I Wish I Could(n't) Quit You: Video Games that Just Don't Click

[Gormongous]

I bought Star Traders: Frontiers last year on the dual recommendations of Rock Paper Shotgun and Tom Chick. It is everything that they say it is: a breathtakingly vast space sim where you can do well as an illegal or legal trader, a mercenary, a diplomatic courier, a pirate, a spy, or any mix of those roles. It's got as many interlocking systems as a Paradox game and it truly does its best to let you engage with or automate them, whatever your taste is.

 

And yet I've played over twenty hours without really clicking with it. It seems at once too deep (the reputation and character RPG systems, especially) and too shallow (you make money to make more money to make even more money). I recognize it as an objectively good game, and I keep wanting to come back to it, but I just can't connect. Have my tastes changed? Is it the presentation, which is admittedly anemic? I don't know.

 

Do you have any games that you should like and that you keep trying to like, but just... don't?

[clyde]

It's common for me to drop off a game after trying it initially and then coming back to it much later and it being my jam. I think what I want from games fluctuates and that initial part where I try it out is used as a reference for when I want something like it.

Kayne and Lynch 2 is a great example of this. At first I was like "no". Then later I played all the way through it and loved it because I wanted something like that. I think that's what happened, I might have a false memory.

Then of course there are games I have yet to get into. I guess I should name one of those.

...

I haven't gotten into Yakuza yet, but I tried it out for a bit. The entire thing seems arbitrary and daunting even though I'm curious about it due to so many recommendations and my interest in the setting.

[Henke]

Oh I got a lot of these. From the past few years:

 

Uncharted 4 - Played Uncharted 3 first, liked it a lot. Then 2, which felt kinda stale in comparison. Never played the first game. When 4 rolled around I mainly played it because of how much I'd loved The Last Of Us and wanted to see what Naughty Dog would do next. It never grabbed me. I dragged myself through the entire story, bored the whole time. In retrospect, I think one Uncharted game was enough for me, should've stopped after the first one.

 

Horizon Zero Dawn - Yeah yeah it's pretty and competently made and all that, but it just feels like a repeat of a dozen other open world stealth-action games I've played in the past. Also the human stealth-bits aren't as good as in most other games of this style, and I'm not really into the whole monster hunter aspect of it.

 

Dead Cells - It looks great and has been hyped to hell and back, but I'm just not feeling it, man. I don't think this kinda Spelunky-esque procedurally generated platformer thingy is my kinda thing. Speaking of which...

 

Spelunky - Yeah I didn't like this either.

 

God Of War - It's just that I don't like the combat and I don't like the parts inbetween the combat. I do like the characters tho, but not enough to keep playing, so after I failed the big round elevator-bit like 4 times in a row I was like fuuuuuuuck this and uninstalled.

[Gormongous]

17 hours ago, Henke said:

Dead Cells - It looks great and has been hyped to hell and back, but I'm just not feeling it, man. I don't think this kinda Spelunky-esque procedurally generated platformer thingy is my kinda thing. Speaking of which...

 

I feel you on Dead Cells. I can appreciate the intricacy and the skill of it all, but beating a boss or getting a cool new blueprint just leaves me feeling exhausted and frustrated, not exhilarated like in Dark Souls.

[Roderick]

I'm sure I've had tons of these experiences, but nothing readily comes to mind. There are some genres that I just don't care for that much (brawlers, beat 'em ups, sports), where I understand something is quality but I simply don't like that gameplay.

 

I think the biggest one of those is Smash Bros Ultimate. I enjoy playing it, but I will forever feel it's not really 'my' game, because I'm not good enough at it for any sort of real mastery. Hours in, I'm still just noodling away pressing buttons. I'll never get the hang of it, also because I won't invest enough time in it to git gud. As a result, I feel I'm only scratching the surface. Double feeling, since I do enjoy my time with it.

[SecretAsianMan]

Once upon a time I tried to get into Red Dead Redemption.  I can see what other people might like about it but nothing clicked for me.  I wasn't pulled into the story, I didn't enjoy any of the mechanical aspects of the gameplay, and I found a lot of it very tedious and uninteresting.  I shouldn't have been surprised because it's a perfect storm of things I really don't like: Westerns, open world games, and Rockstar jank.  When RDR2 was announced I felt like the only person in the world that was completely uninterested in any part of it. 

