode as I'd make up my own stories with the huge character roster. I've also got highscores with every single character in the Survival Mode. Did I mention I loved this cart?
 Recently I played it a few months ago, and the controls are a bit clunky, yes, but they work well enough. Juggling enemies around is so much fun, and the parry system is a blast to abuse. The adventure mode is particularly fun, since it's a beat'em up with adventure and leveling RPG elements, so you can tailor your character to your taste as you go along. There's so much fun to be had with this cart, I'll never understand why it got such mediocre scores.

14) Dragon Valor

 I think I first read about this game in an EGM magazine, and as unexcited as they sounded on the preview... what I read piqued my curiosity. Slaying dragons, playing as successors to the blood line? Count. Me. In.
 Eventually I came across the game and it was everything I wanted and a little bit more. It's also one of the very first games I reviewed on this site when I replayed it as a proper adult.
 As basic as the gameplay is, I can't help but find the game very charming. There're three different storylines, following 5 different generations of Dragon Slayers, and as cheesy as they are... I always loved speculating how the next heir would look like. They all played pretty much the same though. I don't think there's any other game that follows five generations of characters, which makes it pretty unique in my book.
 That said, the low scores make sense. It was released by the time the PS2 was becoming the next big thing, and the gameplay was very limited for a late-era PS1 game. But I honestly think that there's enough charm here as to make it worth a look.

13) Pirates Legend of the Black Buccaneer

 I don't think there's a single positive review for this game. And there's barely any video reviews out there, the one that I found had a few glaring... misinformation issues that I felt compelled to comment and correct.
 It's a low budget game, so naturally, not many people heard of it, and what few publications had access to it judged it alongside its peers at the time. But when I played it, earlier this year, I wasn't comparing it with its peers, I was taking the game as it was... a great little Metroidvania.
 The game reminded me a lot to Knytt. You're thrust upon an Island, guided throughout the first few areas and then left to your own devices as you come across barriers, obstacles and objectives. And how you tackle these is entirely up to you. That's one of the things I liked the most about the game, the amount of freedom and objectives.
 It's not perfect. Combat grows oh, so very stale by the end, some things could've used more explanations(Like how to upgrade your stats!!) and the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. But if you temper your expectations, the game is a fantastic way to kill three hours or so.

12) Castlevania - Lament of Innocence

 Castlevania fans.... are a divided, hard to please bunch. You've got the ones that only like the 2-D side scrollers, the ones that only like the Metroidvanias, the ones that only like them in 2-D, the ones that hate anything Lords of Shadows and a few that like a combination of some of the previous categories.
 While Lament of Innocence received good reviews, not unlike DmC, most fans really hate it. And between both PS2 entries, this one is usually the one people like the least.
 And I don't get it. If Castlevania was ever to go 3-D, this is EXACTLY what I would expect. You've got the classic enemies, you've got sub-weapons and Crystals to change how they behave, you've got equipment(including elemental whips), you've got hidden rooms, you've got health-boosting potions, etc. Every element for a good Metroidvania is in here. It's also got a few decent combo-mechanics, if you are so inclined.
 And the cherry on top? You can unlock another character that plays NOTHING like the main character, Joachim, or a Pumping-monster that is a joke character...but has his own special subweapon.

11) Spyro - A Hero's Tail

 Know the difference between Spyro and Crash? Crash got a honest-to-goodness first entry on the Playstation 2, while Spyro got Enter the Dragonfly, which was a disaster in the form of a disc.

 But then, Vivendi got their hands on the franchise and produced a Hero's Tail, which looks as beautiful as it plays. And it looks beautiful.

 Aesthetics aside, A Hero's Tail put exploration as the forefront, everything is connected now and there're quite a handful of places to explore. Your mileage may vary on the playable companions, but they are entirely optional. Don't like them? Don't play them. Well, Hunter has a couple of mandatory sections, but he is the most fun to play as, so it's alright.

 Spyro had toyed with elemental breaths before, but it wasn't until this game that they really got the most out of them, breaths having both environmental and combat uses which made them actually fun to use. Environmental puzzles were relatively simple, but solving puzzles and getting to your coveted crystals or eggs was a fun ride.

