What's a popular game series that you just can't understand the hype for?

FNAF. Just a cheap jump scare game popularised by shitty youtubers. I literally don't understand how it got so big other than children being easily amused.

Fight me.

I dont care too much about the games but the lore is fun
- I think you mean the back stories and personalities of the different animatronics? I don't know anything about the lore.
I only find the theory/lore for the first few games to be kinda interesting and even then, it felt shallow and later on just felt like it was jumping a shark.
FNAF is so overrated, it's not even funny.
No, I am Spartacus!

Call of Duty. I had fun for the first few and Modern Warfare, but then it just kept going.

Same! I could just never get into it even though I enjoy first person shooters
I really liked World at War but that was the last one where it felt like they had an actual story to tell.
I haven't enjoyed a CoD since the first MW2.

FIFA, NBA, Madden or any popular sports game, really. Just to start off, I don't like sports games in general, but that's on me. The part I don't understand is the level of hype for each new iteration when for the last decade it's been the same game with the same engine, same effects, slightly different roster and sometimes even missing features. Like, what are people excited for exactly? More of the same?

I can't speak for the other games, but as a former player, FIFA did change a lot each year, usually its changes to physics, game speed, skill moves, mini games, and ofc graphics. Not $60 worth of game changes, but I'd argue it's similar with things like call of duty. Best value was always to skip every other year.
Also gambling. Doesn't get talked about enough but FIFA YouTubers are more or less payed by EA to shill packs and get people (usually teens) addicted to opening them. I probably bought $200 a year on packs from 2016-2020, usually money I didnt have too. Mostly why I stopped buying the games. (Stopped playing CounterStrike for the same reason)
These days, I just casually play mods of older games and get football manager every other game.
- Also gambling.
  I can't believe I completely forgot about the gambling aspect, good call. The trailer for NBA 2k20 was especially disgusting in this regard.

Dark souls and the like. It just feels tedious and boring. Monster Hunter is the same for me

Are you too skilled for Dark Souls, sir? The process of killing enemies and being afraid of dying thus losing 20 minutes of progress is the game itself.
- Nah definitely not too skilled, I just got burnt out on ds2 and blood borne. Felt like the same thing over and over again in a new pretty area.

CoD and Battlefield. There is so much war in the modern world and all it creates is sorrow. Not sure why i'd want to re-enact that.

Pokemon. Behind the pleasant facade of the game series, there is a reality: people kidnap animals in the forest, lock them in pokeballs, and force them to fight in arenas, at least until they are damaged. I didn't understand this game series when I was younger and I still don't. Do people really like playing this game?

I enjoyed Pokemon Red and Pokemon Snap. I'm vegan and don't associate playing Pokemon with animal cruelty as the video game is fictitious.
- By the way, surprisingly, cartoons are also fictional, but for some reason, child abuse in cartoons is 18+ marked or prohibited. ¯(ツ)_/¯
- I got the first Pokemon game (Pokemon Red) when I was 14 years old. I never watched the anime. Back then the game was revolutionary, I'd never played anything like it. The goal of collecting all Pokemon, gaining experience to level up, evolving to make new Pokemon, selecting and organising my squad, it really played into my young brain chemistry. I finished it multiple times. I got a game boy link cable to trade Pokemon with my friends and battle them at school. Thats exactly who the game is made for.
  I also played and finished Pokemon Silver, and Crystal. But after that I stopped playing them. Too similar, too repetitive, too many different Pokemon to know and remember, mechanics got too complicated.
- Well, I have nothing against the players. It's just that it's really hard for me to play this series.
The bad guys in Black and White were Pokemon rights activists and your heroic allies were watching them speak being like “everyone knows Pokemon love being captured and made to fight each other, these guys are a bunch of nutjobs!”
Then later it turns out the Pokemon rights thing was just a cover for something nefarious because nobody could actually believe what these people are claiming to.
- Ah, as one person on YouTube dubbed it, the debate and switch
I've heard the original manga in Japan was super hardcore. Like full-on dismemberment, pokemon would actually die instead of faint, and pokemon would regularly attack humans.
- To be honest, I would probably play a game with such a plot with more pleasure than a game where all Pokemon look like puppies.
I tried one of the old parts, it's incredibly repetitive and boring.
I somewhat understand the game, although i never was into it. But if you look at the newer games, they are just shitty looking cash grabs. But pokemon fans are insane and they would buy anything. I watched one or two movies with my nephews and god damn, they are super shitty. Don't get me started on pokemon cards...
- I hope the movies are not the same as the cartoons of the 90s. I once watched a couple of episodes where Ash sends Pikachu to fight in the arena and then cries when Pikachu gets hit hard. I just wanted to ask, "buddy, you literally sent Pokemon into the damn arena where he was supposed to FIGHT, what were you hoping for?" But in general, I understand you now. In fact, the plot is not important at all. People just collect Pokemon like things, like Magic the gathering cards. Now I'm not sure if this is as insensitive or logical as possible.
Collecting monsters and fighting them is fun, but Pokemon, to me, is just not the best game for that.

