I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever finish Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It’s too goddamn long!
It got me wondering: at what point do you decide enough is enough with video games? Do you tend to finish all the games you buy?
Obviously it’s a contextual thing, so let’s just make this as general as possible. In general do you finish the video games you buy?
I’m going to say no. Mainly because there have been games I have absolutely loved that I haven’t seen through to their final conclusion. Like Shadow of the Colossus. I still haven’t finished that, or Ico for that matter.
How about you?
Comments
65 responses to “The Big Question: Do You Finish The Games You Buy?”
I tried REALLY hard to finish them. And I was doing quite well until this year…
Same here but damn its hard with all these new big open world games. I may have to give up on mad max though, Im a 100 percent completionist at heart but the sheer tedium of the tasks is driving me mental.
Usually I finish them before starting another game.
Same. I set myself a rule that I can’t start a new game until I finish the one I’m playing. Been following that rule for years now and I’ve finished every game I’ve started.
same here. makes the game you purchase so much more value for money. and an indirect bonus is it makes you not purchase games when they first come out, allowing the discounts to set in before getting your hands on them.
I have the same rule provided it is a story-based game. If it is something like Rocket League, Spelunky, The Swindle etc then I see playing it for a few hours to be good enough. As long as I give it a fair go I’ll give myself a pass.
I tend to allow myself to play a multiplayer game on the side while I’m playing a single player game. For example, multiplayer Starcraft II or Smash Bros I will continue to play while working on a single player game like Bloodborne or Arkham Knight.
The whole reason I’m an Infamous fan and not an Assassins Creed fan is because I got both games in a PS3 bundle, started playing both at the same time and ended up continuing on with Infamous. Since I was a decent way into Assassins Creed, I struggled to pick it up again and ended up leaving it. I now try and play one game at a time, or at least mix in a game like Rocket League or Driveclub where you can pick up and play any time.
Of the PS4 games I own
The Last of Us – Finished
GTA 5 – Finished on PS3?
Far Cry 4 – Nope
Dragon Age – Nope
Dying Light – Nope
Witcher 3 – Nope
The Order – Finished
Metal Gear Solid – Nope
Destiny –
Evolve –
Damn it.
You sat through the entire 4 hours of misery, buys regret and self loathing that was The oder? Sir I tip my hat.
I did. Haha.
The first half was a slog but it picked up towards the end.
Tip fedora?
Half and half. There are some that are hugely immersive, or really short that I can easily finish. This is opposed with those that are massive games, or just boring, which I am yet to complete.
Out of all the games I own I’ve probably finished 30% and begs the question can you even finish destiny
Lately Ive been more committed to finishing games. At least the main story part.
Until Dawn is one, but then thats pretty easy to finish.
I finished the main story of MGS V. i doubt i’ll finish all the side ops and extreme missions though.
Dying Light and Witcher 3 just tired me out, so I gave up on them…
Yeh i am loving MGS 5. But I am hearing there are 50 (!!!!) missions! I have just finished mission 20 were you meet the MoF (spoilery) again. Is it actually 50 story missions or are there lots of bonus ones? I feel like if thinga arent beginning to wrap up by mission 25 i wont get through the game.
there are actually 50 main missions, but only around 35-40 of them are actual story missions, the rest are like extreme versions of earlier missions.
I’m going to finish the Witcher 3 even if it kills me (ok maybe not that literal).. I bought MGS:V, haven’t even played it once. Then Uncharted Collection comes out and it’s like….gaaaah! will pick them up in a month or so..
I’m just having this discussion this morning amongst my email circle.
Div:OS, Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2 and Glitch Age: Inquisition still all remain in my shame pile. I really need to dedicate some time to complete them before Fallout 4 arrives and I get lost in that.
I deliberately haven’t picked up Witcher 3 and MGS V so my shame pile doesn’t grow.
Pretty much all of them, yes.