10) Escape Dead Island

 This game was released in 2014, often cited as a bad year for videogames, and this game usually made it into the 'Worst of 2014' lists... which made me wonder, just how bad could the year have been if this game was in?
 Look, the performance is horrible, with stuttering all over the place... but I think the game is good enough as to make it tolerable.
 I don't love the game, but dammit if I don't like it a whole lot more than most people. I loved the colorful cell-shaded graphics, I loved the mind-screw storyline and I loved the simple, but satisfying gameplay. I'm a sucker for Metroidvanias, and boy, did I have fun exploring the Island, getting new tools and then backtracking in order to access new areas for goodies and upgrades.
 The title might be 'Escape', but I had a blast exploring the Island. There were a ton of different locales, with very distinct objects and places to explore, I got quite invested in exploring the entire place.

9) Arc Rise Fantasia

 Yet ANOTHER instance of 'never had a chance', as soon as the first trailer came out, showcasing the less-than-stellar dub, the game was forgotten by everyone. And among the few of us that gave it a chance, quite a handful left the game in the duster midway through the game because the dub was so bad.
 And it's true, the dub was horrid. A few people said that it got better as you advanced through the game and the actors got into their roles... but I'm not too sure about that.
 What I am sure about is that Arc Rise Fantasia is one of the greatest JRPGs I've ever played, probably cracking Top 25(Well, I've played a lot of JRPGs). The gameplay is pretty unique in that you can actually sacrifice character turns in order to have other characters perform more actions. But that's less than half of the story, you can customize characters' weapons with gems to give them buffs or special properties. You can also customize magic load-outs and perform combo magic between characters(Just invest in Fire Magic, the Health Max Up spell is pretty much a necessity if you want to tackle the extra content. Which I did. All of it.) for added fire power.
 But as much as I enjoyed the gameplay, what really makes the game is its story. Beneath it's Tales of-ish appearance lies some of the most interesting twists and turns I've ever seen in a JRPG. As a matter of fact, this game has the best 'Betrayal' scene I've ever seen in one. One of the most shocking too.
 Sadly, most people gave up either because of the horrible dub or because grinding became a necessity, which is a shame, 'cause they missed out on quite the tale.

8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mutants in Manhattan

 Alright, so I'm a pretty big fan of TMNT and I've been known to enjoy Platinum games' games, but that doesn't mean that I'm easy to please. And I don't care what you say, Mutants in Manhattan was great.
 The lack of offline multiplayer was sorely missed, but getting to tag as all four turtles at the same time was a blast. The semi-open world design with random objectives was a risky move that I think payed off, so that no two-playthroughs are the same... although that does mean that you might get stuck with stinkers, such as rolling balls towards a certain area instead of bashing enemies, which is what was the most fun.
 I lied, bosses were what was the most fun about the game. Having to set up all your characters with different skills was a great touch, so you could set up all four brothers with balanced movesets, or do like I did and have designated support characters and designated damage dealers. Regardless, when it came to bosses, then the game suddenly turned into a party. Bosses are hulking masses of destruction that can lay waste to your team in a few hits, which is why you must master blocking and parrying, and boy, is it fun learning how enemies behave in order to find openings to land your special moves, or decide if risking a parry was a good idea or not.
 Sometimes, sometimes I think that people just don't get Platinum Games' games, and Mutants in Manhattan is part of the reasons why.


7) Crash of the Titans/ Crash Bandicoot - The Wrath of Cortex

 Stop. Hating. On. Post. Naughtydog. Crash. Games.
 The Wrath of Cortex was everything Crash on the PS2 had to be. Not enough platforming? Crash 3 said hi. Wrath of Cortex had as much variety as people had grown to expect, while looking as good as the new hardware allowed at the time. The platforming was great, the graphics were great and the boss battles... weren't very good. But I'm not judging too harshly since they got mostly everything else right. If you want to fault it for something, besides the bosses, fault them for not changing enough, for settling with aping Naughtydog.
 And if you did what I just said, then the joke's on you because Crash would get soft-rebooted afterwards with Twinsanity, which wasn't too bad in-and-of itself, but the one I really liked was the NEXT reboot, Crash of the Titans.
 The redesigns are unnecessary, yes, and the gameplay has NOTHING to do with what came before it... but that's alright, because the new beat'em up gameplay is good enough. While 'love' is a strong word for this game, I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would, because people do love to spend their time talking about how Crash was never good again after Naughtydog orphaned the series. Which is pretty much wrong. Fight me.

