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What drives you to finish a game?

2

Posts

  • LunkerLunker Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Asiina wrote: »
    I don't finish games all the time. From the OP, I've still not finished BioShock.

    The worst is RPGs though. I'll get to that "Point of No Return" area which is usually labelled as IF YOU WANT TO DO SIDEQUESTS, NOW IS THE TIME. Then I'll go do some sidequests, but get bored with the game and never finish it.

    I have to ask, though: If you're getting bored by the sidequests, then why not just leave them and just finish the game? Is it a completionist thing?

    I had the same thing almost happen to me with Mass Effect: I started dicking around in the uncharted worlds and start to get really bored ... so I just ignored them, played through the rest of the (much more awesome) "campaign" planets and had a blast. I wish I had ditched the sidequests hours ago.

    Lunker on
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  • darkenedwingdarkenedwing Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Scrublet wrote: »
    Lunker wrote: »
    Mr_Grinch wrote: »
    Piracy also stops people finishing games. I modded my oxbox to play some homebrew, but ended up downloading a shed load of games as well. I soon stopped as I only ever played the games for one night and then got some more.

    So I just deleted them all and actually went back to PAYING for games and I found I got much more enjoyment out of them.

    There's another case where cost <> fun to be had!

    I think it's more like you're using the equation "Amount of time spent playing / Cost," only you're dividing by zero. ;-)

    When you buy games, you don't (in most cases) buy 5 at once. You buy one, finish it, move on, especially if you're the kind of person who trades and buys/sells used games. People who pirate, particularly console modders, tend to download a shitton at once. Then gamer's ADD sets in, especially if you're a smoker on top of it.

    I've got a friend who modded his 360 and he's just terrible with how he talks to me about it. If the discs cost him $2 each he doesnt want to spend $2 on a game that he wants to play but got shitty reviews, to even pirate. Even games that get like 7's. He wouldn't even pirate Halo Wars because he wasn't sure if he should use the disc, when they only cost $2 each.

    And here we pay $60 for a game and he will literally talk like he's having a midlife crisis over not being sure if he should burn the game or not (he has a huge harddrive and a 1MBps connection so he downloads first thinks later).

    D::|:(

    darkenedwing on
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  • TK-42-1TK-42-1 Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I dont finish games because I dont have the time to sit and play them for hours long chunks anymore. it used to be I could sit and play HL1 for 4 hours and get really engrossed. Now that I have real responsibilities and a mortgage and shit I have maybe 1-2 hours tops every couple of days and it's really hard to get as attached to stuff as it used to be. even if I have time, I'll play tf2 or some other game i can hop in/out of because i dont know if im going to even make any headroom in the short time i have. example: last time i opened up fo3 i spent half my playing time clearing out my inventory and trying to remember where the stupid BoS chick is. this creates a snowball effect because i'm not finishing games as fast as i used to be. with steam and digital delivery I can buy a game and play it in about 30minutes. i dont have to plan to go buy a hardcopy which would regulate the time when i picked up the shiny new toy.

    then like asiina, once i decide i should go back and finally finish that game i've forgotten what the fuck i was doing and where to go. that or the skills i had learned to defeat the end game enemies are atrophied to shit and its just a depressing grind to get through parts that i probably would have blown through had i just finished it out the first time.

    TK-42-1 on
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  • SageinaRageSageinaRage Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    TK-42-1 wrote: »
    I dont finish games because I dont have the time to sit and play them for hours long chunks anymore. it used to be I could sit and play HL1 for 4 hours and get really engrossed.

    This too. I have Myst 4 and 5 staring me in the face. I love the series, but just don't have the time to really get into them, which you really have to do to enjoy them.

    SageinaRage on
    sig.gif
  • The Grey GOATThe Grey GOAT Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I try to finish games, but there are some where I'll play every chance I get for like a month and then just suddenly stop. I have yet to finish 1 GTA game. I keep plugging away at 4 and I think I'll eventually get to it. Then there are some games where I'll complete them over and over. Also, some games are long to the point where you lose intrest and then a new game you've been eyeing get's released and then you pick that one up and forget the old game. It's an endless cycle. And then there are those games that you want to finish, but they just become such a grind "FF12" that you just put them down and never come back. And finally, my latest problem.....you have a game with multiplayer, all your friends have it and then you forget about the single player mode because a you wanna do is multiplayer....i.e. Call of Duty WaW, GTAIV.

