Games Which Positively Surprised You

Snatcher on 26/07/2022 - 13:18

There is always a sea of games which can make it easy to overlook certain titles.
This morning I got reminded of how awesome Vanquish was.
I remember back then I had zero expectations but the game blew me away.
Short, full of action, fast paced and hell of a lot of fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofLuzyQiQCg

It was overlooked by a lot of people unfortunately. Curious to hear what games people came across which were not played by the masses or did not receive great scores, yet were amazing games to play.

Gaming

Comments

    • AlienC on 28/07/2022 - 23:51
      +3

      Positively

  • ThithLord on 26/07/2022 - 13:29
    +11

    Ultimate Chicken Horse available on basically all platforms. It's a fantastic couch-session game with friends, and two people can play on the one controller (it's a very simple (yet addictive) game).

    • Drj55 on 27/07/2022 - 08:18
      -3

      Surely an adult cannot play this game for more then 10 minutes? My kids love it though.

      • trankillity on 27/07/2022 - 08:22
        +13

        A group of 4 adults always screwing each other over every round is where the REAL fun lies.

      • ThithLord on 27/07/2022 - 13:54
        +1

        It's a lot of fun. I don't play it solo; sometimes my partner (who is not a gamer) and I play a few games in the evening. It's a heck lot of fun with a bunch of mates.

        Curious to hear what games people came across which were not played by the masses or did not receive great scores, yet were amazing games to play.

        This is why I said Ultimate Chicken Horse - I thought it mightn't be a well-known game. It isn't one of my main games to play.

  • pegaxs on 26/07/2022 - 13:29
    +2

    Exo One. Imagine Super Monkey Ball had a baby with No Man's Sky.

    Loaded it up to test Xbox cloud gaming because it seems like it was a good test. Ended up being super chill game to just kick back and play. I turn the soundtrack down and put on something like a YouTube chill channel like LoFi Girl and let that play instead.

  • Charlie Sierra on 26/07/2022 - 13:42
    +4

    Yoku's Island Express, Superliminal and A Story About My Uncle.

    Agree totally on Vanquish though, I just beat it recently and it was the campiest fun I've had in a game in ages - fantastic mechanics and a plot that made Transformers look like it was a Shakespearian classic. Loved Burns, he was just so ridiculously angry all the time.

  • Richmond Tigers on 26/07/2022 - 13:47
    +1

    One I went back and played for the first time in years recently………. Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

    Just the sheer amount of awesomeness you can unlock is unbelievable. Nothing beats wrecking eachother with automatic kombos, turning fatality timer off, inflicting a severe friendship and then having a game of pong or galaga.

  • Caped Baldy on 26/07/2022 - 13:51
    +27

    It Takes Two. I wasn't expecting much let alone one of the best games I've ever played.

    • spackbace on 26/07/2022 - 14:18
      +1

      Agreed, though I'd heard good things already it was still so surprisingly good to play with the other half

    • tallkid123 on 26/07/2022 - 17:30
      +3

      I have a wife and I have this game.

      But I'm still lacking something to convince her to pick up my second controller…

      • Caped Baldy on 26/07/2022 - 17:33

        I suggest a bribe of some sort. Suggest playing for like an hour and she might get hooked.

    • irresistibl on 27/07/2022 - 18:55
      +1

      Had a really great bonding experience with my brother playing this

    • Ronerrlaw on 27/07/2022 - 20:13

      Highly rate this game and any Lego series game.

    • yadq on 28/07/2022 - 03:08
      +4

      Weird flex but ok

  • jjjaar on 26/07/2022 - 13:54
    +5

    Minesweeper.

    • AlienC on 28/07/2022 - 23:52

      I am more of a cat mouse cheese square block kind of guy.

  • CrispyChrispy on 26/07/2022 - 14:01
    +6

    Mount and Blade Warband. Had tried it once or twice, got bored and didn't really do much. When I got COVID and had to isolate, I ended up putting 1-2 dozen hours within that 7-day period. Playing as King Ragnar's class pet has it's perks.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 26/07/2022 - 14:38
      +1

      It has amazing reviews but I could never get into it :(

      Is it just literally a matter of going at it until it kind of ‘clicks?’

      • CrispyChrispy on 26/07/2022 - 15:36
        +2

        Yeah, there are quite the number of playstyles so it really depends on what run you're doing. Most of the time you're either playing a mercenary only in it for the money, or you're a loyal vassal who ends up with several towns/cities under your name.
        Both are fun in their own ways, and from both you can start your own kingdom if you really want to, and try to reach the endgame of calling all of Calradia your own.

        Mods are where it's at though, plenty of really well designed ones which can give the game a whole new flavour.

