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Unfinished Business - Games You Liked But Never Compl

LBD_NytetraynLBD_Nytetrayn TorontoRegistered User regular
So, a lot of people say that they love a game, but never finished it. I know this, I'm guilty of it myself. I love playing Zelda: Twilight Princess and Luigi's Mansion, but both remain woefully incomplete. The former because I usually just game for quick spurts, and I hate the thought of starting back at the start of a dungeon before it's finished, and the latter because I put it down for a bit, and completely lost where I was, but instead of playing it over again, it's become part of my "to-do" list.

But, what my wife is wondering for an article she is writing for 1up.com is, "why don't people finish the games they start?" Do they get too difficult for you?

Too boring?

Does real life interfere, and by the time you're able to return, it's too hard to get back into the swing of things?

Do more games need to "update" the player when they return from a long break (for example, Pokemon Pearl and Diamond do just this)?

Do you get distracted by new releases, leading to that last problem? (my issue with Luigi's Mansion, btw)

Tell your tales of distraction and incompletion here, and if you want to be quoted in the feature, be sure to e-mail my wife with your name (real, please; "Baron von Asskick '97" seems to be considered unprofessional by online publications these days, for some reason), and a vague location (we don't need your street address or anything, just a state is fine). You can e-mail said info to her at nadiaoxford at gmail dot com.

LBD_Nytetrayn on
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Posts

  • Gorilla SaladGorilla Salad Registered User
    Silent Hill 2. It's so damn scary!

    Organichu wrote: »
    The main rub is that, fuck, I'm already paying some to upgrade the length... why not pay a little bit more to upgrade the length AND width?
  • JasconiusJasconius bird internet Saint Petersburg RussiaRegistered User regular
    Oblivion.

    I have to do what to get more lockpicks? Oh, you said that NPC is bugged? Shift+Delete

  • lazyc0mmunistlazyc0mmunist Registered User
    Vampires the Masquerade:Bloodlines, I played it every day for a week or so, then stopped for one day and haven't touched it since.

  • Local H JayLocal H Jay I'm Catbug! Registered User regular
    Yeah so, can't believe this ain't been said yet:
    GTA

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Super Moderator, Moderator, ClubPA mod
    Metroid Prime 2 was the only game I ever really liked and didn't complete. It was sort of hard, and I became frustrated by one of the last bosses. I had to roll around on him and attack him with bombs, I believe, and for some reason I needed Dark Ammo, which I kept running out of. Just never came back to it.

    I never finished Xenogears or FFX. On both of those, I liked the games just enough to keep going, and as soon as I died twice in a row on a certain boss, I said fuck it and quit, because neither of the games were especially enjoyable.

    Riley: "You're a marsupial!"
    Maddie: "I am not!"
    Riley: "You're a marsupial!"
    Maddie: "I am a placental mammal!"
  • TurkeyTurkey Registered User regular
    Halo 2
    OH MY GOD I AM SO WI

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  • CraigopogoCraigopogo Registered User regular
    I've gotten almost to the end of STALKER 3 times. I get there and just never feel like playing. I don't know why, I love the game. I just totally lose interest.

  • slash000slash000 Registered User regular
    A lot of people never finished Doom 3 because the creepiness wore off and they found repetitive and/or tedious. A lot of people never finish Metroid games because they get tired of "backtracking." A lot people can't finish DMC or Ninja Gaiden because it gets too difficult or frustrating. A lot of people never finish morrowind/oblivion/etc because they start dicking around at their leisure and just never get around to finishing the 'main story' before they've had their fill of the game. A lot of people never finish RPGs because they're too long.

    I couldn't finish Hitman 2 because I thought that the snowy big level was too fucking tedious.

  • ZephyrZephyr Registered User
    i never finished gta vc stories for my psp.

    i mean i liked the game but i got to a mission which seemed impossible so i just stopped and spent my rest of the time on it just murdering people and blowing shit up.

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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Super Moderator, Moderator, ClubPA mod
    Oh, right. I never finished Doom 3 for exactly that reason. Eventually I used the God cheat so I could just breeze through it and see everything, but it got to the point where even that was too boring.