    Games Recently completed (last year in a half):

    * = Multiple times

    Dead Space*
    Ace Combat
    Halo 3*
    Gears of War 2
    Star Wars TFU*
    Call of Duty 4
    God Of War 2*
    Shadow of the Colossus
    Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2*

    Games I Want to Finish

    GTAIV (in progress)
    Metal Gear Solid 3 (So I can play 4)
    FF6 (Because its an amazing game that I just never devote time to)
    Forza Motorsport
    Splinter Cell: Double Agent (got boring)
    FF12 (Grindfest if I ever saw one)
    Ninja Gaiden 2
    God of War: Chains of Olympus (in progress)
    Call of Duty World at War (in progress)
    Devil May Cry (whole series)

    The Grey GOAT on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    "Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." -HST
  • AsiinaAsiina ... WaterlooRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Lunker wrote: »
    Asiina wrote: »
    I don't finish games all the time. From the OP, I've still not finished BioShock.

    The worst is RPGs though. I'll get to that "Point of No Return" area which is usually labelled as IF YOU WANT TO DO SIDEQUESTS, NOW IS THE TIME. Then I'll go do some sidequests, but get bored with the game and never finish it.

    I have to ask, though: If you're getting bored by the sidequests, then why not just leave them and just finish the game? Is it a completionist thing?

    Part of it. Sometimes there are reasons to do sidequests, like to get great weapons and such. FF7 and FFX were incredibly guilty of this. FF7 I did the entire chocobo breeding TWICE cause I could never manage to get a golden one. I've since learnt that this was because of the way FF7 chose what kind of chocobo to give you, so my constant breed -> get the wrong chocobo -> restart the game was never, ever going to get me a golden one. Very, very frustrating experience there and I didn't finish the game for so many months after I got to the third disc. With FFX, well, I tried the end boss once, it was too hard, so I went back to get new weapons and to grind a bit. I did most of the weapons bullshit sidequests in FFX, including the butterfly hunt, the chocobo race where you had to get a negative time, and the lightning dodging. I did ALL that shit. Then when I finally went back to try the ending over a year afterwards I had overlevelled and beat the game in like, 4 turns.

    Asiina on
  • ScrubletScrublet Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Asiina wrote: »
    Lunker wrote: »
    Asiina wrote: »
    I don't finish games all the time. From the OP, I've still not finished BioShock.

    The worst is RPGs though. I'll get to that "Point of No Return" area which is usually labelled as IF YOU WANT TO DO SIDEQUESTS, NOW IS THE TIME. Then I'll go do some sidequests, but get bored with the game and never finish it.

    I have to ask, though: If you're getting bored by the sidequests, then why not just leave them and just finish the game? Is it a completionist thing?

    Part of it. Sometimes there are reasons to do sidequests, like to get great weapons and such. FF7 and FFX were incredibly guilty of this. FF7 I did the entire chocobo breeding TWICE cause I could never manage to get a golden one. I've since learnt that this was because of the way FF7 chose what kind of chocobo to give you, so my constant breed -> get the wrong chocobo -> restart the game was never, ever going to get me a golden one. Very, very frustrating experience there and I didn't finish the game for so many months after I got to the third disc. With FFX, well, I tried the end boss once, it was too hard, so I went back to get new weapons and to grind a bit. I did most of the weapons bullshit sidequests in FFX, including the butterfly hunt, the chocobo race where you had to get a negative time, and the lightning dodging. I did ALL that shit. Then when I finally went back to try the ending over a year afterwards I had overlevelled and beat the game in like, 4 turns.

    I've had the exact opposite experience with sidequests. I skipped most of the FFX stuff (didn't get Seymour's Aeon, didn't do the race, the butterfly, or any of the other ultra special weapon things). I found that after I went through the cave to get the aeon that can't be hit and you pay 1g to use or whatever, all my characters were overpowered the rest of the game. If you do sidequests in Oblivion you'll have no problem destroying the main quest. All GTA IV sidequests are good for is cash towards the 500K trophy. The list goes on...

    Mostly the only reasons I've ever found to do sidequests is getting extra story/gameplay and a sense of accomplishment having done them. They've almost always overpowered me for the actual game, which doesn't bother me because I don't think a game's given me serious trouble since Thief 1.

