wunty
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Pastry Forward
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Post by wunty on Nov 13, 2023 15:41:45 GMT
This has been a bumper year of games hasn't it? It's not even over yet! Eh? Gosh. Some of them were announced years ago and we all got soupy thinking about how amazing some of them would be.
Alas. Some games proved to be all talk and no trousers. Which have been your most disappointing games this year?
I'll start.
Top disappointments 2023:
Alan Wake 2 - Looks amazing but as a game it's fallen over it's own underwear and landed face down in a puddle of old vomit
Wo Long - It's Nioh, but in China, and nowhere near as good
Atomic Heart - It's Bioshock in an alternative USSR made by people of dubious character with just TERRIBLE game design
Edit: In clarification to Uly's point, I think it's fair that this includes anything that was released this year, even if that means it was a re-release / remake or remaster. They are fair game as well as there have been decidedly sub-par iterations of games that we quite frankly expected more from. As Witcher 3 current gen version only had it's physical release this year, and knowing that some only play physical copies, then that too, is fair.
Edit Edit: Actually. Thinking on it. I have more:
Diablo IV - It looks amazing. Like, properly amazing. I love the open world. Gameplay-wise, it's a fucking grim experience. So from that point of view, yeah, I'm really disappointed. It was revealed a lifetime ago and all you end up doing is lobbing ineffecive skills at bullet sponge enemies and picking up insipid loot. Considering the loot and the huge melee fracas is Diablo's whole bag, it feels as satisfying to play as it is to sit on the toilet and cough up one small hard brown peanut instead of what your tummy has been promising all morning.
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Ulythium
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Lily-livered
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Post by Ulythium on Nov 13, 2023 15:51:34 GMT
Does The Witcher 3 count? It finally came to current-gen consoles in retail form this year, and while many of its components were every bit as good as the hype suggested, the actual gameplay was super clunky.
Failing that, I had high hopes for Like a Dragon: Ishin!, but opted not to buy it after playing around with the demo for a while. (See above re clunky-ass gameplay.)
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Nov 13, 2023 15:53:16 GMT
without a shadow of a doubt, Kerbal Space Program 2. The only game I've ever left a negative steam review for. The only game i've ever refunded on steam. The only polished thing was its marketing, the only remotely finished thing was its marketing. nine months on, not a single part of the roadmap has been completed (or even started) - it's only recently dragged up to "mixed" rating thanks to a promise that the very first part of the roadmap is going to see some progress next month maybe. recommended system requirements is a freaking 3080 for something that looks no better than a modded KSP1 that'll happily run on a 960
"The developers, smiling bravely in circumstances presumably beyond their control, describe the launch as like dropping a kid off for their first day at school. Well the kid forgot their lunchbox, their uniform, their books and their pencil case. They showed up at the wrong school, on a Saturday during half-term. If you were stranded on a desert island and had to recreate Kerbal Space Program from memory using nothing but coconuts and string, it would look something like Kerbal Space Program 2. The game is nowhere approaching finished, it barely resembles the promotional videos, and it isn’t ready, even by Early Access standards." |
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Post by FlexibleFeline on Nov 13, 2023 15:56:20 GMT
Redfall.
Surely nothing will top that debacle?
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alastair
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Post by alastair on Nov 13, 2023 15:57:16 GMT
Metroid Prime Remastered was somewhat disappointing.
Sometimes those rose-tinted specs need to stay in place as a view on the past.
The regular retracing of steps did indeed become a chore. And, while I was chuffed to get past Meta Ridley, which had been my limit on the Cube, I started to get the feeling that I was pushing through to the end simply because I wanted to get it done. I wasn't simply playing for the pure enjoyment of the game.
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Post by simple on Nov 13, 2023 16:00:54 GMT
I’ve barely played any new releases this year but considering it was functionally indistinguishable from the TellTale games of the 360 generation (Walking Dead etc) Star Trek Resurgence was extraordinarily janky. Audio cues missing, audio tracks playing over one another, moments of massive slowdown, progression critical button prompts that sometimes just didn’t show up, tools like tricorders that once pulled up into your field of vision could no longer be lowered meaning you couldn’t see or do anything else, wonky animation and clipping. It very much felt like an unfinished game pushed out the door far too early.
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Post by rhaegyr on Nov 13, 2023 16:01:40 GMT
Redfall
Was hoping this would be my groups new multiplayer/co-op game but it was bobbins.