        I would recommend trying to get back into it, really; the start can be a bit grindy, but once you start doing missions for other lords and building up wealth, you can really enjoy all aspects the game has to offer. The OST is fun to listen to as well.

      • meowbert on 28/07/2022 - 08:19
        +1

        The best thing about it once you've trounced the base game is the ridiculous modding community. Prophesy of Pendor is a complete overhaul mod that is substancially better than the original across every dimension.

    • ozbargainer88 on 29/07/2022 - 09:54
      +2

      M&B2 Bannerlord is great too. I really wish they'd add an official co-op mod so I could raid and pillage with my bros.

    • Neverpayretail on 30/07/2022 - 11:38

      I thought I had thatr but apparently I only have mount & blade. can anyone recommend that? Is it very different or similar?

      • CrispyChrispy on 30/07/2022 - 11:39
        +1

        Warband is the same thing as M&B, but improved. It adds more weapons, another faction, better textures, and better AI. The only thing that might make you want to play M&B over Warband is that there are some good mods for M&B that were never ported over.

  • dogboy on 26/07/2022 - 14:33
    +5

    Jaws of the Lion. Been playing the main Gloomhaven game for a number of years but was pleasantly surprised by Jaws. Was a lot more refined and cut down from the massive main game and was a lot of fun. Less setup time and interesting characters and scenarios made it a great game.

    • drillvoice on 01/08/2022 - 15:14

      While this is a great game I don't think it is surprisingly great given the positive reviews and the franchise in general.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/07/2022 - 14:36
    +15

    Days Gone. I saw the first trailer and I was excited (I'm a sucker for anything zombies) but my last console was a PS3 so I didn't get it at release and I heard there were a lot of issues anyway, which were only fixed a while after launch.

    Eventually it comes to PC and i think i'll give it a try, i'm no longer really excited by it but i am bored, i have nothing else to do, so i pirate it (they had a pretty shady ToS agreement which i did not like the look of - they have since fixed it after backlash) and start playing. the more i play the more i start loving the game, the story wasn't anything special but it felt like it was, the gameplay was fantastic and the first time i took down a horde was really exciting, it has it's flaws, but overall i think it is a great game.

    it's still not that well known, people associate it with the launch issues, and most people have not played it, but i am not alone in my positive opinion of it.

    i eventually bought it, i still have to do my second playthrough.

    i am disappointed that a sequel was not greenlit.

    • NMC on 28/07/2022 - 07:43

      I bloody loved days gone. It's been my favourite game on PS5 since I got it.

    • burns13 on 29/07/2022 - 00:35

      Highly enjoyed that game. It wasn't perfect by any means but a solid gameplay and great zombie open world.

    • Vita85 on 29/07/2022 - 19:48

      "Days Gone has sold at least 9 million copies, according to its director."

    • borts16 on 01/08/2022 - 21:57

      I installed this on PC last night after I didn't enjoy it day one on PS5, and I'm glad I did. 3080 pumps out 110fps and gameplay is much more enjoyable. I think I've found my next few weeks of entertainment during slow work time. Cheers bruh

  • Switchblade88 on 26/07/2022 - 14:37
    +8

    Outer Wilds, one of my most favourite games of all time.

    It was massively overshadowed by The Outer Worlds with the same release year and extremely similar names - and The Outer Worlds, being a AAA Obsidian RPG, got a massive advertising budget compared to the indie game.

    • PurchaseAnxiety on 28/07/2022 - 10:21

      Agreed, it's fantastic. I love games that just throw into an immersive world and let you do your own thing (Subnautica is another great one). I enjoyed the story, but I think the experience of just flying around to all the different planets is worth the price of admission alone.

    • thanatos350 on 31/07/2022 - 18:59

      Outer Wilds is a true gem and a testament to the fact that less is sometimes more.

      Do you know of any similar titles?

      • playerzer2 on 18/08/2022 - 16:04

        Return of the Obra Dinn is probably the closest to Outer Wilds in terms of 'discovering' the story

    • trankillity on 01/08/2022 - 08:06

      Just started getting back into this now, but playing it in VR this time with the Nomai VR mod. Super immersive in VR, and feel like I'll finish it properly this time!

  • Lufiwara on 26/07/2022 - 14:48
    +2

    Runescape (osrs & rs3) both surprised me. I know a large part of rediscovering the game was the nostalgia but i genuinely think they are still really enjoyable games with something for everyone.

