DS Daily: Disappointments
by Alisha Karabinus 
{ Nov 23rd 2008 at 10:30AM }
Sometimes, you look forward to a game for months and months, because you just can't get enough. You watch the videos. You play the flash preview. You soak up the screenshots. But then, once you finally get it, and you tear off the plastic, stuff it into your DS, and get moving, you learn one horrifying thing:It sucks. It's boring, or poorly-made, or just doesn't work for you. As depressing as this is, it happens to us all. But has it happened to you with a few DS games?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bowser Rogozhin @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:44AM
I'd say Duck Amuck or Sim City, but I don't really feel like digging that turgidness up.
There will probably be many a groan about Sonic games in this thread.
aj @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:29PM
And rightfully so.
Freudian Lemur @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:46AM
Yes, sadly. Whe I was younger, I played a game on the SNES which amazed me. Sectret of Mana was a stunningly beautiful and well made game, in my opinion. Then, years later, I discovered that they were making a Mana game one the DS! The screenshots looked even more beatiful than the original, (or even Seiken Densetsu 3) and all I wanted in life for the next few month was this game. Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying its a bad game, but it really wasn't what I expected or wanted. I've never been one to care too much about what games look like, but the hub of the game was beatuiful. Sadly, the rest of the game was entirely tile based backgrounds, which when compared to the hub, looked awful. In retrospect it's not a bad game, and it's appearance isn't that bad either, but at the time, nothing could have been more dissapointing.
chibi_wings @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:33PM
I wasn't disappointed by the game only because I knew what I was getting into before I started. But Children of Mana is still a very repetitive and uninspiring game. My biggest problem is the way the game was set up. It's more of a dungeon crawler with action RPG elements. I like my dungeon crawler RPGs, but I want a real Mana game like Secret of Mana. I think what hurt the game the most was not the graphics (i thought they were lovely throughout), but the diluted story. The story progresses very slowly and I just felt like it was a hack-and-slash feast. The old Mana games were not about hack-and-slash, but a compelling story and somewhat challenging boss fights. Children lacks both these things; the story is almost nonexistent and the boss fights are very easy. But mind you, I haven't finished the game, i got bored of it. I still play it from time to time, but there is nothing that is compelling me to finish it in the near future.
aj @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:33PM
I liked Children of Mana. But I don't recommend that you finish it, as what little plot there is goes from "kind of interesting" to "completely insane". The final boss is....well, I don't want to ruin anything. But the final boss makes no sense at all, and is remarkably easy on top of everything. You'll only be angry if you do push on to finish it. I promise.
Jacksons @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:38PM
Oh lord, I can't believe I finished Children of Mana. That has got to be the worst game I've ever bought since various lousy titles on the NES. Absolutely terrible. Don't bother finishing it.
I remember killing the second boss (I think?) by ricocheting off all his parts until he died. Abysmal.
Big George @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:00AM
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass... After going through the EXACT same dungeon for the 4th time I said, "That's enough. This sucks."
Hamster @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:10AM
Yeah, having to do the Temple of the Ocean King again and again and again did get really annoying. It was just a cheap and lazy way to stretch out the game's length and to have a time limit (always just a cheap and lazy way to add challenge) in a dungeon that's based primarily around stealth was ridiculous and weirdly far too difficult for the very non-gamers for whom they compromised and gimmickified the controls (not necessarily talking about the touch-screen controls which were generally ok, more the awful mic gimmicks and such).
Bowser Rogozhin @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:17AM
Stop being chucklefucks, Phantom Hourglass was a fine game. Superior controls to OOT; superior graphics; more charm; more enduring characters; better dungeons. Yeah, aside from length, I'd say it's pretty much better than the OOT in almost every form. Only Links Awakening and Wind Waker tops PH.
sparkster @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:45AM
Sorry Bowser Rogozhin, but I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not...
I bought the game and already at the part, where I had to shout at the hook merchant dude for no obvious reason, I was like "Oh my god, what a horrible game!". Also compared to OOT the dungeons are inferior. Not only that you had to revisit the Ocean King one endless times, but also the few other dungeons were not unique in any way. When in OOT every dungeon had its own mechanics and unique puzzles, all the PH dungeons played the same. Basically 90% of all the puzzles were solved by:
a) reading a stone tablet and pulling switches as written
or
b) reading stone tablets and draw something on your screen as written.
If that's what "innovative" means, I'm out of touch with games.
