Do you play games you don't like?

I've picked Baldur's Gate II up for about the 10th time. I find the game tedious, and the story uninteresting. Oddly I can't seem to write it off. I think it has pissed me off.

I have the same reaction to any Japanese style console RPG, yet I keep buying and trying them out.

Sure.

I don't like a lot of the games I've played - that's not to say I didn't get something out of playing them, just that I don't necessarily like them.

Some games I don't like that I have played (or still do play):

Deus Ex
All BioWare D&D games (it's the D&D rules I dislike more than the actual games themselves)
FarCry
Psychonauts
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Silent Hill 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R (from around the 3/4 point, the game was pure tedium)

there are probably more - but these are some games that really stick out as games that I played thoroughly, sometimes more than once, but don't like. The list of games I don't like that I gave up on without finishing is about three times the length of the above.

Sometimes. Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Red Faction 2 are two examples of games I feel do not have many redeeming qualities, but still (try to) go back and play every now and then. Hell, I'm even thinking of going back and giving Renegade's campaign another whirl (Damned if I know why, maybe I have some masochistic tendencies or something). Oh yeah, the Age of Mythology games, I've never liked those much either. I always found them rather boring. To this day, I still feel the urge to play through the campaign of the original and the expansion just so I can say I finished them.

No, not really.

I have SO many games, and SO little free time, if I discover I don't like a game, I'll quit playing it and move on in almost all cases.

The only thing I can think of where I might play a game I don't like is when it's for multiplayer.

I have a number of friends that bought Hellgate: London (they were/are big Diablo fans), and I bought it also so we could play together. I've played it a little so far, and to honest, this type of game (loot collecting is basically all it seems to me) is clearly not my style. However, I'll pick it up again once we get together, for the camaraderie :)

As a general rule I finish games I start. I like closure, even if I don't like the game that much.

8)

This doesn't make any sense to me at all. Why would you continue to play a game you don't like? This reminds me of a couple we sat next to at a restruant that were complaining all night about how bad their chicken was. Why do you continue to eat it? Order something else....

I'm not going to force myself into beating a game that I can't stand. I see no point to it. That time could have been well spent playing a game I actually like.

I played a few games much more that i should have. few of them are :-

FFX
MGS 2
GTA 3
Oblivion

This doesn't make any sense to me at all. Why would you continue to play a game you don't like? This reminds me of a couple we sat next to at a restruant that were complaining all night about how bad their chicken was. Why do you continue to eat it? Order something else....

I'm not going to force myself into beating a game that I can't stand. I see no point to it. That time could have been well spent playing a game I actually like.

skizi1

I can't speak for other people but when I play a game I don't like it's usually because there's some very good elements to the game - not necessarily good enough, or enough of them, to make me like or enjoy the game, but perhaps enough to make me think the game is worth playing.

Take Psychonauts as an example. I despise that game. It's just a long run of tedious and repetitive platforming/collecting-stuff levels, and playing it was absolutely no fun at all. But it had two absolutely genius moments (the milkman conspiracy and lungfishopolis) that really made the whole thing worth experiencing. I didn't like the game, but I did feel it was worth playing, for those two brilliant moments.

Similarly with Baldur's Gate - I don't like the character dvelopment system, the combat and magic system. I absolutely cannot stand D&D rules. I didn't like the game at all, but I think it was worth playing for the epic experience, and for the story.

With Deus Ex, I know how amazing the game was, how impressive all the individual gameplay elements were, how expansive the character development was, and the kind of emergent impact it had on the game. I also couldn't stand the game at all. I had to fun playing it, but I'm glad I did. It is a wonderful game. I just can't stand it.

The difference between me and that couple, though, is that I eat the chicken because I feelthere are certain experiences that are just worth having, even if they aren't particularly pleasant ones. And I will never complain about it.

I guess it's a little like going to a museum. No one actually wants to go, no one ever enjoys it, but it's a learning experience. One you may later find yourself appreciating. And just so we're clear, I like museums. I just can't think of a better example.

[QUOTE="skizi1"]

This doesn't make any sense to me at all. Why would you continue to play a game you don't like? This reminds me of a couple we sat next to at a restruant that were complaining all night about how bad their chicken was. Why do you continue to eat it? Order something else....

I'm not going to force myself into beating a game that I can't stand. I see no point to it. That time could have been well spent playing a game I actually like.

mfsa

I can't speak for other people but when I play a game I don't like it's usually because there's some very good elements to the game - not necessarily good enough, or enough of them, to make me like or enjoy the game, but perhaps enough to make me think the game is worth playing.