    Scrublet on
    subedii wrote: »
    I hear PC gaming is huge off the coast of Somalia right now.

    PSN: TheScrublet
  • AsiinaAsiina ... WaterlooRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I was actually perfectly powerful at the end of FF7. The split up fight with Sephiroth's crazy form was long and grindy, but not too hard in that he didn't do a lot of damage per hit. The final battle was tough since he would almost kill me every time he did that super nova seventeen minute summon and I had characters die a couple of times, but I just BARELY made it through and beat him while my characters were all pretty beat up. It was a pretty spectacular ending and I'm glad I did it in one try (especially since the save crystal didn't work in the crater so if I had died I'd have to do the whole thing again).

    But really with RPGs I want to finish them, but I find myself bogged down so often with all the sidequests that I can never just leave behind. How can I finish the game when I know there are things left to do? Especially things story related (like getting Seymour's Aeon or doing Vincent's sidestory or doing pretty much any quest in Fallout 3).

    Asiina on
  • atat23atat23 Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    wow, this is quite surprising, I assumed that everyone on here would be completing every game, instead of like.....hardly anyone....o_O

    I complete every game I play and have done for as long as I've been playing games, depending on how much I like the game I would have went for the 100% so for instance I completed every GTA to 100% but games that I don't like, say DMC I just play through the normal storyline.

    The danger now that being such a completionist and with the introduction of trophies I try to get them all. Some of the multiplayer ones are ridiculous and in that respect I wish developers would just wise the fuck up and not put in a trophy that logistically takes like ten days of straight MP to obtain. Especially since the PS3 has a fairly weak MP community.

    I also bought Dead space, I hate survivor horrors games because I'm such a pussy when playing them (HL2 scared me), I promised my self after RE:VeronicaX I'd never buy another one because I was compelled to finish it even though I was scared shitless. Now with dead space, before trophies I would have had to finish it at least once but nowadays with the trophies I'm trying to get them all and with there being no MP trophies they are all relatively easy/quick to obtain so I will have to play through on impossible to get the platinum. God damn EA and the hype surrounding this game, why did I buy it, why? :(

    atat23 on
  • YourFatAuntSusanYourFatAuntSusan Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Storyline, 100%.

    I very rarely play a game with intentions of beating times or increasing difficulty. I play a game like it's a movie and I will generally play on standard difficulty and will more than likely use weapons/ammo cheats simply to advance the storyline.

    YourFatAuntSusan on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I never would have bothered finishing Magna Carta if the story hadn't been good.

    That's about all that was good about it, shy of the music and graphics.

    cj iwakura on
    wVEsyIc.png
  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    For the most part, a storyline will drive me nowadays. However, I've completed games for the gameplay or just to have it under my belt. The only game I can recall having beaten but been unsatisfied in both gameplay and story is FF8 and I don't really need to explain myself beyond that statement.

    Back in the day, just having a game under your belt was sort of like bragging rights with my friends. Like "yeah I beat Mega Man 3" and stuff like that. Being able to just talk about the game was fun enough but being the one to explain how you beat it felt good sometimes.

    Arikado on
    BNet: Arikado#1153 | Steam | LoL: Anzen
  • RenzoRenzo Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    It's not very often that I don't finish a game. If I play a game that you can finish, I almost always finish it and I can usually tell if I will like a game within the first few hours.

    As far as I can remember, exceptions:

    Odin Sphere - boring
    Robotech PS2 - too hard
    Jak 2 - too hard
    FEAR - boring
    PN03 - final boss is too hard, played the hell out of it though
    FF3 DS - too hard
    Second Sight - controls sucked, couldn't play for more than 5 minutes
    Rogue Galaxy - battle system became exceedingly irritating and the story wasn't good enough to tolerate it

    but even if I grow to hate a game, I'll likely finish it. like Lost Odyssey. Sometimes you learn more by playing a bad game/watching a bad movie than with a good one.

    Renzo on
  • BartholamueBartholamue Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    If a game is entertaining and doesn't bend over backwards to annoy you with stuff you need a faq to solve, then I usually beat it.