Diablo 4 isn't far behind - it's just fucking boring.
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apollo
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Post by apollo on Nov 13, 2023 16:09:15 GMT
Starfield - I knew it was going to be hyped up and full of Todd's lies but it was still disappointing and the quest design at the studio is getting worse as the games go on
Forza motorsport - While its good driving game, the studio still can't make a good and interesting single player mode. Its the same dull races and they have been doing this for years
Atomic Heart - Looked amazing but some really bad game design choices like constant re-spawning enemies in the open world, ugly office levels earlier on when they have lots of nice other level design ideas
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uiruki
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Post by uiruki on Nov 13, 2023 16:09:28 GMT
I need to get around to writing up the games from the last few months but I think this will cover it: Wo Long - Compared to the incredible depth and breadth of Nioh 2 this is a fart in a bathtub, further hampered by the worst engine in gaming today making it borderline unplayable on a high-end PC system. Ys X Nordics - The lesson Falcom seemed to have learned from Ys 9, which was inferior to 8 in every way, was to really push on the things that made it worse. WAY too much talking, far too slow, the worst implementation of a break/stagger system I have seen yet, and the biggest sin for an action RPG - it's just boring. Mortal Kombat 1 - Just not good enough for a solo player. I think I played more of 11 in the runup to this than I did 1 itself; the single player content just feels really undercooked, with the Invasions mode in particular just being bad.
One more - Atelier Ryza 3 - Just no fun as Gust once again crash into the 'big level open world' type thinking that ruined Atelier Firis and again it runs like absolute garbage for no good reason.
Special mention to Shadow Warrior 3 which I played this year; a shit Doom Eternal, and I wasn't particularly over-enamoured with the 'real' version in the first place. |
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Post by Jambowayoh on Nov 13, 2023 16:10:46 GMT
Redfall because of how far Arkane Austin had fallen but I guess that was also due to how much Bethesda's obsession with a getting a live service game out there (which it wasn't even by the time it came out) and MS' need to have a first party game after such a drought
Starfield because this is what happens when you make games while seemingly stuck in a 2011 time capsule.
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ned
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Post by ned on Nov 13, 2023 16:14:03 GMT
Starfield.
Didn’t enjoy the exploration, which is my favourite part of Bethesda games. The skills weren’t that interesting and so I didn’t feel an incentive level up. Also their games are starting to feel very dated now.
Diablo 4. Campaign was quite good but I wanted to be able to play around with builds and try out different skills. The silly respec costs really took away that part of the fun. Seemed easier to just level another character.
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Post by deekyfun on Nov 13, 2023 16:16:24 GMT
Was Bloodbowl 3 this year? If so, that, as it was a shitshow.
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Post by RadicalRex on Nov 13, 2023 16:29:48 GMT
Starfield. Not sure it counts as I had to stay under 2 hours of play time before a refund, but the 100 minutes I played were utterly devoid of anything interesting whatsoever. As was anything I ever saw in any trailer or game footage. I used to be a Bethesda fan/apologist despite their underwhelming output post-Skyrim, but at this point I've given up on them and I don't even care about the next TES anymore.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2023 16:34:49 GMT
Callisto Protocol
All those years to improve on Dead Space and somehow they met it feel like it was the 360 game that inspired Dead Space. Not the other way around.
Combat was mediocre and so were the scares.
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Tuffty
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Post by Tuffty on Nov 13, 2023 16:50:18 GMT
Callisto Protocol was pretty bang average yeh. But then I wasn't overly anticipating it. I was expecting good things for Jedi Survivor and have to admit I was left pretty flat by the story, the Jedi boss battles and its been the only PS5 game I've played so far that was constantly dipping below 60 fps on performance mode. Weird bugs too that made it still about as buggy as the first game which I wasn't expecting.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2023 17:02:55 GMT
Heh, I really enjoyed Jedi Survivor. Think it topped the first and looked amazing. Played well after launch so had a very smooth experience with no bugs.
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uiruki
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Post by uiruki on Nov 13, 2023 17:12:08 GMT
It does feel like I've 'dodged' a bunch of games like Starfield, Forza and Jedi Survivor this year. I think it's because I've been so busy with other things. That doesn't mean I've not been disappointed at all but I've definitely managed to drown out the bad with the good, in this case by wanting to play as much as possible on Deck so games that won't run on it are much less likely to get on my radar.
