I have four Nippon Ichi SRPGs for my PS2 and the only one I have made even a little progress on is La Pucelle. I never even took Phantom Brave or Makai Kingdom out of the cases.
Due to poor personal decisions on games I've bought in the past, like Disgaea, I've started leaving games in the shrink wrap until I actually start playing them. I wonder if this never openned limited edition of Devil Summoner 2 will ever be worth anything. I'm almost certain it'll spend its entire life wrapped in plastic until it gets ebayed for $Texas or thrown into a landfill.
More OT, it seems #2's are some kind of bad omen for me, I've got Persona 2, which I just couldn't stick with and Xenosaga 2, both I've played enough hours wise to have beaten them, but I always get bored and end up moving onto something else until too much time has passed and I have to start over because I don't remember what was going on.
As far as a white whale that I actually conquered eventually, I think the most shining example for me is TMNT2: The Arcade Game on NES. I played that when it came out as a little kid (probably 7 or 8), and I could never beat it. I'd even use the 10 lives Konami code, and that plus my three continues (or however many it was) were not enough. I was a dumb little kid so my fighting wasn't tactically sound and I didn't play patiently. I'd just slug it out with everything and lose through attrition.
Then one night a few years ago, I was over at my friend's apartment for some sort of small gathering of friends. The only console he had there was an NES, and among his games was TMNT2. I was bored as hell and decided to fire it up. I didn't remember the extra lives code so I just played with the default starting 3. I whooped that game's fucking ass. I remembered the A+B attack that one-shots most FOOT clan soldiers and abused that. I dodged telegraphed attacks instead of just walking into them like my little self insisted upon. I cheesed bosses using careful jump kicks+jump aways. In the end I beat the game without using a single continue. As I recall, I didn't lose more than a couple lives.
It felt awesome to push that game's shit in after it did the same to me as a stupid little kid.
Legend of Dragoon. I got to the third disc and got annoyed at a boss so I lent it to a friend. He kept it for ten years, and I only recently got it back. I want to go back to it but I don't think my old PSX even works anymore, and I don't want to test to see if my PS3 can play it.
One of my favorite games of all time. I spent easily 5 years playing X-Com so playing this is like reliving middle school. Yet somehow I get to around the point when you need to assault Grumm and I just get burned out on it.
And I died. It was my last life on my last continue. I never made it to him again. And watching that video, I am kind of glad I didn't, because I would have been pissed off to find out there was another boss after him.
I used to think a lot of the insanely-long-sidequest RPGs were my white whale. After dumping at least 100 hours into both Final Fantasy and Disgaea, they certainly seemed to fit the bill. But I recently realized a lot of older games (those without saving options) tended to be far worse. I'm not saying it's better to lose all your progress after dying on the last boss of a random sidescrolling shooter. It is harder, though.
PaperLuigi44My amazement is at maximum capacity.Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
Ninja Gaiden (XBOX).
After all the bullshit with the horrible camera, 90° difficulty spike with the first boss and those ghost fish, I finally gave up right near the end when you have to climb a tower filled with tough enemies and those ghost fish.
Combat was actually really good when you got the hang of it, but boy that game didn't fuck around.
Mine would be Battletoads. Was so excited for that game when I got it but it always destroyed me. I tried for years but the farthest I got was that stage where you have to run away from that orb of death or whatever.
I was going to pick this. I used to dust the game off about once a year or so and I'd always get a little bit further than I did the last time. The last time I gave it an honest effort was about 4 years ago and I lost at the Terra Tubes because I didn't know you could actually punch shit while swimming.
I think I am probably good enough to beat it now, as I've since watched a Let's Play or two of it from start to finish and know all of the nuances now. I dunno if I'll ever get around to doing it though because my game seems to start glitching out after a while no matter what NES I put it in.
My other answer would be Dance Dance Revolution Extreme's Oni Mode. For those unfamiliar with the game, this mode consists of 30 different courses composed of 5-10 songs each, and if your timing is even remotely off on 4 steps of any single song, you lose. I completed 27/30 courses. The ones that I couldn't best: Trick (wherein you must complete MAX 300 with [vidurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVDsdM3dSgI]0.25x scroll rate[/vidurl]), Paranoia Brothers 2 (wherein you must complete both Paranoia Survivor and Paranoia Survivor Max), and Legend Road (wherein you must complete 5 of the [vidurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys_RTJXpb4g]most difficult[/vidurl] charts in the game, pretty much). And I am way too out of shape to ever attempt something like this again for a long time.
