The Greatest Games You'll Never Play

[The Rogue Wolf]

You've heard of these games. Everyone around you is telling you how you need to play them right now, how they'll transform your life and cure your indigestion, how nobody can call themselves a gamer until they've completed these games 101%. And you have just one thing to say in response:

"Naw, fam, I'm good."

Whether you played a little bit and bounced off hard, or just don't gel with the very concept of the game, list the games everyone but you loves. (An aside: Please don't go on screeds about how Poster X is wrong and Game Y is the best thing ever. Step up to the microphone, list off the games that apply to you, and cede the floor.)

I'll start:

DOOM Eternal. I wanted another balls-to-the-wall first-person shooter. Instead, I got trips through Hell's gymnasium interspersed with super-gimmicky combat where I almost needed a notepad to keep track of what abilities I had. After four attempts I still can't get more than a couple hours into the game before it aggravates me and I just close it.

The Outer Worlds. It plays exactly one note very, very loud: "BOY, CAPITALISM SURE IS BAD!" And in truth that's a theme I can get behind, but subtlety apparently attacked the writers' fathers' village when they were young. I couldn't put up with it long enough to get into the gameplay.

Nier Automata. It's got aspects of character action (which I'm bad at) and bullet hell (which I despise), and I'm supposed to replay it over and over just to get a "true" ending? I ain't got time for that.

Baldur's Gate III. I know I would hate this game because I hated Dragon Age: Origins... wait, let me rephrase that. I despised Dragon Age: Origins, and I know it was a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate series. I hate turn-based combat and have too much bad luck to depend on dice rolls for everything.

 

[BrawlMan]

DOOM Eternal. I wanted another balls-to-the-wall first-person shooter. Instead, I got trips through Hell's gymnasium interspersed with super-gimmicky combat where I almost needed a notepad to keep track of what abilities I had. After four attempts I still can't get more than a couple hours into the game before it aggravates me and I just close it.

The Outer Worlds. It plays exactly one note very, very loud: "BOY, CAPITALISM SURE IS BAD!" And in truth that's a theme I can get behind, but subtlety apparently attacked the writers' fathers' village when they were young. I couldn't put up with it long enough to get into the gameplay.

Nier Automata. It's got aspects of character action (which I'm bad at) and bullet hell (which I despise), and I'm supposed to replay it over and over just to get a "true" ending? I ain't got time for that.

Baldur's Gate III. I know I would hate this game because I hated Dragon Age: Origins... wait, let me rephrase that. I despised Dragon Age: Origins, and I know it was a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate series. I hate turn-based combat and have too much bad luck to depend on dice rolls for everything.

I played 2/4 games you mentioned. I stopped 5 hours in Eternal, because I despise the platforming. Autoamata I did get the true ending, but I am never playing the game ever again.

Put me down for Outer Worlds too at least. BG III I might do later down the line, but no guarantee.

Ninja Gaiden Black/Sigma. The puzzles in this game sucks, and the pacing and exploration don't do for me. The puzzle aspects feel like a worse version of DMC1. Give me II Black/Sigma 2 any day of the week over the first game. Speaking of those two updated versions, and I am never touching vanilla Ninja Gaiden II ever again.

Sonic Frontiers - The mini games being required to progress the story aren't fun, full of padding, and have almost nothing to do with the context of the side quest or sub-plot detail. They were never needed, and I had to stop playing, sold the game, and watched a playthrough of the story.

 

[thebobmaster]

Dino Crisis and the older RE games. I enjoy survival horror, but I just can't do tank controls. At all.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Probably something that takes hundreds of hours to complete. And I mean actually complete, as in finish; not dedicated time wasters like Minecraft or Balatro.

Case in point, Skyrim.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Anything Zelda. I just don't get it.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Western RPGs. Between choice paralysis with all the classes and stats, not really feeling like the story decisions mean enough, and generally not being able to wrap my head around the progression and combat systems most of them use, I haven't met a single one that I've beaten, and only a few I enjoyed enough to give a serious shot at. Fallout New Vegas and Mass Effect 1 are the most I've ever put into them that I can remember; hell, I barely played Baldur's Gate 3 and The Witcher 3 for more than one session. Meanwhile, I've punched out quite a few full-length JRPGs (including 100 hours of Fire Emblem 4 [it counts]) and am currently working through Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Honestly, pretty much everything now.

