• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

I just can't seem to finish any games nowdays

Am the same age and in the same boat . My backlog is too big to count so now i just play multiplayer games. I play a few matches of COD and i get bored quick still. I was looking forward to playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided as its one of my favorite series and i decided not to buy it because i know am gonna quit.
 
inner-G said:
I'm 35 and I've recently been doing the same :/
Click to expand...

Me too. :o

Lately, all I want is something fun in short bursts. A few races in Driveclub, a few games of Smash, and I'm done. I bought Doom, and while it's kind of fun, I'm usually bored after a level.
 
I don't think finishing games means much anymore. It's not like back in the day when games were an hour long but ridiculously cheap to inflate length so beating a game meant something because you could brag to your friends

I got to like the third level of Doom and just got bored of it. Great game and I loved what I played, but idk, like you for some reason I just lost interest. I would still recommend the game to anyone. On the otherhand I got halfway through South Park, enjoyed it and forced myself to finish it. It ended up ruining my experience with the game
 
I haven't read through the other people's replies so, sorry if this has been mentioned before.
In your shoes, I would either take a break from gaming for a couple of months, or change my gaming habits completely. Change can involve new genres, or a new console (or PC), for example. I know this might be scary, because we tend to think our habits define us. Like "people know and accept me as a JRPG guy, I can't just change that." Stuff like that is just in your own mind. Ultimately, it's your life and it's really really short. Try to enjoy it.
 
I will take you guys' advice and either move to something else. I've also just realized that I've put more time into My Singing Monsters, Plants Vs Zombies 2 and Brave Frontier than my entire console and PC backlog combined.

I probably should take a break too. I'm really looking forward to Neo but that may have to wait haha. We'll see - I just wish I could go back to how I was with games. I also tried getting back into World of Warcraft and I fell asleep in mid-raid because I was so goddamn bored.
 
Right around the same age OP

My backlog will never be cleared out. I have games that I haven't ever started like South Park The Stick of Truth for example and yet I continue to buy more and more.
 
I find that most modern games don't have a lot of replay value. It doesn't help that gameplay mechanics are overly complex anymore to where the point of re-entry is exacerbated with things like equipping a multitude of power ups/perks (ie. every FPS) and difficult-to-remember control schemes (ie. Batman Arkham). Maybe that's why I find myself sticking with pick-up-and-play fare more and more.

Bah. Maybe I'm just old.
 
I'm 35 in 2 months and I still try to finish every game I like. I just won't get a new one until I finish it. But I only get about 2 to 3 games a year. I haven't bought a PS4 game this year.

Not finishing Last of Us seems unimaginable to me.
 
Elven_Star said:
I haven't read through the other people's replies so, sorry if this has been mentioned before.
In your shoes, I would either take a break from gaming for a couple of months, or change my gaming habits completely. Change can involve new genres,or a new console (or PC), for example. I know this might be scary, because we tend to think our habits define us. Like "people know and accept me as a JRPG guy, I can't just change that." Stuff like that is just in your own mind. Ultimately, it's your life and it's really really short. Try to enjoy it.
Click to expand...
I think you might be on to something as far as the bolded goes. At the time I was playing Mirror's Edge Catalyst on PS4 and while the game is fun (when you're flowing freerunning) for some reason I found myself just bored.

Recently my brother gave me a laptop and while it's no gaming PC I downloaded Steam and bought Half Life 2 (love that game). I played that game more times then I can remember, on the OG X-Box and on PS3. But it was... refreshing is the word I would use I guess... to play the game with M+KB.

It was just a whole new way of playing games for me. Here I am having more fun with a game 12 years old but I don't care. Like I said, since playing it on PC was a new experience for me it kind of gave me the little spark from the boredom I was feeling.

But I have gone back to the PS4 and popped Doom back in. Played some of the Titanfall tech test also, just want to get back into using a controller again since Battlefield 1 will be out relatively soon.

Variety is good.
 
