Dying Light 2. It was definitely different than the first game, but I enjoyed many of the changes. My buddies and I spent a lot of time just running around killing Volatiles, and having a blast while doing so. But apparently a lot of the changes were deeply unpopular with fans of the first game.

The first Call of Duty game I played was Ghosts, and it may have coloured my perception of what the series is about. Bombastic popcorn munching action that goes in one ear and straight out of the other. I was like "eeeeh it's okay". After playing some older ones I was like "well I'm sure it was groundbreaking at the time". (Hm. Did I ever finish MW2? And I think I put Black Ops 2 on hold after the first mission. Loved Advanced Warfare tho!)

Super Mario Sunshine. I thought it was just hard as a kid. Come to learn it’s fucking broken.

Dead Space 3. Sure, it has some issues, but I didn't realize how much others actively disliked it until I tried talking to people about it.

Too human. I loved it so much I don't know why people hate it

Sonic Adventure 1. I love the hub worlds and how the stories of the different characters intertwine in the shared areas. And I love the variety of characters and being able to freely choose which one to advance (unlike Sonic Adventure 2...)

Fallout 3. The criticism is absolutely fair*, but it was the first RPG I ever played and I'm still very fond of it.

* I never got the 'metros are hard to navigate' criticism, I never had that issues. Most of them are pretty linear.

A lot of people didn't like Assassins Creed Odyssey, but I loved it. Only AC I've played since 2.

Indigo Prophecy

Played it when it originally released in the US and I loved it as a pre-teen who had no fucking idea what was happening in the story.

Came to find out no one had any clue what was happening in the story regardless and people thought the game was a mess.

For me it was the original Modern Warfare 3. I played that campaign a lot as a kid, but didn't have internet back then so no multiplayer and no one to discuss the game with. The story is dumbed down compared to the first two games but it was pure fun and cinematic, every mission was memorable to me.

Like I didn't even know what the stock exchange was back then, I just thought it was awesome traveling through city ruins fighting invaders.

Also the survival mode was super fun too.

Destiny 2.

Started playing the first game day one but stopped for several years. Picked up 2 when I found out it was ftp right after beyond light came out and bought all the dlcs available until after lightfall. I was at work and a customer asked what games I play. Said D2 and someone else said "why would you do that to yourself?" I thought hard about that for awhile and realized all I do is grind and don't really have that much fun with it. It was more like a second job. And lightfall was a garbage dlc. That was also a major contributer to me quitting.

This is an oldie, but Lords of the Realm II. I loved the first two, but had trouble with the third and ended up giving up, assuming it was a me problem.

Nope, the community pretty much unanimously hates it. It's not a terrible game per se, it's just very different from the first two, throwing out everything most people liked about the predecessors and not exactly succeeding at the new mechanics.

I've decided to build my own take on the best parts of all three, we'll see if I ever finish it.

I spent a lot of time playing Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts alone and online with friends. A lot of people I've talked to view it negatively and are surprised when I say it was one of my favorite 360 titles. It's one of the main reasons I want to try out Xbox 360 emulation.

Mine was final fantasy 12. I played that game so hard, really enjoyed it and if was released in the time of trophies I would have platinumed it. Even did the grinding for Gilgamesh to spawn for a sword or something. But I was hated at the time.

Now everyone is saying it was one of the best and I was proved right all along.

Sure the story was star wars and the main character wasn't, but the combat system was really fun, way better than 13.

Every game that ever gets released when you check gaming forums within the first month of a game's release lol /s

Im joking. I get the sentiment that a finished product should be fully complete and inspected by a QA team before release. But still, the fuckin extreme hatred ill see for the game and its studio, regardless of the company's history, is soooooo fuckin wild. And almost everytime when I get to the point of buying the game, ill check the steam reviews and it'll be mostly positive after like one patch release.

Yoshi's Story. Yeah it's short, and level unlocking is weird as all outdoors, but people really hating on it for being too easy? Bro, it's a YOSHI game. That's a quarter of the appeal! It's a game you can get younger kids involved in, or you can play after a hard day when you want to turn your brain off partially.

Plus almost everything in that game is adorable. And 64 bit sprite art is goated

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

People only ever talk about Final Fantasy Tactics and dismiss any of the other games. However, going by the original release, Tactics Advance is by far my favorite. It's my favorite GBA game and at least in my Top 25 JRPGs, despite having played almost nothing else for the past 20 years. I like many of the things the game gets criticized for.