Usually if game doesn't catch my interest. Sometimes because it;s part of a series I have a bone to pick with (Tales of). Sometimes because company likes to make over complicated and convoluted mechanics (NiS). And sometimes (what I hate the most) global ingame time limit. I've waited for Lind cube translation for years, avoided spoils like a plague. Then I realized that there is a time limit and every time you switch screens time move on. I was like around halfway through first scenario when I just didn't want to come back. Plus you need to catch animals for the danged Arc.
most of the time it's just life that makes me drop a game. I'll typically only have a few hours a week where I can sit down and play something, and so there's a ton of games out there where I've started one, and said "Hey this is really neat, I'll play this some more later" before something comes up, and I usually don't play more later. Second would probably be a mix of attention span and difficulty.
My biggest issue is I have downloaded/purchased WAY too many games at one time. I have such a broad collection that a lot of the time I don't even know where to begin. I try to have a rotation set for games I want to play now and games I can play later on. But sometimes it just gets me burned out. Hard to pass up a great game on sale for like 5-15 bucks, and yet, I rarely know if I'll get to it this year or next. I blame myself entirely for it, but the statement remains. I play and quit until I finally have found my interest fully piqued.
I can totally understand that. I have a huge collection of games (retail, digital and ROMs) and sometimes it's a challenge to force yourself to start a game.
But why I abandon a game has changed a lot over time.
When I was a child, I would immerse myself in a game for days and overcome every inconsistency, every mistake in the game or unfair challenges and not let myself be defeated. I only abandoned games if they really didn't pick me up.
But these days I can't stand it when I "waste" my time. Losing progress because the last checkpoint is unfairly placed or because games these days are unstable simply robs me of the desire to put the little time I already have into this game.
What has improved the whole thing somewhat are modern handheld systems, as I can usually organize my time better for a game.
most of the time it's just life that makes me drop a game. I'll typically only have a few hours a week where I can sit down and play something, and so there's a ton of games out there where I've started one, and said "Hey this is really neat, I'll play this some more later" before something comes up, and I usually don't play more later. Second would probably be a mix of attention span and difficulty.
dying super easy is usually a hell no to me, i can play dark souls I beat 1 and 2, but F*** sekiro
same goes for old games, doom 64 is stupid hard on easiest dificulty and only beatable by save load cheese.
if you haven't seen silver surfer NES holy crap is it hard
NES double dragon 3 is a game that expect you to beat it ALL in one life, F that... you can die in like 10 hits. never beat it and i refuse to quick save/rewind spam through it.
I love RPGs, huge into dragon quest, FF (the old ones like FF1-6 ) persona, SMT, all that.
but the entire etrian odyssey series is a HUGE pain in the ass, i love atlus so it annoys me i can't play those games, its stupid hard out the gate, i've tried EO 1 and 2, 5, and nexus, all normal difficulties no picnic/casual stuff, so much can KILL you!
EO 1 on DS (not 3ds) i spent like 3 hours on the FIRST FLOOR of the FIRST DUNGEON, because it's very easy to die even form normal mobs.
and the F.O.E. (forgot what it stands for but in japanese its field of encounter) is basically an OVERPOWERED enemy, say like 10 levels above the normal mods, you can SEE it, not random but it will try to follow you, or it follows a set patten so you can dodge it... but DAMN you will not survive, you won't get the chance to Run (maybe i got unlucky idk)
i hate using quick saves, save states, rewinds, it feels like cheating, but it would def help a lot of bullshit games not be so bullshit.
i love SMT, persona, hell metaphor might be my favorite RPG yet!
metaphor btw makes reference to etrian odyssey, to the point of having an ENTIRE 10 floor dungeon map from EO1, and some nudges here and there. not the same kinda game (metaphor is like persona 5 just without personas to fuse/recruit, class changing instead)
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btw whoever mentioned teh FF10 dodge lightning, it's actually impossible on PS3,ps4, and PC remaster versions, the delay is too big to time it, the remaster delays even more, all those consoles i've tried it on, same issue, even the chocobo races suck with delay, thank god the games fully turn based cause fighting would suck on ATB with the extra lag.
and on FF9... maybe i haven't played in a moment, but i remember just yoking freiya's dragon slayer move and she hits 9999 and thats the game from there lol, i got excalibur 2 which is an item you only get by speedrunning (and missing a WHOLE lot in the process) and freiya carried it ALL
i did this game in 2 player co-op (yep FF9 had co-op) the player 2 (my brother) was like "okay i don't need to play, freiya's gonna kill everything!" it was that bad LOL.
i did replay it and avoided using her, still not so bad, she's not the only one who can hit 9999 buts its super easy for her, kill like... 100 dragons? first airship trip.
