Finish it off?

[TheKeck]

So, I hadn't played Metroid Prime 3 in months before today. I finally decided it was time to pick it back up again. Low and behold, I was apparently only two or three hours from beating the game. Woot.

It just made me think, though, about the nature of starting up a game that you haven't played in a long time and such. Thought it would make for some good discussion. So... discuss! :p

(No one need point out that my eloquence knows no bounds.)

[Psykoboy2]

I have one I am totally embarrassed about. Wind Waker.

For a good while Dana and James from IGC would come over quite often and watch me play more of the game. They saw me go through quite a bit of it. Right to the point of the fight with Gannon. We'd decided to hold off for the next night and then.....well, it all stopped for some reason.

I'm still at that location actually and haven't played it since.

[Stoke]

I generally don't pick up most games with a story if they've gone unplayed for more than a couple months. If I do I have to start all over since most of the time I don't know what's going on and I need to learn the controls all over again. Games without a story, or games with a non-crucial story like Dead Rising I'll play a lot, then stop, then play a lot, and so on.

Actually the longest time I've spent away from a game that I eventually did complete was about 5 years on Donkey Kong Country 3. Got stuck on an ice level when I was younger and packed my SNES up in my closet. Years later my brother found it and hooked it up and I beat it in a couple days of playing.

[Gwinny]

It's always so disorienting. "Who am I? Who's that guy?" Thankfully I don't play a ton of intricate RPGs, so it all comes back - or a decent enough approximation - in a few minutes and I can pick up where I left off. Trying to figure out the specifics of your current objective can be irritating.

I like the little story recap report that MGS gives a player - "Snake heads for the connecting bridge between towers A and B..." Right now I'm failing as an MGS aficionado and can't remember if every game in the series does it or just Metal Gear Solid.

[EternalGamer]

If I set down a game there was generally a reason. I stopped kidding myself that I was likely to return to them. Now I just toss them onto half.com or slap them back in their Gamefly envelop and move on.

Games are sort of like a cheap date. Don't let either convince you that you have to see it through to the end just because they provided you with a few hours of fun.

[Spacetronaut]

I have one I am totally embarrassed about. Wind Waker.

For a good while Dana and James from IGC would come over quite often and watch me play more of the game. They saw me go through quite a bit of it. Right to the point of the fight with Gannon. We'd decided to hold off for the next night and then.....well, it all stopped for some reason.

I'm still at that location actually and haven't played it since.

I got to the door, right before the fight with Gannon, and then I read on the internet that the last fight was really hard and I never turned it back on. I could just never psych myself up for it for some reason.

[Karak]

Assassin's Creed.
Couldn't get past the numbing rinse and repeat. Despite the incredible graphics and art.
I will someday for sure. It just may take awhile.

[MagGnome]

I have a hard time getting back into games that I've put down. If it's been more than a week or so I'm not likely to go back. I don't want to restart, yet I can't remember where I am or what I was supposed to be doing. I'll put in a game that I would like to finish, but when I can't figure out what to do I just play something else instead.

As for the last battle with Gannon in the Wind Waker - that's the only part of the game where I ever died.

[MagGnome]

If I set down a game there was generally a reason. I stopped kidding myself that I was likely to return to them. Now I just toss them onto half.com or slap them back in their Gamefly envelop and move on.

Games are sort of like a cheap date. Don't let either convince you that you have to see it through to the end just because they provided you with a few hours of fun.


I think having a Gamefly subscription will change my perspective on finishing games. I don't think I'll feel so bad about not finishing games if I don't own them. I'll just send the game back and play something else, and it won't be sitting around to remind me that it hasn't been completed.

[boratika]

I have one I am totally embarrassed about. Wind Waker.

For a good while Dana and James from IGC would come over quite often and watch me play more of the game. They saw me go through quite a bit of it. Right to the point of the fight with Gannon. We'd decided to hold off for the next night and then.....well, it all stopped for some reason.

I'm still at that location actually and haven't played it since.

That is my favourite boss fight of any game EVAR!

[Ravenlock]

I have one I am totally embarrassed about. Wind Waker.

