Love the Aesthetic / Hate the Gameplay (and the Reverse)

[T-Pac | 7,544]

What are some games that look and sound great on the surface, but are really painful to play?

And what about games that are great to play, but you find really unappealing as far as audio / visuals go?

[Webhead123 | 675]

I know I'll be in the minority on this one but...I actually kinda dig the backgrounds, colors and most of the sprites in Swamp Thing. What I won't defend, however, is the absolutely horrendous gameplay. It's kind of unfortunate because I love the character, dig the style but the game itself is just pure misery.

Sticking with the NES, Galaxy 5000 is nothing to look at. In fact, in some ways it's quite basic and garishly-ugly but I think the game is actually pretty fun once you get into it.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Webhead123

[Reed Rothchild | 9,526]

Slay the Spire = amazing game, ho hum art style

[Reed Rothchild | 9,526]

Reverse of that, Gris is amazing to see.  Ho hum to play.

[CT | 91]

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Slay the Spire = amazing game, ho hum art style

Funny the graphics has kept me from playing that game, but I really want to try it out!

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Ultima: Warrior of Destiny.  It looks phenomenal, right up until you try and actually play it.

[PII | 1,885]

7 hours ago, Webhead123 said:

What I won't defend, however, is the absolutely horrendous gameplay. It's kind of unfortunate because I love the character, dig the style but the game itself is just pure misery.

That's my job  I love the gameplay in Swamp Thing, def a BIG favorite.  It is without a doubt the best Bart Simpson game on the NES!  One of these days I'm gonna have to actually pick up an actual copy instead of emulating.  I love it that much.  G5K now that I think about it is pretty basic looking as you say but another amazing game for sure.  

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 hour ago, PII said:

That's my job  I love the gameplay in Swamp Thing, def a BIG favorite.  It is without a doubt the best Bart Simpson game on the NES!  One of these days I'm gonna have to actually pick up an actual copy instead of emulating.  I love it that much.  G5K now that I think about it is pretty basic looking as you say but another amazing game for sure.  

Oh good, I'm not the only one who realized it used the Simpsons engine  

[guillavoie | 1,208]

2 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Ultima: Warrior of Destiny.  It looks phenomenal, right up until you try and actually play it.

That game is such a complete disappointment after Exodus and Quest of the Avatar. You just can't play more than 5-10 minutes of that garbage and never come back to it, especially if you played through Ultima III and IV on NES just before.

[fox | 1,667]

Fighting Games - Cool characters, amazing animation.  9/10 times the gameplay doesn't click with me. 

Bomberman - Every bomberman game looks a generation behind the times.  Still a total blast to play.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

50 minutes ago, guillavoie said:

That game is such a complete disappointment after Exodus and Quest of the Avatar. You just can't play more than 5-10 minutes of that garbage and never come back to it, especially if you played through Ultima III and IV on NES just before.

That game is my pick for least-beaten game on the NES; sure there are plenty of other "terrible" games, but they're usually pretty short or have some redeming quality like being so cheesy that they're fun to laugh at, but Ultima V on NES feels so unbelievably broken that it's virtually unplayable, and since it's an RPG, you realize quickly that what's happening on your TV screen is going to keep happening for hours and hours on end!

I'm guessing that the only people in the world who have beaten the NES port of Ultima V are guys trying to accomplish a "beat every game" mission, whether that be the yearly thread here on VGS or a personal goal some people (like myself) have of completing every NES game.  Outside of that, literally no one on this planet is beating this game for fun...

Edited December 17, 2023 by Dr. Morbis

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

2 hours ago, PII said:

That's my job  I love the gameplay in Swamp Thing, def a BIG favorite.  It is without a doubt the best Bart Simpson game on the NES!  One of these days I'm gonna have to actually pick up an actual copy instead of emulating.  I love it that much.  G5K now that I think about it is pretty basic looking as you say but another amazing game for sure.  

I own Swamp Thing and love both the art style and the music and the gameplay.  I feel that it's one of the few times that being really slow and clunky and having almost no jumping power actually fits with the character being portrayed completely: he's a friggin' swamp thing!

Edited December 17, 2023 by Dr. Morbis

[Sumez | 2,951]

Adventures of Lomax on PS1 looks fantastic, but it's a chore to play. Fortunately Henk Nieborg would get his hands on some much better games much later in his career

The Disney Hercules game also on PS1 has pretty fantastic cartoon graphics that gives it a really unique look I'd have loved to see much more of. The game is absolute garbage. 