Don't get me started with the controls... Oh one thing. Why the hell didn't they add a pause when switching items? I mean they did add one when you wanted to change your direction with your boat even though the boat rides were already time consuming and boring as they are.
Can't believe I'm saying that, since I even enjoyed Adventure of Link, but I really, really hated Phantom Hourglass. Why the hell would you stretch a game by backtracking instead of just adding creative, challenging puzzles, that reward you with heart pieces instead of whole containers?
Really sorry, but I can't see how anyone could think this is a good Zelda...
SephFinale @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:22PM
Bowser, ANY Zelda game, save for the CD-i abominations, is better than OOT. 8D
Mert @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:57PM
"I bought the game and already at the part, where I had to shout at the hook merchant dude for no obvious reason, I was like "Oh my god, what a horrible game!"."
I loved that part ^^"
Mr Khan @ Nov 23rd 2008 1:35PM
I'll admit i was quite frustrated by the Temple of the Ocean King, until i realized that the items you collected allowed you to vastly reduce the amount of time you had to spend in there. By the end of the game i was able to clear the first 3/4 of the dungeon in 1:30, utilizing various shortcuts
1337stra @ Nov 23rd 2008 5:20PM
Bowser's sarcasm is palpable.
Justin @ Nov 24th 2008 2:10AM
yes, bowser was being sarcastic, but there is one flaw with it... wind waker is AMAZING. i sometimes wonder if i might actually be tied with ocarina of time.
Secre @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:14AM
Most of my DS games were rented before I got them. So, I'll usually know if I like the game before I buy it. Gamefly, you help so much :3.
aj @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:43PM
I am an RPG addict, so renting is typically out of the question.
I'd love for RPGs to have decent demos, maybe an hour of gameplay just to give you a cut scene, some combat, and exploration with just a hint of story just so you know you would want to do it for another 50 hours or so. That would be awesome. Never going to happen, though.
starmicro @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:21AM
Bleach: The Blade of Fate, Drawn to Life and Meteos were disappointments for me. :(
Alisha Karabinus @ Nov 23rd 2008 4:43PM
Glad I'm not alone in hating Meteos.
John S @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:01PM
Meteos? I loved Meteos! I was addicted to that for weeks! I freaking DREAMED Meteos; I sat in school and tried to line people up by shirt color; I practically bled little technicolor cubes!
Tetris DS, on the other hand... Meh.
Roto13 @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:32AM
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Final Fantasy XII was awesome, so why is its sequel a piece of crap?
Alisha Karabinus @ Nov 23rd 2008 4:44PM
Wow, I actually enjoyed Revenant Wings more than XII, so I guess we're backwards! XII Just didn't do it for me somehow.
Paul @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:30PM
I really loved Rev Wings once I got the hang of it. It was pretty snazzy.
One of these days I'll get around to playing XII. I bought it with my PS3 for kicks (FF brand was one of the deciding factors vs 360) and really never played more than 30mins before being taken over my METALGEARSOLID4OMG!
Roto13 @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:34PM
People either love or hate FFXII. I really liked it. Then I played it a second time and it was like four times as good. xP It's better if you know what you're doing, I guess.
But I forced myself to play just about half of Revenant Wings, I had to fight... someone, right after fighting Balthier and Fran, and just said "I haven't had the slightest bit of fun with this game since I started and I'm not playing it any more" and quit. :P
Alaska Nebraska @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:42AM
Super Princess Peach. Argh.
haruspex @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:22PM
You were originally excited about Super Princess Peach? I thought it looked bad before even touching it...
PSORngr @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:06PM
I know that just about everyone else in the world loved the game but I was sorely disappointed with Kirby Canvas Curse.
Starfox Command was also disappointing.
The Boss @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:10PM
Oh, yeah. Kirby Canvas Curse was kinda horrible. StarFox Command was a little disappointing at first, but it does get better once you get used to it, I guess.
SephFinale @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:46PM
I was disappointed with Canvas Curse as well...mostly because it wasn't traditional Kirby. 8[
I was also disappointed with Kirby Squeek Squad. Seriously, that game was way too short. Within 6 hours after purchasing it, I already beat it with a 100% file. Kirby Super Star Ultra makes up for this in every way.
Another game that I found was terrible was Yoshi Touch and Go. God...I wish I stilla had the $30 from that...
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble was kind of lame too...
And Need for Speed Underground on the DS? Terrible. (I got this as a birthday present, because I requested it and it was only $10.)
