Unable to get into good games

[cidbahamut]

In recent years this is a problem I've been struggling with. There are games I know to be good, both by reputation and by the time I've spent with them personally, but for whatever reason I'll find myself burning out halfway through the game. It has happened multiple times with both Metroid Prime and Final Fantasy VI, and most recently I burned out on Earthbound. These are all good games, games that I have enjoyed while playing them, but I somehow manage to keep losing momentum. I'll put a game down for a day or two and that day turns into a week and before I know it I've left it sitting for months and have to start over if I want to get back into it.

Does this happen to anyone else?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Unable to get into good games

Often.

It tends to mean your attentions are focused elsewhere or you picked the right game at the wrong time. Took me three tries to get into FFVII, Xenosaga and even SMT Nocturne. I just wasn't in RPG mode and more in an action game mode. In fact even when I got back there I beat FFVIII, FFIX, and FFX well before FFVII. I think I didn't fully play and beat Nocturne til 2009 and it's still among my favorites.

[Ketaru]

Re: Unable to get into good games

I'm just like that when it comes to RPG's. The first half of the game always holds my interests, then it tapers as the game goes along. I've always rationalized it as the feeling of exploring something new. You start out learning more about the world the game is taking place in, characters get introduced, you learn spells and abilities much more rapidly than as the game progresses. Then, as the game goes on, it just seems to be more and more like a series of fetch quests.

I'm having that problem with Skyrim right now. It's fun, but I can't seem to force myself to finish the main campaign. As I go through the quests, I start to get bored with my current character and just start a new one.

[Malacite]

Re: Unable to get into good games

Nope, can't say that's ever really happened except maybe with Harvest Moon, but then it's freaking Harvest Moon rofl so no biggie.

[Raydeus]

Re: Unable to get into good games

If you get bored just play another game. Sometimes I start playing a game, like it, then drop it and go play something else. Then I go back to playing the game months or even years later.

Just make sure you are having fun, whether you actually finish the games or not is rarely important.

---------- Post added at 02:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:05 PM ----------

PS > On the other side of the spectrum there are games that just draw me in and don't let me go for a long, long time. It took more than 300 hours for me to stop playing Skyrim for instance, and I don't play it often anymore because I'm playing other games I also like, because the moment I go back to Skyrim I just lose track of time again. <_<;

Same with Assassin's Creed games, but fortunately only Brotherhood was content heavy enough to keep me playing for more than a couple of weeks. And still have to play Revelations. XD

[cidbahamut]

Re: Unable to get into good games

Just make sure you are having fun, whether you actually finish the games or not is rarely important.

This is the part that gets me. Once I get far enough into a game I feel like I'm obligated to see it through to the end. It's like giving up on a good book halfway through.

[Raydeus]

Re: Unable to get into good games

Don't worry about that, once you liberate yourself from having to finish the games you'll start having more fun.

---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 PM ----------

BTW, at least in my case I found out that the less time I had to play due to work the less likely I was to spend too much time finishing a game unless I was having serious fun. Same with spending time watching movies or reading. If I'm not at least at a certain level of enjoyment it just feels like a waste of time, so I move on to something more enjoyable.

Back in school when I had way more time to play I didn't mind spending time on stuff even if I was having less fun than I could. But with all the stuff of being a "grown up" I kinda value my time way more now and have stricter enjoyment standards.

[Taskmage]

Re: Unable to get into good games

Glad it's not just me. I still count my multiple aborted play-throughs of BioShock and Deus Ex as marks of shame. I've got a save about 90 minutes into Beyond Good & Evil, too ...

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Unable to get into good games

This is the part that gets me. Once I get far enough into a game I feel like I'm obligated to see it through to the end. It's like giving up on a good book halfway through.

I'm sailing...

In Metroid Prime's case, there's no shame in turning on hints if you're stumped about where to go next, as it's giving you a direction to head in more than telling you exactly how to get there.

FFVI goes open world on you halfway through and the potential to lose or miss people to add back to the group. Getting hit with that can be overwhelming, but checking to see if Gogo or Mog is worth picking up later might help you stay focused on what you really want to get done.

Earthbound I have no advice for, I could never get into it.

[Icemage]

Re: Unable to get into good games

This is why I have a large collection of games; if I don't feel like playing one game for a while, I just leave it on the back burner to finish some other time, and pick up something that turns my gears more at the moment. It helps that I'm pretty "omnivorous" when it comes to gaming and at least reasonably capable at almost all game types, so I can switch freely from puzzle games to platformers to shooters to brawlers to rhythm games as suits my fancy. I do find that I burn out on certain genres after playing them extensively, but rarely does a game scare me away before finishing unless it's devilishly difficult (Ninja Gaiden, Demon's Souls), exceptionally poorly executed (Lost Planet 2), or mind-numbingly boring (Twilight Princess).

If you've got really restrictive tastes, switching genres is obviously less of an option.


Icemage