I feel you. I’ve tried Minecraft but it has never gripped me. What people do with it is impressive, but it just isn’t for me I guess.
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Your reply breaks my heart! I really, really want to like Bloodborne. You make it sound so great. I did play Dark Souls 3 and liked it. In my opinion it is the third best soulsborne-game (the order goes Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne). The combat was a bit more fast-paced, but it still felt like Dark Souls, so I had no problem with it. In Bloodborne my problem is pretty much what you are describing: the combat is really fast-paced and requires a lot of skill, and one slipup can lead to instant death. I’m not very fast and not very good with ARPGs. So yeah, I guess I have to git gud and give Bloodborne another try.
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I think you really would enjoy Bloodborne if you give it another shot. Our tastes seem aligned, I also think that Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls are the best in the Souls series. Bloodborne is different from the Souls games so you’ve got to get into a different mindset.
With the Souls series, especially the first playthrough, players like to turtle up. It’s a smart way of playing: get your armour, get a nice big shield, be cautious. With Bloodborne though that kind of playstyle is impossible. My pro tips would be: utilise the rally system and the gun parry. With Dark Souls you can play all the way through all the games and just ignore the parry system, but not with Bloodborne. It seems like one wrong move will get you killed, but once you start using the rally you’ll find that Bloodborne is actually easier and you’ll have more health to play with. Other than that, you can’t be encumbered so dodging is easier too: sometimes you’ve just got to spend some time learning attack patterns because all of them can be dodged. It’s definitely worth putting some hours in and getting over the learning curve because that game has so many unforgettable sights and experiences for you to witness. In terms of style and atmosphere I think it’s an unbelievable masterpiece.
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Okay, you got me convinced there! Sounds lovely. Maybe I was expecting it to be more similar to Souls-games and got disappointed about that or something. I also remember that I hated the chalice dungeons, which were randomly generated and boring. I know you don’t have to complete them though, but still a disappointment! I don’t own a PS4 now, but I’m gonna have to buy one anyway for Persona 5 and the FFVII remake, so when I do that, I will buy Bloodborne as well.
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In a way this is kind of like Most Overrated games but it’s more personal.
Halo by far must be the #1 game I must mention for a variety of reasons. First, I’m a PC snob and not some muggle lol! Halo was basically a declaration of war against us Master Race. Just read the GB description. lol
I’m glad i’m not the only one who just doesnt really get Halo. I didnt own an xbox and was really out of the console loop at that time. But this was when the FPS was absolutely my favorite genre and i would play all of them. I was playing Killing Floor, Morrowind, and CS Source on a very underpowered laptop. two of my friends got a place together and this was what they simply did all day. When i’d visit i’d watch 'em and it looked somewhat interesting (but given the fact we were all very seasoned PC gamers who would do LAN every week I couldnt get why they would prefer a split screen session on a grainy TV to the ‘real deal’) I’d take turns or whatever and be like ‘come on guys lets play counter strike.’ lol. It seems nowdays the COD is standard issue social apartment/living quarters type game in the same way Halo was. (This was 15 years ago and look at where microsoft is taking things these days, thats kind of intersting right? They pretty much are focusing their company to rule the roost of a specific ‘couch potato’ market.)
With Halo, the dealbreaker for me was the weapons. I just didnt really get a feel for the weapon diversification. The two standard issue SMG things was a cool gimmick, but the needler pistol and the charge up pistol were odd weapons. The needler didnt really play like a high output smg in any other game. the charge up pistol wasnt really reliable either like say a flak cannon or a rocket launcher (compare to maybe the UT 99 rocket launcher that lets you charge up and ‘load’ rockets) but by far what i just couldnt stand was that damn power sword. it was both a very difficult thing to master the way you would do a ‘lunge’ type move with it, annd very difficult to defend against on a tv with limited resolution ability. the element of the power sword made for a different kind of DM type gameplay and these weapons were not some by the book armory but all very quirky or nuanced.