[jennegatron]

9 hours ago, SecretAsianMan said:

 When RDR2 was announced I felt like the only person in the world that was completely uninterested in any part of it. 

 

I promise you weren't alone, I just try to not be a bummer and we didn't have this thread as a home for me to be a negative Nancy when that game launched.

[Roderick]

Polygon (which I currently can't visit or link to because they will undoubtedly have articles on Avengers Endgame) posted a Film Crit Hulk article recently that was quite critical of the game and mentioned lesser-discussed flaws about how the controls are messed up. Might be worth a read.

[jennegatron]

Here is my favorite piece of writing about RDR2: https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/28/18244135/red-dead-rdr2-online-horse 

 

Here's the polygon film crit hulk piece: https://www.polygon.com/2019/4/22/18298277/red-dead-redemption-2-review-rdr2-story-design-criticism

[I_smell]

I definitely had the same feeling with Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

At it's best moments, it almost feels like I'm playing Vanquish, but the robots are a bit more like dinosaurs! I'd love more of that, but what were the characters names again?? ...what was I doing on this quest? I find all of the plot and personality just dull as a rock, sorry Guerrilla Games. It actually reminds me of when I played Assassin's Creed 1.

I know they'll make a sequel, and I hope they just get wild with the movement, sliding, climbing, swinging, fluid dinosaur combat, ripping guns off stuff and slam-dunking mind-control grenades in their heads. The combat was nice, and had room to get better, but I don't need another save-the-world Video game plot and a village full of robotic NPC dialogue to skip through.

[Cordeos]

I have this a lot, I can sometimes be picky or just have a bad first impression of a game and never go back to it. Most recently I bounced off Breath of the Wild, I found the weapon switching to be annoying, then got confused by cooking and never looked up a guide on how to do it. It was a pretty game I was interested in exploring but I just never got back to it.

 

I also find that some games interest me but their mechanics super don't. I Tried to get into Ashen (my first soulslike) and hated the combat a ton. However because I was on PC I just cheated my way through to explore the world and see where the story went. Planning on doing the same when Sekero goes on sale

 

[Brannigan]

Horizon Zero Dawn: Mechanically...fine? I hated the story and characters so much.  I tend to bounce off of games or media that do the whole "far-future" or "alternate" timeline thing where everything has some sort of adorable alternate noun and this game felt like that 100%.  It's like a non-numbered final fantasy game title that came to life somehow. Oddly final fantasy games are very much what I described but usually don't rub me the wrong way like this did. It also came off very flat in the acting and plotting from what I played of it.

 

Red Dead Redemption 2: While I never finished the first one, I enjoyed what time I spent with it despite it's adherence to rockstar mission structure.  The second one....I played for maybe an hour and never touched it again, I just felt absolute no need to play it more, partially due to the million dudes approach to rockstar game missions.  I found the main character's voice to be very irritating which did not help.

 

Fallout 3 and on: On paper I should be interested in these? Literally never clicked with me, not a single one.  Felt too aimless...and I feel like what the systems are going for in theory and what they actually do don't actually match up, at least in terms of survival.  Stalker: Call of Pripyat is the best fallout game!

 

Fortnite: I....don't know why this game is so huge?  The building aspect is cool I guess, but I just found myself so...bored, even when doing well.  I was kind of angry at how boring it was, and I didn't even pay for the damn thing. I've always enjoyed multiplayer shooters and I just could not deal with this game and uninstalled it within 2 hours of installing it.

 

4 hours ago, Cordeos said:

I have this a lot, I can sometimes be picky or just have a bad first impression of a game and never go back to it. Most recently I bounced off Breath of the Wild, I found the weapon switching to be annoying, then got confused by cooking and never looked up a guide on how to do it. It was a pretty game I was interested in exploring but I just never got back to it.

 

I also find that some games interest me but their mechanics super don't. I Tried to get into Ashen (my first soulslike) and hated the combat a ton. However because I was on PC I just cheated my way through to explore the world and see where the story went. Planning on doing the same when Sekero goes on sale

 

Somewhat with you on Breath of the Wild. The mechanics didn't bother me but the game just didn't really grab me either, I played a while and just kind of stopped caring and haven't touched it again.

[Henke]

This is turning into the Horizon Zero Dawn pile-on thread, but yeah I didn't like the characters either. Most of all Aloy herself. She's just too perfect. She's supposed to be this outcast but in all her interactions with people she's the smartest and most emotionally intelligent person in the room. A character with no flaws is just boring as hell.

