Most Pleasant Surprise Ever!

[Guest bluey]

to compliment warandchaos' awesome yet slightly pessimistic thread "what was your biggest gaming let down evar??!" i thought i'd share the hippie love and positive vibes by asking:

 

what game has been the most pleasantly surprisingly NOT crap game for you?

((a game you thought would be rubbish, but turned out to be awesome..?))

 

for me, it was zookeeperDS. when i first saw it i thought "meh, kids game" but randomly tried it during my lunch break at gamestation one time, and ive been addicted ever since. i could play it till my pupils turn into little square animals. even the horrifically repetitive and silly music entertains me O_O

 

waaa visually confusingggg hhehehehehhe but look at the bunnies!!

 

[Sanchez]

Ignorance is totally bliss.

 

I went into bioshock without knowing much about it or hyping myself up for it and I enjoyed it immensely, probably more than I would have otherwise.

Same for Half life 2 and shadow of the collosus to an extent.

Didn't know anything about Lost planet but the demo completely blew me away.

didn't know anything about dirt or graw but they're both some of my faviroute games this generation.

 

Since I've stopped getting hyped over everything I've enjoyed gaming so much more. It doesn't mean you don't know the good games or whats coming out, that information leaks out anyway.

[Marshmellow]

Call of Duty 4 surprised me a bit.

 

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, was a bit edgy when I first ordered it, but now I love it to pieces.

 

Rockstar Presents: Table Tennis, I was thinking "uhh table tennis how great can it be?" and then I played and I had a blast even though it was just table tennis.

[Olympic Gamer]

Phantasy Star Online.

 

I was told that if I couldnt go online, it'd be shit, I'd just stop playing it for hours. And some people even went as far as saying online was crap too.

 

Well, totally wrong. I've put in 200 hours total for the game, about 70% of that time was offline as I had no adaptor, and 30% online. Its just totally amazing how much of a thrill hunting for those rare weapons can give and when your online, chasing after the red items is yet another thrill!

 

Official servers have been down for a year, but theres other means of playing online if any body wishes to join.

[Daft]

Ignorance is totally bliss.

 

I went into bioshock without knowing much about it or hyping myself up for it and I enjoyed it immensely, probably more than I would have otherwise.

 

Seconded.

 

Also Earth Defense Force 2017. I knew it would be fun but I've clocked in over 30 hours of awesome co-op on it. Bargain at £17.99 on its release date.

[Eenuh]

This sounds silly, but Ocarine of Time.

Back when I got that game, I didn't even know yet Zelda was a series of games (even though I had played Link's Awakening). I hadn't even really heard of this game I think (no internet yet for me), until I got it for Christmas. But as soon as I popped it into the N64 and the intro started playing, I was hooked. Seriously hooked. Even took my N64 on vacation to Center Parcs; while my sisters were swimming (which I hated anyway), I was playing the game. =P

 

It's probably the one game that got me more into gaming and checking out gaming news.

 

Other than that, I think Age of Empires III. I won the game through a contest on the radio, yet I didn't know much about it. I really enjoyed it though and played it for hours on end. It's also the one game that kept me going through some of my "school depression" when I was still in my old school.

[Dyson]

Viva Pinata

[Dog-amoto]

Metroid Prime

[Mr. Bananagrabber]

Earth Defense Force. Went in expecting a game that I'd play for five minutes and then forget about. Got an OMGFUCKINAWESOME game.

 

Zelda: Minish Cap. I only got it because I had £25 burning a hole in my pocket, I was surprised to find a charming little adventure.

 

And:

 

Ico. It was from a developer I'd never heard of and I only got it because there was bugger all for the PS2 at the time. One of my favorite games ever.

[Guest Jordan]

Other than that, I think Age of Empires III. I won the game through a contest on the radio, yet I didn't know much about it. I really enjoyed it though and played it for hours on end. It's also the one game that kept me going through some of my "school depression" when I was still in my old school.

 

AoEIII sucked in comparison to AoEII or even AoM. Shame really.

 

My biggest suprise was easily Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War. I have no interest in Warhammer at all and that game STILL fucking rocks. "For the glory of the imperium!"

 

My other one would be God Hand. Totally, 110% crazy. I loved every second i got to play that game. Shame it was so stupidly hard.

[ReZourceman]

Donkey Kong Country 2 - Turned out to be nearing perfection in all its components.

[Dyson]

I think I might have to say Mario Kart Wii as well. Totally expecting it to be a crap rehash and wasn't going to buy it, but for a fiver I'd be a fool not to. Anyway, it works really well with the Wii Wheel and I can get everyone involved A very pleasant surprise!

[Eenuh]

AoEIII sucked in comparison to AoEII or even AoM. Shame really.

 

Probably, but since I never played those before that one I loved it. Never tried online though, but meh (don't care about online).

 

I actually bought Age of Mythology afterwards (last year) and kind of enjoyed it, but not as much. Which reminds me that I never finished that one.

[Guest Jordan]

Probably, but since I never played those before that one I loved it. Never tried online though, but meh (don't care about online).

 

I actually bought Age of Mythology afterwards (last year) and kind of enjoyed it, but not as much. Which reminds me that I never finished that one.