I honestly can't think of one single game I like that I straight up think is ugly. Usually understanding good gameplay goes hand on hand with understanding aesthetics. The other way around much less common

I guess I don't find a lot of games ugly in general. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Sumez

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 hour ago, guillavoie said:

That game is such a complete disappointment after Exodus and Quest of the Avatar. You just can't play more than 5-10 minutes of that garbage and never come back to it, especially if you played through Ultima III and IV on NES just before.

I think the worst part is that it's apparently a great game on PC. It's just  a completely botched port.  I have a buddy who says it's his favourite of the series, and he plays it once a year or so.  

[rdrunner | 422]

Dragon's Lair

At first: "Hey, it's a cartoon!  This is awesome!"

A few seconds later...

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by rdrunner

[mbd39 | 2,020]

Act Raiser 2 looks gorgeous. I could never get into the hideous, frustrating gameplay at all.

 

 

 

[Webhead123 | 675]

14 hours ago, fox said:

Fighting Games - Cool characters, amazing animation.  9/10 times the gameplay doesn't click with me. 

There are a lot of really nice-looking fighting games that have absolutely shit game play. 100% agreed.

[NostalgicMachine | 235]

On 12/16/2023 at 4:46 PM, Webhead123 said:

I know I'll be in the minority on this one but...I actually kinda dig the backgrounds, colors and most of the sprites in Swamp Thing. What I won't defend, however, is the absolutely horrendous gameplay. It's kind of unfortunate because I love the character, dig the style but the game itself is just pure misery.

Sticking with the NES, Galaxy 5000 is nothing to look at. In fact, in some ways it's quite basic and garishly-ugly but I think the game is actually pretty fun once you get into it.

You're not alone on this! I LOVE the aesthetic, intro animation, music, etc for Swamp Thing NES. I even love the cover art! What a misleading entry.

Also AWESOME mention via Galaxy 5000. I somehow overlooked that even back in my heavy collecting days. I'd like to do a video on that one for Treasure Trove on The Gaming Manual!

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

15 hours ago, Sumez said:

The Disney Hercules game also on PS1 has pretty fantastic cartoon graphics that gives it a really unique look I'd have loved to see much more of. The game is absolute garbage. 

Really?? I've always wanted to try this one but never found it in the wild or hote around to paying up for it

[twiztor | 851]

probably an unpopular opinion, but my answer is Cuphead.

it is as gorgeous of a game as i can imagine. i love animation, and with this looking and feeling like 1930s cartoon, it should have been a slam dunk.

but pretty much the whole game is an endless series of boss fights. that's my least favorite part of games! i was hoping for a better stage/boss balance.

luckily, the game plays excellently, so i can still find frustrating enjoyment in small doses.

[mbd39 | 2,020]

I love Cuphead but I hit a wall in expert mode. I couldn't beat the two frogs.

 

[Gloves | 11,777]

Every time I see Cuphead my first thought is "that doesn't look difficult at all", and I do own it on PC, though I've never actually played it. I should really give it a go sometime to see if looks are deceiving.

[wongojack | 214]

4 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

Really?? I've always wanted to try this one but never found it in the wild or hote around to paying up for it

I have a memory of playing this with my wife as a coop game and we kinda liked it.  Perhaps the coop saved it for me.  Take note I guess.

 

[wongojack | 214]

A childhood experience for me in the looks bad but is a good game bucket would be the home computer version of that old mainframe Star Trek game.  This was the first one I ever played (C64 Star Trek).  With all the reading and complex game mechanics, 9-year old wongojack had no business enjoying this game.  However, it is pretty great and probably taught me that sometimes patience is rewarded.

A more modern example on the opposite end would probably be any game from the GTA series.  Looks great, sounds great, awesome idea, and I can totally respect the production values, but I've never been able to get myself to follow through and finish any of them.

Honorable mention for everything on Odyssey 2.  Not every game is a winner, but some are absolutely fantastic, and they all pretty much look the same.

[Sumez | 2,951]

7 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

Really?? I've always wanted to try this one but never found it in the wild or hote around to paying up for it

Weird, it was such a popular game with little kids at the time, so I see it show up for pennies in second hand listings constantly. Maybe just check whatever local listings you have available?