What's the longest you played a game you didn't like? And why?

"Life is too short to read bad books."

Shion's Xenogears playthrough reminded me of my time with this cult favorite and how utterly painful it was to try to engage its gameplay. Even still, as many here will attest, the story, characters, artwork, and music made it all worth it. Even when my free time was more abundant, I never spent much time on a game if I truly wasn't enjoying myself. So Xenogears is the closest I can get to this (~60 hours).

This thread is partially inspired by our forum's discussion on FFXIII, how many how many of its biggest haters played it through to completion. I remember expressing my astonishment at someone playing a 50+ hour game they thought was that bad and one member insisted that it was a completely normal thing that reasonable people do all the time. I felt bad for him :(

Another example of this is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Last time an Elder Scrolls thread came up, someone remarked how those who detract from Skyrim often ironically have 120 hour playthroughs to their name.

Have you ever slogged through a title you did not enjoy and what was the motivation that kept you going?

I put ~40 hours into Oblivion, and it was because I wanted to beat it for lore reasons. I dumped it basically as soon as I finished the main questline. At least Shivering Isles wasn't bad.

Other than that I can't think of any games I played for more than 10+ hours despite not liking it. I usually give up after like two, haha.

I spent about 35 to 40 hours with FF XII. Must be 70 or more in IX over consecutive, aborted attempts to play. Only maybe 8 or 10 in FF Tactics overall.

i put 2 hours into assasins creed 1

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Originally Posted by Mister Adequate

I spent about 35 to 40 hours with FF XII. Must be 70 or more in IX over consecutive, aborted attempts to play. Only maybe 8 or 10 in FF Tactics overall.

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You hate literally all of my favourite FFs. xD

Chrono Cross. I SO wanted to like that game. But it just felt like a chore to play. Seriously, it would be like "Ugh is it time to play that game again. SIIIIGHHH. Might as well get it over with"

The story seemed interesting and my boyfriend loves it and we do have similar taste in games in some ways, so I wanted to give it a shot. A decent one. But eventually it was just like... I had to accept I don't like it and moved on

Looking at the save files on my PSP, I have 44 hours logged into Valkyria Chronicles II, which . . . is a game I am not fond of. I managed to log in those hours based purely on the combat portions of the game, which I enjoyed, but, really, eventually everything else caught up to me and I can't stand the game anymore. Had the combat been poor as well, I wouldn't have made it that far.

I also had at LEAST 20 hours in Suikoden Tacomeat (as I have since dubbed it) for the DS, which I simply . . . no. Just no. I tried DAMN hard to like that game, and the only reason I played as long as I did was because it was a day one purchase and I was determined to convince myself something redeeming was buried in the title somewhere. To the game's credit, there was Chrodechild, but she wasn't nearly enough to carry the title for me and it was another one I was forced to put down.

Disgaea, the original, I have put . . . God, well over 100 hours into across three releases. I do not like this title. I don't find most of the humor amusing, I don't like Etna (I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate Etna), I actively dislike the combat and rebirth mechanics, and the item world is the most irritating, soul draining experience I have ever continually subjected myself to. And yet, everyone insists the game is amazing, and I keep telling myself I'll like it if I play it again, because I was just expecting a different experience or some other crap last time I played, and each time I'm just chasing a rainbow. Second game I was more okay with though, which is something.

The Mega Man Battle Network series as a whole also qualifies for this. To be fair, my opinion of these games has shifted quite a bit, as I initially thought they were absolute garbage, but after deciding to give the series a second chance a while back and playing through the first three or four games I can say that, while I still don't like them, I can DEFINITELY see why other people do. I didn't race through the games and spent a lot of time in each collecting V3 chips and standard ones with certain codes to make folders I liked, so I easily spent over 60 hours across the endevor.

