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As an adult, I rarely finish games I start

SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
I know, this is a widespread problem, but it's seriously getting to me lately. When I was younger I always plowed through games, even at huge difficulty walls that left me frustrated or angry. These days, when I'm trying to juggle work and recreation, I can't seem to bring myself to jump over any of the walls I hit. Two recent examples:

FFX HD - Boss after Kimahri's village is seemingly super cheap, no desire to continue

Metroid Prime 2 - I got lost, compulsive need for at least ~90% completion overwhelms me, stupid fish boss killed me a couple times

Other times, if the game proves to be too time consuming or tedious, I no longer have the patience to soldier through it. Assassin's Creed IV and its repetitive gameplay did this to me, Persona 4 Golden and its occasional need to grind did this, Wild Arms and getting stumped on certain puzzles did this. Other times my interest will taper off for completely unrelated reasons, even if I do like the game a lot (Darksiders 2 comes to mind).

I only make this topic because I know that while it's a common issue, it's not a problem for everyone. I have friends who are achievement obsessed and go through every nook and cranny like it's nothing. I have friends who play every game on the hardest difficulty and do so multiple times. I have friends who play through games in their limited free time and still manage to 100% them, sometimes more than once.

If you're one of those people, where does your "spark" come from? What is motivating you to finish the games you play? It's really unsatisfying to have a pile of started-yet-unfinished games in my backlog.
 
T

thelastcrusader

Banned
This is why Iove trophies, sometimes they're that extra oomph I need. Also, the Souls series has always compelled me to beat them just because I always want to see what's next.
 
G

grap3fruitman

Banned
I'm having difficulty even starting games. The motivation just isn't there. Yet I'm buying more games than ever before. In the last week, I just bought 8 and I had to stop myself from buying more. I feel more like a collector than a player at this point. :(
 
R

Roran Stehl

Member
I can relate. I have very little time to play but I "binge" buy. I very rarely finish games now when I was all about every secrets/hidden items younger. Only games I finish now are "absorbing" J-games (Persona 4; Danganronpa).
 
M

mdubs

Banned
Find a game with a good story and play through enough to really get into the story, once you pass a certain point you'll finish the game for sure.

Or play shorter games with great mechanics, meaning go buy any of the Platinum Games titles, they are fantastic.
 
J

JNA

Banned
thelastcrusader said:
This is why Iove trophies, sometimes they're that extra oomph I need. Also, the Souls series has always compelled me to beat them just because I always want to see what's next.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty much on a similar boat. Some might laugh at the notion but sometimes I need trophies to actually keep me playing the game. It's a damn good motivator.

Unless of course it's a game with a very good story then I will finish that to the end.
 
Vigilant Walrus

Vigilant Walrus

Member
I know the feeling, and rarely see the point in playing something that doesn't drive me. That is why I am very interested in playing games with a good story. A cool story break the repetitive momentum between gameplay sessions.

Miyamoto is right, when he says games should be about enabling the player as director, but with all apologize to Shigsy, not a lot of games are that good. The last game I played that was just that flat out awesome was Metal Gear Rising. From what I've seen it looks like Sunset Overdrive is the same, if I am correct in that it almost is psychedelically addictive similarly to Jet Set Radio were you're almost playing a trance state, and can shut your mind off completely. It's like lucid dream, but gaming. Game flow is almost never that good unfortunately.

It was something the old Sonic games also did well. They had this momentum they kept up in an almost beautiful way.
 
tioslash

tioslash

Member
grap3fruitman said:
I'm having difficulty even starting games. The motivation just isn't there. Yet I'm buying more games than ever before. In the last week, I just bought 8 and I had to stop myself from buying more. I feel more like a collector than a player at this point. :(
Click to expand...

I´m kind of in the same situation aswell. In the last few months I bought more games than in the past 5 years or so, obviously adding up to a huge backlog, but I don´t play them nearly as much as I used to. I mean, I still love playing, and I´m one of those people that start a game and actually finish it before playing something else, I don´t like playing multiple games at the same time because them I end up never finishing any of them. lol
 
P

Psychopath

Banned
Apparently, you are a member of the neogaf community.

And people on the neogaf community, gave up on playing as often as before or even totally stopping. And then they only talk about videogames and bitch about resolutions or other things. Odd is it, that here are actually people who are interested in getting information about the newest games, but actually completely stopped playing.
 
funking giblet

funking giblet

Member
I have to plan in advance, wife gets bored after an hour of me playing. Going to get worse with a kid on the way soon. I still buy lots of games though...
 
A

AtomskEater

Member
I've always had issues finishing games that I start. I'm a "play until I get bored with" kind of person, I guess. Doesn't help that I mostly play rpgs as well.
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
I finish almost every game I start because I'm super selective about the games I get, I don't even get the $1 Humble Indie Bundle stuff because I won't play them.

