Games You Wanted to Love but Dropped and Why
11-Apr-23 8:17pm
#1 Bleed_DukeBlue
Have you ever had a game you really wanted to like, anticipated, put a bunch of time in, but never beat? What happened?
I had this happen to me recently (and it rarely does), so it got me thinking. I loved the first NES and SNES Zelda games as a kid. I even rented a Nintendo for my birthday present from my family as a kid (since we didn’t have game systems) to play the first Zelda game. Ocarina of Time was a game changer. (You got to ride a horse!)
When I bought Breath of the Wild, I was really excited about it, because I hadn’t owned a Nintendo system since the N64 until I bought a Switch. Plus, it was so well-received by the media and everyone I knew who played it.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. It felt like every time I started to have fun, something got in the way. I started to explore everywhere only to be blocked by weather or stamina or something else that required wandering off trying to find the right clothing or recipe to continue. I looked for shrines and quests only to get lost repeatedly, get stuck on one of the million puzzles, or run into enemies I couldn’t beat yet. I tried to get stronger, but every good weapon I obtained broke in a few hits, and killing enemies didn’t give you experience or skills (aside from the divine beasts), so, although the shrines provided hearts and stamina, the incentive to fight any of the enemies just wasn’t there. I could definitely beat it if I put in more time, but after about 30 hours without much of a story to motivate me, it just felt like way too much effort for the amount of tedium.
Ever had a game go like this for you?
#1 Bleed_DukeBlue
Have you ever had a game you really wanted to like, anticipated, put a bunch of time in, but never beat? What happened?
I had this happen to me recently (and it rarely does), so it got me thinking. I loved the first NES and SNES Zelda games as a kid. I even rented a Nintendo for my birthday present from my family as a kid (since we didn’t have game systems) to play the first Zelda game. Ocarina of Time was a game changer. (You got to ride a horse!)
When I bought Breath of the Wild, I was really excited about it, because I hadn’t owned a Nintendo system since the N64 until I bought a Switch. Plus, it was so well-received by the media and everyone I knew who played it.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. It felt like every time I started to have fun, something got in the way. I started to explore everywhere only to be blocked by weather or stamina or something else that required wandering off trying to find the right clothing or recipe to continue. I looked for shrines and quests only to get lost repeatedly, get stuck on one of the million puzzles, or run into enemies I couldn’t beat yet. I tried to get stronger, but every good weapon I obtained broke in a few hits, and killing enemies didn’t give you experience or skills (aside from the divine beasts), so, although the shrines provided hearts and stamina, the incentive to fight any of the enemies just wasn’t there. I could definitely beat it if I put in more time, but after about 30 hours without much of a story to motivate me, it just felt like way too much effort for the amount of tedium.
Ever had a game go like this for you?
11-Apr-23 9:31pm
#2 Anxiouz
Breath of the Wild hit me the same way, I just couldn't get into it. Yet I'm fine to watch my son tool around doing odd things and it's pretty interesting. But when I'm in control it doesn't hook me, I've tried on 3 occasions to give it a go. *shrug*
What I found was that BotW drove me to try Immortals Fenyx Rising instead, which I loved. You can look out and see a ton to do without even moving, and that helped drive me forward more than the find-your-own-fun nature of BotW.
#2 Anxiouz
Breath of the Wild hit me the same way, I just couldn't get into it. Yet I'm fine to watch my son tool around doing odd things and it's pretty interesting. But when I'm in control it doesn't hook me, I've tried on 3 occasions to give it a go. *shrug*
What I found was that BotW drove me to try Immortals Fenyx Rising instead, which I loved. You can look out and see a ton to do without even moving, and that helped drive me forward more than the find-your-own-fun nature of BotW.
11-Apr-23 9:35pm
#3 Bleed_DukeBlue
I enjoyed Immortals Fenyx Rising too. That reminds me that I still need to go back and play the DLC for that.