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Post by damagedinc on Nov 13, 2023 17:21:00 GMT
Cant believe I'm gonna post this but
Zelda TOTK
Some great Nintendo magic but it felt all to similar to BOTW. I was conflicted after finishing it about how I felt. However as time has passed I'm even more certain now of my disappointment.
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uiruki
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Post by uiruki on Nov 13, 2023 17:40:48 GMT
I think I'd be a lot less positive on it if I hadn't finished it before they patched out the easy item duplication.
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apollo
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Post by apollo on Nov 13, 2023 17:45:52 GMT
I was looking forward to Callisto Protocol as it was suppose to be the spirtual successor to dead space with some of the old team and it was just meh (it was 2022 game, so I didn't add to the list) I got it off ebay near the start of the year for £22 -ish and sold for about £20
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Post by Aunt Alison on Nov 13, 2023 19:08:17 GMT
Haven't played it but was disappointed by Redfall's turnout and Starfield doesn't sound like being worth bothering with. Alan Wake 2 doesn't sound like something I'd like but I was never really interested in the first place. It's been a terrible year for games I haven't played that I wouldn't have liked
Most disappointing game I've actually played this year is Prodeus. Just found it dull and probably won't finish it
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Nov 13, 2023 19:48:04 GMT
Game OF Life 2023! FML
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Post by Jambowayoh on Nov 13, 2023 19:55:55 GMT
I'm unsurprised to see that Starfield barely made a mention in the Game Awards nominations.
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Post by Humperfunk on Nov 13, 2023 20:07:22 GMT
Starfield - thought the previews looked a bit poor but hoped Skyrim in space would really be true. Just didn't give a shit about any of the story and found the gameplay so bland. Space combat was dogshit. Binned after 10 hours sadly.
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Post by baihu1983 on Nov 13, 2023 20:11:22 GMT
I'm unsurprised to see that Starfield barely made a mention in the Game Awards nominations. cause its not available on PS...  |
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Post by Vandelay on Nov 13, 2023 21:11:47 GMT
I didn't actually play it, but Arkane releasing not only a shit game, but one that sounds basically broken must surely be the biggest disappointment in the gaming this year.
Also, Mimimi closing up after the release of Shadow Gambit (another game I haven't actually played yet, but Desperados 3 and Shadow Tactics were excellent).
Of the games I actually played, probably Company of Heroes 3 was the biggest disappointment. I didn't hate the game and I'm kind of surprised there was so much discontent from the multiplayer side, as it at worst felt to me as more of the same, but the Italian campaign did not live up to its potential. The completely busted startegy level AI didn't help, but even if that had of been improved I can't see it having been anything but a fairly dry map painting exercise. There was a glimmer of something there and I remember in the beta it feeling more interesting and the more scripted missions were pretty good (the ones in the Italian campaign that is; the African campaign I didn't even finish). The final product was pretty average though.
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zephro
Junior Member
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Post by zephro on Nov 13, 2023 21:13:51 GMT
I think the 3 that could have got it I swerved well clear of. Redfall, Company of Heroes 3 and Starfield. Pre ordering is for chumps.
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Post by Jambowayoh on Nov 13, 2023 21:15:39 GMT
I was so so so let down by CoH3. The campaign was so disappointing and I don't think Relic are long for this world really.
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Nov 13, 2023 21:23:27 GMT
I was so so so let down by CoH3. The campaign was so disappointing and I don't think Relic are long for this world really. [br Yeah Blackbird seems to have all the talent. Other than Age of Empires 4 getting good reviews I feel like they've not done anything amazing since Dawn of War 2. Though I didn't rate Dow 2 that much. |
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Post by Jambowayoh on Nov 13, 2023 21:32:33 GMT
I was so so so let down by CoH3. The campaign was so disappointing and I don't think Relic are long for this world really. [br Yeah Blackbird seems to have all the talent. Other than Age of Empires 4 getting good reviews I feel like they've not done anything amazing since Dawn of War 2. Though I didn't rate Dow 2 that much. DoW2 was a strange one, it cribbed a fair amount from CoH but you could see how it linked to DoW3's MOBA gameplay with the heavy focus on a particular squad. The less said about DoW3 the better though. I honestly thought CoH3 would be a return to form but there was an almost pathological lack of care in almost everything and just how drab it looked. |
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