Do you play games you don't enjoy?

[LetalisK]

What games have you played to completion when you didn't enjoy them and why, if you even have a reason? Is this normally a problem for you?

I'm sure this thread has been done at sometime in the past, but I couldn't find it through a quick search, so I figured I'd ask because I do have this problem. When I was younger and had almost no responsibilities, it didn't matter how bad a game was. I was going to finish it, god damn it. Now that I'm working like a dog, I've been forced to chuck unenjoyable games to the wayside just as a matter of time economy, but there is one I have not been able to: the Dragon Age series.

I didn't like Origins because I didn't like the combat. Slogged my way through it anyway. Didn't like DA2 because it was repetitive as hell. Finished it anyway. And now I'm going through DA:I and I want to stop playing it, but I keep coming back to finish the dragging story I don't even particularly like(same with AC3, but I did have much more time when I played that). Like a heroine addict but without the high. And you'd think I'd just speed through the main quest so I could get a sense of closure. Nope, I gotta do all the side quests too. Every time I start it I always think "Man, I'd rather play something else" or "This make me want to play Skyrim right now" or some other variation. Insanity on my part.

I have a problem, guys. *shakes*

 

[DOOM GUY]

Can't really say that I do.

If I really don't enjoy a game, I'll stop playing it, though I generally try to make sure I'll enjoy the game before buying it.

 

[Mutant1988]

Define "enjoy".

Because you can appreciate games on different levels than just by how "fun" they are. I enjoy playing bad games from time to time, just because it gives me a greater appreciation and understanding of good game design. I also enjoy playing mediocre games and being surprised by what they get right.

In fact, I want to play those games more so than most high profile games, simply because the biggest titles are practically all the same. Bad games can be bad in interesting ways.

But I can't afford both bad and good games, so I usually just purchase and play good games, although not necessarily what others would consider good.

Not a hipster or anything, I just have particular tastes. I freaking adore the Earth Defence Force games and love fighting games (Especially 2D - It's an aesthetics thing) even though I'm not that good at them and dislike competitive games.

And if your game lets me customize and dress up my character then you're my most favourite developer. Unless you make MMOs or F2Ps. If so, shame on you!

And some games are compelling without being fun at all. Sadness and horror can fit within the spectrum of "enjoyment" as well, as paradoxical as that might sound.

I really, really want that remake of "Pathologic" to be released on Steam so that I can purchase and play it. It sounds like an absolute chore to play it and the entire premise is incredibly depressing, but that is what makes it compelling.

Have I played an insanely boring and badly made game far, far too much? Definitely. But there's always something in it that I enjoyed, even if only subconsciously (I resent levelling and unlock systems but I'm compelled to keep playing, especially when it unlocks customization) or superficially (Unique aesthetics or any high resolution 2D).

 

[Iwata]

Nope.

If a game isn't succeeding in making me feel involved, whether it's through story, good gameplay or anything of the sort, then I won't force myself to finish it. I have little enough time for video games as it is without squandering it on games I don't like playing.

Besides, I usually research games thoroughly before buying them, so it is rare that I'll start playing a game only to find I don't like it. You mentioned the DA series: that did happen to me. I started playing it, lost interest, never went back. Might try again someday... or I might not.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

No, why would I do that?

 

[hybridial]

Well I kinda felt like I beat the Dark Souls games to prove a point and less because I enjoyed them a whole lot (I enjoyed them a bit, at times, but definitely feel after the experience I wouldn't have lost much for never actually playing them).

I don't have an excuse other than I'm a bloody minded person who got sick of the hype these games get and I couldn't criticise them without someone making a "git gud" comment. So I beat them because they are not hard games. No really, they are not hard. Time consuming, ornery, repetitive, and (admittedly rarely) cheap, but not hard. I reserve that term for games that are a legitimate test of skill and not of memorisation or endurance. It's kind of a shame though because the times they did manage to cobble together a set of fights or a boss fight that did seem cool makes me wish they were better games.

I did enjoy 2 much more than the first one thanks to it's online functionality actually being capable of functioning as well, and to me more sensible decisions about how weapon upgrading and stats work.

But it felt too much like work to be enjoyable most of the time.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

The only game I've done that with is Dragon Age Origins. I bought it, got to the 1st of the bits where you have to recruit allies (I went with the undead castle bit) and thought...I am not enjoying this, I don't give a crap about the story, characters or world and I don't like the gameplay. Uninstall.
A year or so later I was bored, with no money to spare to do anything else but eat and pay bills, so I played it through to the end on easy to pass the time. Zevran at least brought some redeeming features to the game.


Advice for OP: Stop buying Dragon Age games.

Some things just aren't going to be your cup of tea. I don't buy Bioware games because in the past, all bar 1, I get in a short way and realise I'm just not having fun and I'm not engaged for whatever reason and I don't think that's ever going to change.

Also: Heroin. It's fucking Heroin. There's no "e" on the end, you don't snort Joan of Arc's ashes. Sorry. Pet peeve, I'll go away now.

 

[hybridial]

Yeah, I kinda feel the same way about Bioware's games for the most part, except Baldur's Gate.

