Games you nearly completed that bug you because you know you likely never will

[seansthomas]

Inspired by clocking up 60 hours on Xenoblade X and not having the energy to beat the final boss due to the level up grinding required, it got me thinking of other games I've come close to beating and adding to the 'Games completed' thread, but ultimately fell short.

Can think of a few main culprits and reasons.

First up, Tomb Raider 3 on PSOne. Could never return to that game now but I got to the final boss of that game too after months of frustrating, hard gameplay having saved up all my ammo. I unloaded my shotgun, grenades, Uzi's and more into the bloody thing and never made a dent. After a week of trying, I gave up. But it still irks me.

Sephiroth on FF7 was another. Got to that boss stupidly fast because of the storyline suggesting you were up against it timewise (how naive I was) and had never acquired the Reflect materia, so never did beat him. Tried for months but gave up.

The final level of Viewtiful Joe still makes me want to throw objects at the wall. One huge boss rush level which was plain ridiculous given how hard each of them were. It took weeks of honing my skills just to get there. I gave up on it for a fortnight in frustration and when I returned, I'd lost the ability to even beat the first one. Damn you Joe.

I think NSMBU may be another game of this ilk. I'm on the last World but put it down for a while. Can't even clear the first level of that World now and the antiquated need to polish off a few before you get to save means I suspect I'll never complete it.

And obviously what's a thread without Dark Souls? I was 1/3 of the way into it and it had FINALLY clicked. I was making progress. I was enjoying it. And I saw what the fuss was all about. And then my Xbox360 died.

I still look at it sat there in the loft and contemplate trying the HD in a new machine, but know I probably never will...

Tell me final parts of games that haunt you!

[Stanshall]

Well, you must get back into Dark Souls, really, you must. Cancel your plans for today, I reckon, and book the week off work. Send the wife and kids to Haven Prestatyn.

Mine was very nearly Bloodborne. I couldn't get through the Chalices on vanilla BB and only when the DLC came out, and I picked up the Whirligig Saw, was I rejuvenated enough to try again. Some of the Defiled bosses made me gnash my teeth and feel like crying, frustration on a level only The Witness has matched in recent years. When I had been slammed by Defiled Amygdala for the thirtieth time in one afternoon, I genuinely started to panic that my coordination and skill had simply faded with age to the point that I would never be able to beat that boss. It was annoyance at the game on one level, and a creeping existential dread on another, the cold grip of death on my shoulder, chuckling at my ever increasing desperation to get past this Twiglet armed laser bellend. Needless to say, I whomped her next go and felt my heart pumping with euphoria and vitality. Still alive!

[Alex79]

I got right to the end of The Evil Within before trading it in, and put around 80 hours in to Fallout 3 within finishing the story too. Both those bug me a bit.

Oh - and you should absolutely go and finish Dark Souls!!

[Suits]

Good thread.

The one that sticks out most in my mind and the one that will bug me forever as I was having a great time was - Tomb Raider 2.

I'd gotten all the way to what I think was the last level, 'Floating rock in the sky level' and I'd worked my way up to what felt like was close to the end where I'd encounter three henchmen, in a little Japanese building - then my game would crash.

Over and over again.

I can only assume something was corrupt, or maybe damage on my disc .

I'd spam saved but not in a long while and that game was hard.

I just couldn't bring myself to go back so far to close out the end.

I still have the block save on my PS1 memory card and the game. Sodding thing.

[KSubzero1000]

Not much to add to the topic at hand, I'm afraid, given that I rarely abandon games halfway through and never sell off games I consider to be good or worth replaying in the future. The Evil Within comes fairly close, since I more or less lost interest in it during the last third of the game. I do intend to go back to it at some point, though.

No, I'm mostly here to express my appreciation at the quality of the writing here:

Cancel your plans for today, I reckon, and book the week off work. Send the wife and kids to Haven Prestatyn.
...
It was annoyance at the game on one level, and a creeping existential dread on another, the cold grip of death on my shoulder, chuckling at my ever increasing desperation to get past this Twiglet armed laser bellend.

[Flabyo]

I never did bother finishing FF13 or Ni No Kuni, but I wouldn't say failing to do so bugs me particularly.