But that’s why I’ve currently sworn off those big, open world type games that take dozens / hundreds of hours to finish. After Witcher 3, I was just completely drained. For the time being, I’m going for shorter types of games – I bought Until Dawn, and I’ll get the Uncharted collection, and there’s Broken Age on PS+ this month so might take a look at that, too.
If I had more time to play, I would be more inclined to finish each game. However, given the limited time for gaming that I have, I like to have variety, which generally means I can’t dedicate the time needed to finish a game. I usually finish a game about a year after release and by that stage the ending or twists have been spoiled by others…so it makes finishing the game less satisfying.
TL;DR – Yes. I try to finish my games. 🙂
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I can’t remember who the Kotaku author was that started listing the games they ‘finished’ each year, but it made me start tracking my games based on what I considered to be ‘finished.’ For reference, I always use the main story as the benchmark, and then go back and dabble in side missions if the mood still grabs me. It’s an example of how I’ve gotten through GTAV three times.
Here’s my list so far. It’s been a year of the short-and-sharp titles (and standalone DLC). Titles like Destiny don’t get a mention, though I’ve safely finished TTK storyline.
Games like Batman are also difficult to define as ‘finished’. I’ve done the ‘basic’ ending and triggered the Knightfall ending on both platforms, but only recorded the Xbox one because I’m still (badly) attempting the full ending with Riddler trophies.
Infamous: First Light [Standalone DLC], PS4, 10 January
Grand Theft Auto V, PS4, 12 February
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, PS4, 27 February
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, PS4, 18 March
Grim Fandango, PSV, 19 March
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, PS4, 29 March
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, PC (Steam), 12 May
South Park: The Stick of Truth, PC (Steam), 18 May
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, PS4, 30 May
Bird Assassin, PC (Steam), 9 June
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Xbox One, 12 June
FarCry 4, Xbox One, 14 June
Killzone: Mercenary, PSV, 17 June
Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast and Furious, Xbox One, 22 June
The Wolf Among Us, PSV, 30 June
Batman: Arkham Knight, Xbox One, 5 July
Deer God, Xbox One, 7 September
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Xbox One, 10 September
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, PS4, 19 September
Journey (PS4), PS4, 19 September
Halo: Collector’s Edition [MCC], Xbox One, 24 September
Hey! I also like keeping lists. I finish games, story at least, don’t often do any of the multiplayer stuff.
2015’s completed titles so far (in order) for me are:
Brutal Legend [Steam]
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon [360]
Batman: Arkham City [Steam]
Sniper Elite 3 [XB1]
Borderlands 2 [360]
Batman: Arkham Origins [Steam]
Forza Horizon: Fast & Furious [XB1]
Sniper: Ghost Warrior [Steam]
Sleeping Dogs [XB1]
D4 [XB1]
Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army [Steam]
Defense Grid 2 [Steam]
Dungeon Defenders Eternity [Steam]
Lego Hobbit [360]
Witcher 2 [Steam]
Witcher 2 [360]
Borderlands 2 [XB1]
Braveland [Android]
Lego Movie [360]
Kingdom Rush [Android]
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 [360]
Lego Marvel Super Heroes [XB1]
Grand Theft Auto V [XB1]
Hitman Go [Android]
That’s a good list. Have you been knocking over some of the precursor titles before this year’s AAAs (Witcher 2, Batman: Ark Origins)?
Yep, currently going through Peace Walker [360]………. ready for 2016 with Witcher 3, Phantom Pain, Arkham Knight, Lego Avengers and Far Cry Ice Age…..
The key for me is – if I like it.
If not then no… I used to finish everything, then had a child and just don’t have the time to waste anymore.
And I guess what constitutes finished? Main Story/Campaign? 100% completion?
For me it is the main story?
With you on this. Why would I finish a game I wasn’t enjoying?
So I can’t pick “yes” or “no”, as I have finished some games and haven’t finished others. A blanket “yes” or “no” doesn’t apply.
Depends how you classify ‘finished’.
I played through the Alduin story arc in Skyrim, does that mean I’ve finished it?
