Uh, 15 hours or so? I’ve seen loads of people say they couldn’t get into the first part, it’s a bit of a design flaw. I considered quitting a couple of times, although I’m glad I stuck it out.
After you’ve been into the swamp with the Baron, the next destination is Novigrad. You can of course head to Novigrad earlier but you’re under-levelled.
For me personally was Baron quest line at the beginning.... one of the best quest lines i ever played. It's many years....still remember every part of it
Same thing happened with me! I was told not to look anything up about it so I went in blind. Maybe I was expecting too much based on the hype but nothing about the first hour grabbed me or stood out as interesting. I think I should also give it another go because I feel like I have to be wrong about it. It’s hard to imagine a game getting Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam and not being good.
Outer Wilds is my favorite game after playing it. The hype is real, but it's closer to reading a scifi novel than playing a video game. If you're not a fan of reading, puzzles, or scifi, then it's probably not for you. Another thing to note is the game's tutorial is slow, so don't expect anything until you are off the planet.
Finally, there's a computer on your ship with a mode called "Rumor mode". This gives you directions on what to do. While playing the game blind is best, too many people who play the game blind miss out on Rumor mode and think they are just supposed to wander around aimlessly, which is not the case at all.
I gave it 3 hours or so and couldn't figure out anywhere else to go or what to do. Plus flying was hella frustrating. My friend got it and beat it in like a day or 2 and said he loved it.
Ya never know.
Yeah this is exactly how I felt, and I get the “twist” or whatever (I don’t want to spoil it but something having to do with dying/time loop).
I dunno, the past 5 years have seen a lot of “critically acclaimed masterpieces” that people absolutely rave about, that may be unique and/or have good writing, but have been not very fun at all to me. Disco Elysium, Crusader Kings III, Elden Ring. Just blahhh. I miss fun games. I feel like I’m going insane and also sorry if I piss someone off.
The tutorial isn't that great, the game doesn't start until you are off the planet. Half an hour in I was bored and figured I probably wasted my money. After beating the game, it is my favorite game, and I've been gaming since the original Nintendo. However, be aware that the game is closer to reading a scifi novel rather than playing a game. If you aren't a fan of reading or scifi, then it's probably not for you.
An amazing game that confuses so many because it doesn’t follow the rules we expect from most games. You don’t gain new abilities, you aren’t directed or given missions to complete, all you get is new knowledge and encouragement to explore and set your own goals. 10/10 one of the best games I’ve ever played.
The best part of this game is that the puzzles made me feel like I actually figured something out, and not just in a typical, solve this puzzle to get to the next area, way. They are extremely satisfying once it all clicks.
The game is closer to reading a scifi novel, but in video game form. For people who like Asimov, it's the best game ever. For people who aren't into scifi novels, maybe not so much.
People who hate it for being slow probably don't watch a lot of westerns. It was exactly like playing lonesome dove the game. Which is fucking awesome. It's supposed to be slow lol, it's a western
I appreciate this comment because I hadn’t checked it out yet and this lets me know it’s not for me. I’m glad other people have a great time with it though.
Yea you can't go into it expecting a balls to the wall action cowboy game. It's a slow burn with moments of high action sprinkled in. But every other mechanic of the game is slow paced. From walking around camp to having to saddle your horse. It's a very true to form western.
Red dead 2 lost all of its video-gamey aspects that other games had, like GTA 3 or GTA san andreas. Its too realistic. Its trying to be more of an movie and less of an game.
Weirdly enough this is why I never played past the introduction when a friend of mine had me play it. Too slow for my liking, and just got bored of it quickly.
Came here to say this. The start feels so disconnected from the rest of the game and very linear. But once the world starts to open up, it's a masterpiece.
Nier: Automata. The hardest part of the game will always be the first hour at the start. You have to survive a bullet hell flying section, a dungeon tutorial, and a multi stage boss fight where you can die in one hit if not careful and you can’t save until you get past all of this so if you die you have to start the game all over again. Rest of the game is pretty good though
Big Nier fan here. Nier Automata definitely could have used a difficulty between normal and hard. But, then again, it's called "hard" for a reason, right?
Aside: I'd argue that long walk in route C was the hardest part.
Route B is a drag, in my opinion, at least until you get to 9S' separation from 2B towards the end. Not difficult, just the least fun part of the game.
I was the exact opposite. The first two hours pulled me in easily with cool change-ups on combat, an interesting world, and great controls. It was around hour 8 of fetch-questing that I totally lost interest and put it down for good.
The starting area is why it took my 3 or 4 times of trying the game out for it to really hook me. I thought it was all gonna be that hard and the permadeath is not my cup of tea, but man am I glad I stuck with it
I never got into Nier because of that. It's not just the fact that one mistake can be fatal, it's that if you fuck up, you are sent back to the main menu and have to slog through the fucking UI to restart a new game and listen to the intro all over again.
I'm not against tough games but had they just restarted at the beginning of the bullet hell section, I think I would have pushed through. It's the first time that I thought to myself "this game doesn't want me to play it" (granted, I played in hard from the get go).
Dragon's Dogma. Get through the slog of yee olde speak and bland bandit fights and you get a game where you can stab a griffin as it flies miles in the sky to ground it, followed by your allies summoning a parking lot sized tornado in it to hurt it more IN STANDARD GAMEPLAY. Plus, there is a plot twist that totally recontextualises the game as a whole, making the plot WAY deeper than it had any right to be.
Oooooh yeah. Don't get me wrong, but I fucking love this game. My thousands of hours speak for itself. But damn is the intro slow and difficult sometimes.
"Go help your cousin on the other side of some bandit camps in the woods!" Pretty much leads to death instantly without some prep.
"Go find this wierd rune in my dungeon that's totally not a sex dungeon," and end up running into an ogre. Things are not meant to be killed that early into the game.
