In this list, I'm of course NOT counting the "worst games" from Last Gen., because anyone can pick any shuffleware from the Wii which is a dead giveaway. I'm only counting the games that have been shoved in our faces so many damn times that they've persuaded us to buy it and towards the end, we feel like fools once we finished the game. These are the games that created so much anticipation, but turned out to be another way to takes our money from our wallets, so I'm not counting any shooter game because there was absolutely no anticipation for me to play titles like fucking Call of Duty or Battlefield to be entertained or even worthy to put in my game collection. You MUST have anticipation first in order to be disappointed and that's the only way a game from last gen to make it on this very list!
There are just so many bad games from this generation to count, but I'm selecting only 5 games from this gigantic shit pile. Instead of doing honorable mentions for this list, go replay any of Boochow's game of the year award shows and look up the disappointing games category that we've awarded and nominated because there are more than enough of them to count! With that being said, here is probably my most controversial picks and my most angriest list I've ever written! So here it is!
Number 5. - Alan Wake
How can Remedy, the creators of Max Payne, could even make me care less about what’s going on? I mean, Alan Wake was just so dried up to it’s inspiration with Stephen King and Twin Peaks that it became a complete copycat. I've stated how much I dislike Uncharted's unoriginal concept, but Alan Wake was so pitiful that it was not worth the long years of waiting for this game's development hell. You thought Duke Nukem Forever's delivery was horrible, Alan Wake was worse because they expected us to take it seriously and get scared. I'm going to say it loud and clear! This game is not frightening, plain and simple! Since I’ve already experienced all of Alan Wake's influences many years ago, Alan Wake just did not add anything new to this style of horror. I really dislike its VERY linear progression, his stupid friend Barry Wheeler, and only have one way to defeat an enemy that gets really repetitive at the point where it feels so dry that you want to regurgitate. Also, why hasn't Microsoft, the game's publisher, double check on the game's development because Remedy seem that they got away the horrible lips-syncing at the point where they did not look like humans. I know there are games from the PS1 era that had little to no lips-syncing like Metal Gear Solid, but their technology weren't able to do that at the time, plus MGS told such an in-depth and unpredictable story that we forgot about it. Though, I do like that Alan Wake took the setting to be in the forrest, but Remedy could really do so much with such a setting than just running in a path and end up with so many of these shadow creatures that's just waiting to get beamed with a flashlight and get shot at. At times, the game made fun of itself, like when Berry was playing as a DJ in an empty concert in the middle of the woods, that was just pathetic to even consider this title horror. I really think Alan Wake is really no where as good as how the media praise it to be and yet, this one trick pony left me very disappointed. And I mean VERY disappointed!
Number 4. - Mass Effect 3
You know what? Fuck it! I'm tired of ranting about how disappointing the gameplay, small number of teammates, lack of decisions that hardly ever matters to the story, to many DLC's being sold all over Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Store before the game was even released, and especially the bad ending that completely ruined my enjoyment of the first two Mass Effect games which are my second favorite games of Last Gen! You should remember that I gave up playing video games at one point in 2012 after witnessing Mass Effect's horrid game endings and didn't come back playing another modern game again until Guild Wars 2 came out and that should say a lot about my hatred of Last Gen gaming. As game judged by its own merits, it's not that bad, but as a sequel to the game series that's ahead of our time it's really one of the most tragic moments in gaming history and its reputation as being disappointing is clearly deserved! If this industry keeps repeating itself with such practices as they continue to release these new titles, then it's best to just move on with life and give up this hobby before you loose any more precious money.
Number 3. - Dead Island
Shocked to see that this game is more of a disappointment than Mass Effect 3? Yes, it really is the worst game of 2011 for me. The reason why I was so anticipated for this title was because how emotional I've gotten with the game's teaser trailer!
That was the best trailer I've ever seen in my life where I literally cried after seeing it and still to this day when I watch it I get choked up! It' was so artsy to reverse the event that happened to the family and I though this was a breath of fresh air for this cliched genre called the Zombie genre. Now, when I watch this trailer, I cry for another reason; why wasn't this game about real survival. Instead, this game became the most idiotic and generic games from this console generation! I was so pumped up to see a video game experience where it could tell me the meaning of life and survival when we're in this zombie invasion. Now I'm convinced that the trailer wasn't even made by the developers of the game!
