Games you initially did not like, but after a second look enjoyed

[Bofferbrauer2]

The Legend of Zelda and TLoZ: A Link to the Past

Both for the same reason: I started with the second game first and absolutely loved it, and only afterwards got to play it's predecessor an successor. I was missing the RPG system (it's also the game that got me into RPGs), and some ennemies (Tektites in Zelda I, Knights in both titles)were so much weaker than in Zelda II that it felt dumbed down to me, and the perspective change didn't help things, eiter.

Zelda 1 did grow on me relatively quickly though, after 2 years I was playing it a lot, too. But for aLttP, it took me until the late 2000's before I really warmed up on it.

Ka-pi96 said:

Europa Universalis IV.

First time I tried it I had no idea WTF was going on, didn't like it and just gave up. Took nearly a full year for me to try again, but I started playing Crusader Kings II, got pretty into that and since EU is basically its sister series decided to give it another shot (already had it in my Steam library including some DLC from when I bought it a year before on sale, so why not?). Having played CK2 and gotten used to how that game works I was able to adjust much easier to EU4 and figure things out. Now EU4 is probably my most played game of all time (>3k hours on Steam), so I definitely enjoyed it a fair bit when I gave it another try.

I had the exact same experience with Victoria II (and Hearts of Iron III instead of CK2 for you). Paradox games in general really need to grow on you.