I've stated this before, but when Playdead dropped INSIDE in my lap back in 2016, I was so blown away, it cast a pall on gaming for me. Everything else suddenly became so low effort, condescending, and insulting to my intelligence, truly wastes of my time. I threw myself into Dark Souls for quite a while after that because it was challenging and at the very least engaged my imagination and intellect. It got me by for quite a while, then I moved on to Dark Souls 2, then 3, now Elden Ring and Red Dead 2, but nothing has even come close to catching my interest. I've tried a bunch of titles, but keeping my interest is a tall task nowadays.

This is how bad it is, I re-downloaded Goat Simulator because the middle ground between "challenge and intellectual stimulation" and "I really just want to dumb out and waste some time" is just a vast sea of "meh" to me anymore.

The only thing I'm looking forward to is GTA6. Yeah, I've read all the cynical comments around these parts about those who "don't care" or "don't understand the hype," but the fact remains Rockstar produces high quality games that are clever, funny, and fun to fuck around in, and that's about the most enthusiasm I can muster anymore.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

The Pathologic series.

I dunno, I started Pathologic 2 and I picked medium difficulty, as I usually do when I start a game I haven't played before. Then the game tried to guilt trip me by telling me that you aren't meant to play it on anything but the hardest difficulty for the intended experience.

I'm sure it's a game of considerable artistic merit and I'm not gonna take that away from them but I don't abide that kind of tomfoolery.

 

[BrawlMan]

Western RPGs

Same for me.

The only thing I'm looking forward to is GTA6. Yeah, I've read all the cynical comments around these parts about those who "don't care" or "don't understand the hype," but the fact remains Rockstar produces high quality games that are clever, funny, and fun to fuck around in, and that's about the most enthusiasm I can muster anymore.

Do as you wish but I don't play these games anymore, because I find them boring and uninteresting. GTA died for me after IV. I don't regret the time I had with previous games, aside from San Andreas, but I have pretty what no reason to go back and play these anymore. Takes too much time and I rather be focusing on either better old stuff or enjoying new things way more interesting. Besides, open world games like GoT and Spider-Man have spoiled me.

Do be careful what you wish for @Xprimentyl.

Speaking of the open world general, I can't get into almost any of these games nowadays. It has been that way for a long time now. The only exceptions are once again, Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man, and the upcoming Yotei. These games really showed how shallow this design trend had become, and that Rock Star literally has nothing else going for them. Aside from being as controversial as possible. That loss its luster for me years ago. Because of GoT, I'm never touching another AC game too. I haven't touched another AC game since Brotherhood though.

Any cover shooter not named Vanquish or Bulletstorm. Both of these games really show how shallow and pathetic. A majority others cover shooters worth it, and were just copying for the sake of copying and hoping to make all the money in the world. These two games still stood the test of time and have age better than pretty much anything from the Gears of War/COD era. Both games allow much more movement and creativity with their shooting and game play mechanics. Vanquish being the most flexible and stylish about it.

Far Cry does nothing for me either, unless it's Instincts, or Crysis 2 & 3.

Monster Hunter is not as fun doing solo, snd nobody in my group bothers with the game and it applies to me as well.

 

[Worgen]

Monster Hunter Wilds. I'm sure its good and fun and I have played/enjoyed other Monster Hunter games, but I'm tired of hunting what are essentially just animals doing their own things.

 

[Samos205]

Kingdom Hearts
Made it to the hub town and clocked out. I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy the story or the gameplay. A bit of shame since the third one looks good, but can I be bothered slogging my way through the first two games to know the story? Nope. The stupid thing is, I've brought it 4 separate times now (PS2, 3, 4 (digital), 4 (physical) and I just cannot enjoy it.

Uncharted 4
Currently playing it, or trying to atleast, but I'm just really struggling to enjoy it. Everytime the game starts feeling good or i'm enjoying it, we hit a new section and it just grinds to a halt again. I want to enjoy, since I've mostly enjoyed the first 3, but it's a real struggle

Red Dead Redemption
I just found it boring

 

[Drathnoxis]

Kingdom Hearts
Made it to the hub town and clocked out. I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy the story or the gameplay. A bit of shame since the third one looks good, but can I be bothered slogging my way through the first two games to know the story? Nope. The stupid thing is, I've brought it 4 separate times now (PS2, 3, 4 (digital), 4 (physical) and I just cannot enjoy it.