Even though I had to look pass that this game was nothing seen from the trailers, it's a game where there wasn't anything new on the table! I've never seen so many stereotypical characters all around this game that it made it feel uncomfortable to sit through because all of the characters are so 1-dimensional that it's painful to watch. But worse of all is the many bugs and glitches in this game that felt so rushed! Even though Fallout 3 had almost the same amount of bug and glitches that Dead Island had, but at least it had something interesting in every part of the map world and the quests are so much fun. Dead Island for instance only has those typical zombies that you can easily kill and the challenge factor isn't at all hard, except trying to get pass through the bugs. People say that this is an RPG Sandbox Shooter, but I hardly even used my gun for anything, so I use melee which makes it look like an overpowered way to beat the game. I would have beaten the game, if only my saved file didn't crash. After my saved file crashed within 3 days of playing the game (I still can't believe it only took me 3 days to have this game to be broken), I didn't even bother to pick up this game ever again. I hated the zombie genre already and got this game to see if it can change my view point, but instead it made me hate the zombie popularity even more! There was hardly any quests that I liked, too many escort missions that get the CPU AI to run into walls and glitch out, so many sewer levels (I hate sever levels), and nothing even remotely new was added to video games! This is to me, just a game that fooled us to buy the title because of how amazing the trailer was, only to have them to kick us in the balls after the developers said "fooled ya!"
Number 2. - Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
You know what? I'm not mad at this game anymore. Instead I just laugh at it like it's one big joke. It is really one of the biggest bone headed moves in video games that will never be forgiven to many Sonic fans and gamers alike. I know why this game was released. It was because Sega was so desperate to recreate Sonic Adventure because it still is the best 3D Sonic game ever and all the other ones after it, except for Sonic 06, Free Riders, and Sonic & Mario at Olympic Games, weren't as bad as the old school fanbase proclaim it to be. Sega wanted to recreate the magic of Sonic Adventure and have so many ambitious ideas to feel so revolutionary, but the execution was the total opposite of what they were expecting. For all of these years, it's still being hated by fans. Though I'm not as mad with this title like I was many years ago, it earns it's second place because of it's infamous reputation and how disappointed my brother and I once were. There are very few video games that have managed to amass such a notorious amount of negative criticism than the simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog. Everything about this game was just as much WEIRD as it was bad, with the number of glitches outnumbering the number of rings, load times that were probably longer than most games on the PlayStation 2, and a bizarre storyline that found Sonic saving a human princess in some faraway land that was probably more suited for some canned Final Fantasy spin-off game. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 was even more disappointing due to the fact that it directly followed the fan-favorite Sonic Adventure series and Sonic Heroes. I think we have to accept that Sega isn't the same as they once were, but they still continue to make a lot of disappointing titles like Alpha Protocol (just to name one of them). What's the most hilarious part of it all was that Sonic has a love interest with Princess Elise that makes Princess Peach a more lovable character in comparison! The reason why I think it's now funny to remember is because it represents the stupid Sonic fanbase that floods the internet with countless horrible fan art, recolors, and fan fiction. Every time I see one of those creepy fan art and fan fiction in sites like Deviant art, I always scroll down to the comments section and post Princess Elise kissing Sonic to show what I think of their obsession. Overall, there is nothing new to say about Sonic '06. It's one of the most hated games since Super Man 64 because of its glitchy gameplay and design, horrid story that attempts to be taken seriously, and so many aspects of the game that nobody ever wants to see should you really tell you something! It's no wonder why the Sonic fanbase is split because of this very title that caused so much controversy and still is infamous to mention! Remember when I said that 7th gen of consoles is some of my least favorite era in gaming ever? Well, when the PS3, Xbox, and Wii era begun, Sonic '06 was released… and already it was an awful moment in this era.
