10 of the Most Polarizing Games That Players Seem to Either Love or Hate

By definition, anything that constitutes as “polarizing” needs to elicit reactions that range from one extreme to another. So when it comes to discussing some of the most polarizing games, we’re talking about titles where the “middle ground” doesn’t apply. Players either seem to love or hate these titles, with audiences torn between considering them as misunderstood masterpieces or absolute wastes of time and energy that aren’t fit for the media they’re printed on. And while some of the consensus around many of these games has shifted favorably in the intervening years since their release, there are still plenty of players out there who feel cheated by being let down in one way or another.

• Release Date — March 8, 2011
• Developer — BioWare
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Review Aggregate Score — 79% (Generally Favorable)
• User Score — 49% (Generally Unfavorable)

Dragon Age: Origins was so well-received that you would expect BioWare to follow it up with a sequel that stuck to its formula, but such is not the case. Instead, the RPG developer would switch gears, turning the fledgling Dragon Age IP into a single-character-driven action RPG that pretty much abandoned most of the interesting choice-based gameplay and role-playing systems of the original in favor of something more accessible. The end result? Players who loved Origins hated Dragon Age II for the most part, and the IP wasn’t established enough to lure in new players. Thankfully, those who loved Dragon Age II helped ensure the series got a new game, with Inquisition going back to the basics of the franchise and even winning Game of the Year.

• Release Date — November 8, 2019
• Developer — Kojima Productions
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• User Score — 74% (Mixed or Average)

If you ask the Death Stranding detractors to describe the game, the most common answer you’ll get is “delivery man simulator”. And while that’s an incredibly reductive take that fails to take into account the excellent story and unmistakable touch of Hideo Kojima that permeates the experience, there is at least some truth to that being a major component of Death Stranding‘s polarizing gameplay. But for those of us who played Death Stranding at or near its release, connecting with others asynchronously online during one of humanity’s longest periods of forced isolation, it was a special title that transcended those gameplay limitations.

• Release Date — April 29, 2008
• Developer — Rockstar North
• Publisher — Rockstar Games
• Review Aggregate Score — 98% (Universal Acclaim)
• User Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)

For the most part, critics heaped plenty of praise on Grand Theft Auto IV at the time of its launch, and it was largely earned. What turned a lot of players off about GTA IV, though, was the game’s push toward realism, which resulted in some major changes to the way vehicles handled, harder missions with stricter checkpoints and margins for error, and a much darker story that jettisoned a lot of the satirical humor the series had been known for up to that point. Today, GTA IV is seen as a modern masterpiece and one of the more original games in the franchise, but there’s little denying that its polarizing nature helped set up GTA V as the series’ return to form and most successful entry to date.

• Release Date — June 19, 2020
• Developer — Naughty Dog
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)
• User Score — 58% (Mixed or Average)

You can’t talk about polarizing games and not mention The Last of Us Part II. Controversy would unfortunately end up shadowing The Last of Us Part II before the game even released, with a massive leak spoiling one of the game’s most shocking story beats and angering a legion of fans who felt that a particular character’s death was unnecessary. But regardless of how you felt about that character’s treatment at the hands of Naughty Dog, it’s hard to deny that The Last of Us Part II is simply a better game in terms of its mechanics and moment-to-moment loop. It seems like most players’ gripes with this game hinge upon its story and characters, which definitely see it regularly falling into the “love it or hate it” camp.

• Release Date — March 11, 2014
• Developer — FromSoftware
• Publisher — Bandai Namco
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• User Score — 77% (Generally Favorable)

Some players will write off Dark Souls II entirely simply for the fact that it was the one and only game in the trilogy to not feature Hidetaka Miyazaki in the director’s chair. But to avoid Dark Souls II for this reason would be a mistake, because you can justify avoiding it for a few others, instead. While most of us Souls-fanatics have a special place in our hearts for Dark Souls II, there’s no denying that the game is much more janky and incomplete-feeling than its predecessor, and that it often tries to substitute quantity for quality in terms of its size and number of boss fights. But for those who love Dark Souls II, it has some of the best buildcraft and replayability of any FromSoftware game. One’s trash is another’s treasure, and all that.

• Release Date — June 22, 2023
• Developer — Square Enix Creative Business Unit III
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)
• User Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)

In terms of how Final Fantasy XVI would prove to polarize the series’ fanbase, it’s almost the exact opposite of The Last of Us Part II. While The Last of Us Part II angered players because of its story but could have them look past those gripes with its gameplay, Final Fantasy XVI drew a lot of flak from longtime fans because it was no longer recognizable as a Final Fantasy game outside of its incredible story and characters. But on the other hand, there were just as many players who loved the series’ pivot to real-time, character action-style combat that struck a nice balance between classic Final Fantasy and something like Devil May Cry. Regardless of which camp you fall into, it’s hard to find someone who dislikes Clive as a protagonist or thinks Final Fantasy XVI‘s story doesn’t deliver in its emotional payoff.

• Release Date — March 6, 2012
• Developer — BioWare
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)
• User Score — 63% (Mixed or Average)

Some of the most polarizing games in existence are ones that, try as they might, simply couldn’t live up to the hype that players had built up for them in their heads. This is the scenario that Mass Effect 3 fell victim to, unable to match the impossible expectations players had for the third and final chapter in the trilogy after two incredible games that let players craft their own stories via meaningful choices. But for as many players as were disappointed by Mass Effect 3‘s ending, there were just as many who rightfully heaped praise upon it for its refined combat and some strong character moments between Shepard and their crew.

• Release Date — December 13, 2002
• Developer — Nintendo EAD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Review Aggregate Score — 96% (Universal Acclaim)
• User Score — 90% (Universal Acclaim)

While today most players look back on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker with rose-tinted glasses, it’s important to remember that the title was incredibly polarizing at the time of its release. Even before the launch of Wind Waker, a large subset of Zelda fans hated the game for its visual style alone, bemoaning the loss of a promised darker take on Link shown off during the GameCube’s E3 debut. And aside from those who could never look past the game’s water-logged Hyrule and emphasis on sailing, most of us who took a chance on Wind Waker would ultimately find it to be an incredibly charming and magical entry in the Zelda series with some meditative exploration and surprisingly great combat.

• Release Date — June 1, 2010
• Developer — Obsidian Entertainment
• Publisher — Sega
• Review Aggregate Score — 63% (Mixed or Average)
• User Score — 73% (Mixed or Average)

Even with the benefit of hindsight and perception toward the game having shifted, Alpha Protocol continues to be polarizing enough for it to be a mostly forgotten entry in Obsidian Entertainment’s otherwise stellar library. But that’s not to say that the game is without merit, far from it. Both at the time of its release and now, the idea of a spy-themed RPG is still pretty novel, and Alpha Protocol takes some big swings — some of which land while others…not so much. Honestly, were it not for the game’s bugs both at launch and today, it would probably continue to endear an even stronger cult following than it already has.

• Release Date — February 23, 2010
• Developer — Access Games
• Publisher — Ignition Entertainment
• Review Aggregate Score — 68% (Mixed or Average)
• User Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)

Out of all the games on this list, only one is noteworthy enough to have been honored by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most polarizing game: Deadly Protocol. Swery’s loving homage to Twin Peaks remains as divisive as it ever was, with some players able to look past the game’s obvious faults for its incredible atmosphere and story, and others struggling to see what the appeal is altogether. Regardless of how you feel about Deadly Premonition, there’s at least no argument against the game being original, which is a distinction that pretty much every other game that ends up being polarizing shares.