Any Madden NFL football game would be #2 on my list. There are a lot of sports games that i definitely feel are great games but I just am not really into sports. With that said, these games are getting better and better and can be liked and enjoyed by those not into sports. The Madden series is really amazing and has actually evolved over the years into a very unique type of game that is part simulation strategy and arcade. You have a game that has very complicated control movements and elaborate combos that at times make it seem like something like a cross between a flight sim in how subtle movements or overextension can result in success or failure and a classic fighting game where timing and distance is the caveat to gaining an edge. There’s tons of visual element and hand eye coordination as well, and adaptive on the fly strategy. But in season mode the players are simulated by their real world counterparts, this isnt an RPG but supposedly injuries and such are reflected. and stats are updated nightly. That’s pretty amazing and i dont know anything else like that. The very definition of a fantastic game series that is well deserving of a lot of praise but i’m just not the one it’s for I guess.
third on my list would have to be not merely World of Warcraft but a lot of stuff made by blizzard. It’s funny because i love diablo and I even to some extent enjoyed classic starcraft and warcraft. but it would seem that is where I best draw the line. I played WoW with some friends (the same fools who played halo moved over into WoW, LOL) I kind of liked WoW at first. I hadn’t played Anarchy Online (i revisited that later, a few years ago actually but didnt get far in it by any means) I had several characters/toons on it. a sorceror a wizard and shaman. I was even part of a really good guild at some point that was well respected, but i found the experience of this game to be a bit flat and limited. what is odd is i dont mind the repetiive nature of an old turn based JRPG, but i find the whole cooldown rhyhtm thing and key combo pressing to be mind numbing and boring and not fun at all as you talk to people socially… My friends and guidies were super helpful and helped me power level in short amount of time (relatively…) I played up to the lich king but just lost interest. I played mostly because my friends were playing it, and we played a lot (again this was the next ‘all we did thing’ after HALO) a lot of these online games seem to go the same route of having this clan based interdependence that you can’t break away from, like a gang (see my review of ARK: Survival Evolved) if you dont show up friday night you basically doom your friends. Or if you dont know what you are doing, get too excited, or something you doom your friends (see leeroy jenkins video lol)
But blizzard annoys me more than that. I’m not a fan of the aesthetic, which is strangely consistent. and they have done other games that get wide acclaim which seem quite mediocre (like Hearthstone) Now they are getting into the MOBA scene which is something definitely not my fare. Oh and yes. My friends like MOBA now. lol.
I’m not sure if this should be mentioned because i dont think it could be called a great game but i will anyway MtGO (and their standalone releases) I actually play these every now and then, as i kind of like the game MtG, but WotC is a good example of a company that doesnt know how to make games done right. (I could probably throw the whole GW/Warhammer franchise in here too actually based on what i have played but i havent played some of the supposedly better ones so I will not pass Emperor’s judgement just yet. I have played enough MtGO to pass said judgement) and probably doesnt even want to make good games because that competes with their main business.
Most of these games can simply be lumped into categories and generally i feel same way:
couchshooters/frathouse shooters
Sports games,
MMOs/Mobas,
(That last one could be ‘poor translations’ into other media/contexts, which is why those games suffer.)
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Say that again! I hate those type of games as well.
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I didn’t like Mass Effect 2, I found it super-boring. And I didn’t like the Borderlands games, somehow I just found them annoying.
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I’ll admit, I’m not a big fan of the Last of Us. I felt the beginning “summer” chapter drug on forever. The little twist at the end was good, but the story overall was just “meh” for me. I didn’t enjoy the combat/stealth, especially trying to avoid those clickers.
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Oh man, this is not going to be a popular opinion, but I kind of hated The Messenger. I’m not sure why it rubbed me the wrong way so bad (maybe because I played it while stressed on a flight), but I just felt like it was retro for the sake of being retro.
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I don’t know if that’s really that unpopular of an opinion. I’ve seen reviews on both sides, some froknthose who love it and others from those who don’t. I think it’s a fairly polarizing game. And I think I’ve seen more people on Grouvee comment about not liking it than the contrary.
It genuinely curious about The Messenger but the mixed reviews have me wondering if it’s worth playing.
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Think it depends on how much nostalgia you have for that Ninja Gaiden style. As someone who never really played that genre growing up, the callbacks to it really didn’t do anything for me.
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I don’t really. It wasn’t a series I played for more than a few minutes here and there at a friend’s house as a kid. But I read that the Ninja Gaiden aspect is only the first half of the game and that there’s a twist that leads to the real game. I’ve read that a number of critics found the initial section boring but that the twist really made the game worthwhile. I’ve also heard that the diehard Ninja Gaiden fans dislike the twist, so I’m curious about the whole thing.
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@bmo I hear ya about Persona 4. I enjoyed the game, but there were certainly aspects of the game that, as you mentioned, are a bit disconcerting. For me, I read the game as a commentary on the state of Japanese culture. As a whole, the Japanese aren’t too sure what to do with things like homosexuality and alternate identities. The culture attempts to discuss them in popular culture, but even here the discussions are extremely conflicted and ambiguous (much like here in the U.S., actually). In the end, for me, I suppose I saw the game as a picture or image of the state of Japanese culture, which JRPGs like Persona are really good at doing.