6) Dead to Rights series

 While Dead to Rights 1 received decent reviews, it was unfavorably compared to Max Payne. I loved it. And then Dead to Rights 2 came out. People hated it. I hated it.
 It's with the next two entries that I can't help but differ. Dead to Rights Reckoning on the PSP got horrible reviews... but I loved it. It's the perfect arcade-shooter to have on the go, with slick action and polished mechanics from Dead to Rights 2. As a matter of fact, it reuses a lot of assets... but puts them to better use.
But, know what? I can forgive critics. They think they are hot stuff and that arcadey games, like Reckoning, are beneath them. But Retribution? Retribution is one of the most fun third person shooters on the PS3. One that successfully mixes fisticuffs with shooting, something not many other games can claim. And you also got a deadly pooch to help you out. And yet, critics called it 'generic'. They said it brought nothing new to the table.
 And I'd like to know just what were they smoking.

5) Koudelka

 Koudelka didn't have the smoothest of development cycles, which is why it sort of has an identity crisis. And that's why critics disliked it so much.
 But, really, they over exaggerated. If you know that this is a JRPG you can get into it just fine. The mechanics were a good mixture of SRPG, moving characters around, different ranges with different weapons and spells, with more traditional elements, such as manually raising your characters' stats.
 The Survival Horror elements help make it stand out among its brethren, ammo is scarce and weapons break. Although enemy drops makes it so that you'll never really run out of options... on the flip side, it also means that the Random Number Generator God decides just how much of an easy time will you have. You'll also have to find a lot of weird items and where to use them in order to advance, not unlike Resident Evil's scavenger hunts.
 But as much as I enjoyed that bizarre mix of Survival Horror and JRPG elements, it was the story that really stood out, featuring mature, dark themes and very atypical characters from what you would expect. Koudelka, the girl from the cover, might look like every other JRPG teenage protagonist ever, but she just happens to be a cynical, sarcastic, prostitute gypsy that happens to be able to speak with ghosts. And that's not even getting into the rest of the cast.

4) Dynasty Warriors DS - Fighter's Battle

 I could've probably gone with any Dynasty Warriors game that predates 8, since they are pretty much disliked but most people, but I decided to go with Dynasty Warriors DS. Repetitive gameplay, only three playable characters, no story, barely any customization, no modes, no nothing.
 And yet, I have a blast every time I turn on the console. Something about defeating dozens of enemies at a time is always a fun time for me. I play with the red guy(Phoenix) most of the time, defeating the same enemies and bosses over and over again.
 I've really got not much else to say, I just really enjoy the game. But I'm willing to admit that it's pretty unremarkable.

3) Naruto Ninja Council 2

 As with most licensed games, Naruto Ninja Council 2 wasn't a very well reviewed game. Not that it mattered, since I discovered the game long before american publications go their hands on it, via roms. Before I even knew what a Rock Lee was until I unlocked him.
 But I loved the Japanese rom, and I eventually bought the American release. I played the entire game over a dozen different times. I loved the game so much that I actually wrote a FAQ for it.
 I wrote a FAQ for it. Need I say anything else?

2) Assassin's Creed III

 Assassin's Creed II was phenomenal. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was yet ANOTHER revenge story featuring Ezio in a smaller sandbox than before. Assassin's Creed Revelations was a boring glitchfest. I was pretty much done with Assassin's Creed by then.
 And then III came along, with a new control scheme, fun hunting mechanics, a setting that I adored and, of course, sailing ships. People call Connor boring, I call him solemn. He is not Ezio, he is not meant to be Ezio. I liked Ezio. I loved Connor.
 I really think that people disliked III because it didn't have as many fancy buildings, which is true, but it's also true of the era, and because they liked Ezio because he was a playboy. But Connor feels like a much more interesting character, a conflicted one, between different races, peoples and beliefs. His relationship with his father was one of the best parts about the game too.
 As it stands, Assassin's Creed III is among my favorites, alongside II and IV.

1) Quest 64

 This, along Final Fantasy VII, was one of my very first forays into RPG games. I first read about it in 'Club Nintendo', I think, and it piqued my interest almost instantly. I purchased the game and I loved it... even if I would later read 'Club Nintendo's' scathing review. Almost every single person that talks about the game hates it.
 And thus, a few years ago, I tried to give it another go, just to check if I was crazy or if they were crazy. I spent 5 hours straight playing the game. I guess you could say that I still love this game.
 I love the simple premise about finding Bryan's father, I love how the little twerp looks, I love finding spirits, I love how you mix magic elements to produce different powers, I love how using your staff strengthens you, getting hits makes you more durable and using magic increases your maximum mana. I love how defeating a boss always rewarded you with supplies and more spirits. I loved the silly NPCs. I loved the towns, which I vividly remain to this day.
 I also remember having to get a Controller pack in order to finally be able to save my game.