Amazing games you just can't get into?

I’ll try not to ramble here, but I just wanted to ask how other players deal with games that are clearly excellent, but for whatever reason just don’t click. Case in point, I started Mass Effect the other day; probably the last truly classic game from last gen in my back catalogue that I haven’t played through during quarantine. A few hours in, I can see it’s clearly an exquisitely crafted world, epic in scope, with decent story and dialogue, the odd moment of humour etc. I also think it actually looks pretty good, considering how many people say it hasn’t aged as well as the second in the series. But I’m not loving it, and honestly, not particularly even enjoying it. There’s too much dialogue and the core gameplay feels incredibly rudimentary, even for a 13 year old game. The gunplay feels cheap and light, and the combat strategy element is kind of laughable after having played Rainbow Six Vegas 2. I want to finish it because I want to play the second one, given the acclaim that game has, but if it’s going to be a 20 hour slog, I’m really not sure it’s worth it. It feels like a game where the lore and story and RPG elements is everything, which is fine. But without decent core gameplay to back it up, I find it's hard to enjoy as a game.

I started Assassin’s Creed 2 last night (for the second time) and I feel like I’m finally past the tutorialising (after about 3 hours!!) I’m enjoying it a bit more, but something still feels a bit ‘off’ to me - I think it might be the movement/free-running mechanic; I can’t seem to get into a decent flow because whenever Ezio runs into any vertical surface he tries to run up it - including poles and pillars - and it breaks all momentum. Something about the whole thing leaves me feeling a little cold; there seems to be very little actual stealth for a supposedly ‘stealth’ game. I think I will finish it but considering it’s touted as one of the best entries in one of the most popular series of the last decade, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed.

Finally, the biggest surprise dud for me - Bayonetta. I LOVE hack and slasher games, with Devil May Cry being one of my favourite series of all time. I don’t even mind the silliness of Bayonetta’s story, character design and dialogue, which is often cited as the main flaw for many players. For me, the gameplay is just…unenjoyable. Yes, it’s fast, frenetic and over the top, and the combo potential is endless - it seems like such a deep combat system on the surface. But really, once you realise it’s all about activating angel time, you just do that and then mash buttons while the enemies are slowed down. Maybe I’m just not “getting it”, and there’s a level of intricacy and skill which I’m not fully appreciating, but the button mash aspect means it hurts my hands to play, and I’m worried about the wear and tear on my controller. Perhaps I’m just getting too old to be able to competently master gameplay systems based on speed and reflexes, but I dunno. I’m about halfway through the game but the thought of booting it up and playing it again is just…ugh.

Not really sure what the point of this post is - I guess I would like to hear from others with similar experiences. Maybe not necessarily even just about popular games you don’t particularly enjoy, but games that you really SHOULD love but for some reason just don’t e,g, stealth and hack n slashers are probably my two favourite genres of games, and AC2 and Bayonetta are among the most widely renowned examples from their respective genres in the last 10 years or so. Not even in terms of sales, but also critical acclaim, so I know for a fact they are objectively good games. To what extent do you feel obligated to stick with a game because it’s a well-regarded title from a genre you love? How long do you think you need to really decide if a game is just not for you? Are these games in particular ‘slow-burners’? Are they even maybe slightly over-hyped, or not aged particularly well for whatever reason?

Would be interested to hear opinions on others with similar experiences, or any opinions on these games specifically that might help explain why I’m not engaged in the same way as other games which may be objectively worse, and less critically acclaimed?