For me, the problematic game is Persona 3. I can’t get over the idea that the main characters release their personas by shooting themselves in the head. I couldn’t even get past the opening sequence. The game is, though, attempting to take something like suicide and the spiritual “death of the self” (as found in Buddhism and Japan’s understanding of Christianity) seriously and to explore it creatively and fantastically. I think, however, the game’s imagery takes the conceit of shooting oneself too far, and this is a risk of any art. It just goes too far for me.
Persona 5 (I’m about half-way through it) is different than 3 or 4 in that it takes its theme serious and really tries to talk about bullying, outsiders, and deep anger. There are parts of 5’s humor that is similar to 4’s. I think one character is sexually harassed by her friends, and it comes out as a light gag rather than something serious. And while these moments can’t really be excused, on the whole the game (and series as a whole) is about standing up for oneself and one’s friends, regardless of who is the oppressor. Persona 5 gives me a lot of hope.
So, in the end, is this enough? Perhaps not. Like I said, I feel the same about Persona 3, and I rarely play western games because I feel that they’re lacking an aspect of hope and a sense of beauty and goodness that Japanese games (more often, in my experience) have. But, from what you wrote, you’ve really struggled with these issues in Persona 4 (and other games, too, perhaps). And if you’ve taken the games seriously enough to approach them philosophically, socially, and critically, and they’ve made you think more deeply about the world, then they’re done their “job.”
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I don’t disagree with you. There’s a lot that is quite good in Persona 4. And I do recognize it as a piece of significant art. I also enjoy many media works that are sometimes problematic. I think it’s just a matter of approaching and appreciating them critically, which you have clearly done with the Persona games. Persona contains just enough that bothers me to strain my relationship to it. I think it’s a significant work of art and something I am glad I engaged with but am equally glad I won’t engage with again. I’m sure that at some point I’ll play Persona 5 to see what it holds. I’ve read various tales on it and I’m both excited and worried.
I do think Japanese games (and other media) have wonderful stories to tell. And they each tell very different stories from one another. Even though Japan perhaps has a different relationship to queerness than other countries, I have consumed media from Japan that is very thoughtful on the subject. And I’m glad for that media. Persona 4 clearly tried to say interesting things but faltered enough to wear on my patience. I’m glad they tried but I’ve enjoyed other things from Japan that don’t falter in the same way. That said I do respect that the Persona series is well liked and reviewed and I’m happy that so many glean a great deal from the games.
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In the end, I think P4 was trying to tell that even though you might be mocked for it. Embrace your true self and face your darker sides. I understand the problems people might have with some of its presentation though. I think P5 was doing a far worse job, it started out with the promise of tackling some very serious issues, but ultimately presents it in such comically ridiculous ways that it makes light of the situation. Plus the fact that it just tries to shift the blame to ‘adults’ in stead of the rest of the series that always looked inside. It becomes the complete antithesis of P3 and P4 that felt hopeful because despite all, they could find the strength in themselves to go on. While in P5 it’s just “change the bad guys” and everything is solved. But you can’t change others in reality, only in that fantasy world.
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Super Meat Boy - I was disgusted with the blood 
I didn’t know before, that I hate combination of “blood and fun”. I don’t mind blood in creepy games, but combination with sweetness is disturbing. Yugh!
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Final Fantasy 7! Tried it a couple of times and don’t see what the fuss is about. I’ll probably give the remake a go when it comes out in 2026 on PS6 
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I personally can’t stand the Smash Bros games. Not only do I find it just generally frustrating to play with its slippery controls and overwhelming amount of stupid nonsense going on all over the screen the entire time, but it was also the only thing everyone wanted to play back in college – so I got extremely sick of it. The online gaming community also can never seem to stop talking about it (similarly: Pokemon, ugh). Everyone unfortunately ignores all the other creative fast-paced party fighting games there have been. Power Stone for example is a god-tier game, not to mention the insanely fun and overlooked Rival Schools titles (such as Project Justice).
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It’s been a while since I tried playing some of these, but there’s a few big series that I can’t get into:
Borderlands
Assassin’s Creed
Red Dead Redemption
I do want to try Borderlands again though. I love the aesthetic of Borderlands and the gameplay, but for whatever reason the cell shaded art style hurt my eyes the last time I played it. Assassin’s Creed has fun movement mechanics and engaging stories, but I always get bored or annoyed. I really liked Black Flag until I had to use the ships to sail around, then I stopped playing it. Red Dead just never really felt like anything special to me, just couldn’t get into it.
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I loved Dark Souls, even when it made me mad. I still cant stand Undertale, not very original, not funny and ugly, why play?
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