For a good while Dana and James from IGC would come over quite often and watch me play more of the game. They saw me go through quite a bit of it. Right to the point of the fight with Gannon. We'd decided to hold off for the next night and then.....well, it all stopped for some reason.

I'm still at that location actually and haven't played it since.

Don't feel bad, man. I didn't beat Wind Waker until the week before the Wii came out, because I knew I would be getting Twilight Princess with the Wii and it just felt wrong to pick up a new Zelda game without beating the previous one.

Even with that weight on my shoulders, it was still a goddamn slog to sail around and get those Triforce pieces.

There's a lot I love about that game - the visuals were astounding, the gameplay was very polished, the characters were very likeable, etc etc - but the endgame was just a mess. Granted, getting all the way to Ganon and not finishing him off is a little strange, but you can always Youtube the ending cutscene. ;)

[menage]

I never finished Prime 1 and 2, not because I didn't want to, but because the bosses just can go to hell in both the titles. I really can't see how such great designed games can fail so badly in the end. What's the freaking point of upping the difficulty in that way when you're nearly there. Fuck them.

[Variable Gear]

I never finished Prime 1 and 2, not because I didn't want to, but because the bosses just can go to hell in both the titles. I really can't see how such great designed games can fail so badly in the end. What's the freaking point of upping the difficulty in that way when you're nearly there. Fuck them.
The final boss in Metroid Prime wasn't that bad. If you use the right beam combo at the right time, you'll kill it easily. I never saw the final boss of Echoes, however, because I couldn't stand the dimension changing mechanic.

[Purple Santa]

Games are sort of like a cheap date. Don't let either convince you that you have to see it through to the end just because they provided you with a few hours of fun.
Looking at my very long list at GF (almost 5 yrs) I must say...i'm a playa! :D

I think it's worse for me when I rent and I can't finish. I feel more guilt than if I actually bought it and didnt finish. If i'm not finishing a game, I'm not going back. I can't think of to many that I have. But i've re-rented a game that I hadn't finished. So does that make me a regular? :p

[Wolvie]

I kinda did something like that with Fable II. I was playing the crap out of it till L4D came out and took over my gaming time. Then a fellow Coggerr asked me if I had beaten it yet, I said no, then he asked how far I was in, I told him, and he goes "DUDE! you're like an hour away from beating it! Get to it and beat that thing!"

And I did, and there was much rejoicing. :D

[Arphahat]

Last Christmas, I had received the Orange box and was pumped to play some portal. On New Year's Eve, I opened it up and discovered some douche and carefully slit the cover with a razor, removed the activation card, and then returned the game to Gamestop. It was easily resolved by going to GameStop, showing them how I had received the game and they swapped it for a new copy... but not that night.

Well, I was itching for some FPS, and I had already installed Steam as part of the Orange Box install, so I purchased the HL1 pack for $13 and played through HL1 over the next week or so.

All that back story was to get to this: I started HL:Opposing Force and got about half way or so (right where you start encountering black ops) and then was distracted by Portal... and then TF2 with you bastards kept me from ever even playing HL2. I still want to finish the HL1 series and the HL2, but I don't know when.

[EternalGamer]

You don't have to finish Half Life 1 to play Half Life 2. I didn't. In fact, HL1 doesn't really hold up that well. Don't rob yourself of playing HL2 because you feel a completist obligation. It's a fantastic game and its gameplay and production values far outshines the first game.

[Arphahat]

You don't have to finish Half Life 1 to play Half Life 2. I didn't. In fact, HL1 doesn't really hold up that well. Don't rob yourself of playing HL2 because you feel a completist obligation. It's a fantastic game and its gameplay and production values far outshines the first game.

Yeah, I don't think that I am going to finish the Opposing Force and Blue Shift expansions. What is really holding me from HL2 is that whenever I feel I need some FPS, I play TF2.

[Lint of Death]

I almost always stop playing before I've finished the game. If I got far, I am unlikely to ever restart because I have a good enough memory that not enough of the gameplay/story would seem new to keep it interesting, and unlikely to continue because I have lost some necessary familiarity with the controls (even though I usually pick that back up quickly).

