Happened twice, both to my #1 games. Tried Chrono Trigger as a kid and didn’t like it, then came back and played it as a young adult and was like… damn… this is an actual treasure.
In 2015 I tried FFXI due to the XIV crossover event, and I could not get past the eccentric and clunky UI and the pacing of the combat. I tried again a couple of years later and committed to finishing all the stories. It became my new #1 and I think genuinely one of the best games ever made, in terms of revealing and pushing the artistic potential of online games, and games in general. Actual masterpiece and a massive innovation, and unlike Chrono Trigger I think the lessons are going to be a lot harder to learn and replicate.
Elder scrolls online.
What finally hooked you and why’d you bounce the first time?
World of Warcraft.
I bought it because a classmate told me about it and we planned to play together, but he had a level 60 character and didn’t want to start a new one to level with me. So I played alone for the first 25 levels or so, and quit out of boredom. Then I told my brother about the game and we started again together. That lasted until about halfway through Legion (at least 10 years, with a few breaks ofc), when we both stopped playing. I’ve been trying to get back into it a few times since then, but it never really clicked again.
I wish I could get into WoW again but I don’t have the time required and the game is not really built to play solo. Now I watch videos and read everything I can just to be a part of that universe.
League of legends.
Absolutely despised it, thought it was just pointless since progress doesn’t really carry over from match to match, so what’s the point?
Eventually gave it a go back in 2011 and never got rid of it. Took me a while to get into it too, I’d only play because of my brother and with friends on teamspeak but eventually got reeeeally into it.
These days I don’t have time, or at least don’t want to invest it, for rankeds or even SR (5x5) so I mostly play ARAMs and some of the riot forge games (LOTRK, song of nunu). Looking forward for the mmo, really love the universe and I loved the TV show too.
Yeah, the Runeterra universe is awesome! I played LoR for two years, basically for the lore and the art card. I burnt out on the game, but I still miss those aspects.
The release of Arcane was awesome as well, with all kinds of different media experiences. Looking forward to season two (November 2024 D: ).
Yeah I was really looking forward for LoR being a big hearthstone fan. However the way the turns work just never clicked with me. My brother on the other hand completely abandoned HS and only plays LoR now. The cards and the effects are amazing though, it’s one of those games I feel sad I don’t like it hahaha
Also very hyped for arcane season 2. A bit frustrating that it will take so long but, if it means it’s as high quality as the first one them I’m all for it.
Dark Souls and Syardew Valley.
I’m still bouncing on DS. I’ve tried about 4 or 5 times now, getting farther each time, but honestly… Hating it more each time. The last time I just full on started cheating with Cheat Engine after a lot of frustration and I… Still ended up frustrated and exhausted by the gameplay.
I bounced off Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, and it wasn’t until I played Bloodborne that I finally got it.
Don’t worry about souls (XP) and losing them when you die. Stick early XP into health for a bit to give you more chances to learn, and stamina for more rolling about. Your damage will come mostly from weapon upgrades.
Spend your first runs in a new area learning the enemy attacks and layout, and what you can block or have to roll away from. This is the main thing you’re levelling by playing. The old “gitting gud”. And it will happen, because honestly it’s not that hard for the most part. It’s just uncompromising, and will punish you when you stop paying attention.
Shortcuts are everywhere. Just about every area has something to unlock to make getting back to the boss faster.
Too much armour will be a hindrance. It’s heavy and makes it so you can’t move or roll as fast.
I totally get all of that, but like… It’s not fun? And I’m really REALLY bad. It took me way too long to get the timing down for even Undead Berg and other lower level areas. Like, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to even get out of the starting area. I just panic in games too much as soon as anything goes wrong. 😂
Yeah, I get you. I think some of the disconnect is because it looks like a standard hack and slash action game, but it kind of isn’t.
I dunno, it’s hard to explain. It’s like a lot of the difficulty is just understanding what it wants you to do. And you can hardly go look at how “good players” do it, because they’re running past everything in their underpants and parrying which is stupidly hard in DS1. The only place I needed to parry was the very last boss.
I found a good start in DS1 for most enemies was to put your shield up, walk in really close, and try and get behind them to stab. It’s kind of cheesy, and there’s a few things it won’t work for, but it served me pretty well until I got the hang of it more.
I’ve tried Dark Souls so many times and I finally just accepted that it’s just not my kind of game.
That’s about where I’m at with it. The way people talk about it makes it feel like a stepping stone I’m supposed to experience at least once, but it’s not enjoyable for me. It’s just unrelenting punishment for the entire game.
There’s no list of must play games. You do you.
Also Dark Souls. I was confused at first as I mostly ignored the story part since it’s not given to you on a plate and just stopped. Then years later I did a proper run and I’ll never forget it.
The Division 2
The main campaign story is boring, but end game is tons of fun and customization of gear builds.
Portal 2. I just couldn’t get into it at first but for some reason after not touching it for a year or so I went bad and played the ever living shit out of it. I know we won’t ever get a third especially not for console but I’d love to see it happen
I wish Valve could count to three :-(
Doom Eternal
I played on easy mode, over the course of months slogged my way through over half the game getting wrecked and HATING it. And then one day…
Everything clicked. I got into the Fun Zone or Flow State or whatever it’s called. And I have been obsessed ever since. I play at least a few minutes almost every night for years now. I can now comfortably beat it in the hardest difficulty, including the DLC. And it never stops being so much fun and satisfying!
Are the DLC any good? I wanted to do more ripping and tearing but the ratings on Steam are pretty bad.
Yes! I’ve played through all of the DLC many times. Here’s some details:
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There’s “only” six new stages… but these stages are MASSIVE. It did not feel short to me.