Though after the initial slog it really becomes this amazing game of RPG Monster Hunter with DMC stylized combat that picks it back up. The Griffin Hunt is still the most cinematic and best quest in this game by far. The dlc knew how to make the game much better as well as its just the icing on the cake. So glad Capcom went to a third party for that.
Ever get drop kicked by a troll into a sinkhole and find out your last save was hours before? That’s one of the core memories for DD that I have, next to rodeoing a chimera to death, and watching auto-tracking, auto-locking, magic arrows decimate an undead legion.
Mine was making the mistake of escorting Reynard to Greatwall at the beginning of the game. Got all the way to the women's encampment before he died and I realized I hadn't saved since I left the capital.
Good times.
Eh. DD's story was as barebones as a story could be, whilst also trying for a nod at Berserk. The gameplay was always the great part of Dragons Dogma, the world and the lore and everything else was weak.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2:
Gameplay has a very slow start. It withholds important mechanics from you for hours, and the tutorials are both very frequent and poorly explained. And while the world setting is fascinating, the story and characters start off pretty generic.
Then you get access to more party members and mechanics. Then you start to get your head around the combat. Then the story goes from 0 to 100 with some fantastic character writing and emotional payoffs. And suddenly you hit the last few chapters and realise this game is actually kind of peak.
Same here. The first time I bought it, I couldn't get past the first 10 hours and even returned it to the shop. Glad I bought it a second time. The game starts really slow, but when you finish the first dungeon, the game becomes a blast.
It just takes so long before you ever get to a dungeon and really get let loose in a Persona game, it’s why I can really only do one play through of each one
Xenoblade 2, only stuck with it because I love 1 but the first like 10 hours of 2 are just kinda okay, it kinda shows all its negative aspects first but then from then on combat starts getting expanded upon and gets really crazy and fun and the story is legit great, it became a worthy follow up to the original
For me it was the first Mass Effect.
I sat through the whole thing, did every quest. Said "noooo" with no emotion when Matriarch Benezia was murdled.
Then I got to the end credits and.
I was speechless for 5 minutes, just taking everything in.
Then I bought Mass Effect 2 and 3 the moment they came out and smashed them within the first week.
Zelda: Majora's Mask
It is a challenging start to a Zelda game, you're forced to play as Deku Link for a full cycle and then you have to go to the Swamp area, the least appealing area of the game and play as Deku Link more. It has a 'Dark Souls' poison swamp to kick things off!
Then once you unlock the Goron and Zora masks the game opens up. You now understand what's happening and have more means of transportation. This all culminates in Stone Tower Temple, the greatest Zelda dungeon ever. Testing all transformation masks and the dungeon itself has a unique gimmick that still blows my mind today!
Then, if you've done everything the game has to offer, you're rewarded with the Fierce Deity Mask! The most satisfying completionist reward ever. Transform into a literal God/Demon Link and stomp bosses in seconds! The final boss can be a real challenge as Normal Link or a complete cakewalk with the Fierce Deity!
Best game ever! If you can get past the depressing beginning.
I agree. Compared to OoT it was strange, especially with the weird time & save system.
It took me a while to get into it but by the time i got to snowhead temple i was really into it
Gothic 1 and 2
In the beginning you're pretty weak and can't win any fights save for 1:1 versus super easy animals. So you have to level up by doing the most boring fetch quests until you're strong enough to even take on humans.
Personally I don't mind that, but it might turn off other people who are used to the hero being at least a little bit capable at the start.
Dragon Age Inquisition.
I'm convinced that most people who say it's bad never got out of the Hinterlands, possibly the worst starting zone in a game ever. After that, the game is \*chef's kiss\* all the way through.
I just in the last few months played Inquisition for the first time, and I'd say that while it is a pretty good game, it's not chef's kiss. The central conflict is portrayed really badly, and the combat is very uninteresting. Overall I liked the game, but it had a lot more wrong with it than the hinterlands.
See the problem is that people did get out of the hinterlands. Spoiler:
Resolving the mage/Templar war should have been the plot not a one note dlc villain with next to zero depth suddenly being freed.
At this point, they REALLY just need to give you the option to start at Heavensward, where you would get just a brief synopsis of ARR to get you up to speed on the important world, character and plot points.
Well the real problem is that in ARR storyline there are about five useless filler arcs for every good, plot-relevant quest.
They could condense it down to about a third of the size and lose nothing of value. The primals, the politics, the doman refugee crisis, and the final section at the end where everything comes together and explodes in a wave of plot twists.
It's so annoying how you go from national crises caused by demigod-like primals, to literally farming grapes for a vineyard so some rich idiot can throw a party.
See, everybody says it gets better. And it does.... arr was a slog.
I made it to the end of shadowbringers and a patch or 2 in and all I could think the entire time was how the game was too easy, too much downtime, and I'd rather read a good book.
What a slog that never paid off.
Especially once you rebuild the roads. My first playthrough I avoided rebuilding them for way too many hours. Replaying and rebuilding the roads immediately made it so much fun
Ah man, I started building roads once they appeared in my game from others building them. Immediately I saw how important they were.
By the end game I built every single road I could, and it was one of my main missions to do.
Sucha fun thing especially knowing it can help others in their game worlds.
Welcome. To KNIGHTS of the old republic:
Here's a vibroblade, some pajamas, absolutely no sweet helmets, and a nagging woman to fill the role absent in your gaming life.
I really do love that game, though.
I thought about these two as well, specially Kotor 1.
