Games I Want to Love...but can't

Have you ever played a game that others have raved about but you absolutely couldn't get into it?  There are several that come to my mind.  I always feel a little weird when someone is gushing about how great a game is..."OMG, this game was so awesome!"  "Uh....yeah," then I feel like I should probably like it.  So I usually force myself to go back and play it to try to change my opinion.  It doesn't work.

Now, I can't say I hated these games or that they are the worst games ever....for some reason or other, I just don't like them.

The first game I think of is "Civilization V."  This was the first game in the series I had played.  I like strategy games, I don't mind turn-based games, so I figured this would be a sure thing.  Nope.  I recently tried to re-insert myself into some Civ and lost interest pretty quickly.  So what is it about Civ V that doesn't do it for me?  I am still confused about all the ways to win.  In other strategy games you have one option...destroy your enemy.  I get games where you build up an army and then use it to crush your opponents (Age of Empires, Starcraft II).  I don't get Civ V's multiple ways to win.  Maybe I'm just too pre-programmed and can't deny the urges to conquer everything.  I know what you're thinking..."But you can be warlike in Civ V."  Sure, but it takes a long time to build up an adequate force.  I guess I don't have the attention span to wait 3500 turns to win.  This makes me kind of sad because as a history nerd I can respect Civ V's gameplay and historically based set of cultures.  I just can't do it.

Pretty!

Another game I had a tough time with is "Transistor."  "Transistor" is the follow up to the indie hit "Bastion" by Supergiant games.  I really liked Bastion (pick it up on Steam) and Supergiant did a fabulous job of making it unique enough to stand out.  So I picked up Transistor without any hesitation.    There are parts of Transistor I absolutely love--the artwork in the game is stunning as is the soundtrack.   But besides those two things, I just couldn't get into it (I did manage to finish it, but haven't touched it since).  This is another game that is (or can be) turn-based.  The combat seemed too slow and broken up.  The game also had kind of a blah story.  I just kept expecting something great to happen and it never did.  Is Transistor a bad game?  No, just not my cup of tea.

I think it's alright to not like games that other people do.  Gaming is and should be a personal experience and you shouldn't like a game just because everyone else does.