Anyway, I have been reading back over my blog posts and I have realised something about myself that I hate to admit... I don't finish games anymore!! It's always the same story... Look forward to getting a new game, getting excited about the hype, imagining what new battle systems/characters are going to be in this game.
Then I get the game, start playing, love it, get about 20 hours or so in and get bored. Sometimes it's not even boredom, sometimes the game just gets too hard! That is really sad as there are some awesome games that I own that I haven't completed!! I'm not a trophy whore, as some people are so I'm not out to get 100% completion or anything... But I used to be!
In the old days, you got a game, played the crap out of it and found every secret or collectable that you possibly could, than after however long of playing said game, found satisfaction that there was nothing left in the game for you to find, because you had butt-fucked every inch of it (and maybe even the disk). You probably moved on to the next game in your one-shelf game collection and repeated the process, and then went back to complete the first game again, just because you could.
So what happened? Well, one of the problems I think is that there are just too many games to play now! When you got your first console, you had like three games to meticulously play through and when you had finished those you had to wait until Christmas or a Birthday until you got a new one. These days though, there are so many games and obviously being older, you have your own disposable income to spend on whatever the hell you want to spend it on.
So without your parents reminding you that no, you're not going to die if you don't get the latest sequel to a game that all your friends are playing, and no, you won't be left out if you don't get this game, then you are free to indulge in spending your hard earned money on freaking Shin Megami Tensei sequels (if that's what your into?).
But it's not only that you can have any game you want instantly at your fingertips (and with all the android and Ios apps coming out it's literally at your fingertips), but the fact that once you have played a game for 20 hours or so, you have got over that feeling of excitement because you are now playing the game... and then you start thinking, well I like this game because it's new, but I like the game-play/characters/storyline/guns? better in this game...
And you move on to something else either because it's just different or it's new and forget all about the awesome game you were so hyped about last month... I don't know, is it just me?? But now, I feel really shit that I haven't completed some of the coolest and most engaging games that have come out over the past two years and that they are just collecting dust on a shelf.
So anyway, here are the Top 5 games that I really want to complete and the reasons that I didn't complete them yet, so here goes...
Ni No Kuni
I was so excited about getting Ni No Kuni, because I am a total RPG freak, oh and the fact that I love cutesy animated movies like Studio Ghibli's (I even get my nearly 4-year-old nephew to watch them rather than Ben 10 and crap like that), and when I got my hands on it I was enthralled...
...The music and the animations are so beautiful, the story so sweet and innocent and they even threw in a Pokemon style system for your battle companions (did I mention I love Pokemon?), so why haven't I completed it yet, since it is such a good game?
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| Such a lovely town to explore |
The reason I stopped playing this game has happened quite alot with other RPG's that I also haven't completed (most of the FF games... I feel ashamed even writing that!), and that is once you get to the world map, where you can go anywhere you want, explore wherever you want without being on such a strict linear path anymore.... I just don't know what to do.
It's like the game, after holding your hand through the first 20 hours of gameplay, suddenly relinquishes it's grip and says "ok, now it's your turn to make the decisions, off you go" and I turn into a tantrum throwing five year old screaming "Mommy! Don't leave me here!" and pulling my hair out. Or maybe that's just me...
...Anyway, I haven't touched the game again after I got to this stalemate and blamed it on having another game to sink my teeth into, but really it's because I can't be bothered to go around exploring this beautiful world all on my own... That's really sad. Anyway, the next game I have still to complete is...
Fallout 3 and New Vegas
So I pretty much fell in love with the Fallout Universe with Fallout 3, a game which although being a shooter, which isn't usually my cup of tea, is essentially an RPG with character customisation and leveling up. I loved creating my own character and moving into this breathtakingly destroyed world, starting as a little baby and finally making my way out of the vault and into the scary world of Super Mutants and Ghouls.
Once I got out of the vault, I didn't suffer from the afore-mentioned incapability to explore this new world without the game helping me along my way, because I already new that that is what the game is all about. So I set off completing missions and unlocking new abilities like being able to explode someones head with one shot, which I actually found enjoyable! Shock Horror!
... And then I would get to parts like this, when you are low on ammo and stimpacks and there's a horde of enemies just waiting for you to quit VATS so that they can sink their irradiated teeth into you or blow you up with a rocket launcher. I found myself frantically trying to use whatever cover is provided in the battleground, while spamming items of food just to give myself that little bit more health to take pot shots at the damned enemies!!
And end up dieing so many times that I just get frustrated because the next mission goal is just around the corner, if only I could get past this mob!! Arrgghhh!! Rage quitting did happen....