    • Surtr on 27/07/2022 - 23:13

      I've been playing RS since 2003, played RS3 for a couple years after launch but started to get sick of it, became heavily P2W…
      OSRS has been a godsend, been playing it since launch

      • Lufiwara on 27/07/2022 - 23:15
        +1

        Tbh focusing on yourself and how much fun you have makes rs3 easy to ignore those who p2w imo. But osrs was definitely a welcomed addition (return?)

        • Surtr on 27/07/2022 - 23:18
          +1

          Good point, maybe that's why I've also enjoyed the Ironman so much on osrs, total level 1600 after a few slow years :D
          Glad to see a fellow Gielinorian!

  • Third_Gear on 26/07/2022 - 15:06

    Deadpool on PS4. Really fun game!!

  • pharkurnell on 26/07/2022 - 15:21
    +2

    Pyramid 2000 on the TRS80 and prince of persia platform game on a floppy disk back in teh day

    • Eeples on 30/07/2022 - 12:08

      Asylum TRS80

      Moving in a 3D simulated environment. Immersive.
      (The fore-runner to first-person shooters and '3D' adventure games. imo.)

      Robot Attack TRS80

      The speech component was amazing at the time.

      Sargon II TRS80

      It could play near-decent chess. Wow.

  • altitudinous on 26/07/2022 - 15:22
    +14

    Portal & Portal 2. So much character and personality in these games, right to the music on completion of the game.

    I havent played HL and HL2 and I suspect these are good as well.

    GTA5 for the sheer depth.

    Not much surprises me but these games did the job.

    • Grunntt on 27/07/2022 - 10:51
      +2

      Curious to hear what games people came across which were not played by the masses or did not receive great scores, yet were amazing games to play.

      Not too sure that the games you listed fit under this description. Have to agree with you though, Portal keep me busy for many hours.

    • OwMeKnees on 29/07/2022 - 10:11

      My kids just started playing Portal and Portal 2. Now its going through the school like another pandemic. Cos Portal 2 is the greatest game of all time

  • Cheaplikethebird on 26/07/2022 - 15:23
    +1

    Rocket League. Was chatting to a female acquaintance who said she'd been watching gameplay videos all day, it was the early days of RL so I'd heard about it but not paid any interest but I chose to lie and said "That's so weird I actually have that downloading on steam right now, you should come over and play!" before running over to my computer to purchase. Anyway after she left the next day I ended up playing the game for 24 hours straight and ended up starting the Australian RL steam group which was pretty active for a while.

    • SlavOz on 26/07/2022 - 19:15
      +4

      Did you pretend to play the game just to have a reason to pitch a meet up with her? I know that feeling bro.

      I agree on just how awesome RL is. It seemed way too mainstream and kiddy to me, ie Fortnite, so I thought I'd hate it. Given that it's free and I've sunk hundreds of hours into it, it's gotta be one of the best value games I've ever played.

      • spackbace on 26/07/2022 - 19:30
        -4

        Did you pretend to play the game just to have a reason to pitch a meet up with her? I know that feeling bro.

        Yeah that's not creepy…

        Re-read what they said:

        before running over to my computer to purchase. Anyway after she left the next day

        She was already at the house…

        • Grunntt on 27/07/2022 - 10:53
          +1

          She was already at the house…

          Not according to this -

          you should come over and play!

        • syousef on 28/07/2022 - 17:11
          +3

          Wow. Just wow. It's immature. It's a silly white lie. It's not "creepy". He didn't pretend to be someone he was. He pretended to own a game so he'd have a reason for her to come over. It's not a great idea to start a relationship with a lie but men and women have been doing immature stuff like this since the dawn of history and it doesn't make them sinister or creepy - just foolish.

          • Diji on 29/07/2022 - 19:18

            @syousef:

            He didn't pretend to be someone he was

            I think it's a good idea to always pretend you are someone you are

            • syousef on 30/07/2022 - 10:38

              @Diji: Very drole.
              someone he was not. Obviously :P

      • Cheaplikethebird on 27/07/2022 - 09:44
        +1

        Did you pretend to play the game just to have a reason to pitch a meet up with her? I know that feeling bro.

        Haha yep, genuinely enjoyed it once I played though.

        She was already at the house…

        Nah was speaking to her on the phone. I pretended to already be downloading it already so that she would come over, then purchased and downloaded the game.

        • FrugalBoi95 on 28/07/2022 - 15:21
          +8

          I need closure, did you guys kiss?

          • SlavOz on 30/07/2022 - 18:40

            @FrugalBoi95: I came back to this thread to ask the same question. Did you get some?

            There's no such thing as a lie if it gets you laid.

  • Tee Rex Arms on 26/07/2022 - 15:27
    +3

    Red Dead Redemption 2

    • coxjon on 26/07/2022 - 17:12
      +6

      Hardly a surprise that it was good though?

