Games that amazed you cause of how good they actually were

What game have you played that at first you had no interest in, and ended up enjoying so much that it has either become one of your favorite titles or one of those games that is so fun that you have to keep in you collection just to play it every now and then.

Yesterday I had that experience with Resistance Fall of man for the PS3.
Everybody used to  talk about that game, so a few weeks ago, I bought the second one, Resistance 2, and I was verry distapointed. The guns felt underpowered, and I just couldnt get into the world the game is trying to show you. I only played it for like 30 minutes before I gave up on it 
Yesterday however, I went to my local game shop and ended up trading one of my psp games and $10 for the first Resistance game. This time, I started beating the game in COOP, and I have to say, its been fun.
Having a partner there to help you flank the bad guys never stops being fun. Now that I played this game I think I'll give Resistance 2 another chance. I've heard that you cant go through the campaing in COOP, but it has special missions for that, so I'll give it a try.

Resistance 2's co-op is terrible. Freaking same missions over and over.

I walked into Castlevania Symphony of the Nigh thinking that it was going to be like my past relationships with Castlevania. Complete and utter shit. Luckily it turned out to be a great game. Only thing it needs is a sense of direction though..

I was pleasantly surprised at Saints Row 2, I wasn't going to buy it because it looked like an outdated GTA clone but I fooled someone into trading Afro Samurai for it, which is a really terrible game. Anyway, the game isn't really like GTA anymore, the customization is really deep and using some formulas I found on the internet I was able to make a character that was a splitting image to The Joker. The activites are also hilarous fun with things like trailblazing, spraying houses with poo, demolition derbys and pimping.

When I first played Oblivion it blew my mind, never experienced a game environment so full of life.

" I walked into Castlevania Symphony of the Nigh thinking that it was going to be like my past relationships with Castlevania. Complete and utter shit. Luckily it turned out to be a great game. Only thing it needs is a sense of direction though.. "

" @Xolare said:

" I walked into Castlevania Symphony of the Nigh thinking that it was going to be like my past relationships with Castlevania. Complete and utter shit. Luckily it turned out to be a great game. Only thing it needs is a sense of direction though.. "

....What were your past experiences with the series? "

"@Video_Game_King said:

" @Xolare said:

" I walked into Castlevania Symphony of the Nigh thinking that it was going to be like my past relationships with Castlevania. Complete and utter shit. Luckily it turned out to be a great game. Only thing it needs is a sense of direction though.. "

....What were your past experiences with the series? "

I'm wondering too, most of the series was solid."

Lots, but recently Red Faction: Guerilla did that for me. I was totally and utterly cynical about that game, and had written it off as a mindless crap-storm. Image my surprise when I popped in my review copy and fell in love

I had the same thing with Resistance. As much as I wanted to like Resistance 2, I just couldnt.

Red Faction.  I thought it was going to be an okay game, than I started playing it and destroying buildings and stuff was one of the funnest things ever.  Then I tried multiplayer...... and my head exploded out of joy.

i guess i was pleasantly surprised by how addicting and fun castle crahsers was. It's sort of difficult to remember games I had low expectations for, which turned out to be great, as opposed to games i though would be enjoyable and turned out shitty.

Persona 4

Edit: Oh you mean because you thought it wasn't going to be good? Then....hmmmm....dunno :P

Halo Wars (thought a RTS on consoles would suck but it is really good)

Professor Layton, obviously.  I didn't know what to expect from that game; I thought it was going to be childish and silly. It turned out to be one of the best DS/puzzle/adventure games I have ever played and it is a real standout from the last year for me.

Pretty much every game I own, except for Halo 2. 

Tomb Raider: Legend, Wii Fit and lately, Fallout 3.
I still want sandbox games to die a quick, but nonetheless painful death, but Fallout 3 does many things right I never would've thought a variables generator could get right.

Hmmm probably Chulip. When I saw it I was like WTF is this? A game with cutesy super deformed characters where you go around kissing people in order to work up enough courage to kiss the girl of your dreams... WTF is this shit I thought. So I bought it since it was $10 and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it is. The characters are an utter riot and there's quite like the feeling you get from kissing a ninja and then having him flip out and kill you lol.

I picked up brothers in arms hell's highways cheap and wasn't expecting much. I really enjoyed it's narrative and gameplay style. 

" Halo Wars (thought a RTS on consoles would suck but it is really good)

Lost Odyssey (first JRPG i ever played so i thought i would hate it)

Tales of Vesperia (Second JRPG i ever played and i hate anime so i thought i would hate it)

"

Lol probably Lost Via Domus XD it probably was pretty awful but the easy 1000 points made me quite like the game xD

persona 4 was a big surprise for me, because I never played a jrpg in my life.

skate. was another big one for me, I thought it was going to be shit and another tony hawk game, and I was completely blown away by the way it actually felt like skating (to an extent).