    Bartholamue on
    Steam- SteveBartz Xbox Live- SteveBartz PSN Name- SteveBartz
  • Cameron_TalleyCameron_Talley Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I usually try to finish games that I buy, at least ones that have a proper ending. Hell, I'll even resort to following a walkthrough just to get to the end (Final Fantasies, I'm looking at you!). A lot of this is just due to time now. I don't have hours in the day to play games anymore. So if I want to finish something, I need to get through it fast. I guess that may come at the expense of some enjoyment. Many times I'll start out playing the game saying "I'm not using a guide this time." But by the end, I nearly always do.

    If I don't finish a game, it's usually because I stopped playing and by the time I have time to go back, I'd forgotten where I was and what I was supposed to be doing (Metroid Prime 2 took me 2 years to finish because of this...)

    Then there are games like Phantom Hourglass, in which you have to do something repetitive and it just gets plain annoying. I would finish a dungeon, realize that I had to go to the damn Ocean King temple yet ANOTHER time, and just turn off the DS. I still intend to go back and finish it. But I hope they never use that concept in Zelda again. Bah.

    Cameron_Talley on
    Switch Friend Code: SW-4598-4278-8875
    3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
  • THEPAIN73THEPAIN73 Shiny. Real shiny.Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Then there are games like Phantom Hourglass, in which you have to do something repetitive and it just gets plain annoying. I would finish a dungeon, realize that I had to go to the damn Ocean King temple yet ANOTHER time, and just turn off the DS. I still intend to go back and finish it. But I hope they never use that concept in Zelda again. Bah.

    Good luck. I am really thinking about just saying fuck it and play another game. I don't want to put the square, circle, and triangle blocks together again damnit.

    THEPAIN73 on
    Facebook | Amazon | Twitter | Youtube | PSN: ThePain73 | Steam: ThePain73
    3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
  • Cameron_TalleyCameron_Talley Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    THEPAIN73 wrote: »
    Then there are games like Phantom Hourglass, in which you have to do something repetitive and it just gets plain annoying. I would finish a dungeon, realize that I had to go to the damn Ocean King temple yet ANOTHER time, and just turn off the DS. I still intend to go back and finish it. But I hope they never use that concept in Zelda again. Bah.

    Good luck. I am really thinking about just saying fuck it and play another game. I don't want to put the square, circle, and triangle blocks together again damnit.

    Shit like that is EXACTLY why I a)Hate this dungeon and B)used a walkthrough every time I've gotten to that shitty part.

    Cameron_Talley on
    Switch Friend Code: SW-4598-4278-8875
    3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
  • RenzoRenzo Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I just took notes. The dungeon basically played itself after a while.

    Renzo on
  • EvangirEvangir Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Gameplay and story are big things for me as well, but there are a couple others that pretty much determine whether I'll finish it or not. One is pacing; a poorly paced game with a lull in the middle is something I'll probably put back on the backlog, forget about, and never play again. Uncharted is a good example:
    I got to the hidden Nazi installation around level 18 or so, and fighting these zombie things just isn't fun. They remind me a little of the dogs from COD4. Slower mind you, but they can still almost always one-hit kill me. And there's too many of them. Naughty Dog made a beautiful game in Uncharted, but it's so hard to play when you hit a wall of cheap deaths.

    Last Remnant is another good example. I've been told there's a good game in there, but the unbelievable tedium of the first few hours basically forced me to play something else. It was so bad.

    Another problem is glitching. This is why I tend to be a little anti-PC. For instance, I was getting towards the end of NWN2, and I ran into a bug where you get stuck unable to zone out of your stronghold. I was caught with a few saves in my Stronghold, and a few from around 2 hours earlier in the game. By the time I found a way to fix the glitch, I had absolutely no desire to finish the game (despite being around 2 hours from the end of a 40+ hour game).

    Evangir on
    PSN/XBL/STEAM: Evangir - Starcraft 2: Bulwark.955 - Origin: Bulwark955 - Diablo 3: Bulwark#1478
  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    The last satisfying game I completed was Fallout 3 and before that it was Braid. With Fallout 3 the entertaining combat complimented the someone stale storyline and it made me want to push on and see it through. The achievements were a bonus. For Braid, last level was just too freaking cool and it was one of the few occasions where I wanted to re-play a game after beating it.

