Topic: Completing games - do you always?

Something interesting came up today when talking with some guys at work. He is a PC gamer and had gone wild on the recent Steam sale. He was going on about all the games he had got and played and I asked him how he managed to get through so many games. Turns out he doesn't, not really, he plays each for a few hours and then moves on. A few other people I know do this as well.

Me being me and a little OCD, I feel like I have to finish the game (talking single player content, not online MP). Maybe not collect everything or complete everything but at least finish a campaign. I only stop if I am really not enjoying the game and can't get through it which is rare. If I do swap games, I'll tend to come back to them or not really consider that I have played them.

So how about the Push Square regulars? Do you flit from game to game or do you only consider a game played when it says 'The End'?

I generally get to the credits and call it a day very rarely going back unless I absolutely love the game.

I'm also happy to stop playing a game all together if I'm not having fun anymore. But if I start doing this consecutively I tend to have a rethink about the types of game I'm buying and either go for something different or stop playing all together for a few days/a week and do something else.

I do love the first half of games a lot more than the second half though, generally.

I 100% everything.

Which means I go through a lot of crap.

But thats OCD and the perceived value of a purchase to an individual for you.

I have so many games Ive played to 50/75% ish and then something has crept up or a big game Ive been busting to play comes out and I get sidetracked. I have all the intentions in the world of coming back and completeing said game but if I check back I find that I rarely ever do go back and amazingly in many years of gaming I can admit to having 0/none/zip/zero/zilch platinum trophies lol. I must admit tho Ive never played or plan on playing a game to 100% completion. Im just too lazy and/or there is not enough time generally.

@Rudy_Manchego For most games my aims to finish them on normal difficulty, at that point I'm more or less happy to close it down.

One thing has really come to the fore this Gen and I stop playing altogether if I realise I'm not invested (Witcher 3 / Persona 5 / Uncharted 4) due to playing too many similar games relatively recently (mgs 5 / p4g / uncharted collection). This is usually the case if the similar games in question have taken me a while to play through.

More importantly to the topic, games become valueless over time. Throwing £30 in a steam sale and picking up 7 or so games, that's one hell of a time commitment to games you hadn't bought at release.

Like most people are saying, I'll generally play a game to the credits and then, more often than not, leave it there. It depends on the game, obviously. Something like WipEout or Nex Machina I can dip in and out of whenever, but a story driven game like Uncharted or Horizon I'll always aim to finish.

I really, really need to get back around to Horizon. I love it, but it's been on the shelf for a long time due to other games coming out and lots of reviews to do.

@Quintumply I left the final 20% of Horizon for about 3 months and only just recently finished it off. It's not going anywhere!

unless i don't like a game i will at least play it's story to completion

i won't necessarily 100% it though

It really depends on the game. I usually give a game at least a chapter or two to grab me and then if it does, will often play it until the I have beaten the campaign. Some games though end up being half finished because of a glitch, an issue or something that 'irks' me at that time and I often think I will return, sometimes I do, others are still waiting for me to return. It often depends on what other games I have too. I don't always feel I want to jump in to a Single Player campaign or return to a big open world game (like Fallout 4) where I can't remember what the Plot is, what stage I am at etc. Some MP games can go weeks where I think I have 'finished' and then something draws me back in - BO3's Zombie Chronicles for example drew me back in for a while.

If a game grabs me 'enough', I will often keep playing it until I have done 'everything' I want - like Uncharted games, Horizon:ZD, the Witcher 3 etc - all these stayed in my disc drive from Day 1 and played through until I had finished - I couldn't wait to jump back in and see where the story went.

A game though is finished when I determine it is - not when the trophy/achievements are completed, not necessarily when the credits roll the first time or even if I reach the credits.

Some games I have started 'multiple' times and not progressed very far each time because it bores me - An example is MGS4. I have tried to play this on numerous occasions - even after they added Trophy support but each time I have got about 2-3hrs in and lost interest.