      • SlavOz on 26/07/2022 - 19:15

        AAA games from major developers are usually a disaster and creative rut, ie CyberPunk or Battlefield.

        • CrispyChrispy on 26/07/2022 - 19:31
          +3

          AAA games from major developers are usually sometimes a disaster and creative rut

          There have been lots of previous Rockstar games which have been the opposite of a disaster and creative rut. Take practically the whole GTA series and RDR1. And this is only Rockstar, plenty of other games from major devs that have performed up to expectations, or more. Yes, CD Projekt stuffed up Cyberpunk at release but look at Witcher 3; ended up winning GOTY.

          • Diji on 29/07/2022 - 19:19

            @CrispyChrispy: Personally, after the focus on GTA online I am going to be very surprised if GTA 6 is any good

      • Vool on 29/07/2022 - 21:10

        Despite it being highly regarded a lot of people complain about hating RDR2 because it's slow and boring, I can definitely see people assuming they wont like it based on those comments.

        • SlavOz on 30/07/2022 - 18:46
          +1

          I loved it until I realised every single mission is just a cutscene with a few quick-time events in between. It felt like playing an interactive novel most of the time.

          • ForkSnorter on 01/08/2022 - 14:04

            @SlavOz: I initially liked it because of the freedom. I went on a shooting spree, and travelled around the entire map, then paid off my bounty at the post office with stolen money. After doing that once, it got a bit tiring. I also hunted down some gold based on some maps, but apparently you can't get the gold until you've completed some of the missions. Not a big fan of the missions. Are there any free-roam online multiplayer RPG games where you don't have to follow a storyline and do missions?

    • Brick Tamland on 28/07/2022 - 11:55

      True for me. I never got sucked into the first one and almost gave the sequel a miss but I gave it ago and loved it. I went back and played the first one and ended up playing it in the correct order which was unreal.

  • Bid Sniper on 26/07/2022 - 15:33
    +4

    Death Stranding
    Subnautica
    Hotline Miami

    • adomental on 28/07/2022 - 09:31
      +3

      Subnautica

      Went in knowing nothing and the game kept on going. Definitely one to go into knowing as little as possible.

      • Bid Sniper on 28/07/2022 - 10:18
        +1

        Same why I found it so surprising and entertaining. Just kept getting better.

        Sequel was disappointed with, lack literal depth and fear that first one had.

        • SlavOz on 30/07/2022 - 18:52
          +2

          I know this is a cliche for me to say, but the sequel is the perfect example of "get woke, go broke".

          They tried to make Below Zero a social commentary and really pushed the fact that the protagonist was a Black woman (I think she was also supposed to be gay). The lack of difficulty was clearly intentional as they didn't like the idea of the character being maimed to death.

          No surprise the game turned out to be a dud. Same thing happens in movies when they focus less on quality and more on shoving messages down your throat.

          • Bid Sniper on 31/07/2022 - 12:30

            @SlavOz: Kinda agree, to me more switching from environmental story telling to your classic/boring cut scene narrative type.

            Rest of the game felt half complete. The ice worm should of serious threat, nope just a minor inconvenience.

    • OwMeKnees on 29/07/2022 - 10:12
      +1

      I had the opposite experience with Death Stranding… was very disappointed after spending a decent amount of money

      • Bid Sniper on 29/07/2022 - 15:08

        Slow burn and not for everyone. I loved it, touch on many topics important to me. Kojima is weird to say the least but why I love his games.

        Can see why some would not enjoy it, departure from traditional action game.

  • autolux on 26/07/2022 - 15:33
    +1

    i played Vanquish on ps3 and still rave about it… been waiting for it to get even cheaper than it already is for a longtime for a replay. from memory its only like 6-8hour game, but the core mechanics are so good. its the perfect arcade style game.

  • axlfan on 26/07/2022 - 15:50
    +6

    Overcooked and Overcooked 2….I mean they are famous but not exactly all that famous too but they are simply amazing!

  • Commander Shepard on 26/07/2022 - 15:56

    Recently Power Wash Simulator on Game Pass really surprised me.

    But past games such as Bayonetta, Catharine, Alan Wake, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Dirt 2, LOTR BFME2, GR Wildlands and Shadow Complex. I picked up a lot of these for cheap. And are now some of my favourite games ever and often replay them yearly.

    You could probably add on OSRS to this. But I have been playing thise since I was in primary school. So it probably doesn't count.

    Edit: Adding in FEAR 1+2, Prototype and Halo 4

  • ForkSnorter on 26/07/2022 - 16:11
    +5

    Last of Us Part 2. According to Google, only "62% liked this video game"

    In comparison, 96% liked Last of Us Part 1.

