Finish Him(or Her)!

[EyEwitness]

How many games do you start, but never finish? And I don't mean played 5 minutes and put down, I'm talking about games you might have invested some serrious time into, and just never got round to finishing it off because you got distracted by another game (or just lost interest).

To my shame I've never finished a final fantasy game , despite clocking up 140hrs in 7, 80hrs in 8, and around 40hrs in Tactics Advance. Its not just RPGs I haven't finished, even relitively short games like Panzer Dragoon Orta and Prince of Persia SoT have been left one or two levels/bosses away from completion. I'd like to say its all down to not having enough time to play games, but it's usually because something new came along, or because I got stuck.
Looking at all the games I've yet to finish I find most of them are handheld, which you'd think would get the most play travelling to work everyday, or RPGs. At last count I have about 20 games on the go which need finishing, and there are probably more I've forgotten about!

So, how many games have you never finished?

[dante76]

140 hours and you still havn't finished a final fantsy...what are you doing?! Seriously I did all of Final Fantasy 7 (extras, chocobos, etc) in 90. Stay focused and you can do it. I now try to complete 1 game at a time only.

[Hendo]

I wish I could do one at a time.
I pre-order most of my games from the U.S. so I don't have to think about remembering all the ones I want, and they tend to drop through the letterbox about once a week.

Currently with the DS and PSP as my main systems, I've lost out to....

LostMagic (DS)
Phoenix Wright (DS)
Another Code (DS)
Trauma Centre (DS)
Mario & Luigi (DS)
Metroid Prime Hunters (DS)
Super Princess Peach (DS)
Castlevania (DS)
Contact (DS)
Archer Macleans Mercury (PSP)
Liberty City Stories (PSP)
Ultimate Ghouls & Ghosts (PSP)

[Smurph]

Ooo, that Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins is great, Hendo, isn't it? Its a right bitch though. Gott 22 of the rings and the worst ending, gave up after that. The Hadoken magic is brilliant though.

I'm terrible at the topic on hand too, I have about 4 games going at once. Ideally I'd like to have one handheld and one main system game going at once, but never happens. Best I can hope for is a queue of things waiting to be played. I was dedicated enough to finish Bully (amazing, btw) when I had Gears of War in my possesion. My currently playing list is now not too bad; GH2 today, and Gears of War, Mario + Luigi: Partners in Time on DS and Card Fighter's Clash on NeoGeo Pocket Colour.

[Hendo]

G&G is amazing but not sure if I can be bothered to go back all the way through it again - there's warps everywhere now, but still....

I think this is why I steer away from the bigger 40 + hours games. When someone complains that there's "only 80 hours worth of play in *generic RPG*" my reaction is usually to want to go nowhere near it.
Hence the handhelds, I prefer short gaming bursts these days with the occasional long quest (new Zelda on Wii will fill that hole).

[Kaede]

Being a shmup freak I normally try and dedicate myself to learning 2 or 3 games at a time and when I get the 1 credit clear on one game I bring in a new game to the rotation. Every now and then I will go back to that game and try and improve my score. I don't have the time/patience/boredom threshold or can't be arsed to play these 90+ hours games.

I don't like the way developers artificially bump up the playtime count these days, too many modern games send you trudging backwards and forwards over the same locations just to increase the playtime (I'm looking at you, Halo).

For me, the irony is I would only ever play these massive games through once and be done with it whereas I've clocked up well over 150 hours playing Ikaruga, which is a mere 5 levels long with the total time from start to finish being 30 minutes.

[Hendo]

I've clocked up well over 150 hours playing Ikaruga, which is a mere 5 levels long with the total time from start to finish being 30 minutes.

A "mere" 5 levels long?
It's hard as nails! You finished it?!

[Kaede]

I've clocked up well over 150 hours playing Ikaruga, which is a mere 5 levels long with the total time from start to finish being 30 minutes.

A "mere" 5 levels long?
It's hard as nails! You finished it?!

Yeah, 1 credit all clear on Normal and Easy modes (23m and 20m points respectively). There are much tougher shooters than Ika though, I'm currently trying to 1 credit Mushihimesama (maniac mode) and I think finishing Progear in the arcade felt like more of an acheivment. I'm getting DoDonPachi DOJ for Christmas which apparently is the toughest shooter of all time.

Having said that, I sold Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins without finishing it because even though I liked what I played, it was too stupidly, teeth grindingly hard. Progression felt like a slog: being killed over and over trying to edge your way to the end of the level rather than allowing the player to truly get into their stride like in their earlier games.

So yeah, you can add UGnG on the list from me!

[bjkd2002]

Howdy, first post!

I do this all the time with games, but generally I will eventually go back to finish them off. Flashback on the Megadrive is a good example, with around 8 years passing between me starting the game and finally completing it!

[Icksander]

I havent completed world of warcraft yet, been playing that bad boy for nearly two years now.....

[Hendo]

2 years and you haven't finished it yet?
Pah, I finished it in a day.

[Carling]

FFVIII and Jade Empire. The problem with me when playing FF games is I hate finding out I've missed something out. Like a GF or a random usefull object. I hate that and really ruins the mood for me. It's not the games fault though, it's me not taking my time to explore everything on offer.
With Jade Empire it's the usual case of something better comes along

[Killerclaw]

Sometimes if I get too many games at once I wont beat any of them.

[Chinzon]

FFVIII and Jade Empire. The problem with me when playing FF games is I hate finding out I've missed something out. Like a GF or a random usefull object. I hate that and really ruins the mood for me. It's not the games fault though, it's me not taking my time to explore everything on offer.

FFVIII is the WORST for that! There's so much hidden shit, and it's even less logical than usual, often something to do with those goddamn cards. Curse you, Triple Triad!!

[Andy Kurosaki]

Sometimes if I get too many games at once I wont beat any of them.

i'm terrible for doing that,only just getting back into Splinter Cell DA and Saints Row.Because with Lost Planet and Mass Effect coming out in january,if i don't finish them now i'll never get round to it.That,and i've got a 10,000 word dissertation to do before march