    Arikado on
    BNet: Arikado#1153 | Steam | LoL: Anzen
  • RenzoRenzo Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Evangir wrote: »
    Gameplay and story are big things for me as well, but there are a couple others that pretty much determine whether I'll finish it or not. One is pacing; a poorly paced game with a lull in the middle is something I'll probably put back on the backlog, forget about, and never play again. Uncharted is a good example:
    I got to the hidden Nazi installation around level 18 or so, and fighting these zombie things just isn't fun. They remind me a little of the dogs from COD4. Slower mind you, but they can still almost always one-hit kill me. And there's too many of them. Naughty Dog made a beautiful game in Uncharted, but it's so hard to play when you hit a wall of cheap deaths.

    snip
    For the spoilered part, just shoot from the hip. Don't aim, just look toward the enemy and fire.

    Renzo on
  • THEPAIN73THEPAIN73 Shiny. Real shiny.Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Shit like that is EXACTLY why I a)Hate this dungeon and B)used a walkthrough every time I've gotten to that shitty part.

    You are my brother.

    THEPAIN73 on
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  • CarbonFireCarbonFire See you in the countryRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I normally finish all my games if I can possibly help it. Mostly out of a desire to never leave a story unfinished, but mostly because I tend to be rather choosy which games I invest time in.

    Story is usually the driving force, unless the game is just a blast to play, then I'm really sad when a game does finally end.

    The most recent game I haven't finished yet would be Fallout 3. Partly due to reports of its terrible ending, but mostly because outside the exploration aspect and some of the combat, everything else about the game just rubs me the wrong way. I just have a really hard time caring what happens to the characters and story in the game. Maybe if I get a couple of mods in there and play as an evil bastard it would improve the experience :twisted:

    Maybe.

    CarbonFire on
    Steam: CarbonFire MWO, PSN, Origin: Carb0nFire
  • atat23atat23 Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    crap totally forgot to mention the one game I never finished, which was .hack, I bought it because you got a free dvd but boy was that the most boring, confusing and pointless shit ever. Guess you need to be a fan.

    atat23 on
  • BartholamueBartholamue Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    atat23 wrote: »
    crap totally forgot to mention the one game I never finished, which was .hack, I bought it because you got a free dvd but boy was that the most boring, confusing and pointless shit ever. Guess you need to be a fan.
    .Hack GU was a lot better.

    Bartholamue on
    Steam- SteveBartz Xbox Live- SteveBartz PSN Name- SteveBartz
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I would say that I typically finish a game either because the story grabbed me, or I like the gameplay lots. Some examples:

    GTA4. The gameplay was quite fun to me, and I wanted to find out more about Niko. Going on through the story gave me more of the former without requiring me to do the more... tedious parts of GTA, like finding all the jumps or shooting pigeons, and handily gave me more of the latter too. I spent minimal amounts of time doing non-story stuff, and pretty much powered through it.

    Fallout 3. The gameplay wasn't horribly compelling to me, but I loved the setting, writing, and story hooks. I played through it, doing maybe 1/3 of the sidequests, and ended up reaching the end. Beaten mostly for story reasons. Even though the ending was a little abrupt, the stuff on the way was all quite enticing. Also, I was kind of rushing through it because last fall is a cruel mistress for backlog.

    To give a rather different example, Planescape Torment. A game entirely carried on story. Does not disappoint there, but the (non-dialog) gameplay is sorely lacking. This game is basically a really good book to me. I'll pick it up, and just go through it in as close to one sitting as I can.

    For an example of something I didn't finish (and there's a LOT of games I have but haven't finished -- my backlog is frighteningly large), Gears of War 1 is an example. I've started new saves more than a couple times but haven't made it further than chapter 3 or 4 on average. The gameplay is fun but highly prone to repetitiveness in large doses, while the story doesn't really have much traction besides some likable characters, like Cole. I have, however, completed Gears of War II. Probably because it was on a rental, and the knowledge that I had the game on a time limit drove me to actually finish it.

    Dehumanized on
  • GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Whatever No More Heroes did. That game really knocked it out of the park, and I don't know why.

    I mean, the moves were flashy, but not the flashiest i've ever seen. The story was completely predictable but I still was thoroughly invested in the story, and actually looked forward to plowing through just to see the next cutscene. The gameplay was simple and yet I couldn't put it down.

    Whatever it did, it did with flying colors.

    Godfather on
  • FalstaffFalstaff Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    You know, being a big ol' lit-fag and all, if I didn't have time to think about my answer I'd probably just say "the story."

