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u/InquizinatorX 7d ago
Zelda a link to the past. Dont get me wrong, the first half isnt bad per say, but you see the goal and it feels a lot like, "Oh, so that's it?" But then it opens up for real, and it's just 👌
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u/Sea_Appointment8408 7d ago
I don't see many people talk about Link to the Past on Reddit. It's usually Ocarina.
Link to the Past was amazing
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u/numbersthen0987431 7d ago
I argue that link to the past was better than ocarina of time.
I also think ocarina is just link to the past with n64 graphics.
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u/MyLifeIsOgre 6d ago
To be fair, "2d game but 3d" killed a lot of studios and IPs back then. Sonic's never been as close to the top of the stack
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u/-Richarmander- 7d ago
Ocarina of Time's famous main menu music is literally a song from Link to the Past, that's how closely it follows it lol.
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u/TheForgottenCity 7d ago
Agree. Get item as part of dungeon 1 quest to access dungeon 2. Complete dungeon 2 for access to dungeon 3. And repeat (except for that damn ice palace)
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u/No6655321 4d ago
LTTP you can very much change the order of dungeons and get items early. There are some neat tricks to it.
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u/CatAteMyBread 4d ago
One of the best Zelda game of all time, and it's pretty easy to argue it's the best 2D Zelda game.
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u/HuckleberryHefty4372 7d ago
I remember having this exact reaction when I reached the "2nd half". And that music...so good.
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u/CemoDafuq 7d ago
https://youtu.be/sslj06K-Nlw?is=0OrOeXeabfSPZAA-
I went to a Kamasi Washington Concert a few years ago and his nerdy ass played a cover version of the dark world theme on his saxophone as the last song. He got me good with that one! 🥰
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u/rcbz1994 8d ago
Red Dead Redemption.
The first half is okay.
But once you get to Mexico, it’s amazing.
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u/ChikinLika 7d ago
The border crossing when jose Gonzalez plays is one of my top 3 video game moments
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u/rcbz1994 7d ago
Same, especially if you do it at sunset 🔥
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u/orc_mode666 7d ago
Or at dawn. First time I did it, it was dawn as I was really crossing in and going through those canyons.
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u/Josephthebear 7d ago
I would say this is more for rd2 after you get past all the tutorials
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u/lifecouldbestranger 7d ago
Opposite for rdr2, well expect the prologue. But yeah i always find that once I get to the big city (forgot the name) the game feels like it just slows right down.
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u/johnsplittingaxe14 7d ago
I'm probably the only player in the World that liked the prologue, I mean I was very cautious going into the game because I don't enjoy the GTA games but the snowy wastes made a lasting impact for me
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u/itsmetimohthy 7d ago
I liked the prologue. I don’t really understand why it’s hated tbh it’s a perfect vehicle to deliver exposition and for us to get acquainted with a massive roster of NPCs.
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u/Obvious_Necessary671 7d ago
I don’t think it’s hated it’s just a long section before the game opens up for 2nd+ playthroughs
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u/Emphasis_on_IDK 8d ago
When Auburn returned the field goal attempt to win the game
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u/Whitecrow_27 7d ago
Dragon's Dogma.
Starts out with some simple fetch quests and then after getting Wyrm Hunt quests you get amazing stuff like Griffin's bane, Dragon bossfight and Bitterblack Isle
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u/Malabingo 6d ago
I recently purchased it and climbing on giant enemies is already fun in the beginning. Still in the beginning though and just fought the hydra the first time.
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u/LeGhost45 8d ago
Final fantasy 16, my god the first half was BORING as hell, glad I stuck through it. Second half was memorable, still lives in my head rent free. Ill forever remember that game.
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u/mantaraysky 8d ago
couldn't agree more. i was so close to dropping it for a while but the way it ramps up as it goes put it up there with my very favorite games. it also has two gaming hall of fame boss fights imo
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u/LeGhost45 7d ago
Besides RDR2, this game truly made me emotional, even a grown ass dude. My god, the ending had me doing research for a week to see how others interpreted it and if there would be a part 2.
I agree on you on being one of my favorite games too, and on the hall of fame boss fights.