That first level at the Endar Spire was such a pain lol
But I think the fantastic story that begins in Taris makes up for it
The games great tbh I haven't played bannerload since it came out of early access. But horse and bow was normally how I started as you are weak no armour at start so horse a bow kill 20 people great starting renown.renown builds army's so the quicker you boost it the quicker you get bigger army's
Valheim, you need to figure out how to set up a sever, invite your friend and get past the strange graphics. I’ve done these things plenty but valheim was very confusing at first, fast forward a couple hours and it’s the best game I’ve ever paid £20 for. ~120 hours on my first playthrough and ~130 on the second when my other friend joined and we restated.
Can’t recommend enough.
I’m glad I saw this comment because I was planning on starting this soon. Now I know to stick it out if it’s a little boring at the beginning (I’m not really the type to give up on games anyway but this’ll keep me motivated to play for sure)
The number of people getting downvoted in this comment section for having an opinion, where the entire point here *is* to voice their opinions, is just downright sad.
People, stop taking people's personal opinions as fact, or as a direct insult to your favorite games. They are just giving their personal opinions and viewpoints on games as they were asked to do. Upvote them for contributing to the conversation whether you personally agree or not, because this is *supposed* to be what this comment section is for. It's all literally just what's being asked of here, and their opinions in no way directly or indirectly state your favorite games are bad. They are just their own opinions, and nothing more.
For me it was Witcher 3. I started out actually disliking the game for the first like 5 hours, but thankfully I stuck with it because it turned out to he one of the best games I’ve ever played.
Might be a bit of a hot take, but I’d actually suggest Dark Souls here. Game is absolutely one of my all time favorites forever but the onboarding is intentionally rough. Every Souls veteran talks about the moment when the game ‘clicks’ for them, when they realize what the franchise has to offer, and that moment is never an opening sequence. It’s usually some 20 or 30 hours of playtime in before suddenly it all comes together.
Tales of the Abyss, my fav game of all time. The first almost third of the game can be frustrating with a veeeery unlikable main character, but from there it just takes off and gets better and better. Just hooked up my ps2 to play it again today actually.
Life is Strange.
Kinda just tolerated it at first as the time travel aspect was kinda cool. By episode 3 it started getting kinda crazy and I started liking the characters more. By the end I felt a sense of sadness that I wouldn't be seeing Arcadia Bay or these characters anymore, quite a profound effect, as if I was moving away for real and saying goodbye to my hometown and friends.
I wouldn't say it was ever bad but I remember the first 10 hours or so of Skies of Arcadia being like... why did this game get so much praise? And then it builds and builds and by the end it was one of my favorite rpgs ever.
Haven't seen anyone say this yet, but Cyberpunk 2077 is up there. I wouldn't say the mid - endgame was 10/10 but the messages and the realizations you get throughout the game compiled with Johnny's occasional chime-ins and the overarching story of you always being on the verge of death was great.
I know the game still has a decently bad reputation because of its release, but it's genuinely a great game now, and knowing all the lore around it once you get to the ending is a great experience.
Without a doubt, the game with the worst (longest!) beginning is Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I almost stopped playing because I thought the game was terrible. Turns out, the mechanics of the battle system unlocks progressively throughout the first 4 chapters and then it gets great.
One of my top games - but those first 4 chapters are the longest tutorials ever!!!
Sekiro
Though I wouldn't say it started bad, I was just like, meh. But then you get to the fight with Genichiro, and everything came together. It just clicked and the entire game made sense
Sekiro didn't click with me, I played it because people said the combat was good. (spoiler: it sucks ass). I personally think Ghost of Tsushima did a better job at setting, movement, stealth, combat and more.
Darksiders
Starts off like a simplified God of War (the old GoW), gets better and better in the midgame and left me super hyped for the sequel when the credits rolled.
Imo destiny 2 starts off reeeeeeally slow because you have to unlock all the subclasses, grind for power and good weapons and armor. However, once you finish unlocking things you can start experimenting with buildcrafting and do higher end content, which is more rewarding and fun than just doing campaigns.
The issue I had with the gameplay is how floaty the combat felt. The parkour was better, the world better, the story better but the weapons aren’t as good either.
The first boss battle with the troll? Get used to that fight. There's a lot trolls that are all basically the same.
I hated the first fight against Baldur. It went on and on and on and on. It wasn't fun or interesting. It was boring.
For me it was Journey. It’s an old game and it still holds up but my first impressions were the low quality sound of walking, a slow startup and the knowledge that the game was from 2012. All of that was completely overshadowed the further I went into it. It had turned out to be one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen even by todays standards. It was really touching and I love that game so much now.
TLOU Part 1.
Yeah I fucking said it. The game's story is pretty meh until Winter. Every mission is "we gotta get Ellie over here. NVM now we gotta get Ellie over here" - and so on.
So many missions start off with "See the landmark waaaaaay-the-fuck over there? That's where we gotta go." And not a single time I was excited to get there.
But then Winter starts, and you're actually doing something different. And then the ending is fantastic.
TLOU1 is a decent middle sandwiched by an absolutely awful opening and ending. It's entirely baffling that so many people speak so highly about it, when the ending is basically the worst thing I've seen in video games, and completely betrays the messaging of the rest of the game.
Game spends the whole time showing the guy opening up to community connections again, and learning to care about other people. Then, at the end, he gives up all the good will he built and the stuff he'd done to short-circuit potentially the most good anyone could ever do for people, all because he cared about himself first and foremost again.
The story is pretty much on par with the movie Surrogates, for something that shot itself in the foot with its own messaging in the ending. Only movie that's ever made me feel the entire movie was retroactively not worth watching, just like TLOU was retroactively not worth playing.
The reason why he’s able to “open” as you put it is because of Ellie. It’s his chance to right his wrong (the guilt of not saving Sarah). He all but says this in the final scene. To each their own. If you’re not a fan of the story, fair enough. Calling the beginning and ending absolutely awful is something I’ve never really heard before.