I sorta just play whatever game I'm playing when I feel like it, so maybe what would cause me to stop are too much difficulty and repetition? Never thought about it much.
A pet peeve, though, are giant cutscenes/bosses/plot segments that appear without warning. I'd rather a fully predictable story than having to temporarily lose a character or suddenly get hit with an emotional scene when I'm in McDonalds.
Now that I explain it, that's another obstacle to "feeling like it": not knowing what's going to be there. Might need to rethink my view of reality.
It comes down to whether or not the game can keep a balance between story advancement and gameplay challenge, whether or not it becomes unbearingly repetitive or whether or not has an interesting world to keep being in.
I dropped Tales of Symphonia because it simply dragged on too much and the gameplay itself was not interesting enough to keep going past 20-30 hours (I think). That problem is typical for JRPGs. But then there are games that have other interesting aspects that make me keep coming back, like Genshin Impact for example. The world is gorgeous and the gameplay quite fun. Eventhough I always get tired of doing dailies after a while and stop, I have now come back to it multiple times.
Another game I dropped was AC Odyssey, after roughly 100 hours. I hated every minute of that game. A butchery of the franchise. The only thing that kept me playing was my love for Assassins Creed and the granted beautiful open world. Everything else was way too much. Too big, too many quests, too long, too fantasy, too quipy, too cash grabish, too many microtransactions, etc..
A more controversial one is The Witcher 3. I couldn't enjoy that game, simply because it too overwhelmed me with things to do. The difference between Odyssey and The Witcher 3 was that the latter was overflowing with actually good stuff. That is worse however, because then you can't simply ignore it, but are "forced" to endulge in it. I don't want to walk from one quest point to another and pick up 20 more quests along the way.
my advice, if you want to start finishing games. is to set a rule for yourself.
You have to finish two games you already started before you can start playing a new one.
it worked wonders for me
you dont even have to be super strict about it, if you are not enjoying a game and just want to drop it and not count it do that too.
or count a super duper long game like skyrim or pmd as two do that as well
my advice, if you want to start finishing games. is to set a rule for yourself.
You have to finish two games you already started before you can start playing a new one.
it worked wonders for me
you dont even have to be super strict about it, if you are not enjoying a game and just want to drop it and not count it do that too.
or count a super duper long game like skyrim or pmd as two do that as well
For me, it's usually a case of me getting sidetracked by some other pebble in my pile of shame.
but if I purposefully quit a game before finishingthe main gameplay loop or campaign, it's down to a number of factors in isolation or combination:
The game's boring
The gameplay mechanics are obtuse
The stability of the game is close to non-functional
hardlocks included
The gameplay becomes too grindy
If I have to go through 400 fetch quests for a plot coupon that doesn't even lead me anywhere and the game crashes every 20 minutes, I'm not really motivated to continue said game.
If I have to go through 400 fetch quests for a plot coupon that doesn't even lead me anywhere and the game crashes every 20 minutes, I'm not really motivated to continue said game.
When Forza Horizon 5 asked me my preferred pronouns and had prosthesis for a racing game I uninstalled it on principal. When you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one. Gaming has always been an escape and an enjoyable experience if I wanted to plug back into real life and issues of our time I would do that instead of gaming.
If a game directly offends me, i don't mean politically mind you, i mean stuff like expectiing me to do something that so annoys me that i feel it's a waste of my time to keep playing, or if the story is so boring or annoying that it offends me literally (as in, insulting my intelligence, considering i almost always try to finish games i start, that's a accomplishment.
What makes me drop a game faster than the Nurse at the hospital dropped me, Is when it's super generic, common modern AAA Tropes. Like," Wow this is just Far Cry 3, again, For the 100th time in the past 12 years, yeah no thanks." Or when a game has 100 Different collectables that all require hundreds of hours of mind numbing puzzles to collect, and you get nothing out of it. Or worse, when a game has a giant open world, but 0 Vehicles. It's just designed to pad your play time with hours of walking or make you fast travel everywhere, which is boring. Honestly it's not just these Ubislop Tropes I hate, I enjoy games that have these, but when a game has all of these, and 0 other redeeming value? yeah no dropped, and refunded, thank you Gaben.
