Now, before we begin, I want to say that this doesn't apply to every game. Some games are absolutely worth finishing.
I find that a lot of the time the conversation around a game puts a lot of emphasis on finishing it. I don't think this is necessarily the best way to think about a game. For me, I play a game as long as I enjoy it, then I drop it. If that point is before the end of the game, so be it. I don't mind.
There are a few reasons why this is applicable. A lot of games stop introducing new ideas and mechanics or challenges throughout their course. After a while, they become rather rote. Applying the same mechanics to a different variant of the same situation. Sometimes the mechanics are fun enough in themselves to keep going, but many times I find that once a game stops introducing new elements, it stops being interesting. It just becomes a chore, a waste of time, and I could be playing something else instead. I'm not obsessed with maximizing the value I get out of a purchase, I care more about maximizing the enjoyment I get within the time I spend in the game. There are enough games out there that I don't have to commit to finishing one game.
Another minor reason is that most game stories are pretty average and not worth following to the end. If a game has compelling characters and a story, that can take me through even if the mechanics are repetitive. Conversely, interesting and developing mechanics can take me through a slog of a story. But if both of those are uninteresting, I just can't do it. And I feel no obligation to.
How do you feel about the need to complete a game? Are you driven by the desire, or do you have another viewpoint?
edit:
Another question to consider is, why do we owe it to a game to finish it? I have the viewpoint that the game owes it to us to be engaging. That's not to say I don't play clunky or obtuse or unwelcoming games. What I'm talking about is games that can't justify their length. Games that run out of ideas or direction before they end. I feel no obligation to finish a game just for the sake of having finished it.
Here are some other posts I'd like to highlight:
I find that a lot of the time the conversation around a game puts a lot of emphasis on finishing it. I don't think this is necessarily the best way to think about a game. For me, I play a game as long as I enjoy it, then I drop it. If that point is before the end of the game, so be it. I don't mind.
There are a few reasons why this is applicable. A lot of games stop introducing new ideas and mechanics or challenges throughout their course. After a while, they become rather rote. Applying the same mechanics to a different variant of the same situation. Sometimes the mechanics are fun enough in themselves to keep going, but many times I find that once a game stops introducing new elements, it stops being interesting. It just becomes a chore, a waste of time, and I could be playing something else instead. I'm not obsessed with maximizing the value I get out of a purchase, I care more about maximizing the enjoyment I get within the time I spend in the game. There are enough games out there that I don't have to commit to finishing one game.
Another minor reason is that most game stories are pretty average and not worth following to the end. If a game has compelling characters and a story, that can take me through even if the mechanics are repetitive. Conversely, interesting and developing mechanics can take me through a slog of a story. But if both of those are uninteresting, I just can't do it. And I feel no obligation to.
How do you feel about the need to complete a game? Are you driven by the desire, or do you have another viewpoint?
edit:
I put the blame on two things here. Our need to have things completed, and the fact that so many games come out where the developers are either not experts at game design, not good writers, or they make their game longer than it should be. The former comes from comparisons to movies, but I think TV shows are a better analogue there. A game often lasts as long as a several-season TV show, and very few shows actually maintain quality over more than two seasons, especially not consecutively.
As for the latter point, we often have games that are not fully conceived. The desire to have a work of art, a product, and something that justifies the price of entry by its length are all things that are usually at odds. Coming up with good mechanics is hard, but making sure those mechanics retain their depth and engagement throughout 30+ hours is harder. And story. There are many good writers out there, but there aren't many good writers who can write a good video game story. The length, repetition and contrivances of a video game put a lot of pressure on the story. It takes a certain kind of story to thrive despite those, or even better, thrive because of those pressures.
As such, video games are a pretty unique medium and the concept of finishing them should be reevaluated and not just ported over from, say, movies.
Sure, but there are so many good experiences out there that missing out on one to play/watch another good experience isn't really a loss per se. Obviously there's a reasonable balance, I don't just drop games the moment they slow down. I give them another shot, I look up online to see if there's more to be experienced, and I experiment a little bit. But sometimes what a game offers is pretty clear. Far Cry 4 for example. I did finish that game, but in hindsight there were several points I could have dropped it and not missed out on anything. The story isn't really a big deal and the gameplay never evolves. And if I really cared I could just watch the ending on YouTube. But after a certain point that game just becomes a set of variations on the same gameplay premise and there's no real benefit to continuing it. Same with ROTTR. In the indie space, Hyper Light Drifter felt like that to me. Beautiful game, feels decently fun to play, but has a lot of backtracking and the combat is mostly the same. Even when it slightly improves it doesn't gain much more depth. And the game doesn't convey a lot of story either. And it's not like I have time to regret not finishing these games. I'm too busy playing other games I enjoy.
Another question to consider is, why do we owe it to a game to finish it? I have the viewpoint that the game owes it to us to be engaging. That's not to say I don't play clunky or obtuse or unwelcoming games. What I'm talking about is games that can't justify their length. Games that run out of ideas or direction before they end. I feel no obligation to finish a game just for the sake of having finished it.
Here are some other posts I'd like to highlight:
Yup, I like to experience games but not necessarily completely finish them all the time. I put about 65 hours into MGSV and never even reached Act II. By the time I was ready to start moving forward with the story, I had worn out most of the appeal of the game just wandering around and completing side missions. I went ahead and just read spoilers for the rest of the game, watched analysis videos, etc... ended up thinking the story seemed kinda stupid, so I'm glad I didn't play that game with the express purpose of experiencing the "closing chapter" of MGS, because it seems like a massive letdown in that regard... But I don't regret putting 65 hours into it.
I generally don't even put 20 hours into most games, I have to actually care about something beyond the gameplay at some point to keep going past 20 hours, whether it be the people I'm playing the game with when it comes to multiplayer games or the story or sometimes just pure appreciation for what a game is trying to do. That said, I usually don't even regret getting to that 20 hour mark and kind of being like "yeah this game seems good, I just feel like I've done everything with it that I find appealing already." That feeling doesn't bug me at all, and I never feel an expression of regret over the purchase or time investment, and I pretty rarely feel like it means that a game is bad.
It used to haunt me when I didn't finish a game.
I always thought: "Well, I already started it. Might as well finish it." EVEN if I didn't enjoy the game. Call it OCD or whatever.
BUT, after I got a regular Job and being in a relationship and so on I was like: "Why the hell are you still doing this ?" It's absolutely stupid and nowadays I just quit. Even If I paid full price because of Hype or whatever. What's the point ? I'd rather replay a good game or start something else.
Break the cycle guys. You don't owe it to yourself to finish these games.
Funny thing: One time I did that, was with Mass Effect andromeda. My girlfriend was watching me play it and I stood up and turned it off.
She asked me what's wrong and I said "I just can't."
And she said "Wow", like I'm some alcoholic who turned down a drink.