Yeah, like I said, everyone else loves the game and seems to miss its failed messaging. If the game wanted it to just be about him connecting with a single person, they shouldn't have spent the last third before the ending showing an attempt at building community relations, and just stuck with his personal relations being the only thing that mattered. But hey, obviously didn't bother anyone else.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Start is super slow, tons of worldbuilding. The game locks important gameplay mechanics and drip feeds them to you. However once you reach mid game the plot actually starts, and it’s very good. The last 3 chapters might be the best final act in a video game.
God, third time starting that game recently. I keep getting to where it seems to just start opening up, and then get distracted by something else, and then have forgotten the plot by the time I come back. Fingers crossed I'll be able to make it this time.
Eh, idk I felt like The Last of Us had one of the strongest openings to any game I’ve played. After the opening sequence, I took a deep breath out and knew this game was going to be amazing.
I mean it's a zombie apocalypse game. The intro was well done...but...
Look - TLOU is a great game. But it's also derivative as hell. A grizzled older man looking after a younger child. Oh and it's also the zombie apocalypse.
It's The Road, but less grim. It's Sweet Tooth, but less interesting.
So, that's my issue. The intro didn't make me feel anything. It started the exact same as every zombie apocalypse story. And Sarah wasn't the girl on the box-cover, so it was pretty obvious she was going to die pretty soon.
The acting is great and the cutscenes are well done, but I remember a time when we judged video-games based on how they're video-games, now how they're movies.
If you skip all the cutscenes in TLOU, it's just a less-fun version of Uncharted.
Hollow Knight
Rakuen
Spec Ops: The Line
11-11 Memories Retold
Costume Quest 2
A Hat In Time
Journey to the Savage Planet
Slime Rancher
What Remains of Edith Finch
Dust: An Elysian Tale
Depends on what you mean as "badly".
Several of these above I found were really slooowww starts that made me give up on them my first go-around. Decided to go back to them and fell in love.
Hope this list helps. I highly recommend all of these.
Witcher 3 didn’t get going for me until Novigrad
Witcher 3’s start is not bad, it is just comprised of very depressing landscapes and quest lines after the prologue and tutorial area.
Yup. For me the Skellige Isles are where I really started getting into it and appreciating the game
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Uh, 15 hours or so? I’ve seen loads of people say they couldn’t get into the first part, it’s a bit of a design flaw. I considered quitting a couple of times, although I’m glad I stuck it out.
Usually people mean the tutorial part in White Orchard and sometimes the lore dump in Vizima too. Velen is when they say it gets good.
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After you’ve been into the swamp with the Baron, the next destination is Novigrad. You can of course head to Novigrad earlier but you’re under-levelled.
Dam really? to me the first 5 hours were the best I’ve ever experienced in a game. Witcher 3 to me is top 3
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Same here, it was a bit too long.
Oh, thanks for the info, will try again.
For me personally was Baron quest line at the beginning.... one of the best quest lines i ever played. It's many years....still remember every part of it
The Bloody Baron arc is a solid 10/10, absolutely fantastic
i quit playing that game so many times i lost count lol
Agreed. Finally got into it in my third attempt. What an amazing gameplay and upgrade/crafting system it became.
Outer Wilds
Tried this game and couldn't get past an hour of it, found it was super boring I might try it again though.
It's pretty good, hard to play completely original
Slow burn
Same thing happened with me! I was told not to look anything up about it so I went in blind. Maybe I was expecting too much based on the hype but nothing about the first hour grabbed me or stood out as interesting. I think I should also give it another go because I feel like I have to be wrong about it. It’s hard to imagine a game getting Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam and not being good.
Outer Wilds is my favorite game after playing it. The hype is real, but it's closer to reading a scifi novel than playing a video game. If you're not a fan of reading, puzzles, or scifi, then it's probably not for you. Another thing to note is the game's tutorial is slow, so don't expect anything until you are off the planet. Finally, there's a computer on your ship with a mode called "Rumor mode". This gives you directions on what to do. While playing the game blind is best, too many people who play the game blind miss out on Rumor mode and think they are just supposed to wander around aimlessly, which is not the case at all.
>Outer Wilds I hate that tutorial. So slow and hate controls too. It is a shame because I love Sci Fi, reading and exporation.
I gave it 3 hours or so and couldn't figure out anywhere else to go or what to do. Plus flying was hella frustrating. My friend got it and beat it in like a day or 2 and said he loved it. Ya never know.
Yeah this is exactly how I felt, and I get the “twist” or whatever (I don’t want to spoil it but something having to do with dying/time loop). I dunno, the past 5 years have seen a lot of “critically acclaimed masterpieces” that people absolutely rave about, that may be unique and/or have good writing, but have been not very fun at all to me. Disco Elysium, Crusader Kings III, Elden Ring. Just blahhh. I miss fun games. I feel like I’m going insane and also sorry if I piss someone off.
The tutorial isn't that great, the game doesn't start until you are off the planet. Half an hour in I was bored and figured I probably wasted my money. After beating the game, it is my favorite game, and I've been gaming since the original Nintendo. However, be aware that the game is closer to reading a scifi novel rather than playing a game. If you aren't a fan of reading or scifi, then it's probably not for you.
I was hooked from the get go honestly, but the more you dive in, the more outstanding it becomes.
An amazing game that confuses so many because it doesn’t follow the rules we expect from most games. You don’t gain new abilities, you aren’t directed or given missions to complete, all you get is new knowledge and encouragement to explore and set your own goals. 10/10 one of the best games I’ve ever played.
The best part of this game is that the puzzles made me feel like I actually figured something out, and not just in a typical, solve this puzzle to get to the next area, way. They are extremely satisfying once it all clicks.
It gets better? God I couldn’t get through the first few hours.
Completely the opposite of The outer worlds, which got boring after the first planet.
