Every now and again, a video game comes along that, while perfectly playable and decent, is hated by a large majority of people. I get that the enjoyment of video games, like any other creative medium, is largely subjective. Butꦰ sometimes, you’re just left scratching your head, trying to figure out what it is about certain games that people hate.

Each෴ year, you'll have a bunch of games that ride the hype and marketing train. All those well-crafted E3 trailers, screenshots, and developer interviews can’t save them from the eventual scorn they receive. Maybe they promised too m🌼uch and brought this upon themselves, or maybe they are just unfairly targeted, but once you strip away all the pre-release hype and examine them as just games, you start to see the good in them.

Many of you p🌌robably have those games you love that everyone just hates on. I’ve got a selection of them, and I am starting to question my own taste in video games after seeing how much hate they receive. But I know what I like and why I like it. None of the games listed here are perfect, but they stand tall on their individual merits and, for me, are some truly great experiences. I’ve decided to share some of the games that I feel people just hate on for no reason at all.

15 ⛦ Assassin's Creed III

Assassin's Creed III is the black sheep in an already strange family of games. Contrast it to the Ezio trilogy of Assassin’s Creed games, it is a huge shifꦚt, tonally speaking. This is partly due to its protagonist, Conn♑or Kenway.

That’s not to say Connor is a bad character, nor that Assassins’ Creed III is a bad game. It was a large, sprawling adventure across the wilderness and growing towns of Colonial America. It offered an interesting and dramatic take on a crucial time in American history and placed you at the centre. Connor’s story ends as a stark reminder that no matter how ‘in the moment’ we may feel, we may never even end up as a footnote of history. Compared to Ezio’s bombastic and charismatic antics, Assassin’s Creed III offered a more human story.

Plus, have you played Unity – now that’s a mess.

14 💦 Metroid: Other M

The Metroid franchise is one of Nintendo’s best (and one we don’t see enough of). When Metroid: Other M was released on Nintendo Wii in 2010, it was well received, but die-hard fans of the series didn’t fall in ✃love with it as expected.

Sadly, Other M tarnishes the reputation of the beloved lady bounty hunter from the iconic universe. Her character is shredded to bits in Other M, and fans took note. That being said, Metroid: Other M plays rꦬeally well, the action works, and the shifting perspectives make for an intere🐷sting approach to the series' signature gameplay.

13 Fable III

Fable was a massive success when it came out on Xbox in 2004. I remember playing it and feeling like it was The Legend of Zelda, but more mature- grander in scope and design. Like all good franc𒆙hises, though, it grew tiresome, but the third entry deserves more praise than it does flack.

Let’s not think about how poorly optimized it was for PC and just focus on how alive the world felt in Fable III. When I look back at the first Fable title, it was a great game for the time, but its world felt fragmented. Too many spaces designed solely for the purpose of enemy encounters. They did not feel like living, breathing parts of a real world in the same way Fable III did.

12 Metal Gear Solid 2 𒁏

The opening, tanker mission in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was great. Wheꦛn Solid Snake leaped over the side of that bridge, onto the tanker, I was like: “Yeah! Thereꦚ he is!” I enjoyed sneaking around the interior of the tanker; it was a great prelude.

Then, you’re subject to a cut-scene reminiscent to the opening of Metal Gear Solid, of your pr𓂃otagonist swimming towards the Big Shell oil rig, captured by terrorists. Once inside, you find that it is not Solid Snake you are playing as, but Raiden. Urgh, Raiden.

This is enough for some people to really hate this game. That, and the story is criticized for being a bit obtuse. But, as a stealth-action game, it is top-draw stuff. It could be argued that the story ‘jumps the shark’ in the final act but, canonically, it works and is narratively ambitious. Kojima is known for creating games that confound and are implicit. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a great example of this.

11 💦 ও New Super Mario Bros U

As a launch title for the Nintendo Wii U, New Super Mario Bros U was an underwhelming game for many. After the fantastic Super Mario Galaxy games on Wii, it was odd to see Nintendo rest on their laurels with the Super Mario franchise 🌠by giving us another 2D platformer – a genre they’ve mastered – iไnstead of pushing forward with the 3D Mario titles.

