Not every game can make you fall in love with it straight away. Yes, there are some games that provide such an enjoyable opening few hours that you can’t help but appreciate them right from the start.
Yet, there are other cases where a title might take a bit of time to win your heart. Perhaps they contain a slow-burn story that takes a bit of time to get into, have an uninspired opening mission that isn’t as good as what comes after, or introduce mechanics that you need to get used to. Whatever it is, they don’t leave a good first impression. The following titles do grow on you, however.
8
Spec Ops: The Line
- Released
-
June 26, 2012
- Developer(s)
-
Yager Development
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
In the early hours of Spec Ops: The Line, the game seems to be a pretty generic third-person shooter. The gunplay is fine but unspectacular, and the enemy AI is hardly anything special. Even the characters seem fairly uninspired.
Then, however, the story slowly picks up, and the characters become more interesting. The tale even begins to convey a bit of an anti-war message, showing how combat can mess with someone’s head. Suddenly, a game that felt like a generic military shooter subverts that very genre.
7
Death Stranding
- Released
-
November 8, 2019
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
Death Stranding is a game all about delivering packages. That doesn’t sound like the most interesting premise, but that is ultimately what the game is about. Thankfully, there is also an interesting story involved, and the world you’re traversing can be interesting, too.
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Though the story can be confusing, the sheer detail in Death Stranding remains unmatched.
Unfortunately, though, the experience doesn’t begin very compellingly. You are just walking across mainly empty lands trying to get to your destination, and the story hasn’t really gotten going. So, it’s pretty tiresome and tedious. Once you start to unlock things like vehicles and zip lines, deliveries become quicker and more enjoyable. In addition, the storytelling picks up at some point, which makes you more invested in the overall experience. You need to give the game a bit of time to catch your interest.
Management
Simulation
Sports
- Released
-
November 6, 2024
- ESRB
-
E For Everyone
Football Manager 2024 is not an easy football management simulator for newcomers to the series. There are a lot of menus and things to read. Therefore, it can get very confusing for those who haven’t played the previous titles.
On top of that, starting a new save isn’t usually the most enjoyable part of the game. After all, you don’t often begin with much money to buy players and don’t start playing competitive matches for a while. So, it isn’t the sort of game that you instantly fall in love with. However, once you begin to get deep into your first season and grow an affinity for your team, the game begins to get really good.
5
Yakuza 3
4.0/5
Yakuza 3
- Released
-
March 9, 2010
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
Yakuza games often start quite slow as they ease you into the story. This is normally fine. Yakuza 3, though, takes things a bit far. You spend so much of the game controlling the series protagonist, Kiryu, as he runs an orphanage. During this period, there isn’t much action, and the story doesn’t move forward too much.
It attempts to establish Kiryu’s new life and relationship with the orphans, but it can be tough to get through. That said, by the end of the game, you’ll have forgotten the rough start because the story gets so good after Kiryu leaves the orphanage.
4
Dead Rising
Dead Rising
Action-Adventure
Survival Horror
- Released
-
August 8, 2006
- ESRB
-
m
One of the most famous features in the Dead Rising series is its time limit. The game has an overall time limit, and so does each mission. This can be quite annoying when you first play the game. After all, this is a survival horror title filled with wacky weapons and infinite zombies to kill, so you’d think you’d have infinite time to mess around.
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Frank West’s story has many versions and chapters, and that’s without mentioning Chuck and the rest. Which one is the best Dead Rising game?
That isn’t the case, though. You often feel rushed while playing, especially on your first playthrough, since you won’t always know where to go or where to find the best weapons. Yet, you get used to it as you get more familiar with your surroundings, and it can even add an extra bit of tension and excitement to the experience.
3
Heavy Rain
- Released
-
February 23, 2010
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
A narrative adventure game is already a tough sell for some gamers due to its lack of traditional ‘gameplay’ beyond quick-time events. Yet, Heavy Rain makes things even tougher to get into, as it has a dull opening where you play as a dad named Ethan, doing mundane household tasks. It’s clearly trying to teach you the mechanics of the game, but it’s still not great, especially since Ethan and his kids are hardly interesting characters at this point.
Eventually, though, the story picks up, Ethan gets more engaging, and other exciting characters come into the fray. On top of that, those put off by the limited gameplay can easily get wrapped up in the more tense and action-packed sequences later in the game.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
- Released
-
June 12, 2008
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Crude Humor, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
No series is known for long cutscenes as much as Metal Gear Solid. It has some of the lengthiest cutscenes in gaming history. MGS fans typically love them, but even they were pushed to their limit in Metal Gear Solid 4. While the game got a positive reaction, overall, plenty of players felt that they watched a game more than they played it.
It’s hard to argue against that, but a lot of that perception comes from the early sequences where it doesn’t feel like you can move a few feet without triggering a new scene. It’s outrageous, but it gets a bit better in the later chapters. Each one still has long cutscenes, but there is more time dedicated to actually playing than in the first chapter.
1
Dark Souls
- Released
-
September 22, 2011
- Developer(s)
-
From Software
- Publisher(s)
-
Namco Bandai
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence
Dying over and over again isn’t the most enjoyable experience, but that is what you have to get used to in Dark Souls. The game doesn’t ease you into the adventure; you fight very challenging enemies early on. So, the typical player spends the first few hours of the game likely in a state of rage and may even begin to despise the title.
Those who persevere start to understand how the game works. They realize that dying is just part of the experience, as you must learn from your deaths and adapt to your opposition. It takes plenty of patience to do that, but those who showcase that patience often fall in love with the game.
