Duke Nukem Forever and Ride to Hell: Retribution

I did enjoy a few games that I think aren't generally well received and were criticized for their simplistic gameplay, often considered as very mediocre, and I wouldn't even disagree with that necessarily, I can see that they're not all that great, but I still had fun with them, e.g. Submerged, Remember Me, Murdered: Soul Suspect, Demonicon, Venetica, The Last Templar, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Son of Nor, Enclave, Blood Knights, Hunted: The Demon Forge, Avencast: Rise of the Mage, How to Survive, Blade Kitten, Lili: Child of Geos, maybe even Woolfe - The Red Hood Diaries. Not sure if anyone sensible would call them crappy though, they're flawed in one way or another, and some more than others, but I thought they all had something going for them as well. In any case it seems I enjoyed them more than the average player would.

I just remembered, I enjoyed playing Velvet Assassin.

Ultima VIII: Pagan

Everybody hates this game except me, because it was the first Open-World-RPG I've played as a child without knowing the former games of the Ultima series. I had the retail version with all the goodies in the chest and spent so many hours in the eternal night of Pagan. Actually this poor rated game was the reason why I created an GOG account, to buy and play it again.

I enjoyed it too. Admittedly, I played it a long time ago, but I'm keen to have another go now and see if I really am wearing rose tinted glasses.

People in gaming media like the exact same type of games, so we only get one single perspective on them.

Imagine if all music reviews were written by Pop Music Magazine, what would they think of the latest Morbid Angel album, the latest experimental music by Hal McGee, and so on ?! not favorably I would imagine. Yet this is what our gaming media looks like today; we have one small group of like-minded people influencing and controlling everything. I would argue that gaming media today is the most shallow and simple minded it has ever been since I started gaming (in 1986).

Many of the games I've enjoyed fall under the mainstream's'mediocre or bad review scores:
- the Risen series - Duke Nukem Forever - Alien Colonial Marines - Kane & Lynch 2
- Legendary - Turning Point Fall of Liberty - The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - Bionic Commando (2009)
- Bodycount - Alpha Protocol - Lost Planet 2 & 3 - the Call of Juarez series and many others

As an avid racing gamer, the vast majority of the games I've enjoyed have met the same fate, where a racing game not made by Codemasters can't possibly get a high score ... unless it looks super-pretty (to hell with the actual content).

So much of the media's reviewing and critiquing are done by people who have a really poor understanding about specific genres, with lazy minds that can't extend an inch in either direction.

I enjoyed Teenagent, seems that everyone on gog hate it. :)

I only hate it at the moment because I'm stuck... and I don't want to concede defeat and consult a walkthrough.

The X-Files Game was derided as being more of an interactive movie than a real game... so I probably shouldn't mention that I'm stuck in that game too :(

Most people would say that Simon the sorcerer 3D was pure C#&$. And I can't disagree with that, the game is really bad in many wondrous ways. But in a weird way, I actually had fun with it. The game has got many moments and sections when you'll hate it, but it can be entertaining just as often .

Quest 64, actually.

Also, SaGa 1, which is deeply flawed when viewed objectively, is actually quite fun; in fact, part of the charm of the game is how the bugs affect gameplay in weird ways. Now if only there were a way to play the original (without the WSC version changes, many of which weren't for the better), but with the option of an RNG that is actually random.

Secret of Evermore, Fantasy Zone 2, Daikatana (GBC), Strife (1996)

Tomb Raider AOD

batman arkham origins
people seem to trash this game but i liked it better then arkham city
the city seems to be more defined and far more open

Heroes of Might and Magic 4

Brought down the company, but it was pretty much exactly what I've always wanted HoMM to be after struggling with 1-3 and getting pretty much nowhere despite a lot of time put into it. Also first game I legally purchased, and will be 5 more years till the next.

Also found the first Two Worlds (but not the 2nd) quite enjoyable.