A while back, the Game Critics podcast featured a segment dubbed “The One that Got Away” that was all about the games we start but never finish for whatever reason. Okay, it might have been more along the lines of “games we wished we played but never did” but seeing as I can’t remember the finer details, I’m going to go with the former interpretation of said segment for the purposes of this post.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m really terrible when it comes to completing games. One minute I’m head-over-heels for a certain title, but then something new comes out or I get a good deal on an old title I’ve been looking forward to picking up, and inevitably whatever I’m currently playing gets thrown to the side to make way for whatever new and shiny thing I got my hands on.
For someone who is particularly fond of JRPGs, that’s the worst kind of curse. I’m notorious for not finishing RPGs I start, and as such I have a shameful pile of games that I just never got around to finishing. Today, I’ve picked five Japanese games that may or may not be RPGs that I’ve just never gotten around to finishing for your reading pleasure.
Odin Sphere
It probably wouldn’t surprise anyone that the main reason Odin Sphere caught my eye back when it was released for the PlayStation was its gorgeous visuals. When I started playing it, I was pleasantly surprised by the deep storyline and action-oriented gameplay that, admittedly, I’m not very good at. But my favorite part of the game was mixing different ingredients into all kinds of tasty-looking food! Those illustrations were part of the reason why Odin Sphere was so hard to play –– one boss in particular lagged so badly due to everything on the screen that it was almost impossible to get through. I got a good 25 hours into this one, so I definitely want to return and finish it someday.
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
I’m embarrassed to admit that the above picture is exactly why I gave up on SMT: Nocturne. Even more embarrassing is the fact that anyone who’s played the game probably knows that he is literally the first major boss in the game… but he’s so brutally hard! For a teenager with little patience and next to no RPG experience, the choice was simple: move on to another game. I know Nocturne is supposed to be a great game, though, so I fully intend to restart from the beginning and actually play it the whole way through one of these days!
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Now this one might not exactly count, as I’ve actually completed one playthrough of the game. The thing about 999 is that, as a visual novel with puzzle elements, it has multiple endings, and only one is canon (from what I understand). The ending I got was certainly not the “good” ending, so I’d really like to go back and see the full story! Unfortunately, I played through 999 about a year about now and my memory of the finer plot points is pretty hazy… But I need to make this one a priority to complete before the sequel, Virtue’s Last Reward, comes out for PS Vita and 3DS later this year.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
In many ways, Shadow Hearts: Covenant for the PS2 is a pretty average JRPG, but it’s also got some of the funniest dialogue and best supporting characters in any RPG I’ve played. There’s a vampire wrestler who makes a weapon out of whatever large, heavy objects he finds in the environment (see screenshot above), the best gay duo to feature in any video game ever, and a snarky white wolf! What more could be better, right? Well, you also get to collect stud cards for said gay duo in order to upgrade a certain character’s ability, along with all other manner of weird and whacky stuff. I’m really ashamed to admit I haven’t finished this one, as it’s one of my favorite PS2-era JRPGs, and I don’t even have a good reason as to why I never bit the bullet and got ‘er done, as they say. I know I’m actually quite far in the game… Looks like I know what should be next on my list.
Chrono Cross
Ah, that screenshot brings back memories… I think I’ve played the first 5 or so hours of Chrono Cross at least three times. For whatever reason, I’d always get to a point where I’d get stuck/bored and come back to the game after a long stint of playing something else, only to feel I’d forgotten enough to merit starting over from scratch. The last time I played, I got around the 15-hour mark… and got stuck again. Have I ever mentioned that I sucked at video games during the PSone/PS2 era? (whether or not I still suck is up for debate) I really need to knock Chrono Cross off of my list one of these days, and maybe actually get more than 2 hours into Chrono Trigger… But that’s for another post!
So what’s on your “one that got away” list? Don’t leave me alone out here! Share your shame in the comments!
Did you know that the Australian box of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne actually quoted my review (which I wrote for the Official PS2 Magazine) on the back. I was very proud of myself for that.
As for my great game of shame? King’s Field IV. I got up to the final boss, and couldn’t win. This is despite it being quite literally my favourite game before the PS3 game along (and Nier).
I also never finished FFIX. The only Final Fantasy I didn’t finish (well, not including the MMOs). I really should at some stage.
Great post as always, Anne!
As for my own list of “games that got away”: Hoo, boy, you don’t want to see it, as it would contain quite a few games.
Most recent examples include FF: The 4 Heroes of Light and Pokemon Black. Oh, and Xenoblade, but I only recently “gave up” on that one, so there’s still hope that I’ll get back to it eventually 😐
Matt – Seriously?! That’s awesome! I hope you’ve got a copy of the game for posterity! What did you say? I didn’t know you wrote for the Official PS2 Magazine!
I have to say I’m horrified you haven’t finished IX, as it’s my favorite FF ever! But I seem to remember from an article you wrote for Digitally Download that you weren’t that fond of it?
Bryan – Oh, don’t worry, I decided to only stick with 5 for this post as my list is depressingly long, as well.
I know you really loved 4 Heroes of Light! What took you away from it?
As for Pokemon games, I know how that is, so don’t feel ashamed of that one. I find it really hard to finish them, too.
And Xenoblade you were only playing recently! I don’t know if it really counts 😉 Did you just put it down because you have other things you want to play, are you at a tough spot?
I feel no shame, Anne. NO SHAME!
I have a few bits and bobs of unfinished titles, but they always rotate as I finish them off. I’m slowly but surely catching up to my backlog.
More often than not if I don’t finish a game it’s because I didn’t like it! THERE IS NO SHAME THERE.
I am usually pretty good about finishing games I start. In fact most of the time I don’t write up reviews for my site until I’ve beaten them, which tends to make them less timely, but more thorough in my opinion.
Demon’s Souls though… that’s the most recent game that I played, really liked, but just could not beat near the end. I sunk a ton of time in, got like 80% of the way through, but I don’t know if it was my build that was holding me back, or I just sucked at the game, but I just kept dying over and over again and finally gave up.
There are others I didn’t finish as well, like Risen (I didn’t like it) and Fallout: new Vegas (a game-breaking bug halted my progress before it got patched), but I would guess I beat more than 95% of the games I start.
Alois – No shame at all
Chalgyr – You finish more than 95% of games you start? Wow! I strive to be like you. I just have such a short attention span that whenever I get something new I inevitably want to play it!
But I’m with you when it comes to reviews. I think it’s admirable of reviewers to finish games they’re reviewing, so I make that my policy as well. These are all games I played before I started reviewing 😉
i had the same issue with chrono cross… nice blog, btw. cheers!
Thanks for reading! I’m glad I’m not the only one who had problems with Chrono Cross. Did you ever get around to finishing it?