Games that you will never play. Ever.

[Ishal]

We all have those games that we don't like. Maybe even whole genres that we don't like.

For me, I don't like modern JRPG's. Kingdom Hearts and similar games are just too much. I'm not a fan of the Metal Gear games either. However, if one of my friends wanted to sit down and play through them for a bit of fun, I'd probably do it. Maybe I'm missing out on something.

But then there are games that you refuse to touch, period. These are games that you will likely never play. I'll never play DOTA II, LoL, Smite, or any other MOBA. The whole experience is just an ordeal that I'd rather stay away from. I dislike teams, and I dislike hyper competitive people, and the MOBA community seems to have the latter in spades, and much worse. I can't see myself ever having fun with those types of games.

What games will you never touch?

 

[IceForce]

Dark Souls.

I'm not interested in the genre, I'm not a fan of crushing difficulty in games, and the elitism of the fanbase has put me right off playing it, permanently.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I've come to the point where I pretty much avoid all MMORPGs. The time investment they often require is staggering, and being a college student who would love to also be working a part-time job, I don't feel like getting trapped in a massive time sink that I either can't go anywhere with (provided I refrain from spending too much time) or where I begin faltering in more important activities (if I don't manage time well).

I also avoid RTS and MOBA games. They just really aren't that enjoyable to me.

 

[Barbas]

Probably the entire Ninja Gaiden series. The same goes for League of Legends, Defense of the Ancients and World of Warcraft. Nothing but frustration for me.

Could I afford to repair the damage done to my home? Probably not, so why even go there?

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Silent Hill 4, because this is in the game

Seriously that thing gives me shivers.

 

[Chrozi]

I seriously doubt I will get in to any moba, just seems like too much of a hassle for me.

 

[shrekfan246]

I'll be surprised if this thread doesn't get filled to the brim with snarky comments about EA games.

OT: I dunno, really old or really bad ones.

Things like Ride to Hell: Retribution or Dark are just bland and terrible enough that it's not even worth experiencing them as the actual player even to say "Oh yeah, this game was so bad".

Things like UFO: Enemy Unknown are old enough and antiquated enough that actually playing the game is something beyond me. But even then that's not necessarily true of all old games. The first Syndicate actually holds up remarkably well, all things considered. The UI is still pretty clunky, and not being able to see inside of buildings... makes little sense, but the game actually plays and controls pretty well.

I stay away from most competitive games because I don't like hyper-competitiveness, but that doesn't mean I would never play the games. I had fun with League of Legends, and with Halo 2 multi-player back in the day, and with Hearthstone and World of Warcraft. Nowadays I mostly avoid online games simply because my internet can't handle it anymore and I'm planning on going off to university.

Other than that, everything is pretty much fair game to me. I seem to be the only person I've ever known who won't immediately judge something and determine I won't like it simply based on its genre, and because of that I've never really understood the mentality that goes into saying things like "I hate all JRPGs" or "Fantasy sucks" or "Rap isn't real music". I don't blame people for not wanting to try things associated with what they haven't enjoyed in the past, but there's so much variety within every genre and thematic setting that there's bound to be something in there you'd like.

 

[teqrevisited]

Any 'MOBA' game.

I used to play Awesomenauts a lot but as time went on the community, for lack of a better word, devolved into what is apparently standard fare for those kinds of games. People who complain about level of play in a solo queueing system mostly.

It's a shame, seeing as it's unique among its peers in terms of design, but if I play it now I have to completely ignore the input of the 'team' or intentionally drag them down and make them lose for being such dicks. Hypocritical, I know, but I get a cheap laugh out of how seriously they take it.

I can only imagine how awful it must be to try and play any of the bigger games of the genre.

 

[Zhukov]

Anything that looks like anime.

I see one fist-sized eyeball, one trying-too-hard-to-be-cute underage girl in a suspiciously short skirt or one spiky haired dude with a sword the size of a fridge and I'm gone.