Still, as a 2D Mario game, it is strikingly reminiscent of Super Mario World on SNES – one of the greatest 2D-platformers eve💙r made. It is pure nostalgia fodder, albeit well-crafted nostalgia fodder.

New Super Mario Bros U has that difficulty sweet-spot that Nintendo 💖often hits, making it an all-around accessible title. It also showed off the potential of the Wii U gamepad – potential that, sadly, was never truly realized.

10 No 🎀Man✨'s Sky

There is no bigger example of a game being hindered by its own hype train than No Man’s Sky. Hello Games just couldn’t help themselves, could they? They promised t🔜he literal universe and, in the end, we got a half-finished game, many of its promised features absent.

We’re almost a year on from the release of No Man’s Sky and a lot of people haven’t changed their mind about the game. A hard impression is always harܫd to shake, but you can’t say Hello Games aren’t giving it a good try.

With major updates having released, 🦄providing base-building, PS4 Pro support, ship-specialisations, and classes, in addition to shops and traders. The full list of improvements is exhaustive, but it is noble that Hello Games want to rectify such a horrible launch and are working towards achieving the vision they promised in the first place.

9 Fallout 4

After a seven-year hiatus (not counting Fallout: New Vegas) we finally got the sequel to Fallout 3. It was supposed to be a glorious day for western-RPG♉ fans everywhere. Bethesda’s shining moment - their tour de force. However, like anything that has been anticipated for a long time, people ꦍwere invariably disappointed.

Fallout 4 is not a bad game, and improves over both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas in significant ways. Sure, it’s not a graphical powerhouse, but it streamlined all its systems, from crafting, looting, inventory management, and leveling up. They also got the guys from ID Software to show them a thing or two abꦯout how to design decent shooting mechanics. It made us all less reliant on the V.A.T.S system, which while a staple of the franchise, served to take us out of the experience on occasion.

Fallout 4 embodies everything Bethesda has learned about creating video games and is one of ✨their best. Just because it doesn’t have the same vibe as their previous games, doesn’t make it any less an experience.

8 🐲 The Order: 1886

It’s a short game, I’ll give you that. The campaign ends before it really begins, and the gameplay can become a little repetitive. Sure, I’ll acknowledge these points. But, as a means of showing off how impressive the PS4 is, The Order: 1886 certainly wins points.

You can criticize The Order: 1886 for having a lackluster narrative, but in terms of its wo𒐪rld-building – a steampunk rendition of Victorian London, plagued by werewolves and vampires – it's captivating. Those scenes in the London Underground are some of the most atmospheric and 𝕴tense of modern video games, better than many games whose focus is solely about horror.

Plus, thos𒁏e beard and musta﷽che physics were top notch.

7 🌃 𓆉 Rogue Warrior

I appreciate that having a first-person shooter that controls like you’re moving a tank isn’t ideal, but Rogue Warrior is discredited entirely for this reason. How about we look at what makes Rogue Warrior great꧒: the cheesy one-liners – they’re just wonderful.

Mickey Rourke is the voice actor for the game's protagonist, Richard Marcinko. Over the course of this six-hour action-movie style adventure, he spits out some cracking, one-liners, up there with the most absurd and outrageous of them all. His outbursts are a bit on the strong side, but they are examples of a videogame not taking itself serioꦫusly and just wanting to provide a bit of light-hearted fun for people who want to shoot some virtual guns.

6 🐼 Dragon Age II

Dragon Age II is, in terms of critical reception, the most poorly received of the Dragon Age franchise. Not many people want to admit to liking this game, as they feel the story was too slow and the map size, compared to the vastness of Dragon Age Origins. But there’s a lot to love here and maybe you should tak♏e another look.

What Dragon Age II sacrifices in scope with its open world, it more than makes up for by improving the combat system, building upon the skill trees and providing more dialogue options. There is nothing wrong with streamlining an experience and opening it up to a wider audience, which is clearly what Bioware were going for here. Its world also feels more alive than its predecessor, anꦏd is probably the most enjoyable 50 hours you’ll put into an RPG.