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When it was first released, the difficulty was insane. But the developers realized this and shortly released a patch to remove or tone down many of the ridiculous parts. For reference, I don’t consider myself a particularly good player (for example, I can’t do the quick swap move between two weapons) but I can beat the DLC on the hardest difficulty, Nightmare Mode.
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The arenas / fights are the reason I play Doom Eternal, and the DLC gave me exactly what I wanted, more fights! Some of the fights feel like “throw more enemies at the player”, which is what I wanted. Some of the fights feel veeeery gimmicky, but even those grew on me. For example, a room where like 20 Pinky Demons spawn in. It’s surprisingly fun, challenging, and a nice change of pace.
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There’s two new boss fights. The first one is VERY HARD, but I enjoy the concept. It’s very video gamey, and provides some clever new challenges. The second, final boss fight… I was dreading it on Nightmare, but not only was it not too challenging for me, I actually kind of enjoyed it! Many people whine about the final boss fight. To me, it seems obvious the developers were going for a “Super Marauder” type of fight. Like, the regular Marauder battles but MORE. I thought it was clever!
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There’s new suit upgrades. I don’t really use them, but they’re fun to collect.
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The one new weapon, the Hammer, is SO MUCH FUN.
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The new enemies… I love to hate them. Once again, they’re pretty gimmicky, but I enjoy the new challenge. My biggest complaint is any enemies that make you wait to attack them. Like, I’ve got these amazing weapons but the game won’t let me use them on this enemy. 😒😒😒
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I love the new music! I love the music in the main game too, but I find myself humming the music from the DLC more.
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THE ENVIRONMENTS. So, I got the DLC on sale for $10 each, and I was worried about wasting my money. UNTIL I STARTED STAGE ONE, took one look (I hadn’t even moved yet) and immediately thought, this was worth it. Love the new stage themes / environments.
…I think that’s everything. Let me know if you have any more questions! Yes, the DLC was well worth it to me, and I still enjoy replaying it.
Just finished the DLC now and for 12 bucks I think the DLCs are excellent. Not worth 40 bucks but definitely worth it on sale.
The double marauder encounters were incredibly annoying and some platform/puzzle segments were pretty unclear on where you need to go. Having to add lengthy cutscenes so people know where to go sort of should tell them that the level design is not up to spec. But overall very enjoyable, thanks for the recommendation!
Thanks for following up! 🙂
Thanks for the detailed response, both DLCs are like 12 bucks now so I added them to cart. :)
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I always set games to the highest difficulty because in my head if I get used to the lower difficulty the higher ones will feel impossible, but often it just makes games feel like a slog while playing. 😅
😄 Seriously, the difficulty settings in Doom Eternal are a masterclass example of how to do it right. And you can pause the game at any time and lower / raise it as needed, and it applies instantly!
Outer Wilds. I went to the hollow planet really and got very frustrated with the platforming and falling rocks.
I returned to it almost a year later and gave it a chance based on everyone’s praise. Very glad I did.
This is one that I have to come back to.
You should. Make sure you pick it up when you have time to really wrap your head around it. When I finally played through it, it was over a Christmas holiday. I don’t think it’s the sort of game that would lend itself well to being played in 1-2 hour chunks after work every night for a week when you’re feeling burned out. You gotta be able to sink your teeth into it
It’s like a big tangle of wool. As soon as you find the end and start pulling, it all starts to make sense.
One of the first video games I owned was FFXII, gifted to me for Christmas after I had finally saved up and bought my own PS2.
I did not understand how to play the game well. Basically kitted out every character as archers, and if I ever struggled (which was frequently) my go-to was to chain mist attacks and use up all my mana at once. I would often sure a lot of time just waiting for mana to regenerate after any had fight. It was slow but worked, until the bomb king boss in the forest. I would finally kill it, and then the thing would revive, and I would have nothing left. Tried and tried until I managed to kill it a second time and it revived again.
I gave up out of frustration. Came back to it a couple years later, a little bit wiser, and found the game much easier when the different characters had different roles and I didn’t blow all my mana at the first sign of trouble. The bomb boss was actually a breeze, and I noticed this time that each revival was with fewer hp than before, so it only revived 3 times before it was done for good.
Hated the original Dota mod in warcraft, noe Dota 3 us my jam.
Skyrim, thought it was boring at first but started again after a friend got it 1 month after me, im currently on what feels like my hundreth playthrough and it still is my all time favorit
Oblivion for me. I had no idea what to do once I left the sewer, I was overwhelmed. But I brought it to a friend’s house and he helped give me some direction. I’ll always be thankful for that because elder scrolls is now my absolute favorite IP for video games
Mass Effect. Played the first one and couldn’t get off Eden Prime cause of the shitty starting rifle and the OG game’s idea of weapon stability.
Played Mass Effect 2 years later and beat it in a week, just absolutely loved the whole thing. Went back and played the first one after that to get the whole story. Then waited for ME3 to come out.
I still hate the way weapons work in the original ME1 but I pushed through, not surprised it turned people off of the game though.
Half Life 3.
Control.
The beginning of the game is really slow, hard to understand what’s happening, and you literally have only minimal throwing ability. The manual navigation with overlay fullscreen map also doesn’t do justice to the game. Combining with the fact that I wasn’t used to playing these types of games, this was an easy pass for me after like 1 hour of the game.
But boy it’s awesome as you actually get more abilities and understand more of the story. Currently it’s one of the games I usually come back to.
Interesting, I had a similar experience at the start and couldn’t work out why everyone was praising it so much. Maybe I’ll give it another go
Please do. Control was such a hidden gem. I picked it up in a humble bundle and it absolutely blew me away.
I didn’t realize it was in the Alan Wake universe. I still need to play Control.
Yeah there’s only a couple subtle hints in the regular game and I think more in the dlc. I’m guessing they’ll lean into it more with control 2 now that AW2 is out as well.