I hate Dragon Warrior II. I grinded my way through the game until that last stretch before Hargon's castle. I stopped. smurf that game. I don't know many hours that took, but I was disliking it fairly early on for whatever reason and stuck with it, thinking I'd end up liking it like the first game. I was incorrect.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is another one. I swear I am the only person in the world that dislikes this game, but I do. A lot. I don't like its mechanics, I don't like how most characters feel, nothing. But, it was one of the first games I got for my DC, and a buddy and I unlocked EVERYTHING in the game and played a ton of multiplayer. No idea how much time was spent on this, but it was at least 20 hours before the game was solidly placed in the -never touch again- basket.

There's also FF Tactics Advance. At least 40+ hours, across two or so attempted playthroughs, worth of it. I don't like the story, characters, learning skills from gear, classes being locked to races, or the card system. I do like sending my people on random 'x day' guild missions though, and using the items from one to complete another, but that's . . . probably not the element I should be appreciating. Every time I pick it up I expect to find what people like in the title and have some dark cloud of ignorance lifted from me so the bright sunshine of its greatness can filter down upon me, but . . . hasn't happened yet, and that horizon looks mighty cloudy still.

Anyway, that's all I can think of at the moment, and looking at the general trend it seems I tend to spend a lot of time with titles I don't like in the vain hope I'll find something I DO like about them. Then I give up. I'm such a quitter. :(

Hmm. usually not very long. I can't think of an exact instance that I played a game for more than an hour or two that I really didn't like.

Xenogears. I think I put 20 hours into it but still didn't really like it. I played it mainly because people promised me it was great. That's 10 years ago now, and I actually intend to give it another shot soon. I bought it on psn and all.

I think I'm just really picky these days. I won't play games I've heard nothing good about from the friends I have with similar tastes as I have, or that I haven't read at least decent reviews about. The times that I do take a chance, it's with cheap titles that I would put away within 5 hours at most if I didn't like them. I simply don't have enough free time to spend it on stuff that isn't good.

FFXIII made it an easy one to slog through, purely due to the technical aspect of the combat. The battles almost felt like a far superior minigame, framed inside of a larger game that was a total mess. I beat that game in its entirety and have no desire to ever make a new game.

The first Assassin's Creed was sort of the same deal... it was so bland and repetitive, but the movement was so good. I tried to convince myself that the story would pick up, or something would happen that would actually make the experience feel worth it.

Nope. Got to the end with the awful twist and raged a little inside. The sequel was a good, at least. I've no desire to play anything else in the series, though.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I think I put a good 25 - 30 hours into this game. If not, then it sure felt that way lol And while it amused me in the beginning, it never really grabbed me. And then was completely ruined by Edge's reaction to the first major event in the game. People say his reaction was justified by guilt and whatnot, and I'll give them that. But to drag it on for so long, and try to drag his team down into his wallow'y mopiness as well is just childish and irresponsible. He's the captain, he has a position of responsibility and leadership, and he shrugs it all off to go mope in a corner. I've seen lots of Star Trek, the characters in there sometimes make terrible mistakes, or even if they don't and end up making terrible consequences through good intentions. They feel their grief and stuff, but they also realize they have a ship and a crew to lead. They have to put responsibility there first and deal with their feelings in a mature and responsible manner. Edge dealt with them like a 15 year old. Probably because he was a 15 year old (not honestly sure of his age, but considering the Japanese's love of teenage protagonists in ridiculously unbelievable command positions [Squall] he certainly fit the trope and the personality archetype)

And it's really bad when the characters in the game agree with me and consider him unfit for duty and take command away from him. I was extremely happy that happened, but it didn't change his personality. I was wishing he'd either grow up or stop showing up in the cut scenes. But neither happened. And though he eventually got over it, it was way too late. I forced myself to get that far, and I just couldn't take any more

Immature people should not be in positions of responsibility where people's lives are on the line. Lives were lost. His psychological evaluation for the job should have indicated whether he could handle that or not, and he could not

I have to agree with the people who've mentioned Final Fantasy Tactics (any of them, though I have no played Advance 2)

