Posted July 04, 2014
Leroux: That sounds more or less like my own approach. With those I just test for a short while, it's no problem to get back to them later and maybe start over, it's rather those that I initially intended to play through but then get too bored, annoyed, frustrated or actually stuck (or all of the above, at the same time). And I guess it happens the most with RPGs and adventure games, which are incidentally the worst games to abandon half-way through and also sadly the games I'm most attracted to, despite the great risks they pose to my playstyle (getting stuck on puzzles, getting bored with repetitive trash mob combat or tedious city exploration and item management) ...
Yeah, some games are a bad idea to leave partially done for any length of time as you can forget the controls, your spells/skills and how to use them, the storyline, quests underway or items you need to find and where they are, or any other number of things and it can be hard to get back into. Some games it requires starting over from scratch to re-learn the game even. Getting stuck or getting frustrated on puzzles is another zinger too. I got stuck on the new Tomb Raider game after playing it for several days when it first came out. I made it to the part quite far into the game where Lara falls into a stream flowing down the side of the mountain and you have to guide her through the water left and right to avoid getting killed as the horrid dreaded QTEs (Quick Timer Events) annoy the crap out of you ... she gets killed ... you start at the top of the mountain again and do it over and over and over until you are bored out of your mind and want to punch a bunny. Some 10 or more months later a friend was over and wanted to see the game and I hadn't played it in all that time. I fired it up and complained about the QTEs and managed to make it through the minefield of crap on the way down the mountain the first time! It's a great game but despite that I've still not got back into playing it seriously to complete it after the game dislodged me with repetitive difficult gameplay like that. Years ago I had a similar experience in Halflife 2 where I continuously ran out of ammo at one point and couldn't proceed as there was too heavy of scripted fighting and challenge to get past at this one part and I'd have had to go back way too far in my savegames to stand a chance of making it back to where I was with enough ammo to possibly get past the challenge spot. I love Halflife 2 but have never played it again seriously for over 10 years. One of these days... :)