Okay let me start with two heavy hitters right from the get go and don't forget these are only personal oppinions and I absolute understand if you like those games. Good for you!
Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Not a bad game per se, but I don't get the hype behind it. Sure the dungeons are fun but the world is so lifeless, the story non existent, the combat pretty shallow, the tower climbing is very much like FarCry but for some reasons it's okay here while Ubisoft gets the blame...like I said I dont get why the game is so beloved. Never finished it after the 20 hour mark and probably never will.
Red Dead Redemption 2 - Just like Zelda not a bad game, but imho highly overrated. Graphics and and atmosphere are amazing but the controls are clunky and overloaded, nearly everybody is an unlikable douchebag who I would love to shoot myself at the first opportunity (maybe except Jack and Abigail) but I have to root and care for them. The game is just so long and feels very stretched, you already know that you won't get Dutch because it's a prequel and for an open world game you often get handholded in your weapon selection or things you can do because you have to wait for them to be unlocked by the game. I'm now nearly done with the game, playing the epilogue at the moment and I would say the last chapters are more entertaining than the rest of the game, but I still can't understand why this game was on so many game of the year lists and I really wanted to put the controller down a dozen times.
So there they are, two highly controversial oppinions by me and now I'm really curios what your takes are and how highly I get downvoted into oblivion ๐
Dave the Diver. I tried it but got it refunded. I'm certain if I had kept it, I would've regretted it. It's not relaxing or cozy, even early on. As someone sick who believed the "relaxing" hype, I was incredibly disappointed.
Afterwards, I even randomly saw a streamer just ragequit the game live because he couldn't stand more easy, slow puzzles. That just confirmed it for me.
I swear every game now is about punishing the gamer. I just want to feel immersed in it and possibly feel powerful depending on the story. I am already punished enough with real life.
The steam awards were just a popularity contest the categories meant nothing
I wouldn't mind a little clarification, because I was interested in this game, but I'm skeptical about it.
It sounds like it's actually kind of frustratingly not fun - the way a precision platformer is? But then you go on to say the streamer rage quit because it's too easy? I'm just a little confused but maybe I'm misreading.
I hope it's not one of these ridiculously punishing games, if it is I'll just flipper myself right past it.
Well, the catching fish requires aiming in a small area and then pressing a button repeatedly to catch it. I was able to avoid the button mashing with a Steam Input configuration, but it was still annoying. The developers eventually added an accessibility option where you don't need to mash, but it's still bad design, in my opinion. I did not find the aiming or oxygen limits relaxing at all, as I am sick with long COVID-19/ME/CFS and it was just too much effort. I've seen from reviews that the oxygen limits are trivial later, but that there are so many other random systems tacked on that it doesn't matter. The restaurant part just did not grab me at all either, just seemed too basic.
What I've gathered from the reviews and the streaming is that the game just constantly tacks on new sub-systems and mini-games. The game also has basic puzzles randomly, that are easy but too frequent. Like, rotate giant rocks with a hole inside so you can pass on to next area. Bosses are also a difficulty spike for some people.
In my comment, kinda mixed my opinion of the early game (under 2 hours), affected by my condition, with criticisms of the later game, that I hadn't played. I had decided to refund it because it did not match the hype for me. But since it was still being hyped to hell and back, I looked it up further and I validated my decision with reviews by other people and videos of other people playing.
That sounds very tedious, thanks for providing more information, I definitely think it sounds like one I should skip!