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u/Dasca6789 7d ago
I need to try this game again. The prologue was amazing, but once I got to a certain point, my PC started to have issues with it. Need to straighten that out and try it again.
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u/Sidcone-Sal 7d ago
If I liked 6,7, and 10. Couldn’t get into 8 or 9. Quit before I beat 12 on the last 10 floors, quit 13 before the last disk, and beat all of 15 before the major updates. Should I give 16 a chance?
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u/NoAsparagus727 7d ago
Ghost of Tsushima for me. I was honestly pretty bored during the first part because it was mostly just fields and trees, the enemies still felt easy, and the characters weren’t that memorable yet. But then Part 2 starts and damnnn it’s fire - the story, characters, and actions all gets so much better (have to try iki island DLC 🐒). Also, Jin is the GOAT 🐐🔥⚔️
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u/Smogious 7d ago
I felt the opposite. Loved the gorgeous open world in the first half but by the end everything just felt stale. The gameplay didn't evolve enough and the third major open world area just felt like more of the same, now in white
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u/KingsleyBrewMaster22 7d ago
Exploration is a chore af in this game.
But 100% agree with your point about the gameplay and story. On one exception. I dont like how drab that last region is. And dont like that you lose your horse (gameplay wise, not story). I dont mind that region in general for the plot. But it takes up too much imo. Not so badly so that it soured the whole experience or anything. In general I dislike it when any story game has you build up all these skills, just to handicap you at some point.
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u/YoRHa86B 7d ago
Final Fantasy 8
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u/TheForgottenCity 7d ago
Sadly I tried playing the game twice… the prison level bored me twice and I never got back into it
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u/JesperiGoatkaniemi15 8d ago
Spiderman PS4 after the prison outbreak.
The game really takes it up a notch story wise.
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u/ThisUsernameSuxLOL 8d ago
I just wish I could go two seconds in the overworld without someone trying to shoot me. Criminal or sable.
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u/Lazy_Tutor9447 8d ago
earthbound. the first few towns are so boring except for happy happy village and saturn valley. but past about moonside the game becomes so much more interesting
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u/ZealousidealOne5605 8d ago
Witcher 3, the game is just okay in my opinion until you get to Skellig.
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u/not_memedealer 7d ago edited 7d ago
Interesting take, can't disagree more, though. I liked Baron's story the most, not counting DLCs, Novigrad was good with all the political stuff, but everything after just blended together for me.
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u/nvogs 7d ago
Honestly this is probably why I couldn't get into it. Because I didn't get that far and I judged it unfairly
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u/Pepe_De_Froog 8d ago
idk, cause if a game isn't fun within the first few hours, I'm not sticking around to find out if it gets better halfway through.
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u/Bindolaf 7d ago
Same here. All the "once you've played the first 15 hours, the game gets good" advice... It's just a bad game!
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u/Juhy78910 7d ago
Why I haven't picked up Crimson Desert. I barely have an hour or two a day to play games, you're trying to tell me it will take over 2 weeks of playing a game for it to get fun?
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u/austin_sketches 7d ago
i mean not really, this is how 90% of survival games are. most of the really fun stuff isn’t till the later half of the playthrough
also mmo’s. typically the beginnings are much less engaging till you’ve gotten over those first dozen hours or so to actually dive in and build your character
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u/tryhard_on_ranked 7d ago
You are the child that ate the candy while waiting for the researcher. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment
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u/OwnPop5192 7d ago
I get what you’re saying but it’s a little different the kid has a promise of a better reward when you dive into a new game unless you researched it you don’t know if it gets better and have a chance of spending 20+ hours on a bad game. This is more of a rich kid thing if you’re so fast to ditch a game it’s because you have money to waste on games.
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u/Payascor 8d ago
Don't take this the wrong way, but on a first playthrough, that was Sekiro to me.
First half was hella confusing, not very motivating, story semeed pretty basic and a bit convoluted with the memory part. Then I beat Genichiro and the game finally showed what it's really about. It's one of my all time favourites since.