 

Even tho I didn't like GoW, at least they made Kratos feel like a real person, with real flaws. The moment that endeared me most to him wasn't any of the badass fight scenes he's in, but when he tells a story to his son.

 

 

[Gormongous]

13 hours ago, Brannigan said:

Stalker: Call of Pripyat is the best fallout game!

 

I'll drink long and deep to that!

[SecretAsianMan]

I don't own a Switch so I've never played Breath of the Wild but I feel like I'd also bounce off it pretty hard.  And speaking of Nintendo games, Super Mario Galaxy didn't do it for me.  I totally see a great game in there but for some reason it never felt right to me.  Mario 64 is one of my favorite games ever.  Even though I never finished it I enjoyed Sunshine.  So 3D Mario isn't an issue for me, I just never got into the groove with Galaxy.  I really want to play Odyssey though.

[I_smell]

Wow that's a surprise. I think Super Mario Galaxy might be my favourite one. I can see that it's a different format than 64 in some ways, so I can understand maybe. It's definitely going for a different vibe.

 

I recently bought Stardew Valley and I just don't get it. The tone feels like it skews toward an even younger audience than I expected. I don't like the artwork, I walked around talking to characters and I don't like any of them, I don't like walking around the map so much, I don't mind farming but it's not that exciting...

I saw myself reaching 4pm and saying "welp, I might as well go to bed now!" a couple times and it felt heavily depressing. I can imagine a different execution of this concept that I do like, I loved hearing it described to me, but playing this is sapping the life outta me.

[SecretAsianMan]

Galaxy was a huge surprise for me.  I was totally expecting to be blown away (-ign.com) by it and was really disappointed that I wasn't.  Again, I don't think it's bad it just didn't work for me in a way I can't fully explain.  It's entirely possible I'd have a different opinion now.  I actually wouldn't mind the opportunity to try it again.

[Gormongous]

1 hour ago, I_smell said:

I recently bought Stardew Valley and I just don't get it. The tone feels like it skews toward an even younger audience than I expected. I don't like the artwork, I walked around talking to characters and I don't like any of them, I don't like walking around the map so much, I don't mind farming but it's not that exciting...

I saw myself reaching 4pm and saying "welp, I might as well go to bed now!" a couple times and it felt heavily depressing. I can imagine a different execution of this concept that I do like, I loved hearing it described to me, but playing this is sapping the life outta me.

 

I also bounced off of Stardew Valley, despite the farming life appealing a lot for me, but it was because I couldn't handle the combination of (perceived) time pressure and missable unlocks. I know that it's supposed to be the kind of game where you say to yourself, "Aww, I didn't manage to plant the strawberry bushes early enough! Oh well, next year," but I'm just not set up like that. Also, I found myself getting kind of annoyed that you could give a nice gift to someone and they'd feel indifferent or even negative towards you, because of a secret list of likes and dislikes for every character. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm built for more of a management sim-style farming game, but I liked the surface vibe of Stardew so much...

[Professor Video Games]

The Galaxy games may be my favorite Mario games. If they did a switch remaster I'd be tempted to finally pick one up...

 

I finished Horizon but agree with a lot of the comments being made. I thought at a high level the world was cool and interesting, and I enjoyed the combat mechanics, but the actual writing was generally very weak...like not in a groanworthy sort of way, just not interesting at all. The sidequests were boring as were most of the characters. And they leaned way way too hard on audio logs. Having finished it I did enjoy the overall story, but it could have been way better. I got a few hours into the DLC and then realized I was tired of the combat and there wasn't much else to keep me engaged, so I quit.

[Kyir]

NieR: Automata: So many people I respect say this is a great game, so I feel like I have to take their word on it, but nothing about it clicks for me in practice. I love hack and slash-y stuff, and I'm all about weird robots in a weirder world, but it just doesn't pan out no matter how many times I try. The combat felt stale after three or four hours, the story never felt as deep as people told me it was, and I didn't feel very attached to any of the characters. The whole "tons of possible endings" thing actually makes me want to find them, but I can never muster the energy to sit down with it for more than 15 minutes. It's such an enigma to me.

[Gorbles]

Bit of a bump on this, but wanted to get my thoughts on Dishonoured down.