Prince of Persia HD, I'd heard both good and bad things bout the game in reviews, but the response on forums was in general that the game was pretty but boring. I thought that the combat was pretty poor but that the rest of the game was brilliant (especially the ending), going to get the DLC downloaded when I get a chance. It's one of the only games this gen that I have felt compelled to finish.

Also Crackdown, got it as a pack-in with my 360 bundle, didn't like it at first then went back to it a few months ago. AWESOME game. Just fucking about in that world is fantastic.

Metal Gear Solid 2. Never played an MGS before and I knew next to nothing about the series except that it was pretty popular. I saw it used for like £6 and thought why not. Just about my favourite game ever, I fell in love with it.

Zone of the Enders 2- I bought this game based on A SCREENSHOT and a little article I read in a magazine, and that it was made by the same team as MGS2. I was blown away by the look of the game and the kinetic action. The graphics still hold up just because of the style, I can't believe everyone else is only just catching on that blue explosions are super cool. Then I traded it in and realised that I must've had just about the only copy of that game in existence :(

APE ESCAPE- Bought it on a market for £3. Amazing.

Bloody Roar 2- Bloody Roar is just about my favourite fighting game series now. Yeah that's right.

Final Fantasy 7- Never been anywhere near an RPG before that. I was about 7 and had a friend who kept going on about this game. Someone gave me a pirated copy of it because they didn't want it. When I first played it I HATED it. Couldn't work out how to run, couldn't work out what I as supposed to be doing, X was cancel and O was confirm, I was totally lost and thought it was stupid. But then I went back to it and it rocked my little tiny face.

and I agree that Red Faction was way better than I expected. I wish I could stop following games long enough to be surprised by them again. All these are games that I'd never heard of :(

Okami. Thought it might be kinda stupid, but I was happily suprised at how much I liked it.

Leisure Suit Larry:  Box Office Bust

" @Xolare said:

" I walked into Castlevania Symphony of the Nigh thinking that it was going to be like my past relationships with Castlevania. Complete and utter shit. Luckily it turned out to be a great game. Only thing it needs is a sense of direction though.. "

....What were your past experiences with the series? "

Call of duty 2 mainly due to how it was my first next gen game so it just blew me away.

" @Video_Game_King said:

" @Xolare said:

" I walked into Castlevania Symphony of the Nigh thinking that it was going to be like my past relationships with Castlevania. Complete and utter shit. Luckily it turned out to be a great game. Only thing it needs is a sense of direction though.. "

....What were your past experiences with the series? "

Slight discomfort and frustration with the difficulty. When I was 4 of course. I remember playing a really old Gamboy 16 in 1 cartridge with a castlevania game on it and it kicked the shit outta me. "

" What game have you played that at first you had no interest in, and ended up enjoying so much that it has either become one of your favorite titles or one of those games that is so fun that you have to keep in you collection just to play it every now and then.Yesterday I had that experience with Resistance Fall of man for the PS3.Everybody used to  talk about that game, so a few weeks ago, I bought the second one, Resistance 2, and I was verry distapointed. The guns felt underpowered, and I just couldnt get into the world the game is trying to show you. I only played it for like 30 minutes before I gave up on it Yesterday however, I went to my local game shop and ended up trading one of my psp games and $10 for the first Resistance game. This time, I started beating the game in COOP, and I have to say, its been fun.Having a partner there to help you flank the bad guys never stops being fun. Now that I played this game I think I'll give Resistance 2 another chance. I've heard that you cant go through the campaing in COOP, but it has special missions for that, so I'll give it a try. "

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.  I bought it by mistake when I was shopping for a game for my dad back a few months after this came out.  I thought I was getting a NASCAR game but pulled this out of the bag the next time I went to my dad's.  We decided to just try this game since I'd already got it.  In short terms:  BEST FUCKING MISTAKE I EVER MADE.  My dad and I spent SO much time playing this game, beating the career mode and playing with the multiplayer.  The Chopper Drop level will always stand out as much time as we played against each other on it.  One time we even took a whole weekend to beat the game 100% and did it.  Without this game, I wouldn't have gotten remotely interested in skateboarding, and this game has gotta be one of my all time favorites.  I never would have looked at it twice if I had not made a mistake in choice, and I am wholely thankful for that mistake.

Fallout 3. I didn't care for it at all until I finally decided to get it and it became my favorite single player game.

I'm going to agree on Resistance, utterly amazing first go at a FPS from Insomniac. It got a lot of crap due to the fact that there was insane hating on the PS3 at the time and Gears had just come out (which in my opinion is not even close to being as good as Resistance, that buggy piece of overrated shit). It was an awesome blend of half-life, WW2 and Insomniacs own unique take on weapons. Too bad Insomniac listened to the haters and made a second game that tried too much to be like other shooters out there today. I fucking hate Resistance 2, i hate the rpg-esque co-op, the class-based multiplayer, the lackluster story, the shitty bossfights.