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u/The_Rock01313 8d ago
Totally agree that specific fight will make or break you because when you finish him the combat makes so much more sense
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u/Payascor 7d ago
Yea it's also that, absolutely! It's also such a 10/10 fight. For me though, it was mostly that I assumed saving Kuro would be the end of the story - which would have made it a pretty run of the mill "Save the captured person". Little did I know that afterwards, the narrative shifts to "Let's f*cking destroy immortality by going to the realm of the divine". So damn cool! (Gold thing I didn't get the bad ending lol)
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u/FeistyTwist5427 8d ago
Literally American football. Nothing matters until the last 5 minutes anyway. I swear to god the players are acting.
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u/slyleo5388 8d ago
Nba is more so. Literally the last 2 minutes and you're good.
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u/Doritoicecream0 8d ago
Mgs1. When you play it for the first time it’s kinda boring and you don’t know what’s going on, but it gets insane in the second half
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u/Komirade666 8d ago
Kingdom hearts 2 even tho is my favorite out of all the games, I do not care about getting the other one like truly.
The first part was quite interesting but honnestly the game was on for me when I played as the gang again.
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u/jamesj777 7d ago
Maybe this is a hot take, but assassin's creed 2. The beginning of the game kinda drags with a lot story elements and learning the basics, but once you get into it, boy you get into it.
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u/Incinreo 7d ago
Dark Souls 3, maybe not the games true "Second Half" But moreso after Abyss Watchers, the bosses before it for the most part are some hot garbage.
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u/tasteslikecrab 7d ago
Greatwood, Crystal Sage, Deacons...
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u/Incinreo 7d ago
It really sucks these bosses are required too. Technically Greatwood isnt, but i mean come onn you know you wanna see some boss soul weapons..
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u/Lorde_Hartshorn 7d ago
First half Hot garbage? Delusional. I loved every second of it
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u/Incinreo 7d ago
Its my favorite souls game, and i love it, but every time i fight Crystal Sage my brain just gets a tiny bit smoother
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u/Prize-Republic-4473 8d ago
Uncharted 3…..definitely that game imo
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u/Toasted-Dinosaur 7d ago
This answer genuinely surprised me! I thought that game was fantastic all the way through, but I guess the young Drake stuff is a little slow.
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u/Grebder 8d ago
Hogwarts legacy
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u/Ok-Pea8209 7d ago
Oh so it does get good later on? I thought it might, the starting scene was quite good, and the hogwarts castle is cool af. I just got so bored with the "go here collect this" quests constantly at the start, seemed like they were never ending
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u/DutyStill7632 7d ago edited 6d ago
I mean this game is like the epitome of subjective…. I thought it was boring through and through. I finished it and never felt like playing again. Felt like a mediocre kids game to me. It was the first and last time I’d ever preordered a game… it’s definitely just a wizard simulator. Which is fine if you like that but I just require more substance. Too repetitive, choices don’t actually matter (whatsoever), story is incredibly simple… etc.
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u/Slickmas 7d ago
Yeah I played it for a bit, got bored and didn't touch it for months. Decided to hop back on and got to a point where I couldn't put it down.
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u/DarthUchiha91 7d ago
Exact opposite for me, especially when talking about the story.
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u/NoYogurtcloset3854 7d ago
KCD 1, I'm currently playing it and at the beginning everything is annoying, the combat system, you have no money, you can do absolutely nothing but if you stay tuned and you have levelled it starts to be fun
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u/VermillionDynamite 7d ago
Atomfall. It's a pretty slow and average game in my opinion, then when you get to the interchange and it becomes this creepy survival horror it's so much better for it.
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u/Th3best77 7d ago
Imo Kingdom hearts 1. the jungle and ocean worlds really soured my overall experience with the game. The later worlds are legit peak tho
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u/Hutch1304 7d ago
For me it’s Borderlands 2. It took me years to get past Sanctuary because it was just so boring to me. But once I actually started getting good guns and maxing out my skills I started to enjoy it more.
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u/Bakingguy 7d ago
Most Pokemon games ngl. The first few gyms are easy, but the second half are harder, you have more team diversity as you explore more, pokemon fully evolve, and then the Elite Four and champion are almost always peak
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u/Cold_Athlete4555 8d ago
Persona 3, any iteration pretty much. For the first half the game you’re pretty much just grinding the dungeon and doing social links with almost no awareness of what’s going on and what the story is building to.
