Games you love but have never finished

The reason I ask is that I have just purchased Shenmue on PS4 and I can't for the life of me remember why I dropped it first time round on DC. It doesn't make my list though as I'm not sure it makes my top games of all time list.

I'm talking specifically about single player experiences here that have a definite ending (or at least end credits).

The first one that comes to mind for me is BotW. I'm about 90 hours in, and always marvel at the game and how much I enjoy it for a a few weeks before dropping it for months at a time. Perhaps too much of a good thing?

Another is FFVII (which I still feel guilty about). Purchased it on release and was absolutely blown away by it and everything it offered, but then I ended up in an unresolvable situation against the final boss. I didn't have a "good save" to roll back to, and so I shelved it. Now I'm too scared to play the game from start again incase the rumours that it has not held up price to be true.

So, any skeletons in your (unfinished) closet? And any you have managed to finally lay to rest after a monumental gap?

Dark Chronicle

One of the best RPGs I've ever played and I've poured I think hundreds of hours into it, yet I never finished it (despite starting it over a few times and getting to the final boss before the post-game).

Mad Max, I've maxed out my character. But still loads of story and vehicle stuff to unlock. It's just too big.

I really enjoy Fallout 4 and while I've finished the story and a fair few of the side quests I've never 100% completed it despite restarting a few times.
I get side tracked by the town building which I really enjoy and just find relaxing as hell.

Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

Got to the last boss when I was a teenager, but that last battle is a 40 min grind - I lost focus once and never went back. Have since watched the ending on YouTube.

Metal Gear Solid 5 - bored to strawberry float with the story so never got beyond the first few chapters, but absolutely adored the gameplay.

Deux Ex: Mankind Divided - love this one too but just not got round to finishing it. By all accounts it ends abruptly so the ending might not even be that far away!

Plus about 100 others :/

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:
The first one that comes to mind for me is BotW. I'm about 90 hours in, and always marvel at the game and how much I enjoy it for a a few weeks before dropping it for months at a time. Perhaps too much of a good thing?

Exactly this, I absolutely loved the game and played it everyday, I explored pretty much all the map, found all the memories and defeated all the divine beasts etc and then just stopped and I haven’t been on it since

Botw seems to be a common one. I think I'm the only one who kind of rushed the game. Wanted to see the story through to the end somewhat quickly to avoid any spoilers - not that I didn't do a lot of exploring either though.

There were games I liked as a kid that I didn't complete at the time, but I did eventually revisit them all later and complete them. I can think of only two exceptions.

First is Metal Arms: Glitch in the System for the Gamecube, but it was a multi-plat game. I don't think this game sold well or was very well known. Super underrated or rather overlooked I guess, because it was received decent reviews. And I really liked it. Especially the multiplayer. But I quit it at one point because it was too hard, and then ended up trading it in.

The other game which I played much later on is Persona 3 FES. Got fed up after dying a few times to the final boss, which was a slog. Not being able to control your party members in this game was a bit of a pain throughout the story, but it was especially annoying during the finale. And for a long time up until this point the game really starts to drag. I still count this as a game I love though, because it really sucks you in, and I played through it all again on the PSP version (which I completed), but imo the Persona game campaigns last 30-40 hours longer than they should. Not saying that content should be cut, but it could be managed better. And a lot of it is just padding.

Yooka Laylee

Really enjoyed the game, but the last boss just took the p and in the end i gave up.

Vermilion wrote:Yooka Laylee

Really enjoyed the game, but the last boss just took the p and in the end i gave up.

This is where i always appreciate a difficulty toggle option at any point. It has got me out of a lot of these exact situations over the years. Horizon Zero Dawn is the last one that comes to mind.

Every game released by Drinkbox - I love all their games and have finished all of them but never 100%. There is always one bit that my old man skills just don't have the muscle memory for these days. Severed, Guacamelee, Mutant Blobs. There is always something I'm never fated to be able to complete. But I'm content with this knowledge.

Rex Kramer wrote:Every game released by Drinkbox - I love all their games and have finished all of them but never 100%. There is always one bit that my old man skills just don't have the muscle memory for these days. Severed, Guacamelee, Mutant Blobs. There is always something I'm never fated to be able to complete. But I'm content with this knowledge.

For what its worth, my definition of "complete" is to conclude the story and have credits roll. Obviously everyone has a different definition, but by that one i have probably never finished a game in my life. And that's far too crushing for my my fragile ego to take. I finished Yakuza 0. With a completion of about 49%. For me, that's a victory.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:

Rex Kramer wrote:Every game released by Drinkbox - I love all their games and have finished all of them but never 100%. There is always one bit that my old man skills just don't have the muscle memory for these days. Severed, Guacamelee, Mutant Blobs. There is always something I'm never fated to be able to complete. But I'm content with this knowledge.

