Games you want to like...

[Dog Pants]

... but can't. We've all been there. A game looks awesome, gets great reviews, everyone likes it. You want to like it, but it just doesn't click. I've fucking loads of them in my Steam library - Endless Legend, every RTS and real-time 4X game ever, Bioshock Infinite. Hell, my favourites (used to highlight games I really should get round to playing, and 5punky MP games) contains two. None of them break my heart though, whereas there are some for which I follow the developers and really want to support them because they're lovely, but I just can't find it in myself to enjoy their work.

A good example is Gun Monkeys. Dan Marshall of Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentlemen Please branched out into a multiplayer platform shooter in a similar vein to Super Smash Bros. He really is a lovely, witty bloke. I love his point-and-clicks. He really struggled to get a multiplayer community together for Gun Monkeys, and learnt a hard lesson from it. It didn't look like my kind of game though, and I played it on a free weekend (one of his attempts to get a community behind it) and found that, indeed, it wasn't my sort of game. Eventually he wrote an article (on Gamasutra I think) warning indies against multiplayer games. It didn't come across as pouty or a way of blaming others, to me it just felt sad - a man who laboured over his work, poured his heart into it, and got barely any interest. Heartbreaking. To make up for not liking it I praise his point-and-clicks whenever I can to try to introduce people to it.

The most acute case of this, though, is for Mode 7's sublime turn-based tactical games - Frozen Synapse and Frozen Cortex. In a way it's not as bad because I both like the games and bought them, but I don't play them. It comes down to almost the same reason as Gun Monkeys too - it's a multiplayer game and I don't like playing against people. Fortunately I have 5punkers to play with (who aren't people), but on the occasions that I've played randoms they're inevitably extremely good and often antisocial. Combine that with a turn based system which requires me to wait ages for them to take their turn and I just can't face it. Other games cause this reaction, many others, but none that I like as much as I do with these. It's so disappointing.

So anyway, enough about me, what games have you people got that you want to like but can't?

[Dr. kitteny berk]

As I've said a thousand times before, anything RPG from Bethesda.

Also, all of the Telltale point and click things, just can't quite get on with them.

And, inconveniently, almost every game I've played before, there's some really fucking awesome games I've played that I just can't bring myself to play again, no idea why.

[Joose]

Crusader Kings. It looks brilliant, and the stories that come out of other people playing it are brilliant, and I really want to enjoy the brilliance, I just can't be arsed to learn how to actually play the damn thing. I suspect ruling a country for real would be easier.

[Roman Totale]

I love the idea of Minecraft, and I'm really impressed with how popular it is with such a wide demographic. Personally though I can't play it for more than 10 minutes - despite liking idea it just really doesn't click with me.

Actually it was only whilst typing the above that I think I know why. I used to love Lego when I was a child, and I always used to build my own things. Minecraft is missing the tactile element for me - creating on screen just doesn't compare to creating with your hands.

[fabyak]

Alien Isolation. I loved it to start with but it quickly turned into an endless slog where doing things the way you arn't meant to ended up working out better and when I finally felt like I was getting to the end it threw in a NOPE! And then I think it did it again.

Fuck that game

[fabyak]

HOTS.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Alien Isolation. I loved it to start with but it quickly turned into an endless slog where doing things the way you arn't meant to ended up working out better and when I finally felt like I was getting to the end it threw in a NOPE! And then I think it did it again.

Fuck that game

This.

[shot2bits]

I think the only games i generally (with some exceptions) dont enjoy are over the shoulder shooters. They just feel clunky and slow, and clunky. did i mention they are clunky?

Looking through my steam list the only game i have that i haven't enjoyed in some capacity is Dead space, and it was because for the half hour i gave it (i am usually more forgiving and give games more of a chance) i was so fucking bored, slogging down some bland dark grey hallways at a snails pace with absolutely dick all going on and nothing whatsoever to make me want to give it a chance. Quite possibly the only gaming experience i have gotten absolutely nothing out of, no tension, no atmosphere, nothing.

[Dog Pants]

I almost liked Dead Space despite not expecting to. I liked the bio-horror theme, like The Thing in space, but I agree that the actual gameplay sucked. Combat never adds anything to these games, especially when it's clunky third-person combat. In fact it's a paradox of horror gaming that they're only scary if there's risk, but risk brings failure and failure brings repetition, which is a pretty good anathema to being scary. I really enjoyed the animated movie though, Dead Space Downfall.

Interestingly I agree with pretty much everything else people have said here, for thee same reasons. I wonder if it's the expectations of what we've been told by professional reviewers, who I've long considered to have a skewed perspective on what makes a game enjoyable.

[Anery]

Dota.
I've tried several times and I just cannot get on with that game. It baffles me.

[buzzmong]

Not just DOTA for me, but MOBA's in general. The entire genre just doesn't gel with me.

Titan Quest is another for me, I own it, it's got glowing reviews, but similar to Diablo II, I get bored after the first Act/Chapter and balk at doing more of the same.

Also, oddly, Saints Row III is one I've bounced off. I enjoyed a bit of the plot and jokes, but for a game about running around and shooting stuff the mechanics of that didn't seem to work well, and outside of the dialogue and cutscenes the missions themselves were quite up and down in how they held my interest. Suprising because I normally enjoy these styles of games, Vice City and Mafia 1 being amongst my favourites.

[HereComesPete]

GTA, Saints Row and Just cause - open sandbox worlds where you can do all kinds of stuff. They just don't hold my attention. I'll do a few missions, shoot some cops and fuck about but I don't think I've finished a single gta since they stopped being top down.