#3 Bleed_DukeBlue
I enjoyed Immortals Fenyx Rising too. That reminds me that I still need to go back and play the DLC for that.
11-Apr-23 9:55pm
#4 DarkFact
Luigi's Mansion 3. Got up to and finished the big plant floor, I just totally ran out of gas and it wasn't fun, I was just like okay I get it, let's get to the end but there's so many buttons left! I decided I was good and stepped out. It was fun while it lasted.
#4 DarkFact
Luigi's Mansion 3. Got up to and finished the big plant floor, I just totally ran out of gas and it wasn't fun, I was just like okay I get it, let's get to the end but there's so many buttons left! I decided I was good and stepped out. It was fun while it lasted.
11-Apr-23 10:26pm
#5 Gypsy
Mario Odyssey. Maybe the Mario magic is lost for me now but it just wasn't fun for me to play.
#5 Gypsy
Mario Odyssey. Maybe the Mario magic is lost for me now but it just wasn't fun for me to play.
11-Apr-23 10:27pm
#6 Bleed_DukeBlue
I had the same experience with that one. I beat it, but it was disappointing.
Gypsy wrote:
Mario Odyssey. Maybe the Mario magic is lost for me now but it just wasn't fun for me to play.
#6 Bleed_DukeBlue
I had the same experience with that one. I beat it, but it was disappointing.
Gypsy wrote:
Mario Odyssey. Maybe the Mario magic is lost for me now but it just wasn't fun for me to play.
11-Apr-23 10:32pm
#7 Gypsy
Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:
I had the same experience with that one. I beat it, but it was disappointing. Gypsy wrote:> Mario Odyssey. Maybe the Mario magic is lost for me now but it just wasn't fun for> me to play.
I don't remember how far I got but it wasn't that long. Maybe a few hours. Felt like I was checklisting so I was like nope and moved on to something else.
#7 Gypsy
Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:
I had the same experience with that one. I beat it, but it was disappointing. Gypsy wrote:> Mario Odyssey. Maybe the Mario magic is lost for me now but it just wasn't fun for> me to play.
I don't remember how far I got but it wasn't that long. Maybe a few hours. Felt like I was checklisting so I was like nope and moved on to something else.
11-Apr-23 11:12pm
#8 DarkFact
I thought Odyssey was a blast! The world after the desert had a fudging slammin overworld theme, least I think it was after the desert. It was the forest world
#8 DarkFact
I thought Odyssey was a blast! The world after the desert had a fudging slammin overworld theme, least I think it was after the desert. It was the forest world
12-Apr-23 12:09am
#9 WithinTemptation
I really liked Odyssey. It's my favorite Mario game since Mario 64. I thought everything about it was great, felt allot like Mario 64, only allot more. My only complaint is you can just buy moons. I still tried to figure out how to get them all, but sometimes I'd just buy some to move on to the next level. I eventually found them all, but many were well after I completed the story.
Sea of thieves is a games that I've put 20 or so hours into, its kinda fun, but then I get bored really fast. I'm not sure if they changed anything but the fact that all the weapons feel super weak and there is no upgrades gives me no incentive to keep playing. Its like I earn all this loot but nothing but cosmetic stuff to use it on. It took me like 3 hours to complete 1 of the beginner quest with these metal skeletons as just 1 enemy would take like all my ammo then I'd need to lap around the island and find more, then repeat the process for all 50 of them. I have no idea what the story is about or what is going on. And the time it takes to get from island to island really makes the game drag on after a while.
Astroneer was another I just can't get into. I was hoping for a better No Man's Sky, but so far its just not for me.
#9 WithinTemptation
I really liked Odyssey. It's my favorite Mario game since Mario 64. I thought everything about it was great, felt allot like Mario 64, only allot more. My only complaint is you can just buy moons. I still tried to figure out how to get them all, but sometimes I'd just buy some to move on to the next level. I eventually found them all, but many were well after I completed the story.
