Second Impressions – Games I Gave Another Chance

Want to try again? Sometimes it pays off.

Want to try again? Sometimes it pays off.

I lived a pretty charmed existence as a young gamer, never wanting for very long before a new game came my way. I grew to accept fairly early on that some games were just duds, and not worth wasting your time on. We had a large library of Atari 2600 titles in my family by the time that system (or our interest in playing it) died and a significant portion were bad, by any definition. Given how basic many of those games were, it usually didn’t take long to separate the wheat from the chaff – the fun ones were returned to over and over, the boring ones collected dust.

Later, when it was my own resources and purchasing power on the line, I became hyper-discerning. I’d research a game endlessly before committing any money to it, as I simply couldn’t afford, even in the age of eBay, to waste funds on a bad decision. For a brief period, I felt compelled to stick with the “meh” titles I had bought, stubbornly refusing to put them down at the risk of admitting to myself I’d made a bad decision.

As reality and adult life gradually asserted itself, time became the biggest factor. Who has the spare hours to dedicate to sounding out if a new game is genuinely bad or just a slow build, or if there may be some unseen value that you have to search out to fully appreciate? I certainly didn’t. First impressions ruled the day, and whether or not I went on to like or even bother delving into a game was usually based on my experience in the first hour or two of gameplay. Occasionally, it was even quicker – I barely had the second tutorial mission for Dawn of War underway before I remembered “oh right…I hate real-time strategy games…” and promptly returned it.

I know I’m not the only one who operates this way. I’ve heard Penny Arcade’s Mike Krahulik repeatedly mention that he needs a game to grab him early before he gets bored and moves on. I doubt that things are going to change for me anytime soon. With the advent of Steam and cheap impulse purchases during PC sales, it’s getting easier to buy something on a lark or a mild recommendation, give it a try and decide to leave it languishing in your “list of shame”. One can even get a full refund if they find a game particularly awful or objectionable. Why bother with second impressions?

Yet over the course of my personal gaming history, there are a few rare instances where I eventually went back to a game that I had once passed over, and truly enjoyed it. In most cases, it wasn’t an extreme amount of time between attempts, though I’ve been known to revisit games years later with differing results. Perhaps mindset, subsequent game experiences and regret may be behind some of those decisions; new information or a convincing argument from a fan could also influence me. Below, are five particularly happy examples where my willingness to give a game a second chance paid off – all have become beloved titles that I’d be poorer for having missed out on altogether. So, in no particular order:

 

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

I knew going in that the Dreamcast had a great selection of fighting games, with Capcom heavily represented. Having been a fan of the Street Fighter series and X-Men: Children of the Atom it seemed to me that combining the two would offer the best of both worlds. I’d even briefly sampled a few of the previous titles leading up to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in the arcades and enjoyed them immensely. Nevertheless, my first impressions of MvC2 were mixed, and I found myself feeling overwhelmed. If a finely crafted, expertly tuned fighting system is what you want, go elsewhere. Some characters are simply overpowered, others appear to have been included as a joke, and are rarely if ever competitive. The speed is also really challenging at first, even for a player like me who celebrated the introduction of a turbo setting in other Capcom brawlers. If, however, you learn like I did to turn off part of the logical part of your fighting-game brain that demands precision and balance and enjoy MvC2 for what it is – a hyperactive, colourful, flashy, over-the-top, endlessly varied and FUN fighter – you’ll discover a real treat. I promise you somewhere in the 56 (!) name long roster you’ll find a combination of characters that suits your style. Alternately, you can go for pure chaos and select your combatants at random. Undoubtedly MvC2 is a canonical mess and looks like an epileptic seizure waiting to happen, but it takes the 3 vs. 3 fighting formula and makes it wildly entertaining and unpredictable all at once.

marvel_vs_capcom_wallpaper_5

“I’m gonna take you for a rii-hiide”

Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage

Another Dreamcast title from my distant past, my re-assessment of Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage was literally years in the making. A dark fantasy action 3d beat-em-up based on the popular Berserk manga series, I was intrigued at first glance, despite not being familiar with the source material. I was already enough of an anime fan to be prepared for the violent/strange direction it was clear the game would go in. The voice acting too, was top notch: with names like Michael Bell and Cam Clarke in the cast list I knew I would be impressed by the performances if nothing else. But a combination of factors, from unintuitive controls to an inconsistent save-point system to awkward camera angles wore down my patience before I got even a third of the way through the story. Normally I would seek gameplay tips or advice if a game was getting the better of me. Instead, I got sidetracked and it was over 9 years before I would finally return, determined to see the game through for the story at least. Somehow in the intervening years, perhaps I had grown more patient or figured out what had stumped me previously. Sure the camera was still finicky, and the main character’s gigantic two-handed sword made indoor fighting sequences unwieldy. Admittedly, at least one of the boss encounters did cross the line from fun-but-challenging into painful. Yet underneath the frustrations that remained was a pretty cool narrative and a game that rewarded a second look.

 

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

I’m normally in favour of the idea of demos, and I’ve made many a purchase based on a positive trial experience. In the case of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain my experience with the demo (which I played several times to completion) sold me so strongly that I counted down the days to the PC port of this Playstation release with eager anticipation. The weird and wonderful gothic world of Nosgoth, the darkly charismatic protagonist and absolutely stellar voice acting had me in thrall. Upon picking up the game months later I was not disappointed, at least to start with. But either by bad luck or incompetence I got completely mired in a difficult section, two or three stages in and my frustrations quickly overtook any interest in attempting to forge ahead. Many months passed before I decided to start from scratch, and my efforts paid off. I can’t even remember now what had tripped me up, but once over this obstacle I was able to enjoy the game in all its rich, twisted splendor. Considering it was just the starting point for what proved to be an excellent (and now sadly, lapsed) series of action/adventure games, it would have been a shame had I not decided to give Kain another chance.

"You will have the blood you hunger for..."

“You will have the blood you hunger for…”

Warframe

If I could sum up the main issue with Warframe in two words it would be learning curve. This is not a game that spoon-feeds the player lore, context, or even very much in the way of gameplay advice. And I can say this honestly, in 2015 long after the introduction of new opening sequences, improved codex tutorials covering crafting and progression and commendable attempts to streamline and clean up the interface. I started playing in mid-2013 when there was next to no hand-holding at all – unless you had a friend or veteran player willing to shepherd you through, you were going to struggle to find your way. That being said, once you do put in some time and effort (including perhaps a bit of online research), there is a brilliant game waiting on the other side. I’ve twice put the game down for long periods of time (6+ months), only to return and end up happy that I did. I’m not typically an advocate for free-to-play games but I’ve made this a glaring exception. This is a great co-op, 3rd person action title that continues to evolve and grow literally week to week. If you set it aside a while back like I did, I heartily recommend giving it another look.

 

FTL (Faster Than Light) 

A good rogue-like game is typically difficult, but rewarding, albeit in a different way than many other genres. Sometimes the achievement is simply finding out how far you can manage to get before you get shit-hammered. Those that need a forgiving, slowly ramped-up experience that will get hard at a measured, predictable pace are likely to be stunned when the inbuilt chaos that rogue-like games offer slap them in the face. Knowing all this, as a veteran gamer, I still managed to go into FTL (Faster Than Light, an indie space combat/ship management game) with the wrong mindset. You can save progress and quit…but there are no re-loading saves after an unlucky or poorly planned out battle. Brutal, right? There is a surprising amount of depth and variety here to enjoy, but you simply have to get past the randomness of it. Sometimes, you will lose, badly playing FTL. After a half dozen outings during which I probably made it no further than two-thirds of the way through the game’s branching system map, I put FTL down, not expecting to go back. Further research which enlightened me to the true nature of the game convinced me I had acted too rashly. You will get better, more cautious and smarter with subsequent repetitions – you may even get good enough to roll with the chance punches, or at least minimize risks. A brilliant and addictive experience is here once you get past your initial impressions – this ranks as one of my favourite space-sim games of all time.


 

One Response to Second Impressions – Games I Gave Another Chance

  1. Devil Mingy says:

    As a jaded individual, I am also always weary of games with slow starts, compelling me to soldier through hours to get to good stuff. I have patience for some, to a certain point, but I’ve unfortunately played just as many games that never, ever got better.

    Still, I have found some unexpected gems out of games that frustrate me to no end in the first act, Dragon Age Inquisition probably being my most recent example. Your list has some surprising ones on it, and one that I kinda want to try again now.

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