Let's talk about beating games

[Exhuminator]

I was actually making a correlation between Diablo 3's "kill tons of dudes all the time" and the similar sort of gameplay in Serious Sam and Painkiller

I haven't put any time into either of those two FPS games. So I can't confirm or deny if I agree with you about those. However, compared to DOOM, the killing you do in Diablo 3 feels flaccid in contrast. At least in DOOM you actually have to have some skill to make it anywhere. Diablo 3's combat consist of moving your avatar in the general direction of the enemy and pressing whatever screen-death-filling special move you've got assigned to button A. Now I'm not trying to say Diablo 3 is a bad game. It's a proper loot grinder. It's glorified Gauntlet even. And if that's what you're after, you're in for a good time.

[isiolia]

However, compared to DOOM, the killing you do in Diablo 3 feels flaccid in contrast. At least in DOOM you actually have to have some skill to make it anywhere. Diablo 3's combat consist of moving your avatar in the general direction of the enemy and pressing whatever screen-death-filling special move you've got assigned to button A. Now I'm not trying to say Diablo 3 is a bad game. It's a proper loot grinder. It's glorified Gauntlet even. And if that's what you're after, you're in for a good time.

I think a lot of what Diablo does is along the lines of MMOs/etc where the fun comes in getting new stuff. That said, "Hard" is still basically tutorial mode, where actually succeeding at the real higher difficulty levels (on PC at least, Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, then six levels of Torment) means getting to the level cap, getting good gear, and utilizing effective builds. Not all are available until you've run through the game once, but after that, the intent is more that you set the difficulty to match what you can do (since XP and rewards scale up), or the risk you want if playing Hardcore.

[ConsoleHandheldGamer]

I love rpgs, and rpgs can be loooong. Many of my games are rpgs. I've been wanting to play Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, but according to how long to beat, it's almost 50 hours long. I have quite a few rpgs I've put hours into and I keep feeling like I have to beat them before I start another long rpg.

Persona (20 hours)
Persona 2 Innocent Sin (over 16 hours)
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (10 hours)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (15 hours)
Solatorobo: Red The Hunter (not sure of the time but a few hours)
Final Fantasy VII (29 hours)
Magical Starsign (over 30 hours)
Shin Megami Tensei IV (10 hours)

This isn't counting games I only played for a couple of hours or less like Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story or Mark of the Ninja, both of which are games I do want to play.

I also have trouble just picking a game to play, so I just go back to Pokemon X and breeding and hatching pokemon.

I don't want to start a game I want to play only to basically abandon it after 10 or 20 hours.

I am ashamed of my steam library, I have over 200 games!

[LewisCunningham]

For the beating game, I like Ruthless Pandas, the Power of Love, and Double Edged. They are so cool and intense to enjoy.

[marlowe221]

1) Do you have problems focusing enough on a game to beat it?

I have more in the last 5 years or so than any other time in my life. Then again, I have a lot less time for games these days than I used to have.

But yeah, sometimes I do. Then I feel some weird guilt for not playing the game more, which makes me not want to go back to it, which brings on the guilt, which...

2) Other than losing interest, is there any recurring reason why you abandon games?

Some games are longer than they should be. Skyrim should last for ages if you want it to. But a FPS has worn out its welcome with me after hour 10 or so.

3) Conversely, is there something that makes you far more likely to beat a game?

If something about the gameplay really hooks me that really helps. But I have had times when I really liked the music in a game and kept playing it so I could listen to it more... and ended up beating the game.

4) Do you finish bad games or games you are not enjoying too much?

Usually, I don't - life is too short to waste time playing bad games. Then again, sometimes a game will piss me off and I don't want to let the game "beat me." Whatever that means...

5) Have you ever tried to beat a whole series? Which one? Did you succeed?

I have thought about it but never attempted it. Even series that I like usually have enough games in them that I don't like or look tiresome to keep me from trying it.

Bonus X) What's the game that required more effort from you to beat?

Ninja Gaiden for the original Xbox

Bonus Y) What game you would really love to beat but won't for the foreseeable future?

Shinobi 3. I can't get through the last level and it takes me so long to get there that I just don't see myself going back to it any time soon, though I would love to be able to say I have beaten that game.

Bonux Z) Aren't you ashamed when you open your Steam library? Shaaaame

Not too much. My Steam purchases are pretty modest compared to a lot of folks. Even if you include my GoG purchases too, I am still under 100 games total. There are probably 20 or so combined that I have yet to play but I don't think that is too bad.

[Exhuminator]

How many people will play through an entire game because it got rave reviews and you keep playing trying to understand what is great about said game? Despite the fact that you aren't having fun with it? I do this sometimes and always regret it. Well except for the part where I write a scathing review explaining exactly why I think whatever game it was is overrated blah. That's always a fair feeling of redemption. I still get left with this void in my gamer soul where I still don't understand what was so great about the game that I just couldn't see.

[MrPopo]

How many people will play through an entire game because it got rave reviews and you keep playing trying to understand what is great about said game? Despite the fact that you aren't having fun with it? I do this sometimes and always regret it. Well except for the part where I write a scathing review explaining exactly why I think whatever game it was is overrated blah. That's always a fair feeling of redemption. I still get left with this void in my gamer soul where I still don't understand what was so great about the game that I just couldn't see.

I made Hobie do something like that. He had previously expressed a vehement dislike of Deus Ex, so one time it was on sale for $2.50 I gifted him a copy. He then forced himself to play through from front to back (which he hadn't done before) and gave me scathing commentary as he did so.

[Exhuminator]

He then forced himself to play through from front to back (which he hadn't done before) and gave me scathing commentary as he did so.

Shit's cathartic yo.

I've also spite beat a few games simply because someone implied I didn't have the skill to do so. That is THE reason I suffered through Untold on Expert difficulty and ADULTS difficulty of Viewtiful Joe and also beat F-Zero GX and you get the picture.

[MrPopo]

Oh, I've definitely beaten games that were saying "I don't think you have it in you to beat me." I remember spending a week in Odin Sphere on Velvet's boss fight vs. Belial; I just kept the game on so I could start right at the fight with the infinite continues. A massive lagfest with heavy RNG and long, uncancellable attack animations.

Odin Sphere was a mix of some really fun stuff with some really teeth gnashing stuff, and I don't think the former outweighed the latter. But I am excited about the remake, as it seems like they're going to fix the shitty parts.

[Exhuminator]

it seems like they're going to fix the shitty parts.