Not a series but I tried playing Witcher 3 because of the meme about how much redditors loved it. I played for about 10 hours and got bored and never bothered playing again. I wouldn't say it's a bad game but I didn't understand the hype. Also, despite playing it years late with a decent graphics card, I had regular issues with frames. That is not a performant game.

GTA. I'm a SciFi and fantasy guy so it just doesn't do anything for me.

What about Cyberpunk?
- Never played it.

Persona 5 and disco Elysium.

Gameplay akin to pulling your own teeth out but you don't even get to choose which tooth you want to pull

In terms of difficulty or emotional/mental load? Disco Elysium is pretty fucked up but kinda awesome when you get into it IMO.
- In terms of funness and having agency. I tired to put a tie on and failed a rng check for that. Then I tried to get a guy out of a tree and failed a rng check for that. And then the game said "sniff bath salts and you won't vomit when getting the guy out of the tree." So I went and scoured the area for bath salts for like 15mins, finally got them. Then went back to get the guy out of the tree and failed anyway because it doesn't always work. Not to worry though. I just have to wait another 6hrs before I can try again to presumably fail again.
  Believe it or not I actually like to make decisions and deal with the consequences of those decisions rather than just fail arbitrarily at objectives the game tells me I should be doing.
  Disco Elysium was aesthetically pleasing and I loved the vibes but the game sucked.
- It's hands down one of the best games I've played. The story was incredible, the world building was top notch, the characters were really well written, and the narrator was brilliant.
Persona 5 is one of my least favorite games of all time and I regularly rant about how much I hate the UI/UX.
Wdym (genuine), persona 5 gameplay is the best turn based system with shin megami tensei v
- It's an anime with a "press a to view next scene" feature

Mobile games that have a cooldown timer when you play too much. Oh you don't want me to play your game anymore? Cool. Uninstalled.

I do get those, but not that I think they're good. You have to understand the design philosophy is not to make a good game. It's to make a game that's addicting and wallet draining.
The timer does two things. It makes you plan your time around it, always coming back as timers end (often with notifications when they finish). It also creates an obstacle they can sell you the solution to. Its pretty antithetical to good game design, but it's profitable game design.

Final fantasy and everything Hideo Kojima. I don't get it.

I haven't played a FF game in years, but grew up playing them. At least up through FF10, the stories were compelling. The turn based game play is slow, and I get not enjoying that, but I liked the writing the most.
Having just finished the first Death Stranding, I agree with you re: Kojima.
Don't get me wrong, the game is great; I ended up enjoying the delivery aspect more and more as it went on. But man, the story is...tough. The broad strokes of it are interesting, but I feel like the inertia of it got lost in the attempt to make it a multiple-hour open world.
As a whole, the game is undeniably an incredible piece of work. While you're immersed in it it's wonderful. But when you stop to think about it for even a few seconds, it flakes away.
And, like I said, while you're playing, you're really into it, you get to the end game, you 'defeat' the final boss. Then there's the best part of 90 minutes worth of exposition to explain the parts of the story that weren't explained DURING THE STORY. Never before have I played a game that had to put so much effort into explaining itself.
But somehow it all works. The experience of playing it is excellent. Or maybe Kojima just has his own reality distortion field.
"Everything Hideo Kojima," do you mean Metal Gear Solid 5 and Death Stranding?
I find it hard to believe that you've played his other games and still have this opinion. It's much more believable that you're kind of young and only played what was released when you were around.
- No I never got those because I don't like Hideo Kojima, watching about a hour of each on twitch was good enough to tell it's not gonna be significantly more my taste than the other MGS games, nice try at patronizing an opinion simply because you don't share it though, real cute.

Final Fantasy.

Music is good, but the story seems drawn out and repetitive, and a little too "edgy", mainly with Cloud's story.

Edgy was the style at the time. That might be a case of needing to adjust expectations to the time it was created in.
Final fantasy 7 came out 2 years before the matrix movie for example. Edgy was huge.
Final fantasy 8 starts out similarly, but turns into a much better romance story with all the same zaniness.
Final fantasy 9 is a more classical fantasy from that era. After final fantasy 9 it gets more modern, but that one at least loses the edge that you didn't like in seven.
- I honestly couldn't imagine beating 3 final fantasies.
  The only one I've ever finished was Dirge of Cerberus.
Try the old ones. I played III in 2016 and still felt it was a great game.

Don't really have one of those I suppose :3.. even with games that are very much not my cup of tea I can see what aspects may be enjoyable to other people

Yeah, it's actually the concept of not understanding the popularity that is alien to me. Even with something like QWOP I can imagine someone liking the extreme challenge along with the ridiculous animations.

~~Silksong~~ Hollow Knight and Undertale

One is pretty much just another Metroidvania, and the other is way too indie/hipstery for my tastes.

I need to be able to kill things in video games without having to feel bad about deleting pixels, thank you very much.

Edit: I meant Hollow Knight, and I stand by what I said.