New Super Mario Bros. was okay for a while...but then it got boring. Same with Mario Party DS. It was fun if you had the friends to play it with.
I think I'm through ranting...
lasersanchez @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:32PM
Canvas Curse was fan-fuggin-tastic.
Adam Dolph @ Oct 10th 2009 8:00PM
Wario: Master of Disguise.
PixelFox @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:17PM
I couldn't agree more, Wario: Master of Disguise was just terrible.
Goity @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:40PM
Nintendogs and Brain Training. Also Wario Ware, but I wasn't particualrly hyped up for that.
chibi_wings @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:45PM
The closest I have gotten to disappointment was with two SRPGs. First FFTA2; I was hoping for a more epic or fun story and a better leading character (sorry i don't like Luso, he is too childish). But I haven't finished the game (because I've put it on hold due to other games), so maybe i'll change my mind about the story and Luso after i finish it. Second, Disgaea DS, I think I was over hyped for this one. It's not bad per say, just too much level grinding in it; leveling up weapons is a pain in the @$$. Sure you don't have to, but I'm a completionist and I want to get the best weapons etc etc. Going through 10 floors just to gain 10 levels for each weapon is a bit much. Again it's a solid SRPG, just not what I was expecting. The same with FFTA2, I love the gameplay, but I was expecting more from the story and Luso.
SephFinale @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:49PM
This just reminded me of Hoshigami Remix. The game lags, too much grinding (If you wish to keep any of your units, you might want to powerlevel them about 20 levels over the enemy in the area you're in), and the music...doesn't help.
Butters @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:55PM
Recently picked up Lock's Quest and Bangai-o Spirits... Just could not get into them.
Randy Burch @ Nov 23rd 2008 1:14PM
Definitely Myst.
Perhaps memories are stronger than reality. It was great on the PC back then, completely crap on the DS.
Zealot @ Nov 23rd 2008 1:30PM
Izuna: Roguelike aspect delivered, but the promised comedy plot was paper-thin and the repetitive grinding and dungeon crawling weren't worth the ten seconds of Izuna wisecracking after every completed dungeon. I love a good story-based RPG and I love quirky localizations; Atlus advertised a combination of the two but really exaggerated it.
And I'm about to die for this next one, but TWEWY. The insufferable emo characters, teen angst, and the underlying air of pretension in the pop and style themes didn't kill it, but the gameplay did. I really liked the concept of two-screen gameplay and the pin system, but the execution was poor. Button-mashing for the top character, wild stylus-scratching for the bottom character. The potential for creativity from the variety of the pins was stunted by the fact that many of them overlapped in their powers and in the motions required to execute them, so there was no motivation to tinker around with pin combinations to create a working strategy. There game even destroyed the sense of urgency it was trying to create in the Reapers' Game by making time limits to complete missions part of the plot and not passing these limits onto the player to complete in real time. I could leisurely grind for hours or days to get money for expensive stat-boosting items and only then complete the mission out of finally getting bored with that day's Noise. I finally put the game away half way through. I might pick it up again this summer if there's a game drought then, but it didn't meet expectations.
Mr Khan @ Nov 23rd 2008 1:41PM
Quite honestly? Mario Kart DS. Obviously being the first Nintendo-made Online game led to a whole round of disappointments, but the killer for me was Snaking.
There's a difference between snaking and other so-called "game breaking exploits." Take, for instance, the Noob Combo in Halo 2 (never played it, but had to hear about it often from friends in high school who bitched about the combo), sure that move was cheap, but the very good player could simply kill the Combo user faster
Snaking, however, crushed that. You HAD to snake if you wanted to win. HAD to. There was no option, there was nothing you could do to beat a snaker, no matter how good you were otherwise. The fact that snaking had nothing to balance it out, like, say, making it extremely hard to control after a while, is what killed it.
Jacksons @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:33PM
Haha, yeah. I only played with friends, as online is full of not only the snakers, but cheaters. It was about the third or fourth time in a row that I sat there waiting, watching the wheel spin for a few minutes to finally get a game started only to have everyone leave due to some moron cheating with infinite bullet bills that I stopped playing anonymous online altogether. It isn't worth it.
