Games that surpassed your expectations lately

Gears 5 for XSX is fantastic. Gorgegous game and the campaign and multiplayer are fun. Probably the most enjoyable Gears I played.

How about you, SW? What games have surpassed your expectations lately?

Risen, heard a lot of bad shit about it.

Ain't no Gothic, it's basically Gothic light, but still play it over most open-world games. Enjoyed the shit out of it.

Like, must be in a different realm from critics. Bethesda, Ubicrap, those score high by Piranha Bytes get shat on. But every one of their games I play is clearly better at the open-world aspect. Janky AF, to be sure, but actually engaging rather than copy-paste gruel.

Returnal, the 9/10 masterpiece.

Deathloop.

I knew it was going to be good, don't get me wrong, but I didn't know it was going to be this good. Probably the most immersive storytelling since Half-Life, and it might just be GOTY for 2021.

@uninspiredcup yeah Risen is a diamond in the rough, I loved it. The sequels aren't too bad, either (Risen 2 is about pirates lol).

Try out ELEX if you want more of that Piranha Bytes funkiness. They're really rough games but if you can get past the faults there's a great game in there.

Far Cry 5. I was content playing Far Cry 4 and didn’t give 5 a chance until a couple of months ago. So much to do and well made game.

Spider-Man Miles Morales. Looks a lot better than I thought it would on PS5.

Phychonauts 2, honestly had alot more fun with it than I expected.

Tony Hawk 1&2 remaster, seriously this is what we needed for so long. It sticks to the formula but with slick new coat a paint. Do it again with SSX and that's a day one buy easy. $40 at launch too.

I liked Risen 2 over Risen because 2 looked better and for that reason I couldn’t get into Risen. I finished Risen 2 but played around 10 hours in Risen 1. I played Risen 2 before I played Risen.

I am not trying to change any minds, if you like Risen over Risen 2 then that is fine.

@mrbojangles25: will be getting that game tomorrow! It wasn't on my radar as while I like Arkane games, I'm not crazy about them.

@sargentd: great choices!

@mrbojangles25: Yea, was originally going to play Elex but have a dumb fixation on going from old > new, no rush, help coincide with Elex II right off the back of it.

@mrbojangles25: Just stop. You are making me want to buy Deathloop. 😡

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

You'd think a fighting game based on what many dismiss as a campy kids show (and to be fair, it is campy, but that is why it's so awesome) would be dismissed as shovelware. While that may have been the case at launch, the updates really fixed the game to it's near full potential. Even on fanservice, adding VA's, many of which being on the show (Jason David Frank as Tommy/Drakkon, Austin St. John as Jason, Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar, Sabrina Lu as Scorpina, Dan Southworth as Eric, and soon Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam).

Plus, Street Fighter characters Ryu and Chun Li appear, following after this:

Psychonauts 2. Looked like I game that I figured I’d enjoy at least but I ended up absolutely loving it.

Recently played through ReCore: Definitive Edition and it did surpass my expectations a little bit. Not without some issues, some bugs, and the occasional frustrating moments but I did have some fun with it. Enough to see it through to the end.

Tales of Arise

You won't believe this, but mass effect 2.... My already deep love for me2 was surpassed as I wrap up this latest playthrough. It really is the complete package in every way. Great dlc too... Shadow broker? Wow, so good.

I've always said that me1 is the best mass effect because of its breadth. It wants you to most feel like a space explorer. Me2 is more focused though, and in the large scope of the trilogy it's the crown jewel.

Gears 5 is a Series X game now? Lol. For me, Resident Evil 8.

Very recently played Shadow of Tomb Raider... game honestly better than Rise of Tomb Raider. Focuses more on the tomb raiding and puzzle solving than enemy killing.

Just started playing Horizon Zero Dawn about a week ago, it's so damn good and way better then I expected. Just hunting the machines is so much better then I thought it would be. The art and design in this game is also fantastic, and for how much is always going on (huge open world, detailed to the max, machines all over the place) the game never seems to struggle or drop frames.

For me it is definitely Bravely Default 2. I just LOVE that game! I knew I would like it, I did not know It would exceed my expectations for it. Very nice feeling when it happens.

This may legitimately be the best live-action Street Fighter thing that has ever happened.

I know it hasn't been out long but The Artful Escape is great. I wasn't interested in it at first but I figured why not since it was on Game Pass. Such a pretty looking game that looks amazing in ultrawide.

Sekiro - I knew it was great being From Software, but after playing and finally mastering it (69 hours in), I have to say it is the best combat system in gaming history. at least where swordplay is concerned. Not even DMC5 comes close. Nioh, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden they don't hold a candle to what From has done with Sekiro.

Quake Champions. Looked like Quake trying to chase modern free to play trends, and that is kinda true (lootboxes, skins and shit). But it still plays like Quake. It's fast. It's been a long time since I played a shooter this fast. And it is glorious.

Gravel. I stayed away from this due to lukewarm reception, but finally tried the demo and liked it a lot. It's dressed up like a modern sim-cade rally game, but is really an old school arcade racer with a sprinkling of sim elements. A successor to Sega Rally that Sega seems to have no interest in making.

Deathloop obv!

Besides that, probably horizon on pc, played it on the PS4 and didn’t care much for it as it was sooo clunky to play with a controller! Got it for pc and had a blast even though the story doesn’t become good before the last 10% or so, but still really looking forward to hz2 when it comes to pc some day:)

Why don't you? You don't mind spending money when you want to. 🤭

You are aware that everyone don't mind spending money when they want.😂

@judaspete: Agreed on gravel it was one of my favourite racers of last gen.

Even on X1X and you used to make fun of me but now I'm happy you see why I enjoyed the game so much. :P

OT...

