Board 8 > What games you've bought more or less on faith turned out to be great?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was thinking lately how little I buy games that I'm not sure I'll like at full price. It'll either be from a franchise I already know I love, or I'll get it when it's on sale. I wanted to think back about the times I bought something new at full price and it worked out great and hear similar stories.

The following should be true about the game to count:

1. You had never played anything in the series before (possibly also discounting games that are spinoffs or clearly "spiritually" part of a certain franchise).
2. You bought it near the release at or close to full price. (I was going to exclude super cheap indie games, but I wouldn't know where the line should stop when it comes to price level. But obviously the more money you were willing to put down the more faith you had to have in it.)
3. You really enjoyed it.

One thing that stands out to me in the relative terms of "willingness to buy on release without playing anything else in the series" to the level of how much I loved it was Persona 5. I was always interested in the series, and I figured I would like it, but I had never had the chance to play any of Persona games beforehand. And sometimes RPGs that everybody likes can be hit or miss with me. But for some reason because I had extra cash and it was right around my birthday I decided to just buy it the day it came out. Ended up being one of my favorite games ever. That worked out really well.

Persona 3

I'm going to count God of War 2018 because I disliked the other games in the series and never played them for more than a few hours combined, it's easily one of the best games of last generation and one of my favorite combat systems and stories in any game.

Another one that fits better is Spec Ops: The Line. I didn't even know it was part of a franchise at the time. I played the demo and really enjoyed it and had no idea of its psychological and subversive elements. Now it's one of my top ten favorite games of all time.

I might even say Batman: Arkham Asylum. At the time I thought most licensed superhero games were pretty bad and I had no reason to think it would be different but needless to say it's also one of my favorite games of all time.

I'd say Dark Souls (Remastered). I only ever knew it as "that really hard game" but I ended up mostly loving it.

Kingdom Hearts

Death Stranding
The Last of Us

I don't think I've bought a game in the last 15 years that fits criteria 1 + 2, without even considering 3.

The original God of War. The coverage leading up to it made it look cool and I was a big fan of all the Greek mythology stuff. Went to the local big box store and bought it week one. It was actually on sale for $10 off which was a nice bonus. Started playing it and very quickly realized how awesome it was. Ended up playing through it multiple times in a row and now count GoW among my favorite gaming franchises.

Probably the most recent examples are 13 Sentinels and Famicom Detectives Club

Basically I'm probably more willing to take the plunge on a VN on blind faith that anything else

Tales of Symphonia

Wow that is a though question. Considering how most of the games I play are games from franchises I am familliar with or super popular games that I decided I should experience as well

But uh let's see...two games come to mind as I bought them on release day based on the trailers alone-
Celeste and Death's Door
Both were fantastic

kerbal space program

None of the conditions say anything about reviews or word of mouth - are those a factor here? I don't think buying a game after vetting it through those avenues (or watching gameplay, etc) really counts as "faith" but then if they don't then I don't think I've bought a game purely on faith since I was a kid.

Hm. Honestly not sure. Under this criteria I would probably say something from when I was much younger. Stuff I've bought lately are either stuff I've heard good things about through word of mouth or from series that I'm familiar with.

If I'm discounting games that I heard good things about and thought I might like then maybe...Raging Loop? Though for something that isn't a VN...Until Dawn I think fits. While I had heard some good things about it horror isn't a genre I like much so I took a chance on it and was surprised I liked it as much as I did!

Xenoblade Chronicles.

I don't think I'd ever preordered a game before (because I would often have to wait until things were out) or since (because I'm almost steam-exclusive atm)

Preordered Persona 3

mgs3

Darksiders.

Scroll of Taiwu and Amazing Cultivation Simulator

something about taiwu just screamed "almost perfect game" when i was reading the steam page, and ACS's infinite power grind seemed interesting

both being super duper steeped in chinese culture was a little offputting at first (ACS requires feng shui knowledge in EVERYTHING you do), but hey, now i'm a fan of cultivation manhua after playing them

I don't really buy games on release unless I have prior exposure to the series, but I guess this applies to The House in Fata Morgana. Can't even think of another example that satisfies even just criteria 1 and 2 though.

TWEWY is the first game to come to mind. I just thought the box art was really cool.

Harvest Moon 64
Bioshock
Goemon's Great Adventure
Terraria

hmm

can't say there are really that many games where i've actually bought them at more than like $40nzd blindly

that said, i did back chuusotsu's localisation on kickstarter for like $100usd (with exclusive collector's edition copies and other merch) and that was... well, probably not actually worth that much but i don't regret a cent. very glad i played that.

Bartzyx posted...

I don't think I've bought a game in the last 15 years that fits criteria 1 + 2, without even considering 3.

I think the most recently I can say this has happened was with Borderlands 1. And that was because three of my friends were playing it and I wanted to join in.

Scarlet Nexus. Bought it on release cause it looked sweet and I ended up really enjoying it. i almost never buy games full price so that's the only example I can think of

Demon's Souls for the PS3
Xenoblade

Soul Calibur 2
Final Fantasy XII
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Street Fighter 4
Ys VIII
Persona 3 (although now I can't stand it compared to 4 and 5)
Valkyria Chronicles
Resident Evil 4
Slay the Spire

Yooka-Laylee if it counts

I was a backer and really liked it, even with the huge amount of issues at launch

Pocket Card Jockey.

Culdcept Saga.

Persona 3