Hate is probably a strong word here. Yeah, maybe you hated your first playthrough of a game only to come back to it another time and find it a wonderful experience. But, what the games on this list demonstrate is that first impressions can be deceiving, and subsequent playthroughs can be just as, if not more, rewarding.
Returnal
Rogue-like third-person shooter Returnal is relentlessly unforgiving, a game in which time is an agonising loop for astronaut Selene after she crash lands on the hostile alien world Atrophos. Otherworldly creatures stalk cadaverous biomes, hurling bioluminescent bullet hell between Selene’s scavenging for artifacts, resources, and ether. Its challenge can put players off but stick around and the accumulated muscle memory makes subsequent playthroughs a breeze. Returnal’s emotional narrative weighs heavier on successive runs too when the unfolding of events has already been discovered.