As I get older I'm definitely the same way. Other than Rhythm Games, Metal Gear Solid V, Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, and Overwatch, there hasn't been anything that has kept my attention really. Some of the most fun I've had playing games recently has just been replaying PS2 games I loved when I was younger. Getting the Platinum trophy in Final Fantasy X and Dark Cloud 1 was really enjoyable. And playing through Wild Arms 3 again is great.

The next game I buy will probably be Final Fantasy XV.
 
Truly depressing stuff. I only turned 30 this year, and this exact topic has been on something on my mind for awhile. I can barley get around to finishing games as well. Yet I keep buying them. My backlog is nuts, and I am seriously thinking about taking a break from purchases for awhile. This includes canceling my PS VR preorder. I really need to just try and enjoy what I have. Come time to buy new games again, if I still wish to play the ones I wanted day one, they will be cheaper. It's just going to have to be a matter of sticking to my guns on this. And OP, I'm especially with you on Disgaea. In my early to mid 20's I could easily dump 300+ hours into each installment. Bought Disgaea 5 day one, and barely touched it yet. :(
 
I've been doing similarly lately, but I don't think it's a huge problem. as long as I get a few good hours out of it, in good, and I can always come back for buyers later.
 
My backlog is huge but I've managed to put a dent in it this year. I can't force myself to play games and some I have to be in a mood.

Also I'll start a game and then something comes up and I can't play for like a week and the desire to continue has gone away.

Others I feel like I have to restart to enjoy.

And then when I do finish a game I tend to not play anything new for a week or more.

Can't imagine what it would be like if I just didn't have much time to play...
 
37, I have no problem finishing games but I only play a handful over the year, way less than I used too. I quit playing online games a few years back, personally helped me with focussing on individual games and not always running after the next big thing the community is after.
 
I don't feel any inclination to force myself to finish a game. I only bother if it is actually holding my interest.

I'll finish every single movie I start, though, because they are only 2 hours.
 
I have the same issue, turned 38 in July.

Something really has to grab me these days for me to finish. Last game I "finished" was Fallout 4. Prior to that it was Broforce, which is more my speed these days. I like a game I can pick up, play for a bit, and drop it for as long as need be.

Of note, I'm still addicted to Overwatch, since open beta actually, and still play a lot of Rocket League. I've always loved competitive games so this is nothing new, but when it comes to single player experiences, I I just can't play anything anymore, it has to grab me quick or I lose interest fast. I suspect this is just because I don't have a lot of time anymore, but it could be my tastes changing.
 
I'm 30, and I find my interest in gaming has dropped significantly over the past few years. All I played this year was Uncharted 4, and that took me 1.5 months to beat. I only play about a game per year now.
 
I'm 35. Now that I have an income I find myself buying a lot of games but never actually finishing them. My current list of games that I need to complete are:

Asassins Creed Unity
Rise of the Tombraider
Ori
Alien Isolation

I love all these games and have played a little bit of each, but just can't get myself to finish them. A lot of that has to do with the fact that with my family, I really only have time to play at night once everyone is asleep. And a lot of time when that moment comes, I'm too tired to even play. I will say though that my favorite console feature to come out of this current generation is being able to plug headphones into the controller to hear game audio. I wouldn't be able to play games without it.

I did manage to plow through Doom without stopping. That game was incredible. 100%'ed it too. Sometimes it depends on the game.
 
Spy said:
I'm the same way. I've sworn off single player games unless it's something special to me (Kingdom Hearts, etc.). Online gaming is the only thing that keeps me occupied.
Click to expand...

I'm usually the opposite - I would much rather sit down and immerse myself in a vast single player game like the Witcher 3 or Fallout.

The e-sports online games, like the various MOBAs, or even something like Overwatch, really don't appeal to me.
 
I know how you feel OP. I'm 29 and I play quite a bit of games that I do not end up finishing. However this month has been a godsend for me and I was able to finish quite a few games in my backlog. But times like that are rare. I suggest sticking to one game at a time and focus on that game exclusively or else too many games pile up.

Another suggestion would be to drop a lot of those RPG's unless you are really invested in them since they take up way too much time.
 