I'm slightly annoyed I got stuck on Lost Odyssey at the start of disc 3. A difficulty spike and no way to go back to level grind (because it forces you to use characters I wasn't played much, and my only earlier saves are at points where they're not in the party) means I'll likely never touch that one again.

I suspect I won't get to the end of Wasteland 2. I've been enjoying it, but it got appreciably harder after the major location change and it's going to be a push to get past it I think.

[Scrustle]

I've got a big one that takes the thread title a bit more literally. It's Okami HD. I adore that game so much, and have played through it plenty times on the PS2, so it's not exactly that I'll never finish it, but rather my PS3 copy has a bug that's stopping me from 100% completing it. I put so much time and effort in to it, but one of the sidequests simply won't work for me. It's the notorious one where you have to draw designs on kimonos copying the ideas of some little girl. I've done this several times before on the PS2 version, and never had too much of a problem with actually doing the patterns they require. But for the last design you need to do, it simply won't accept it on the PS3. I've drawn it so many times, in so many different ways, and I think I've done some pretty accurate versions of it too. And upon looking around the web to see if anyone has a solution to this problem, and seeing some of the really shoddy brushwork the game does accept from some people, there's no way this can't be a bug. No one seems to have a solution though. Just loads of conspiracy theories about stroke order and such. So since I can't get that quest done, I can't get that single last Stray Bead (out of 100), meaning I'll never get 100% on it, and never get the cool bonus item you get in NG+ for collecting all of those beads.

At this point I think I have to say Dark Souls too, like others have mentioned. I have a bit of a complicated relationship with the first game in the series. I came to it very late, but I was enjoying playing through it. Could be very frustrating at times, occasionally to points which I think is straight-up bad design, but on the whole it was satisfying and rewarding. It kept pulling me back every time I thought I was "done" with the game. Even so, it wasn't rare for me to take breaks of months between playing any of it. But I struggled all the way to Anor Londo, to the point with the archers before giving it a break again out of exasperation with the thing. Then Dark Souls 3 happened. Fell in love with it. I love how they changed the feel of combat, and it ironed out pretty much every single thing I had a problem with in the first game. So since playing that, I felt like I finally "cracked" these games, so I tried going back to DS1. I can't play it now. DS3 showed me how they could do the same thing, but so, so much better. I can't stand how DS1 feels now, and how infuriatingly unfair it is at points, and I think I've now put it down for good.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse it another one too. This one makes me sad though. I love that game. Even though platformers aren't usually my thing, I was having a blast with this one. I love how it has a very Zelda-inspired Metroidvania style to it, the finely tuned character controls, and it's full of so much character and energy too. It's really fun and charming, with great art and music. Then I reached the first room of the last dungeon. It's a huge, long, twisting hallway, with one-hit kill spikes covering literally every surface, with tiny disappearing platforms that you need to activate by shooting awkwardly placed switches. It's an insane difficulty spike, and way above my level of ability. It's so strict about hitting those spikes, and it requires quite a few leaps of faith towards the next platform switch, since you don't know where the next switch is going to show up, or even where the platform it activates is going to appear. So even though I'm right at the end, and I love the game in general, that is just an impassable roadblock, right before finishing it. I'm terrible at finishing Metroidvanias too, so it's really disappointing to find one I really like, and still having to throw it on the pile of unfinished games, right at the last hurdle too.

[gallo_pinto]

Okami is mine too! I was playing it on the Wii and really enjoying it. But I also had just bought a PS3 and I had Uncharted 1 and 2, Infamous and Assassin's Creed 2 just sitting there waiting for me. I told myself I couldn't open the PS3 until I beat Okami. I held strong and beat the "final" boss only to realize that I was about 1/2 way done with the game. I opened my PS3 that night and never came back.

I bought Okami HD on PS3 though and once I'm back in the same country as that console, I'll probably play it through again because I legitimately enjoyed the game.

And I second everyone who is saying to go back and play Dark Souls again.

[Todinho]

Well most recently it has to be Darkest Dungeon It was a game I was really enjoying it but the game eventually wore me down with it's griding and repetiviness I was near the ending but I couldnt be bothered with it,shame because I really liked the game and had sunk 30 hours into it.
Crimson Shroud also comes to mind but I did beat the game,though you can only get the good ending in NG+, the game's bullshit RNG and longer battle kept from doing it.