Number 1. Final Fantasy XIII & Final Fantasy XIV
Speaking as a person who have lived in Japan from 2007 to 2012, these two titles are the reason why I don't give a flying fuck about modern JRPG's anymore! To hear me say that these two titles are a WORSE experience than Mass Effect 3 and Sonic '06 should tell you something! Starting with Final Fantasy XIII, it's probably the worst Final Fantasy game since Final Fantasy X, because of having a story that has no exposition and left so many unanswered questions, the progression is the most linear game design I've ever experienced (it's literally a hallway), everything happening in this game made no sense, too many characters that are the most anime cliched & annoying that makes chalkboard scratching more preferable to listen (especially Vanille that you want to strangle), and so many terminologies that is too complex to even understand. If you thought Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was terribly complex to enjoy, Final Fantasy XIII was a giant pain in the ass to go sit through. All of these pointless plot devices like the crystarium, Fal'Cie, and all of these pointless dicking around was even too hard to understand that they expect that not even the log couldn't even explain that well. This was the first time ever since playing the NES console games that my brother and I raged-quit and never came back to play this game ever again. I can't ever find myself ever playing Final Fantasy XIII ever again because it's too long to play and if the story refused to be interesting after over 20-hours of play, then I refuse to waste another second on this shit! What's even more insulting than Mass Effect 3's ending is that out of all the Final Fantasy games that had a direct sequel, (along with FF X-2) why the fuck is there a FF XIII-2 and another one called Lightning's Return? Why does the experience need to be so longer than it should be?!
And finally (pun intended), Final Fantasy XIV. For the longest time, I thought Star Wars Galaxies was the worst MMO of all time, until the douchebags who developed FF XIV dared to rush out this shit on the exact same year that FF XIII came out! I was forced to experience this horrid MMO because my friend from Korea wanted me and my other friends to play it. The whole time it was nothing but a boring tour guide where battles were so slow and dry, the quests are bottom of the barrel basic, and the glitches and bugs that we had to face were a complete waste of money. Since then, the friends that play this game with us never talked to my friend from Korea because we never forgave him wasting our money on the game and the monthly subscription! The people who made Final Fantasy XIV failed to address the fact that we're living in a post-World of Warcraft world (and they lost their jobs for that oversight). That's not to say that every MMO should hold your hand, but the latest in Square Enix's flagship RPG series is easily the most obtuse, ornate and needlessly complex online gaming experience I've ever encountered. The PlayStation 3 version was first delayed to March 2011, and then delayed indefinitely. There's an upside: Perhaps in part due to a lawsuit over Final Fantasy XI billing, the easiest part of the game is the one where you cancel your account.
The reason why I never ever talked about my history of playing Final Fantasy in the PS1 era (where I first became a huge fan of the franchise) is because these two game ruined all the magic for me. I, like many people, had my life changed with Final Fantasy 7 back in the late 90's, but after experiencing this generations of gaming's biggest downfall, Final Fantasy 7 and all my other favorite Final Fantasy games are now meaning less to me. Never again will I ever be involved with anything that is titled Final Fantasy because it continues to get worse every year. Nothing will ever get me back to the Final Fantasy series ever again. No matter how good the next installment of the series will be, it will never be a Final Fantasy 7. Hell, not even a Final Fantasy 7 remake could even get me back to the franchise. I'm even more mad with these two titles than I am with Mass Effect 3 because I have no interest with what's going on in the JRPG industry because FF XIII & XIV brew it off the water and the damage is beyond repair! I don't know who's to blame but whatever was the cause I don't care for it any more! If there has to be one reason why I'm not getting into the next generation of gaming is because of these two games and I'm more than happy to finally give up on modern gaming and go back to the time where gaming used to be magical!
So these are five games are probably some of the worst experiences I've had in gaming. Sorry if you disagree but that's been my personal feelings after all of these years. I'll never get my money back after spending over $60 on so many disappointing titles. I'm disappointed that I couldn't enjoy this generation of gaming as much as I wanted to but it is what it is and this is perhaps the last time I'm ever going to stay in touch with modern gaming as the industry is heading to the 8th generation of consoles. Well, I've been ba humbug today in Gexup's 12 Days of Christmas, but let's get jolly good again with tomorrow's list on the top 4 best boss fights that I've had the pleasure of playing! See you tomorrow and tell me what you think of this Top 5 in the forums! Till then, Happy New Year, everyone!