More generally, I am a sucker for stories. I will play through most video games eventually, even if it’s on easy mode, just to see how it plays out. Once I’ve played through the story (if there is one), I tend to abandon the game unless it’s something really special (eg. Freelancer, HL and HL2, Diablo – I have played through these games many, many times).
I guess it depends on the type of game. For the corridor-style shooters (your CODs, stuff like that) I will play through the story and then leave it, unless the multiplayer is particularly good. Strategy games I generally play through the story once, but I come back to these more for skirmishes. Open world games I don’t think I’ve ever 100% completed a single one – GTA3-5, Skyrim, Shadow of Mordor, Arkham City, I’ve played through them all to some extent, but have never totally finished any of them.
Man id love to finish MGSV…to bad its only half a game
As I’ve said in other polls I can make more time for gaming than most, so it’s not really a big deal finishing games. Right now I’m one achievement away from 1000/1000 in MGSV. I don’t even want to think about how much time it’s taken (even if I don’t count the time spent AFK mineral processing/developing). I can only think of a few games I haven’t finished once I’ve got the ball rolling. Usually it’s because it’s a huge game that I wasn’t particularly interested in to begin with and something really good has come out mid-playthrough.
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erm, No
I will always finish it if its reasonably entertaining to do so. I don’t bother with all the Ubisoft-ness nowadays where there are a billion collectables required to get 100%
Just did 100% for MGSV recently and it all happened as part of normal gameplay (except for a few animals I missed).
I chose Yes, but the really answer is Mostly.
I used to but then I sort of lost the discipline as I grew up, although a lot of the time I don’t finish a game because it’s a game I bought due to the hype and then realised that the game just isn’t that great/isn’t interesting to me. MGS V is proving to be a bit of a quandry though. I have Zero (hah!) interest in farming staff and mats for upgrades and spending 5-10 minutes traveling to a destination without event so I get bored with the game a lot and don’t care about finishing it. When I’m actually able to stealth around though and have access to the toys that make it fun, it’s the best game in the world and I want to finish it.
I generally finish them, but if they bore me then I kick them to the curb.
Life’s too short to grind out on games you don’t enjoy.
I’m definitely ambivalent about Phantom Pain at this point. I like it, but i’m just doing the same old stuff now, somehow i’m only 30% complete after almost 50hrs! I’ve barely unlocked anything in the tree, and I’m constantly in the red when I develop stuff.
I like it, but it’s really turning into a time sink and I’ve never been a fan of that kind of gaming.
I own a few hundred games on steam and another 60+ on XB360 and between both platforms iv probably finished 6-7.
I get stuck on impulse buys between seasonal sales, free games, gifts and vouchers I just got so overwhelmed that I don’t know what to play and they just piled up over the years
I think I’m about 50/50. It depends if the game can be finished sub 20 hours or not. If it greatly exceeds 20 hours then I’m likely to stop at about the 50 to 100 mark. I voted no.
I tend to go in for huge games, usually RPGs and open world games, and on the whole I probably leave them unfinished more often than I actually finish them.
On the other hand, the ones that I start (but don’t finish) I generally put 20+ hours into, so it’s not as if the money is wasted. I got about halfway through Far Cry 4, for example.
On the gripping hand, there’s a whole bunch of games that I’ve bought but either never played or played quite briefly…
The most annoying ones are where unless you do things just right you get a screwed up ending. Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Omega Quintet, I’m looking at you. I don’t mind there being a “true” ending, but at least make the default ending that you get if you do things ALMOST perfectly be moderately satisfying.
Spoilers for the two games…
FF XIII-2: There are a bunch of different endings, and you can get different ones by rewinding time in various ways, but the one I got basically had time/space breaking down with inevitable doom just before you.Omega Quintet finishes with (as I recall) one of your team crushed under rubble – having just had her humanity restored – with, again, the world foredoomed. From what I gather, this was because I missed out on doing a particular mission a quarter of the way through the game.