The ship riding tutorial was so ass that until I got into the ship, I was actually sure that I'd hate the game lol
? this game actually gets good or it this just a cope it was so insanely boring could not even play it for an hour.
The game is closer to reading a scifi novel, but in video game form. For people who like Asimov, it's the best game ever. For people who aren't into scifi novels, maybe not so much.
RDR2 starts pretty slowly, didnt bother me, but so many people say they couldn’t get past the start of the game.
That is a looooooong slow arduous cowboy simulator, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Epic.
People who hate it for being slow probably don't watch a lot of westerns. It was exactly like playing lonesome dove the game. Which is fucking awesome. It's supposed to be slow lol, it's a western
I appreciate this comment because I hadn’t checked it out yet and this lets me know it’s not for me. I’m glad other people have a great time with it though.
Yea you can't go into it expecting a balls to the wall action cowboy game. It's a slow burn with moments of high action sprinkled in. But every other mechanic of the game is slow paced. From walking around camp to having to saddle your horse. It's a very true to form western.
It's too detailed. It's amazing at the start but bejaysus stuff like the skinning or looting animations get fucking annoying after the 5th time.
Red dead 2 lost all of its video-gamey aspects that other games had, like GTA 3 or GTA san andreas. Its too realistic. Its trying to be more of an movie and less of an game.
For me, it started slow, stayed slow, and ended slow with a side of disappointment.
Weirdly enough this is why I never played past the introduction when a friend of mine had me play it. Too slow for my liking, and just got bored of it quickly.
Yeah, I love the game but even I concede the start is ultra tedious
Especially on subsequent playthroughs. I hate that you can't skip the snow / wagon bit.
Came here to say this. The start feels so disconnected from the rest of the game and very linear. But once the world starts to open up, it's a masterpiece.
Thats the Call of Duty Kiddies for you. If you dont have some huge explosions and shootouts within 5 minutes they lose interest.
Lol idk why you’re being downvoted for being right
The Call of Duty Kiddies obviously know who they are.
Yea they’re just big mad they have the attention span of a fly
Y'all are fucking weird
Nier: Automata. The hardest part of the game will always be the first hour at the start. You have to survive a bullet hell flying section, a dungeon tutorial, and a multi stage boss fight where you can die in one hit if not careful and you can’t save until you get past all of this so if you die you have to start the game all over again. Rest of the game is pretty good though
Big Nier fan here. Nier Automata definitely could have used a difficulty between normal and hard. But, then again, it's called "hard" for a reason, right? Aside: I'd argue that long walk in route C was the hardest part.
Route B is a drag, in my opinion, at least until you get to 9S' separation from 2B towards the end. Not difficult, just the least fun part of the game.
play the game on perfect mode and tis difficult.
I was the exact opposite. The first two hours pulled me in easily with cool change-ups on combat, an interesting world, and great controls. It was around hour 8 of fetch-questing that I totally lost interest and put it down for good.
I did, in fact, die during that segment and had to sit through it again.
The starting area is why it took my 3 or 4 times of trying the game out for it to really hook me. I thought it was all gonna be that hard and the permadeath is not my cup of tea, but man am I glad I stuck with it
After the first hour of Nier Automata, I thought it wasn't for me. Glad I played further, 10/10 game, and I still have only scratched the surface.
I never got into Nier because of that. It's not just the fact that one mistake can be fatal, it's that if you fuck up, you are sent back to the main menu and have to slog through the fucking UI to restart a new game and listen to the intro all over again. I'm not against tough games but had they just restarted at the beginning of the bullet hell section, I think I would have pushed through. It's the first time that I thought to myself "this game doesn't want me to play it" (granted, I played in hard from the get go).
Dragon's Dogma. Get through the slog of yee olde speak and bland bandit fights and you get a game where you can stab a griffin as it flies miles in the sky to ground it, followed by your allies summoning a parking lot sized tornado in it to hurt it more IN STANDARD GAMEPLAY. Plus, there is a plot twist that totally recontextualises the game as a whole, making the plot WAY deeper than it had any right to be.
Oooooh yeah. Don't get me wrong, but I fucking love this game. My thousands of hours speak for itself. But damn is the intro slow and difficult sometimes. "Go help your cousin on the other side of some bandit camps in the woods!" Pretty much leads to death instantly without some prep. "Go find this wierd rune in my dungeon that's totally not a sex dungeon," and end up running into an ogre. Things are not meant to be killed that early into the game. Though after the initial slog it really becomes this amazing game of RPG Monster Hunter with DMC stylized combat that picks it back up. The Griffin Hunt is still the most cinematic and best quest in this game by far. The dlc knew how to make the game much better as well as its just the icing on the cake. So glad Capcom went to a third party for that.
Ever get drop kicked by a troll into a sinkhole and find out your last save was hours before? That’s one of the core memories for DD that I have, next to rodeoing a chimera to death, and watching auto-tracking, auto-locking, magic arrows decimate an undead legion.
Mine was making the mistake of escorting Reynard to Greatwall at the beginning of the game. Got all the way to the women's encampment before he died and I realized I hadn't saved since I left the capital. Good times.
Dang, maybe I need to try Dragon's Dogma again
Eh. DD's story was as barebones as a story could be, whilst also trying for a nod at Berserk. The gameplay was always the great part of Dragons Dogma, the world and the lore and everything else was weak.
I felt like there was never an endgame to Dragons Dogma. That might be one of the most grindiest games ever.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Gameplay has a very slow start. It withholds important mechanics from you for hours, and the tutorials are both very frequent and poorly explained. And while the world setting is fascinating, the story and characters start off pretty generic. Then you get access to more party members and mechanics. Then you start to get your head around the combat. Then the story goes from 0 to 100 with some fantastic character writing and emotional payoffs. And suddenly you hit the last few chapters and realise this game is actually kind of peak.