[TheKeck]

Hey, you guys actually discussed it some. :D

Yeah, the reason I hadn't played Metroid in so long was because I kept not knowing if I would have enough time to play before finding another freaking save spot, so I would play Mario Kart instead or something. Then it started to be so long that I was having the fears people mention of not knowing what's going on and being unfamiliar with the controls. Still, I am one who WILL eventually get back to games, so I did. I'm glad too; it wasn't nearly as tough to get back into it as I was fearing.

I had a very similar experience with Prey. I finally beat Dragon Warrior in my senior year of high school, like 10 years after I got the game. I don't think I'll ever finish Sonic and the Secret Rings, though. :p

[Mr. Murphy]

So, I hadn't played Metroid Prime 3 in months before today. I finally decided it was time to pick it back up again. Low and behold, I was apparently only two or three hours from beating the game. Woot.

It just made me think, though, about the nature of starting up a game that you haven't played in a long time and such. Thought it would make for some good discussion. So... discuss! :p

(No one need point out that my eloquence knows no bounds.)

Happened to me with Metroid Prime 3 as well, I actually still have it sitting there waiting to be completed, and I bet I'm only a few hours away from the end.

Happened with MGS3, I played the first half when it first came out, put it down for about a year, and then completed the much-more exciting second half over a span of two days on a projector. Good times.

[Ghost Rider]

Happened with MGS3, I played the first half when it first came out, put it down for about a year, and then completed the much-more exciting second half over a span of two days on a projector. Good times.

MGS3 for me as well. I left it for a good 6 months + and then decided to pick it up again and was way more into it. Definitely glad I finished it in the end.

Next on my list is probably FF XII out of a few others.

[Mr. Murphy]

MGS3 for me as well. I left it for a good 6 months + and then decided to pick it up again and was way more into it. Definitely glad I finished it in the end.

Next on my list is probably FF XII out of a few others.

XII has a fairly cool final boss fight. The last dungeon is ridiculously short and easy tho, I don't know what's up with that.

Actually, the final boss fight, while cool, is kindof a ripoff of their own previous bosses. I imagine the developer conversation went something like this:
"Hey, the fans seem to think Sephiroth and Kefka were pretty cool, let's make another boss with angel wings!"

"Yeah, but like, MORE angel wings!"

"Yeah! And... and they're metal!"

Fortunately I love badass metal wings, so it's all good.


(spoilered since you mentioned you haven't beaten it yet, but I'm not really ruining anything except the visual style of the boss)

[Commissar Rob]

Another vote for MGS3. I got it when it first came out, finished the Virtuous Mission bit...and then dropped it. Didn't pick it up again until just before MGS4 came out. Then I had an absolute blast with it - one of those "can't put it down" experiences.

One I've dropped and haven't gone back to was Command and Conquer 3. I started with the GDI, and got to the point where I was dealing with the Scrin...but lost interest. It wasn't a particularly hard mission or anything, just lost interest. Keep thinking I should go back and finish that...but there's too much to play right now.

[Ink Asylum]

I still feel shame that I haven't finished Metroid Prime 2. I keep getting stuck at the same part and refuse to read a FAQ for the game. So I either restart then get stuck again or try to pick it up where I left off and just can't figure out what I was doing.

[Mr. Murphy]

I still feel shame that I haven't finished Metroid Prime 2. I keep getting stuck at the same part and refuse to read a FAQ for the game. So I either restart then get stuck again or try to pick it up where I left off and just can't figure out what I was doing.

Yeah, that happened to me a few times before I finally got through it. Man, I loved MP1, but they really dropped the ball in MP2 in a lot of ways. Still good, but nowhere near great like the first was.

[Ink Asylum]

I feel like I can't move on to Metroid Prime 3 until I finish 2, I just don't know if I'll have the gaming stamina to pull it off.

[Arphahat]

I still feel shame that I haven't finished Metroid Prime 2. I keep getting stuck at the same part and refuse to read a FAQ for the game. So I either restart then get stuck again or try to pick it up where I left off and just can't figure out what I was doing.