Take Psychonauts as an example. I despise that game. It's just a long run of tedious and repetitive platforming/collecting-stuff levels, and playing it was absolutely no fun at all. But it had two absolutely genius moments (the milkman conspiracy and lungfishopolis) that really made the whole thing worth experiencing. I didn't like the game, but I did feel it was worth playing, for those two brilliant moments.

Similarly with Baldur's Gate - I don't like the character dvelopment system, the combat and magic system. I absolutely cannot stand D&D rules. I didn't like the game at all, but I think it was worth playing for the epic experience, and for the story.

With Deus Ex, I know how amazing the game was, how impressive all the individual gameplay elements were, how expansive the character development was, and the kind of emergent impact it had on the game. I also couldn't stand the game at all. I had to fun playing it, but I'm glad I did. It is a wonderful game. I just can't stand it.

The difference between me and that couple, though, is that I eat the chicken because I feelthere are certain experiences that are just worth having, even if they aren't particularly pleasant ones. And I will never complain about it.

I guess it's a little like going to a museum. No one actually wants to go, no one ever enjoys it, but it's a learning experience. One you may later find yourself appreciating. And just so we're clear, I like museums. I just can't think of a better example.

Well said. The example of complaining about something and not doing anything about it doesn't apply as far as I'm concerned. I don't complain while doing it and, besides, not everything I do has to be fun, even if it's part of my hobby. For me I think it's part of my life's motto which is; if you choose to do something do it right or don't do it all. Okay, I just made that up, but if I did have a motto that wouldn't be far off ;) My point is, if I set my mind to something, I'm going to stick with it, even if the rationale of doing it gets a little lost along the way. Sometimes you look back and think you've been wasting your time, but most of the time you get a reward, like mfsa described. In both cases you get a sense of accomplishment. (Please note; presence of parallels or similarities with life in general are unintentional :P )

Other than that, I'm on a limited gaming budget, so sticking with and finishing a game is part of getting my money's worth..

So, for the record; I too would finish the chicken :)

This only means you are open minded and too nice.

You don't like Baldur Gate 2?

Even if I think it is a masterpiece and a blessing in my life, I still like you! You cannot like the same things as everyone else. Maybe you needs games which are more viscerals? Or maybe you needs games which are more challenging (BG2 is not that easy, but it is definitely not the most challenging game created ever).

I used to try to play many many games, when I was a kid. Also when I work as a Game Designer, when my friends insists that I try something else. But in my free time; I play what I enjoy. Not what other want me to. :P And I know what I enjoy, and what I don't. I am still open minded, but there is no point in trying Mega Man, this is NOT what I want! (sorry to all the Mega Man fans). Everyone likes Guitar Hero? Well, not me sorry. I am not lame because I don't like it...I just don't find it funny to OBEY a command of pressing a button at a precise moment and possibly fails and be penalised, it is my perception of the game. Some like that, good for them, I will pass.

Never.

I play games for entertainment value. If I'm not enjoying the game there's no reason to play it. I've quit several games a couple levels before the end simply because it stopped being fun - Far Cry being one example.

Never.

I play games for entertainment value. If I'm not enjoying the game there's no reason to play it. I've quit several games a couple levels before the end simply because it stopped being fun - Far Cry being one example.

sircyrus

[QUOTE="sircyrus"]

Never.

I play games for entertainment value. If I'm not enjoying the game there's no reason to play it. I've quit several games a couple levels before the end simply because it stopped being fun - Far Cry being one example.

smokeydabear076

It's the same for me. I try to keep away from bad games, as much as I try to keep away from bad movies, bad music, etc. Life is so short that we must try to experience the best of everything mankind created, not keep wasting time with half-hearted efforts.

I wish I had more time and money to play good, and only good games.

I got lots of games just sitting lonely on the shelf collecting dust...

If I dislike a game simply I don't play it.

cs...but with soccerjam mod.

seriously almost all games are boring yet i keep installing them.

yeah, to be honest almost all games these days are boring me, Im starting to lose my interest in games, but force myself to play them anyway, because I dont know what else to do, and the world outside is far to boring and the sun burns my pale flesh, so games it is, I suppose.Ahurigaan

Same here. It used to be that even if you didn't like a game, you might still beat it for bragging rights or conversation purposes. But it's gotten hard to do that even. I'm not sure if it's the games or the people or both, lol. :roll: Ya, I play BG2, Morrowind, and NWN even though I don't like them that much. They just have some gimmick that I like to mess around with in them, like the toolset or tactics. There's only like 3 games I actually enjoy on PC and that's Unreal 3, Quake 4, and dare I say Two Worlds. :P I think this year was terrible for PC games. I beat Bioshock and now I'm trying to sell it. It's too morbid for me and there was only one sweet plot twist. I'm trying the Witcher demo and it's ok so far. Nothing to complain about or praise. Eh.