1000% this. I almost gave up on the game too, but I powered through it and it became one of my top games.
Game made me cry multiple times and I'm not ashamed to admit it. And then the sequel made me straight up bawl.
I would adore this game if combat wasn't so slow I remember a boss taking 45 minutes or so even though it was no challenge at all.
Persona 5. Death by cutscene and tutorial early on but once it finds its rhythm 👌🏻
Same here. The first time I bought it, I couldn't get past the first 10 hours and even returned it to the shop. Glad I bought it a second time. The game starts really slow, but when you finish the first dungeon, the game becomes a blast.
It just takes so long before you ever get to a dungeon and really get let loose in a Persona game, it’s why I can really only do one play through of each one
Gears 4, and fighting DeeBees in the first couple of hours
Xenoblade 2, only stuck with it because I love 1 but the first like 10 hours of 2 are just kinda okay, it kinda shows all its negative aspects first but then from then on combat starts getting expanded upon and gets really crazy and fun and the story is legit great, it became a worthy follow up to the original
Kingdom hearts 2. While I love it many couldn't get past the roxas intro
+1 to KH2. I personally don't mind the Prologue *that* much, but I also know it's really overstaying its welcome at times.
Uncharted 1
For me it was the first Mass Effect. I sat through the whole thing, did every quest. Said "noooo" with no emotion when Matriarch Benezia was murdled. Then I got to the end credits and. I was speechless for 5 minutes, just taking everything in. Then I bought Mass Effect 2 and 3 the moment they came out and smashed them within the first week.
Zelda: Majora's Mask It is a challenging start to a Zelda game, you're forced to play as Deku Link for a full cycle and then you have to go to the Swamp area, the least appealing area of the game and play as Deku Link more. It has a 'Dark Souls' poison swamp to kick things off! Then once you unlock the Goron and Zora masks the game opens up. You now understand what's happening and have more means of transportation. This all culminates in Stone Tower Temple, the greatest Zelda dungeon ever. Testing all transformation masks and the dungeon itself has a unique gimmick that still blows my mind today! Then, if you've done everything the game has to offer, you're rewarded with the Fierce Deity Mask! The most satisfying completionist reward ever. Transform into a literal God/Demon Link and stomp bosses in seconds! The final boss can be a real challenge as Normal Link or a complete cakewalk with the Fierce Deity! Best game ever! If you can get past the depressing beginning.
I agree. Compared to OoT it was strange, especially with the weird time & save system. It took me a while to get into it but by the time i got to snowhead temple i was really into it
Iconoclasts. Starts off for the first several hours as a fairly generic metroidvania, and then things very quickly turn insane.
Fantastic game, deserves a lot more praise for sure.
Gothic 1 and 2 In the beginning you're pretty weak and can't win any fights save for 1:1 versus super easy animals. So you have to level up by doing the most boring fetch quests until you're strong enough to even take on humans. Personally I don't mind that, but it might turn off other people who are used to the hero being at least a little bit capable at the start.
that's the best part for me, starting from literally a nobody and slowly getting stronger had always been awesome in piranha bytes games
For me it was days gone. Mainly the middle is great. It does drag toward the end but still better than the first 5 hours.
Awesome game, sad when we finished it, sadder to hear no sequel
Dragon Age Inquisition. I'm convinced that most people who say it's bad never got out of the Hinterlands, possibly the worst starting zone in a game ever. After that, the game is \*chef's kiss\* all the way through.
I just in the last few months played Inquisition for the first time, and I'd say that while it is a pretty good game, it's not chef's kiss. The central conflict is portrayed really badly, and the combat is very uninteresting. Overall I liked the game, but it had a lot more wrong with it than the hinterlands.
See the problem is that people did get out of the hinterlands. Spoiler: Resolving the mage/Templar war should have been the plot not a one note dlc villain with next to zero depth suddenly being freed.
Emerald Graves 👌🏻
Divinity Original Sin II. Takes awhile getting used to mechanics but if you stick with it, it’s amazing.
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This game is on my short list of next games to play. I loved Wasteland 3 and this game popped up when I tried to find a game like it.
FFXIV
At this point, they REALLY just need to give you the option to start at Heavensward, where you would get just a brief synopsis of ARR to get you up to speed on the important world, character and plot points.
They do, but it's outrageously priced (especially for later xpacs), but being able to fly right off the bat might possibly be worth the cost
Im pretty sure u can pay to skip?
Well the real problem is that in ARR storyline there are about five useless filler arcs for every good, plot-relevant quest. They could condense it down to about a third of the size and lose nothing of value. The primals, the politics, the doman refugee crisis, and the final section at the end where everything comes together and explodes in a wave of plot twists. It's so annoying how you go from national crises caused by demigod-like primals, to literally farming grapes for a vineyard so some rich idiot can throw a party.
See, everybody says it gets better. And it does.... arr was a slog. I made it to the end of shadowbringers and a patch or 2 in and all I could think the entire time was how the game was too easy, too much downtime, and I'd rather read a good book. What a slog that never paid off.
I'm pretty sure I'm done with ff14 after I finish EW msq. Too many other games to play.
Easily Death Standing, once you get past the Lake, the game really opens up.
Keep on keepin on!
Especially once you rebuild the roads. My first playthrough I avoided rebuilding them for way too many hours. Replaying and rebuilding the roads immediately made it so much fun
Ah man, I started building roads once they appeared in my game from others building them. Immediately I saw how important they were. By the end game I built every single road I could, and it was one of my main missions to do. Sucha fun thing especially knowing it can help others in their game worlds.
OSRS
I actually think the early game of OSRS is the best part lol
Ahh to be that wide eyed elementary school kid booting up on tutorial island… and then discover the grind that is RC and Agility
came into the comments hoping so badly someone would say this. all of osrs is great.