After all the bullshit with the horrible camera, 90° difficulty spike with the first boss and those ghost fish, I finally gave up right near the end when you have to climb a tower filled with tough enemies and those ghost fish.
Combat was actually really good when you got the hang of it, but boy that game didn't fuck around.
1. Jump in the air. You're invulnerable there for some reason. Attach rapidly.
2. Hold Y for essence.
3. Farm!
But not worth trying again, I'd say. But I shouldn't talk, I played the **** out of the original, but if you have a PS3, I'd rent Sigma or whatever number we're on.
My DS is one big backlog right now. Knights in the Knightmare and DQ are wonderful, wonderful games. I just have so much on my plate now.
A very recent one for me: Lost Planet on Hard. I tried a couple of years back but couldn't get past Mission 4's boss due to the rapid Thermal Energy drain on that mode (combined with the fact that the boss is a cheap bastard). Earlier this month I started fresh, having played through LP2 a few months back. Tweaked my control and aiming options to more comfortable levels, got back into the groove and after a few attempts finally put that little SOB down. The rest of the game got tough (Mission 9, yeesh!), but doable.
Then I got to the end boss. Anyone who's played the game will know what I'm talking about - it's basically the most arbitrarily prickish AI ever conceived. Half the fight involves him boosting away from you, forcing you to give chase and wasting your (limited) time, and the other half involves him using attacks that prevent you from getting close lest you sustain major damage, guaranteed. Since the only way you can deal any real damage to him is with your VS's (short ranged) laser blades, this proves problematic, especially since the long wind-up for your attacks gives him time to either A)Boost out of the way, Launch an attack of his own vectored into your exact attack position, or C)Randomly put up a damage-nullifying shield.
Yeah, after a few tries I just stopped. No reason to keep banging my head against a wall.
I have never, ever hit a level cap in any MMO ever. Ever.
Same here. It's weird. And I played Dark Age of Camelot for years. I'm a casual MMO player, I prefer to do stuff with people rather than just grind out levels.
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KirbithI appear to be made of delicious cake. Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
Oh god I had quite a few games. One of them was Okami. I got it back when it first came out 2006, it was one of the first games I ever owned. And I played it, and was doing awesome at getting stray beads.. and then I set it down. Couldn't tell you why. Well, at the end of last year I finally picked it back up. I was awesome close to the end. I got all 100 stray beads and kicked the games ass. Felt good to beat such a beautiful game.
Oh god and then there's Disgaea. And Disgaea 2. I finally beat and got the good ending on both, helps a lot that they got ported to psp.
And then there's Ocarina of Time. Someone *cough*thepain73*cough* keeps pushing me to play it. And I WANT to. I've seen a lot of it played before (I was not allowed to have video games growing up, but my best friend who lived on the next street over had EVERYTHING, so I watched a lot of single player stuff), and I want ot play it, I just need to clear some other stuff I am close to beating but haven't beaten yet off my plate. Like Kingdom Hearts. Which I stopped playing 2 years ago but I'm sooo damn close to the end.
I have never, ever hit a level cap in any MMO ever. Ever.
Same here. It's weird. And I played Dark Age of Camelot for years. I'm a casual MMO player, I prefer to do stuff with people rather than just grind out levels.
This seems to be what happens with me. I get in to a groove with some people for a few weeks, gain a ton of levels, but eventually other obligations come up for people and everyone goes their separate ways.
Starcraft campaign without cheats, fuck that campaign...it takes too long and some of the levels are ridiculously frustrating that I end up cheating just out of anxiety. Leave my base alone assholes. Actually, I dont think I have ever beat an RTS game without cheats.
I've been playing this game on and off since 1988. I was five back then, though... Didn't really start to understand what was going on in the game until a few years later. I've been playing it across different platforms, and different versions and remakes - not counting Frontier, First Encounters and various clones - and I've never gotten to a higher rating than Deadly.
