Not-fun games

[Starp]

Touching on something James Portnow said during his PAX panel, have you ever found (at least parts of) any games that were engaging, if not much fun?
I'm talking about the nuke scene in Modern Warfare, the dialoge in the Mass Effects, etc..

By the way, I'm making a rule- no cutscenes, only times when the player is in control.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Engaging without being fun?

Silent Hill sums that up nicely.

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

Pretty much all of Heavy Rain?

 

[Bling1907]

Metal Gear Solid general?

 

[Irishguy]

Final Fantasy XIII was like here I'll play the game for you but you can stare at my amazing graphics!

 

[Snowalker]

a whole hell of a lot games?

 

[googooplex]

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 itsjust a button mash fest and half the time you dont know what your doing.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

Sickest burns of Heavy Rain, MGS and Silent Hill yet ITT.

OT: Any game that requires extensive training for practice. Usually that stuff isn't very enjoyable by itself but it pays of when you use what you've learned in a real match. Starcraft is a good example also Guilty Gear.

 

[Super Toast]

Heavy Rain and some of the side quests in the Fallout series. Who can forget finding a series of journals documenting the desperate plight of a family trying to find shelter before the bombs drop? And finally discovering their underground bunker, only to see a group of mutilated corpses, and a single feral ghoul standing amidst the carnage? Say what you will about Bethesda's writing (I know I have) but they hit the nail on the fucking head, right there.

 

[BENZOOKA]

All games, with very few excaptions?

I very rarely even look to have just plain old fun in a game. I want:
interactivity
to see numbers increase
solve problems
form plans and strategies
test my reflexes
increase and use my skills
accomplish something
and so on...
...and feel whatever doing those things does to me.

It's almost never just fun, but other stuff that is better than fun.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

Starcraft II. Far to much going on to have fun.

 

[Erana]

Tale of Tales typically does that- The Path, The Graveyard...
And, admittedly, The Endless Forest. Its usually a nice "Stroll through the woods" sim for when its cold and precipitating freezing rain outside. Its not "Fun" like bopping mushroom men in the head, but its quite enjoyable and engaging.

 

[latenightapplepie]

Alan Wake was like this at times. Condemned, too.

 

[Jazoni89]

Starcraft II. Far to much going on to have fun.

I somewhat agree with this.

That's why i much prefer watching Starcraft 2 matches, than playing it.

Watching professional, and Competitive Starcraft players duke it out on youtube is alot of fun

I seriously can't go a single day without at least watching a match or two.

 

[Nuckelavee]

Sudden strike.
Your eith winning or you've lost. Veeeeeerrry thin tightrope there. A wrong mortar shell takes out an important officer leading a tank charge? Oh, yeah your screwed without that spotter. Soon you loose your entire tank advance too quickly and the Germans have access to that flanking attack you just committed yourself too, the quickly obliterate that with the nerbelwerfer artillery units. Sure enough in four or five minutes you have a bunch of germans knocking on your little town obliterating everything.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is... NEVER EXPOSE YOUR OFFICERS!

 

[Denomoses]

pretty much every jrpg in lving memory apart from ones that didn't rely on AI subroutines to do the shitty turn based combat for you anyway.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Heavy Rain and some of the side quests in the Fallout series. Who can forget finding a series of journals documenting the desperate plight of a family trying to find shelter before the bombs drop? And finally discovering their underground bunker, only to see a group of mutilated corpses, and a single feral ghoul standing amidst the carnage? Say what you will about Bethesda's writing (I know I have) but they hit the nail on the fucking head, right there.

I actually found Fallout 3 to be more compelling in that way overall. New Vegas improved the main story but Fallout 3 had interesting/funny/heart-wrenching narrative bursting out of every corner.

A lot of other people said No More Heroes was very engaging but those minigames could not have been meant to be fun. They were tedious QTEs based on the most mundane professions. I couldn't get into it but a lot of people did.

 

[GiantRaven]

Nothing comes to mind. If something is engaging, then I'm enjoying myself and having fun, evenif the general idea behind that specific part of the game isn't based around being 'fun'. I find the dialogue parts of Mass Effect incredibly fun to navigate through, probably more-so than the rest of the game.

If the game isn't engaging, or is just plain frustrating to play, then I don't find it fun. If that happens I just stop playing. What's the point if I'm not having fun? That's why I couldn't get into (to use examples of games from this year) Alan Wake or the latest Formula One game.