Would you actually know the story if you only played the first 2 Kingdom Hearts games?

 

[Dreiko]

Super Mario Galaxy. I've never been so bored by a game before. And I remember review sites giving it an unironic 11/10. Also the more recent Astro Bot that won game of the year. It just doesn't look cool to me. I kinda fell out of love with 3D platformers. Last one I truly enjoyed was the Jak and Daxter series.

You've heard of these games. Everyone around you is telling you how you need to play them right now, how they'll transform your life and cure your indigestion, how nobody can call themselves a gamer until they've completed these games 101%. And you have just one thing to say in response:

"Naw, fam, I'm good."

Whether you played a little bit and bounced off hard, or just don't gel with the very concept of the game, list the games everyone but you loves. (An aside: Please don't go on screeds about how Poster X is wrong and Game Y is the best thing ever. Step up to the microphone, list off the games that apply to you, and cede the floor.)

I'll start:

DOOM Eternal. I wanted another balls-to-the-wall first-person shooter. Instead, I got trips through Hell's gymnasium interspersed with super-gimmicky combat where I almost needed a notepad to keep track of what abilities I had. After four attempts I still can't get more than a couple hours into the game before it aggravates me and I just close it.

The Outer Worlds. It plays exactly one note very, very loud: "BOY, CAPITALISM SURE IS BAD!" And in truth that's a theme I can get behind, but subtlety apparently attacked the writers' fathers' village when they were young. I couldn't put up with it long enough to get into the gameplay.

Nier Automata. It's got aspects of character action (which I'm bad at) and bullet hell (which I despise), and I'm supposed to replay it over and over just to get a "true" ending? I ain't got time for that.

Baldur's Gate III. I know I would hate this game because I hated Dragon Age: Origins... wait, let me rephrase that. I despised Dragon Age: Origins, and I know it was a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate series. I hate turn-based combat and have too much bad luck to depend on dice rolls for everything.

You don't really replay Nier, you just play through the same events with a different playable character so you see a different perspective and get new information that you couldn't perceive from the first char's perspective. While the overall plot is the same, the experience of seeing it through the eyes of a different person makes it a totally different experience. And then everything basically culminates at the end and you realize that the thing you replayed through different eyes 3 times was about 2/3rds of the game and there's a whole new third act for you to play that you just play once and everyone kinda joins up for it. Also each char plays differently so mechanically it's unique and they fight unique bosses and so on too, there's a hacking minigame you don't get with 2B, bunch of smaller differences like that. Not liking action combat is valid but the rest really isn't. The bullet hell stuff is extremely minimal and nothing like what you'd find in a proper bullet hell game either, I think that stuff's just a remnant of Nier Replicant, just a thing the game thinks is cool.


Btw if you don't like action games and you don't like turn based combat what DO you like? XD Do you just play visual novels or something? Building games?

 

[BrawlMan]

don't like action games and you don't like turn based combat what DO you like? XD Do you just play visual novels or something? Building games?

Whatever works for him. I seen him enjoy plenty of action games or r p g's and those he didn't. No different from any other person.

 

[BrawlMan]

Borderlands I will never touch at all.

 

[Catfood220]

Souls-likes in general.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with Elden Ring and it currently sits in my master "will go back to that at some point" pile, the open world burnout kicked in after a while. But Souls-likes in general will have me backing away from a game going "nope nope nope..." like you would from a vicious attack dog. I'm sure they are fun if you have the time to dedicate to them, but I don't and dying and losing a ton of progress is frustrating and disheartening. I would love to get into Bloodborne and Dark Soul's and Another Crabs Tale looks like fun. But I don't have the time to dedicate to them.

Elden Ring was difficult, but littered with save points and the ability to go away and level up before charging, screaming bloody vengeance on that dragon that killed me in 3 hits five hours earlier in the game.

Stuff like Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

I am a massive wuss, if I'm going to be trapped in a horror game, I want to be tooled up like Isaac Clark from Dead Space so at least I can fight back against the gibbering monster that wants to eat my skin.

The Atellier games.

I just cannot get into these games, I love JRPGs, but these do nothing for me, I picked up one for the PS3 whose name I can't remember but that didn't last long and neither did Atellier Rorona, through a mixture of me hating the character and the voice actor picking the most annoying high pitched whine for her. I recently downloaded the demo for the most recent game and yet again, bounced off it pretty hard. So yeah, i don't think I'll ever get into these games.

