We all have things in life that we don’t like, which is perfectly fine. Not everything in life is meant for everyone. What can really sting, though, is when you wanted to like something, only to just…not. It’s no secret that I love video games, and I don’t go into a new game hoping (or even anticipating) that I’ll dislike it. Sometimes, though, it just happens, and I thought it might be fun to talk about that. Expect something similar to this for Shows, Movies, and Books in the future.
So, while this article could have been all about me ranting and raving about things I dislike, it’s really more of an analysis of how and why these games disappointed me. Let’s jump in!
10) Cris Tales
In spite of the title of this article, I actually feel more “guilty” about this one than “disappointed“. I knew relatively little about this game save that it was an RPG with an incredible art style and aesthetic, so I actually used my local library’s Suggest-A-Purchase feature to recommend they buy a copy for their collection. Come to find out, though, that this game as a few critical flaws that just didn’t gel with me. Chiefly, the battle system is equal parts complicated, grindy, and entirely-too-difficult. This wouldn’t be an issue, were it not for Cris Tales‘s refusal to include difficulty options, enforcing each player to equally engage with the patience-testing combat. In an age rife with games to play and not enough time, I didn’t have the stomach for that, so I gave up very early on.
9) Deathloop
On paper, this game should have it all. It’s got a really unique concept of trying to take down a group of villains with one life (and if you die, you start from the beginning but retain your memories and some perks), and it’s also developed by the team behind the Dishonored trilogy. And while Deathloop is certainly not a bad game, it just isn’t the type of game that I wanted. The lore of the mysterious time loop island isn’t as exciting as the magic-and-machine universe of Dishonored, nor is the visual styling as appealing as the grungy cities of Dunwall and Karnaca. I don’t like the roguelike style of dying and trying again either, as I feel that’s a gameplay loop better suited to short little indie games like Binding of Isaac and Dead Cells. There’s also a neat multiplayer mechanic that just doesn’t quite live up to its potential.
8) Tales of Zestiria
I’ve stomached my way through some middling JRPGs in the past (looking at you, Lord of Magna, my beloved), but even the fact that this game has the single best anime opening of all time wasn’t enough to compel me to see the journey through to the end. I stopped about a third (I think) of the way through this adventure, because I just wasn’t having fun anymore. I found the visual presentation colorful but bland and repetitive (linear areas and boxy hallways and rooms), the combat to be mundane and somewhat restrictive despite being a 3rd person action game, and the plot either too simple and standard or too obtuse (I didn’t really have a grasp on what anyone was doing or what their motivations were aside from defeating some vague evil).
7) Fire Emblem: Echoes
I’m a huge Fire Emblem fan, so I raced out the door to pick this game up on launch day, eager to jump into another anime-flavored medieval wartime epic. I was at least vaguely aware that it was a remake of a much older game…but I certainly didn’t realize at the time just how many archaic game design choices would be maintained for this modern-day version. Some things were expected but no less disappointing, like a lackluster and basic story (it was an old game being remade, after all). What caught me off guard was the utterly bland and aggravating map design, enemies and bosses designed to be as purposefully annoying as possible, and a strange lack of optional content (there’s barely any support conversations in the whole game). Playing Echoes, while it can be fun, is an exercise in patience to the extreme.
6) Sonic Mania
While I attribute Super Mario 64 as the first videogame I ever played, it would almost be more accurate to say that I grew up gaming with Sonic and pals. From the OG Sonic the Hedgehog and its sequels, to the varying quality of the spinoffs (courtesy of the anthology collections), to the Adventure duology later on, I played the heck out of these games in a formative period of my gaming life. The reason Sonic Mania disappointed me so badly is because it was the unwelcome wake-up call that showed me that old-school Sonic games just really aren’t that good. From the contradictory game design that doesn’t know whether to value speed or exploration, to the arcade-style “kill the player and drain their tokens” philosophy of backwards bouncing springs and bottomless pits from nowhere, Sonic Mania (and all old-school Sonic games) really just does not want you to have fun on your first playthrough.
5) Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Lego games have never really lost their charm as I’ve aged and the series has progressed, but I definitely think they’ve lost the spark of what was once there. They’ve begun a transition from action-packed level exploration and stud-busting, into miniscule levels that feel like an afterthought interspersed into bloated and overly-stuffed open worlds. The visuals, production quality, and breadth of content keep increasing, but the simple fun of playing through a Lego-ified version of my favorite franchise has started to fade away. I didn’t make it too far in this game, because it felt like every ten-minute (at most) level was interspersed with an hour of trying to wade through a cluttered overworld. Unlike the old games in this series, I couldn’t imagine replaying any of the stages with a buddy beside me. Oh well, at least I’ll always have Lego Star Wars I and II!
