First Impressions

[Atty]

This thread is to talk about games where your opinion changed rather radically with time. There have been many games on both ends of the spectrum for me. Some I initially really liked and then wound up hating as time went on and others where I hated them when I first played them, only to find myself coming back and falling in love years later.

The first game I’ll mention is Dragon Age II. I hated it when I first tried it, got maybe an hour in and gave up not liking the presentation or gameplay. I’ve since played Inquisition twice and loving Origins/Awakening and that, I decided to give DA II another chance and am fairly addicted right now. It does seem the lightest on story compared to the other two, but I’m enjoying it so much that I can’t understand why I hated it when I first tried it. I’ve really come to love it.

On the other end is Metroid: Other M. Yes, it sucks. I fully accept that. When it first came out, however, I had a blast with the gameplay and was so happy to have a new Metroid game that I looked right past the many flaws to put it over and force myself to love it. I replayed it a year ago and hated it. There are still gameplay decisions that I liked in it, but it’ll never be the same as that first impression.

[Dreyski]

Christ, I had to dig for this one.

SSX on tour. I've said some horrible things about this game in the past, but I've come to realise that the only thing wrong with the game was that it was marketed as SSX. And if you do that, you need the characters (especially after SSX 3). But if you get over the fact you can't be Moby, Nate or Zoe (except in multiplayer?), what you have is a very solid snowboarding game with a unique look. Some people say Napoleon Dynamite, but I've never seen it. But it's definitely a snowboarding game, because who uses the skies. Seriously.
And the soundtrack is probably the best of all SSX games. I actually bought the Louis XIV album and downloaded several other tracks off the strength of it. And Iron Maiden in the opening sequence. What's not to love?

[darkhorse]

Daedalian Opus for the Game Boy. At first, I thought it looked cheesy but after spending some time playing I found it to be an addictive puzzle game.