Juliana Peña @ Nov 23rd 2008 1:46PM
Pokemon Diamond. I really though it could be better than Crystal, my all-time favourite old-school Game Boy game. Emerald was bad enough, this one was downright disappointing. I don't think I'll ever play Pokemon again, except maybe Crystal once in a while.
hosephmeraz @ Nov 23rd 2008 2:38PM
Really? Can you elaborate on that? I think pretty much all the pokemon games are awesome, there very Capcom in that they do the same thing over and over but just add more fluff to the game, mainly more critters. I thought the 3-d perspectives were a nice touch to the game without mucking it up.
Oh but, one of my all time dissapointments was... FFA2 i really didnt like the weapon system, how you had to like loot, and create them with yo loot Monster Hunter style, not in my FFA Square. And Naruto ROAN, i know its not DS but, I found the fighting system to be very shallow.
S3ph @ Nov 23rd 2008 2:53PM
I bought a DSlite just to play Pokemon Diamond(which means I was excited as hell!), the new graphics were cool but I was always getting that feeling of been there, done that. It was the same old, same old except for a few things.
Jacksons @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:23PM
Even though the last guy got flamed for it, I'm also going to say Phantom Hourglass. I usually love the puzzles in Zelda games, and it's easy to recall many memorable puzzles and moments in the older games. This one never had me stop and think, and really lacked any memorable moments at all. It wasn't terrible, but it was certainly disappointing.
Remember how freaking epic the end bosses and ending sequences in Ocarina of Time were? Yeah. Instead, Phantom Hourglass's climax takes the day off and instead hands you a boss you could take down using your tongue as a stylus. I may have set my expectations too high, but that's just what I've come to expect from the franchise.
Also, Sonic Rush. Decent, but far from dethroning Sonic Advance as my go-to portable hedgehog fix.
Broco Lee @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:24PM
FFTA2.
The game is beautiful and well made, the gba fft was myu fav game, buttt....
It doesnt has a solid story.
Square Enix made us wait like a year to translate it!!!
Its so damn easyyyy if you play it on normal, by the time you are un 150 missions completed it provides no more challenges, but by that time, you dont wanna start ALL OVER AGAIN just to play it on hard.
The protagonists name is LUSO What kind of name is that?.
They added two razes, but they have only 4 jobs.
aj @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:41PM
Sonic Chronicles.
It's a BioWare RPG, so it couldn't possibly be bad. But Sonic Chronicles is a really fantastic example of what happens when ambition gets the better of game design. And why does every enemy run from you? It's the only RPG that punishes you for trying to play it. It's insane. I desperately want my 35$ back.
Jehusephat @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:55PM
I have a lot of games, so a few of them were bound to be disappointing in some way or another. Jam Sessions had me really excited at first, but when I bought it and discovered that chords would have to be pre-selected and that only a few would be available at any given time, I realized that it was really only suitable for making covers of other songs and wasn't useful at all for making new ones. Not unless you already knew what chords were going to inspire you. Mario Party DS was the first game I ever considered returning due to poor quality. I haven't been able to play it for more than five or ten minutes. Sonic Rush was the biggest disappointment for me, though. The level design is so spread out and seemingly random that I could never figure out if I was falling down to a new part of the level or falling to my death.
GSR @ Nov 24th 2008 12:13AM
I'm going to have to third Phantom Hourglass. I just couldn't get into it, no matter how hard I tried. I've always been more of one for 3D Zeldas, but still.
I didn't really have tremendously high expectations for Megaman Starforce 2, but I didn't expect it to have the highest encounter and lowest run rates I've seen since just about ever. By the end of the game I was going insane from the repetitive battles. Luckily I got it for free, but nevertheless.
There's some other DS game I have that falls under this, but I can't remember it right now. Eh.
Brandon H. @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:59PM
Dragon Booster was god awful.
Nigeria @ Nov 23rd 2008 4:00PM
I don't get disappointed that much, but I'd say Drawn to Life and Duck Amuck.
Drawn to Life was pretty much the most primitive platformer I've ever played, and I've played a bunch of bland platfomers in my time. It was just a real nothing game, a game with a cool concept, but wrapped in such a dull package. And that hub world, with the fetch quests, simply terrible. Maybe I was too old for that game but my little cousin thought it was boring as hell as well. (13).
Duck Amuck mainly for wasted potential. Presentation was awesome, shame it was just a bunch of mediocre minigames.
I'd add the final quarter of Sonic Chronicles to the this list as well. A good story descends into typical Bioware scifi nonsense, losing all its previously garnered charm, and ends on the limpest note ever. I wasn't even sure the game had ended until Sonic started congratulating the developers.