It's not quite a white whale yet, but sometimes I doubt I'll ever get through the final level of Bionic Commando Rearmed. Up to there, I can deal with anything, but the retracting platforms keep killing me. Even if I make it through to the second part, I'm usually down to one life.
One of these days I'll manage. One of these days...
Thirith on
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
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PunkBoyThank you! And thank you again!Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
I couldn't beat Chewbacca's final level in Super Empire Strikes Back for a long time, but then finally I beat it and the rest of the game pretty much on a whim one day. I still can't escape the Death Star explosion in Super Return of the Jedi...Actually I can't beat most of the levels in that game without cheating.
PunkBoy on
Steam ID:
The Linecutters Podcast: Your weekly dose of nerd! Tune in for the live broadcast every Wednesday at 7 PM EST, only at www.non-productive.com!
Got a few of these. Demon's Souls is one I haven't even beaten the first level on, because there's no checkpoints, no saving and no pausing. I probably would have beaten it by now if any of those things were available. When I get an hour to play a game alone, though, it's usually been a while and I have to start learning things all over again. It doesn't help that there's a path on the very first level that leads to an enemy that's impossible to beat, and gives no indication that this is not the direction you need to go. One of these days I'll get a free weekend of games and rush through it, inventing new swear words along the way.
The Witcher I started right when the new version was released. I bought it and played through the first two Acts in their entirety, and I just lost steam at the third. I couldn't tell you why, maybe the clicky combat was getting old or something. So it's been like a year and a half since I played my save game on this one and if I go back to it I'll probably need to start over.
Shadow of the Colossus is still unfinished for me. I'm on #9, so I know I'm getting close to finished but part of me recognizes the magic of my first run through of Symphony of the Night, Bioshock, Beyond Good & Evil, Ico, etc. and I know I won't be able to have my first playthrough again. I need to just nut up and finish the thing for good.
Almost every other game I own I've played to completion.
i love the game, but i've restarted it about 20+ times over a span of about seven years without ever beating it. i don't think i even made the halfway point.
there's just something about the game that feels, well, stressful or something.
Got a few of these. Demon's Souls is one I haven't even beaten the first level on, because there's no checkpoints, no saving and no pausing. I probably would have beaten it by now if any of those things were available. When I get an hour to play a game alone, though, it's usually been a while and I have to start learning things all over again. It doesn't help that there's a path on the very first level that leads to an enemy that's impossible to beat, and gives no indication that this is not the direction you need to go. One of these days I'll get a free weekend of games and rush through it, inventing new swear words along the way.
You can open up shortcuts in most levels (including the first level) that allows you to bypass parts of the level on future play throughs. So if you have to go partway through you can get back to where you were rather quickly. Plus, once you are used to the combat the first level should only take 30 minutes or so. At least, I've been able to beat it that fast before.
i love the game, but i've restarted it about 20+ times over a span of about seven years without ever beating it. i don't think i even made the halfway point.
there's just something about the game that feels, well, stressful or something.
I've beaten the original but for some reason I could never get myself to play the addon.
So I guess Throne of Bhaal is my White Whale. I don't even know why, I think my interest just burned out at some point.
Ferrus on
I would like to pause for a moment, to talk about my penis.
My penis is like a toddler. A toddler—who is a perfectly normal size for his age—on a long road trip to what he thinks is Disney World. My penis is excited because he hasn’t been to Disney World in a long, long time, but remembers a time when he used to go every day. So now the penis toddler is constantly fidgeting, whining “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now? Now? How about... now?”
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
It took me 12 or 13 years to beat Final Fantasy 7. I got to the crater 3 separate times, and every time something managed to go wrong. Fried memory card, moved and lost the memory card, and something else I don't remember.
I've also tried beating Castle of the Winds a bunch of times and failed every time. I think I started trying that when I was 4.
Gemini Wing on the Commodore 64, wasted many hours on the final boss (some dragonfly thing)...just could not do it.