I adore Baldur's Gate.

oh and Mass Effect 1 and 2 were good as well, shame they had to ruin all that (and really, it's not just the ending of 3, there was a lot wrong with 3 more than that)

 

[Ravenier]

Depends. The only occasion where I really play games I don't enjoy is when I fervently hope that after all the boring stuff, maybe the game actually has something fun going for me (i.e. Viscera Cleanup Simulator).

The other reason is that I sometimes play games because I want to play their sequels but fear that I might miss out on the story if I just play the second part without playing the first. Imagine my surprise when I played through Icewind Dale only to find out that its story had very little to do with Icewind Dale 2.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

The only occasion where I did this was with "Bastion". The game wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was all that fun either, but everyone kept telling me how amazing the story and ending were, so I played it to completion.

 

[Mutant1988]

The only occasion where I did this was with "Bastion". The game wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was all that fun either, but everyone kept telling me how amazing the story and ending were, so I played it to completion.

I liked everything in Bastion except the narrator and level design. Falling out of the world at all times and having someone talk over the entire game is not my idea of fun. The art style and gameplay was nice, but not nice enough to stop me from getting bored with the game.

 

[Dornedas]

Well I actually did 2 times.

The first time was when I forced myself through Dragon Age 2. But I was stupid back then and believed that you could import savegames into Inquisition. Oh and I was interested in Inquisition back then. But everybody gets smarter with time.

The second one is Dungeons Of Dredmor. According to steam I have clocked 243 hours into this one AND I DON'T KNOW WHY.
The game has some "funny" references the first time you play it. But after the twentieth time the entertainment value sinks rapidly.
I just don't know with this game.
Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome.
Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Other than those 2 examples the longest I played a game that I didn't enjoy were roughly 20 hours of Final Fantasy VII.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

No. I play games for my enjoyment and can think of no reason why I would or should do otherwise.

 

[Pyrian]

If I'm most of the way through a game and getting bored, I might push through just to finish it. Far Cry 2 certainly got that way by the end.

 

[Naldan]

Yes. Sometimes to understand the hype or trying to. Sometimes for achievements. Best example is Bastion. I really don't like it and rarely play it.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

I used to abandon games that I found boring, and if we are talking about a game I play in my free time, then I still do, but recently I began writing for a gaming website. I have a monthly feature where I play well liked and praised games that were released before I was born, then write an article which is half a review and half pondering on the game, and the industry back then versus the industry now.
Most recently I did Crusader : No Remorse, which was extremely boring after a while, but I finished it anyway. I'll probably run into a few others along the way that I'll find boring, but will play through anyway.

 

[Pete Oddly]

Only when I have to in order to placate other people. Such as when I'm at a friend's house for a get together and all they want to play is NHL 2014 or Rock Band or something.

Other than that, never.

 

[Fox12]

I only did that with Bioshock, and it took a while. My roomate kept pushing me to play it until it "got good." Eh, it got better at the end I guess. Of course, we hung out and talked the whole time, so that was more fun then the game.

Silent Hill 2 and Spec-Ops, sort of. Masterpieces, both of them, but I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" them in the normal use of the word.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Very rarely. I usually can't even finish them, though. I tried to play Metroid: Other M over again, after the first time when it was only a few months old, to maybe see if there was something redeeming about it I missed the first time. I got bored and put it away after only getting maybe 1/4 of the way through. I picked it up again and maybe got another 90 minutes in when it started to once again drag to the point I found myself playing Zero Mission over again for the thousandth time. I just can not power myself through a boring game that practically has giant flashing lights that say "Play the other, better games that do the series good," especially if it deviates so far from what the franchise so successful. (The same thing can apply to FF13. It still sitting on my shelf waiting for me to put it in and spend one hour deciding to go back to 1-10 or 12 or Tactics.)

Since they were on sale for $20 together, I bought both Sonic Storybook games. I've tried to get through Sonic and the Secret Rings, but didn't get far. I went in expecting it to blow and was not disappointed in that regard. Regrettably because of Sanic and teh Rings of Secrets, I haven't tried Sonic and the Black Knight, yet. I have heard that it is much better (not great, but not bad) than Secret Rings. (Maybe someday if I find Sonic '06 and some morphine, I'll play that. Except it might not count, since you play that game to enjoy the glitching and make fun of the story.)

There also the DS Zeldas (not ALBW). I tried to enjoy them, suffer through the touchscreen only controls, and say i completed both. I still traded them in after having enough with the unresponsive (or overly responsive) stylus controls. (And, the later, super hard flute sections, that require blowing precisely into the mic, of Spirit Tracks can suffer an eternity under the devil's sweaty crack next to Battletoads' speeder bike level for how hard they were). Those are the only two Zelda game I will probably ever trade in.

TL;DR Yeah, I've tried to get through some games just to say I have or to experience the story, but, in the end, I go back to the good stuff before even finishing them.

 

[Teoes]

No - the last two games I played and realised I wasn't enjoying[footnote]Rochard and Bioshock Infinite[/footnote] were put down immediately and never picked up again. In both cases it was only after about half an hour of playing but fuck it, they got off to a bad start. I've got more than enough games that I either love or have yet to play, to bother with something that's not clicking.