 

You haven't lived a geeks life till you've played 4 on 4 (or higher) LAN games of AoE2. Its so much fun. Ahhh meet ups, how i miss you.

[Shorty]

Mass Effect is the most recent surprise. I know it's highly rated, and I even liked the KoToR games - but I only really picked it up because it was cheap, much cheaper than assassin's creed. I asked which I should get on these forums first, and a lot of people said avoid ME because it was glitchy and flawed and no fun. But I put more time into it than anything on the 360 so far.

 

Devil May Cry 3, grabbed for the PC, had never played a DMC game, couldn't believe how much fun I had. Completed it, then completed it on Hard. Then completed it with Virgil... and hundreds of levels of the special modes...just wanted to keep playing!

Phantasy Star Online, for exactly the same reasons Olympic Gamer said (although I played it a lot in splitscreen). I think I got to lvl 150 about 4 times and my friend wiped my memory card by accident all 4 times, never did hit 200 or beat the 2nd episode on the hardest difficulty. Loved searching for those elusive red items though.

 

And thinking back in time... Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, I missed out on 1, and was amazed that the PS1 had a game this big and fun. Same goes for Final Fantasy VII. When I played my friends n64 and when I eventually got my own, I wasn't reading gaming magazines so Goldeneye, Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie and even Zelda OoT were all total surprises to me that blew me away.

 

If I go back further there's a bunch... but can't be bothered to describe them all:

 

SSX 3 (GC)

Age of Empires 2 (PC)

Little Big Adventure 2 (PC)

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)

Command & Conquer 1/Red Alert (PC)

Grim Fandango (PC)

Theme Hospital (PC)

Grand Theft Auto (PC)

Beetle Adventure Racing (N64)

WCW vs. NWO World Tour / Revenge (N64)

Blast Corps (N64)

Body Harvest (N64)

Bionic Commando (Gameboy)

Zelda: Links Awakening (Gameboy)

Donkey Kong Land (Gameboy)

Vectorman (Mega Drive)

Earthworm Jim (Mega Drive)

ToeJam and Earl (Mega Drive)

Turtles II (NES)

Ghostbusters (Commodore 64)

 

 

memory struggling to see back further than that.... and I'm sure I'll have missed some important surprises....

[Eenuh]

You haven't lived a geeks life till you've played 4 on 4 (or higher) LAN games of AoE2. Its so much fun. Ahhh meet ups, how i miss you.

 

I don't seem to be a big fan of online games I guess. Part of that is because there's always lag, which ruins it all. ='3

 

And I kinda consider myself geeky enough already. X3

[ReZourceman]

Actually add SSX Tricky. I had a sickening amount of fun on that game.

[Moohawk!]

Of recent times...

 

Portal.

 

I knew it was going to be good because I played Narbacular Drop but I never realised just HOW good. So glad I didn't read any spoilers about this game before I played it.

[weeyellowbloke]

Harvest Moon on SNES (emulator I'm afraid, yes I'm a disgrace). Saw the description as a farming sim and thought it sounded so bizarre I just had to download it. To my pleasant surprise it was fantastic and mesmerising.

 

Also when I first got a Playstation it came with this game called Final Fantasy VII. I had never heard of the other 6 before so I thought it can't be that good. As a result I spent the first month just playing Gran Turismo. When I finally got round to playing FF7..... well I didn't stop for about 9 months until I had completed every single thing in the game.

[Shorty]

Portal.

 

I knew it was going to be good because I played Narbacular Drop but I never realised just HOW good. So glad I didn't read any spoilers about this game before I played it.

Portal, yes. I expected it to be good due to what I'd heard, but it was so, SO good.

 

Narbacular Drop though, I didn't realise anybody played that.

[Guest Jordan]

Narbacular Drop was pretty difficult to play. I mean, the camera and the points of view just made it really confusing... and those fucking turtles.

[Wesley]

Super Mario 64. Was quite young when I bought it, I don't even remember why I wanted it so much. I think it was just because I enjoyed Mario on the GameBoy.

[LazyBoy]

Fire Emblem. First time I played it I had never heard of it, bought it for a fiver because it was a cool name, ignorant I was getting into one of the greatest game series of all time.

[Kirkatronics]

to compliment warandchaos' awesome yet slightly pessimistic thread "what was your biggest gaming let down evar??!" i thought i'd share the hippie love and positive vibes by asking:

 

what game has been the most pleasantly surprisingly NOT crap game for you?

((a game you thought would be rubbish, but turned out to be awesome..?))

 

for me, it was zookeeperDS. when i first saw it i thought "meh, kids game" but randomly tried it during my lunch break at gamestation one time, and ive been addicted ever since. i could play it till my pupils turn into little square animals. even the horrifically repetitive and silly music entertains me O_O

 

waaa visually confusingggg hhehehehehhe but look at the bunnies!!

I LOVE Zoo Keeper :p

My brotehrs game, but i wasn't letting him have it back.

[Good luck in this thread =) ]

[nightwolf]

Final fantasy 10, my friend had it on ps2 years ago and showed me it and I was abit iffy, funnily enough I used to go the library alot because of the ps2 games and grabbed it. I fell in love with that game.

 

mario kart ds took me by surprise shadowv7 told me to buy it and i thought it was going to be rubbish but I love it.

 

There's alot more but they stand out right now.