Games NOT Beaten: 2015

[alienjesus]

February:
Fantasy Life 3DS
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legend of the Titan 3DS
Bayonetta
Pokémon Tetris

On the list: Etrian Odyssey IV, Bayonetta, Pokémon Tetris
Off the list: Discworld, Pokémon Shuffle

Nothing notable again this month. Working through all the games on this list except Fantasy Life, which I still need to get back to.

[dsheinem]

I've never used this thread much and I don't know that I will do it in the "standard mode" that a lot of you seem to like, but I did want to make mention of a few games that I have spent time with and scuttled as part of my alpha-by-year challenge.

For D/1982, I played with and gave up on:
-David's Midnight Magic (C64 emulation)...not sure it can be "beat" anyway

For G/1985 I played with and gave up on:
-Ghost Chaser (c64 emulation)...jumping felt too imprecise.

For I/1987 I played with and gave up on:
-Into the Eagles Nest (Atari ST emulation)...imagine if Gauntlet was military themed and sucked.

For K/1989 I played with and gave up on:
-King's Knight (NES)...I really like this one, but I think I have had it with the reset mechanic.
-Knight Arms: The Hyblid Framer (Sharp X68000 emulation)...what a beautiful game. A slow, jerky, beautiful game.

[Westane]

Oh this is fun! Let's see... Games I've given up on this year so far...

NES
Batman: The Video Game - Joker kept kicking my ass. So close though!
Battletoads - Also too hard. Made it to Stage 5, the surfing one.
Rush'n Attack - Like Contra, except not really... Hard but not particularly fun
Gradius - Because lawl
Cobra Triangle - Such a stupid, stupid game. Not sure how people could like this one
Kid Icarus - Wanted to love it, ended up hating it. Hard and frustrating and not fun at all
Double Dragon II - Another one that should have been good. Felt like I was fighting the engine more than the enemies...
Adventure Island - @#$% @# @#$@ @# @^#@^$%C *$ #^ @#^ %$*
Bomberman - Just got so boring so fast. You could say this one ... ... wasn't very good

Gameboy (Color)
F-1 Race - Too demanding. Making even the slightest mistake cost you the race.
Perfect Dark - Just such a BAD game all around. Couldn't stomach playing it further
Tomb Raider - Not bad technically but soooo boring. Like Metroid if Samus was slow and couldn't aim.
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters - Much better than the NES one, but still very uninteresting to me.

[Gamerforlife]

Started, but not finished (mostly just because I've been distracted by things other than gaming)

Apotheon
Final Fantasy X HD
Drakengaard 3

Lost interest in:

Dead Rising 3 (and my Xbox One in general)

[Fragems]

Drakengaard 3

If you want all the endings go ahead and start buying all the weapons and thoroughly sweeping every area for chests or else you will have to replay a lot to get all the endings.

Also if you get all the way through to the unlockable final "true" ending just watch it on youtube if you can't get through the last section after a couple of attempts. That section of the game is basically there to piss you off and it's not worth throwing hours into. I would say the amount of players that can legitimately finish the finale is around 5% or less and the way they make you play it really sucks the fun and beauty out of it.

[dust_hound]

I think as part of growing older, i've become more intolerant of spending time on games that i don't really enjoy - the actual 'getting value for money' part has stopped being a reason for me to finish a game.

March 8 2015 (I didn't stop all these on the same day, but came to the realisation that i couldn't be bothered continuing on with them around the same time):
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (PS Vita)

For me, this was something of a polished turd - the graphics are pretty nice for a handheld, and there are some quite atmospheric parts, but even though i like the metroidvania style, i just found the actual playing of this game to be a complete chore. According to my savefile, i was around 50% of the way through the main campaign, but i got sick of backtracking through the boring-ass environments, whilst trying to figure out the shitty map. To be honest, i've never been into the DC or Marvel superhero universes anyway, so whilst that might have been something that would appeal to fans and keep them driving forward, i'm not going to be continuing with this one. I got it free with my vita, but i just don't see it as being worth my time.

Toukiden: Age of Demons (PS Vita)

I think this one had a lot of potential as a part of the 'hunting' genre, and the mystical Japanese folklore atmosphere was quite enthralling, but the actual process of going out and learning the patterns of the various bosses was a bit on the boring side. The enemies have a sort of shield bar, plus health, and the former can regenerate, visualised as limbs that can be chopped off and then regrown. Needless to say, it gets VERY old when this happens, since in general i thought that taking down the major enemies took just slightly too long to hold my interest. Gave up and traded the game for a pittance at Gamestop, but i don't regret leaving it.

