Expectations are funny. High expectations are often a hindrance to one’s enjoyment of a game or movie. Vice versa with low expectations. For fear that I won’t say expectations enough in this article: expectations. Here’s how they added and detracted from my experiences in the first half of The Best Year For Gaming Ever.
Share your expectations, bloopers, and practical jokes in the comments section of this article, or in the forum thread located here.
Bayonetta:
(PS3, Xbox360)
I was expecting a hyper-sexualized Devil May Cry clone and I got it. I wasn’t expecting the infinitely satisfying Witch Time mechanic and insanely fast third person action. Easily the best Action game I’ve played. The story is ridiculous and the cut scenes are painfully long, but they aren’t bad enough to drag down the excellent gameplay. Expectations Exceeded.
Darksiders:
(PS3, Xbox360, PC)
I had very low hopes for Darksiders. It looked like a shameless Zelda clone with a horribly unappealing art style and a crappy God of War combat system. Actually, it is a shameless Zelda clone with a horribly unappealing art style and a crappy God of War combat system. However, the masterful execution of the Zelda-style dungeons and puzzles was more than enough to win me over. Expectations Exceeded.
Mass Effect 2:
(Xbox360, PC)
The first Mass Effect was a decent story wrapped in a horribly executed pile of shit. I couldn’t understand the critical acclaim that ME2′s predecessor garnered, so all of the hype leading up to Mass Effect 2′s release did little to raise my expectations for the game. But all of the hype was legit. Once I started Mass Effect 2, I couldn’t stop playing it. And the last hour or so was some of the most white-knuckle gaming that I can remember. Expectations exceeded, and current game of the year.
Heavy Rain:
(PS3)
A beautiful game with an intense story that just happens to be full of plot holes. Some of the intense moments in Heavy Rain are some of the most intense in all of video gaming. I was expecting a better Indigo Prophecy and I got it. But the crazy awful plot holes and horrid voice acting were often times enough to break scenes. Expectations met.
Bioshock 2:
(PS3, Xbox360, PC)
I was expecting a lot out of Bioshock 2, and I got it. I was never on the “Bioshock Never Needed A Sequel” train. Perhaps I should have been, considering how highly I regard the original. And the original is a better game, but Bioshock 2 is still great. It takes a little while to really pick up, but the last third of the game is incredible. Bioshock 2 can’t recreate the wonder of exploring Rapture for the first time, but it does bring a better and more emotional story to the table and a multiplayer mode that’s actually fun for a few hours. Expectations met.
Final Fantasy 13:
(PS3, Xbox360)
I’m a huge Final Fantasy fan. I thought that I loved the series unconditionally. Until I played 13. Graphically, the game looks exceptional. I’d be surprised if anything came out this year that rivals the visual feast that is FF13. Gameplaywise, the game falls flat on its face. You do literally run in a straight line for 30 hours and push X to win battles. The game opens up later on and presents you with wide open areas to explore and an interesting dungeon or two, but it’s not enough to excuse the mess that is most of the game. The story is convoluted, as you might expect, and is better explained in the text on the load screens than the dialogue in the cut scenes. The characters, with the exceptions of Sazh and Snow, are your typical Final Fantasy archetypes pushed past acceptable limits. Lightning is the moody for no reason protagonist who is instantly hate-able and never redeems herself. Square Enix somehow managed to make a protagonist that I despise worse than Cloud. Being the Final Fantasy fanboy that I am, this game was the biggest disappointment of the year for me. I can’t believe I waited so long for this. Expectations not met.
White Knight Chronicles:
(PS3)
Hey remember Phantasy Star Online? Hey remember what first generation PS3 games looked like? What if we combined those two? Does that sound like the kind of thing you want to play this far into a console’s life cycle? No? Oh. Sorry. Well we released it anyway. Expectations not met.
3D Dot Game Heroes:
(PS3)
I like Zelda. A lot. I like that this game allowed Daniel Coker to create a character called Boner Boy who ejaculates when he attacks. A lot. I like the 40 dollar price tag. I like this game. Expectations met.
Green Day Rock Band:
(PS3, Xbox360, Wii)
Fuck you. I love Green Day and Rock Band. Expectations met.
God of War 3:
(PS3)
God of War 2 had an exhilarating ending. The gaming press lost their shit a month or so before God of War 3′s release. I was expecting a lot from this game. What I got was some incremental improvements to a polished but very basic combat system. What I got was a story that made me completely detest a character that I liked from the previous two games. What I got was God of War 3. Expectations not met.
