Gaming Guilty Pleasures

[InsrtCoins]

Are there games in your collection that you love not in spite of but because of their poor quality? Do you find yourself buying into fanservice a bit too readily? What games do you play that you'd wish no one else would ever know about?


I like to think of myself as a rather mature individual, but I, ashamedly, find it so cathartic to shoot enemies in the crotch in John Woo's Stranglehold. Early in the game, you receive a special ability that allows you to slow down time and zoom in to a tremendous degree on any enemy around you, and once you fire your shot off at them, the camera follows the bullet (much like Sniper Elite) and you get a nice reaction shot, some disgusting mooshing sounds, and delightfully over-the-top animations based on where you shoot them. And ... well ... I guess there's a bit of a child in all of us from time to time...

[DomsBeard]

As a big Lost fan (I'm not talking about the ending) it was nice to be back on that island a few years after the show had finished and meeting the characters again. It's terrible but if you like lost there's enough to love here to justify getting it. I have a copy if anyone wants to try it. Easy 1000g gamerscore if that's your thing to.

[InsrtCoins]

As a big Lost fan (I'm not talking about the ending) it was nice to be back on that island a few years after the show had finished and meeting the characters again. It's terrible but if you like lost there's enough to love here to justify getting it. I have a copy if anyone wants to try it. Easy 1000g gamerscore if that's your thing to.

Did you ever find the Lost easter egg island in Just Cause 2?

[NokkonWud]

As a big Lost fan (I'm not talking about the ending) it was nice to be back on that island a few years after the show had finished and meeting the characters again. It's terrible but if you like lost there's enough to love here to justify getting it. I have a copy if anyone wants to try it. Easy 1000g gamerscore if that's your thing to.

Did you ever find the Lost easter egg island in Just Cause 2?

Wolverine had one too.

[DomsBeard]

No not played Just Cause 2.

[dezm0nd]

It's a well crafted easter egg. I gotta admit, shit gamers based on stuff I love (futurama, lost) are a major guilty pleasure, too!

[Flabyo]

I never really feel guilty about the things I enjoy, but I guess I'd have to say the Koei 'Warriors' games. Dynasty Warriors 8 isn't *quite* as good as 7 was, and Warriors Orochi 3 is better than them both (but only if you've actually read 'Three Kingdoms' or half the jokes in Orochi 3 will make no sense).

I quite like the DOA fighting games as well, they're mechanically very solid, they're just lumbered with an art director that's more interested in gravure than decent art direction.

[Scrustle]

I'm the same. I don't really feel any shame or guilt about anything I play. Maybe I enjoy a few games with some significant flaws, sure, but if I can still find something in there that makes it worth it, then why should I feel bad about that?

For the same reasons, I don't think Stranglehold should be considered a guilty pleasure. I remember when that game came out. There was quite a buzz about it. I played the demo and found it pretty fun. Silly, dumb, and a bit janky, but the ridiculous gunplay was pretty good.

As long as you can acknowledge flaws that a game might have, then there should be no problem with enjoying it. Even if you don't acknowledge flaws, it's still not really guilt that's needed. Just a more critical and analytical view. It's good to be able to criticise everything. Nothing is perfect, and if you pretend something is then it'll never get better. You'll probably end up with pretty bad taste in the long run too.

But I suppose I shouldn't be a stick in the mud and try to name something that at least resembles what this topic is about. I've enjoyed quite a few games that are in general pretty bad. Like Project Sylpheed, Infinite Undiscovery, Sonic Adventure, Ninety Nine Nights, and Import Tuner Challenge to name but a few. I've still found them worth playing for one reason or another though. Sometimes their novelty makes up for their flaws, at least partially.

Also from how you hear most people talk about the game now, it seems that it's apparently not cool to like Skyrim anymore. I still play it occasionally and I still like it, but it seems all I ever see around the internet is people talking about what garbage it is. Both fans of the series and newcomers. I think people have exaggerated the flaws of that game way too much. It's like they're comparing it to some hypothetical game which doesn't exist.

And to go off on a bit of a tangent, the novelty of Project Sylpheed is kind of depressing. There are hardly any other space flight sims on consoles anymore! What's more, we're starting to see the genre make a comeback on PC with all these crowdfunded success stories, but still nothing on consoles!

