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There isn’t one game everyone agrees they dismissed too soon. In a Reddit discussion, players named Control, Baldur’s Gate 3, The Witcher 3, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Cyberpunk 2077, No Man’s Sky and more. Their stories point to different reasons a first impression can change—not a universal rule that a game deserves another chance.
What games did players write off, then get hooked on?
The question invites personal stories, and the discussion offers a range rather than a winner. Some players described returning to a game after time away; others said it took longer play, friends, updates or a better grasp of the systems for it to click.
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- Control: One commenter said they stopped and restarted several times before settling in for a longer stretch.
- Baldur’s Gate 3: A commenter expected not to enjoy turn-based games, then found themselves putting in extensive play.
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Some commenters pointed to weapon durability as an early frustration.
- No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077: Commenters described coming back after the games’ launch periods or later changes.
- The Witcher 3: It appeared among the thread’s examples, without establishing a particular reason it changed someone’s mind.
These are individual accounts in one Reddit r/gaming discussion posted October 3, 2026. They show what happened for those commenters, not how often players change their minds or what will work for someone else.
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Why can a game click on a second try?
The opening may not show what keeps you playing
A slow start, unfamiliar controls or an awkward early stretch can shape an initial impression. Spending more time with a game helped some commenters, but the discussion does not establish a minimum playtime that applies across games—or a guarantee that the experience improves.
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Time away can change the experience
Returning later may mean approaching a game with different expectations or simply having more patience for its pace and systems. In the thread, some players described stopping and coming back rather than pushing through continuously.
Updates can be part of the story
Some accounts of No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 involved returning after launch or later changes. That makes those stories different from discovering a game’s appeal without updates: the game itself may have changed, so an earlier impression need not match a later experience.
Friends or a better grasp of the genre can help
Some commenters pointed to playing with friends or learning how to engage with a game’s systems or genre. A turn-based game, for example, may feel different once its pace and choices make sense to a player. Those factors helped some people in this discussion; they are not universal fixes.
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Only if you want to. One commenter suggested giving Control two to three hours, but that was personal advice, not a researched rule. The thread also includes people who continued to dislike popular games after trying them more than once. You can stop, take a break, change how you play, or return later; none of those choices is a test of whether you played correctly.
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What the discussion can—and can’t—tell you
It can offer a useful set of possibilities: a game might click after more time, a break, an update, social play or a better feel for its systems. It cannot identify the objectively best late-blooming game, rank the examples, or show that any one approach will change your mind. The most useful takeaway is that a first impression can change, but it does not have to.
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