Topic: Games You've Started Playing But Have A Hard Time Finishing

So this summer, I played through a lot of games that I've started or restarted multiple times and just have had a tough time getting through. For example, I've finally finished Persona 5 Royal after having played it for 1.5 years. I also finished BioShock which I've restarted two times across PS3, 360 and finally PS4. Then I finally finished Fallout 3 which has been sitting in my backlog for five years because I wanted to play through the DLCs first before doing the final mission.

I've also had other games in the past that have given me a lot of trouble, such as Zelda: A Link to the Past, which I've restarted over half a dozen times. The reason was because I kept playing through the same content over and over that I kept giving up on it right around the same place every single time. It wasn't until I finally decided to just continue where I left off that I finally managed to finish it.

One game that is still like this to me that I've yet finished is Borderlands 2. Probably restarted that game 4-5 times across PS3, 360 and Xbox One for the same reason as A Link to the Past. So next time I play it, I'll just continue where I left off so that I can finally finish off this game. It's definitely a goal of mine to eventually finish Borderlands 2.

So which games have you had trouble playing through and why?

@LtSarge A Link To The Past totally applies to me too. It’s taken almost 20 years to finally see it through to the end but I really enjoyed it this year. Final Fantasy VIII I’ve fallen off about 4 times at the same bit. I’m slightly feeling it with Resonance of Fate, a really quite good game but a dense one.

I could mention tons of games like that. One that comes to mind is Final Fantasy IX. I've probably tried three times over the years to get into it, and I just never get very far past the first disc before quitting.

I also bounced off of the original Shin Megami Tensei for years before recently completing it as well.

It's also pretty common for me to get into the middle of a game and then go years without finishing it. The space of time between when I started and finished The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, for example, was 3.5 years.

There are a number of games I started, played 30+ hours into, and then just... dropped. Like Bloodborne. Haven't returned to that since 2015.

There’s not many outside of the occasional PS+ game.

But I never finished Dark Souls. I got to a point where I just wasn’t enjoying it any more, even though I think I got pretty far into it. I also had my PS4 waiting to be played which didn’t help..

The other main one I can think of is FF6. I’ve made it to the very end on a couple of occasions but inexplicably not seen it through.

@nessisonett It's interesting that you had a similar experience with A Link to the Past. I'm curious, did you have a problem figuring out what to do when Link turned into a bunny in the Dark World? That part was what got me stuck as I played through it over and over again because I genuinely had no clue what to do for the longest time.

@Ralizah While I haven't restarted Final Fantasy IX, I did play about 40 hours of it and just stopped. I highly doubt I'll continue that save file though because ever since I started playing through this series, I've always wanted to experience the games in release order. I've played Final Fantasy I through VI and even though I haven't finished VI yet, I still want to move on to VII next. But the problem is that I've still played 40 hours of IX and I don't know if I feel like starting over from scratch after playing for that long when I eventually get to IX again.

@nomither6 How come you deleted your post? I was looking forward to replying to you but I only remember the Borderlands part of it.

So the reason why I've had a hard time playing through Borderlands 2 is because I've grown tired of the series and I don't know why. I absolutely loved the first Borderlands. Maybe it's because I haven't seen any new content every time I restarted it since I'm just playing through the same parts over and over again. I also know that the game has tons of DLC, which I want to play through as well, and that might've dissuaded me a bit over the years.

@Thrillho I've had the exact same experience with FF6. Played through the game until the very end and just stopped because I heard the final level forces you to use all your party members and I've barely played as most of them because there are what, 16 characters or something like that? I haven't given it a try, but I'm just afraid I'm going to get to that part and fail because I haven't used most characters at all. I just want to use my main team of Sabin, Edgar, Terra and so on. I truly dislike that there's so many characters in FF6. At this point I'm considering skipping the end and just starting up FF7 next. After all, I've already played 30+ hours of the game so I've experienced pretty much everything there is to experience. Might as well move on.

@LtSarge Honestly, it’s been random sections of Link to the Past that I’ve dropped it in the past. Sometimes it was pure rage after certain bosses being a complete nightmare or it was just being completely lost as to what to do. It’s quite an obtuse game and I think I would have appreciated it more if I had played it when it first came out.

@nessisonett Amusingly enough. ALttP is one of the few Zelda games where I never really felt particularly tempted to go look for an FAQ at some point. It's SO much less obtuse than the NES games and Link's Awakening, IMO.

@LtSarge I think I'll probably do just that when the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are eventually all released.

1 - 6 Pixel Remasters
VII - IX Remastered
X - X-2 HD Collection
XII The Zodiac Age
And then... ugh... I'll give XIII another chance, and play the other games in the trilogy if it's more tolerable this time.
Then I'll ask around about which edition of XV is the one I should go for, and give that one an honest shot.

@Ralizah Playing through FF7R now makes me appreciate FFXIII more, in retrospect. And I actually liked FFXIII more than most, I think, but certainly the shift in gameplay was unsettling at the time and a lot of the criticism was reasonable. However, the seeds of the new age FF combat and narrative style seemed to begin with FFXIII. I’m curious to see if my memories ring true, but I think if I were to go back to play it again that I’d have a different perspective now.