Always thought Frostpunk looked cool, but enjoying it more than I thought I would. Ran into something the other night that soured me on it a bit, but otherwise it's been a lot of fun.

Also Portal Reloaded. Replayed the first two games last weekend. Good games sure, but they always were a bit too easy for puzzle games. Hopped into Reloaded afterwards and yeah, that time portal mechanic is no joke lol. Fan made game, but so far it's much more satisfying than the first two games.

yeah deathloop for me too.

i just couldn't get really into prey, so deathloop wasn't a dead cert but i'd seen enough on the run up to release to think i was going to at least enjoy it. and tbh it took a bit of time to click and for me to understand what the f*ck is going on, but when it did all fall into place, it is so engrossing and fun, and yeah the storytelling is brilliantly inventive and stylish. no long cinematics, forced walking, arkane get how to deliver story in games. still got some way to go yet but so far it's genuinely exceeded expectations.

yeah i think the same but i think it struggles a bit in comparison after playing demon's souls which is so ridiculously polished and good looking. forget bloodborne 2, the prospect of a this gen update for bloodborne is mouth watering. probably not going to happen though

come on. despite Im excited to play Deathloop. I doubt its anywhear near Prey. Prey is System shock 2 successor and is one of the deepest and most complex game of last gen.

anyways OT: Its Doom Eternal. I was very hype for it and it definitely become one of the best FPS of all time. its in the line of Half life 2 and STALKER as best FPS game ever created.

Geez relax, I think he meant that's what he played it on, but I'm pretty sure they upgraded it for the Series consoles.

They did and the same for HiveBusters both for XSX andf X1X. I mean even on X1X it looks phenom. :D

you're not even playing deathloop yet after being cheerleader in chief for it? disappointing ghost.

and we've been through the whole prey thing many a time before. has a lot going for it but i didn't find the enemies fun to play against. i love dishonored 2, you didn't, you love prey, i didn't. all just opinions pal

plaguetale innocence. i played it because its free on psn plus but it was really good.

On topic, nothing lately. Most recent games that I played, I didn't quite like or enjoy it. May be I'm getting older or burned out on games or the games are crap.

@SolidGame_basic: criminally underrated. GEARS5 is the best since the first imo.

I will start soon 2 3 days. but still Prey is something special. and I doubt its better than Prey. Prey strength is its exploration, its atmosphere of space station and its level design. enemies were not fun to fight in System shock either but its deep immersive sim is what matters.

I want Prey 2.

Mass Effect 1

I enjoyed Mass Effect 1 the first time around, but didn't finish it because I was playing more enjoyable games at the time and the shooting wasn't all that.

I gave it another chance with the recent remaster and was absolutely enthralled by it.

The game is a really great RPG with fanatastical locations and a memorable cast of NPCs and the main character (which you can shape completely). I built my character based on the artwork for the female shepard.

The Improvements were also really nice and I liked the work done to the graphics, and to driving the Mako.

Later Mass Effects devolve more into third person shooters, but the first one is just a fantastic RPG

Ratchet & Clank

I knew I wanted to keep Ratchet & Clank for PS5, because I couldn't fully enjoy it at 30fps on PS4.

What a fantastic experience, what an incredibly technical feat!

I'm a really big fan of 3D platformers but Ratchet & Clank takes the cake: the game not only excells at its platforming, but there is shooting too. There is an insanely diverse and varried assortment of guns. The characters are great and at times hilarious.

Ratchet & Clank on PS4, and by extend: on PS5 is one of the best games I've played on a Sony console.

In the same boat here.

I'm playing through Darksiders 2 for the 2nd time - 1st time was in 2017. I made it probably 60% last time before stopping and just got past that point now.

Not amazing, but I'm having a pretty good time and it's alot more fun then it's predecessor.

@R4gn4r0k:

Mass Effect series update needs to hit GP already, via EA games on GP.

ME1 was always my favorite but TBH, I have played through ME3 the most. Love the game-play. ME4 had better stick to the stop action give squad orders formula because ME: A, I hated not having those options. lol :P

@SecretPolice: @___gamemaster__: Same.

Just finished Fallout 4, and someone on here suggested I dive into this before GoW. This is a great game. I loooooove the music.

hey man! nice to see you! agree with you.

Yea, it was upgraded for XSX and is a looker!

nice, yea the Risen series really got done dirty by most critics. I dug all 3 of them, the 2nd is probably the weakest but as you said still more engaging than most open world RPGs these days.

I think I heard the console versions were pretty disastrous which is one of the big reasons they were received so poorly

Every game i've really enjoyed this year has been a surprise. some to the point I didn't even have expectations since I didn't know about them.

I'd say Deathloop but I feel i'm still too early to make a real judgement on that game. It hasn't fully clicked for me yet but I am intrigued by it.

Psychonauts 2 I was enjoying for a while but started to fall off in the mid/later parts of the game. the story kinda lost me and the gameplay wasn't good enough to prop up the experience. Still finished it, decent game but I expected a bit more based on the reception to be honest.

The Ascent definitely surpassed my expectations. Simple game, but it looks/sounds amazing, the combat is fun, definitely surprised me. really enjoyed playing through it from beginning to end.

It Takes Two and Valheim are my two favorites of the year so far but I didn't actually have any expectations of them before they came out so I can't really say they qualify for this thread.

Oh 1 game that definitely exceeded my expectation was Valheim. I usually stays as far away from indies and early access of any kind but my friends been really enjoying it and bugged me to join. Turns out game is very fun, especially in a 10 man server.

@sakaixx: After all that hating on indies. A fun game is a fun game. Budget doesn't determine fun.

Yup! Up there with City Hunter's (Jackie Chan) Street Fighter fight scene.