Just to prevent the possibility of above, as soon as I get frustrated to the point of quitting, I check the FAQ. I have enough games to get through that I don't need not being able to figure out some trick to be the reason I don't finish the game.

[TheKeck]

Just to prevent the possibility of above, as soon as I get frustrated to the point of quitting, I check the FAQ. I have enough games to get through that I don't need not being able to figure out some trick to be the reason I don't finish the game.
Yeah, same here. I don't make a habit of using FAQs. But if I'm stuck on a part too long, it's just not worth it to me to keep banging my head.

[TheKeck]

Another vote for MGS3. I got it when it first came out, finished the Virtuous Mission bit...and then dropped it. Didn't pick it up again until just before MGS4 came out. Then I had an absolute blast with it - one of those "can't put it down" experiences.

One I've dropped and haven't gone back to was Command and Conquer 3. I started with the GDI, and got to the point where I was dealing with the Scrin...but lost interest. It wasn't a particularly hard mission or anything, just lost interest. Keep thinking I should go back and finish that...but there's too much to play right now.
This made me think, I finished WarCraft 2, StarCraft, and WarCraft 3, but I left Beyond the Dark Portal (or whatever it was called), Brood War, and Frozen Throne all unfinished. I guess Blizzard RTS expansions just don't do it for me. :o

[Blue]

Lately I've been playing Tales of Vesperia in chunks. I usually play it for about 5 or so hours and then shelve it for a bit and tinker with something else. Then later I grab it again and play some more. I'm about 20+ hours into it now and I absolutely love the game but I need a good action packed game to pull me away every now and again. At this rate, I'm going to beat it some time early next year :).

[Commissar Rob]

This made me think, I finished WarCraft 2, StarCraft, and WarCraft 3, but I left Beyond the Dark Portal (or whatever it was called), Brood War, and Frozen Throne all unfinished. I guess Blizzard RTS expansions just don't do it for me. :o
Gah! I didn't even think of that. I got my head handed to me on the last mission of WarCraft 3...and never went back. Fantastic game, but that last mission was just too much. Stupid undead horde... :(

[LongStepMantis]

RPG's...and it always bites me in the ass.

I start the game up, load my save...and have no clue where or what I'm supposed to be at.
Some newer RPGs offer ways to remind you, but especially with older ones...you're just shit out of luck unless you stumble into it.

Since the OP mentioned MP3, It reminded me that I still haven't finished the original MP.
I reached the point where you have to revisit the Chozo sites, and just stopped. I never started MP2 because i haven't beaten 1 yet, and also haven't started 3 because well, i haven't even started MP2...It's a vicious cycle.

[Bad Buddha]

Thief 2.

Loved the first one, loved Dark Shadows.

Got about 3/4 of the way through Thief 2 and my main saved game got corrupted. Would start loading and then CTD. Went to my most recent saved game and got frustrated trying to get through a delicate stealth area. Put it away for a while and forgot to backup my saved games prior to the installation of a new hard drive.

Now I can't get it to run on my new C2D Supernova gaming machine. I've tried all of the "force single-core" patches, but it won't go.

[Ravenlock]

One of these days - especially now that the reboot is out - I need to go finish up Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. I loved Sands of Time and beat that one very quickly, but then Warrior Within was so unappealing to me that I traded it in after a week. I had heard that Two Thrones was much better (and in fairness, it was) so I picked it up and played a good 4 or 5 hours, but never finished it off.

Maybe I'll throw the Cube disk in the Wii sometime this month and try to get it done before picking the reboot up for PC with Christmas money.

[TheKeck]

Gah! I didn't even think of that. I got my head handed to me on the last mission of WarCraft 3...and never went back. Fantastic game, but that last mission was just too much. Stupid undead horde... :(
That level WAS a pain! Especially because they lull you into a false sense of security by giving you so much at first, but then proceed to lay it all to waste. And then if you haven't built up a REALLY good defense, that huge mother comes and takes you out right at the last minute. :(

Took me three or four tries to beat it, if I recall correctly.