I'm 26 with a full time job so I know you're pains haha.
 
G

Gritesh

Member
Im the same way, I buy alot of games but I just dont have the drive to finish them anymore. Since having a kid it has become alot worse (better in a way) but I play games even less through to completion because I have less time to play and by the time a new game comes around I only made i through half the other game.

I've made it a goal this year to see games through to completion however. Just need to sit down and play through them!
 
J

J Jizzle

Member
It may sound weird for some but as I get older, I find myself only trying to play and finish games that my friends are currently playing. Sort of like how people only go out and listen/buy the latest music. Which means if I bought a game past 2 months ago and friends have moved on, then it's unlikely I'll go back and finish it.
 
S

SerodD

Member
Psychopath said:
Apparently, you are a member of the neogaf community.

And people on the neogaf community, gave up on playing as often as before or even totally stopping. And then they only talk about videogames and bitch about resolutions or other things. Odd is it, that here are actually people who are interested in getting information about the newest games, but actually completely stopped playing.
Click to expand...

This, if you're spending more time discussingreading about games than playing them, you should just find a new hobby.

Also OP maybe you're buying the wrong games, you won't finish a game that doesn't interest you enough even if it's a by the books excellent game, choose better what you buy.
 
A

Auto-Reply

Member
I don't know, maybe you should drop all games but the one you are really eager to play and only start another game once that is finished?
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
I'm at the point in my life where I need to make a list that says "Finish at least 50% of the games on this list or don't buy more games."


I think we've truly entered the golden age of gaming. Games are cheap, games are plentiful, and the dreaded 'dead period' of mid-summer has all but vanished. There is never a dead time for games (unless you exclusively play only one platform), and it's never going to be possible to play and beat every game that comes out with the rise of indies and the return of the b-tier studios/games.

As such I had to kind of remind myself that I need to finish what I start, otherwise I'll have an enormous backlog forever... Sorry Warlords of Draenor, I still have to beat Bravely Default and Shadows of Mordor at least!
 
V

vin-buc

Member
Age bro. The older you get - priorities change. You realize time is extremely important and attention spans shorten so doing the repetitive actions some difficult games demand - you just don't want to finish. Not worth the time.
 
B

bj00rn_

Banned
Why do we have to finish a game really?

For me it's the journey, having fun while I'm playing. Some games I feel aren't really meant to be finished (like racing games to mention one genre, and I have 200 hours in Civ 5), some games it's fine to not finish. I mean, I didn't bother finish Borderlands 2, but had a lot of fun while I...had fun.. Then I came to a point where the time invested didn't get me much back, I uninstalled it and moved on, what's the big deal, I had 40 hours of great fun, don't need to see the end.

I do finish a lot of games though, but it's the "special" games, like Dark Souls 1 and 2. Last one I finished was CoD: AW, because it felt easy to do so.

One game that was really painful to finish was Shadow Warrior. But that was because I constantly thought I was near the end (started to think that at 8 hours, ended up at close to 20 hours..), that was a nightmare, not going to happen again..
 
B

bootski

Member
it's the reason i play mostly mmo's now. i find it really difficult to even start games now so it's either i play small, easy to play games (Gunpoint was amazing for this) or i'll play mmo's where i can go back everyonce in a while and knock out some content i haven't played before.
 
M

MisterCTwo

Member
This thread feels like a support group.

Yep, these days I too rarely play the games I buy.

Destiny, CODAW, Hao:MCC, Forza Horizon 2... all bought and barely played.

What am I doing? Reading NeoGAF and playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
 
C

Ce-Lin

Member
vin-buc said:
Age bro. The older you get - priorities change. You realize time is extremely important and attention spans shorten so doing the repetitive actions some difficult games demand - you just don't want to finish. Not worth the time.
Click to expand...

this x 1000

you can still enjoy videogames (at least some), but you will always have the thought of "I could/should be doing something else more important than this" in the back of your mind.
 
SolidSnakeUS

SolidSnakeUS

Member
I agree. I have a full time job and talk to a lot of people, and usually like to play with others over spending 10s of hours on a game to beat it. I think the last game I beat from start to finish was Wolfenstein (the newest one). Plus on top of that, I have a lot of live action and anime shows I want to watch throughout most of the week. I don't have the time to sit down and spend a shit load of time (80+ hours) on a SP game.
 
I

Illucio

Banned
Some games do this to me as well. I'm halfway done in so many video games because they got super repetitive/boring.