Of course watching this video makes it look easy, but I was about 6 years old or so
OH that reminds me, in Resident Evil: Code Name Veronica:
Near the end when Steve
is captured and turns into some super beast zombie. You run down a tunnel towards him, only to watch him hulk out and kill you. I could not get out of there fast enough or eat those medicine herbs in time. It also does not help, that the last save point prior to that area of the game was ages ago GAH!
It's a shame too, because I was having a blast with that game up until that point. But it's like Capcom decided "NO FUK YOU, WE WANT YOU TO HATE THIS GAME NAO!"
Alien Queen on
3DS: 4742 5205 9601 - Boss Lady - Pokemon Y - In game name: Kira
The Master cups in F-Zero GX. I think I've only ever beaten one of them. Havent looked at my file in a while. 2 of them I'm pretty sure I finished in 2nd place multiple times and then almost crushed my controller in frustration.
So, while it's one of my favorite games ever, and probably the game I clocked the most time on with my Gamecube, I've still never seen those goddamn fucking AX tracks. It would almost be worth getting a Gameshark or whatever the GC equivelant is just to see them.
Boring story compared to the first, frustrating gameplay, weird leveling and equipment mechanics. It's probably one of the only games I've bought I'll never finish.
manwiththemachinegun on
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Gennenalyse RuebenThe Prettiest Boy is Ridiculously PrettyRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Good god I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I raged at that game as a child. Oh, I became quite excellent at it and always had fun.
Until the final boss. That freaking giant robot-mech had me stumped as a child. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many lives and continues I had, Robotnik always beat me. That robo-Sonic just before him was a piece of cake, an annoyance whose pattern I had utterly mastered and often took my rage out upon. But Robotnik himself never fell. My worst defeat I still recall quite clearly, I had something like 25 lives and a ton of continues (well, I don't remember the numbers, just that it was a lot). I had all the emeralds. I had played a flawless game. Then that fat goose-faced goosing goose of a goose cooked my ass with his giant freaking pitchfork hands and his big fat ugly feet and his stupid dumbface exploding robots.
I finally beat him roughly a decade after Sonic 2 came out playing as Knuckles in the Sonic 2 & Knuckles connection thing. Yeah, seriously. It's the only time I've beaten him, ever. In my entire life. I have since sworn off Sonic 2 for the longest time because fuck you, Robotnik-Mech.
OH that reminds me, in Resident Evil: Code Name Veronica:
Near the end when Steve
is captured and turns into some super beast zombie. You run down a tunnel towards him, only to watch him hulk out and kill you. I could not get out of there fast enough or eat those medicine herbs in time. It also does not help, that the last save point prior to that area of the game was ages ago GAH!
It's a shame too, because I was having a blast with that game up until that point. But it's like Capcom decided "NO FUK YOU, WE WANT YOU TO HATE THIS GAME NAO!"
I remember having trouble with that when I played it all those years ago. I don't think it's possible to do without getting hit. And each hit nearly kills you. It's like they purposefully put a healing-item sink into the game just to make the game harder at the end. A couple months ago I read a Let's Play of RE:CV and it really puts into perspective how bad the game is. It's definitely where the series went completely off the rails as far as plot is concerned.
As far as white whales go, FF7 is up there for me; the game just does not click with me at all. The Witcher seems to be doing this for me right now, also - I just don't care enough to keep at it before I feel like I'm wasting time. Bioshock is also like that for me but I don't foresee ever trying to play past Hephaestus anyway.
Posts
But my white whale is NETHACK....
Due to poor personal decisions on games I've bought in the past, like Disgaea, I've started leaving games in the shrink wrap until I actually start playing them. I wonder if this never openned limited edition of Devil Summoner 2 will ever be worth anything. I'm almost certain it'll spend its entire life wrapped in plastic until it gets ebayed for $Texas or thrown into a landfill.
More OT, it seems #2's are some kind of bad omen for me, I've got Persona 2, which I just couldn't stick with and Xenosaga 2, both I've played enough hours wise to have beaten them, but I always get bored and end up moving onto something else until too much time has passed and I have to start over because I don't remember what was going on.