[TheKeck]

One of these days - especially now that the reboot is out - I need to go finish up Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. I loved Sands of Time and beat that one very quickly, but then Warrior Within was so unappealing to me that I traded it in after a week. I had heard that Two Thrones was much better (and in fairness, it was) so I picked it up and played a good 4 or 5 hours, but never finished it off.

Maybe I'll throw the Cube disk in the Wii sometime this month and try to get it done before picking the reboot up for PC with Christmas money.
This makes me think, I played a good deal of Sands of Time, a large chunk of Ninja Gaiden Black, and I think pretty much ALL of Stubbs the Zombie when I had borrowed my brother's Xbox, but now I don't have it anymore and will probably never finish any of them.

[LongStepMantis]

That level WAS a pain! Especially because they lull you into a false sense of security by giving you so much at first, but then proceed to lay it all to waste. And then if you haven't built up a REALLY good defense, that huge mother comes and takes you out right at the last minute. :(

Took me three or four tries to beat it, if I recall correctly.

Good lord, I'd forgotten about the WC3 campaign.

That reminds me of the Titans expansion for Age of Mythology. You'd be chugging along, doing well...and then a Titan comes and pretends he's Godzilla and your base is Tokyo.

[National Kato]

Dead Rising. I've owned the game since launch and can't get past the second boss before losing interest and getting so frustrated I move on. I still own it, thinking I'd like to finish it someday, but what are the chances of that? *shrug*

[TheKeck]

Oh yeah, and sometime I need to finish Clive Barker's Undying. :D

[Commissar Rob]

Dead Rising. I've owned the game since launch and can't get past the second boss before losing interest and getting so frustrated I move on. I still own it, thinking I'd like to finish it someday, but what are the chances of that? *shrug*
The time limit was what killed me on that game. That was a set-up that just begged for some sight-seeing, but everything had to happen at such and such a time...

Bah! That one I'm never going back to. Pity, it was an awesome idea.

[Variable Gear]

This makes me think, I played a good deal of Sands of Time, a large chunk of Ninja Gaiden Black, and I think pretty much ALL of Stubbs the Zombie when I had borrowed my brother's Xbox, but now I don't have it anymore and will probably never finish any of them.
Stubbs and Black are Xbox Originals (http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/catalog.aspx?d=5), so you can always pick them up there. :o

[KingGorilla]

RPG's...and it always bites me in the ass.

I start the game up, load my save...and have no clue where or what I'm supposed to be at.
Some newer RPGs offer ways to remind you, but especially with older ones...you're just shit out of luck unless you stumble into it.


What amazes me is that in the age of Quest Helping markers or arrows or trails of glowing bird shit, overworld maps, detailed quest logs, journals, I can still put a RPG down and forget what I am supposed to do after a week.

[Variable Gear]

RPG's...and it always bites me in the ass.

I start the game up, load my save...and have no clue where or what I'm supposed to be at.
Some newer RPGs offer ways to remind you, but especially with older ones...you're just shit out of luck unless you stumble into it.
This happened to me recently with Lost Odyssey. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, and I'd prefer not to start over or check a guide. I'm just lost.

[LongStepMantis]

I have a tendency to wander off exploring before I save, so when I come back months later I might not even be on the right continent. There have been times where I've wandered from town to town for hours just talking to everyone in the hopes of a clue.

All RPGs should have a small entry at least naming the next area to progress the story.
It could be as simple as an option in the pause menu that simply says something like "Quest: South Figaro", simple, easy, effective. That's why no one does that.

[TheKeck]

Stubbs and Black are Xbox Originals (http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/catalog.aspx?d=5), so you can always pick them up there. :o
If only I had a 360. ;)

[Variable Gear]

If only I had a 360. ;)
Yep, this was a miscalculation. Hey, at least I used the embarrassed smily! :)

[KingGorilla]

If only I had a 360. ;)

Stubbs can be had in bargain bins for the PC.
Yeah, 20 on D2D, http://www.direct2drive.com/Search.aspx?SearchTerm=stubbs

Black, only consoles.

