The Weirdest Reason(s) You DIDN'T Beat a Game?

[PlanetSmasher]

We've all done it: bought a game and then not finished it. Maybe we didn't vibe with it like we thought. Maybe another game came out that took attention away and we lost focus. Whatever the reason, I can't imagine there's a single person out there who's never dropped a game without finishing it.

But what I'm curious about tonight is the OUTLIERS. The weird, one-of-a-kind situations that resulted in you putting a game down and never coming back to it, or being rendered literally incapable of completing it.

To get you all started, here's my first one: when I was a kid, my brother melted the second disc of my copy of Xenogears with Windex and a cleaning cloth. We still don't know exactly what happened, since Windex usually can't destroy game discs, but whatever he did to it did so much damage that the play surface of the disc was completely melted over and unreadable by any laser lens. To this day, I've still never finished Xenogears.

So what about you? What's the weirdest reason you were unable to finish a game you were otherwise enjoying and fully intended to complete?

 

[Truno]

I didn't beat Miles Morales because I have no self control. If I saw an icon on the map I felt compelled to chase after it without hesitation. Couldn't progress the main story for more than 5 minutes because there were things popping up constantly and I burnt out really fast

 

[Blue_Toad507]

Wind Waker's ocean genuinely terrifies me to the point that I cannot finish the game.

I wish I was joking.

 

[Het_Nkik]

I wanted to beat all the DLC before finishing the game (I was at the end of) and then in one of the DLCs I couldn't decide who to give a baby to so I stopped playing. (Fallout 3)

 

[JazzmanZ]

I had to stop playing Mario & Luigi Dream team because that game is the literal example of a parent holding your hand the entire time at a theme park.

 

[Fat4all]

dog chewed up my copy of sly cooper 3

 

[Boopers]

I stopped playing Starfield because I don't care for NG+, and that's really the only way to get the good ending.

 

[Yildiray]

Subnautica, I love that game, but there's a point where it's too scary for me in the deep.

 

[Tagyhag]

Was playing Borderlands 3 coop with my older cousin, we were maybe a bit over half-way.

They passed away, and I never touched it again.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Was playing Borderlands 3 coop with my older cousin, we were maybe a bit over half-way.

They passed away, and I never touched it again.

Click to shrink...

This is why I dropped WoW, I totally get it. One of my close friends and the main reason I bothered with WoW at all got really sick and passed away from cancer a few years back and even though Blizzard keeps trying to get me to come back to the game I just can't do it.

 

[That1GoodHunter]

I was a toddler playing on a PSOne with 0 understanding you needed a memory card to save your progress. I played every game like if it was a roguelike 👶🏻

 

[ghibli99]

Was playing Borderlands 3 coop with my older cousin, we were maybe a bit over half-way.

They passed away, and I never touched it again.

Click to shrink...

That's not weird; that's perfectly understandable. I was the same way for a very long time when my sister passed away. Her favorite games were Bust a Move/Puzzle Bobble, Ridge Racer, SF2, etc., and for many years I wouldn't touch them. Time has helped, and now playing them honors her memory.

 

[Plum]

I was too bad at videogames to finish Wind Waker of all things.

Mind you, this was from when I was like 9 or 10. Can't exactly remember when, but I was very young still.

I got to the first big fight of the final area - with two of the Black Darknut Knights - and died. Restarted with only three hearts, only to realise that I'd forgotten to pack any healing items before starting things. So, there I was, stuck having to fight two - for me - incredibly tough enemies with 3 damn hearts. Challenge run shit. I tried to persevere, but after 20-or-so attempts I gave up and dropped the game for good. Only actually beat Wind Waker when the HD version came out, and by that time the game was as easy for me as I can imagine it was for most here.

 

[AIan]

Initially put off Subnautica because I REALLY didn't like the fabricator sound effect. Makes this weird popping sound every time.

 

[Astral]

I've never beaten Metroid Prime. The first attempt was because I was really scared of these weird bipedal Xenomorph face having motherfuckers in the snow area. I don't remember why I stopped in my second attempt though. I got the Gravity Suit and then got lost or something. It's not weird but looking at it today, it wasn't even scary.

 

[Akai_XIII]

The building mechanics and finnicky nature of it killed my interest in Fallout 4.

 

[super-famicom]

I couldn't beat Sephiroth in the arena in Kingdom Hearts, so I stopped. This was back in early 2000s and haven't played the game since.