 

I love the art style. The RPG elements are right up my street. I love selecting different weapons based on what I want to do. I love the talking heart and every other bit of arcane wizardry the game throws at you / against the rather polished mechanical elements of certain baddies.

 

But I just can't get through it playing non-lethal. This is like Deus Ex (the remake) all over again. I quit that out of frustration too, because up to a point it doesn't matter about your intentions to be non-violent, the game kinda railroads you against that ideal both subtly and unsubtly. In Deus Ex it was giant rooms of bad guys on mission timers (and apparently boss fights, but I never got that far) and here it's the incredibly meagre amounts of non-lethal options you get (and sleep darts are in really short supply).

 

I keep wanting to like it (much like Deus Ex tbh, you could probably swap the names around in this post for exactly the same effect), and keep trying it periodically. But I just can't keep with it. Blah.

[SecretAsianMan]

Oh man, Deus Ex.  I bounced off that game so hard.  I had never played a Deus Ex game before Human Revolution and I was quite excited to get into it.  The story seemed interesting and it has all the world building details I normally love but I HATED everything about playing the game.  It felt so ridiculously clumsy and awkward.  Attempting to do anything either in stealth or loud was a comedy of errors as I never managed to accomplish either one with any amount of grace.  It could be a personal failure on my part but I very quickly gave it up after much frustration.

[Gormongous]

4 hours ago, SecretAsianMan said:

Oh man, Deus Ex.  I bounced off that game so hard.  I had never played a Deus Ex game before Human Revolution and I was quite excited to get into it.  The story seemed interesting and it has all the world building details I normally love but I HATED everything about playing the game.  It felt so ridiculously clumsy and awkward.  Attempting to do anything either in stealth or loud was a comedy of errors as I never managed to accomplish either one with any amount of grace.  It could be a personal failure on my part but I very quickly gave it up after much frustration.

 

Weirdly, I didn't have that reaction to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but I did to Mankind Divided. I'm not sure what the difference was: the formula getting tired with another thirty- or forty-hour game, the layout change from corridor missions linking small open-world areas to a more holistically open-world design, the incredibly dumb and obvious "ripped-from-the-headlines" themes of Mankind Divided... Whatever it was, I played through Human Revolution twice but gave up ten hours into Mankind Divided.

[tabacco]

On 4/26/2019 at 10:41 PM, SecretAsianMan said:

I don't own a Switch so I've never played Breath of the Wild but I feel like I'd also bounce off it pretty hard.  And speaking of Nintendo games, Super Mario Galaxy didn't do it for me.  I totally see a great game in there but for some reason it never felt right to me.  Mario 64 is one of my favorite games ever.  Even though I never finished it I enjoyed Sunshine.  So 3D Mario isn't an issue for me, I just never got into the groove with Galaxy.  I really want to play Odyssey though.

 

You never know... I still have minimal interest in the combat sections of that game, but playing it as a purely open-world exploration adventure, it gave me plenty of fun. Figuring out how to sneak around mobs to unlock fast-travel towers or get past mountain ranges turned into a kind of weird meta-puzzle that I enjoyed more than I expected.

[osmosisch]

On 5/20/2019 at 1:41 PM, Gorbles said:

Bit of a bump on this, but wanted to get my thoughts on Dishonoured down.

 

I love the art style. The RPG elements are right up my street. I love selecting different weapons based on what I want to do. I love the talking heart and every other bit of arcane wizardry the game throws at you / against the rather polished mechanical elements of certain baddies.

 

But I just can't get through it playing non-lethal. This is like Deus Ex (the remake) all over again. I quit that out of frustration too, because up to a point it doesn't matter about your intentions to be non-violent, the game kinda railroads you against that ideal both subtly and unsubtly. In Deus Ex it was giant rooms of bad guys on mission timers (and apparently boss fights, but I never got that far) and here it's the incredibly meagre amounts of non-lethal options you get (and sleep darts are in really short supply).

 

I keep wanting to like it (much like Deus Ex tbh, you could probably swap the names around in this post for exactly the same effect), and keep trying it periodically. But I just can't keep with it. Blah.

I thought it was fun to do nonlethally, I always enjoy having a limited toolset and finding the one weak point that lets you exploit them.

 

The worst bit is when you leave someone snoozing and then they fall 10cm and die, or rats get them, and the game doesn't tell you. That's the only reason I didn't get ghost on the first game. I did get it on the later ones where there's an indicator that you fucked up somewhere.