I could almost say anything Japanese, but Shadow of the Colossus was undeniably cool enough that I still give them ago every now and again.

 

[sailtheplains]

MMOs--I just don't have the attention span or the desire to run around with a bunch of people I don't know--who are all doing that same thing cause we're ALL the One or the Chosen or the Knick-Knack Paddy Whack or whatever.

Also, JRPGs. They're not all bad--they really aren't. FF7 is still one of my all-time favorite games. Fatal Frame is a game I still love. But JRPGs in general---too much eye-rolling melodrama. I can't tell the difference between the guys and the girls. And when it comes to pathetic female characters---at least Western game designers are getting away from that stupid trope---but for Japan its still alive and whining around.

 

[sailtheplains]

Silent Hill 4, because this is in the game

Seriously that thing gives me shivers.

Haha, don't worry. Every monster in SH4 just burps at you.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Silent Hill 4, because this is in the game

Seriously that thing gives me shivers.

Haha, don't worry. Every monster in SH4 just burps at you.

Yeah but it still gives me the willies :\

 

[Ishal]

I'll be surprised if this thread doesn't get filled to the brim with snarky comments about EA games.

Even though I'll likely not buy an EA game for a long, long time. I still wouldn't put them in the "never gonna play" category. They might redeem themselves.

I seem to be the only person I've ever known who won't immediately judge something and determine I won't like it simply based on its genre, and because of that I've never really understood the mentality that goes into saying things like "I hate all JRPGs" or "Fantasy sucks" or "Rap isn't real music". I don't blame people for not wanting to try things associated with what they haven't enjoyed in the past, but there's so much variety within every genre and thematic setting that there's bound to be something in there you'd like.

Thematic setting is exactly the reason I stay away from JRPG's, or the modern ones at least. The common tropes and aesthetics are things I simply don't enjoy. It's that simple. You could tell me that Suzie is a compelling, well written character in a JRPG, and hey, she might be. But Suzie is wearing an all too revealing skirt, and bent over showing her sizable chest to the player. She's timid, and trying way too hard to be cute. She's likely 14-16 years old, because of course she is. That's a wall. A wall of tropes and titillation that is common in JRPG's.

I still like older JRPG's like Chrono Trigger, Valkyrie Profile, Alundra, and a few others. But I get the feeling if the assets and tech that is available today was made available then, those games would be quite different, and I might not have touched them.

Jack is another interesting character, or so I'm told. He has a troubled past and an engaging story. Jack has spiky hair jutting off in every direction imaginable. He's wearing parachute pants that appear to be inflated with helium. He looks about 15-18 years old, and he's telling me about love, loss, and the deeper meaning of life, because he is an experienced sage at age 16. He's talking existential philosophy like he's Kierkegaard, all while wearing shoes as big as his head. I can't take that seriously. I just can't. For someone like me, these tropes are insurmountable.

That's what it comes down to. Rap is a form of music, I don't have the authority to proclaim otherwise. But almost all rap follows a certain formula, like all genres of just about anything. If someone can't get past that, then they likely won't enjoy it.

 

[scorptatious]

I've come to the point where I pretty much avoid all MMORPGs. The time investment they often require is staggering, and being a college student who would love to also be working a part-time job, I don't feel like getting trapped in a massive time sink that I either can't go anywhere with (provided I refrain from spending too much time) or where I begin faltering in more important activities (if I don't manage time well).

Same. I used to play WoW, and it got to the point where I was playing it so much that it put a strain on my relationship with my family. So, I eventually just quit and moved on to games that didn't take up as much time.

 

[shrekfan246]

But almost all rap follows a certain formula, like all genres of just about anything. If someone can't get past that, then they likely won't enjoy it.

But that's my point.