I’m definitely finding it harder and harder these days with minimal gaming time due to being so busy. That being said I FINALLY finished Bloodborne the other week yay!! Still have well over 75% left to finish on both The Witcher 3 and MGSV… I need to stop buying games when the first come out and wait until I’ve finished my current game before purchasing.
A year ago I’d have said no, absolutely not. I was finishing maybe one in five games with many mouldering in my pile of shame. Some were uninteresting and I didn’t wish to continue, others I just got sidetracked for what of time. Most I didn’t even start. I have many games that have only had the seal cracked because my wife played them.
I cured that issue by not buying every game that came out, saying I would buy them only when I have time to play them, irrespective of sales, because I’d really like to stop wasting money thanks.
Since Destiny came out my purchasing has dropped right off, because I’ve not had time for other games. I rebought Tomb Raider on Xbox One and finished it, having already finished it once on 360. So basically I only finish most of my games these days because I hardly buy any anymore.
The big test will be Fallout 4 next month. If it’s anything like 3/New Vegas, it’s going to be real tough to play that and perform any kind of regular maintenance on Destiny.
Yip, Destiny has stopped me completing any other games. I had Alien Isolation, Tomb Raider, The Last of Us, Sinper Elite 3 all sitting there unfinished. Especially hard with games that you have already completed on PS3 that you have on PS4.
Destiny is the time sink of the moment.
Depends on the game. I generally finish the ones I play at least once but there are some I just can’t through.
Though my PS4 library is 50% complete.
Arkham Knight – 100% both NG and NG+
MGS5 – 75% but I’ve finished the story and most of the optional objectives, the replay missions hold no interest to me at all.
GTA5 and FFX remaster. Both are shelved for the moment as I haven’t had the itch to play either. Though both are at least 25% or more done.
Heck no. Simply not enough time.
I’m at a point where I wont buy any games unless I know I will beat the main story at the very least. If I like it enough I will go back and do achievements, extra story stuff or trophies but I see that kind of stuff as purely supplementary.
I don’t buy many games at all nowadays though, Starting to get very critical on my purchases because we all end up falling into the trap of buying games and never completing them, or in some peoples cases, never even starting them.
The trend for me is:
On console: YES
On Steam: Hell no!
Play as long as I enjoy it. So some games never get finished. Bit of a waste paying full price for a new release and not seeing it all the way through but time is precious so would rather be spending it on something I enjoy.
Assuming they are console games do people hold on to games they haven’t finished or trade in/sell? Hold onto mine thinking I will get to them one day. I never will.
If I buy at full price and on release more than likely yes. If it is a bargain bin impulse purchase or steam sale then it sits in my collection for a while. Usually if I put more than 5 hours into a game I will see it through to conclusion.
I always try to put in the effort to finish every game I buy, providing its actually a half decent game at least anyway. For my ps4 current collection i’ve finished Farcry 4, dying light, the order, witcher 3, dragon age inquisition, bloodborne, destiny (campaign wise anyway), shadow of mordor, the crew and diablo 3. Unfinished I have MGSV (currently playing) and AC unity which I stopped playing just because it was glitchy and imo an unbelievably boring and repetitive game.
Yep. I don’t buy them (in most cases) unless I plan to play them through to completion.
This year I have completed:
Walking Dead Season 2
The Wolf Among Us
The Last Of Us Remastered (inc. Left Behind)
Never Alone
Halo 1
Witcher 3
Ground Zeroes
Still to go:
GTAV
Halo 2-4
MGS: The Phantom Pain
Arkham Knight
Telltale’s GOT
… and I will be buying:
Halo 5
Assassins Creed Syndicate
Fallout 4
Given this list includes Witcher 3 – and all the side quests – I think I’ve done quite well.
Steam sales have ensured that I don’t finish the vast majority of what I buy, because I wind up buying a lot. My backlog is just unreasonably huge at this point, but at least I’m never short of things to play.
Of the stuff I actually get around to playing I’d say I finish like, half of them perhaps.
