Topic: What’s your favorite part of a game that hardly anyone will see because they didn’t make it far enough into the game to reach it?

My Dad has yet to finish Fallout 4, and is still trying 7 years later! 😂

If I'm not enjoying a game, I will drop like it's hot. Life is too short and I have plenty of other games that I can play instead. Sometimes I can power through a particular section, but most of the I time I will move on.

But when a game clicks me, it damn well sticks lol. I've got plenty of games that I've played well over 100 hours. 480 hours playing Elden Ring over 6 months is a bit extreme though.

Yep, gonna hold my hand up and admit that I've never played that for myself, despite completing multiple story playthroughs over the years. I've watched it on YouTube, but never managed to unlock it.

I'll also mention Mass Effect Andromeda here, as it's got some pretty neat side quests, several of which contain teases for the cancelled DLC and voice cameos from legacy characters. There's also a sweet little reward for going everywhere and completing everything. It's a shame so many rushed to judge that game, because it's got real heart. I really need to get around to my planned replay.

Oh, and speaking of games that reward 100% completion...? Pretty much every LEGO game.

@Max_Headroom Thanks for taking the time to read my post, and thanks for the question. I look at the trophies for the games I own, and that’s what I see. Seems like probably around 25-30% have gotten basic trophies for completing the game. That’s just a rough guess, though.

…wait…I just saw you posted again with an article saying 10-20% get completed. Thanks for posting that. Again, I was just guessing on the 25-30% based on the games I have with trophies that track that info.

Sadly, I still have a ton of games on PS3, PS4, and Vita I’ll likely never finish. With a wife and daughter, I just don’t have the time anymore. Maybe when I retire! 🤣

@JohnnyShoulder I feel your dad’s pain! I’m still trying to finish Uncharted 4, and I pre-ordered that one before it came out 7 years ago. D’oh! Just yesterday, I finally got to Chapter 21. I think there are only 22 chapters, so I’m getting close!! 🤣

My problem is the “inbetween” time…like, after I complete a game and before I’ve committed to playing through a new one. I’ll play a couple hours of probably 20 games before I find one that really pulls me in. It’s maddening to have so many games and yet feel like I don’t have anything worthwhile to play. I know, I know, it’s a first world problem. I’ll shut up now.

@Th3solution Don’t feel bad about not completing Death’s Door. I had fun with it, but I only got through a couple hours before moving on to something else. At some point I’ll go back to it…hopefully!

I think I’ve tried getting into Divinity: Original Sin probably five or six times. I think I just buckle when I realize I just won’t have the necessary time to commit to it. I guess that’s a big reason why I love movies but don’t enjoy watching Netflix original series…it’s the time factor. I’ve got 2 hours for a movie, but 8-16 hours for a limited series? Fuggetaboutit! 😀

@jgrangervikings1 Yeah I'm like that in-between games too. And the more into a game I was, the more difficult it can be to find something that clicks. I try to think what to play next as I'm coming to the end of the game I'm playing, but sometimes I fancy something else that I had thought of before.

I usually go for shorter games if I've just come off an epic game, or at least something that is totally different. Get some gaming whiplash going on!

@jgrangervikings1 I’m with you on the shorter contained experiences. If I’m interested in watching a TV series it helps if it’s got short seasons, a small number of seasons, and an actual conclusion.

It’s also why I don’t feel very excited about GaaS. They are designed to not end, much like a soap opera or TV drama series. It only ends when people start to lose interest and ratings start to fall. Better to end the show when it has artistically come to the conclusion point. Same with a game.

I find it peculiar how some games can fly by and before you know it, it’s been 40 hrs and it felt like 4, whereas sometimes you play 4 hrs and it feels like 40. 😅

Ok…talking about parts of a game that most people won’t see because they don’t make it far enough:

I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for full motion video games. Even if one gets a bad review (which most do), I’ll buy it when a sale comes on. Anyway, one game I really enjoyed on my first playthrough was The Isle Tide Hotel.
—Infiltrating a cult’s get-together? CHECK.
—Rescuing your daughter who you really never knew? CHECK.
—Figuring out what kind of weird sex-trafficking thing is going on? CHECK.
—Getting involved in some kind of wife-swapping thing going on? CHECK.
—Dealing with a cult leader who’s big, beefy strong guy in a dress? CHECK.
—Running into an evil old lady mad scientist who wants to switch bodies with your daughter’s? CHECK.
—Working with a hot private investigator MILF who warms up to you as the game goes on? CHECK.
—Trying to blend in with weird cultists when you don’t have the foggiest idea of what’s going on? CHECK.
—Knowing the game is MA rated and wondering just how far off the deep end the game will go? CHECK.

Anyway, I’m intrigued. I’m in! I played it. I finished it. And, I dug it. I’d have given it an 8/10, easy! Enjoyed it from beginning to end. Great game. Two hours of fun! During the playthrough, I snuck into the hotel, successfully blended in as a fellow cultist, searched through rooms and discovered cool goodies, thwarted the evil cult leader’s plan, destroyed the cult, got the MILF private investigator to take the fall, saved my daughter, became the awesome dad I always wanted to be but never was, and won the damn game. Yaay. I’m awesome. 😋

What’s not to love?!

At this point, I went back to PushSquare to check out their review from a few months earlier. John Cal McCormick gave it a 3/10. I was, like, wha???! I couldn’t believe it. Had we even played the same game?

Turns out I had gotten one of the best endings in the game. (Possibly the best ending.) Seems crazy, because I’m amazing at finding the bad endings on FMV games, and terrible at finding a good ending. 😋 Anyway, on this game—on this night—I found an ending that the reviewer hadn’t! I was excited and pleased with myself. It was exhilarating and satisfying.

So…with an amazing sense of confidence and cockiness…

I went back and played the game again. Second time would be just as great, right?! WRONG! Sure enough, I got stuck in the same snarly maze of rooms that Mr. McCormick did. I went from one room to another to another to another. I gave up.

Surely, it was just bad luck. I put the game down until the following night and tried again. AGAIN, I got stuck in the damn maze of rooms. And, after what seemed like forever (probably 45 minutes of puttering around in this stupid maze of rooms), I got to the point where I was about to throw my controller…and I quit.

Long story short, there are lots of endings to the game, but I only saw a couple of ‘em. That said, I still succeeded: I saved the day and escaped with my daughter! I saw an ending that most people don’t ever play long enough to see.

And that’s the rest of the story! 😎