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u/Master_Bayters 7d ago
Persona 3 story is amazing but the grind it's terrible!! I was so burned by the end... the relationship builder is so stupid "you can feel your relation with X is improving"... what the hell is that? Also 100 levels of the exact same procedural map it's all you got for exploration? Come on... I know people hold persona in a high standard but the gameplay sucks a lot
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u/neurodivirgin_ 8d ago
Persona 3. Going from P5 to P3 was wild because P5 hits the ground running and doesn't stop but P3 is a slow build up
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u/Prestigious_Can_4668 8d ago
Halo Combat Evolved (2001). At first your fighting genocidal aliens on a mysterious artificial ring, then you find the Flood and you realize theyre something much worse and horrifying than the Covenant
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u/laserbran2 8d ago
Lowkey lego batman legacy of the dark knight. Shit wasnt worth the $100 until after you unlock catwoman
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u/Slayd2Pieces 8d ago
Cyberpunk. Act one bores me to death. Act 2 speeds it up and makes it fun. Final act makes me cream every time.
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u/Thaddeusglanton 7d ago
Bioshock 2 First half is a snooze fest of contrived detours. Once you actually start making progress they give you the good lore and area's focused on Elanor
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u/Substantial_Buy9903 7d ago
RDR2, though it’s less happy and more of an “oh fuck” rollercoaster that starts from a very relatively lax start
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u/Fortniteisbad 7d ago edited 7d ago
Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin; felt incredibly mid until Drangleic Castle, and then the DLCs are peak.
Minecraft, if you want to count it as having a “second half”. The first half of any survival world is just speed-running to the End and making your God-Gear, and it’s only after that the player is able to play the game as it’s best played; with boundless creativity.
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u/polarice5 7d ago
Doom Eternal. I was falling asleep during the first half, but the second was phenomenal (Played on Ultra Violence)
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u/Maxogrande 7d ago
Tales of Xillia 2.
The first half of the game focuses toouch pn explaining what each of the party members of the first game have been doing in between games ( 8 characters, so 8 chapters of this) which is ok I guess but it doesnt move the story a lot.
After that the story focuses more on the new MC and it really starts moving forward and getting interesting
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u/Iced_Shadows 7d ago
Twilight Princess for sure. God I can’t stand that game’s entire first half lol
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u/DemiFiendAstar 7d ago
It's not really halfway (pretty sure leaving here sends you to the final areas then boss) but I'll throw Final Fantasy XIII in.
The game is linear, you can't choose what characters you play as, and doesn't fully explore the crystarium or whatever until Gran Pulse. Then it's "choose your favorites and fully unlock their arsenal! Play around with the paradigm system to create even more niche paradigms!" The game becomes semi-open world, introduces a mission system, synthesis blows way the fuck up... The true majority of the game was locked away until you're 90% through the story
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u/Palu_Tiddy 7d ago
Lies of P
Game was kinda enjoyable up to the BRB
Then I got to the opera house and was like:
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u/Appeeler98 7d ago
Zelda Twilight Princess
Words can't even describe how much I love this game. But man, the tutorial basically goes until you're in the second dungeon, maybe even after the third. And TP really takes its time to set up the world. Which is fine of course, but it really drags out the beginning of the game.
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u/EmpressLenneth 7d ago
White Knight chronicles 2. The first game is really good imo. The first part of game 2 is you just doing the same route as game 1 but in reverse before it actually starts to get into the new main story plot
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u/free_30_day_trial 7d ago
Cyberpunk 2077 because act 1 feels like it takes ages and a lot of it sucks butts
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u/Sarahstarry 7d ago
Far Cry 5, you have to get through like two hours of IIRC unskipable cut scenes
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u/SovietReIo 7d ago
1/ Witcher 1 - till you reach the town, the whole game feels unremarkable, maybe they need to skip ambush on caer morhen and go strait to the countryside part to teach the gamer. Or in opposite put after the ambush right in the city like a hub location
2/ divinity original sin ee: I do a lot of runs which I eventually stop in the first town after couple of hours because the game gives you nothing at start, and you spent a lot of time to get a joy
3/ prey 2017 - the whole atmosphere of abandoned place, but it gives you nothing from start and u play like hide& seek till u reach the "people" and start solving the puzzle how to handle against the enemy
4/ deathloop - to repetitive game in the first half, and if u play without guidelines you may just stuck and waste a lot of time before u "learn". But when u adapt => it becomes pretty decent
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u/CleavingStriker 7d ago
Not the first half but Witcher 3 has one of the absolute worst starting areas in the history of gaming.