    Riley: "You're a marsupial!"
    Maddie: "I am not!"
    Riley: "You're a marsupial!"
    Maddie: "I am a placental mammal!"
  • Local H JayLocal H Jay I'm Catbug! Registered User regular
    Also, I never beat God of War 2 since it was a rental and was not compelled to buy it.

  • ElendilElendil Registered User regular
    Fire Emblem 8
    Fire Emblem 9

    I just beat Fire Emblem 7, after years of owning it and about five attempts. Take that, backlog!

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  • mntorankusumntorankusu Registered User regular
    Xenosaga 3. I was really disappointed by it, and I quit playing. But looking back on it, I actually did like it, I was just disappointed it was absolutely nothing like the first two. I'd like to finish it, especially since this is one of those games that gives you a summary of what's up when you start, but I keep trying and failing to get back into it.

    Mega Man X8. I spent all sorts of time and effort to get to the end of this ridiculously difficult game (on Normal mode), but then... One of the last levels appeared to be constructed almost entirely out of spikes. Hooray. No thanks!

    Ico. I guess I'm just stupid, because I was always getting stuck. :( The puzzles just seemed really obscure and hard to figure out a lot of the time. I really really liked everything else about it though, so one of these days I'm just going to start it up and use a guide when I get stuck.

    Metroid Prime. The very last bit before the final boss, at the Impact Crater or whatever. Screw going through that area again each time I want to fight the boss. It's the very end though, so this is not a big deal.

    Baten Kaitos. I have no attention span! I loved a lot of things about this game, but it was actually pretty boring outside of the battle system. In the end, I think this one was mostly because of other games distracting me.

    Beyond Good & Evil. It just sorta...failed to grab me. I think it's a cool game, and I wish I could have played through it, but I was practically forcing myself to keep playing before I gave up.

    These are some of the most significant ones, I think, but it's just a fraction of the full list of games I wish I had completed. I suck. :(

  • PaulTheAfraidPaulTheAfraid Registered User
    Thief 1 and 2, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
    I prefer non-lethal stealth on my first playthrough of these types of games, but it almost always degenerates into frustrating trial-and-error gameplay. If I could just bite the bullet and assassinate everyone instead of sneaking by them, problem solved.

    Oblivion
    My first character was a pure mage, and there's no way that I know of to remove obsolete spells in the 360 version. Going through the spellbook for stuff I don't have hotkeyed or can't remember the name of is just that irritating.

    System Shock 2
    Because I am a miserable failure of a human being. Finishing Bioshock may have redeemed my soul a little bit, but this one still haunts me.

    Planescape: Torment
    See above :|

  • PataPata Registered User regular
    Megaman 8.

    Got stuck on Wily's Fortress.

    Then my little brother broke the MMAC disk. :(

    Spoiler:
  • ReznikReznik Registered User regular
    Final Fantasy XII: I got stuck at the demon wall because my characters are far too weak. Normally I'd go back and level them up but I realised that I just don't care about any of the characters or the story so there's nothing motivating me to play, unlike Final Fantasy VII when I gave a damn.

    Resident Evils 1 - 4: Scary D:

    Chrono Cross: I'd actually been having fun with this one until I got to Fort Dragonia or whatever that place was and it reminded me way too much of FFVII's temple of the ancients. I really hate those maze/puzzle things...

    That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

  • NerfThatManNerfThatMan Registered User regular
    I still haven't finished Twilight Princess because I don't want it to end.

    :(

  • StigmaStigma Registered User
    I never beat God of War 2 either.
    I felt like I was just going through the motions and it wasn't impressing me all that much.

    Some day I might go back to it.

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  • DragkoniasDragkonias Registered User regular
    Morrowind and Oblivion. Not that I didn't enjoy the games, I liked them a lot (200+ hours on Morrowind, 80+ on Oblivion) it was just that I'd did so much with the sidequests by the time I went back to the main story I'd felt like doing something else and never got to finishing it.