Sea of thieves is a games that I've put 20 or so hours into, its kinda fun, but then I get bored really fast. I'm not sure if they changed anything but the fact that all the weapons feel super weak and there is no upgrades gives me no incentive to keep playing. Its like I earn all this loot but nothing but cosmetic stuff to use it on. It took me like 3 hours to complete 1 of the beginner quest with these metal skeletons as just 1 enemy would take like all my ammo then I'd need to lap around the island and find more, then repeat the process for all 50 of them. I have no idea what the story is about or what is going on. And the time it takes to get from island to island really makes the game drag on after a while.
Astroneer was another I just can't get into. I was hoping for a better No Man's Sky, but so far its just not for me.
12-Apr-23 12:25am
#10 Orlandu
The Mario + Rabbids sequel was a big dud for me. The overworld was a chore to explore and the battles didn't feel as well thought out as the original game. I bailed out in the ice world. A shame because the original is one of my favorite Switch games.
#10 Orlandu
The Mario + Rabbids sequel was a big dud for me. The overworld was a chore to explore and the battles didn't feel as well thought out as the original game. I bailed out in the ice world. A shame because the original is one of my favorite Switch games.
12-Apr-23 12:51am
#11 SupremeSarna
I was turned off by the first trailer for Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but the final trailer looked much better. So I bought the game, played 40 hours, and got bored. The path I chose wasn’t interesting me, the game expects you to play tons of optional fluff in order to recruit useful characters, and I was misled about the context of the main character of my route—Blue Lions does not have you side with a diabolical villain as I’d hoped, just a disgraced hero having a bad day. I was also playing the famously long Persona 5 at the time, and a new school semester started up, too. So I put it down and never felt compelled to return to it.
Humorously, to this day, my cousin is disappointed I dropped it, even though he was the one encouraging me to play Persona 5 and continue my education. But I’ve got better stuff to do than play a lengthy RPG that didn’t click with me the first time.
#11 SupremeSarna
I was turned off by the first trailer for Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but the final trailer looked much better. So I bought the game, played 40 hours, and got bored. The path I chose wasn’t interesting me, the game expects you to play tons of optional fluff in order to recruit useful characters, and I was misled about the context of the main character of my route—Blue Lions does not have you side with a diabolical villain as I’d hoped, just a disgraced hero having a bad day. I was also playing the famously long Persona 5 at the time, and a new school semester started up, too. So I put it down and never felt compelled to return to it.
Humorously, to this day, my cousin is disappointed I dropped it, even though he was the one encouraging me to play Persona 5 and continue my education. But I’ve got better stuff to do than play a lengthy RPG that didn’t click with me the first time.
12-Apr-23 2:54am
#12 Bleed_DukeBlue
That’s unfortunate about the sequel. I was surprised by how much I liked the first one. I bought it for $10 with no expectations and thought the gameplay was a blast.
Orlandu wrote:
The Mario + Rabbids sequel was a big dud for me. The overworld was a chore to explore and the battles didn't feel as well thought out as the original game. I bailed out in the ice world. A shame because the original is one of my favorite Switch games.
#12 Bleed_DukeBlue
That’s unfortunate about the sequel. I was surprised by how much I liked the first one. I bought it for $10 with no expectations and thought the gameplay was a blast.
Orlandu wrote:
The Mario + Rabbids sequel was a big dud for me. The overworld was a chore to explore and the battles didn't feel as well thought out as the original game. I bailed out in the ice world. A shame because the original is one of my favorite Switch games.
12-Apr-23 7:06am
#13 Gypsy
SupremeSarna wrote:
I was turned off by the first trailer for Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but the final trailer looked much better. So I bought the game, played 40 hours, and got bored. The path I chose wasn’t interesting me, the game expects you to play tons of optional fluff in order to recruit useful characters, and I was misled about the context of the main character of my route—Blue Lions does not have you side with a diabolical villain as I’d hoped, just a disgraced hero having a bad day. I was also playing the famously long Persona 5 at the time, and a new school semester started up, too. So I put it down and never felt compelled to return to it. Humorously, to this day, my cousin is disappointed I dropped it, even though he was the one encouraging me to play Persona 5 and continue my education. But I’ve got better stuff to do than play a lengthy RPG that didn’t click with me the first time.