How would you know that Silksong is just another metroidvania when it isnt even out yet? It's a sequel to one of the greatest games in that genre, of course there's hype.
- I meant Hollow Knight.
I'm so glad I waited for a sale on Hollow Knight.
The hype had my expectations high. I was disappointed.
In contrast, I slept on Steamworld Dig 2, because the first one was just okay. But Steamworld Dig 2 is a nearly perfect Metroidvania.

Elder Scrolls and Fallout. This style of game is just super hard to get into. I get super bored after a few hours

Which have you played? There are multiple eras for them. I'd say Morrowind is easier to enjoy personally, but you have to be OK with reading. The later you go the more brain dead they become.
- Tried Oblivion, Skyrim, FA3, and FA New Vegas.
  Morrowind looks like an objectively good game but, I suspect once again I'd fail to enjoy/finish it
I get super bored after a few hours
You would've beaten another game in that period of time.
- True, I often feel games are far too long for my taste. I would love more games in the 3-5hr length

BioShock! I somehow missed it years ago when it came out, so I've had nothing to go off of for all this time, and I was excited to finally have a chance to sit down with it recently after 15+ years of hearing people rave about how amazing and fun it is.

The artists involved were obviously very skilled, it's visually gorgeous even a decade and a half later, and the sound design is top notch. No complaints there, and if that's what the hype was all about, then it's well-deserved.

However, the plot was almost non-existent, leaving me wondering what the hell my character was motivated by for the vast majority of the first game. Then there were a couple "twists" that I saw coming a mile away near the very end of the game. It felt like watching a young adult fantasy show or something, I dunno.

I managed to finish the first game, feeling very disappointed, and figured the 2nd one might be better. I made it only a few hours into that before I lost interest in it entirely and have yet to drag myself back to finish it. The story was maybe slightly better in BioShock 2, but not by much and not enough to keep me going.

There are people I know who are obsessed with this game series, and I just do not get it, even after giving it more of a chance to hook me than I give to most games. The only thing I can think of is that maybe they played it initially when they were kids/teenagers, and nostalgia has carried them through the series to overlook how utterly dull it actually is. I'm not going to challenge people on it or anything, I'm glad people enjoy it, but I don't understand the why (aside from the art).

It really is just another sci-fi game. But that's okay.
I'm the first game, you play as Andrew Ryan's younger clone/son, who is apparently only like three years old by the time the game starts (accelerated aging I think), coming back to Rapture even though you have no memory of it. It's all weird and convoluted.
I think people like it for the whole spiel you hear in the recording on the way down: "'No,' says the man in the Vatican; 'it belongs to *God.' I chose Rapture." or something like that
- People like for the spin of the fourth wall break when you find out that every objective in the game was a command for you the player brainwashed by the game. A man chooses, a slave obeys and you the player obeyed every time.
From the other side, I felt gameplay was very underwhelming for that game. Navigating it and fighting felt boring and repetitive. And I do like boring and repetitive games.

Balatro.

The first one was good though.

Yet unmentioned: Halo. I remember being introduced to the first one and being completely unimpressed. It just wasn't that much technically better than the competition, and the world as far as I could see was super boring.

I’ve always liked that in Halo games you survive long enough to react, unlike in most FPS games where it’s basically whoever sees the other first wins.
Halo was one of the few decent games xbox fans had to themselves.
Most of the top-tier developers made sure to release on PS2.

Hollow Knight. I know the new game is coming out tomorrow (?) but I just couldn't get into the way the game feels. I love Metroidvanias but something about Hollow Knight and it's gameplay just didn't make me come back for more.

It's the walking and movement for me. Getting to places takes ages. Compared it most other metroidvanias, which have denser fast travel and/or more movement options, HK is lacking, the dash is marginally faster and the ultra dash is situational, basically only for dedicated spots. This isn't as much of an issue in most Soulsborne games, which HK was going for, but you don't go back to old areas as much there. Even Elden Ring's open world throws a shitton of fast travel spots and has everything you need in a small hub.
I will admit the combat didn't gel with me too much either, despite being a FromSoft fan. Not sure about that one, maybe it's the precision of movement required.
Maybe Silksong will do better with Hornet's faster movement, but I won't be buying it now.
- For fast travel, part of the design is about shortcuts, which I prefer. It's closer to the Dark Souls 1 philosophy instead of the later games. One cohesive world that makes sense that you exist within and learn, instead of fast traveling every 10 meters.
  I agree with the dash though. Spamming it to move a little faster was so annoying. I'm playing Silksong and the new dash you can hold to sprint, and it's much nicer.
I played it, but I just found it mind-numbing.
Metroidvania always do that to me.

Anything with PvP.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

It was my first Zelda game, and I did not know anything about the characters or the world. Any story bits that give the characters any personality are collectibles that you find out of order.

The game just could not make me care about the world or the characters.

By the time I finished the game, I was just glad it was over. Though I did finish it.

Pretty much anything really plot driven or with prescribed paths to victory. I like a bit of room for creativity and decision making.

CoD i reamber being a kid and playing it tried it again now and its the same game