[ratsoalbion]

Also from how you hear most people talk about the game now, it seems that it's apparently not cool to like Skyrim anymore. I still play it occasionally and I still like it, but it seems all I ever see around the internet is people talking about what garbage it is. Both fans of the series and newcomers. I think people have exaggerated the flaws of that game way too much. It's like they're comparing it to some hypothetical game which doesn't exist.

Not just Skyrim, but almost any and every game that was critically acclaimed and/or raved about by many upon its original release. It's tall poppy syndrome and best ignored in favour of one's own experiences and opinions.
Expect the inevitable GTAV backlash to commence next Wednesday.

[NokkonWud]

Also from how you hear most people talk about the game now, it seems that it's apparently not cool to like Skyrim anymore. I still play it occasionally and I still like it, but it seems all I ever see around the internet is people talking about what garbage it is. Both fans of the series and newcomers. I think people have exaggerated the flaws of that game way too much. It's like they're comparing it to some hypothetical game which doesn't exist.

Not just Skyrim, but almost any and every game that was critically acclaimed and/or raved about by many upon its original release. It's tall poppy syndrome and best ignored in favour of one's own experiences and opinions.
Expect the inevitable GTAV backlash to commence next Wednesday.

Yep, incredibly predictable. People will try and make you feel bad for simply liking a critically received game, BioShock Infinite comes to mind this year, The Last of Us may be another - though it does seem less common for platform exclusive games? Or is that just me.

[Scrustle]

It has seemed much more prominent with Skyrim than most other games though. With most initially well received games which have gotten a backlash the majority of people still talk favourably about it, while a smaller counter culture bubbles up every now and then. But with Skyrim it seems that it's almost exclusively negative opinions you hear now. At least in the places I've looked. Everyone seems to have jumped on the bandwagon.

I haven't personally noticed there being more backlash with platform exclusives, but I could see a reason why that could be the case. It could simply be console fanboys trying to discredit games on an opposing platform to make themselves feel vindicated.

I don't doubt there will be a backlash against GTA V either. Apart from it just being a big popular game, the series is in a bit of an odd place I think. People were disappointed with GTA IV, and although it seems V has more of a sense of humour about it, it remains to be seen how much is has inherited from IV, or other GTA games. It's also not alone now with Saints Row challenging it, and Rockstar themselves have come quite a long way, especially in terms of storytelling, since IV was released. No matter how the game turns out, with all those factors in play it's bound to disappoint someone.

[InsrtCoins]

It has seemed much more prominent with Skyrim than most other games though. With most initially well received games which have gotten a backlash the majority of people still talk favourably about it, while a smaller counter culture bubbles up every now and then. But with Skyrim it seems that it's almost exclusively negative opinions you hear now. At least in the places I've looked. Everyone seems to have jumped on the bandwagon.

I was just thinking about this last night, actually. In public opinion, Oblivion has not aged well at all, and it looks like Skyrim, which everyone seems to have loved while playing it, is heading in the same direction. I think the reason for that is the series' incredible dedication for mod support coming back and biting them.

It's my opinion that breaking the illusion of reality in game worlds is more fun the more seriously the world takes itself. That's why I got the giggles each time my character in Heavy Rain would fail to drink from his coffee cup like a normal human being while all of the silliness that happens in Saints Row IV seems pretty par for the course. The closer a game approximates real life (or something equally as serious and heavy), the funnier it is to break it.

Unfortunately, as time went on, Skyrim and Oblivion before it became synonymous with silly mods and glitches. The images that come to mind when people think of those games are guards stuck in the doorways, flopping around, because that's what is fun to show everyone else on the internet. Gradually, the serious tone of the story has been replaced similar to how Half-Life 2's G-Man has lost most of his menace after becoming the face of G-Mod.

[DomsBeard]

If something is very popular then people in an attempt to stand out shoot it down to get attention normally. Twitter has made this ten times worse. I enjoy every game on its own merits unless it's a sequel so therefore tied to the original.

Skyrim is my favourite game of all time by the way, hope it's in volume 3