Big Fire Emblem fan but the newer ones are honestly too long. Though maybe I'm a medium fan at this point. Love everything pre-Fates, after that mehhh.
#13 Gypsy
SupremeSarna wrote:
I was turned off by the first trailer for Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but the final trailer looked much better. So I bought the game, played 40 hours, and got bored. The path I chose wasn’t interesting me, the game expects you to play tons of optional fluff in order to recruit useful characters, and I was misled about the context of the main character of my route—Blue Lions does not have you side with a diabolical villain as I’d hoped, just a disgraced hero having a bad day. I was also playing the famously long Persona 5 at the time, and a new school semester started up, too. So I put it down and never felt compelled to return to it. Humorously, to this day, my cousin is disappointed I dropped it, even though he was the one encouraging me to play Persona 5 and continue my education. But I’ve got better stuff to do than play a lengthy RPG that didn’t click with me the first time.
Big Fire Emblem fan but the newer ones are honestly too long. Though maybe I'm a medium fan at this point. Love everything pre-Fates, after that mehhh.
12-Apr-23 8:16am
#14 DarkFact
WithinTemptation wrote:
I really liked Odyssey. It's my favorite Mario game since Mario 64. I thought everything about it was great, felt allot like Mario 64, only allot more. My only complaint is you can just buy moons. I still tried to figure out how to get them all, but sometimes I'd just buy some to move on to the next level. I eventually found them all, but many were well after I completed the story.
I think the moons you can buy count towards 100%? Not sure, can't remember if they're limited, maybe they aren't. It's fine, bit of a cheat for people to cheese the star count if they need to.
#14 DarkFact
WithinTemptation wrote:
I really liked Odyssey. It's my favorite Mario game since Mario 64. I thought everything about it was great, felt allot like Mario 64, only allot more. My only complaint is you can just buy moons. I still tried to figure out how to get them all, but sometimes I'd just buy some to move on to the next level. I eventually found them all, but many were well after I completed the story.
I think the moons you can buy count towards 100%? Not sure, can't remember if they're limited, maybe they aren't. It's fine, bit of a cheat for people to cheese the star count if they need to.
12-Apr-23 4:00pm
#15 PizzaTheHutt
Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Granted, I played daily for over 2 years, but it was mostly out of habit and a lot of that time it just felt like a chore every time I booted the game up and so finally last December I just decided I didn't want to play anymore and I haven't booted it up once since then nor did I ever finish the DLC expansion content.
Compare that to the 7+ years I've put into the 3DS version. I know newcomers to the series seemed to enjoy ACNH, but us longtime fans of the series weren't happy with all the features it was missing from the 3DS game.
Nintendo Switch Sports would be another one. The game was just a big step backwards in the amount of content it was missing compared to Wii Sports Resort. Bowling was fun, but it alone wasn't enough to keep me coming back for long and I haven't played the game since last summer.
#15 PizzaTheHutt
Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Granted, I played daily for over 2 years, but it was mostly out of habit and a lot of that time it just felt like a chore every time I booted the game up and so finally last December I just decided I didn't want to play anymore and I haven't booted it up once since then nor did I ever finish the DLC expansion content.
Compare that to the 7+ years I've put into the 3DS version. I know newcomers to the series seemed to enjoy ACNH, but us longtime fans of the series weren't happy with all the features it was missing from the 3DS game.
Nintendo Switch Sports would be another one. The game was just a big step backwards in the amount of content it was missing compared to Wii Sports Resort. Bowling was fun, but it alone wasn't enough to keep me coming back for long and I haven't played the game since last summer.
