Most agonizing wait you've experienced for a game and how you distracted yourself till release?

[wafflebrain]

Nowadays if there's anything more than a month out from release I usually am able to remain relatively chill with the wait but there are exceptions particularly when I get caught up in a hype cycle. God of War 2018 was the most recent where those last few months were just brutal, and I couldn't really sink into any other game to distract myself, my brain was mono focused on nothing but GoW. I guess playing some of the remaster of III on Pro helped but not by much.

The all time worst for me though was for the NA release of Shenmue on Dreamcast. I'd been hyping that release up for what felt like over a year, and the scant amount of videos released and a handful of print magazine screenshots and previews were the only things I had to go off of. It felt like early childhood anticipation for Xmas magnified tenfold. It was brutal.

On the flipside its always refreshing discovering a potentially great game is coming out soon that you haven't been following for very long. Finding out just today that Disco Elysium (avant garde rpg) is coming out on Tuesday is pretty swell :)

So Era what are your stories of especially agonizing wait periods for games and what did you do to try to make the time go by faster? This can include platform launches as well.

 

[Deleted member 17990]

GTA V.

Just had to not think about it as the last 2-3 weeks before release were going to be the longest.

 

[Z-Beat]

KH3. There was plenty to keep me occupied

 

[YamchasRevenge]

 

[Weiss]

Click to shrink...

I crawled into the forum every day hoping for new info, and it was always about another delay.

 

[Zippo]

Smash 4 was a 3 and a half year long wait and playing Brawl until then barely cut it for me. That game is horrible compared to how it's sequel turned out in terms of quality.

 

[Kaban]

Probably Breath of the Wild - I remember trying to go some game stores a week before release because I heard it had broken street date. No luck though.

 

[Okabe]

DMC5


11 YEARS of a fucking rollercoaster of emotion....there are some here that know what I say ...THE CURSE IS BROKEN


CAPCOM IS BACCCCCCCK

 

[CorethPWilshire]

Bioshock Infinite, definitely. Distracted myself by consuming everything even tangentially related to Bioshock (reading Devil in the White City, listening to the Irrational podcasts, etc.). The excess hype didn't do the game any favors but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

[Son of Sparda]

Are we talking between announcement to release or just the overall time it took for a game that I wanted to get announced and released?

Cause if it's just announcement to release then Persona 5. Felt like that game took ages to come out. They announced it in fucking 2013!

Overall though, Devil May Cry 5 by far. 2008 to 2019. I was waiting for that game for 11 years.

Spoiler: Devil May Cry 5 spoilers

Felt like Dante was addressing fans like me in this part, since we were finally free after playing the game lol

As for how I distracted myself, I don't think I was that successful in either case tbh. I thought about DMC5 for the majority of those 11 years lol

 

[Ploid 6.0]

Most likely a Gran Turismo.

Though I remember wanting to play Final Fantasy XIII so bad when it first release in Japan that I thought I might have time to learn to at least read it. I'm glad I didn't just for that game, I never even played FF13.

 

[ParsnipForest]

Yeah, waiting for Shenmue III for the past 18 years has certainly had its ups and downs.

 

[ClickyCal']

Metroid prime 4

 

[Truant]

System Shock 2 > Bioshock > Infinite

 

[Deleted member 42105]

lol

 

[JudgmentJay]

Tossup between Final Fantasy IX and Ocarina of Time. The wait was excruciating as a kid. I only made it worse for myself by looking up information about them every day after school.

 

[smurfx]

zelda oot

i read every scrap of information i could online and bought magazines that talked about it. probably my most anticipated game ever.

 

[Linus815]

I was skeptical this would even get made - I mean, after hearing the horror stories of the development process, rockstar going radio silent for years following GTA 5's success, they could've just settled to make GTA forever.. So when it was announced, I naturally ignored the release date teased (2017 fall it was?) and for the first time in my life actually crossed my mind that, I might die before this shit comes out, so I better not.

Indeed, I was so excited for RDR 2 that I literally hoped I wouldn't die before it releases.

I can safely say I never felt that way about an entertainment product before or since, so that was pretty crazy. The last few weeks leading up to the release were the hardest but thankfully AC Odyssey releassed only about 3 weeks before RDR 2, which was a great way to distract myself. The last few days before RDR2's release I was probably more productive than ever in my life, which allowed me to have a quiet week at work for when RDR 2 came out, indeed allowing me maximum playtime. It was worth it, and I was not disappointed. Brilliant game.

 

[JustTom]

Click to shrink...

Just came here for this. Glad I wasn't alone.At one point I just had to press "ORDER" at Amazon Japan even though I don't understand one single word Japanese. Glad I didn't do it.
Right now it's Metroid Prime 4. Starting development all over again broke my heart one way or another.

 

[Lord Vatek]

Kingdom Hearts III was easily the worst but right now, the wait for Trails of Cold Steel III is up there too. Thankfully there's Dragon Quest XI S.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Ace Combat 7
There was such a long gap of time between information and there were so many rumors that the project had been dropped that I was so scared every time I saw news leading up to the release that the project had gotten cancelled.

