Thanks. I don't think it has to be opinion-only, but I agree that it is very difficult. AMRA 2 is the kind of non-opinion example I mean. ARMA 2 was a nobody before dayz came in and made it a lot more awesome. To be honest, I think it's hard because games rarely ever get a bad start and recover from it.
There is that as well, trying to think of a game that's been bad and grown is harder compared to a good game going bad. (sonic...urgh...)