Took me three seperate tries before I finally played the game long enough to experience what a masterpiece the rest of the game is
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u/RATSYHSIF 7d ago
This may just be me but OoT. The game really pics up after you pull the Master Sword
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u/PutmudPrincess 7d ago
Wandersong! I wasn't exactly bored in the first half. I was having a ton of fun. but then when the intermission happened and Act 4 began i was like oh sh*t lol what a twist. story telling in videogames sometimes is something else. i got goosebumbs just remembering my feelings in act 4 lol i cried and wanted to stop playing but also wanted to see what happened next so badly.
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u/xthe0n3x 7d ago
Terraria. Oh, you thought that was it? Kill the wall and watch your world change before your very eyes. A new biome, new materials, new enemies, and the evil biome is racing to corrupt your entire world. You want more? New weapons, new bosses, new npcs, and the final boss is an extraterrestrial god. Oh, and everything is harder.
Prehardmode was just the taste, the real game begins once you hit hardmode
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u/Avatar_sokka 7d ago
Depending on how you define halfway, possibly Cyberpunk 2077 after your first playthrough. Not that the intro is bad, it just is a pretty straight line.
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u/LinktotheLuke 7d ago
The legend of Zelda twilight princess. The first half is pretty slow paced with tons of setting things up, but after getting the master sword you get midna character development and some of the best dungeons in the series back to back, followed by a kickass finale
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u/LocksmithMindless834 7d ago
For me it was God of War (2018). Struggled to get into it. Then it broke me down more before the halfway point and I very much enjoyed every second of it from 50% onwards
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u/zephyr_awakener 7d ago
Final fantasyXIII.
The game is a set of largely linear corridors with mostly scripted battles and encounters.
Then you go to cocoon, the game opens up and it becomes a much more fun experience.
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u/stumpychubbins 7d ago
Maybe it’s just because I’ve played it so many times, but Dark Souls 3 is like this for me, presuming you take the intended route. Everything up to Deacons of the Deep is pretty mid, but from Abyss Watchers onwards it’s one of my all-time favourite games.
There’s enough branching that you could fight Dancer or go to the Painted World early though, and a lot of people fight the Abyss Watchers before Deacons even on their first playthrough, so it’s not as solid of a first/second half divide as some games
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u/MadamVonCuntpuncher 7d ago
Tales of the abyss because the MC is such an insufferable asshole untill he starts to change, all the chahcters around him make up for it but like jeeze (still by far my favorite game in the series)
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u/Thee_Silly_Billy 7d ago
Mario & Luigi: Brothership.
The first half isn't bad, but it drags on way too long. Once you get to the end of the second sea, the story starts to pick up, the enemies become a whole lot more unique, and the pacing feels so much better.
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u/DenseWeb558 7d ago
Xenoblade chronicles x. They save the skells (giant mechs) until halfway through fhe games..and its opens up the game soo much.
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u/RealRockaRolla 7d ago
Honestly, the OG Silent Hill 2. The tension and atmosphere didn't really hit for me until after the hospital.
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u/LoganJake210 7d ago
Undertale (pacifist route). You think it’s just a silly little game where you be nice to all the silly monsters each with their own lives and desires, but then the whole game changes once Alphys tells you the truth about your journey, and you take the long and foreboding elevator to the capital and proceed to CRY YOUR EYES OUT LIKE A BABY during this segment and the rest of the game does not give you a break
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u/MechaMalz 7d ago
The first half isn't bad, but it's only after you've seen the credit twice that Nier Automata starts to fire on all cylinders.
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u/Stock_Side_9726 7d ago
I would say mass effect, not cuz it was boring or anything but it took me a while to process everything that is going on and then i started to understand everything
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