12-Apr-23 4:45pm
#16 DarkFact
I played it a lot when I was sick. Honestly checking out other peoples' places sorta killed it for me, I went back to my village and I was like, I can barely get six ores
:|
#16 DarkFact
I played it a lot when I was sick. Honestly checking out other peoples' places sorta killed it for me, I went back to my village and I was like, I can barely get six ores
:|
12-Apr-23 5:53pm
#17 WithinTemptation
DarkFact wrote:
WithinTemptation wrote:> I really liked Odyssey. It's my favorite Mario game since Mario 64. I thought everything> about it was great, felt allot like Mario 64, only allot more. My only complaint> is you can just buy moons. I still tried to figure out how to get them all, but> sometimes I'd just buy some to move on to the next level. I eventually found them> all, but many were well after I completed the story. I think the moons you can buy count towards 100%? Not sure, can't remember if they're limited, maybe they aren't. It's fine, bit of a cheat for people to cheese the star count if they need to.
Been a while but I think it caps at 999 so even when you get the legit moons the counter won't increase. The bought moons don't count for 100%, but they allow you to access everything in the game without really playing it. There was this balloon game they added that made coins really easy.
#17 WithinTemptation
DarkFact wrote:
WithinTemptation wrote:> I really liked Odyssey. It's my favorite Mario game since Mario 64. I thought everything> about it was great, felt allot like Mario 64, only allot more. My only complaint> is you can just buy moons. I still tried to figure out how to get them all, but> sometimes I'd just buy some to move on to the next level. I eventually found them> all, but many were well after I completed the story. I think the moons you can buy count towards 100%? Not sure, can't remember if they're limited, maybe they aren't. It's fine, bit of a cheat for people to cheese the star count if they need to.
Been a while but I think it caps at 999 so even when you get the legit moons the counter won't increase. The bought moons don't count for 100%, but they allow you to access everything in the game without really playing it. There was this balloon game they added that made coins really easy.
12-Apr-23 5:57pm
#18 Alaisiagae
Afrika. I want to finish it, but it's rather tedious. I think it was ahead of its time - make it for PS4 or PS5 and it'd look better and run faster. It's got the slowest loading time for the main menu of any PS3 game - even any PS2 game - that I've ever played.
God of War Ascension. I loved the other games, and while the graphics are superb for a PS3 game, the combat and story felt unrewarding.
Folklore. Really tried to like it, but it didn't click for me. Gave it a second chance, and quit at roughly the same spot as my first foray into the game.
Dragon Age. Just didn't click with me, despite all the rave reviews. It would have been something I would have enjoyed a decade earlier, but my tastes changed.
#18 Alaisiagae
Afrika. I want to finish it, but it's rather tedious. I think it was ahead of its time - make it for PS4 or PS5 and it'd look better and run faster. It's got the slowest loading time for the main menu of any PS3 game - even any PS2 game - that I've ever played.
God of War Ascension. I loved the other games, and while the graphics are superb for a PS3 game, the combat and story felt unrewarding.
Folklore. Really tried to like it, but it didn't click for me. Gave it a second chance, and quit at roughly the same spot as my first foray into the game.
Dragon Age. Just didn't click with me, despite all the rave reviews. It would have been something I would have enjoyed a decade earlier, but my tastes changed.
12-Apr-23 6:08pm
#19 TalonJedi87
I’m sure there’s more but these are the ones that immediately come to mind below for me:
Bravely Default- too long for me but I liked the unique attack / defend turn based combat system.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - too buggy and takes a while to get into for my liking.
Crusader Kings III - too confusing for my simpleton brain.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - didn’t have the time to commit to it over other games in my backlog plus I’m not big on strategy grid based games although I like some of the characters in the Fire Emblem series.
X-Com - although I enjoy the heck out of Mario and Rabbids which is a similar style of gameplay but a lot more simplified, X-Com games are a little too unforgiving to me in regards to losing and rotating team members too quickly for my tastes.