Then one night a few years ago, I was over at my friend's apartment for some sort of small gathering of friends. The only console he had there was an NES, and among his games was TMNT2. I was bored as hell and decided to fire it up. I didn't remember the extra lives code so I just played with the default starting 3. I whooped that game's fucking ass. I remembered the A+B attack that one-shots most FOOT clan soldiers and abused that. I dodged telegraphed attacks instead of just walking into them like my little self insisted upon. I cheesed bosses using careful jump kicks+jump aways. In the end I beat the game without using a single continue. As I recall, I didn't lose more than a couple lives.
It felt awesome to push that game's shit in after it did the same to me as a stupid little kid.
Also N+.
One of my favorite games of all time. I spent easily 5 years playing X-Com so playing this is like reliving middle school. Yet somehow I get to around the point when you need to assault Grumm and I just get burned out on it.
All Final Fantasies except 8 and 10
The entire Grand Theft Auto 3 trilogy
Xenosaga Ep. 2
Half-Life 1
The first two Fallout games
I've had most of these games for a while, yet never been able to bring myself to finish any of them
Wii: 5024 6786 2934 2806 | Steam/XBL: Arcibi | FFXI: Arcibi / Bahamut
Why is Cecil inside-out?
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Specific games elude me, sadly.
http://www.thenerdempire.net
fucking never beat halo 2 legendary because of those fuckers
I'm three away. And that's been the case for a long time.
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
After all the bullshit with the horrible camera, 90° difficulty spike with the first boss and those ghost fish, I finally gave up right near the end when you have to climb a tower filled with tough enemies and those ghost fish.
Combat was actually really good when you got the hang of it, but boy that game didn't fuck around.
I think I am probably good enough to beat it now, as I've since watched a Let's Play or two of it from start to finish and know all of the nuances now. I dunno if I'll ever get around to doing it though because my game seems to start glitching out after a while no matter what NES I put it in.
My other answer would be Dance Dance Revolution Extreme's Oni Mode. For those unfamiliar with the game, this mode consists of 30 different courses composed of 5-10 songs each, and if your timing is even remotely off on 4 steps of any single song, you lose. I completed 27/30 courses. The ones that I couldn't best: Trick (wherein you must complete MAX 300 with [vidurl=
Wind Waker, I got to, from what my friend says, about 80% into it and then I lost interest. I need to start fresh and do it over again.
I think it would benefit me greatly.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
1. Jump in the air. You're invulnerable there for some reason. Attach rapidly.
2. Hold Y for essence.
3. Farm!
But not worth trying again, I'd say. But I shouldn't talk, I played the **** out of the original, but if you have a PS3, I'd rent Sigma or whatever number we're on.
My DS is one big backlog right now. Knights in the Knightmare and DQ are wonderful, wonderful games. I just have so much on my plate now.
Then I got to the end boss. Anyone who's played the game will know what I'm talking about - it's basically the most arbitrarily prickish AI ever conceived. Half the fight involves him boosting away from you, forcing you to give chase and wasting your (limited) time, and the other half involves him using attacks that prevent you from getting close lest you sustain major damage, guaranteed. Since the only way you can deal any real damage to him is with your VS's (short ranged) laser blades, this proves problematic, especially since the long wind-up for your attacks gives him time to either A)Boost out of the way,
Yeah, after a few tries I just stopped. No reason to keep banging my head against a wall.
Same here. It's weird. And I played Dark Age of Camelot for years. I'm a casual MMO player, I prefer to do stuff with people rather than just grind out levels.
Oh god and then there's Disgaea. And Disgaea 2. I finally beat and got the good ending on both, helps a lot that they got ported to psp.
And then there's Ocarina of Time. Someone *cough*thepain73*cough* keeps pushing me to play it. And I WANT to. I've seen a lot of it played before (I was not allowed to have video games growing up, but my best friend who lived on the next street over had EVERYTHING, so I watched a lot of single player stuff), and I want ot play it, I just need to clear some other stuff I am close to beating but haven't beaten yet off my plate. Like Kingdom Hearts. Which I stopped playing 2 years ago but I'm sooo damn close to the end.
This seems to be what happens with me. I get in to a groove with some people for a few weeks, gain a ton of levels, but eventually other obligations come up for people and everyone goes their separate ways.