For what its worth, my definition of "complete" is to conclude the story and have credits roll. Obviously everyone has a different definition, but by that one i have probably never finished a game in my life. And that's far too crushing for my my fragile ego to take. I finished Yakuza 0. With a completion of about 49%. For me, that's a victory.

That's certainly the case for me in most instances, I very rarely complete a story mode let alone 100% something (I think the last 100% I got was HZD) but the stuff put out by Drinkbox is just so good that I really want those platinum trophies. I'm just never going to get them.

Rex Kramer wrote:

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:

Rex Kramer wrote:Every game released by Drinkbox - I love all their games and have finished all of them but never 100%. There is always one bit that my old man skills just don't have the muscle memory for these days. Severed, Guacamelee, Mutant Blobs. There is always something I'm never fated to be able to complete. But I'm content with this knowledge.

For what its worth, my definition of "complete" is to conclude the story and have credits roll. Obviously everyone has a different definition, but by that one i have probably never finished a game in my life. And that's far too crushing for my my fragile ego to take. I finished Yakuza 0. With a completion of about 49%. For me, that's a victory.

That's certainly the case for me in most instances, I very rarely complete a story mode let alone 100% something (I think the last 100% I got was HZD) but the stuff put out by Drinkbox is just so good that I really want those platinum trophies. I'm just never going to get them.

I really enjoyed Guacamelee and Severed also. "Finished" both of them

OrangeRakoon wrote:Dark Chronicle

One of the best RPGs I've ever played and I've poured I think hundreds of hours into it, yet I never finished it (despite starting it over a few times and getting to the final boss before the post-game).

Yeah good shout. It's probably one of my favourite games, but the penultimate (I think) boss battle which is essentially every boss from the game one after another all over again was just so cheap, unnecessary, and - above all - difficult. Such a shame when a game is spoilt like that.

Also, Final Fantasy VII. I think I put 70-80 hours into it but - for a reason that I can't remember - never got around to finishing it. I'd still rank it among my top favourite games though. I'll go back and complete it someday.

Lotus wrote:

OrangeRakoon wrote:Dark Chronicle

One of the best RPGs I've ever played and I've poured I think hundreds of hours into it, yet I never finished it (despite starting it over a few times and getting to the final boss before the post-game).

Yeah good shout. It's probably one of my favourite games, but the penultimate (I think) boss battle which is essentially every boss from the game one after another all over again was just so cheap, unnecessary, and - above all - difficult. Such a shame when a game is spoilt like that.

Also, Final Fantasy VII. I think I put 70-80 hours into it but - for a reason that I can't remember - never got around to finishing it. I'd still rank it among my top favourite games though. I'll go back and complete it someday.

Yeah, you and me both.

I have regrettably never finished a Zelda game and it's starting to become a massive hang up for me , I've played near enough every single one as well. Dunno what it is about them, some of them I have barely got into, some of I have progressed to 3/4 of the way through but not got to the end....absolutly ridiculous really

Link to the past has to be the worse for it I've had about 6 runs at that games starting aged 11 the last one being 31......I have no idea what happens but my saves just seem to vanish, this has happened about three times on about 3 different formats. Had 6/8 princess done on the furtherst progressed one

Also plenty of Bullfrog games that get silly hard towards the end. Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper 2, Populous the Beginning being the three that stand out.

Happens much less these days as most modern games a piece of pish.

Manwell Pablo wrote:I have regrettably never finished a Zelda game and it's starting to become a massive hang up for me , I've played near enough every single one as well. Dunno what it is about them, some of them I have barely got into, some of I have progressed to 3/4 of the way through but not got to the end....absolutly ridiculous really

Link to the past has to be the worse for it I've had about 6 runs at that games starting aged 11 the last one being 31......I have no idea what happens but my saves just seem to vanish, this has happened about three times on about 3 different formats. Had 6/8 princess done on the furtherst progressed one

Also plenty of Bullfrog games that get silly hard towards the end. Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper 2, Populous the Beginning being the three that stand out.

Happens much less these days as most modern games a piece of pish.

That's (broadly speaking) true. I find it hard to believe there are not more games from my childhood that i love but have failed to complete. But i think most of them were so bloody difficult i never got far enough in to them to fall in love. And i did manage to finish the ones that were more forgiving as there was considerably less "padding" back in the C64 days.....

I guess Hired Guns on the Amiga would be another one. It was always a multiplayer game for me, and the opportunities to gather everyone around a then aging computer seemed to dwindle too fast.

Dragon Quest VII on PS1. Despite having started this at least 3 times and getting what felt like pretty far each time I always hit a brick wall of difficulty around 80 hrs in. Great game absolutely ruined by it’s difficulty and endless grinding.

Technically I've not finished Thief 2: The Metal Age - although I am on the final level. In fact I nearly finished it before dying and getting set back quite a bit of progress, which is what killed my momentum. Because as good as Thief 2 is, the final level is a bit of a snooze