    I also read a few bad comments about it.

    But in the end, it was way better than Last of Us 1. Better gameplay, more immersive emotional story, great acting, amazing scenes, etc.

    • Commander Shepard on 26/07/2022 - 17:16

      I agree. Finished my second harder playthrough on the new PS5 recently. Spectacular game. Some people definitely overreacted.

      Only dumb part that really took me out of the game was the heavily pregnant chick. The Joel part I am ok with.

      • bataleon on 29/07/2022 - 07:40

        Oh yeah, that was weird.

    • tallkid123 on 26/07/2022 - 17:32
      +1

      I honestly believe it was Abby alone that made TLOU2 so divisive.

      No one liked her. Not even her friends who'd mention she was a piece of shit.

  • solidussnake on 26/07/2022 - 17:31
    +6

    Syphon Filter
    Death Stranding
    MGS 1
    AC Black Flag
    The Last of Us
    Days Gone (A little slow but really great story)
    Horizon Zero Dawn and the expansion (Couldn't stop gazing at the sky at night)
    Prey the 2006 one and the 2017 one

    There's quite a few that I've forgotten

    • trapper on 27/07/2022 - 22:15
      +3

      wow yes, Syphon Filter was a classic

      • Caped Baldy on 28/07/2022 - 07:35

        Loved playing the trilogy as a kid. Seems like it's a mostly forgotten about series.

  • tallkid123 on 26/07/2022 - 17:33
    +4

    Divinity Original Sin 2.

    I'd been looking for years for something to scratch that itch the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series had left me and this game was the only one that satisfied it.

    • SlavOz on 26/07/2022 - 19:17

      One of my top 5 GOAT games. I still can't believe how good it is.

    • dogboy on 28/07/2022 - 09:37

      I hated that game. The narrators voice was grating to my ears, the characters are all pre-set and the voice acting is terrible and I had encumberence issues 5 minutes into the game. I just couldn't get past how painful these things made the game to play. Much preferred Pillars of Eternity for a Baldurs Gate type game.

  • herecomestheoost on 26/07/2022 - 18:30
    +2

    Metal Gear Rising

  • SlavOz on 26/07/2022 - 19:22
    +4

    Dark Souls for me. I still remember trivially I got introduced to it. I took a week off work for Easter so I decided to buy a new game on Switch to keep me busy. Never heard of the game before, saw it on sale and checked some reviews and it looked mildly intriguing. I initially hated it and found it impossible, but after looking up some guides I ended up dropping hundreds of hours into it, then went out and bought the sequels, then Sekiro, then Bloodborne.

    Soulsborne are now my favourite games of all time, all from that one fateful decision.

    Subnautica is close to my top 5 as well. Man such an awesome game from an indie developer made me completely redefine what a video game is supposed to be.

  • dasher86 on 26/07/2022 - 20:02
    +2

    Spin the bottle

    • serpserpserp on 27/07/2022 - 21:48
      +1

      You might enjoy a key party

      • dasher86 on 27/07/2022 - 21:52
        +2

        That was an unpleasant surprise :(

  • slknv on 26/07/2022 - 21:27
    +4

    Fez

  • xazark on 27/07/2022 - 10:01
    +1

    Fusion Frenzy and Alter Echo really surprised me on the original Xbox.

    We played hours and hours of duck/jump on Fusion Frenzy, it was an absolute favourite at our Xbox Lan events.

    Alter Echo was a 3rd person adventure/puzzle game and one of the few games that I played through multiple times, you could change form to walk up walls and become a tank, it was pretty cool concept back then and very underrated.

  • gorgrond on 27/07/2022 - 10:43

    Duck Game, if you want to laugh with a few friends.

  • Rayzorback on 27/07/2022 - 12:50
    +1

    Civilisation Revolution on Xbox….

  • Autonomic on 27/07/2022 - 14:19
    +2

    World War Z. Such a polished & fun game.

    • [Deactivated] on 27/07/2022 - 20:03

      still waiting for the cross save update.. i bought it on steam after progressing quite far on gamepass (before it was available on steam) but you can't transfer saves yet, so it sat unplayed for months as i cant be bothered starting again, cross save is supposed to be coming in july, but they only have 2 days left before the weekend and end of july.

  • Ostrk on 27/07/2022 - 18:15

    Nier Replicant v1.22. A rework of a game I had never heard of. Ended up being really good and one of the few games that actually left an impression on me after finishing it. Others include Kingdom Come, Divinity OS:2, Dishonored, FFX etc. They're all very highly rated games but I hadn't heard of them or thought I wouldn't be interested when I first saw them.

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