    God of War - The combat was pretty cool but the world was so uninteresting, your average dark as shit world that every anti-hero in a action game these days lives in...not to mention I thought Kratos was an ass and I can't play games where I don't like the mains.

    Star Ocean 3 - Too many changes from SO2, didn't enjoy the combat as much and though MP damage was the stupidest idea ever.

    GTA3 - Just never got around to doing it, finished Vice City and Sandreas though.

  • mntorankusumntorankusu Registered User regular
    Reznik wrote: »
    Final Fantasy XII: I got stuck at the demon wall because my characters are far too weak. Normally I'd go back and level them up but I realised that I just don't care about any of the characters or the story so there's nothing motivating me to play, unlike Final Fantasy VII when I gave a damn.
    I felt exactly the same about this game when I rented it. I didn't care about anything that was going on, at all. And I didn't particularly like the gameplay either.

    I did like Fran though!

  • NarketNarket __BANNED USERS
    there are so many games that i never finished

    Zelda 2 The Adventures of Link:
    very enjoyable game. i just couldn't finish it because i hated the fact that everytime you die and have game over or you save and turn it off, you start back at the beginning of the game. just irritating as hell!!

    S.T.A.K.E.R.:
    well, my roomate uninstalled it...

    GTA San Andreas:
    i played 3 and vice city so much that it was just the same old crap to me. even though there was a lot more to do, it just wasn't worth the effort.

    the list could go on and on, but that's just a few for me.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • GoodCitizenGoodCitizen Registered User
    I hardly ever 'finish' games these days. Over time it seems that the definition of finishing a game has changed for me. Take a look at Disgaea 2 for example. Am I finished when I've gotten through the main story? How about after collecting all the endings? Maybe when all my guys are reincarnated to max stats with 300 felonies and 9999 levels? In a way, I don't think any of my games are ever finished. I can still pop in Marvel vs Capcom 2 on the dreamcast and consider myself progressing, or atleast sucking less.

    But ya, there's some games I just don't finish because they get frustrating and I go do something else. Pretty much any Castlevania game does this to me. Fuck you rooms with medusa heads and spikes. Why do you always have to make an appearance???

    Benjamin Franklin used foil covered window glass to create a capacitor. He then attempted to kill a turkey with the stored charge. Instead, he knocked himself out. Franklin later wrote, "I tried to kill a turkey but nearly succeeded in killing a goose."
  • NarketNarket __BANNED USERS
    Reznik wrote: »
    Final Fantasy XII: I got stuck at the demon wall because my characters are far too weak. Normally I'd go back and level them up but I realised that I just don't care about any of the characters or the story so there's nothing motivating me to play, unlike Final Fantasy VII when I gave a damn.
    I felt exactly the same about this game when I rented it. I didn't care about anything that was going on, at all. And I didn't particularly like the gameplay either.

    I did like Fran though!

    know what you mean. i bought the collector's edition and huge ass strategy guide thinking i would love it!! played two days, and haven't played since... $90.00 down the drain.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ghost_master2000ghost_master2000 Registered User regular
    ...
    Metroid Prime. The very last bit before the final boss, at the Impact Crater or whatever. Screw going through that area again each time I want to fight the boss. It's the very end though, so this is not a big deal.
    ...
    These are some of the most significant ones, I think, but it's just a fraction of the full list of games I wish I had completed. I suck. :(

    the part with the platforms and neverending elemental metroids? I tried pulling MP back out a couple times and just kept getting jacked up in that part over and over again, so I just said screw it.

    is the boss after that part the one where
    Spoiler:

  • evilmrhenryevilmrhenry Registered User regular
    ...
    Metroid Prime. The very last bit before the final boss, at the Impact Crater or whatever. Screw going through that area again each time I want to fight the boss. It's the very end though, so this is not a big deal.
    ...
    These are some of the most significant ones, I think, but it's just a fraction of the full list of games I wish I had completed. I suck. :(

    the part with the platforms and neverending elemental metroids? I tried pulling MP back out a couple times and just kept getting jacked up in that part over and over again, so I just said screw it.

    is the boss after that part the one where
    Spoiler:

    It's MP1.


