What is a game that is commonly bashed for something that doesn't bother you, but something else in that game REALLY bothers you?

I thought of this today when reading some year end stuff on Mass Effect 3 and seeing a ton of talk about the story and ending, both of which I thought were fine or even good, without even a word about the level design, which I thought was shit.

Another example that springs to mind is Borderlands, widely bashed for "consolization" when I think it had deeper problems in lack of story and lack of any enemy AI whatsoever.

Mass Effect 2. I liked it ore than ME1. It gets criticized a lot for focusing on the characters instead of doing a big space opera dealio, but that's why I liked it. It's refreshing to be more focusing on developing the personalities of your buddies than going around doing a giant space opera in every game.

Dragon Age II, bashed for being different from it's predecessor. This applies to more games tho, like Fallout 3. There's generally a lot of games which get undeseved hate for differ from expectations, whatever created those expectations and whatever they may be.

The last thing I want is ANOTHER DA2 debate, but I don't agree that is why it is bashed. Not even a little bit.

I agree. I've not heard a lot of people bash it for being different, but I have heard a lot of people bash it for its hamfisted storytelling and repetitive level design. Did you play it post-ending change?

You're doing a piss-poor job of avoiding that debate by even responding to my post :-P But the debate itself is pointless, it's been talked about forth and back about a hundred times already, so why even mention it?

To add another game to the list: Cortex Command. A lot of people didn't quite take their time in comprehending the game, and started criticising it because they can't win.

Yes. I looked up the original on youtube though... more brief and less impressive, surely, but still not the core issue that made me feel "meh" towards the game.

My biggest problem with Mass Effect 3 was, even more than the ending, the lens flares.

Good God there were lens flares all the time! Some walkways had those lights on the side so as you run every single one blasted me with another lens flare.

The worst offender was by far Legion. Who looked at him and thought: "Yeah he has a light on his face so lets put a lens flare there!"? The most dramatic scene he has, I won't spoil for anyone, had me actually caring about his fate. Then he turns past the camera and BAM lens flare! Congratulations on taking me out of it.

ME3 was clearly directed by Michal Bay.

Oblivion: bashed for the Radiant AI. To me that was the only reason to play Oblivion instead of Morrowind (after the level scaling is corrected by mods), since I prefer an unpredictable world to a static one.