2013 Holiday Game Purchased you thought would suck but rocks!

[ShreddedWheat]

What game did you purchase during the holidays 2013 that you thought would be ok but bought it cause of the price and it turned out to be awesome.

For me it is Dishonored. I saw the previews and thought meh but once I started playing on suggestion of a friend I can't put it down!

 

[Lonyo]

Why would you buy something if you think it will suck...?

 

[ShreddedWheat]

Yeah, bad choice of words, would be alright, but cost of the game was too enticing to give it a try.

 

[gorcorps]

Why would you buy something if you think it will suck...?

my first thought exactly

 

[queequeg99]

Why would you buy something if you think it will suck...?

Indeed. However, I think OP clarified the issue a bit in the post (i.e. you didn't actually think it would suck but rather had a very indifferent feeling about the game).

I haven't had any this year (I haven't been able to play a lot). However, last year I had this experience with the Trine series and Capsized. I had read good things about the games. However, I've always been a 100% FPS gamer and these were big changes for me. But I got them when they cost just a couple of bucks each. They sat unplayed in my inventory for months. And now I love them.

 

[rivethead]

Well my $1.99 purchase of Brutal Legend has more than exceeded my expectations.

 

[Snock514]

Well my $1.99 purchase of Brutal Legend has more than exceeded my expectations.

any reason in particular? i got it from a humble bundle and havent installed it yet

 

[chimaxi83]

Shadow Warrior. I thought the cheese would be too thick, but it's a fun game.

 

[Javi3rPR]

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons, what an amazing game!!! Already finished it and it was a better game than most AAA game out there...

 

[Super56K]

Gone Home was a very pleasant surprise. To clarify, I know the game has a lot of positive hype, but when reading reviews and reactions prior to purchasing I noticed a lot of backlash about Gone Home being championed by certain groups for its message rather than the game itself (and that reviewers were supposedly giving it glowing reviews because of this and blah blah).

After finishing it I realized it was one of the best games I've played this year. It's a really well executed experience.

 

[rivethead]

any reason in particular? i got it from a humble bundle and havent installed it yet

The soundtrack and the comedy. I'm a metalhead and it's like they went through my CD collection and pull a track from every CD I own. I very much enjoy driving around in my car in Brutal Ledgend, running over things, and listening to the metal tracks you can unlock.

Plus the comedy - I find Jack Black funny and there are some very funny parts in this game.

EDIT: I should add, I had low expectations because I've played some other Double Fine games and been meh about them (couldn't get into Psychonauts.....and I disliked Stacking).

 

[Fallen Kell]

any reason in particular? i got it from a humble bundle and havent installed it yet

Its all about the art direction in my opinion. They did a really nice job. The story is pretty great too, but the side missions are all pretty repetitive and the RTS type battles are "meh", but the game as a whole overcomes those shortfalls to be honest. It is a fairly fun hack and slash game at its core, and you can't beat the music if you are into metal

 

[cronos]

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons, what an amazing game!!! Already finished it and it was a better game than most AAA game out there...

Ha... I came here to post the exact same thing!

I just finished playing about an hour ago. All I can say is: Wow! What a creative way to design a game. Fantastic story as well.

I actually ended up buying it on XBox since it requires a controller and I got some Microsoft credit that I'd like to spend (price is about the same with Steam at less than $5). It's pretty short, but it will worth your money.

What a great, great game. If you are interested in playing this game at all, just get it, don't go searching to read any kind of reviews whatsoever. I came into it completely blind and it was an awesome experience.

 

[Stringjam]

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow


I don't typically like "adventure" games, but for some reason, I've really gotten into it (about 15 hours in).

 

[Stringjam]

Gone Home was a very pleasant surprise. To clarify, I know the game has a lot of positive hype, but when reading reviews and reactions prior to purchasing I noticed a lot of backlash about Gone Home being championed by certain groups for its message rather than the game itself (and that reviewers were supposedly giving it glowing reviews because of this and blah blah).

I would fall into the latter group regarding why I think it has received so much critical acclaim.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the game...I certainly did, but I don't think it deserved anything close to the "masterpiece" status so many critics fell all over themselves to give it.

Respective of the genre, I think something like "Dear Esther" is far more worthy of those accolades, and in this case, I think the game itself probably would have been received better if critics would have shown a bit more objectivity in the reviews. Instead, half of them come off as pretentious pseudo-progressives, which is pretty transparent (and annoying at this point) and has the effect of bringing out the cynic in a lot of folks.

IMO, a good game, and worth the sale price.

 

[Zanovar]

As for "Dear Esther",i thought it was beautiful and different,as for your stamp on the reviewers "pretentious pseudo-progressives"hahaha not sure about that not sure i care either really,i enjoyed the experience*shrugs*.

 

[Yreka]

Summer sale was XCOM EU - Not sure how I missed that series when it came out, fantastic game.

This sale its looking like Galactic Civ II. Im just getting into it, but as with all games like this there is a bit of a learning curve before they really get going. It remains interesting enough to keep me engaged during this phase, which is more than most. ( needs a better tutorial pop-ups like Civ 5)


Glad to hear others commenting positively on "Brothers" - I bought this one too, but I haven't fired it up yet.

 

[CPA]

Desktop Dungeons - Wasn't exactly sure what I was going to get with this game. All I can say after about 2 hours is I got a boatload of strategy awesomeness. Love the game.

 

[Savatar]

For a long time I wasn't willing to try some of those 'Indie' games that released over the last few years. Though some seemed interesting, they weren't worth it to me. I picked some up over the Steam Winter Sale, and am surprised I'm enjoying them much more than some 'big' studio games.

Here's a list of some of them that I've been eye-balling

Braid
Costume Quest
Defender's Quest
Breath of Death VII + Cthulhu Saves the World
Don't Starve
La-Mulana
Faster Than Light
Mark of the Ninja
Dust: An Elysian Tale
Orcs Must Die
Rogue Legacy
Spelunky
Sang-Froid
Terraria
Valdis Story: Abyssal City
World of Goo

I can clearly see why both Sony and Microsoft catered to Indies this generation, and I hope it pays off with several more quality Indie titles!