On top of that the fact that we hadn't had a numbered Ace Combat release since like 2006 made the 13 year wait fucking painful. Will it live up to the hype??? Is the music gonna be as good?? Am i over hyping it?? Oh god are they gonna screw it up? OH GOD ANOTHER DELAY? OH GOD IT'S CANCELLED I JUST KNOW IT!! HELPPPPP

I didnt really distract myself i'd just kinda try not to follow the news tooo closely so I could let my mind focus on current releases and things i was doing.

 

[Darkonda]

Mass Effect: Andromeda. Dealt with by replaying the trilogy but I was still a fiend. The disappointment of how it turned out once I got my hands on it fucked me up for months.

 

[Fumpster]

The wait for Brawl and waking up every day before school to check the Dojo was agonizing.

 

[Maligna]

Cyberpunk 2077: 2013-2020.
Shenmue 3: 2002-2019

And I haven't been able to distract myself. I literally pine for them every day. It's hell.

 

[Begaria]

Click to shrink...

Distracting myself with other games since its announcement, I guess? God of War was a pretty good distraction.

 

[GamerJM]

Brawl was the first thing that popped in my head, but in reality the wait was a ton of fun. Checking the Dojo every day was amazing.

My real answer is Twilight Princess. I was more hyped for the Wii itself but TP looked awesome. The Summer of 2006 felt agonizingly long to me, and I limited myself from getting very many games that year in order to save up for a Wii.

 

[Quasaromega]

Click to shrink...

This one was pretty brutal, probably the worst wait of any anticipated game of mine. Persona 6 probably won't be any better. Related, the wait for next-gen this time around has been really rough - I have PSVR, and yearn for a more immersive experience, graphically. I know, PCVR is already there, but I want more expansive titles too, which there just hasn't been enough of yet.

 

[Deleted member 42105]

Just came here for this. Glad I wasn't alone.At one point I just had to press "ORDER" at Amazon Japan even though I don't understand one single word Japanese. Glad I didn't do it.

Click to shrink...

Bless your fortitude. Localization wait is peak hell. Like I'm about to buy Royal in 2 weeks because of it.

 

[psynergyadept]

I don't even fucking know how I kept myself together when Golden Sun 3 was announced...

 

[AimLow]

There have been several. And it doesn't help that I media blackout on all games I'm interested in, so there's nothing I can really do but just grin and bear it.

Most notable examples in memory are:

Mass Effect 2 & 3

Dark Souls 2 & 3

Bloodborne

Good of War 2018

Horizon Zero Dawn

Borderlands 3

Destiny 2

 

[Giga Man]

Fire Emblem Fates. It took approximately 8 months between the Japanese release and the North American release. The wait was excruciating. Avoiding spoilers was incredibly hard to do because I couldn't stop thinking about the game. I've fallen to temptation multiple times for some aspects. I am forever grateful that Fire Emblem is at a point now where simultaneous worldwide releases are possible. Thank you, Three Houses.

 

[Deleted member 864]

I remember the wait for Galaxy 2 being unbearable at points. I would pretty much soak up any little bits of new gameplay until the release to tide me over lol.

Kingdom Hearts 3 was pretty bad as well, once we actually got very close to the release I was still struggling with coming to terms with "wow, KH3 is actually releasing in a few days."

 

[Magnus]

I felt this way a lot as a kid when I had lots of free time and was like, feverishly awaiting each new FF or whatever. These days, the backlog is so full, and life is so busy with work and housework and RL shit that there's PLENTY to fill the time untli whatever next big release comes along. I actually often wish it would all slow down and am always fine with delays these days, haha

 

[Unicorn]

Fable - my life was like the comic meme where I imagined effecting entire histories and cultures.

Fucking burned.

Didn't learn.

Spore - joined like 3 forums and just talked up a storm. Creature Creator demo inspired hope. Launch I was hyped and each day I slowly became less enamored with the game play, but the visuals and tools were still amazing, then I just felt burned.

I learned.

No Man's Sky was announced and I knew to just expect Elite '84 and i would be good. Tried not to laugh at those pulling a spore 2.0 on themselves. NMS was still disappointing as a game, but the system and images kept me entertained for 100 hours and each update has me putting in another 100. Pleased for sure.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 has been holding me over for Ooblets and Animal Crossing. Also countless indies

 

[Samanosuke Akechi]

Dbz budokai 3.

Burnout 3 takedown.

 

[banshee150]

RDR2, BOTW, Persona 5, Super Mario Odyssey

 

[Deleted member 59983]

This will date me a touch but Fable.

After all the hype surrounding it and how much I loved Morrowind everything about Fable seemed like the perfect game for me. As soon as EB's had it up for pre-order I threw money down and then got a bonus disc with making of content and stuff like that. Looked like the actual game but the coverart had a different background color. Just kept looking at it on my shelf wishing it had the actual game in it.