Good topic for me as this is probably my worst gaming habit, I tend to jump between a bunch of stuff then get into some of em but totally forget others and lose the impetus or motivation to go back to them. It also bothers me about games with pitiful completion rates on my trophy list - if I scroll down and find something with less than 50% I feel an urge to go back and improve on it - wish I could just delete/remove some of them (yes I'm looking at you Mighty Number 9!)

So this summer, despite buying lots of new stuff in all the digital sales, i made a conscious effort to go back to the stuff I had started but dropped away from:

Hollow Knight: yeah you all heard the praise from critics and gamers alike, best indie game, metroidvania that you just HAVE to play etc. I didn't get into it, it's hard as bast***s and dying repeatedly in the same place just doesn't do much for me.
Returned to it, got to the end of main story and was the credits. Done. No intention of doing any post game stuff. Done.

Takes of Berseria. Had this is the backlog for ages. Picked it up coz I recall really enjoying JRPGs and some of the Tales games in my gaming history. Oh it's soooo boring, inconsequential plot, constant plot scenes between too many characters I just didn't care about, unsatisfactory combat, too many systems at work which added little to the experience. Game completed, saw the credits, done. I am now very cautious about ever returning to any game in the series despite current high praise for the new one.

Sound Shapes: Actually enjoyed this one, just drifted away due to the frustration level of the death more levels (fun + frustration = funstration?!). Went back, aimed to complete at least one stage every day. Succeeded, platinum obtained.

BioShock Remastered. Another decent game, great for its time and still a fun enough FPS in a well realised world with interesting story. Not sure why I left this when I did, probably just distracted by something else or maybe the sense that I did it all a decade ago. Completed. Platinumed. Done.

Bloodborne: Similar to Hollow Knight, just not a massive fan of getting my backside handed to me. After reading a guide it turned out the boss I was stuck on was optional anyhow so went back, beat the actual last two bosses and finished the game, credits rolled. Done. Is a good game and I understand why people hold it in such high regard but maybe just not my cup of tea.

Sonic Mania. Loved Sonic when I was a kid on my Master System/Megadrive. It's a good recreation of what was great about the series back then. Perhaps because I am less patient but probably as I can now afford too many games rather than having to wait till my next birthday or borrow stuff from mates it doesn't hold the same fascination with mastering it and finding all of its secrets. Still was a fine enough nostalgia experience for a day or two. Beat the main game. Done.

Prey: Actually pretty good, atmospheric sci-fi/horror FPS that I started and forgot about for who knows why. Possibly my favourite from this bunch I'm listing. Played it twice, start to finish in a week or two. Got the plat, saw the endings. Done.

Laser League: Not a great game but fun enough distraction to play a couple of games in a morning before you want to concentrate on anything more taxing. Only went back as trophy completion was about 2%. It's just a shame the servers are absolutely DEAD because playing against ai is not too much fun. trophies completion now above 80%.

Dead Nation: had previously completed game with a mate, went back to improve trophy completion. Got a bit obsessed with beating on harder modes. Pretty intense but fun twin stick shooter. Got platinum, happy now. Done.

Currently having occasional games of Flame Over (better than I remembered, maybe didn't appreciate rogue-lites first time around), and Zombie Army Trilogy (online with a mate).

Still have around 10 on the started but not finished list. Next maybe SW Squadrons, Grand Kingdom or EDF 4.
Sorry for rambling, thanks for reading.

@Sorteddan I find Hollow Knight and Tales of Berseria relatable. I played 20 hours of Hollow Knight before taking a long break from it and then got back to it eventually and finished it up. But I can definitely see how people would have a hard time finishing this game considering how much there is to do in it that you don't feel like the end is in sight anytime soon and you'd just lose interest.

While I haven't played Tales of Berseria, I'm currently playing Tales of Vesperia and man is the game such a letdown on so many levels, including the ones you mentioned. I genuinely have no idea why this series gets so much praise because it doesn't hold up at all. The only reason why I'm still playing Vesperia is because it's my first Tales of game and I want to see it through. But if I had the choice, I would just skip this game. It's not a bad series, the games are just fairly mediocre. There are tons of characters but most of them aren't likeable, the combat is so stiff and repetitive, the story is all over the place and I have genuinely no clue what our goal is, and so on. I have honestly never encountered a franchise that's received so much praise that I've straight up not enjoyed at all. I've even talked about it with several other people and most of them said the same thing about how Vesperia just isn't anything special.

@LtSarge
Good to know it's not just me then. Task: walk to the other end of this fairly small field. An hour or so and around 50 repetitive battles later I'm like - that was dull. Then 3 cut scene/skits in a row for another 15 -25 minutes and I can't take it anymore. Was so glad to reach the ending just because it meant I wouldn't have to play it anymore. Ever!

But each to their own. I hope all the people starting out on arise this weekend have a more enjoyable experience.

@Sorteddan Yeah I had the exact same experience with Vesperia. I was going through a dungeon and as I was nearing the end, I triggered a cut-scene. Then after the cut-scene, I got a skit. I walked one step and activated another cut-scene. After that cut-scene, there was another skit. During all this time I was like "PLEASE JUST LET ME REACH THE END ALREADY", lol. These are simply not well-crafted games at all, like not much attention has been paid to make the experience feel seamless. There are always interruptions that break up the flow and the story is very hard to follow. I really wanted to like this game when I started playing it, but sadly I'm just not feeling it.