How quickly does it take you to love a game?

[Fishdog52]

I usually love the game before I purchase it, or I wouldn't have taken the risk in the first place. (The exceptions here being games within the Humble Bundles, where I'm more likely to just go for it for the sake of charity, or Steam sales, where games can be under $3 regularly.)

If I end up buying a bigger title which I expect to love and do not love it, the franchise quickly becomes dead to me. (CoD, HALO, Gears) Likewise, if I end up receiving a free copy of a game that was not on my radar and it turns out to be great, I will appreciate it more than a game which I expected to be good and confirmed my suspicions. (Portal, TF2)

 

[Dark Prophet]

It really depends, it took me 4-5 tries during 3 month period to fall in love with Mass Effect, but only half an hour to get into Half-Life 2, both games are in my personal top 5.

 

[putowtin]

The opening of Assassin's Creed 2, as you run around firenze with your brother, I knew, I just knew....

now two games on, the least geeky of my AC devotion is my avatar (most geeky? tattoo!)

 

[HeavenSmile]

The beginning of Indigo Prophecy caused me to fall in love with it right at the start.

I'm a huge fan of Fallout3 but it took a second attempt at the game to really embrace its charm and value.

Falling in love with a game is a variable. It's all about delivery and whether or not you tag along.

 

[Skoldpadda]

Somewhere between -0,0002 seconds and three million years.

Baldur's Gate took -0,0002 seconds
Final Fantasy XIII will take three million years.

 

[Mallefunction]

Usually I love a game at the opening, but there are some games where it's taken a while for me to get into. I give all games save for indie and short campaigns at least 5 hours to wow me in some way (characters, gameplay, writing, voice acting, etc).

At the end of that trial period, if I am not enjoying anything and have no desire to find out more, I drop the sucker. Simple as that.

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

It depends. Sometimes I research a game and love it before I buy it. Other times I have to play it and I grow to love it throughout the play through. Sometimes, I don't realize how much I love a game until years later and I think, "hey, you know what was really fun to play?" Different experiences for different games; it's the fun side of life.

 

[NazzerDawk]

It's always a crapshoot, even for the best of games. It took a good 4 hours forcing myself to play this game I just shelled out 30 dollars for when I first played Morrowind, but then I was hooked. On the other hand, the first time I picked up minecraft (back in creative pre-alpha) I walked to a tree, deleted it's trunk, then it's leaves, then I clicked down a few times, then I dug straight down, clicking as fast as I could until I hit lava (it didn't kill you back then.)

 

[Muspelheim]

It depends. Usually a few minutes, or to reach the part where the game feels like it's truly begun. I remember falling like a timberlog for Fallout 3 the very moment I staggered out of the vault, with an entire ruin landscape all around me to pick clean. Same with Skyrim, really. In ArmA 2, it was the very moment that helicopter touched down and the operation began.

Of course, some games doesn't have a "Drop the leash and pop off the training wheels"-moment, but then it usually just sorts of sneak up on me. I have no idea exactly where in Portal I fell in love with it, but I know I did at some point.

 

[synulia]

So Bastion was for sale on Steam today for £4 so I thought "Might as well give it a try".
Turns out after 2 hours I have a new favourite game.

Favorite ever? Damn, that's awesome, looking forward to playing it.
For me it varies, I can play a game for an hour, then not play it for months, (this happened with Machinarium), come back to it and blaze through and utterly adore every part of it, (Machinarium is my favorite game in case you didn't notice). Normally it's the soundtrack that wins me over. If it's really good I keep playing, and start liking the game itself.

 

[ssgt splatter]

More or less right away. But right now I'm buying games with established frachises like Call of Duty and Gears of War so by previous expierences I already love the games before I start playing them.

Now, Dead Island is pretty interesting and I did like the game right form the opening cinematic, "Who do you voodoo, *****?" That was fun to watch. The game feels tight, apart from a few bugs, and challenging but ever since Gears 3 came out I've been neglecting the game. I've only gotten about halfway through the game so far and I'm having trouble putting it back in the console to finish it.

If anyone here has finished Dead Island, can you tell me if the ending is worth the effort... without spoiling it?

 

[captaincabbage]

It'll usually take me anywhere between 5 minutes and a few hours.

Prime example: Bastion. I've only played the bloody demo and I love it! I'm looking forwards to christmas sales when I can snag it for $2.50.
Another example is Oblivion, where it took me a few hours to really get into it, but once I got past some of the more glaring issure I found an amazing and deep world to explore and enjoy.

 

[SonicWaffle]

It takes me the same amount of time to love a game as it does to love a woman, so roughly 37.5 seconds. Then I have to put up with the game giving me really disappointed looks all night.

 

[mbug]

usually within the first hour or less, if it feels right, it feels right

 

[Redingold]

Depends on the game. I loved Mass Effect after I first saw the Citadel, an hour or so in, while I loved Bastion the moment I started playing it.

 

[Scarim Coral]

It's usually when the tutorial part is over and you finally getting into the game itself.

 

[Jakub324]

It depends. I loved MW2 by about 20 minutes in, but it took Fallout 3 about 10 hours to really persuade me of t's good qualities (prior to that I found it really confusing).

 

[Mayamellissa]

Usually about 5 minutes into a game or movie I know if I love it. Television shows are a 2 episode watch minimum.