OP, I suggest you do what I did, and get heavily into indie gaming. Indie games are usually shorter and have more experimental ideas, which will help you snap out of your funk. Worked well for me, I rediscovered why I liked playing games in the first place.

Open a SteamGAF recommendation thread, find the games with descriptions that interest you, and go nuts.

No gaming-capable PC? A lot of the bigger indies are out on PS4 (and to a slightly lesser extent, XB1), so you should have few problems either way.
 
Anteater said:
i just embrace it and play whatever I want

it's not like I play the same game over and over in the arcades back in the day, I just play whatever
Click to expand...

I was going to say something similar. I just go with it and enjoy different games as I feel like playing them. I still have fun but I no longer stress or worry about finishing the games I play. For me this is all the more true as I've gotten older, busier and harder to impress.
 
I'm not that into AAA games anymore.
I'm still yet to complete:
The Order;
Ratchet and Clank;
Uncharted 4.

These days I prefer more bite sized ones like
The Binding of Isaac;
No Man's Sky
And soon The Tomorrow Children.

Finding the same with TV and preferring shows over movies.
 
If you're serious about beating more games, I would encourage you to get out of the preview -> review hype cycle. With so many games coming out all the time it can be easy to get distracted. Personally, I joined the 52 games/year challenge a few years ago and found it to be extremely motivating. It prevents me from spending too much time playing MP games and from ditching games at the half way point. I play games with a variety of lengths, usually multiple at the same time. In this way I can beat a 40+ hour long game and a couple of 2-10 hour games over the same period of time.
 
Never left a game unfinished.
That's why I never beat Xenoblade Chronicles. Recently I beat Pokemon Emerald and I played the game everyday until I finally beat it. Left a game for too long makes you too lazy to continue.
I'm 34 & will be 35 in October.
 
Try playing in short intervals (1-2 hours... 3 max!). Basically play until you complete a quest, achieve a milestone, witness a set piece etc etc than save your game and take a break until your next session. That way you don't burn yourself out and also it builds a little anticipation for your next session.
 
statham said:
I am older then you, you have to find games you enjoy and want to finish, your list screams the games GAF thinks is fun. I rather play hidden object games then some on your list. find your niche and stick with it. mine is big action story telling games, and point and click games.
Click to expand...

This is pretty good advice. I have hardly any time these days so pick a game that really interests me and I stick to it till it's done. Usually takes a couple of months and several seasons with perhaps one lucky weekend. This way you don't get burnout.

There are lots of things which take up your time. Mindless gaming is boring. Choose what you want to play and mix it into the rest of your life.

This year have completed Blooborne, witcher 3, Nathan drake collection, dozens of little fun Indy games and now going through dark souls 3.
 
All those games you listed are many hours long. Play some palette cleansers. Short games that are only a few hours. Inside, Oxenfree, etc.
 
Just don't start a new game until you finish one. Make a conscious decision to stop playing a game if you don't like it. Make a priotized backlog and start playing the game highest on that list.
 
I will also echo statements of playing easy mode - some games I genuinely can't be arsed to get pissed off over. I think Persona 4 was my biggest mistake - 20 hours in and I'm stuck unless I grind for hours. Even stuff like COD campaigns wanting me to play on hardened to get most of the achievements - fuck it, I don't have the patience for that crap.
 
Those long games I think require an active imagination, something you have an abundance of when you're young, have lots of free time, and are stress free. After you get your balls broken a couple hundred times, your innocence ravaged, your patience scrubbed clean, and basically just get into your 30's, you'll be damned if your cynical old self is going to play along with these elves and factions and storylines and ah fuck it. Just give me some good mechanics. Or some good weed.
 
I'm 30 and it's the same for me. Life gets in the way and drags me away from games and once I haven't played something in a while I find it hard to go back.

Luckily I've gotten really good at simply not buying anything else and building up a huge collection of unplayed games.
 
SephLuis said:
Follow my instructions:

Open SF V
Play a little bit of story mode and challenges
Play Online
Realize how your skills are
Then Join us in the Community OT : http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1246347&page=197

Really, you will find people there willing to teach and learn and you can always find people to practice.
Click to expand...

