Starts off shit, ends up good

[Benji]

What games has EWB played that sucked at first but really grew on you after a while? For me it always happens on games with odd controls with inFamous, Assassin's Creed being the big two. There's also a few games that aren't particularly spectacular but the all-round package gets better as you go on, things like Final Fantasy XII which actually gets quite interesting once you've learned a few skills and get over the "lol, Star Wars" stuff.

[TCO]

Heavy Rain is the clearest option of this. The start is so boring and drab, but it's necessary to prepare you for the awesomeness that follows.

Red Dead Redemption starts kind of slow too, but is easily the greatest game ever in my eyes.

[Baddar]

Yeah, Heavy Rain was a slow starter, but I knew what to expect from the game having played the demo.

I guess I could say Uncharted falls into this category. When I played the first scene on the boat, I had a feeling the game was going to be complete garbage, but it turned out great. A lot of people were split on the plot twist towards the end, but I thought it brought a nice change of pace, as it was getting repetitive at that point. Among Thieves was even better.

And I wouldn't say that Burnout Paradise started off 'shit' per se, but after playing it for the first time, I could never have envisaged putting as many hours as I did into that game.

[Benji]

Oh yes, Uncharted too, that opening boat scene is awful because it gives no sense of the game's controls nor the general gameplay.

[HeartlineTwist]

Kingdom Hearts II.

Heavy Rain.

To a degree, Red Dead Redemption.

Call me crazy, but I really struggled with the beginning of Dead Rising.

Edited August 1, 2010 by HeartlineTwist

[METALMAN]

I just bought Heavy Rain yesterday funnily enough. I'm a bit relieved to see it here because I've only played it for about an hour so far and I was regretting getting it a bit!

[Toe]

Kingdom Hearts II.

Heavy Rain.

To a degree, Red Dead Redemption.

Call me crazy, but I really struggled with the beginning of Dead Rising.

To me, Dead Rising starts off great but gets really tedious when you end up fighting the typical Capcom style boss fights.

[Captain Kirk]

I found the exact opposite with InFamous and Assassin's Creed, brilliant to begin but way too repetitive.

[zero]

Red Dead Redemption starts kind of slow too, but is easily the greatest game ever in my eyes.

I must be stuck in that slow part because I just can't get into this game, for whatever reason. I don't get it, it's exactly the kind of game I should love, but it's just not clicking.

Definitely agree on Uncharted, in fact, I'd say it's awful until around 75% of the way through, then it got really fun.

And this might be sacrilege, but Ocarina of Time is painfully boring at first and then eventually becomes one of the greatest games ever.

Oh and Rock Band 1 definitely falls into this category. For how many fucking times you have to play Weezer and The Clash in the beginning of World Tour.

[Benji]

Kingdom Hearts II.

The point of the thread was that it ends up not sucking

[TKz]

MGS4 is a bit like this. The first hour or so of gameplay is a snorefest. It's not until you start picking up some decent weapons and get a bit into the story that it becomes great. And then it's just the billion cutscenes you have to survive through. >_>

FFXIII is the other way around to me. Once it becomes painfully obvious that there's no way of grinding up for the later bosses, the game get's so boring. I still haven't beaten it.

I'd add Fallout 3, but that would assume that it gets good at some point. It's been largely MEH throughout for me.

Oblivion and KOTOR comes under this catagory though. Boring to start, but once you power through an hour or two, they're both lovely.

Thinking about it, this is also the reason I've never beaten FFIX more than once. The first disk bores me so much. I can never get back into it.

[Rich]

Thinking about it, this is also the reason I've never beaten FFIX more than once. The first disk bores me so much. I can never get back into it.

Oh god yes. I love FFIX but until you reach Linblum, jesus it is slow.

[Gongsun Zan]

Fallout 2 and it's boring as fuck first stage. Especially so considering they give you a weapon hardly anybody puts any skill points into, leaving you at the mercy of the RNG.

[Benji]

Thinking about it, this is also the reason I've never beaten FFIX more than once. The first disk bores me so much. I can never get back into it.

Oh god yes. I love FFIX but until you reach Linblum, jesus it is slow.

Agreed, it's pretty much the only flaw that I can't find an excuse for. Of course, the visuals of the Ice Cavern and the whole Black Waltz stuff in Dali is cool if you know what to look for on replays.

[probablyoliver]

Fallout 3 is the main one. Leaving the vault and being this huge slab of endless wasteland and pretty much being told "yeah, you figure it out" was, for me, horrible. It took me about 5 restarts to get into that game, but when it actually kicked in it was just glorious from mid-start to finish. I must've wasted 200 hours on that game, just idly bumming about and looking for stuff. It's wonderful.

[The Kraig]

KOTOR is a massive 'DINGDINGDING' for this. So many of my friends ditched the game before you even get a ship! Crazy!

Halo as well. The first one anyways. Drags on, but it was a good introduction and kind of steamrollered it's way from there into the rest of the games.

[Farmer Reil]

Definitely KOTOR, and also Oblivion. Since nothing ever happens in Morrowind the whole way through, I started Oblivion and my reaction was pretty much: "Ooooh, pretty!" Followed by "Uh-oh... not again..." but when the main storyline kicks into gear (pretty much after you complete the first Oblivion Gate section) it becomes awesome.

I wouldn't say Fallout 3 "started off shit". It happens to have a bit of a slow start, but you need that slow start for backstory and tutorial purposes. It's a great game.

Most RPGs are in danger of ending up in this thread if "having a slow start" equates to "starts off shit" in people's minds. There aren't many RPGs that start off with "holy shit epic action~!".

Having said that, Dragon Age: Origins definitely fits this thread if you happen to start as a Human Noble. ¬_¬

[kingtut307]

Red Dead starts slow, gets AWESOME towards the middle, but then slows down again at the end. It's strange, I felt it could've ended two or three different times.

[HeartlineTwist]

Red Dead starts slow, gets AWESOME towards the middle, but then slows down again at the end. It's strange, I felt it could've ended two or three different times.

Yeah. But to be fair, the falling action/slow part doesn't drag on as long as it could.

[Benji]

I love that it slowed down at the end, you expect it to pick up before the big ending, which makes the final mission all the more phenomenal; they lowered the boom so it would be even better.