I've given the first one so many tries. But it's just so complex and tedious. And like every other game in the genre outside of Shining Force, it's just battle battle story battle story story battle battle battle

I can't imagine any other type of RPG getting away with this. People give Xenogear's disc 2 trout for being nothing but story and boss fights. Plot development and fighting, when they want to play a game. Well Tactics is nothing, absolutely NOTHING but plot and battle. And people love that game for it? Final Fantasy XIII adds the bonus of hallways, but other than that it's just battles and plot too, and people hate that game for it. Why does Tactics (and every other strategy game that takes the easy route and cuts out the option of an overworld and replaces it with a damn map instead) get a free pass? I haven't managed to play through any of them. And god damn was Fire Emblem: Awakening a great game, but I could not beat it. The pacing just seemed horrible. All battles and story. I loved the character interactions, but they were over so quickly, and came off as rather gimmicky, with just a couple of sentences traded between characters in between battles. And then off to another battle or story point. How I dream of being able to walk around in that world and actually talk with the people in it and actually have longer conversations or hang out with the people I grow to care about in it. I care about that game more than a thousand Final Fantasy Tactics could ever compare to. And this would include Disgaea, La Pucelle, Luminous Arc, Vandal Hearts, Yggdra Union, Gungnir, Tacts Ogre. So much potential to have more than just battles and story and micromanaging. And I've sunk so many hours into them hoping it would pay off, that at least ONE game would have proper pacing and not try to burn everyone out on so many battles. But they're all the same. It's hard to believe Shining Force; probably a 25 year old game by now, is literally the only shining example of a strategy game with the deftly handled pacing of any other RPG on the market. Why has nobody seen the potential there

Yes I had to rant. All these games that could have been magnificent if they had only put a little time and effort into crafting a world instead of just a battle system with a story >.< and so much of my time given to them hoping and praying any of them got it right. And I haven't beaten a single one

(I should probably also note that I am drinking right now.. lol)

People are more honest when they're drunk so that's fine.

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Originally Posted by Vyk

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I think I put a good 25 - 30 hours into this game. If not, then it sure felt that way lol And while it amused me in the beginning, it never really grabbed me. And then was completely ruined by Edge's reaction to the first major event in the game. People say his reaction was justified by guilt and whatnot, and I'll give them that. But to drag it on for so long, and try to drag his team down into his wallow'y mopiness as well is just childish and irresponsible. He's the captain, he has a position of responsibility and leadership, and he shrugs it all off to go mope in a corner. I've seen lots of Star Trek, the characters in there sometimes make terrible mistakes, or even if they don't and end up making terrible consequences through good intentions. They feel their grief and stuff, but they also realize they have a ship and a crew to lead. They have to put responsibility there first and deal with their feelings in a mature and responsible manner. Edge dealt with them like a 15 year old. Probably because he was a 15 year old (not honestly sure of his age, but considering the Japanese's love of teenage protagonists in ridiculously unbelievable command positions [Squall] he certainly fit the trope and the personality archetype)

And it's really bad when the characters in the game agree with me and consider him unfit for duty and take command away from him. I was extremely happy that happened, but it didn't change his personality. I was wishing he'd either grow up or stop showing up in the cut scenes. But neither happened. And though he eventually got over it, it was way too late. I forced myself to get that far, and I just couldn't take any more

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Yes. Yes. Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes. I have relatively minor complaints about SO4 overall, but Edge is the sole MAJOR complain I hold against it. At least Reimi had what it took to be our commander while he moped around aimlessly for the middle of the game, as I likely wouldn't have finished it otherwise. (Then again, TotA does something irritatingly similar as well, only I DIDN'T get someone like Reimi and still finished it, so . . . meh.)

I really like Star Ocean: The Last Hope. No complaints with Edge

Voice acting is terrible for the most part would be my biggest complaint

Let's not make this into a The Last Hope thread, but yes, I actually completed that awful game, so that's gotta be high on my list of Hours Spent On A Game I Didn't Like.

