The (awesome) idea for that post came from my talented fellow gamer and blogger
Geddy, who developed
it first on his (no
less awesome) blog Nostalgia
Trigger. It was just
so good that I had to make a version of my own; without further ado,
dear fellow gamers, here are my 'Games I love that I will never play again'!
Balloon Kid: Not only is that game one of the highlights of my formative
gaming years, but it has plenty of things
going for it. Those range
from its innovative and stellar physics, which were groundbreaking at the time
and still are to this day, to its wonderfully evocative soundtrack — including the impossibly wholesome Level one track, which remains one of my favourite pieces of gaming
music ever and will probably forever be. And I cannot not mention its
first level, which encompasses everything first levels should be about: the
giddiness, the wonderment, the feeling of discovery, the joy of being ushered
in a new world. As though all this were not enough, I also have a special and
unique memory tied to BK: one fine mid-'90s afternoon, my cousin and I
decided to join forces and finish the game, which up to that point was still
unbeaten by both of us. We found ourselves a quiet little spot under the shade
of a tree, and took turns playing; and lo and behold, we finally beat the darn
game by the skin of our teeth, after nearly dying a thousand times. Epic! I
just have to love that game, because it means so much to me; and yet, I
really don't want to replay it ever again. The only part I truly enjoy playing
is the first level, and I know the layout so well that I could nearly do so
with my eyes closed; that's not nearly enough to motivate me to get my paws on
a cartridge, let alone to actually play it.
Luminous Arc: I had
a blast playing that
SRPG back in 2017. The leveling system was deliciously broken, which led to one
of my longest and most ridiculously massive grinding bouts ever; and
although I ultimately failed
to subdue the final boss, I was left totally sated by my 20 hours of LA. So sated, in fact,
that I don't feel the need to touch that game ever again. I mean, I
power-grinded the MC all the way up to lv.99; what could there be left to
accomplish, apart from following a story I don't care one bit about and
vanquishing a final boss I don't care one bit about either? Add to this a
cumbersome control scheme and a glacial battle pace, and you'll understand why
I don't want to play Luminous Arc ever again despite having only good
memories of it. As a matter of fact, I'm so sure of my decision here that I
pawned my cartridge not long after my playthrough. When I'm in the mood for
some LA again, I can roll with the three sequels, which I all own, and
let the original be a 'once in a lifetime' experience.
Myst III Exile: Unlike the other entries on my list, this one never
appeared on the blog, and for good reason: I played it in 2009, when diving
back into gaming was but a bittersweet dream and blogging about it was
lightyears away from my radar. Emulation was my only tenuous link with gaming
at the time; yet that summer 2009, I managed to get my paws on a physical copy
of Myst III, and immediately proceeded with playing it as I was
conveniently on holidays. I spent the next three weeks glued to the game, gobbling
pots of (insert name of famous Italian hazelnut spread) to give me fuel for the
brain; and since I had no internet at the time, I had to rely on the power of
said brain alone to take me through the game. It was arduous, but I finally
succeeded — creating one of my most memorable playthroughs ever in the process.
I still remember those days with vivid clarity: the summer heat and light, the
spoons of hazelnut spread, the feeling of constant challenge, the joy of
finally solving a puzzle and, most importantly, the game's unique atmosphere,
which sucked me in and made me totally obsessed with it. That playthrough was
so deeply mesmerizing that I don't want to ever touch Myst III again,
because I know fully well that subsequent runs wouldn't feel so utterly magical.
And with the game having never been ported to any console, it's not like I risk
stumbling upon it, now is it?
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: You knew this one was coming, didn't ya? I had
the most passionate relationship of them all with XC2, going from loving
it to pieces to getting
sick of it — and everything
in between. Today, my
gamer's heart made its peace with XC2, and I can think back on my run(s)
with great fondness. However, when I imagine myself actually replaying the
game, I find myself paralyzed with utter and complete refusal — heck, the mere
though of running again through the Tantal snows or the Leftheria sands is
enough to make me nauseous, and that's with me loving those landscapes. There
were tons of things I adored about XC2, from the slick fighting system
to the grandiose vistas; yet I cannot bring myself to even think of
experiencing all that goodness again.