 

[Lilification]

I almost didn't beat Resident Evil Village because the giant baby caused some intense fucking anxiety in me for some reason

 

[Wil Grieve]

Wind Waker's ocean genuinely terrifies me to the point that I cannot finish the game.

I wish I was joking.

Click to shrink...

That is certainly something.

For me - I never beat Kingdom Hearts because Ursula is a horrible devil woman and I suck at swimming

 

[pikachief]

I couldnt finish every quest in Fallout 4. Preston Garvey I pulled myself from but when The Shroud quests also never ended I had to drop it.

 

[MZZ]

I got stuck in a side level in Ni-Oh and can't figure out how to exit.

I was too prideful and tried to getgud and beat the level but most enemies were one shotting me. That lasted for a few days then a new game (Berseria or Automata?) probably caught my attention and that was that.

I got back to it later on and figured out how to exit but only after finishing Ni-Oh 2. The magic and focus I had when I was playing it initially was long gone.

I've been meaning to restart on PC once I find the urge to.

 

[Wil Grieve]

I couldnt finish every quest in Fallout 4. Preston Garvey I pulled myself from but when The Shroud quests also never ended I had to drop it.

Click to shrink...

Were you by chance doing the procedurally generated infinite quests that literally never end?

 

[Helix]

I stopped playing Hades because I realized I don't like Roguelikes

 

[MegaSackman]

I don't think it truly applies but I find it weird that I bought Assassin's Creed Origin, and Deathloop knowing full well that I would not like them. I played not more than 30 minutes each... At least I bought them at half the price.

 

[Jimnymebob]

I dropped Valkyrie Profile 2 because I got spoiled on a character who end ups being a villain, and it just kinda took the wind out of my sails, then years later I found out that said character was a (the?) villain of the original that never released here, and that presumably most people going into this game knew he was bad from minute 1 lol.

 

[Ceerious]

I've given up on RPGs right before the last boss at least three times: Fallout 4, Divinity Original Sin 2, and Pillars of Eternity 1.
I'm not even sure why. Every time I was like, 'Well, only a little content left, I need to relax a little and prepare,' then I turned off the game and never returned. And I don't feel like I missed out afterward. Maybe it's because I like the exploration of these games and not so much the boss fights in them that the game was already done in my subconscious.

 

[pikachief]

Were you by chance doing the procedurally generated infinite quests that literally never end?

Click to shrink...

Yes I did the first area's (preston garvey) then when i realized it was looping I moved on then reached the second area's endless questline (the shroud) and the existence of an infinite questline really rubbed me the wrong way.

 

[werezompire]

I got really sick while playing Triangle Strategy and was stuck in bed for a few days with nothing to do, so I spent a lot of time playing it. After recovering, I associated the game with being sick so I had trouble going back and never finished it.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

When I originally played FF8 the boss near the end was literally unbeatable with the setup I had. Got caught slacking and that games level scaling is stupid.
Same with FF9, where you needed to survive one of the bosses big attacks. I rush through rpgs sometimes to where they became unbeatable lol

 

[Slayven]

I stop playing, came back to it, and totally forgot what i was doing or how to play

 

[PlanetSmasher]

When I originally played FF8 the boss near the end was literally unbeatable with the setup I had. Got caught slacking and that games level scaling is stupid.

Click to shrink...

My reason for never beating FF8 is similarly silly. Right after I made it to Ultimecia's Castle, my next door neighbor came over to my house with his memory card and beat the game (with my disc copy, no less) right in front of me. I was just like "welp" and never went back.

 

[J75]

I got my ass kicked in a specific boss in RE4R so badly, died so many times. Compared to the rest of the game where I was barely dying, it was jarring. Game even suggest to drop the difficulty, now I usually don't care, but this time I didn't feel like dropping it and eventually beat it. I guess the weird part here is that I still felt bad that I was sucking so much in one boss fight that people online seemed to breeze through fine that even after I eventually beat it, after I stopped that session, I never went back to the game. Maybe one day but I ain't got no rush.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

My reason for never beating FF8 is similarly silly. Right after I made it to Ultimecia's Castle, my next door neighbor came over to my house with his memory card and beat the game (with my disc copy, no less) right in front of me. I was just like "welp" and never went back.

Click to shrink...

Still better than having your sister create a new save on Pokémon yellow that you worked really hard on. That was devastating lmao.

 

[Imran]

I had a migraine the first time I played Halo Reach and every time I tried to play it after that I just had a bad association with the game. Couldn't touch it again for years and by then I wasn't really interested anymore.