Too many hours in Oblivion, it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be.

I think about 14 hours into Red Dead Redemption to the point where I got really, really tired of the handholding.

The hours spent in GTA San Andreas storyline could count too I guess. The roaming was fun but the missions were rarely fun in my opinion. Same goes for GTA IV.

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Originally Posted by Vyk

People give Xenogear's disc 2 trout for being nothing but story and boss fights. Plot development and fighting, when they want to play a game. Well Tactics is nothing, absolutely NOTHING but plot and battle. And people love that game for it?

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Not gonna lie (I'm drinking, too (Mirage wins this thread)) I nearly got down on my knees in reverent adulation when Xenogears Disc 2 came around. Finally, I could do away with these terrible dungeons and random encounters and just enjoy the story they wanted to tell. I like to think that the team blew past their budget, and Sakaguchi sat Fei down in his "time out chair" to tell his little BS story and get it over with.

I don't know, I just feel like the artistic elements in FFT are so good, I don't need town wandering and open world traveling to keep me occupied. Something about that Yoshida artwork, Sakimoto music, and Matsuno political intrigue is just intoxicating. I'll admit, as a strategy RPG, Final Fantasy Tactics isn't even that great of a game. But the job system and grid combat are enough to obfuscate its shortcomings.

I think why Shining Force stands out from the genre is because the team actually wasn't trying to emulate the sub-genre. An interviewer once asked if Fire Emblem was an influence because it predates Shining Force and the developer responded that they weren't trying to make an SRPG at the time - they were trying to make a Dragon Quest with more interesting combat.

FFXIII because I knew no one would take my hatred of it seriously if I didn't play through at least the story. There was also some slim hope in the beginning that it might get better. Luckily my PS3 died so I lost my save file and would never have to play it again.

There's also RE4. I played about half way through and got tired of it. A couple of months later I thought maybe I'd been too harsh on it and decided to try and finish it figuring I couldn't possibly have much left. Which is how I found out I was only halfway through and that I hadn't judged it harshly enough.

And lastly Chrono Cross I guess. I didn't put a ton of time into it but there were some aborted play through attempts before giving up on it for good. It's just a really bad game.

I will give another vote for FFXIII, I came into it with low expectations but hoping to be surprised and I was surprised by how bad it was. It was basically the video game version of watching a movie that sounds promising and you keep watching despite not liking it because you hope that at some point it will pick up and then you reach the credits and realize it didn't. I still can't bring myself to play through it again and to this day it's the only non MMO FF I have yet to play a second time.

Fallout 3 was another game like that where I kept waiting for it to get better and instead got lost. While some stories were interesting, the game got too easy rather quickly and the main plot just feels pointless. Due to getting lost a lot, never using a guide, and long bout of not playing it took me years to actually finish this game.

Star Ocean First Departure, I've been chipping away at this game for awhile. I think I'm only still going because I feel I am towards the end of the game but good lord has this game not aged well and even updating to SO2 gameplay/graphics can't really save it from it's silly plot and boring cast of characters.

I will also mention Assassin's Creed 1 which is way too repetitive, restrictive, and surprisingly easy. I think the story was the only thing that kept me going through that one. Brotherhood was the other that gave me issues as the story felt forced and the gameplay was pretty buggy.

Suikoden Tactics, good lord I tried to like that game but I just can't. It has some good ideas but it's also filled with some really bad ones as well and like it's companion game Suikoden IV, the title just felt half finished. It feels almost if sometime after they finished the game someone just went in and edited out a bunch of plot and story elements in order to make the game in the 40 hour range with no real thought about how it would affect the pacing and characterization. The hit-or-miss VA work certainly didn't help either.

Crisis Core was another I played through partly because I liked Zack and partly because all my gamer friends insisted it was really good and emotional and just... ugh... it's so damn repetitive and easy and it's just like FFX where all the challenge is just mindless stat min/max with no real benefit. The plot is pure fan-fiction with Genesis and just...ugh...