Way I do things is I’ll try a game and if I really like it, if I can get immersed or it’s just plain ol’ fun I’ll do little but play it until it’s conclusion. But I never force myself to play something if I don’t enjoy it or stop enjoying it.
Like with Dragon Age: Inquisition.
I enjoyed playing it to start with and felt like I wanted to do EVERYTHING.
But by the time I wrapped up all the quests I could in that first area I kinda burned out and my will to play kinda petered out not long after.
I felt a little bad about not finishing it but with a backlog as vast as mine, well there’s always something else to move onto – stuff I might actually enjoy more and finish.
Hardly ever.
The mark of a truly great game is whether I persisted with it all the way to the end.
Serrels. My man. My boy. Let’s talk about actually starting the games first. then we can get to whether or not we finish them.
If by ‘finish’ you mean complete the main story/campaign then yes, if I like a game I will at least do that before moving on to a new game (if it’s poo I won’t bother – I’m looking at you ACIII).
If you mean 100% of side missions and collecting all the things – then literally never.
MGSV is starting to get me down though as I really like it but it is so damn vast. I’m not complaining but some of the missions stress me out a lot when I play it that I can’t do it for particularly long chunks. I don’t know if I’ll make it to the end!
I play for as long as a game feels interesting. I have so little time for gaming as it is that I don’t really see any point in wasting that time on something I’m not enjoying.
I wish developers would stop padding their games just to hit some arbitrary length. I always have a much higher opinion of a game if I get to the end than I do if I bail out halfway through because it bored me.
There’s also absolutely no chance I’m going to even look at a sequel if I got bored before I finished the previous game.
Mark, you should really try to finish Shadow of the Collosus and ICO. You definitely missing out big time.
I generally finish the games I start.
I don’t necessarily get around to starting all the games I buy.
This year, I’ve finished
[*]Diablo III
[*]The Last of Us
[*]Swapper
[*]Octodad: Dadliest Catch
[*]Infamous: Second Son
[*]Infamous: First Light
[*]Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
[*]Game of Thrones: Iron from Ice
[*]Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords
[*]Rogue Legacy
[*]Tales of the Borderlands 1
[*]Thomas Was Alone
[*]Transistor
[*]Uncharted: Golden Abyss
[*]Kick and Fennick
[*]The Walking Dead Season 1 (PLAT)
[*]Beyond Two Souls (PLAT)
[*]Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate
[*]The Walking Dead: 400 Days
[*]The Walking Dead Season 2
[*]Tales of the Borderlands 2
[*]Proteus
[*]Game of Thrones #3
[*]Bloodborne (PLAT)
[*]Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
[*]Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All
[*]Game of Thrones #4
[*]Murdered Soul Suspect
[*]Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
[*]Tales of the Borderlands 3
[*]The Force Unleashed
[*]Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice
[*]Anna’s Quest
[*]Wolfenstein: New Order
[*]Life is Strange: Chapters 1-3
[*]Journey
[*]Game of Thrones #5
[*]Life is Strange: Chapter 4
[*]Rocket League (PLAT)
[*]Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies
[*]Phoenix Wright: Turnabout Reclaimed
[*]Tales of the Borderlands 4
[*]Metal Gear Solid
[*]Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
[*]Mad Max
[*]Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
[*]Counterspy
And have given up on:
[+]Fez
[+]Surgeon Simulator
[+]Apotheon
[+]Lords of the Fallen
[+]Gravity Rush
[+]Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey New and Tasty
[+]Space Marine
[+]Tearaway
In general, then, I guess I finish my games!
Typically yes, but some games just get too hard or too terrible to do so.
Recently quit on Ridge Racer 7 because Namco made a way too hard, cheating, no fun allowed racing game. Not the last time I’ve quit on a racer for that reason.
Also will quit on any game that requires you to grind too much, or includes a difficult multi-part end-boss with no after cut-scene checkpoints and no way to cheat or win any better the after the 30th death or whatever. (I hate you Shinobi and Spyro: Eternal Night)
WTF is up with no cheats anymore?