Fragile Dreams Farewell Ruins of the Moon:
(Wii)
I didn’t know too much about this ridiculously named Wii exclusive leading up to its release. I’d seen a trailer for it last year, I think. I was expecting a JRPG. What was released was an action RPG with bad action but a fantastic atmosphere. Somehow this cutesy anime styled game manages to convey the desolation and loneliness of a post apocalyptic world better than any other game that has tried to. Expectations Met.
Alan Wake:
(Xbox360)
I had very high hopes for Alan Wake. I was expecting something excellent, but I got something mediocre. The combat is fun, the story is engaging and bizarre, and the ending is perfect. But the character models are ugly as fuck. The lip syncing rarely ever matches up. The controls are janky as are the character animations and the pacing is just fucking poor. Alan Wake does a lot of things very right and a lot of things very wrong. Expectations not met.
Join the forum discussion on this post
Good stuff man, but Jesus you and I are different gamers. Someone should be getting this up on N4G pronto, this has site crashing written all over it.
http://n4g.com/news/551806/theplaystationshow-com-2010-in-expectations-a-midsummers-review/pen
Approve my good people.
Where are all the handheld games?
I like this, very good work and interesting read.
Mag met my expectations, untill it died
If you approve at N4G, make sure you comment…. Goofs.
i expected more cheese, less beef is what i got from this. nicwe work sir.
I guess I’m in the minority here by loving FF13 so far (10 -15 hours in). I have never liked rpg’s, I thought I was going to like dragon age but didn’t, and I thought I was going to like Mass Effect 2 but didn’t (played a couple of hours and couldn’t put myself through any more of it). I never played a FF game before and FF13 is my first one so I was really skeptical about me liking it. I started playing it last week and I’m loving every minute of it.
Also what where all these people expecting from GOW 3? I recently played the first two, enjoyed them, knew what to expect from part 3 and they exceeded my expectations with part 3. GOW3 blows the other 2 out of the water with refined gameplay, consistent story, and some of the best graphics and presentation in gaming history! I can see how people don’t like this game, but I don’t see how it didn’t meet expectations based on the previous 2?
FF13 is an RPG for people who don’t like RPGs.
lol, and it’s about time they made a great final fantasy game…
Great read, and yes, Bayonetta is awesome, more people should be trying this game.
Valkyria Chronicles
First RPG-esque game I got on the PS3
One of the best games I ever played, I loved the story, and characters, and I’am perfectly fine with admitting that I shut off my PS3 whenever any of my characters permanently dies. The story just made me care about the cast too much. I expected to have a good strategy game, I looked up the game before I bought it, but none of the reviews prepared me for the awesomeness that came with the 40$ game when I bought it a while after its release.
It pisses me off that #2 is only on psp.
Expectations Exceeded
Valkyria Chronicles was a fantastic experience. The first battle with Maximillion’s tank is one of my most treasured video game moments.
By the way, until I saw this picture constantly appearing as I logged in, I did not realize how disturbing it was. This picture as our front page art is about as smart as submitting a show to iTunes named The Daily Fisting.
I’ve been thinking the same thing.
Video Games is tasty.
god of war exceeded. U assholes havent even played it. smh
I beat it! Check my trophies!
That game is the lowest form of gaming, or that’s what I’ve heard.
MAG – 256 Players Check
– Brilliant Leveling System Check
– Squad management with marvelous communication options Check
– Expectation met Check
Lost Planet 2 – So the first game was one of my first “next gen” games I ever played. I marveled at the level of detail. For its time it was pretty to look at and had mechs. What else could you want? Then the second one came out, with almost no improvement whatsoever. The graphics look dated, the levels are boring. Instead of making what they had better, they took what they had and turned it into Monster Hunter. If I want to play Monster Hunter, I'll play Monster Hunter. I was also looking forward to the local co-op, but when the game re-sizes the split screen to the equivalent to a PSP screen I'm out.
Expectations Not Met
MLB 10 The Show – Hands down the best sports franchise in terms of quality and value. Although there isn't much new here, the refinement and attention to detail is what really makes this game shine. Overall a better game than MLB 09 The Show, it's only current flaw is the sub-par online. If they could get the online to be more consistent I would say this could be the first sports game to win game-of-the-year.
Expectations Met
3D Dot Game Heroes – I didn't want to go over any games Cochnar hit, but 3D Dot Game Heroes deserves it. This game was not on my radar at all, but thanks to the generous people at Atlas we were able to get a review copy and I can say this game is a blast. It is everything you want out of a Zelda clone.
Expectations Exceeded