Soul Sacrifice (PS Vita)

Also a 'huntying' style game, but here the bosses are defeatable in a reasonable amount of time. Great atmosphere, fantastic lore which draws on historical mythology and soundtrack, but i just didn't connect well with the 'magic spells summon weapons' approach to your character's arsenal - literally there are no actual weapons, and everything including swords and axes etc. is 'summoned' into existence using spells. The individual arenas where you face the enemies are rather small, and there's not really any exploration. Also, the narrator's voice has this really weird echo which is sped up, so whenever he talks, you also hear what sounds like Alvin, or one of the chipmunks, repeating everything he says. It's just as ridiculous as it sounds, and once heard, it's really difficult not to focus on it all the time.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP, played on Vita)

This is empirically also a good game, but TBH i absolutely hate Kratos as a character. So he lost his wife and kid - that's sad, but he's such an unmitigated cunt all of the time that i can't even enjoy playing as him. Beating the epic bosses in these cool and well-realised environments should be an awesome time, but when your on-screen avatar is so abrasive it just makes the whole damn thing leave a bad taste in the mouth. I know the series is meant to be about violent spectacle like the old Clash of the Titans movies etc, but Kratos seems to be written with a deliberate meanness of spirit that you feel no connection with him, and you're never given the choice not to be a psychotic dickhead. Maybe the idea of playing as a villain doesn't appeal to me, hence i generally don't like games like GTA either, but i feel as though they could have tried to make Kratos a little more sympathetic. This game also was free with my Vita, but even for that price, i can't bring myself to continue on with it.

[Luke]

Oh this is fun! Let's see... Games I've given up on this year so far...

NES
Batman: The Video Game - Joker kept kicking my ass. So close though!
Battletoads - Also too hard. Made it to Stage 5, the surfing one.
Rush'n Attack - Like Contra, except not really... Hard but not particularly fun
Cobra Triangle - Such a stupid, stupid game. Not sure how people could like this one


Gameboy (Color)
F-1 Race - Too demanding. Making even the slightest mistake cost you the race.

Batman: The Joker is one of the easiest bosses, as he's all about timing. Don't get nervous and use time to your advantage.

Battletoads: Isn't the Ice level the worst?

Rush n Attack: Always found it fun. Stab, stab, stab...Shoot shoot shoot! Run run run!

Cobra Triangle: Captain Skyhawk in a boat!

F-1: Play the multiplayer with only AI. It's actually a fun racer.

[dust_hound]

To my great shame:

March 13 2015:
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

I REALLY wanted to like SS, based on my previous love of Twilight Princess. In the past, i've played through A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, The Minish Cap, and TP. When the Gamecube version of TP came out, i waited outside GAME early so that i could snag two copies- one to play, and the other to keep pristine. That weekend, i played 8 hours, and my total playthrough that time was around 40. Fast forward to late last year, and i bought TP for my Wii, which i had picked up cheap that summer. Revisiting the game reminded me why i love the Legend of Zelda series so much, with the exploration, and feeling of freedom, but within well-defined, and not-restrictive-feeling limits. It was then with great eagerness that i tried to get into Skyward Sword, but it just isn't for me. Obviously, motion plus is a major selling point, but the accurate rendition of my sword arm movements doesn't really add to my enjoyment at all, except for being able to cut down or across at any angle, unlike TP's canned presets. Things like rotating the sword tip in a circle to confuse those doors was kind of fun, but having to accurately strike enemies when merely trying to go from place to place is, for me, totally NOT. I can completely understand that it adds a cool layer of challenge to the game, but i think i just couldn't get into it. The graphics i feel are great, but somehow the painterly quality, although obviously a nice direction to take, felt less evocative than TP's dark and HD-overdosed style (which i actually really liked). Lastly, i don't know if it was because of the new focus on making every environment interesting and challenge-filled, it felt as though it was taking me ages to get anywhere, so after getting partway through the Lanayru Mining Facility, i switched it off, and went back to start a new game of Twilight Princess, which i'm now enjoying more, in spite of having played through it a couple of times already. I'm pretty sad that i didn't like SS, because i totally acknowledge that it's a brilliant game - it's just not to my taste.

[Sarge]

The thing to realize about Skyward Sword is that, outside of Skyloft, everything is a dungeon. And that's why I loved it. I can certainly see why folks that enjoy the more exploratory nature of other games' overworlds might not cotton to this one, though.

[laurenhiya21]

I really need to try Skyward Sword again... Last time I played it I couldn't get past a certain point because I couldn't bowl bombs properly ._.