There is no set rule for me. I don't feel I have to beat a game, collect all trophies, reach the max level in MP etc etc to consider a game 'finished'. Maybe it comes from the early days of gaming when some games where 'impossible' to finish - either because of the lives, the repetition with level(s) and increasing difficulty (just keep replaying the same levels over and over again with increased difficulty each time) etc. It could also be down to the fact that I don't see why I should play something I am not 'enjoying' when I have other games I can enjoy or want to play more. This also affects my opinion on 'free' games from IGC/GwG as well as the plethora of 'budget' titles available - especially as so many AAA games can now be purchased for the same price or less. Like I said, I have a fair few 'unfinished' games and often these are much more 'desirable' to play than these. I don't want it this to be an argument over Indies or free games but just trying to show why I don't feel I need to finish games, get games (even if free) etc and that I determine when a game is finished or worth my time.

I don't set myself rules.

I basically start a game and then if I like it I play it more than if I don't.

My basic goal is to play everything I own from start to finish. I only worry about going for trophies or 100% completion if I really love the game and it's not too long (as much as I love Persona 5, for example, I doubt I'll be replaying it for more trophies anytime soon).

With that said, I'm fully willing to drop a game I hate before I finish it. Gaming is supposed to be a hobby, not a job.

I also frequently take months-long breaks from games I'm playing, especially if they're long. Recently I took a month long hiatus from Persona 5 after 50 hours of play. Now I'm back for more!

Only long games I haven't taken a break from in recent memory are Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (103 hours in two weeks) and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (70 hours in two-and-a-half weeks). That only happens on two conditions: one: the game is available on a portable console, so I have more time to spend with it (my time with home consoles is somewhat limited), and, two, I fall in love with the game.

I usually start off a game trying to be a completionist, then get slapped with reality. Before the end of the main story I'll collect all the doodads and do all the side quests. If they're dull I give up and just finish the main story. But once the credits roll, I'm usually done and will rarely stick around to get 100%.

I consider a game finished when I beat the major storyline. I might go back and do side missions and such when there's a gaming draught. But I have so many games to finish that sometimes it's years before I get back to a game.

It seems that I wasn't in the minority in that most folks do play try and play games to their storyline/campaign conclusion (if relevant) unless the game isn't working for them. It's interesting, my colleagues who don't were amazed that I do and vice versa. There are a few games I've put on the backburner but unless the reason it has gone back on the shelf is that I am not enjoying it, I will always try and get back to it.

@themcnoisy - very good point about sales. I've really reigned myself in with sales now. If I didn't want it at launch or it has been on my watchlist, I'm never going to get round to playing it then I should really leave it. So I try and keep a list of games I want and I'll purchase if they come up cheap but other than that I won't impulse buy.

I'm a credits man myself, I like to play through to the credits to get the full experience of a game, even if I'm getting bored in the middle or near the end. For rpgs that includes doing all side quests that aren't just collectibles. A game would have to be very bad/boring to me for me to leave it unfinished. There are a couple of games that I've started but left (Assassins Creed: Black Flag, Salt and Sanctuary, MSG V) but I do plan to go back and finish them if possible when I have more time. It's definitely a case of each to their own though. The idea of playing a game for only and hour or 2 before dumping it does have its benefits even if I could never really do it

@Rudy_Manchego with regards to buying games in sales, I've reigned myself in too. Whereas before I was happy to build up a backlog, content in the thought that I'd get to it someday, life commitments have smashed that dream. Now I try to only buy a new game if I both really want it at release or weeks after release and if I've finished up a game already. I've recently finished Horizon and I'm working through Life is Strange so might finally buy The Sexy Brutale as a result. Thus I should avoid creating an escalating backlog and actually start working through it (in theory!)

Just before I start a game I have a look at a spoiler free trophy lists. If the platinum seems achievable & there are no online trophies I 'finish' the game once I get the platinum- otherwise it's after the main story line & the credits roll.

In general I'm pretty OCD & it will take a lot for me not to finish a game.
This generation, Furi is the only game I need to get back to and finish.
Last gen, it was just Skyrim & MGS4 because my PS3 died.

@Rudy_Manchego For me, every game has a 'price' and its not necessarily the price at launch. There can be many reasons why I don't necessarily think a game is worth £40+ at launch - It maybe that I only have interest in the campaign and I am not prepared to pay full price for an 8-10hr 'average' campaign but maybe would pay £10-15. Maybe the reviews are not 'bad' but not necessarily indicating a game is a 'must buy' so I will wait until the price drops to a point I think its 'worth' paying.