I've been playing this game on and off since 1988. I was five back then, though... Didn't really start to understand what was going on in the game until a few years later. I've been playing it across different platforms, and different versions and remakes - not counting Frontier, First Encounters and various clones - and I've never gotten to a higher rating than Deadly.
One day I will be Elite, though. One day...
One of these days I'll manage. One of these days...
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
The Witcher I started right when the new version was released. I bought it and played through the first two Acts in their entirety, and I just lost steam at the third. I couldn't tell you why, maybe the clicky combat was getting old or something. So it's been like a year and a half since I played my save game on this one and if I go back to it I'll probably need to start over.
Shadow of the Colossus is still unfinished for me. I'm on #9, so I know I'm getting close to finished but part of me recognizes the magic of my first run through of Symphony of the Night, Bioshock, Beyond Good & Evil, Ico, etc. and I know I won't be able to have my first playthrough again. I need to just nut up and finish the thing for good.
Almost every other game I own I've played to completion.
i love the game, but i've restarted it about 20+ times over a span of about seven years without ever beating it. i don't think i even made the halfway point.
there's just something about the game that feels, well, stressful or something.
You can open up shortcuts in most levels (including the first level) that allows you to bypass parts of the level on future play throughs. So if you have to go partway through you can get back to where you were rather quickly. Plus, once you are used to the combat the first level should only take 30 minutes or so. At least, I've been able to beat it that fast before.
Jump jump. Slide slide.
I've beaten the original but for some reason I could never get myself to play the addon.
So I guess Throne of Bhaal is my White Whale. I don't even know why, I think my interest just burned out at some point.
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
I've also tried beating Castle of the Winds a bunch of times and failed every time. I think I started trying that when I was 4.
Of course watching this video makes it look easy, but I was about 6 years old or so
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bueint0qBHA
Oh also, the first level (if you can call it that) of Airwolf, that was just ridiculous.
I don't really find it scary, I just can't get into it. It seems pretty cool but I get bored very quickly with it unlike RE4.
Shit thing is I bought Extraction but I don't want to play it till I get through real Dead Space.
You don't deserve hate.
You deserve only pity.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
Also, Extraction is considered a prequel, so you really could play it first.
Near the end when Steve
It's a shame too, because I was having a blast with that game up until that point. But it's like Capcom decided "NO FUK YOU, WE WANT YOU TO HATE THIS GAME NAO!"
So, while it's one of my favorite games ever, and probably the game I clocked the most time on with my Gamecube, I've still never seen those goddamn fucking AX tracks. It would almost be worth getting a Gameshark or whatever the GC equivelant is just to see them.
Boring story compared to the first, frustrating gameplay, weird leveling and equipment mechanics. It's probably one of the only games I've bought I'll never finish.
Until the final boss. That freaking giant robot-mech had me stumped as a child. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many lives and continues I had, Robotnik always beat me. That robo-Sonic just before him was a piece of cake, an annoyance whose pattern I had utterly mastered and often took my rage out upon. But Robotnik himself never fell. My worst defeat I still recall quite clearly, I had something like 25 lives and a ton of continues (well, I don't remember the numbers, just that it was a lot). I had all the emeralds. I had played a flawless game. Then that fat goose-faced goosing goose of a goose cooked my ass with his giant freaking pitchfork hands and his big fat ugly feet and his stupid dumbface exploding robots.
I finally beat him roughly a decade after Sonic 2 came out playing as Knuckles in the Sonic 2 & Knuckles connection thing. Yeah, seriously. It's the only time I've beaten him, ever. In my entire life. I have since sworn off Sonic 2 for the longest time because fuck you, Robotnik-Mech.
I remember having trouble with that when I played it all those years ago. I don't think it's possible to do without getting hit. And each hit nearly kills you. It's like they purposefully put a healing-item sink into the game just to make the game harder at the end. A couple months ago I read a Let's Play of RE:CV and it really puts into perspective how bad the game is. It's definitely where the series went completely off the rails as far as plot is concerned.
As far as white whales go, FF7 is up there for me; the game just does not click with me at all. The Witcher seems to be doing this for me right now, also - I just don't care enough to keep at it before I feel like I'm wasting time. Bioshock is also like that for me but I don't foresee ever trying to play past Hephaestus anyway.