Games you weren't expecting to be so good!

[Karifean]

Umineko. I don't think anyone ever expects the spanish inquisition a new game to end up being the best and single most influential literary work you've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

To give a more recent example, Symphonic Rain. I expected a standard galge, I got a psychologically rather fascinating tale. With a good rhythm minigame on top of that!

Oh, also G-senjou no Maou. It was my first real foray into the world of visual novels that wasn't just treading along companies and writers I'd already known of and liked beforehand, so I had no idea what to expect, and well, it single-handedly became one of my all-time favorites.

Edit: Damnit me, read the opening post before you write a reply. I'll edit this a bit later with some more fitting answers.

Editra: On second thought, I don't remember ever having the experience described in the opening post. Guess I'll just leave it as it is after all.