    I got to the last mission on Kohan (the original), where you get attacked by every single boss creature you've killed in the game, simultaneously, and gave up for some reason....

    Edit: I didn't give up then.

    First, I read a walkthrough.

    The walkthrough told me to use cheats.

    Then I gave up.

  • DragkoniasDragkonias Registered User regular
    Reznik wrote: »
    Final Fantasy XII: I got stuck at the demon wall because my characters are far too weak. Normally I'd go back and level them up but I realised that I just don't care about any of the characters or the story so there's nothing motivating me to play, unlike Final Fantasy VII when I gave a damn.
    I felt exactly the same about this game when I rented it. I didn't care about anything that was going on, at all. And I didn't particularly like the gameplay either.

    I did like Fran though!

    know what you mean. i bought the collector's edition and huge ass strategy guide thinking i would love it!! played two days, and haven't played since... $90.00 down the drain.

    You know...not to start a rant thread or anything, but I think the problem I had with it is that the plot was so boring. Most people in the reviews were talking about how the story was full of political intrigue on all that, but to me it was just boring and made it hard to relate to any of the characters because they have little personal development(IMO, Tactics did a better job of mixing politics with characters). I'm still playing through the game but yeah, story has done little for me when compared to FFs in the past.

  • IShallRiseAgainIShallRiseAgain Registered User
    I have a bad habit of getting upset at the final boss of a game, and never beating a game because of it.

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  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    MP1 Impact Crater:
    Spoiler:

    Spoiler:
    face | zune | last.fm | steam
  • ElendilElendil Registered User regular
    Oh yeah; I've never bothered to beat ActRaiser. It's just hard to care once the sim stuff is over. Particularly with the "fight all the bosses again lolz" thing.

    God, there's one game mechanic that needs to die horribly.

    Per3th.jpg
  • DagrabbitDagrabbit Registered User
    Most games don't have enough novel gameplay to last for the full runtime of the game. You're just doing the same thing over and over again with scenery and tileset changes. If the game doesn't have another really compelling reason (such as plot) to keep going, eventually the game becomes tedious and less fun.

    This can be compounded by a particularly poorly designed section of the game that is tricky, unfairly difficult, or very tedious. Usually when hitting these sections is when I realize all the flaws of the game I'd been ignoring to that point and lose interest in the game, since there's probably not a lot of interesting gameplay past that point anyway.

  • noobertnoobert Registered User
    slash000 wrote: »
    9. The multiplayer aspect of a game becomes the only reason to play the game, and the player 'gets enough out of the game' just from that

    That describes me. I only really play single player games that give the player freedom. Like in oblivion, I've done all the side quests and guilds, but haven't even touched the main story line. Same with GTA:SA, Spent hours rolling around and doing stupid things, but never really even looked at the main storyline.

    These days i just stick to MMO's and other multiplayer.

  • slash000slash000 Registered User regular
    august wrote: »
    MP1 Impact Crater:
    Spoiler:



    Yeah, that section really isn't very hard.
    Spoiler:

  • ArcibiArcibi Registered User
    Both Disgaeas

    Xenosaga Ep. 2

    Final Fantasy X-2 (well, the "never completed" part of the thread topic, anyway)

    Tales of Phantasia

    GTA 3 and both spinoffs

    And uh

    Link to the Past

    GameTrailers | Goozex | Check out: Arcibi's Dev Blog and Robot House Games
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    Wii: 5024 6786 2934 2806 | Steam/XBL: Arcibi | FFXI: Arcibi / Bahamut
  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    Arcibi wrote: »
    Link to the Past

    You get back in there, solider!

    Spoiler:
    face | zune | last.fm | steam
  • PancakePancake Registered User
    I never finished Ninja Gaiden, but it wasn't because it was too hard. It really wasn't once I got the hang of it, though the rate the game expected me to get better was a little frustrating sometimes during the beginning of a given section where I would take a lot of damage and get really short on healing only to figure out how to fight the new enemies and then cease to take damage.