I'll try this.

I'm like the OP. I'm really interested in games, but I end up never finishing them. I only get in a few hours of gameplay before getting bored of it. The only game I've finished this year is Resident Evil 2 (Dreamcast) and that's one I've completed 100's of times before.
 
I'm 30 years old and have two kids. I also can't seem to finish games. I think the biggest problem is that everything have to be open world these days. I remember playing The Witcher for a few hours and thinking, "I don't have time for this".
 
Ask yourself if you'd feel fulfilled by spending more time with those video games until reaching an arbitrary finish line, or if it would have been better to never buy them at all. Maybe this is a good opportunity to diversify your hobbies.
 
You're all depressing me, especially since the OP hasn't been able to finish TLOU yet..Im 25 and I go through these phases too. Ive realized that I cannot for the life of me play another open world type game right now. I usually can play a solid hour of rainbow 6, then I'm good. I recently got that handsome collection to play couch coop with my GF, and we've been able to play for a good few hours before both of us are ready to be done which has been fun as hell. I haven't been able to finish MGS5, because while the open world elements were cool at first I was ready for a more linear experience like the old ones to drive out the story(Which isn't apparently there anyway to some people :/ )
 
Similar age with 3 kids here, my suggestion would be to try to be a little more selective about the games you buy. You're clearly willing to spend time with games you enjoy, so if you actually want to finish them then maybe only buy games you're legit hyped to play? Either that or stop feeling bad for not finishing them and accept that that's how you play games nowadays

Personally I've made a concerted effort to work through my backlog this year and it's been great. I've found a couple of gems that I'm glad I played and I'm not beating myself up when I'm just not that into something. Try to just do what makes you happy, this is a hobby and not a job

(Also, if it makes you feel any better, I'm nearly certain that most of the gaming "press" play games the exact same way you do -- they play enough of a game to talk about it on a podcast and then drop it shortly afterwards for the following week's hot game, rinse and repeat)
 
I just turned 30 but a while ago I started to at least try to take control of my backlog. The one major thing I did was control my buying habits. That didn't mean stop buying games, but now I only buy games when I'm actually ready to play them. If a game is on sale, I ask myself when I plan to play it and if there will be another sale before then. I don't know if this has actually helped me break down my backlog, but I think it's slowed the growth of the backlog. At least once I was able to finish my entire Steam sale haul before the next Steam sale.

Oh, and another big rule: you don't have to actually finish the games. Just play them as long as you enjoy them. If you get to a point where the game is just okay and you're simply playing to finish, then stop. Personally I feel I can cross off each thing from my list if I give it just four hours, after which I play at my discretion.

However, on the subject, there's just one type of game for which I can't seem to break into my backlog: Handheld RPGs.

Sometime back I realized I had a backlog of handheld RPGs going all the way back to the GBA. I thoroughly played and finished the first two Golden Sun games but for some reason never finished handheld RPGs after that. Now I've got a backlog going through the GBA, original DS, the PSP, and now even my iPhone. When I realized this I stopped buying new 3DS games almost completely. I rushed through Fire Emblem Awakening and am now sitting on unfinished copies of Shin Megami Tensei IV and Pokemon X. Pokemon? For some reason I only ever finished Blue despite enjoying all the other ones (except Gen 3). At some point I was able to scrape together enough time to get through the last bits of Final Fantasy IV and Sword of Mana. Gave up on Fire Emblem 7 and pretty much every Pokemon pre-X.

Here's the list. What do you think GAF?

GBA:
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

I think about dropping FFTA but after pumping 64 hours into it some part of me still likes it. I think I was trying to grind last time I played because I was stuck at a main story event that's two missions in a row and I can't beat the second one. I'm not dropping FFV though. I think I enjoyed that one more than any classic FF I've played so far.