Therefore I may end up buying 2-3 games at a time because they all happen to be on sale and I am also prepared to go months if necessary without buying a 'new' game. This year, the last 'new' games I bought were Horizon:ZD and Mass Effect: Andromeda. However I also purchased the Witcher 3 Game of the Year edition for £25 on PS4 - primarily for the DLC as I have the game on XB1 without the DLC - effectively paying just £5 for a game I already own and £20 was the price of the Season Pass. All 3 of these though were played through to the conclusion of the campaign - most/all side quests - just didn't bother with all the gwent, horse racing and fist fighting side quests in the Witcher 3 but completed all of the ME:A side quests I found.

I am quite happy with this as I am 'saving' for the Xbox One X and the games coming out in the near future - games like Uncharted: Lost Legacy (completed all Uncharted games on PS3 and PS4 and see this as a definite Day 1), Destiny 2, Assassins Creed: Origins, Forza 7, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, Call of Duty: World War 2, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, The Evil Within 2 etc. Not all of these will be bought Day 1 - some may will wait until after Nov 7th (maybe Black Friday), some may wait until 2018 too and I may still buy some 'older' games because of the 4k updates on Xbox X - maybe TF2 for example (a game I have on PS4 but its cheap now and the campaign isn't bad) - I bought the Witcher 3 Season Pass on XB1 in a recent sale (£10) so waiting for the XBX patch to play these.

Point is, everything has a price and sometimes, Updates (inc Pro or 'X' updates, performance fixes etc), DLC - inc 'free' like TF2, Sales etc can make some games I wouldn't 'consider' buying Day 1 (especially not for both platforms), worth picking up. Big 'sales', like Black Friday for example, or busy periods like holiday season can mean I end up buying a fair few games in a very short time frame and its generally 'impossible' to finish all of these before I end up buying something else. So this helps when there is a lull or I am saving for something.

I can stop playing games for silly reasons. Alien Isolation I stopped playing because I realised I wasn't getting the mission completed Achievements - for missions 6-12 - so I stopped playing for a while - still think I will restart that and play it all through...

@Hego I am trying to do the same. I've got Bloodborne and Resi 7 that I both want to finish before I'll buy my next games which I think will be Hellblade and UC: Lost Legacy. I do still have some other games in my backlog (mainly as the result of sales) like Dishonoured, Here They Lie and Bioshock Infinite plus a couple of smaller indie games and PS Plus games. I try to balance new releases with older games as there are loads of great games I haven't got to yet.

@BAMozzy I'm largely the same with games - I don't mind buying full price for a game but it tends to have to be something that I know I really want (either great buzz and my type of game, like Horizon, or something I am invested in like UC: Lost Legacy or Wolfenstein 2). Otherwise, if I want it but don't feel the need, I'll add it to the mental list and pick it up at a time when it is either cheaper or I have the space or desire to play it. I had wanted to try Hyper LIght Drifter for example but could wait until it was slightly cheaper.

Only game I've given up on this year so far is Abzu - I'm one of those walking sim/pretty experience gamers but that just had nothing I could grab on to. I just don't care for fish that much.

I do also collect retro games a bit, some of which it will take me years to get to but I see this more as a collecting hobby. My PS4 and Switch are my current primary consoles

I generally buy games I intend to play through, but, as someone else mentioned here, it is easy to become sidetracked by something else and lose your place in a game. I'm a lot better at managing myself with this now and have the willpower to resist that latest great reviewed game and stick with what I'm playing (assuming I am enjoying it). The bonus of this is that I can later buy one of these games for a greatly reduced price and still enjoy it, albeit without the hype surrounding the game remaining on gaming sites/forums (to be fair I tend to finish games later than most people anyway so it is no great loss).

I did check how long it would take me to clear my backlog on Steam alone a year or two back and it was up to around 15 years of playing 4 hours a night iir, so it was obvious then that buying a game just because it was a bargain was possibly not as wise a move as I may once have thought.