Uncharted 4
Currently playing it, or trying to atleast, but I'm just really struggling to enjoy it. Everytime the game starts feeling good or i'm enjoying it, we hit a new section and it just grinds to a halt again. I want to enjoy, since I've mostly enjoyed the first 3, but it's a real struggle

Yeah, I loved the first 3 games and to this day, 4 is the only one I haven;t played over and over again. I think the success of The Last Us crept into the games design and as a result, the game at times feels slow and bloated with a emphasis on stealth rather than whizz bang shooty fun that the previous games had excelled at. When this game was good, it was really good, but at other times, it did drag quite a bit.

i mean, the fact that on getting to the title screen and instead of being met by that bombastic theme tune, you were met with almost silence, like the title screen for The Last of Us, that should have been a warning sign really.

 

[BrawlMan]

Uncharted 4
Currently playing it, or trying to atleast, but I'm just really struggling to enjoy it. Everytime the game starts feeling good or i'm enjoying it, we hit a new section and it just grinds to a halt again. I want to enjoy, since I've mostly enjoyed the first 3, but it's a real struggle

i mean, the fact that on getting to the title screen and instead of being met by that bombastic theme tune, you were met with almost silence, like the title screen for The Last of Us, that should have been a warning sign really.

I played through UC4 once, and never wanted to touch it again. I hate Sam Drake, and Nadine I didn't find an entertaining villain nor 'sympathetic' in Lost Legacy. Druckmann's writing problems in this game were precursor of what was worse to come in TLOUS2. The only good thing about Lost Legacy is that he was never involved with that one. I still don't like Nadine, and she can fuck off.

 

[Kyrian007]

Souls-likes in general.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with Elden Ring and it currently sits in my master "will go back to that at some point" pile, the open world burnout kicked in after a while. But Souls-likes in general will have me backing away from a game going "nope nope nope..." like you would from a vicious attack dog. I'm sure they are fun if you have the time to dedicate to them, but I don't and dying and losing a ton of progress is frustrating and disheartening. I would love to get into Bloodborne and Dark Soul's and Another Crabs Tale looks like fun. But I don't have the time to dedicate to them.

Elden Ring was difficult, but littered with save points and the ability to go away and level up before charging, screaming bloody vengeance on that dragon that killed me in 3 hits five hours earlier in the game.

Souls-likes as well, but for a different reason. I hate fail states. Dying in a game, frustrates me so much I usually have to put it down and come back later. A game like Dark Souls, where you are expected to just throw corpse after corpse of yourself at bosses until they choke on them... just don't appeal to me. Not that difficult games bother me, sometimes coming out of a big action sequence with no healing items left and down to single digits in hit points... those are moments that stand out as really great ones. Sometimes just as good, having to flee. It is one of the things that made Shadow of Mordor so good. Fight not going your way... don't know the weakness of the captain you are fighting and then another ambushes you and you have to hoof it with just enough health left stay alive. Really great moments. That would be my instinct in a Soulslike, and from everything I've seen about them... that's the wrong way to play.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Sometimes just as good, having to flee. It is one of the things that made Shadow of Mordor so good. Fight not going your way... don't know the weakness of the captain you are fighting and then another ambushes you and you have to hoof it with just enough health left stay alive. Really great moments. That would be my instinct in a Soulslike, and from everything I've seen about them... that's the wrong way to play.

It's not something you can apply to every battle, especially boss fights, but in fights against regular enemies that are going badly, there's nothing stopping you from backing up, either to retreat to a bonfire or just to get some breathing space. Ultimately, there's no 'wrong way' to play those games; whatever works for you is valid, even if that's retreating from a fight that's going badly.

Actually, you might like Elden Ring; that has a lot more scope for retreating from or avoiding battles, even (most) bosses, than most games of that type. Though, I get that it's not something for everyone.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Stuff like Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

I am a massive wuss, if I'm going to be trapped in a horror game, I want to be tooled up like Isaac Clark from Dead Space so at least I can fight back against the gibbering monster that wants to eat my skin.

More specific than my already stated general malaise with most games, Horror games. I like them well enough, but my anxiety doesn't allow me to enjoy playing them. The last one I tried was Outlast; I think I made it about a third of the way through when it just became too much. I'll watch playthroughs if one interests me enough, but I won't play them myself anymore.