Felt like time entered a no passing zone and nothing filled that hole in my life which Fable was destined to fill. Developing a character from a child into an adult, seeing the world grow and react to the choices I make, being able to plant a seed and see it grow into a tree naturally over time, having a family and eventually playing as one of my kids when my original character passes from old age, why had none of this been done before now?!

I did my best to busy myself with games similar to Fable like Morrowind but it was always in the back of my mind and nothing held my attention for long. I remember just laying on my bed staring up at the ceiling wishing I could just fast forward to release.

Went to the midnight release and stood in line for hours which felt like an eternity because of how early I got there. Part of me hoped that they would just give me my copy early but of course that didn't happen.

A little over a day later I beat it, discovered all the hype was for nothing, and pretty much nothing promised made it into the final game which didn't even reflect what Fable had been built up to be. My disappointment was immeasurable.

Since then I find the wait for most things to be much more tolerable and anytime I find myself getting anxious for something to release I remind myself of how badly Fable turned out because I let expectations run wild and bought into the hype. It's funny how many games I've seen come and go which turned out to be disasters that I would have been all over back in the day but these days I'm either too Jaded or just too cautious to get hyped.

Nothing like bitter disappointment to keep you grounded for the rest of your life.

 

[Rob2K19]

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Seeing the KH2 FM secret ending when it came out thinking it was KH3 (at the time). It had an impact on me. I became obsessed.

 

[Mobius 1]

The lead up to Gran Turismo 5 was long and painful. The hype machine was at full power however, we had some interesting times with the trailers and videos before release.

it was absolutely worth it.

 

[Kubricks]

The Switcher 3 .... 3 days more let's goooooooo.
I have completed it long ago on my reasonably spec PC, yet I can't wait to experience the whole thing again on the go!

 

[ThereAre4Lights]

Mass Effect: Andromeda. Dealt with by replaying the trilogy but I was still a fiend. The disappointment of how it turned out once I got my hands on it me fucked up for months.

Click to shrink...

Same! I was also really looking forward to the multiplayer and then that turned out to be middling as well. I still play ME3 MP to this day because Andromeda's feels so much less polished.

 

[fleet]

animal crossssinngggggggg. every two days i'm like "fuck it's been so long since i looked at the countdown timer i wonder how much longer is left". i'm not very smart.

 

[TheUnseenTheUnheard]

Halo 4 and Destiny.

I googled news for these games on like a daily basis. I didn't reel myself in at all. It was awful but it was nice being excited.

 

[AudioEppa]

Disaster Report 4. It's technically out, but I'm still waiting for it to hit NA.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Recently it's been waiting for Half Life VR. People won't believe me. People laugh at Valve these days. It's painful to watch, but lets just say I'm cracking open the popcorn on the day it gets revealed as the Internet is set ablaze.

However the most agonizing wait I've ever experienced for a released game would have to be GTA V. Back in the day the wait for Pokemon Emerald (my favorite Pokemon game) was a tough one too.

 

[Neilg]

I'm normally reasonably patient. When I was a child I knew my mum had ff10 for my birthday, and I was so bored one weekend a few weeks out, like I was in physical pain I was so bored, I felt this insane craving because I'd decided this thing I didn't have was the thing I needed in order to be happy. I can still remember exactly how it felt and it was horrible.
Anyway I took all my pocket money I'd been saving for other things and I convinced her to let me buy it off her. I was desperate. I dumped out my money and got the game and put it in and... I was still bored and didn't care.
That triggered a long learning period, where I really started to understand myself and other people.

I've never felt like that since. I've been looking forward to many games, my current is disco Elysium, but it's not a negative manifestation anymore. I think 'hoo boy I can't wait', then I do something else and forget about it like a normal person.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Persona 5 was pretty agonizing for me. Releasing after Breath of the Wild wasn't so bad, though -- I ended up enjoying Breath of the Wild significantly more than my time with P5, though P5 still delivered on many of my expectations and was still a positive experience for me.

Waiting for Resident Evil 2 remake was agonizing. There was something about how good it looked right away and even though it was a pretty short reveal-to-release turn-around, I was just so impressed and so excited about the changes being shown to one of my favorite games of all time that I just was constantly telling all my friends that the one thing I wanted more than anything else was a demo, just a taste. Capcom did deliver that demo and it was strictly timed and I didn't have a PC to break the timer so I just got to try a tiny slice and that ended up making it even worse, lol. Game lived up to all my expectations, though, one of my all-time favorites.

 

[Hace]

In recent memory it was Ace Combat 7, especially with the constant delays. I mainly just worked on playing the old games in a ps2 emulator lol

 

[takriel]

Every new mainline Zelda game once it's announced.

 

[Limelight Boy]

Yeah, waiting for Shenmue III for the past 18 years has certainly had its ups and downs.

Click to shrink...

Definitely this!! Since it was announced And I backed on KS I've been having to not think about I and get hyped but as we edge closer to the end of the year it's starting to kick in.