The ultimate winner goes to Final Fantasy X for me, the first time I played it, I was just happy to have a bright new FF for my new PS2 and I tore through it to gobble up the plot and characters. When I finished it, I was left a bit underwhelmed, but whatever I had MGS2 to playthrough a dozen more times. My second playthrough, I really focused on the gameplay side of things, and that was when I really discovered that part of my nagging issue with the game was how utterly boring all of it is. Once you know how the story goes, you start noticing how mediocre the rest of game design was; and even though I spent time doing the Coliseum and completing the Sphere Grid, I realized it was all meaningless because you can't really focus on either until you're near the end of the game and even without grinding or ultimate weapons the final boss is easy. My third playthrough was against my will and largely forced onto me by my current girlfriend who wanted to see the game ending but lost interest in playing the game for largely the above reasons. She loves X-2 and so she felt obliged to see the ending and forced me to make it happen. It was this playthrough that made me realize how utterly pointless the equipment system is and I noticed more holes in the battle mechanics as I quickly decimated my way through the game with largely starting gear, minimal grinding, and abusing the hell out of the Overdrives. I've probably put over 150 hours into this game over three playthroughs and I swear I'll never play it again, I don't give a smurf about Penance or your Dark Aeons, go kick a landmine shaped like a blitzball.

And another vote for FFXIII. Still to date the worst game i've ever played. I can't remember how much time I spent with it but it was up until chapter 7 that I couldn't bring myself to play anymore. I heard before it was released about it being linear, but I was baffled by how completely devoid of life and energy it was. I remember one time I had got to a forest and thought 'maybe I'll get to discover more around here, you know it's a forest?!'. Nope, just another hallway in the trees. Run, fight, cutscene, repeat until credits.

Don't even get me started on the gameplay or story.

Final Fantasy Tactics

I hate the story (it's not bad, I just hate it). I hate the hideously over complicated mechanics. I hate the terrible balance. I hate the ruinous progression. I hate the shallow side quests. I hate the hero.

But Ivalice is a fantastic game world, even in its worst incarnation, and there are not enough tactical RPGs.

Wow. Thought I was the only one who felt that way lol

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Originally Posted by Rocket Edge

And another vote for FFXIII. Still to date the worst game i've ever played. I can't remember how much time I spent with it but it was up until chapter 7 that I couldn't bring myself to play anymore. I heard before it was released about it being linear, but I was baffled by how completely devoid of life and energy it was. I remember one time I had got to a forest and thought 'maybe I'll get to discover more around here, you know it's a forest?!'. Nope, just another hallway in the trees. Run, fight, cutscene, repeat until credits.

Don't even get me started on the gameplay or story.

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The lack of life and energy is seriously the worst part of it. The gameplay was ok to me

It consisted of pressing x continually. Even the Crystarium was Sphere Grid for kids - again just press x. That's about as much I remember from the gameplay.

It took me roughly 45 painstaking hours to get through Dark Souls II. As an avid fan of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls I was determined to complete the entire trilogy, even though I found Dark Souls II to be an almost completely insufferable mess. I really hope Miyazaki can bring back the magic with Bloodborne.

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Originally Posted by Pike

Oblivion

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Originally Posted by Necronopticous

Dark Souls II

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And Shadowrun Returns.

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Originally Posted by Necronopticous

It took me roughly 45 painstaking hours to get through Dark Souls II. As an avid fan of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls I was determined to complete the entire trilogy, even though I found Dark Souls II to be an almost completely insufferable mess. I really hope Miyazaki can bring back the magic with Bloodborne.

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I too pray for some Miyazaki magic, even if I won't be getting a PS4 anytime soon.

demons souls : dark souls 1 : dark souls 2 :: a new hope : empire strikes back : return of the jedi

>>> FF13, and why? because I paid for it..:luca:

I never keep track of how many hours I spend on a game. WCW Nitro is my least favorite game of all time and I think I played that for a good couple of hours before I stopped playing. Same for Superman 64. Fighter Maker even less than that.