 

[Plinko]

I hit a point in Endless Ocean where you had to swim over a cliff into the deep water. Saw the cutscene, took the disc out, and never played it again. Too deep. Same reason I stopped Subnautica.

 

[eddiemunstr]

I never beat ff8 because I cheated with a gameshark at the end of the game and made it too difficult for myself. I didnt know the enemies scaled with you and decided to just lvl 99 everyone which made the game way harder for me.

 

[Twohearts]

Playing as "self insert" male characters makes me dysphoric so I haven't played any game with them since transitioning 3 and a half years ago, but I keep forgetting this and keep buying games with them in them such as Persona 3 R, TOTK, P4G, Danganronpa (fuck V3's first case twist), etc. It is a legitimate accessibility issue for me at this point and I am just sick of video games being created solely for the purview of men. The most crushing version of this was when Skyward Sword got rereleased on switch and I had to stop just after getting off Skyloft because I just couldn't cope any more.

 

[Zachary_Games]

I gave up on Outer Wilds because I decided I must become a master pilot to land on the super fast satellite (which is maybe end game?). I put as much hours trying to land my ship on that thing than I did playing the actual loop. Burned myself out and never went back.

 

[Coboney]

I stopped playing Persona 3 because despite liking the game (this was the FES release), it was triggering some of my mental health issues and put it down. Love the game, but couldn't finish it

 

[Kurtikeya]

I wanted to beat up dinosaurs but I didn't want to see King Kong die again, not when I just saw him die pining for Naomi Watts. So I just stopped as soon as the game got to Broadway.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Didn't beat Lavos at the end of Chrono Trigger DS because I accidentally knocked the cartridge into the trash and didn't notice for a month. I was mostly through the game and basically had all the best items.

 

[Lady Gaia]

There was a Wii title whose name escapes me. Some sort of Metroidvania with wind-themed powers? In any case, I was 90%+ complete when the game spontaneously kicked me out to the menu and deleted my saved game. I was so annoyed I never went back to it.

 

[Tab]

When The Last of Us came out my older brother and dad were watching me play it, and backseated me to such an extent that I got annoyed and just told them to take my PS3 and play it themselves so they'd stop bothering me. After beating it my brother then got our sister to play it, and by the time she was done it had been like two weeks and I had been completely spoiled on the story and didn't care anymore.

 

[Boopers]

I stopped playing Owlboy because one of the NPCs was abusive towards animals.

 

[SupersonicHypertonic]

Code vein. I got to the infamous cathedral and got lost and came back to my starting point like 4 times in a row. I was really annoyed by the 3rd time but as soon as saw a familiar ledge the 4th time I rage quit and played something else. Never touched it again. I even deleted it too make room for other games lol.

 

[Mocha Joe]

I was at 96%/99% through Jak 3 and accidentally deleted my save file. So I never finished the game

 

[JigglesBunny]

I eventually went back and finished it but when Syndicate 2012 came out, I had to shelve it because the excessive post-processing effects gave me migraines. Nothing similar had happening before or since.

 

[Boopers]

Code vein. I got to the infamous cathedral and got lost and came back to my starting point like 4 times in a row. I was really annoyed by the 3rd time but as soon as saw a familiar ledge the 4th time I rage quit and played something else. Never touched it again. I even deleted it too make room for other games lol.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I think that's where I stopped too. What a maze that place was.

 

[SixelAlexiS]

As a kid I've missed a collectible near the end of Kya: Dark Lineage and refused to finished.

I got stuck in a very late tower defense battle of Brutal Legend, refused to drop from Hard to Normal and never finished.

Played Grim Fandango until the end basically (the Casino) and got tired of it since I got stuck, even if I've already used a guide for another obtuse part (the elevator if I remember correctly) and yet I didn't want to use the guide again right at the end I guess.

Others that I don't remember now but shit like that.

 

[Kapryov]

It's probably not actually that weird, but I had to bail out of Dragon Quest XI (the S version on Xbox) due to the awful battle theme.
And this was the orchestrated version! I can't imagine what it sounded like before they "fixed" it, but it was so grating I just dreaded getting into battle and stopped playing.
If anybody says "you can just turn down the volume" please be aware that music is like 50% of the fun of RPGs, if you get that wrong why bother?

Oh and I rage uninstalled that Hot Wheels racer from a few years ago. It was partially because of the random bullshit stage hazards, but also because the courses didn't give you a clear enough indication of where the corners were, the orange cones were unusually spread apart, making some corners very unclear on a first lap, I hit a wall and lost my position one too many times and just backed out and immediately uninstalled in a fit of rage. I have never done this with any other game.