Games I'm currently halfway through in:
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Sonic: Lost World
Toukiden
The Last of Us DLC (Which is sad because it's only 3-4 hour DLC.)
Bayonetta 1 for Wii U
Luigi's Mansion 2


And next week Super Smash Bros for Wii U and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby comes out. I won't be able to hit my backlog until Christmas break. But even then there's Majoras Mask 3D, Monster Hunter 4, and Splatoon coming out early next year.
 
D

Dragon1893

Member
I'm an adult and I finish most games I start. I'm very selective and only commit money and time to games I'm convinced I'll like.
I also don't buy games if I'm not going to play them soon because otherwise they'll be cheaper by the time I get around to them, unless it's an unmissable deal or below 5 euros.
If I feel I'm not going to enjoy a game I drop it before sinking too much time into it.
After I have commited to a game, I finish it, otherwise I feel the time I've already put into it was a waste. I like to see things through, it bothers me when I don't.
 
K

Kilrathi

Member
I barely finish games today, I just don't have the time any more being in a master program and doing QA for games at the same time.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
You're playing some pretty demanding games.

Look at indies and 10 hours campaign type games. That's what I do.
 
D

Dingotech

Member
thelastcrusader said:
This is why Iove trophies, sometimes they're that extra oomph I need. Also, the Souls series has always compelled me to beat them just because I always want to see what's next.
Click to expand...

Yay I'm not the only one! XD

I wasn't finishing many of my games, having cash and limited time I was always jumping between games and finishing none. So now I try and make sure I punch through as many trophies per game as possible to motivate myself to finish my games. Of course if I'm flat out not enjoying a game then I won't play it anymore.

It's actually meant that I've pushed on with games I wasn't enjoying and eventually ended up really enjoying them by the time I'm finished. Previously those would have ended up back on the shelf.
 
J

Jims

Member
Yeah, I've been more like this the more years I've been in the workforce. I don't know if it's the mental drain from work, being burnt out by certain genres, or what. But it's been happening a lot more.

I quit playing Shovel Knight about halfway through. I mean, I was enjoying the game. But after awhile, I was just, "I've played a lot of challenging 2-D platformers, I want to play something different" and just quit.

I quit Radiant Historia halfway through. Once again, I was definitely enjoying the game. But it just became that, "I've played a lot of JRPGs lately, I want something different." The story was interesting to me and was exactly the kind of game I usually fall in love with, but in this case I just... stopped. It's weird. I think I need to see a gaming therapist.
 
Kilau

Kilau

Member
I had gotten really bad about buying games and not finishing them. This year I refocused and made it easier.

Put the PS3 in the office with my gaming PC so I can just jump into a game whenever the mood hits.

I've lost count of how many games I've finished this year, must be over 50.
 
C

Canucked

Member
I was the same, but then I greatly slashed the amount of games I got. I tend to finish them now since it's an event to get one.
 
J

joelseph

Member
It's also the sheer amount of things competing for your attention. We jump between "the greatest thing ever" week to week. Games, shows, books, streaming, everything is so cool now.
 
Represent.

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Im in the same boat. I find games to be way too long these days. Im currently playing through Wolfenstein and I feel like its just dragging on forever.
 
F

Fewr

Member
Time is too scarce to waste it with a videogame when I stopped having fun hours ago. That's when I realise I'm playing only to prove to myself I've finished it.

Buy less games.
Get PS+
Buy used
Buy only if you know you will be playing it immediately.
Stop playing when you are no longer having a great time.

No remorse.
 
H

hydruxo

Member
I usually feel the need to finish a game that I just bought, but there have been games where I got stuck in one area and never really felt compelled to finish it. Borderlands 2 is one of those games. Loved that game but I hit a wall and got sidetracked then never cared enough to go back and beat it. So OP I know what you mean, the interest in beating games for me isn't always there for me.
 
T

thefil

Member
It sounds like you don't have the patience for difficulty any more? Why not bump games down to easy?

Also, I'd recommend caring less about finishing each individual game. Start tons of games, play them for a couple hours, and finish the ones that really grab you.
 
P

Pizza

Member
I feel your pain: as a kid it was a combination of too much free time and not enough money to buy every new game I'd want. Now I'm an adult with the reverse problem, I find Nintendo's "droughts" on their consoles force me to really play each new release, since something new isn't always coming out and distracting me.

Actually, knowing there's generally at least a month or two between releases was a deciding factor when buying the WiiU. The gap in new stuff would force me to get real intimate with each game. That said, I still have a backlog I'm struggling with
 
R

Rell

Member
I don't have the same level of patience I once did with a lot of the bullshit aspects of video games. I'm more sensitive to bad storytelling wasting my time, to gameplay that doesn't really mean anything.

I haven't played what I would consider a decent RPG in decades, and I'm too hesitant to revisit old titles that I used to like.

I do have Dragon Warrior VII on my backlog shelf...so we'll see truly how far my cynicism has progressed.
 
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