If a game directly offends me, i don't mean politically mind you, i mean stuff like expectiing me to do something that so annoys me that i feel it's a waste of my time to keep playing, or if the story is so boring or annoying that it offends me literally (as in, insulting my intelligence, considering i almost always try to finish games i start, that's a accomplishment.
I loved when a Rated M Game treats me like I'm literally 5. Gee thanks I could've missed that objective you had there if you didn't put 5000000 Markers and Arrows around it, I sniff glue regularly and need these hints.
Honestly It annoys the hell out of me, I hate quest markers in games, just give me directions in my journal, and have me figure it out. I love Morrowind and Daggerfall because they do these things and I can plan trips and have interesting and fun encounters in game when I'm able to actually play the damn game, and experience the world and story, instead of just looking at my compass and following an Arrow like an ass
most of the time it's just life that makes me drop a game. I'll typically only have a few hours a week where I can sit down and play something, and so there's a ton of games out there where I've started one, and said "Hey this is really neat, I'll play this some more later" before something comes up, and I usually don't play more later. Second would probably be a mix of attention span and difficulty.
That's why I haven't finished Mass Effect yet personally. I fear if I let another Bioware RPG Consume my life again I'll go missing for several days. This happened after I booted up Dragon Age Origins for the First Time. I just have too many responsibilities tbh, but hey one day
With the old games it's sometimes hard to tell if you'll enjoy them, because some are pretty unpredictable, however, when I see some modern games made in pixel art without any scanlines, for me it's a big no, because I immediately realize that the developers don't grasp how things worked back then or are deliberately ignoring it (like the guy from Bitmap Books, who sells his books with these incomplete screenshots starting at a minimum of 35 pounds, because he thinks they're better like this).
Other things that come to mind, include a poor combat system: for example, in a top-down game when your character faces an enemy, but fails to strike their center of mass, because the attack descends vertically into the area of one of the character's shoulders.
This creates a misalignment that you constantly have to correct in every single random encounter and the experience shifts from potentially enjoyable to maddening.
Another irritating element (even in side-scrolling perspectives), is when you hit even the weakest enemies in real-time and they don’t step back, nor do they suffer any negative consequence in they performance, on the contrary, they become even more aggressive than before and charges at you heedlessly like a demon-possessed steamroller.
Other things that come to mind, include a poor combat system: for example, in a top-down game when your character faces an enemy, but fails to strike their center of mass, because the attack descends vertically into the area of one of the character's shoulders.
To be fair to lagoon, it was a port of a sharp x-68000 game that played more like ys 1 and 2, the snes version is more of a example of a bad port.
Somehow though, i actually enjoy that game, just gotta know how to take advantage of a few quirks of the game.
Excessive and/or banal dialogue and plotting. As primarily an JRPG fan, this is frustrating and limiting. If not for dungeon crawlers, strategy RPGs, and roguelikes, I probably would have quit on the genre completely.
When I was younger, I could tolerate––albeit with extreme boredom––the bad dialogue/exposition most games I'd otherwise like are weighted down by, but I've hit a wall in recent years and have to find other stuff to play. I don't need thematic motivation to get back to gameplay––to me, the gameplay is the meaning of playing the game––plus most of these games are delivering plotting that is closer to the Saturday morning cartoons I watched as a kid than the kinds of books and writing I have any interest in as an adult.
Though the overall arc of a game narrative may be interesting, an ethos of storytelling "compression" on a moment-to-moment basis never really seemed to penetrate Japanese game development––like, how can we deliver the essential information in the fewest clicks and minutes for the player? Playing most JRPGS is like listening to someone go "Uhh...uhh..." for an interminable period, only, in the end, to tell you something totally uninteresting. Recently quit on Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean 2 for this reason, and which felt disappointing, because I could tell there was much to like about those games.
I attribute much of the success of the Souls games to finding a way out of the bad story and bad exposition trap at the same time, delivering a more richly realized sense of "story" with zero wasted moments. The Mother series and SMT 1-3 are noble exceptions to the problem of plot-heavy RPGs by telling interesting stories that can only be told through the videogame medium (unlike most JRPGs, which feel like bad manga trapped in the body of a videogame).
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