This goes to show that even though I'm a total serial game replayer, I have my
limits like everyone else. Of course, we never know what the future has in
store for us, and maybe I'll replay one of those games after a couple of
years; but for now, they stand firmly on my 'rest in peace' list. Don't
hesitate to share your own list in the comments, dear fellow gamers — and see
you soon with more gaming goodness!
Oh, what an
interesting idea. I personally have a lot of middle of the road RPGs I'll never
play again, but it's less because I can't stand the thought of replaying it, or
more like, I already got all I could out of it and there's nothing about it
that gives me enough warm feelings to ever fire it up again.
I can think of a few though:
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby and all the gen. VII games:
Hoenn was always my least favourite region and making it longer to transverse
due to 3D just slowing things down in general, the extra cutscenes that you
can't skip, a frankly weak pokedex until you beat the game, no following
pokemon unlike heartgold/soulsilver and yeah, never gonna play this again. I
know everyone makes fun of the IGN review "7 out of 10, too much
water", but I agree with that sentiment. Only maybe I'd give it a 6.
As for the gen. VII games, pretty much all of the problems above, but even
worse. Full of cut-scenes and tutorials, the areas are surprisingly bland, all
of the new pokemon are terribly slow (and therefore bad) and the designs aren't
good either. The island trials are EVEN worse than gyms, horrendous lag that
they LIED about in the original 3DS, the player clothing is a setback from gen.
VI, and I don't even like any of the starters.
All I liked was the rotom dex and lack of HMs. And both those things are in
Sword and Shield. And no matter how bad that game might be (haven't played it
yet, waiting for the last DLC) I'm pretty sure the battles don't lag. I might
pick up Ultra Sun in about ten years, but if I do, it's purely because of
sentimental reasons; it was the last game my granfather bought me before he
died unexpectedly. The game itself is crap.
Tales of Graces F:
Nothing wrong with the game, it's perfectly lovely. But in my quest to platinum
it during my first run, I have spent so much time grinding, I haven't touched
it in six months and haven't even finished it yet. I like the main character
and his childhood friend/eventual villain, that's done SO well. But if I even
finish it, it's a miracle.
I definitely won't make the same mistake with other tales games. No 10 hours of
grinding in the same area, and I only turn the difficulty up to make the
grinding more efficient, and turn it down to normal for the bosses.
Any Idea Factory game:
Same reason as Tales of Graces; if you aim for the true end and completing the
postgame in an IF game, you're gonna spend so much time grinding you'll be sick
of it by the end, even though the games by themselves are good. But this one is
also because there's always a new IF game coming out, and since they've never
had a huge dip in quality, it's always more worth my time to play the new game
than revisit an old one.
On the other hand, I actually spent most of my gaming time replaying stuff,
especially this year, where I really don't have the energy for new experiences.
I've played Devil Survivor 17 times and it's sequel 10 times. And since I lost
my saves in my 3DS last year, I'll have to replay each at least 5-6 times to
complete them again. Dynasty and Samurai Warriors (empires versions only) are
also always fun when I want to finish a playthrough in one weekend, and no run
is the same. And I've been playing the Sims 2 for 15 years. Yeah.
Since I got back into Yugioh!, the franchise as a whole is going to be this for
me. I spent 3 months beating Legacy of the Duelist, playing daily
religiously....only for me to buy the PS4 version when the update came and
start over from the beginning. Yes the game was also updated for switch
but....Konami barely makes the games now, so I'll take all I can get in the
feeble hopes that they'll at least release a new entry once every 3 years,
instead of once in every 5 (yeah, Konami is dumb. Why make new anime if you're
not gonna make games to sell with it?). Also got a copy of the Zexal game for
the 3DS.