    Rather, I stopped playing for a reason I've never heard of anyone else not beating it: I had to put in a lot of effort into the game and the game never really rewarded me for it, or it felt like it didn't because of its uneven pacing.

    I mean, most of the game is searching for those three pieces of the tablet to place into the thingy at the beginning of the big bad city. Now, to do this, a bunch of non-nonsensical crap happens and I go places that don't really make sense to progress. That's fine, I can go along for the stupid ride that doesn't really want me to understand what's going on, but the first two pieces come fairly quickly. They're pretty much right there as you trek through the city. That's fine. It makes sense and keeps things moving well enough.

    And then I spend the majority of the game running around and killing some more stuff. Ice caves, fire caves, sewers, catacombs, whatever. And what do I get at the end of it? The third piece.

    Great. I spent all that time and effort for the last piece. The first two may have been placed in easily accessible locations like in glass cases in a cathedral, but the third, oh no, that one's not easy. The third piece is placed beyond zombies, fiends of numerous descriptions, caves made of ice, caves filled with lava, soldiers, tanks, helicopters, giant electrical worms, and obvious traps.

    I didn't really know where the game was going with all this, but I got that third piece of the tablet and opened a portal to the starting town, I just lost all my motivation. I did all that to get next to nowhere. At least at first I felt like I was making progress. Then Team Ninja decided that progress is for suckers and told me to fuck off and jump through hoops to accomplish next to nothing.

    Great.

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  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    I get about halfway through any given game before the mechanics start to become stale. Very few games do enough to change it up and make it interesting for the whole game.

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  • pablo_pricepablo_price Registered User regular
    I find that it's mostly RPGs that I get stuck on and walk away from. Usually because of either: A stupid long fetch quest, or a needlessly difficult boss.

    In paper mario: 1000 year door, It was over a year between when I got to chapter 7 and when I actually decided to play again and finish the game. The reason: in order to reach the next area, you had to 'chase' a character around the entire world, revisting every single location form the game.

    about a year ago I stopped playing final fantasy x near the end even though I had been really into the plot/enjoying the mechanics. I reached the boss where you had to constantly rotate your characters around to keep them safe from his aoe breath attack. it was a lame gimmick and after my second game over there I walked away.

    some games I've left partway that I at least intend to return to eventually:
    metal gear solid 3
    chrono cross
    final fantasy x
    contact

    Steam / Xbox Live / Rock Band DLC / WoW: Allanna, Kolii
    SWTOR: Allanna (Shadowlands) / TSW: Sara-Luna
  • taliosfalcontaliosfalcon Registered User regular
    Pretty much every JRPG and SRPG i've ever played (which is a huge list as they are pretty much my favorite types of games) i usually play until i hit a spot i'd need to grind to get past, which is usually 20-30 hours in, then just stop because i absolutely hate grinding. And by grinding i don't mean difficulty, i love difficult games, what i can't stand is when they stick parts in where if you've just been killing things and following the story along rather than constantly reloading one area and killing everything inside theres no way you'll be high enough leveled to pass it. The worst offenders are disgaea 1/2 and all the followups, they start off as an SRPG then about 10 hours in they switch over to "olol strategy means nothing, go grind in the item world olol" :|

    WII U NNID- talios
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  • UltravisitorUltravisitor Registered User
    DVG wrote: »
    OCD is a contributing factor for me a lot of the time. I want to get everything in the game there is to do, but then the enormity of that task becomes apparent and I eventually lose interest in the game altogether.

    My best friend is the same way...the only game i know of that proved to be too much for him was Dark Cloud 2. He did indeed love that game, though.

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  • skeldareskeldare Maaaaariooooooooo? Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    Jeez, I'd say at least 75% of the games I own could be classified as unfinished. There's so many I couldn't even start to list them all.

    Problem for me is that I buy so many games that I always turn my attention to whatever the newest game is. That and I'm pretty busy with work and other things. It gets to the point where I actually have to force myself to play and beat a game.

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