If I look back at my gaming logs of recent, I’ve found that I do enjoy games up to a point and that point is about 30 hours. Currently I am 32 hours into MGSV but only up to Chapter 16 and I am really feeling the fatigue on that one – I ended up just Youtubing the remainder cut scenes.
Before that I completed Batman Arkham Knight in around 27 hours but was getting very weary toward the end and before that, I think I completed Pokemon Y in approximately 40 hours and Super Metroid in about 10 hours. Those are my big ones as of recent, as with all other games I usually end up playing an hour or two in total.
Some games I wish I’d never finished let alone started…. I’m looking at you Warhammer 40K: Fire warrior.
But if my Steam is anything to go by I’m lucky to say if I’ve finished even a 1/4 of the 200+ games i have.
I’ve realised that for me, games are all about the mechanical experience, and occasionally a gripping or intriguing narrative will be what holds me there instead.
What that means for me is that while I’ll have the occasional narrative focused game that I’ll rush through like KOTOR or BioShock Infinite, for the most part I play games for the mechanics and progression because that’s such a unique feature to games which really resonates with me.
Generally speaking I find it easier and more engrossing to get good narrative and spectacle from a book. I’ll never finish a game solely to get the end of a story unless it’s really unique because I feel other media can do that better for me; I play games until I feel I’ve gotten all I can out of the game mechanics and I’m satisfied with how much time I’ve gotten out of them.
I Always do! Although MGS 5 is going to be a struggle, putting on hold while I play Uncharted remastered!
However all those games I say I’m going to play through a second time- It never happens! exception being The Last of Us- played it three times!
I don’t remember for certain which game I last finished…. I think it was Batman: Arkham Origins a few months back. Not 100%, just the main story and majority of side missions.
Been playing Diablo 3 [Season 4] a lot recently… no way to really “finish” it per se….
I still have a crap load of unfinished games installed (Shadow of Mordor, GTA5, Talos Principle, + more), and there’s no way I’ll finish them before buying a new game, which will be Fallout 4 and SOMA.
I personally tend to procastinate on finishing a game until there’s a new one coming out in a series, OR if it gets to a point where there is no chance (or very highly unlikely at least) that there will be no further sequels. For example, I only 2 days ago finished Fallout: New Vegas. While arguably not a sequel to Fallout 3 (hence why the next one is Fallout 4 and not 5) it’s still the most recent game in the IP. With Baldur’s Gate II, I didn’t finish that until I think last year, or the year before, mostly because I hoped that there would be another game in the series (but deep down knowing there wouldn’t be).
I’ve also in the last couple of years decided that I can’t let myself buy a new game until I’m ready to play it. I owned Witcher II about two days after it was released, but had never played it through. So… when Witcher III was imminent and I’d decided that I really liked the look of it, I started playing through Witcher I (which I had already finished once) and Witcher II. I hadn’t finished by the time Witcher III came out, so I waited (and as a result managed to pick it up as a discount).
If you’d asked me the question a couple of years ago, do I generally finish games, the answer would have been a resounding NO. But I’m changing my tune now. For games like Fallout/Skyrim/Witcher where they are expansive, and multiple playthroughs are actually fun, I’ll probably play through them at least twice. Once when the game comes out, and again before playing the next game in the series.
The games I don’t finish are big RPG’s. I love them to death but I just don’t have the time to finish them anymore. Since I’ve had the kids time for gaming has just dwindled, and half the time I do get to play games running around murdering people isn’t appropriate for my 5 year old to watch. So I don’t buy RPG’S anymore, ahhh witcher 3……..
Small 8-12 hour games are ideal for me I have the time to finish them and move on to the next game.
Don’t worry about MGS V, it’s not as long as it looks. Most people will finish the story around the 50%-60% completion mark, so don’t use your completion percentage as a marker for total story progress. Take it easy and enjoy it.