Final Fantasy X and VII (OG) - just never got around to finishing them. X I got stuck at one of the Sin boss fights and had to grind to level up and got bored and never went back. The OG VII I just never finished but still have it on my bucket list on PS4 to complete.
Cuphead- I just don’t feel like breaking another controller.
#19 TalonJedi87
I’m sure there’s more but these are the ones that immediately come to mind below for me:
Bravely Default- too long for me but I liked the unique attack / defend turn based combat system.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - too buggy and takes a while to get into for my liking.
Crusader Kings III - too confusing for my simpleton brain.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - didn’t have the time to commit to it over other games in my backlog plus I’m not big on strategy grid based games although I like some of the characters in the Fire Emblem series.
X-Com - although I enjoy the heck out of Mario and Rabbids which is a similar style of gameplay but a lot more simplified, X-Com games are a little too unforgiving to me in regards to losing and rotating team members too quickly for my tastes.
Final Fantasy X and VII (OG) - just never got around to finishing them. X I got stuck at one of the Sin boss fights and had to grind to level up and got bored and never went back. The OG VII I just never finished but still have it on my bucket list on PS4 to complete.
Cuphead- I just don’t feel like breaking another controller.
12-Apr-23 6:40pm
#20 KCPenguins
Fite Emblem 3 Houses seems popular in this thread and fits the bill for me, but honestly I had major reservations before it released based on the changes to the series.
Stardew Valley was another one. Too many comparisons to Animal Crossing, too much like Harvest Moon.
Many great jRPGs. I can't stand static turn based fighting. Sad as there are many games that seem like a great premise/world. I've played Chrono Trigger, FFVII, FFIII, Earthbound, and many others. Only ones I mildly enjoyed changed up fighting or had a world I already enjoyed. Mario RPG, Legend of Legaia, Parasite Eve, KotOR.
Witcher 3. Had so much going for it. Put 35+ hours into it. Gerault felt like an NPC, such a boring character imo. Not really a fan of that fantasy realm. Same for Skyrim.
I finished RDR II, but it was a chore. They totally messed up the main story. Felt damn near like a rail shooter at times. Pause to loot more than two bodies, mission failed. Go a route they didn't intend, mission failed. Such a beautiful open world, such a shame they locked you down main game. RDR1 was my #2 game all time. I expected the sequel to contend for #1. Not on the radar due to the main story.
#20 KCPenguins
Fite Emblem 3 Houses seems popular in this thread and fits the bill for me, but honestly I had major reservations before it released based on the changes to the series.
Stardew Valley was another one. Too many comparisons to Animal Crossing, too much like Harvest Moon.
Many great jRPGs. I can't stand static turn based fighting. Sad as there are many games that seem like a great premise/world. I've played Chrono Trigger, FFVII, FFIII, Earthbound, and many others. Only ones I mildly enjoyed changed up fighting or had a world I already enjoyed. Mario RPG, Legend of Legaia, Parasite Eve, KotOR.
Witcher 3. Had so much going for it. Put 35+ hours into it. Gerault felt like an NPC, such a boring character imo. Not really a fan of that fantasy realm. Same for Skyrim.
I finished RDR II, but it was a chore. They totally messed up the main story. Felt damn near like a rail shooter at times. Pause to loot more than two bodies, mission failed. Go a route they didn't intend, mission failed. Such a beautiful open world, such a shame they locked you down main game. RDR1 was my #2 game all time. I expected the sequel to contend for #1. Not on the radar due to the main story.
12-Apr-23 9:24pm
#21 Orlandu
@Bleed_DukeBlue If you haven't played the DLC for the first I strongly recommend it. The Donkey Kong characters really change up the game in a fun way.
#21 Orlandu
@Bleed_DukeBlue If you haven't played the DLC for the first I strongly recommend it. The Donkey Kong characters really change up the game in a fun way.
Games You Wanted to Love but Dropped and Why