DS:
Dragon Quest IX
Golden Sun Dark Dawn
Solatorobo
Chrono Trigger (first time playing)
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (probably dropping)
Radiant Historia
Phantasy Star 0 (dropped, sadly)

People don't seem to like DQIX and Dark Dawn but I'm probably not dropping them, at least not immediately. DQIX is my first DQ and I like it a lot. I didn't see much problem with the early hours of Dark Dawn so I'll try a little more. I'm wondering if I should start Chrono Trigger over though. PS0 is unfortunate since I did like what I played of that game.

PSP:
Valkyria Chronicles 2 (dropped)
Disgaea
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Phantasy Star Portable 2 (dropped)
[Counting PS1 Classics]
Breath of Fire IV
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX (never played any of them)
Suikoden

I didn't mind the game Valkyria Chronicles 2 but couldn't stand the characters. It's almost the only game where I've been driven to skip cut scenes on the first time through. I enjoyed PSP2 until I got to basically the brick wall after which you need multiplayer.

iOS:
Dragon Quest V
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (again)
Undercroft
Steven Universe: Attack the Light
Warhammer Quest (probably won't even start it, it was free)
Tower of Fortune (whatever)
Legend of Grimrock (already started it on PC, it was free on mobile)

Man I don't even know. A lot of these were just plain free. I pop into Undercroft every now and again. It's a free, pretty enjoyable classic-style first person grid-based RPG. Don't know if I'll ever finish it. I guess the iOS version of FFT is gonna be my version of choice.
 
Games are long and often offer less value for your time than other forms of entertainment/art.

That combined with you getting old and having less free time is an inevitable combo of doom.
 
Yup. Right around 35, I found that I had a lot less patience for most games. It's not necessarily because I have less time, but more because I respect my time more. If a game isn't going to ignite all of my pleasure sensors, convince me it's the next big thing, or send me into paroxysms of gaming ecstasy, I just don't see a reason to bother. There are so many great games that it just isn't worth it to bother with games that are just okay.
 
I'm in a similar position as you OP

Fallout and MGS are probably my two favourite franchises yet on MGSV I finished ACT1 but have no desire to redo missions I've already done in higher difficulty levels just to get new missions. And in fallout I got to a point where I needed to choose sides and I couldn't decide.

Problem I have is I buy a new game and move onto that rather than finishing what I have outstanding. Keep buying digital games in the sale which I haven't even started yet too.
 
It's interesting how playing video games or engaging in entertainment culture as a whole changes throughout the lifespan. I would argue that limited resources such as time and changing age-related developmental tasks, such as having a family, maintaining meaningful social contacts, engaging in society, managing one's career, actually change the way we motivate ourselves towards goal pursuit.

Facing all these developmental tasks in young/middle adulthood shifts our motivation to pursue more meaningful goals. Then again, what is meaningful and what is not changes with age, as well.
 
Some good tips in this thread:

1. Put it on easy. Time to embrace your age, you're too old to need to prove yourself anyway. And if you only have two or three hours per week, ain't nobody got time to have these hours be repetitive as you struggle for progress.

2. Play smaller games. With approx 3 hours per week, so 12 hours of game time per month, this month I finished ABZU (three hours), Bound (three hours) and played some 6 hours of No Man's Sky. I just started playing INSIDE, I guess that will take me another one or two weeks. There's a tremendous diversity you can sample from and you can beat the game so your mind is at ease. Even better, small games generally have more adult themes. Big games generally have so much padding, because teens have more time than money, and so they're aimed at them. Now you still like anime and there's nothing wrong with embracing your young side every now and then, but as someone with likely more money than time, it's nice to do without bullshit as you get a more mature story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I just love video games
Opinion  2
54
481
Sooner replied
MachineGames Still Plans to Finish the Wolfenstein Trilogy
Opinion Game Dev 
45
624
Ishma3L replied
Atari's 2026 lineup might just be the best of any western publisher
29
400
Sephimoth replied
  • Poll
I can't wait to tell people I have a Steam Box
2 3 4 5
211
1K
th4tguy replied
I might have just revolutionized First Person Shooters
2 3
145
690
ChoosableOne replied
Top Bottom