Cave Story. Somebody awesome from this site gave it to me for the Secret Santa thing we used to do for the Nintendo Wii. I looked at the graphics and sent it back to him and made him send me Ogre Battle 64 instead. I regretted that pretty soon after because I played the demo and loved it. I never did actually play Cave Story until last year (3DS Version) and it was one of the most impressive experiences of the year. Another example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Why did you hate on it? WHY?!

I got the original Splinter Cell for free on the GC when I purchased Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (GameStop had a promotion going on during the holidays). I hadn't really cared for the whole espionage genre (I had played both MGS 1 and 2 by that point, and didn't care for either... so shoot me), but I remember I played it for like 10 or 15 mins don't even think I finished the tutorials, and quickly dismissed it and went right back to PoP until I finished it.

Afterwards I went back to SC, and this time I was more into it and eventually played through it. Never got around to playing any of the other SC games though.

the last of us..

wow i quit after the first few mins but i tryed again but couldent stop playing until i beat it once i tryed again.

Majora's Mask. It's just so radically different than most Zelda games, or most games at all, for that matter, that my first time through I had difficulty accepting it for what it was. My second playthrough had me taking the game more on its own terms, though, which is when its brilliance started to shine through.

Fallout 3. I originally dismissed it as the typical bland hardcore title with the spectrum of grey colors along with guns 'n gore, but then a friend of mine who's huge on RPGs told me to try it out, and that I might like it. He knows me pretty well and we have pretty similar taste in games, so I gave it a try. Turned out to be one of my favorite games of the generation, and maybe even a better RPG than Oblivion, which I thought could not be surpassed.

Valkyria Chronicles. The first tutorial almost had me regretting my purchase. It seemed so childish and basic. Yeah, just run forward, crouch, and shoot. Yay. Of course, that tutorial did the game no justice at all, as the game-play really shines when you get variable situations and classes involved. That first big battle to reach the tower--which kicked my ass several times--hooked me. Now, I consider it one of the best games of the generation.

We could totally make a thread about games with horrible tutorials that could potentially ruin the experience.

Kid Icarus Uprising. I purchased the game near the release date and I had put it away for about a year and a half. I really hated the controls.
After giving the game a second chance, I got more comfortable with the controls and found it very enjoyable. I also enjoyed the voice actor for Pit and the music!

Jet force gemini. at first I was advancing slowly because I had the habit of being overly cautious with shooters. Then I started to find the game boring. eventually I lost this mental block and proceeded to finish end enjoy the hell out of it.