    Looking at my gaming history in the last couple of years though, it's pretty clear that story plays the minor role in how I decide to spend my gaming hours. Gameplay, gentlemen, is what it's all about; and I'll be goddamned if, in this age of youtube and Let's Plays, I'll put up with piss-poor or even mediocre gameplay to get to the end of a storyline which most likely doesn't even belong in a video game in the first place.

    I mean, my favorite games of the last few months have been Shiren the Wanderer (no story to speak of), Etrian Odyssey II (same), Geometry Wars Galaxies (pewpew), and just last week I outright abandoned Deadly Creatures, a 50 dollar purchase, for RE4 Wii, which I picked up for like 10 bucks. Deadly Creatures had some great storytelling, and a really innovative way of presenting it, but when it came right down to picking between Billy Bob Thornton's earth-real drawl and RE4's unmitigated cheese (which I'd already beaten several times on the GC), it wasn't even a contest.

    RE4's gameplay entertains me from start to finish, because popping heads and knifing fools never gets old. Slapping rats around with a scorpion is cool and all, but it wasn’t great – and why waste my time on average?

    Edit: on the topic of No More Heroes, I'd say it was probably the story and boss fights in equal part that pulled me through. NMH had enough going for it gameplay wise, even despite some really rough and dull patches, but I'll admit that even without the funtastic combat and quirky minigames there's a good chance I'd have finished eventually.

    Falstaff on
    Still verbing the adjective noun.
  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I feel that more games (all games pretty much) need some form of New Game+. Giving me New Game+ ensures that I will play through it at least two times just so I'm a lot more powerful the second time, even if the first go-round wasn't all that great.

    Other than that, unlockables and collectibles keep me going through. 200 pigeons in Liberty City was a dream (well, is a dream; I've still only found in the 170s), and games that have good incentives for Achievements/Trophies (Uncharted, Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection) will keep me playing through.

    UnbreakableVow on
  • FalstaffFalstaff Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I feel that more games (all games pretty much) need some form of New Game+. Giving me New Game+ ensures that I will play through it at least two times just so I'm a lot more powerful the second time, even if the first go-round wasn't all that great.

    Final Fantasy Tactics A2 would have been roughly 300 times better if it had a New Game+ with all of your weapons unlocked. I say this because the story and missions themselves were garbage, and the prospect of going through them again just to enjoy the deep and entertaining clan creation and class mixing aspects is just unconscionable.

    Falstaff on
    Still verbing the adjective noun.
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I don't finish a good 90% of the games I own, mostly because I get tired of the gameplay and plot. For me, 10-15 is the sweet spot, and any good game that can be finished in that length of time usually is.

    Zombiemambo on
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  • Darth_MogsDarth_Mogs Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I'm pretty completion-oriented with my games. I don't force myself to finish them, per se, as if I'm genuinely not enjoying the game whatsoever, I will give up on it, but in recent memory, that's happened all of twice. Once for Final Fantasy XII, and then for Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

    Final Fantasy XII was just a lot of things I do not enjoy whatsoever. I won't call it a bad game here, because I don't want to derail things. But, to me it really is a bad game.

    Ninja Gaiden Sigma, one of the reasons I gave up on it was because I have Ninja Gaiden on my OXBox, and when I finally beat it, I felt so so so good. But I remember all the bad times, so when I got to a part in Sigma where I ran into a wall of deaths that -wasn't- one of the bad times, I literally said "Fuck this." and played something else.

    However, going into the discussion of 'Fun' and it's impact on value, I got both of those games on the cheap and do not regret the purchases of them. As far as Ninja Gaiden Sigma goes, what I did play and get through had the same "Ninja Gaiden" effect on me (I.E. Cursecursecursecurse haha, finally made it past that part! Yes, who's awesome! Repeat) so I'm fine with it. And as far as FFXII goes..well...at least I'm not speaking from ignorance on it. (I did make it quite a ways in, I think.)

    I don't know how much of an incentive trophies/achievements can be for me when we're talking about beating a game to 100% however. For GTA IV, when the trophy patch was brought in, I had no qualms starting again and working towards getting them. I even did my first run-through of the game again to get the Liberty City Minute. The only problem is the MP trophies; I don't do a lot of MP. So I've given up, more or less on getting "100%" of it. I also kinda gave up on Dead Space, since Impossible mode literally kicked me in the teeth and told me to find my mommy in chapter 2. At a part that I had no problem with in Hard. I want to beat it, because I love Dead Space, but I don't know if I can be that good.