Other then these I cant really recall another one of the top of my head,I usually either abandon a game fairly quickly or go all the way to the end.

[Alex79]

Okami is one I've started three times now. PS2, Wii and PS3, and never made it past the first couple of hours. It seems like I should love that game, but I could just never get in to it. I doubt I'll ever go back to it, even though I feel like it's a game I should have played. The only even remote chance of me ever giving it another go is if it ever finds its way on to a future handheld console.

[ratsoalbion]

As we discussed on the podcast (which you may not have listened to), the first few hours are a notorious sticking point, and do little to communicate the joy that many players get from the game once that rather long-winded and off-putting opening has been passed.

I would recommend going back to the HD version and bearing that in mind. It took me several attempts to get immersed but I'm so glad I did.

This is a separate topic from that indicated by the thread however!

[Alex79]

Haha those golden hands were great, they gave you tons of XP and cash!

[MagicianArcana]

I didn't come close to beating it, but after about 30 hours of Star Ocean 4 I gave up and sold my copy. I reached a boss that was far too difficult for me. I don't remember too many details because it was a while ago, but I remember the guy had this really annoying eye beam attack that could kill anyone in one hit. And I think if it didn't kill you it would stun you. I didn't have the patience to grind for XP lol

Tales of Legendia I technically never beat! :'0 I'm a little disappointed in myself for this because it's one of my all time favorites. But there are two boss rushes at the end of the game. If I remember correctly, I think you fight six bosses, then a seventh, more powerful boss in each. What I didn't know was that you could save between the boss rushes and return to town to restock on items. I thought I had to fight all 14 bosses, then the final boss in one go. I got to the final boss and my party was on its last leg and I had like no recovery items left. I couldn't win so I gave up and watched the ending online lol I spent an entire Saturday on this

For Persona 3 I also looked up the ending online. I was on the final month of the game when I accidentally deleted my save data. I was trying to copy my save data to another memory card but I chose "delete" by mistake. As much as I love the game, I wasn't about to play it for another 90+ hours haha

[DomsBeard]

Final Fantasy VIII I couldn't beat the last boss as it stripped you of various actions and it had a ridiculous difficulty spike.

Bioshock I've got well into 3 or 4 times but never finished, one of those games that everyone says is amazing and on paper looks my type but I didn't click with it

Alien Isolation on Nightmare mode. Cheating as I have finished it on Hard but I've tried to do one section (that the Alien isn't even involved in) about 50+ times and cannot do it.

[AndrewBrown]

I only have the Legendary Ships left to beat in Black Flag to 100% it, but for some reason I just can't muster the interest to do it. Oh, wait, am I wondering into that minefield where my definition of "complete" is out of sync with the rest of the community?

Okay, I have a Clavat on the final boss of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles but I've never worked up the patience to actually beat the freaking thing.

[mikeleddy83]

I'm not sure I ever completed Suikoden 2, I played that a hell of a lot though. Might be time to return now I've got it on the Vita but it's a possibly huge undertaking.

Not entirely sure why but I always refer to it as Genso Suikoden which I have no idea where it comes from as I've always had it stuck in my head as the proper un-used title for the games.

Edit: Howlongtobeat 35 hours, think thats possible. Maybe I will complete it then

[ratsoalbion]

Because that is what they are called (they just dropped the Genso for the Western releases):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genso_Suikoden_I_%26_II

[JaySevenZero]

I only have the Legendary Ships left to beat in Black Flag to 100% it, but for some reason I just can't muster the interest to do it.

You're not alone there, despite really enjoying the naval combat element in that game, I just never found the motivation to level up high enough to take on those ships.

[Sean]

The first one that pops in my mind is the final boss in Final Fantasy X. I remember getting to him when I first played it on PS2, and, finding him almost impossible to beat.

Most recently, I traded in Deus Ex Mankind Divided after a few hours with it. It bugs me, not because it was hard or anything, but, because I expected a lot more from it!

[gallo_pinto]

The first one that pops in my mind is the final boss in Final Fantasy X. I remember getting to him when I first played it on PS2, and, finding him almost impossible to beat.

Granted, I was a melodramatic teenager when I played FFX, but I REALLY liked the ending cutscenes in that the game. Did you go back and watch the ending on YouTube? Because STUFF HAPPENS!