Saints Row, and Saints Row 2, just pure fuuuun. Great game out of nowhere, in general Voilitions (did i get that right?) games are trully quality.

Oblivion, always hated RPGs, never liked the fantasy setting but this game made me like a whole new genre (still hate fantasy though, the orcs and elves type, it's lame).

Tribes: Aerial Assault

Most underrated game ever in my opinion. So much fun.

I thought Prince of Persia 08 was really well done. Mind you, I've never ever played any platformers, or any of the previous Prince of Persias. So this wasn't anything I was looking forward to. But uh, the amazing art direction and ease of control really won me over. Sure, it wasn't very challenging or lengthy, but the sheer lighthearted gameplay and story made up for it. The ending really surprised me but in a good way, it felt fresh and innovative.

okami blew me away how good it was especially the second time i beat it, if you haven't played it yet, i would highly recommend u to buy it if you like action-adventure games. another one would be legend of zelda the wind waker, i didnt know what i was getting myself into than boooommmmmm freaking amazing.......

Honestly, I can't think of any. If I'm not interested in the game, than I'm not going to buy it, or bother playing a demo. I know what kind of games I like, and can usually tell if I will enjoy a game by reading about it.

I have four in recent memory.

1) Beyond Good & Evil - I had always passed it over simply because I always had other games in mind when I would come across it.  Even though I was interested in it, just never picked it up.  However, when I finally did I was treated to one of my most favorite games of all time.  It just captivated me from beginning to end.  Brilliant game.
2) Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts - I was a big BK fan back in the day, so when I heard they were finally making another one, I had two emotions.  Excitement, from there actually being another game and anger from it being on 360 which I had no intention of buying at the time.  As more information came out that it was vehicle based, I was pretty furious.  When it came out and everyone said it was good I decided to give it a cautious shot one day.  So when I bought my 360, I got that first.  From the first minute, though I knew I was totally getting another Banjo game regardless of how the gameplay was handled... And it turned out to be pretty dang awesome!
3) Portal - I don't need to say too much about this one other than I thought it would be neat but was definitely not expecting the sublime experience I got.
4) Punch-Out!! - I actually just got this over the weekend just for nostalgia's sake.  Still going through it, but I will say this so far... It's the only game in the past decade that has made me sit on the edge of my seat because it was just THAT exciting to play.  Pathetic?  Maybe... But that's a great thing to say about a game that I put off buying because I thought it would be little more than an OK trip down memory lane.

Oddworld Abe's Odyssey/Exodus

I really liked burnout 3, so I was excited about Revenge. I played revenge, to my dismay it was awful. I had no interest  in Paradise, but I ended up playing it and absolutley loved it, one of the most fun games I have played in years.

Fallout 3.  I didn't really like Oblivion and heard lots of bad things about the game before playing, but for some reason I still felt like giving it a try.  I rented the game from gamefly and ended up putting in about 40 hours.  I plan on getting the GOTY Edition later this years to play all the DLC.

I picked up Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door a couple days ago for $15. I've played through the original Paper Mario 5 or 6 times, and it's definitely in my top 5 games. Anyway, I didn't expect TTYD to be anywhere near as good as the original, so I'd been wary of picking it up, despite good reviews, but I've been pleasantly surprised with its quality.

Fallout 3 seems to be alot of people's pick.
I havent played that game yet.
Although I do want to play it because most people say its a good one. But I feel skeptical about getting it, because it seems alot like the Elder scrolls games. You walk around. You do your thing and you try to enjoy the world that was created for the game.
I dont have alot of experience with the elder scrolls games. I played the third one, Morrowind, not that long ago. And even though the reviews for that game are good. I just couldnt get into it. It was like I had to try really hard, and over look a lot of gameplay things just to get into the story. I've played other games that dont make you do that to care about the story, the characters, or the game all together. Games like half life 2, zelda ocarina of time and many more.

Im sure that if I overlook a bunch of stuff I dont like, I'll find an enjoyable game, So I still plan to give it a try.

Deus Ex.  A friend of mine bought the demo version from best buy for 10 bucks. It was half the game and graphics and animations looked horrible. Once I played it, I couldn't stop. It was awesome!

Resident Evil 4 still amazes me. LOVE that game.

The one I remember was Call of Duty 4.  That was a game that wasn't high on my list in 2007.  I had been anticipating the Orange Box, Mass Effect, Assassin's creed and Halo 3.  The one that disappointed was AC, but Halo 3 was great and the Orange Box was everything I wanted.  But COD4 was a game that I was just like, meh.  With the title Modern Warfare, it felt like they werent trying since Battlefield already used Modern Combat.  Placing it in the not too distant future was not enough for me.  And since i had bought all three CODs before that with COD3 coming the year before, it didn't seem like such a big deal.  Really COD3 was good but didn't do anything spectacular and since it didn't have Pierce in it, just assholes that happened to be americans, it didn't speak to me.  But I was wrong, this game, and how amazing it was really was a surprise.