There are some games that are just so bad that they're good or are so lacking in some important quality generally associated with "good" games that they can only be qualified as a guilty pleasure. Games like Earth Defense Force 2017 and Deadly Premonition are good examples from this gen of what would qualify. So, anyone have any examples? For me, I'd have to say hack-n-slash and extreme sports games. Most people decry hack-n-slash (especially Dynasty Warriors) as too repetitive, and objectively they don't take the most skill in the world to be able to play. There's just something so satisfying for me about hacking down wave after wave of peons, though, even if there's little skill involved. On a DW fanboy note, try playing any DW game on Chaos Mode without a deep understanding of your character's moveset, the game's weapon/stat upgrade system, etc. and say that it's too simplistic Outside of Skate, extreme sports games sadly appear to be dead this gen which is tragic for me because I've loved them since they first debuted. They have a distinctly-dated 90s feel to them now, but I played the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX to death on PS1 and kept renting/buying future installments in those series no matter how far-removed from their origins they eventually became. The gravity-defying tricks, secret-filled levels, and constant compulsion to meet special objectives and top your own high score kept me coming back. Most people look down on extreme sports as wannabe-edgy crap for tweenage boys, but hey, I was 12 once and loved skateboarding, BMX, motocross, and more. I still tune into the X-Games each summer just to feel like a kid again for a few hours! I'd still play the games too if they'd just make them.