    On the flipside, however, I've beaten Uncharted: Drake's Fortune...possibly five times, at least four. Only twice because of Trophies. Mostly because of just how it plays and looks and sounds. It really is just a fantastic game. To that end, I would say that story-telling and the feel of the game itself and how it clicks with you are definitely the biggest two reasons to keep playing a game to the end, and sometimes beyond.

    tl;dr: I try my best to finish the games I get unless they bore me to death (FFXII) or kick me in the teeth repeatedly until I cry like a girl (Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Dead Space: Impossible Mode). Trophies/Achievements are nice incentives to beat a game to 100%, but it comes down more on the story and the feel of the game than anything for me.

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  • ExarchExarch Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    That 50% statistic really surprises me, since I finish the vast majority of linear games that I play.

    If I had to guess, most of that 50% comes from people making poor purchases. Grabbing a game they aren't really going to like and losing interest half way through.

    An example of a situation where I loved a game put did not finish it would be Etrian Odyssey 2. I got to the last story boss, but found I needed to grind a bit (simplification) to beat it, so I happily put the game down. Maybe I'll come back at some point, but by my standards I've beaten the game, the rest is just a time sink.

    That might not have occurred had there been any expectation of a final story element, but without a strong story I didn't mind stopping a bit early. Does that mean all games need story? Not really. Being worth my money isn't a matter of the whole game being perfect, but when a game is enjoyable enough to play through completely, or even played through multiple times it reaches a much higher level of quality in my mind.

    Bioshock or Mass Effect for instance were worth much more that I paid for them since I've played them both cover to cover a large number of times. I actually re bought both of them on Steam so that I didn't have to worry about losing them when I changed computers, and didn't bat an eye at the 20/30 dollars more they cost since in my mind I was still getting my money's worth.

    Exarch on
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  • MorinokoMorinoko Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I find this topic very interesting; considering i just finished Patapon and I'm trying out a new gaming philosophy: my gf gave me a PSP with Patapon for xmas, and i didn't plan on buying any games til i finished it.

    There is this strange hoarding / "collecting" mentality related to this and other hobbies i have, where i need to have everything related to the activity, and end of buying lot of stuff i don't really enjoy to the fullest.

    So, i played the hell out of Patapon for the past 2 months (balancing between work and school), until a couple of minutes ago that i finished the last mission.

    I think one of the things that have me hooked up to a game it's the story, combined with character development, the fun factor and playability. Last year, i played and finished FFIV Advance, my first Final Fantasy ever; and fell completely in love with the game. Right now, i'm playing FFV, and have FFVI on the backlog. I know there are newer games, specially on the PSP with better graphics, but I need to play these 3 games and enjoy the story from beginning to end.

    On the other side, for you people who are into GTD, i have this big "open loops" regrets if i have all these games and don't play them or finished them eventually; regardless of game reviews or comments.

    Just to give you an idea: i played the first James Bond game for GameCube (Agent Under Fire) and loved it; it was the first FPS i played in a long time (i used to play FPS on PC years ago).

    So i finished it, and moved to play Nightfire, which i hated (even if it had some improvements on graphics and stuff over Agent Under..) but had to finish it, then finished GoldenEye Rogue Agent, which i really, really liked (even after reading all the hate and reviews online), then finished Everything or Nothing, a game that it's a complete garbage, in level design and user interface (you had to click around 6 times just to save the game) and now, i'm playing From Russia with Love, and i think it's great.

    So, i guess i'm like The_Grinch: i have this backlog of games that i need to play and finish so i can move to my big ass wish list of games that i "need" to buy for GBA, GameCube or PSP (thank God i don't have money for a next gen console, or own a game PC).

    Morinoko on
  • MorinokoMorinoko Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Another good question will be: What games you haven't finished and feel guilty about it?

    For example, i started these games and for whatever reason drop them thinking i will continue playing and never managed to sit down again. It has been so long that i will need to start a new game on any of them:

    Ocarina of time
    A link to the past

    The two best Zelda games in must of the people's mind. I just don't feel comfortable with Ocarina's user interace, i don't know why (it's almost the same as Wind Waker). I guess if i had played Ocarina first, instead of Wind Waker, i would have finished it. And i know the story is best.