Assuming the formula is how everything is going to go before you even try it is just... mind-boggling to me. I don't understand why people would needlessly limit the entertainment they enjoy just because of the few things they've been exposed to in the past. Not even the majority of actually popular JRPGs are like what you described. In fact, even Kingdom Hearts isn't like that. Sora is the furthest thing from a "philosopher" you'll find in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and that's a franchise which features Disney characters. He's a teenager, and he's written to act pretty much like a teenager. It's fine if that still doesn't interest you, but using it as a springboard to paint all JRPGs is just silly because, as I said, there's so much variety that it's impossible to claim they are all like that.

Yes, those tropes are prevalent, and you'll especially see them if your only exposure to "modern" JRPGs is the weird stuff you find on the internet. But there are far more, far more games which completely eschew them. Don't paint an entire genre if you're not going to put in the effort to actually look at it in more detail.

 

[Ishal]

Yes, those tropes are prevalent, and you'll especially see them if your only exposure to "modern" JRPGs is the weird stuff you find on the internet. But there are far more, far more games which completely eschew them. Don't paint an entire genre if you're not going to put in the effort to actually look at it in more detail.

Star Ocean, Disgaea, FF, Kingdom Hearts, Valkyrie Chronicles, and so many others have the anime aesthetic. It's clear the type of gamer they are trying to appeal to, and I'm not that gamer. I'm not going to waste my time. I'm not claiming they are all like that. Just enough to make me want to spend my time elsewhere. Like I said, it's simple.

 

[shrekfan246]

Star Ocean, Disgaea, FF, Kingdom Hearts, Valkyrie Chronicles, and so many others have the anime aesthetic.

If Chrono Trigger isn't "anime", then I don't know what is.

But suit yourself. I still will never understand why people limit themselves in such arbitrary manners, but they're free to do so.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Star Ocean, Disgaea, FF, Kingdom Hearts, Valkyrie Chronicles, and so many others have the anime aesthetic.

If Chrono Trigger isn't "anime", then I don't know what is.

But suit yourself. I still will never understand why people limit themselves in such arbitrary manners, but they're free to do so.

We all know Chrono Trigger is anime looking today but we didn't know that in 1995. I believe that Japanese games started losing their popularity when technology allowed them to show the games as they were really meant to be. Sprites lacked the detail of 3D models.

 

[shrekfan246]

Star Ocean, Disgaea, FF, Kingdom Hearts, Valkyrie Chronicles, and so many others have the anime aesthetic.

If Chrono Trigger isn't "anime", then I don't know what is.

But suit yourself. I still will never understand why people limit themselves in such arbitrary manners, but they're free to do so.

We all know Chrono Trigger is anime looking today but we didn't know that in 1995. I believe that Japanese games started losing their popularity when technology allowed them to show the games as they were really meant to be. Sprites lacked the detail of 3D models.

Ehh... I'm not so sure about that. The characters and settings of Chrono Trigger were still designed by Akira Toriyama, and he was already known at the time for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

The sprites may have lent themselves to a slightly different overall aesthetic, but it's still very "anime" in its designs, which you could see by contrasting to the likes of The Legend of Zelda, Super Metroid, Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, or most especially Phantasy Star; All cartoony games which feature less culturally-influenced aesthetic designs. A Link to the Past's pink hair is probably the most "anime" thing out of any of those games. Compared with Star Ocean, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI, and Dragon Quest, it's not hard to see the differences in the art direction between JRPGs and other genres.

That's not to say I discount the possibility of people being turned off of them because of the better technology allowing games to more closely resemble their anime inspirations. But many JRPGs have clearly been inspired by anime for a very long time, and the only difference today really is in the graphical capabilities.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

I can't say. I used to hate MOBAs but now I'm starting to enjoy them, particularly League and Smite. I used to say I'd never play WoW again after my time in vanilla yet I've somehow maxed out several characters after. I used to say I'd never play FEAR because of the heebie-jeebies I got from watching horror segments but that changed. And JRPGs. And massive warsims/RTSs (Total War). And Grand Strategies. Did I mention Zelda?

I don't really take my current opinions as the end all, be all. I guess I won't ever get into high school visual novels.