Topic: I'm giving up on...

Shadow of the Tomb Raider for me, the game commits the biggest game sin as it's just boring to play. The 2013 reboot was amazing and RotTR was up there but Shadow is soul crushingly dull. I have 2 story trophies to get to finish it but I can't, I just can't do it.

Usually I can dig in and finish things I dislike, e.g. I hate Nioh with a passion but I rage played it until the platinum, this game though, not a chance I'll ever see it through.

Dark Souls/Bloodborne. I tried so many times to get into the game after all the praise but it just wasn't my thing. The combat is supposed to be one of the best but it was one of the main things I didn't like about the games. It was no Dragon's Dogma.

@themcnoisy ha, Act 1 of Kentucky Route Zero is relatively normal compared to what comes after it!

@Kalvort I agree, I really do not understand why some continue to play games even they are not enjoying them. I think it is mostly down to trophies or to not wanting to give up on something. Each to their own, but I rather play a game that that I enjoy rather than forcing myself play a game just for completions sake.

I'm pretty choosy with games I'm going to play so I will take a punt on an indie game that might be something different but for the most part I know I will probably enjoy a game before getting it.

It's probably only PS+ games that I might give a go and then not finish. In the Summer I gave Onrush a go as I had just finished the Banner Saga games and was going on holiday so didn't want to commit to a new big game. It was fun but not my bag.

Similarly, I played the first couple of levels of Hitman after it was on PS+ and while I liked it, I wasn't that compelled to push through. It's weird as it sounds like the sort of game that is right up my street but replaying levels multiple times for the full experience was just a bit draining even after a couple of levels. I can see how that worked so well when it was released episodically as it would mean people had the time to really explore those levels but I just sort of drifted from the game.

The only other game I can really think of that I never finished was the original Dark Souls. It was the last game I got on my PS3 and I purchased my PS4 while playing it. I still can't say whether I actually enjoy the DS games (I've played DS1, and completed DS3 and BB) and the lure of the new console was too much for me.

Looking through my trophies, I also briefly played the Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey remake when I first got my PS4 but never got further than escaping the plant as there were too many new games out there to try first.

@stuzster I’m the opposite, I really disliked the first one when it came out but loved 2. The only fun I had playing RDR was playing poker, which was superior to the poker in the second one.

I recently gave up on Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I'd poured an unusual amount of time into the title (around 70 hours, mainly exploring and completing side quests) without the game ever really clicking for me. I finally realised that I didn't like it very much at all, and after being in hospital for a prolonged period decided that there wasn't much point wasting my life playing something I don't like. I dislike the characters, dull battle system, incoherent story and character motivations, plodding pacing and technical issues. Something that particularly irked me was the fact that Pyra's breasts were seemingly modelled after Lolo Ferrari's and that in almost every cutscene the camera would zoom in on them merrily jiggling. Normally I just roll my eyes or laugh at "fan service", but this time it really irritated me given how weak the character is in other areas. She just isn't particularly interesting. The HUD is arguably the most cluttered in any game I've ever played - there is crap plastered all over the screen, whether in towns or battle. It's almost vomit inducing. I still don't understand why one character - Nia - is voiced by an angry old Welsh woman on the English voice track.
One aspect I did like is the music. It's absolutely gorgeous.
The biggest feeling I had by the time I quit was disappointment, because I absolutely loved the first Xenoblade Chronicles. I couldn't shake the feeling that had this been given more development time it would have been a far more enjoyable experience.

Code Vein - I just found it way harder than Dark Souls 3 (which I completed), even though it was supposed to be comparable with that, maybe I just didn't spend enough time getting to know the controls, dodging etc. , Yeah ,I know, I sound like a noob, but plus that the enemies just didn't really appeal to me, I didn't like the whole 'gas mask' thing and it just failed for me as a game.

I gave up on a few games last year, and here they are:

Days Gone. I hated that game. It was so boring. Any game where you have upgrades thar make the actual mechanics of shooting your gun or hitting dude with stick is already on thin ice with me. Add on to the fact that most combat is a chore with the horrible aiming, traversing the world is just plain boring and filled with glitches (at least at launch) and pop in that can ACTUALLY kill you, and the story doesn't get kind of good until around 30 hours in (it was starting to pick up around Iron Mike's, but I quit shortly after that). I expected a much better experience from that game. Definitely regret buying it.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This game just didn't vibe with me. I didn't even play it all that much, but I kind of just shelved it and never picked it up again. Maybe someday. I just preffered X to this. Regret buying it, definitely. Don't know what it was, but I would rather just waste the money on it, then the time as well.

Borderlands 3. So this one I actually completed with friends. It was not a great experience as a fan of the previous two games. Mostly it was the performance, the glitches, and the god-awful, cringey, insulting abortion that was its story. I had to be dragged through the campaign for this one. Horrible. I'm glad I didn't buy the season pass, and I'm glad my brother bought this one rather than me.
One playthrough was more than enough for me, and if not for the fact that three other people were playing with me I would not have finished it. I gave up after the main story was done, and I'm glad I did.

I recently gave up on For Honor. That's a game I've spent at least 200+ hours playing, and it's one I really really want d to like.
I just can't. The community is garbage. The game is really complex and intricate. Some heroes are just flat out unfun to fight, and the game punishes you if you don't know the one strategy with your chosen character against another character.
It's just fighting games in general for me. I play them sometimes, and with skill based matchmaking I am in between being good and not good (maybe dead average, I guess), so I get matches where I either stomp my opponent and it's not fun, or I get stomped and it also isn't fun.
I don't have the time anymore to spend learning a game like that. I'm barely keeping up with Siege, and Siege is a much much better game.