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Originally Posted by shion

I really like Star Ocean: The Last Hope. No complaints with Edge

Voice acting is terrible for the most part would be my biggest complaint

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The voice acting.....=___="

"Kay Kaaay Kaaaaaaaaay" *rips hair out*

Loosely related, but Dark Souls 2 is also dead in the water for me. Have played past a fair few bosses; not really sure where I am now. I've just lost interest.

FFXII and XIII. It's not like I completely hated them, I wanted to like them, and some aspects of the games I did like. But in the end, I only kept playing hoping they would get better/I would start liking them.

Only a couple of hours. And I will never play Shadow of the Colossus again!

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Originally Posted by CARPHONE WAREHOUSE

Only a couple of hours. And I will never play Shadow of the Colossus again!

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:colbert:

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Originally Posted by CARPHONE WAREHOUSE

Only a couple of hours. And I will never play Shadow of the Colossus again!

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You're dead to me.

And I won't be buying a car phone either. :doublecolbert:

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Originally Posted by CARPHONE WAREHOUSE

Only a couple of hours. And I will never play Shadow of the Colossus again!

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Well it took you a few years, but your efforts to be more wrong than Sarah finally paid off. Congratulations, I award you no points, and the title of The Actual For-Real Accurate-Use-Of-The-Word-Literally Literal Worst.

I was about to chew out Vivi22 for not liking Resi 4 until I saw that. Good lord. How can anyone not like Shadow of the Colossus? Mind blowing.

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Originally Posted by Levian

FFXII and XIII. It's not like I completely hated them, I wanted to like them, and some aspects of the games I did like. But in the end, I only kept playing hoping they would get better/I would start liking them.

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Yeah, my experiences exactly. FFXII was a weird one because I really enjoyed it at the start with the open nature of the Rabanastre area. But the last few areas were slow torture, the pacing was completely out. I had to force my way through them because I hoped it'd be great again and I felt I owed the excellent start to the game that much. I actually spent the last few dungeons sprinting at top speed with a conga line of monsters behind me because I couldn't take it anymore.

FFXIII fizzled out too. The story was a great driving force to begin with, with the fighting against fate concept and a lot of good inter-character conflict. And I had heard that eventually you get to this super cool open area called Gran Pulse where the training wheels come off and it's sooooooooooo good. And, well, it wasn't. It just was not worth hours of linear, sterile and dull environments. The story went to utter paff too.

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Originally Posted by Mister Adequate

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Originally Posted by CARPHONE WAREHOUSE

Only a couple of hours. And I will never play Shadow of the Colossus again!

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Well it took you a few years, but your efforts to be more wrong than Sarah finally paid off. Congratulations, I award you no points, and the title of The Actual For-Real Accurate-Use-Of-The-Word-Literally Literal Worst.

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To be honest, the first few hours I played SotC I had mixed feelings about the game. It had awesome moments but I also missed the point a bit. But the more I played the more I got invested and now it ranks amongst my favourites like any other person who has played it. Maybe SotC is an acquired taste?

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Originally Posted by Quin

Loosely related, but Dark Souls 2 is also dead in the water for me. Have played past a fair few bosses; not really sure where I am now. I've just lost interest.

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I hear you man. I finished the game twice and I did not enjoy that second playthrough. Compared to the first, 2 is all over the shop in many, many aspects.

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Originally Posted by krissy

demons souls : dark souls 1 : dark souls 2 :: a new hope : empire strikes back : return of the jedi

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Dear God. I pray that Bloodborne does not become the Phantom Menace of the series.

Smurfing FFXIII. Gets better after 40 hours they said, after you get the airship they said.

NO! JUST NO. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻


Smurf that game. Up the figurative fake tech melodramatic bunghole.