It's more interesting than it is good, I think. I love that they tried to make a game that wasn't an action game, but was bummed that they jammed so much (bad) action into it. I loved that the game allows you to make your own mistakes, but was bummed they don't lead to any real ramifications. I loved that they set the scene for a really interesting story, but was bummed when they didn't capitalize and gave it a left-field, abrupt ending.  
 
When it's all said and done though, I really loved the game. At very least it showed that you can make a blockbuster game that isn't a hack-n-slash/character action/shooter. 

I was disappointed, yes. I can't put it into words very well, but for one thing, the interrogations, they felt... Limiting? Shallow? Like some point and click adventure games, where the game only allows its own steps to a solution. I suppose asking for otherwise could be a bit much, considering the number of variables that would go in it, but... Doesn't mean I like the way they approached it.

I dunno I was really into the game while I played it so I had no problems looking past a lot of the problems. I do agree with a lot of what you said though. Just bought the dlc cases and played through them and I gotta say I think I'm done with la noire. The combat is just so god damn bad. Thankfully you can skip the driving for the most part so that makes it better. Some of the questioning parts just didn't make any sense though. Overall I gotta say I did like the game though even though it had it's issues. Hopefully rockstar makes a la noire 2 I think they coukd do a better job of it.

I'm loving it

No, I really liked it. Also I don't remember the paedophile bit, when the hell was that?

No, I really liked it. Also I don't remember the paedophile bit, when the hell was that?

A lot of you complaining about Phelps as a character (and by a lot of you, I mean only what i read of the first page before deciding to respond) obviously missed the "Noire" part of L.A. Noire. here's a link to the "Film Noir" wikipedia page to explain it. Read the 'Plots, Characters, and Settings" section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_Noire 
 
And people complaining about not liking the ending, Good. Again, it's called L.A. Noire,  it's supposed to have a unhappy ending. My only complaint is I wish that the ending was longer and explained more. 
 
Honestly, The one thing that really bothered me was how most of what happened while working the homicide desk was never explained. I feel like they left too many loose ends on the homicide desk.

Yeah I thought the game snuck by reviewers and got away with being a VERY shallow experience in terms of actual gameplay.  As an interactive movie, it wasn't paced well and lacked emotional punch.  The ending sucked not because of it's content - but because I didn't really care about any of it.
 
The one thing I unequivocally loved was the look of the city.  They did a fantastic job - I just wish it was in service of better mechanics and more fun.
 
The worst thing I can say with LA Noire is how much I wanted to like it VS how long I could stand to sit and play it at once.  The longer I played, the more the experience bottomed out for me and I would have to forget about it for a few days just to press on.  1-2 hours MAX before the cracks start showing and you realize all you are doing is playing a point and click game with control sticks and a pointless open city.  Also the interrogation system is badly designed.  If it worked as advertised, that would be fine.  But it only responds to the direction the writer wants you to go and often has huge gaps in logic.  Getting "good" at the game means always accusing first to see where Cole wants to go, then back out and figure out what clue the writers want used.

I dunno, thought it was going to be terrible. So no, I enjoyed it, until the end anyway.

Poo, I was actually interested in reading this, but it looks like you're just using somebody else's arguments. :(

I didn't read this because I'm still playing it but I am dissapointed, I put it down because it is repetitive and driving doesn't make the in between time any better. I'm going to beat it because I'm just tired of playing FPS and sport games. It's like an interactive 48 hours, I see the game parts as a way to involve you in the story. If you take it as that, the game is bloody amazing. The mo-cap on the faces and character interaction is great if you play it at it's pace. I turn off the music in the car and play mine and jam out till the I get there like a I would do if I was a cop. Which I would never be.

Hotel Dusk blows this mega million dollar beast out of the water. Thanks for helping my economy anyway Rockstar, and Sony.

I played the first three or four missions and got bored. I haven't played it in a month. I guess I'll pick it up again at some point and give it another shot, but right now I'm enjoying Alice too much.

COOL STORY BRO

I understand that some people don't like it, I get it because this is a very niche game.

But that being said...

IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT DON'T PLAY IT.

and

STOP BITCHING.

Was quite excited to get started with this, but in real life I'm a cop, and I found the game just to be to much like work, at least to the extent that it was not an enjoyable passtime for me.