4) Dark Souls Remastered
The world of 3rd-person action gaming owes a lot to the formula that Dark Souls helped to create, and I sure as heck love later entries in the series like Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne. However, when the progenitor of the series (sorry Demon Souls, but its true) got a modern remaster that allowed me to finally try it out, I was able to see with my own eyes that it does not, in any conceivable way, hold up. Credit where credit is due to the systems it helped create (bonfire-style checkpoints, losing your money when you die but you have a chance to run back and recover it, levels that loop around on themselves and open new checkpoints, vague but intriguing lore and storytelling), but man this game isn’t good. It’s slow, it’s clunky, it’s a bit of a visual mess, it’s more obtuse than it has any right to be, and there’s nary a single memorable boss to be seen except a very select handful. The second-half of the game is an undeniable mess of rushed development and cut corners. There’s not a thing this game does that the sequels don’t do better.
3) Xenoblade Chronicles 2
I’m not the type of person to get too over-hyped and screamy/shouty when I’m excited by something, but you can bet that I was hopping with joy when the trailer dropped teasing a sequel to my favorite game of all time. I was buzzing with excitement, and this game’s existence is the entire reason I saved my money for months to be able to buy a Switch. And while it’s certainly a blast (especially once they added some updates and the DLC), it has glaring flaws that really sour my overall opinion of it, especially with regards to the perfection of the other three games in the series. The overabundance of anime tropes and clichés in the first half is grating, and the questionable voice acting for way-too-many of the cast members doesn’t do much help in that regard. The story doesn’t get going until around Chapter Six (which, mind you, is past the 60-hour mark), the generic side quests are bland and forgettable, and the combat never clicked with me. All this to say nothing of the rampant oversexualization of nearly every single female character. It’s a fun mess of a game, but a mess nonetheless.
2) Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Okay, I swear that I’m a Fire Emblem fan, alright? I can’t help it when I expect certain things from the franchise, and don’t receive that!
For all its many, many sins, the biggest crime that Three Houses commits is not living up to its own established promises. It promises to provide three (secretly four) intense and excellent campaigns of wartime struggles and fighting for the future, all dependent on the starting house you select. In actuality, the first half of the game proceeds exactly the same irregardless of the house you choose (save for minor cutscenes), and then you get four different rushed second halves. Two of them are nearly identical in storyline and map progression (and share the same pacing issues), one of them is blatantly unfinished (the credits roll before the villain is defeated), and one of them is actually pretty good but is also weirdly detached from the rest of the worldbuilding’s scope and impact.
On top of this, you’ve got other issues like the horribly exhausting gameplay loop that takes so long to progress through that it feels like the game actively wants you to stop playing it, questionable cutscene graphics for a modern-gen game, and a simplified combat loop that removes the Weapon Triangle, thus rendering a large portion of traditional Fire Emblem strategy moot. There’s also a lack of master-tier classes to promote into, weirdly gender-locked classes, and some irritatingly unpredictable enemy reinforcements on a few maps.
This all sucks because the basis of the story and the characters themselves are actually great! They just deserved a better game.
1) Persona 5
There’s not too much I can add with this one, huh? Honestly, given how I tore into the game earlier this year in my April Fools article, this should’ve been an expected pick for the top honors (bottom honors?). As such, this entry is actually going to be a bit short, because I don’t want to talk your ear off on points I’ve already covered. If you want a deeper dive, I’d highly suggest taking a look at that article if you’ve never read it. (LINK)
In summary, the writing in this game (from the plot to the characters) is downright insulting, constantly undermining potential for interesting developments and character growth in favor of pushing a murky moral and a dangerous mindset of “ends justify the means“. It makes it impossible to take the story or characters seriously, and I couldn’t wait to finish playing so I could never touch the game again, even if I found the gameplay itself to be enjoyable. Or, at least if it didn’t involve the massive and randomly generated dungeon of nightmares, Mementos, or the spotty stealth mechanics enforced by the plot-relevant dungeons.
Can we please just get Persona 6 already, instead of these endless Persona 5 spinoffs?
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 