...And I'm not the kind of person to reload an earlier save and try to find another way around this problem, but maybe I should be... Because I have never completed Fallout 3 or New Vegas and it's a damn shame because I love these games so much!! It just took me a while to realise that I am being a huge pussy and I should just suck it up and try again, but there we are. Another similar game that I haven't completed is:
The Elder Scrolls:Oblivion and Skyrim
Now here are two games that I love maybe more than the Fallout games, because I'm into that whole fantasy thing of ages past where men used swords and women died in childbirth (I love Conan the Barbarian and Game of Thrones so you get the idea of why I would like this game). I fell in love with this universe in Oblivion, it had everything; customisable characters, cool swords, magic, monsters, potions, endless missions and exploration of a vast and beautiful world....
...and I have played the shit out of both games, with multiple characters, storylines, I even created two Skyrim Blogs because I loved creating my own stories using the game as a backdrop to my awesome writing skills and imagination LOL.
There are so many combinations of characters to create and so many quests to do, not to mention dragon battles that I could probably play this game forever (well until the new Elder Scrolls game comes out), and herein lies the problem... I would play probably 30 hours or more as one character over say a week or two, then real life obligations would get in the way e.g. work or seeing friends and family and I wouldn't return to my character for a while.
I would come back to an inventory that was mind boggling, a character someplace that I didn't remember leaving them, for some reason that is now unknown to me and feel myself thinking, meh; I enjoyed this character for a while, but what if I made a huge Orc who dual wields... And then I would start this new awesome character and leave my original standing around in the wilderness for the rest of their days.
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| What was I doing here? |
The problem I think I have with the Elder Scrolls games is that I get too into the game! Or character or whatever... I get so involved with their storyline, in my head, that when I come back to play after a while, I have completely forgotten why I was standing naked in a cave holding a giant warhammer, when I'm supposed to be a magic user!! So I'm sorry to say that I have never completed the Main Story Line Quests in either game, but I really want to!! So from getting too into a game, to not getting into a game enough is...
World Of Warcraft
Now, I know that you can't really complete World of Warcraft, but I have added it to this list because it's another game that I have given up on, and probably will never return there again, because i'm just not into it enough...
I was never into World of Warcraft from the beginning, but always liked the idea of an MMORPG, which had magic and levelling and dungeons and you could team up with real people to go complete some quests and stuff. So I always thought it would be cool to play but never really got hyped about it too much. I eventually bought the game on a whim when I saw it on sale in town one day and it came with a month of free play time and I thought, why not give it a go?
At first I loved the game, it was so cool, it was everything I had ever wanted in a game, I made friends, joined a guild, developed my character and tried to understand all of the stats and intricate details of this huge and inspiring world. The quests were fun, dangerous and humorous and I had friends in my guild who would help out a newbie like me, and so I spent my time.
I paid for the subscriptions, got to quite a respectable level (56), installed team speak so I could chat to all of my guildies, I was a really annoying WOW nerd at this time, spending Friday nights meeting up with people in the game to go through dungeons together, it was a great time... For about 4 months...
Eventually, real life caught up with me and I couldn't play as much as I wanted to, my guildies were bugging me to just get to the next level and then we could go do this dungeon, and so on. I ended up getting annoyed at their constant requests to go do stuff together, when all I wanted to do was go off by myself and explore this new region (there are so many cool places to visit in WOW).
Then Mists Of Pandaria came out and sure, I bought it. But I would come back to the game after 3 solid days at work and find that oh, all of my Panda friends are now level 26 and out in the rest of the world exploring while I'm still in the starter area trying to reach level 9!! I thought we were supposed to do this together!!!
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| Just for the record, I don't think Pandas are cool |
Pokemon
And I mean any Pokemon game ever. Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love Pokemon, I own all of the games, except for the new X and Y (it's gonna be a Christmas present) and I have probably spent the most time collectively playing Pokemon games more than any other game! (yes including Sims, which technically you can't finish)
I mean, I don't even think that Pokemon is just a game, it's a culture for gods sake! I watched the shows, movies, played not just the normal Pokemon games but the Mystery Dungeon style games, collected the cards, made my own comics about my adventures with Pokemon which I so badly wanted to exist, I still do. Let's just say i'm into it...
...But I have never completed a Pokemon game. Wait, does that mean defeating the final four? Maybe. Or does it mean completing your Pokedex? Some people would say that is completing the game, but nevertheless, I haven't done either!! And this is the one game that I should have done, whatever the iteration, because I love it so much!! I have just never got around to it.
I'm not making excuses because I'm crap at the game or anything, I have got to the point just before you take on the elite four in every game, but then wait... There's a new game coming out!! And I have to go and buy it!! Start a new adventure with new Pokemon and get into it all over again, and there's the crux of the problem.
There are too many Pokemon games!! I loved the original games, but they just keep adding more and more Pokemon and trying to learn them all, and their new moves and evolutions... It sickens me. Well not too much because I'm probably getting this game for Christmas...
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| The games have come a long way since their black and white, fuzzily pixellated beginnings |
I'll keep you posted.
Lauren