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
I honestly don't understand why people like this one so much. It's a generic open world Ubisoft game with the Far Cry RPG system set in Greece... Cool I guess. The world is really huge, with a lot of walking and riding a horse. The combat feels, actually really floaty. Also I was quite far, and Borderlands 3 crashed my PS4 super hard, and everything got deleted.

Really good thread by the way.

@KratosMD That's the thing. The setup (world, characters, details, vocal work) are amazing but asking a gamer to open a handle of a drawer, then move some socks, put pans away etc. Ain't got no time for that!!!

@themcnoisy It's not like your doing that for the whole game though, it's like a 5 - 10 minute section early on.

@JohnnyShoulder bad example on my behalf. The mundane jobs or controls remain throughout every game. Wherever that's using an up down motion to open a door or swivel motion to turn a screw. It's a mundane implementation of doing stuff in game. One section walking down a high street with a robot (the one who helps the artist) before jumping on a bus. It was rubbish. Random controls pop up throughout where as other games it's a simple button press or works automatically in Quantic games it's a bizarre twist of the pad.

In Heavy Rain I got passed the bit shouting your kids name. Years later in a decrepid flat it was more of the same. Pouring drinks and opening doors.

If that's your Jam then great, in my opinion there's nothing engaging in the gameplay. I don't mind occasional button presses to break up a scene or for a change of pace. In quantic dreams games I'm praying for them to end.

@themcnoisy JAAAAASON! JASON? JAAASON!

@themcnoisy Fair enough if it is not your thing, but all those bits you've described are from early on in the games and just sounds like you've not given them a fair crack.

@nessisonett noooooo.

@JohnnyShoulder I definitely have. The weird controls ruin the experience even when performing activities outside of fondling apparatus. It's clumsy. If a game plays badly, for me it's almost always a bad game. With Telltales output, the sections in games which bring the experience down are nearly always the point and click bits, that's dialled up to 10 in Quantics games.

Now if you are engaged in the story, or want to delve into the multi choice rabbit hole - I agree there is a huge pull, especially with Detroit. But the content just isn't my cup of tea. Kid going missing to family spliting up or father kills wife and is a druggie nutcase, its very late night Emmmerdale special.

For me shadow of mordor, first I thought the combat was deeply boring and the story was so slow it just didn't grab me which is weird because I love lord of the rings and have played nearly every game based on the book and the films.
Even the lego ones were more fun imo.

It’s funny because I have so many games that I never completed, but in my mind I always tell myself I’m going to go back to them. There are a few exceptions to this, and I think people here may remember my Sonic Mania experience which ended pretty abruptly. Another recent example is Tetris Effect - a game I adore, but I hit a wall that I couldn’t get past right before the completion of the main story mode (I can’t remember if that’s what it’s called) so I had to quit it.

But by and large, I have so many games that I get distracted from but fully intend to go back to even though in my heart of hearts I know I probably won’t. But my mantra is to never say never.

@Th3solution Same here but I have been more ruthless of late. Anything that I know realistically that I'm not gonna play again I've deleted off my ps4 and traded, if there was a physical edition. I think my backlog would be drive me insane otherwise.

There is difference between not playing a game cos you have drifted on to another title and giving up on a game because you've stopped enjoying it.

I'm also trying to only playing one game at a time, as I was finding if I was playing multiple titles at the same i was never going back to some, which is why ive got a bunch of partiality played which whenever i go to play them, I'm never in the mood are can't be bothered with them.

@JohnnyShoulder I think you’re right. I do have a couple in my backlog of partially finished games that I’m too far gone from and realistically will never return. Dragon Age Inquisition is probably one. I’m about 70% through I’d guess and I wish I could see the end but at this point I’d have no clue how to play it anymore and I wonder if I’d have to start over and that’s just not gonna happen. Gravity Rush 2 is another one. The controls on that are so unique that it’s intimidating to go back to since I’m mid-game in my progress and the enemies are a bit tough and I’m pretty sure I’d die a lot if I tried to go back. It’s not as long a game as DA:I so I might consider restarting it one day.

But you’re right, it underscores the value of sticking with one game at a time, especially if the game has complex gameplay. I have no problem with going back to Persona 5 after a break from it, since there is not really any timing based input so picking it back up should be easy, if I ever take the time to do it.

I actually am in the middle of actively playing through AC Origins alongside Jedi: Fallen Order and yesterday I was in the mood for AC but I told myself, “No Sol, stick with Fallen Order for now because you’re in a groove with the combat and this is a game dependent upon skill and timing and remembering where you are with the complex labyrinthine maps.” It’s a prefect example of a game that if I were to drift too far from then I’d be lost trying to go back to. AC: O is a little easier to go back to later since it follows the same basic mechanics of most ARPGs and the open world with the icons is pretty self explanatory as to where you’re supposed to go next.

In the future I’m going to try to stay with one at a time, or just do one big game intermixed with a dissimilar game like a walking sim or sports game if I want a break from it.

@Th3solution @JohnnyShoulder I've always been of the mindset of playing of playing one game at a time. I think if you leave a game for a while part way through it can sometimes sour your opinion of a game if you have to try and remember controls or exactly what was happening in a story. Of course it doesn't always work that way and sometimes a game come outs that is an instant must-play and takes priority. However I've tried to actively make sure I don't start something if a big game is coming up and I don't think I will be done in time. This is why it was almost a year after buying that I finally started AC Odyssey knowing it was a huge game.

When I got my Pro I set my old PS4 up in another room so I've got into a rhythm of playing 2 games at a time (one on each) which I find works well as I can prioritize which one I most feel like playing.