[n00bian]

happens to me all the time:
castlevania dawn of sorrow (now on my second halt cause i cant motivate myself to play for the good ending)
dead rising (also on the second halt after the bad ending to get the good ending)
beyond good & evil
kotor
outcast

some games make it pretty easy to get into them again - mostly those who you curse at if you play them at once, cause they throw every information at you the whole time in all the dialogs until your grandma would get what to do with whom

but some rpgs should definitly have a button that says [previously on ...]

[Bone]

I have one I am totally embarrassed about. Wind Waker.

For a good while Dana and James from IGC would come over quite often and watch me play more of the game. They saw me go through quite a bit of it. Right to the point of the fight with Gannon. We'd decided to hold off for the next night and then.....well, it all stopped for some reason.

I'm still at that location actually and haven't played it since.If you're already there, it's worth loading up and finishing. It was a hard but fun battle, and classic Zelda all the way.

I never finished Prime 1 and 2, not because I didn't want to, but because the bosses just can go to hell in both the titles. I really can't see how such great designed games can fail so badly in the end. What's the freaking point of upping the difficulty in that way when you're nearly there. Fuck them.FUCK the Metroid Prime 1 and 2 final bosses! Both of my games are sitting there, saved, never could finish. I was really glad I beat MP3, and overall I liked that game the best of all of them (even if you don't compare final bosses).

What amazes me is that in the age of Quest Helping markers or arrows or trails of glowing bird shit, overworld maps, detailed quest logs, journals, I can still put a RPG down and forget what I am supposed to do after a week.I'm in the same boat. I almost need to leave a sticky note on the game box describing what I was doing, who I needed to talk to, etc. Especially in a Zelda or Metroid game (or even Fallout 3), it's all those unofficial side quests, and hidden areas- I forget them completely when I had earlier told myself to go back with the right tools.

I'm liking Phantom Hourglass on the DS because I can make notes on the map. "Come back here later with the grapple, dummy!" may be too long, but you get the point.

[Mike Kelehan]

Honestly, if I haven't played in a couple months or so, I just restart it. I'd be so lost.

[biosc1]

I have a tendency to wander off exploring before I save, so when I come back months later I might not even be on the right continent. There have been times where I've wandered from town to town for hours just talking to everyone in the hopes of a clue.

All RPGs should have a small entry at least naming the next area to progress the story.
It could be as simple as an option in the pause menu that simply says something like "Quest: South Figaro", simple, easy, effective. That's why no one does that.

I always try and save with my character pointing in the direction I need to go...of course, this only works for games that save your character position.

[MachEnergy]

Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door.

I am on the last boss fight, and have been for years. I've only attempted it like 5 times, but every time you are forced to watch cutscenes of all the game characters praying and giving you their strength....for like 15 minutes! Each time I've tried it again, I've been more and more nervous of messing up, because I condemn myself to another attempt.

[Mr. Murphy]

Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door.

I am on the last boss fight, and have been for years. I've only attempted it like 5 times, but every time you are forced to watch cutscenes of all the game characters praying and giving you their strength....for like 15 minutes! Each time I've tried it again, I've been more and more nervous of messing up, because I condemn myself to another attempt.

Run through that bonus dungeon once or twice and you should be strong enough.

[Ravenlock]

This makes me think, I played a good deal of Sands of Time, a large chunk of Ninja Gaiden Black, and I think pretty much ALL of Stubbs the Zombie when I had borrowed my brother's Xbox, but now I don't have it anymore and will probably never finish any of them.

Stubbs the Zombie is a damn fine videogame, and well worth your time to go back and beat, and then maybe play through again. ;) Not only is it a $20 bargain bin PC title, it's available for that price on Steam as well (http://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=stubbs).

Some truly hilarious moments in that, wrapped around a very well made 3rd person action/strategy game. It actually reminded me of Freedom Fighters quite a bit, but with considerably more jetpack-wearing barbershop quartet singers.

[Arphahat]

Watch out about Stubbs, though. I bought it via Steam when it was discounted a month back or so and it was so broken, for so many people, that they allowed me to get a refund for it.