Yeah. It got a bit boring towards the end of homocide and didn't really pick back up.

COOL STORY BRO

I understand that some people don't like it, I get it because this is a very niche game.

But that being said...

IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT DON'T PLAY IT.

and

STOP BITCHING.

Having only played to roughly 1/2 - 2/3 through the game, I can tell you that I'm categorically disappointed with it. 
 
Let me finish it at some pint and I'll return with some definitive (as far as I'm concerned) opinions.

No because I didn't have any expectations low or high from the start.

no only u attention grabber

I Played it and I tryed my best to enjoy becuase I thought I had to but man nah I just couldnt get into it.  I really tried to like it but I just found it to be disjointed from a gameplay stand point. 
  
:( really was hyped for it

SPOILERS:
 
I'll be honest, overall, I enjoyed the game. I thought the detective work was fun and refreshing, albeit repetitive. My problem with the game lies with the story. The first half of the game up through Homicide was great, but that's clearly the problem in that the game reached its apex there. The Vice cases were ok, but I experienced a noticeable increase in disinterest as the story progressed, and once they decided to give you control of Kelso, I'd really lost interest. I figured you'd have control of him for one case max, maybe two, but instead it consumed a quarter of the game! 
 
And there's the problem, once the ending came I feel like I had lost any sort of "connection" with Phelps that I had worked towards for the last 20 hours. I understand killing off protagonists and honestly have no problem with it (RDR was amazing on every level), but it was so quick and expected, that I really didn't give two shits that he was killed off. 

Minor point: They did show you him kiss his wife while leaving for work in the opening of the game. It was easy to miss. 
 
The game has some glaring faults. But I generally go along for rides like this, and don't judge on the fly unless I'm having little-to-no fun. I had a decent time with L.A. Noire. That said, I'm done with it, and haven't been motivated to touch the DLCs I have.

It was an amazing game, but it was not the GOTY that I hoped it would be.

I enjoyed the feel of the game, especially 1940's Los Angeles . I would have preferred a GTA/Read Dead clone to go along with that great story and facial animation. 

I enjoyed the story, but the gameplay was so repetetive and there was nothing that natural about the interview sections (bearing in mind that's what I do for a job). 
 
Clearly alot of work went into the game, but given how excited I was to play the game I got very little out of the experiance.

After some time to think about it, LA Noire definitely doesn't age well as an experience. What offends me most about the design choices in the game is that none of your choices matter. You can't fail - you simply get given evidence through a plot device like a phone call or pick the wrong suspect. Speaking of which, I found it more than weird when you were given a choice of two suspects and had to sentence the one who seemed more unpopular with the times. The game really feels like it's pulling you along for the ride and not letting you have any influence on its outcome whatsoever. I detest this trend in so-called "adventure" games - the only games that even approach real choice in a storyline are Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2. LA Noire tries to hide its linearity a lot, but it boils down to just walking around and clicking to search everywhere, repetitive shooting, the overrated interrogation scenes which are not used as best as they could be... just bleh. It's barely a game.

And yet, I would have forgiven it for all of that, if not for that ending. I loved so many of the characters and the story started to really pick up around the beginning of Arson, then descends into crap. The ending is just terrible. People seem to want to say it's noir... it seemed blatantly rushed to me, like the last quarter of the game. Even after five years, the game feels half unfinished.

After some time to think about it, LA Noire definitely doesn't age well as an experience. What offends me most about the design choices in the game is that none of your choices matter. You can't fail - you simply get given evidence through a plot device like a phone call or pick the wrong suspect. Speaking of which, I found it more than weird when you were given a choice of two suspects and had to sentence the one who seemed more unpopular with the times. The game really feels like it's pulling you along for the ride and not letting you have any influence on its outcome whatsoever. I detest this trend in so-called "adventure" games - the only games that even approach real choice in a storyline are Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2. LA Noire tries to hide its linearity a lot, but it boils down to just walking around and clicking to search everywhere, repetitive shooting, the overrated interrogation scenes which are not used as best as they could be... just bleh. It's barely a game.

And yet, I would have forgiven it for all of that, if not for that ending. I loved so many of the characters and the story started to really pick up around the beginning of Arson, then descends into crap. The ending is just terrible. People seem to want to say it's noir... it seemed blatantly rushed to me, like the last quarter of the game. Even after five years, the game feels half unfinished.