What's the longest it took you to decide you hated a game?

[Vimbert]

Topic inspired by this topic, and specifically a little rant I had, reposted here. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.160375#4058290

We've all had game we assured ourselves would get better... eventually. What was the longest it took you to realize that, indeed, the shit will stay shit, and nothing will improve? Games that you finished don't count; I'm curious about those abandoned midstream.

For me, I'd say Metal Saga. If you haven't heard of it, it was a PS2 RPG that billed itself as a post-apoclyptic JRPG... WITH TANKS! Unfortunately, it sucked. I kept telling myself, "THIS GAME HAS TANKS IN AN RPG. Surely it will stop being bad at some point." It didn't, but I pressed on, gritting my teeth and emulating Yahtzee's complaint style as I went along. Finally, 17 hours in, I couldn't take any more and tossed it aside. It still sits on my shelf, taunting me... "I'm a nonlinear RPG with tank combat. How can I possibly be bad? PLAY ME." NEVER AGAIN.

EDIT: This topic is search bar approved.

 

[Judgedread]

To be honest if a game is bad and doesn't get any better in the first hour I usually stop playing it.

 

[Gyrefalcon]

Thank you for the reference.

Mine was one of the later Final Fantasy games. Probably with Cloud Strife...I played up until the monsters you were supposed to hunt at the end and realized that I didn't want to. In fact, I had been going through the motions for nearly the entire game! I WANTED to like it, I love FF 3 (6) with a passion but this one was more of a "look what we can do" by the developers instead of "look what YOU can do" as a player. Full of clever cut scenes but it was all a step removed for me. :/

 

[WestMountain]

Oblivion, it took me 25 hours to realizethat the enemies and the loot level up with you so theres no reason to explore the world really

 

[Durxom]

I don't really want to say this, because I don't really hate it, but Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, I really wanted to get into the story and more of the humor and all that, but I like a gradual lvling/learning curve in my RPG-style games...I don't to be playing from 5-6 hours just grinding x-x

 

[Amarok]

Probably Spore, took me a few weeks to come to terms with the fact that I hated it. Largely because I refused to acknowledge said hatred due to being hyped for the game for over 3 years.

 

[Simalacrum]

Blazing Angels.

I realised that it had it flaws the minute the characters opened their mouths, but then I just quit after I realised blatant bias for America in its description of WWII, despite the fact that they did indeed drop 2 nuclear bombs on Japan (that would've been a good way of doing things, actually - making the player drop the bomb and then show the affects of it, that would have had more impact for the player... but, of course, thats not going to happen now, is it?)

 

[AcacianLeaves]

Hmm...suspicious but I'll let it pass . I think a topic of 'what's the longest it took you to like a game' would be a better one to explore. But I won't do it today

Probably Halo 3 ODST. I finished the game, looked at my clock, and did a "WHAAAAAA?" face. The same goes for most games that have a criminally short single player campaign. I usually don't hate them until I finish and realize I paid $60 for 1/3 of a game.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

Empire Total War, not exactly hated it, but it took me some time to accept it was not Rome (besides the obvius historical difference that is)

 

[AcacianLeaves]

Blazing Angels.

I realised that it had it flaws the minute the characters opened their mouths, but then I just quit after I realised blatant bias for America in its description of WWII, despite the fact that they did indeed drop 2 nuclear bombs on Japan (that would've been a good way of doing things, actually - making the player drop the bomb and then show the affects of it, that would have had more impact for the player... but, of course, thats not going to happen now, is it?)

Oh GOD don't start THAT debate. Just understand that it is by no means considered to be a universally bad decision when you take all things into consideration. Yeah the game is clearly biased towards the US, as the largest contribution to Air battles on the allies side was in fact the Red Air Force - but I wouldn't discount the game just because it had a bad case of Jingoism. It still had fun gameplay.

Also that DID happen in Modern Warfare

 

[Jenova65]

I took hours trying to like Disgaea but to no avail.
Also Unlimited Saga, I gave it longer than it deserved because y'know, Square........

 

[Simalacrum]

Blazing Angels.

I realised that it had it flaws the minute the characters opened their mouths, but then I just quit after I realised blatant bias for America in its description of WWII, despite the fact that they did indeed drop 2 nuclear bombs on Japan (that would've been a good way of doing things, actually - making the player drop the bomb and then show the affects of it, that would have had more impact for the player... but, of course, thats not going to happen now, is it?)

Oh GOD don't start THAT debate. Just understand that it is by no means considered to be a universally bad decision when you take all things into consideration. Yeah the game is clearly biased towards the US, as the largest contribution to Air battles on the allies side was in fact the Red Air Force - but I wouldn't discount the game just because it had a bad case of Jingoism. It still had fun gameplay.

Also that DID happen in Modern Warfare

Oh yeah, sorry, I didn't like the gameplay either, enemies were too easy to take down, and the camera did horribly when trying to track enemies.

Happy now?

Yes, Modern Warfare did have it. It showed that nukes are bad. I also happened to LOVE that game

 

[More Fun To Compute]

It took me more than five years to work out that I actually hate Shenmue. At first I wasn't that interested, then I thought that it was an alright game that was a bit slow and boring with dodgy gameplay, then I saw how people love it, why and what sort of influence and legacy it had. Now I hate it more than life itself.

 

[Vimbert]

I don't really want to say this, because I don't really hate it, but Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, I really wanted to get into the story and more of the humor and all that, but I like a gradual lvling/learning curve in my RPG-style games...I don't to be playing from 5-6 hours just grinding x-x

I actually kept taking turns in the grinding with a friend, otherwise I'm not sure I could've took it, though when the sequel came, I found the grinding much more bearable for some reason.

 

[Omikron009]

Oblivion. I actually played that piece of garbage for about 10 hours before I realized that it was just terrible.

 

[Nillz]

Call of Duty: World at War, I put a solid 10-12 hrs in before I realized it was crap.

 

[Pimppeter2]

About 5 hours into Rise of The Argonauts.

I realized that I had finished the greatest part of the game and now all I had left were 3 very shitty parts.

 

[TheLastCylon]

Lost Odyssey.

Near the end of the first disk, I couldn't deal with the kids voices anymore.

 

[Doctor Robert]

Animal Crossing Wild World.
I wanted the game for some idiotic reason I don't rembember. After getting it, I enjoyed it for a few months. I collected some awesome furniture and a couple dozen songs. I somehow actually enjoyed my friends in the game and missed them when they moved. Poncho, Limberg, Eggbert, I hate you all.
After a few months, it became a job. Collect shells, fish, collect fruit, buy stuff, pay mortgage, stop friends from moving. I hated it. I played a half hour a day because I had to. It took me a whole year to finally stop and go cold turkey, it was like some weird addiction. It must be how WoW players feel.
I wrote all this shit because this game taught me not to play a game only because you had to, games are entertainment, not chores.