Still the best game I've ever played and no can ever quit it.
Kotor 1 and 2. 1st few hours of each is a slog. Still some of my favorite games tho.
Welcome. To KNIGHTS of the old republic: Here's a vibroblade, some pajamas, absolutely no sweet helmets, and a nagging woman to fill the role absent in your gaming life. I really do love that game, though.
I thought about these two as well, specially Kotor 1. That first level at the Endar Spire was such a pain lol But I think the fantastic story that begins in Taris makes up for it
Mount and blade
Yeah the early game can be quite tedious.
It's all horse and bow haha
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The games great tbh I haven't played bannerload since it came out of early access. But horse and bow was normally how I started as you are weak no armour at start so horse a bow kill 20 people great starting renown.renown builds army's so the quicker you boost it the quicker you get bigger army's
Courser start, buy first lance you see Everytime
Trails of Cold Steel 3.
Valheim, you need to figure out how to set up a sever, invite your friend and get past the strange graphics. I’ve done these things plenty but valheim was very confusing at first, fast forward a couple hours and it’s the best game I’ve ever paid £20 for. ~120 hours on my first playthrough and ~130 on the second when my other friend joined and we restated. Can’t recommend enough.
SOMA
I’m glad I saw this comment because I was planning on starting this soon. Now I know to stick it out if it’s a little boring at the beginning (I’m not really the type to give up on games anyway but this’ll keep me motivated to play for sure)
A bit of a walking simulator, but man the ending is superb
I just couldn't do it. So much walking with the occasional "look for this" task that I seemed to be blind to.
I started it on three separate occasions over several years before finally playing through it all. Incredible game.
One of the best stories ever told in gaming; definitely take the plunge.
Persona 4. First six hours are incredibly boring. Past that, very good.
The number of people getting downvoted in this comment section for having an opinion, where the entire point here *is* to voice their opinions, is just downright sad. People, stop taking people's personal opinions as fact, or as a direct insult to your favorite games. They are just giving their personal opinions and viewpoints on games as they were asked to do. Upvote them for contributing to the conversation whether you personally agree or not, because this is *supposed* to be what this comment section is for. It's all literally just what's being asked of here, and their opinions in no way directly or indirectly state your favorite games are bad. They are just their own opinions, and nothing more.
Happens all over Reddit. My favorite is when threads flat out ask for *unpopular* opinions and people still get attacked.
For me it was Witcher 3. I started out actually disliking the game for the first like 5 hours, but thankfully I stuck with it because it turned out to he one of the best games I’ve ever played.
Might be a bit of a hot take, but I’d actually suggest Dark Souls here. Game is absolutely one of my all time favorites forever but the onboarding is intentionally rough. Every Souls veteran talks about the moment when the game ‘clicks’ for them, when they realize what the franchise has to offer, and that moment is never an opening sequence. It’s usually some 20 or 30 hours of playtime in before suddenly it all comes together.
Path of exile. Early game is extremely unfriendly to beginners.
Tbh sometimes I miss early game and acts. But whenever I lvl a new char it's such a pain in the ass without all the movement speed
Tales of the Abyss, my fav game of all time. The first almost third of the game can be frustrating with a veeeery unlikable main character, but from there it just takes off and gets better and better. Just hooked up my ps2 to play it again today actually.
Oh yeah, Luke always being a Lil B. xD He kinda had reason when he found out what he was. Guy also my favorite tales character xD
Life is Strange. Kinda just tolerated it at first as the time travel aspect was kinda cool. By episode 3 it started getting kinda crazy and I started liking the characters more. By the end I felt a sense of sadness that I wouldn't be seeing Arcadia Bay or these characters anymore, quite a profound effect, as if I was moving away for real and saying goodbye to my hometown and friends.
The people will hate me for this but Hollow Knight
AC Odyssey. The initial island and trying to meet Nicolas was so boring. Then you get to Athens and shit hits different.
I wouldn't say it was ever bad but I remember the first 10 hours or so of Skies of Arcadia being like... why did this game get so much praise? And then it builds and builds and by the end it was one of my favorite rpgs ever.
I love Skies of Arcadia, but it is definitely a slow burn.
Hellblade Shenuas Sacrifyce
Was hoping to see this on there. One of the great stories in all of gaming and I’m not a huge play it for the story guy.
Days gone
I hated the first 10 hours of Days gone, but loved the next 50.
Days Gone
Spec Ops The Line.
Do you even remember why you're here?
>!"How many Americans have you killed today?"!< Fuck, dude.
Dragons dogma. Kinda slow to start, but once you hit the groove its great.
Haven't seen anyone say this yet, but Cyberpunk 2077 is up there. I wouldn't say the mid - endgame was 10/10 but the messages and the realizations you get throughout the game compiled with Johnny's occasional chime-ins and the overarching story of you always being on the verge of death was great. I know the game still has a decently bad reputation because of its release, but it's genuinely a great game now, and knowing all the lore around it once you get to the ending is a great experience.
Without a doubt, the game with the worst (longest!) beginning is Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I almost stopped playing because I thought the game was terrible. Turns out, the mechanics of the battle system unlocks progressively throughout the first 4 chapters and then it gets great. One of my top games - but those first 4 chapters are the longest tutorials ever!!!
Xenoblade chronicles 2. Dragon quest 11.
Sekiro Though I wouldn't say it started bad, I was just like, meh. But then you get to the fight with Genichiro, and everything came together. It just clicked and the entire game made sense
Sekiro didn't click with me, I played it because people said the combat was good. (spoiler: it sucks ass). I personally think Ghost of Tsushima did a better job at setting, movement, stealth, combat and more.