    Oh, there are some games that are plain bad, i try them and gave them away, like Gun (for GameCube).

    New Game+ it's another plus: i want or plan to play again some of the games i already finished, like Sands of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess & Viewtiful Joe, Beyond Good and Evil. The thing is: free time.

    Morinoko on
  • NorfairNorfair Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    Morinoko: I've been doing something similar, to keep my purchases under control, and make myself beat games before I get new ones. If I have a really long game, like say 30-40 hours or more, I give myself about a month to beat it; if it's a relatively short one, like 10-15 hours or less, I'll give myself a week. (Because even as an adult with limited free time, I can still scrounge up 1-2 hours a day to play a game.) Sounds crazy but I really have been playing more, getting through older games faster, and enjoying myself more. (And spending less.)

    I do end up playing my DS and PSP games more often than my console games because it's easier to find the time to play on them; you can just squeeze in a few minutes here and there and it adds up pretty fast.

    I try really hard to 100% every game I play, but if I don't have the time or don't want to grind, beating story mode is good enough. I don't care if I have to lower the difficulty or use a guide to get past a hard part to do so. And I usually have a guide handy when I play an RPG, ideally one that just covers missable stuff, because I don't have the time to replay such long games any more.

    (Also, all this talk about the big dungeon in Phantom Hourglass makes me feel like a weirdo, in a way, because while I hated going through it the first couple of times, after that I started to enjoy it, and by the end of the game I actually looked forward to going back in and finding ways to whittle down my time as much as possible. Eh, different strokes.)

    Norfair on
  • MorinokoMorinoko Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    @Norfair: exactly! That's the reason i don't pirate anything anymore.. i remember having all these PC games (in the 90's) and really not playing them; it was hoarding at it's best.

    One thing that it's working for me it's alternating between two games of different genres. For example, i have been playing FFIV and now, FFV. I play a couple of hours of FF, and then switch to a 007 shooter (that's why i finished must of them).

    Having the PSP, and World of Goo on the Mac, puts a higher level of complexity to my plan; but well, what the hell, right?

    (i'm about to start playing Space Invaders Extreme for PSP... i guess that's a game you don't have (or can) finish, right?)

    Morinoko on
  • almighty_monkeyalmighty_monkey Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    I'd say I complete most of the games I buy, but I'm not a 100% OCD sufferer. So, for example, Mario Galaxy:- I finished it up until the credits, and prior to me flogging my Wii I'd still pick it up occasionally but I never set out to do all 10 billion stars.

    Last few months I've been getting games via Lovefilm rather than buying them and I've noticed that when the option exists of just sticking them in the post and getting a completely different set of games through, I'm finding it hard to settle into games. My acheivement list so far contains about 6 games of which I have 'Finished level one!' achievements only. I think, going back to the issue someone noted about piracy resulting in people not actually really playing the game - yeah. I'm finding the act of ownership of a game is compelling me to actually finish games more.

    almighty_monkey on
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  • SkexisSkexis Registered User regular
    edited February 2009
    It's sad, but usually I find that it's a matter of cost. If I spent a certain dollar amount versus how much fun I got out of the game. If I had bought STALKER when it was on Steam sale a while back, chances are I would have hated it just as much as the first time I tried it. But even if I did, I wouldn't have felt too bad about it because I only spent $5 on it.

    By contrast, I spent $30 on Folklore recently. I like the combat itself pretty well, but even though I'm not invested in the story so far, I keep playing it hoping that there's more of a payoff as I continue. It might take me longer to finish, but I feel that obligation that if I spent so much on something, I might as well give it the best chance I can to wow me.

    The problem is that I have so many games now that I bought on the cheap, and can't motivate myself to play them, despite good things I hear. You know I've never played Planescape? $10 on a dual-jewel case, and I couldn't be bothered to install it for years.

    Skexis on
  • AsiinaAsiina ... WaterlooRegistered User regular
    edited February 2009
    This thread made me start playing Bioshock again. I think I'm very close to the ending now, although it's hard to tell with this game since every mission is always like "okay do this one thing and you're out of here! No wait, that didn't work okay try going to this other area and then you'll be done for sure!"

    EDIT: And now I've finished it. THANKS G&T THREAD!

    Asiina on
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