Unfinished Business
This past weekend I finally reached the credits of a game that I had first unleashed upon my PS3 almost two months ago. I beat Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. I am clearly not here today to tout my little achievement, but rather to say to you that I have a problem.
I am The Doctor and I have a pile of unfinished games.
How large is this pile? Let's just say it goes back to the start of this console generation. I have a real issue with completing games. It is one thing if they are games I'm reviewing, as I have a time frame with which to reach the final moments. Yet when I'm playing a game for fun, somehow my interest lessens and I find myself moving on to the next big thing. I don't understand why I do this. Take this week for instance, I snagged copies of Mirror's Edge, Animal Crossing, and Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe this past weekend, and I'm already looking forward to Tomb Raider Underworld and Castlevania Legacy on Wednesday. We're talking 5 games in the span of one week. Yikes. Will I finish all these games? I can say with total confidence that I will, just not necessarily in the next few weeks...or months. With several more games being released in the coming weeks, I am not out of the woods yet.
One odd bit to this tale is my completion speed and rate for RPG's. Perhaps because it is my favorite genre, but I will almost always become tunnel visioned when it comes to a new RPG and play it forsaking all others. Why then will I invest countless hours in one game, but it will take me months to complete a 5 hour game? Am I alone in this? With the deluge of titles this Holiday season, how large is your stack of games yet to see an adequate play through? Which games are you going to be sure to beat as soon as possible and which games might see a layer of dust gathering?
TheDoctor
Posted to Video Games on 18 November 2008
· Comments (11)
Other stuff like this: beating games, confessions, endings, unfinished games
I've still got games from last yen still not finished or opened yet
You've shown me yours, so I'll show you mine:
http://www.backloggery.com/main.php?user=astralblades
Simply can't get finished: Lego Batman (good, but gets redundant), Assassin's Creed (just keep getting distracted), Dark Sector, Resistance (yes, that's right, I get so wound up in online multi that I forget to finish the story).
All ousted for the more recent releases of Bioshock, Mirror's Edge, Tomb Raider, and of course, LittleBigPlanet!
I need a pause on life so I can just game on!
My backlog of unfinished/unstarted games includes:
Condemned
Culdcept Saga
Fable 2
Jade Empire
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Killer 7
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metroid Prime 2
No More Heroes
Pikmin 2
Disgaea
Final Fantasy XII
Folklore
Grandia 3
ICO
La Pucelle Tactics
Persona 3 FES
Shin Megami Tensai: Digital Devil Saga
Silent Hill 2
Xenogears
Zone of the Enders
Zone of the Enders 2
Interesting that you point out recent releases in your backlog list, how long do you let a game lie before it's "overdue"?
For instance I still haven't finished Fallout 3 (on account of it 1 being a bit boring and 2 the Red Rings paid me a visit) but I wouldn't consider it in my backlog pile yet. Then there's Okami on the PS2 which I've never finished and definately is.
I was really curious as to how many games sat on my shelves that I still needed to pass...36 games..! I'm at work right now so I can't list them out, but I think the earliest one is Grandia on PSOne...
I had no problem with getting all the prizes from Little Big Planet though...and as much as I anticipated MGS4, I haven't even popped it in yet.
I'm working on ffiv ds right now, but the level grinding is putting me off lol...and knowing myself, I won't start up another game until I'm done with this one. Spending time on ffxi isn't helping either...
This is an extraordinary phenomenon of gaming, and I can't even characterize the length of its oddity. As an example, I have yet to finish Resident Evil 4. This has no bearing on my enjoyment of the game: Not only is it the most fun I have ever had on my Wii (I know that's not saying much), it may be one of my favorite games ever (I'm never sure about these things; I've played a lot of games). Anyway, somewhere near the end of RE4 I got distracted by a new release, which gave way to another, and another, and somewhere along the way I got side-tracked altogether.
The irony in all of this is that I can't wait until Capcom gives us the fifth installment of their major franchise, yet my hope is that the gameplay doesn't diverge too greatly from number four. Essentially, what I want is more RE4, which is sitting on my dresser, unfinished and collecting dust, next to Twilight Princess...
As one more aside, whenever my boyfriend beats a game (especially an RPG), I feel less inclined to finish it. I've noticed this phenomenon goes both ways. Though both of us will play it in the beginning, I am never sure which one of us is going make it to the end.
The day after he beat Eternal Sonata, I tried loading my save game to follow suit.
I.just.couldn't.play.it.anymore...
I'll not comment on how little progress I've made in Castlevania Order of Ecclesia, Dead Space, and Ratchet & Clank Future as a result of playing FFXI right now.
I'll also neglect to comment on not finishing more than half of my collection of games. (Come on, do you REALLY think I've got the time to finish all 800 games I own before getting another? Do you REALLY think I'm going to invest that kinda time on things like Dragon's Lair for the NES? Do you ever "finish" Rock Band?)
But uhm, yeah. My backlog pile could rival many people's "games I own" pile at the same time. =/
I have yet to finish or yet to even start playing:
Fable 2 (a glitch's fault, though, not mine)
Mass Effect
Tales of Symphonia
Mega Man Battle Network 1-4
Boktai 1 and 2
Megaman ZX Advent
Summon Night: Twin Age
Puzzle Quest
Pokemon Diamond (haven't even started Pearl yet)
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Final Fantasy 1, 2, 4, and 5
Final Fantasy: Crisis Core
Monster Hunter Freedom 2
Valhalla Knights 1 and 2
Patapon
Dungeons and Dragons Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Plus, I still need to do more work on Disgaea 1 and 2 and Soul Calibur 4.
I completely and utterly blame City of Heroes/Villains with distracting me from finishing games.
Ugh...the backlog seems to grow.
Persona 3 FES
Dead Space
Fallout 3
Infinite Undiscovery
Blue Dragon
Dragon Quest 4
Dragon Quest 8
Makai Kingdom
Disgaea 3
Shin Megami Tensai: Digital Devil Saga 2
Metal Gear Solid 4
Heavenly Sword
Brave Story
Final Fantasy 1 & 2 (PSP)
Final Fantasy: Crisis Core
God of War 1 & 2
Odin Sphere
Katamari Damacy
We Love Katamari
Front Mission
Lunar Knights
Things gather dust and then are found again. I know I have more, afraid to look though with Last Remnant next week and Persona 4 coming out. I agree with TheBizcuit too, whenever my bf finishes something it tends to flow to the bottom of the list of importance. It very much seems a common thing.
Well....I kinda have a big Wii and DS list:
Animal Crossing Wild World
Castlevania Dawn of Ecclesia
Dragon Quest IV
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
LEGO Batman
My Sims
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
No More Heroes
Super Mario Galaxy
and even.........
Zelda Twilight Princess
I guess university takes the blame for me not finishing games.....I hope this holiday I can finish a bunch of these unless I get too hooked on Chrono Trigger