I'm pretty sure
that wasn't your intention, but... reading your rant about Gen VII made me want
to play Sun&Moon again! :P Not right now, though: the time for my annual
rerun of gen VI has finally come. :D
And talking about reruns and monster-collecting franchises, I'm currently
staying at the same location where I played Digimon Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's
Memory last summer... And of course, that makes me want to play it again! :P
I'll abstain, though: not only is the game still too fresh in my memory, but I have
other still unplayed entries to scratch any Digimon itch I may have.
Funny that you should mention Idea Factory RPGs, because... Oh well, you'll see
soon enough. No spoilers! ^^
Definitely play
the original Cyber Sleuth first before replaying Hacker's Memory. It's good,
trust me. Not that you need to, since Hacker's Memory is extremely similar to
the original Cyber Sleuth, and you obviously liked that one.
Speaking of monster catching games, I've been getting the urge to play Mocco
Mocco Friends again. But then I remember the endless dialogue and how boring
and predictable the plot is for anyone who has watched even one magical girls
anime and yeah....I really wish there was a way to skip cutscenes.
"Funny that you should mention Idea Factory RPGs, because... Oh well,
you'll see soon enough. No spoilers!"
Hmmmmm.....Trillion, God of Destruction maybe? Been meaning to play that for
ages. Or maybe Mary Skelker? I have the switch version of the sequel that also
includes the original game, so that's surely of good value.
Either way, can't go too wrong unless it's one of the early Neptunia games. Or
a Neptunia game in general...after the first game, you get tired of the
"game consoles as waifus" concept really fast, or at least I sure did
despite the decent gameplay.
"I have
the switch version of the sequel that also includes the original game": Do
you own the Japanese version, or did you manage to get your paws on the rare
and super-coveted Limited Run english version? I gave the latter a pass and
man, I kinda regret it now. And with the prices it commands on Ebay, I'm not
sure I'll ever get to buying it... Oh, who am I kidding here? If my collecting
instinct is raging and zeroing on that one game, I'll buy it allright, no
matter how much it costs 😁
Anyway, I have yet to find an Idea Factory game I dislike. I loved all the
stuff I played from them — including the Neptunia Vita ports, which lounge
comfortably in my Top 10 Vita series. They don't develop much, but nearly every
game they craft is a gem. Come to think of it, I probably own all of their Vita
input, although I have yet to play a good chunk of it! 😄
Nah, I just got
the digital version of Mary Skelter 2. Honestly, it's been 2 years since I
bought a physical game that you could also get digitally, and I haven't looked
back. Saves a lot of shelf space, and my sister can't whine at me for money
when she's broke and whine "just sell your old games!" (yes, this was
an honest issue for me).
I don't think I've ever disliked an IF game either, but I played the Neptunia
games back-to-back (except the PS4 which I haven't even bought) and I have no
shame in admitting I was skipping all the story bits by the middle of the
second game. I don't hate them, but I feel like there was no real point, unless
you like the console waifu gimmick. Which I did, at the start, then it got old.
I also have all of their Vita output, and I'm only missing two Neptunia games
on PS4 (The fourth one and the "4 goddesses online" one, cause screw
online). I bought Trillion just cause I like IF and did't know much about it,
but recently I heard it was a cross between RPG games and Princess Maker, and
that has me intrigued. Like you, there's a lot of their games I haven't played
yet, but I doubt any are bad.
Well, the three
'Re-Birth' games are basically copy-pastes of each other, so I can't blame you
for skipping the story bits after a while. On the contrary: I wholeheartedly
commend you for playing them back-to-back! Even though I love that series to
pieces, I don't think I could have taken that much HN goodness at once. :P
"My sister can't whine at me for money when she's broke and whine
"just sell your old games!"": Heresy! My collector's heart hurts
at the mere thought of it. Physical games are for life! :D
Well, what can
I say, I just couldn't resist games that threw strong optional enemies early
on, and rewarded you with a hefty amount of EXP, allowing you to face away
other strong optional enemies, which means that by the end you'll be so
overlevelled because the final boss can't compare to those enemies...
Yeah, I love games that reward grinding, and give you ways to do it that aren't
tedious. Couple that with being able to skip animations, and the Neptunia games
were dreams come true at the time. But I overdosed, and now I can't even think
about the fourth tittle. Which is coming to switch BTW.
