Top 10 Games That Critics and Fans Did Not Agree On

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Games That Critics and Fans Couldn’t Agree On.

For this list, we’ll be looking at games that left many players feeling like they were playing something completely different from the reviewers. Be warned, this may involve some spoilers.

Can you think of an even more divisive game? Let us know in the comments!

An open-world survival horror game with David Lynch-ian overtones, Deadly Premonition was one of the most artistically and technically ambitious games of its day. Set in a built-to-scale rural town with NPCs who each had their own 24-hour schedule, Deadly Premonition did its best to make its world feel uncomfortably real. The result was immensely weird and hugely polarising, even amongst critics—it still boasts a Guinness World Record for its wide range of review scores. But while many critics panned it, a cult following of fans quickly developed and hailed it as an unappreciated masterpiece.

When it first landed, Mass Effect 3 was hailed as a fittingly epic conclusion to the critically revered sci-fi series. The game’s cast of characters and the relationships the player built with them continued to be its greatest strength, while the combat mechanics and the visuals had all been given a pleasing polish for the third installment. However, while players were largely in agreement over the game’s pros, a large number were outraged over one element which they simply could not abide - the ending. In a series that is all about the choices that players make, many were aghast to see how little impact their decisions had on the story’s conclusion. Some even appealed to the Better Business Bureau, accusing Bioware of false advertising.

Whenever they revisit a beloved franchise, developers face the classic “second album” conundrum—do they serve up more of the same and risk being accused of laziness or do they take it in a radically new direction which could alienate current fans? To their credit, Capcom took the bold approach with DmC—reimagining the central character and revamping the gameplay. And while many critics were excited by this fresh approach to an ageing series, die-hard fans were livid at the alterations made to their iconic leading man. As a result, the game under-sold and Capcom quickly abandoned their “New Coke” approach, giving fans back the classic Dante flavour they knew and loved for the next installment.

Street Fighter V makes for an unfortunately familiar story in modern gaming. While it was praised by critics for its finely-tuned combat and sweet visuals, players who purchased it early found themselves in possession of a game that was basically only half-finished. With no single-player mode and a hugely unreliable online set-up, many were left frustrated with an undoubtedly excellent game that they had basically no way to actually play. Aware of this, Capcom eventually released an “Arcade Edition” of the game which restored the beloved solo mode while filling out the number of stages and characters. Sadly, this would be far from the last time that players were left disappointed by developers rushing a game out the door before it was actually ready.

Each new Call of Duty game basically goes through the same perplexing process. The game arrives to rave reviews with praise for the new weapons, spruced-up visuals and added game modes. Players flock to the stores to buy it in record-shattering numbers. And then they quickly decide that this one is also garbage that they hate, just like all the others! Modern Warfare 3 was pretty much the zenith of this odd phenomenon, enjoying the most successful launch day of all time before becoming one of the most complained about games on the internet. Criticism about the game’s lack of originality certainly had merit, but when the “same-old, same-old” sells this well, Activision are unlikely to lose much sleep over it.

Battlefront II is a prime example of another one of the modern gaming’s major bugbears—microtransactions. Critics were largely positive about Battlefront II (especially its online multiplayer mode), but players felt their online experience was tarnished by the huge advantage which was gained by spending real-world money on extra content. In response, EA upped the amount of rewards which could be earned from online play, but restricted it to those who put in a huge number of hours. When players complained about being asked to play for upwards of 40 hours to unlock a single character, EA issued a response on Reddit explaining that this was to give them a “sense of pride and accomplishment.” It quickly became the most down-voted post in Reddit history.

The Souls games have become uncontested critical darlings thanks to their sadistically punishing but perfectly balanced style of gameplay. The second Dark Souls game was no exception, with critics across the board gushing about its eerie atmosphere and more polished visuals. Some players, however, felt that Dark Souls II failed to live up to the promises of its trailers and that it made for little real improvement on what had come before. There have also always been many who have simply never bought what the Souls games are selling in the first place—regarding its harsh difficulty and high stakes as insurmountable obstacles to them actually having any fun.

Industry legend Hideo Kojima has always been known for his love of all things strange. But where the Metal Gear series achieved mass popularity by packaging his odder instincts inside a relatively conventional stealth game set-up, Death Stranding truly lets his freak flag fly. Playing as a courier in a futuristic world, the player has to make deliveries while avoiding rain that will cause them to age rapidly. Your cargo is a custom-engineered fetus who you have to rock back to sleep if it cries, all the while fending off enemies by throwing human waste at them. It really is insane. And while critics largely got on board with this bizarre adventure, many players struggled to get past the sheer, overwhelming strangeness of it all.

One of the most controversial games in recent history, the follow-up to Naughty Dog’s acclaimed zombie drama was beset by scandals before it was even released. Leaks saw the game’s closely-guarded narrative exposed while the switch to a female protagonist and rumors of trans characters quickly brought out the most toxic elements of the gaming community. While critics were blown away by the finished product, praising it as one of the year’s best, some players were left cold by the game’s new protagonist, Abby. Its lessons about the futility of revenge fell on deaf ears—in part because many players’ strong affection for the characters killed by Abby—leaving them unable or unwilling to empathise with her side of the story.

After Pokémon finally made the jump to console with the retro reboot, Pokémon: Let’s Go, expectations were sky-high for the first brand new installment to arrive on the Nintendo Switch. Early reviews of Sword and Shield were full of praise for the charming Britain-ish setting, the cute campfire mechanics and the imaginatively designed new monsters. However, longtime fans who had hoped to see every existing Pokémon included in the games were appalled by the dramatically-reduced Pokédex. Beyond that, Sword and Shield largely continued Nintendo’s emphasis on making all-inclusive, casual-friendly games which were wonderful for new players but presented little challenge for long-time fans. Overall, this was simply not the epic 3D Pokémon adventure which many had been dreaming of.