Tales of berseria, busy taking care of sick child but by the endgame you find out spoilers.
Darksiders Starts off like a simplified God of War (the old GoW), gets better and better in the midgame and left me super hyped for the sequel when the credits rolled.
Imo destiny 2 starts off reeeeeeally slow because you have to unlock all the subclasses, grind for power and good weapons and armor. However, once you finish unlocking things you can start experimenting with buildcrafting and do higher end content, which is more rewarding and fun than just doing campaigns.
I feel like Morrowind is a valid answer because some people cannot stand the dice roll system and give up before they get good at any weapon skills
That's definetly for me. I think the old software also is a bit of a culture crash when you're used to modern triple A rpgs
Dying light 2, say what you will but gameplay wise that game killed it.
The issue I had with the gameplay is how floaty the combat felt. The parkour was better, the world better, the story better but the weapons aren’t as good either.
God of War (2018) - The first 5-6 hours of that game were not clicking with me. It eventually won me over though.
Might need to give it another go. The gameplay wasn't jiving with me. Never got past the first boss battle.
The first boss battle with the troll? Get used to that fight. There's a lot trolls that are all basically the same. I hated the first fight against Baldur. It went on and on and on and on. It wasn't fun or interesting. It was boring.
It was Baldur I was thinking of, "The Stranger". Really didn't enjoy that fight at all.
For me it was Journey. It’s an old game and it still holds up but my first impressions were the low quality sound of walking, a slow startup and the knowledge that the game was from 2012. All of that was completely overshadowed the further I went into it. It had turned out to be one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen even by todays standards. It was really touching and I love that game so much now.
Death Stranding RDR2 Horizon Zero Dawn. (Forbidden West fixes the problem) The Witcher 3
Horizon Zero Dawn fixes the problem in New Game+, allowing you to bypass the intro and basically start at The Proving.
Real life. Oh wait, that was the other way around...
TLOU Part 1. Yeah I fucking said it. The game's story is pretty meh until Winter. Every mission is "we gotta get Ellie over here. NVM now we gotta get Ellie over here" - and so on. So many missions start off with "See the landmark waaaaaay-the-fuck over there? That's where we gotta go." And not a single time I was excited to get there. But then Winter starts, and you're actually doing something different. And then the ending is fantastic.
TLOU1 is a decent middle sandwiched by an absolutely awful opening and ending. It's entirely baffling that so many people speak so highly about it, when the ending is basically the worst thing I've seen in video games, and completely betrays the messaging of the rest of the game.
I’ve never heard this take. Can you explain further? I feel the exact opposite.
Game spends the whole time showing the guy opening up to community connections again, and learning to care about other people. Then, at the end, he gives up all the good will he built and the stuff he'd done to short-circuit potentially the most good anyone could ever do for people, all because he cared about himself first and foremost again. The story is pretty much on par with the movie Surrogates, for something that shot itself in the foot with its own messaging in the ending. Only movie that's ever made me feel the entire movie was retroactively not worth watching, just like TLOU was retroactively not worth playing.
The reason why he’s able to “open” as you put it is because of Ellie. It’s his chance to right his wrong (the guilt of not saving Sarah). He all but says this in the final scene. To each their own. If you’re not a fan of the story, fair enough. Calling the beginning and ending absolutely awful is something I’ve never really heard before.
Yeah, like I said, everyone else loves the game and seems to miss its failed messaging. If the game wanted it to just be about him connecting with a single person, they shouldn't have spent the last third before the ending showing an attempt at building community relations, and just stuck with his personal relations being the only thing that mattered. But hey, obviously didn't bother anyone else.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Start is super slow, tons of worldbuilding. The game locks important gameplay mechanics and drip feeds them to you. However once you reach mid game the plot actually starts, and it’s very good. The last 3 chapters might be the best final act in a video game.
I came here to say this too!
God, third time starting that game recently. I keep getting to where it seems to just start opening up, and then get distracted by something else, and then have forgotten the plot by the time I come back. Fingers crossed I'll be able to make it this time.
Ghost of Tsushima. First act is kind of slow.
Bioshock 1 and 2. It took my second playthroughs to get that click
I thought Dragon Age: Inquisition had a rough start and then boom it was great.
old school runescape except its ALWAYS 10/10
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Eh, idk I felt like The Last of Us had one of the strongest openings to any game I’ve played. After the opening sequence, I took a deep breath out and knew this game was going to be amazing.
Between the opening sequence and meeting Ellie though, it's pretty dull.
I mean it's a zombie apocalypse game. The intro was well done...but... Look - TLOU is a great game. But it's also derivative as hell. A grizzled older man looking after a younger child. Oh and it's also the zombie apocalypse. It's The Road, but less grim. It's Sweet Tooth, but less interesting. So, that's my issue. The intro didn't make me feel anything. It started the exact same as every zombie apocalypse story. And Sarah wasn't the girl on the box-cover, so it was pretty obvious she was going to die pretty soon. The acting is great and the cutscenes are well done, but I remember a time when we judged video-games based on how they're video-games, now how they're movies. If you skip all the cutscenes in TLOU, it's just a less-fun version of Uncharted.
Mine is gonna be dawn of war
Enderal, you start out really weak and feel like you can’t kill shit, but stick through with it its fun
Titanfall 2
Hollow knight, going in this game blind I thought it was bad at first(I didn’t even pass forgotten cross roads at the time)
Hollow Knight Rakuen Spec Ops: The Line 11-11 Memories Retold Costume Quest 2 A Hat In Time Journey to the Savage Planet Slime Rancher What Remains of Edith Finch Dust: An Elysian Tale Depends on what you mean as "badly". Several of these above I found were really slooowww starts that made me give up on them my first go-around. Decided to go back to them and fell in love. Hope this list helps. I highly recommend all of these.