Well, at least having most of my games be digital now saved me from that
stress. All I have left are games from before digital was a thing, which no, I
won't get rid off! And at least I used the extra space to get more manga, which
are "worthless" so it's not so bad.
Thankfully for me, my sister is too dumb to know I have some rare yu-gi-oh!
cards that are worth 30-70 bucks a pop nowadays (and unless they get reprinted
in English again that price will only go up. Three words: Borreload Savage
Dragon). And even if she does find out, I'm not dumb enough to show her my
collection, and the cards are tiny and super easy to hide.
Your first
paragraph sums up exactly what happened during my run of Hyperdimension
Neptunia Re:Birth 2. The final boss lasted a mere few turns; after being forced
to give up in Re:Birth 1 because I was too underleveled for the final showdown,
this was sweet revenge. :P
Talking about Yu-Gi-Oh cards, I recently became curious about the Yu-Gi-Oh game
on the Switch. I never played any card games growing up (or later, for that
matter); and the idea of trying my hand at it in digital form is strangely
alluring. If I manage to get a cheap copy of Legacy of the Duelist, I'll
definitely give it a try ^^
I never played
any card games growing up either (never even had a pokemon card), though in my
teens I played a few of the PSP Yu-Gi-Oh! games, and was okay at them. It's
also when I started to collect cards, though I've sadly never played a single
IRL game.
In terms of the card game itself, I think Yu-Gi-Oh! only became really good in
the early 2010's when Xyz summoning was added. Synchro summoning introduced in
around 2007 elevated the game, but this was the era that "caveman"
Yu-Gi-Oh! (where the game is basically just summoning the most powerful
monsters and whacking each other on the head until one faints) died, and became
about monster effects and how they chain together instead, which is a lot more
fun.
Sadly this is the exact era where Konami stopped releasing yearly games. So we
have a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh! games, but only 3-5 from the "fun" era (two
of those you need fan translations). Oh but there's a lot of crappy GX era
games, yay :\
Legacy of the duelist is fun, and it goes through the story of all the animes.
This is both good and bad; on one hand, though you can make your own deck, you
certainly don't need to, you can just use the deck the character used in that
anime battle. This also allows you to try out many different decks in a natural
way. On the other hand, the story isn't that well told, so if you aren't
familiar with all of the anime seasons, then you won't get emotionally invested
beyond the point you stopped watching.
The tutorials are also a mixed bag; most are okay, but link summoning is still
very confusing to me. If it wasn't for the anime I wouldn't even see the value
of performing it.
But either way, if you find it for a good price, give it a shot. At the very
least you'll get some of the experience you missed out on as a child. And while
Konami is awful and only releases a new game once every new console generation,
at least it doesn't charge you out the eyeballs with micro transactions, a la
Hearthstone.
Nice choices
dude! As I've read your Xenoblade Chronicles 2 saga.. I kind of assumed we
might see that on here :D It's just such a great series but the idea of
spending what is potentially 4-5 other games to replay one you can't possibly
get the same enjoyment out of the second time around is.. questionable!
Also, this part about Myst III (a series which I could, unfortunately, never
get into...) stood out:
>I had no internet at the time
This must have been SO interesting playing a game with no access to other
information to metaphorically "poison the well" of your own thought
process. Super cool, that's definitely an ideal way to play a game like that! I
tried to avoid the internet entirely while playing The Talos Principle, and it
felt like a similar style of game where the feeling of solving a puzzle is so
great, the idea of looking up a solution is blasphemous. That being said,
having an internet connection still can make it tempting... bravo to ya for
finishing without resorting to hitting up gamefaqs!
"This must have been SO interesting playing a game with no access to other information to metaphorically "poison the well" of your own thought process": Oooh yes it was, indeed. I cannot tell you how proud I was to finish that game relying only on my own brain juices... I mean, there's nothing like that 'A-HA!' feeling when all the pieces fall into places and the puzzle you've been struggling with the last half-hour suddenly becomes crystal clear.
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