20 Beloved Video Games No One Admits They Hated

18. Elden Ring

Developer From Software's 2022 game of the year Elden Ring is widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of the last few decades. The tough-as-nails action RPG offers loads of content as players explore the sprawling open world known as The Lands Between. Praised for its robust gameplay mechanics, varied build variety allowing for numerous ways to approach combat, and granting players the freedom to do things in pretty much any order they like, the game boasts a 96 average score on Metacritic.

However, despite all of this, Elden Ring makes an absolutely awful first impression for those not accustomed to From Software's unforgiving style of games. The developer's trademark obtuse storytelling, punishing combat, and lack of general handholding are enough to switch plenty of players off during its opening hours. Indeed, many who tried and hated any of the developer's previous titles like Bloodborne are unlikely to be won over by what is effectively an open world take on Dark Souls, with a few extra bells and whistles for good measure.

However expansive or innovative Elden Ring is, the fact of the matter is that the game's steep learning curve will initially be a deciding factor for a large chunk of the gaming community. It demands that gamers respect it, but once they do, it respects their time back tenfold. Few other games feel so rewarding to master, and the sense of accomplishment you feel from slaying a particularly challenging boss more than makes up for those tough opening hours.