Games you love, but can't play anymore

Menigal

Menigal

Extractor of Madness
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I started thinking about this a little while ago when Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines was on sale. That's a game I really like and recommend to everyone, despite my hatred of modern vampire wangst, but I've found that I just can't play it anymore. It's not the first game that's left me feeling like that (Planescape: Torment, sadly, is another one), and I've been wondering why that is.

For me I think it comes down to how text-heavy the game is, and those two games are quite strongly story-based. At some point I just know the story too well, and suddenly it feels too familiar and stops drawing me in. Other games, like say Skyrim or old arcade or NES games, that have more of an option to run around doing whatever I want, can hold my attention for far longer, especially these days when I spend all day reading, recording, and analysing. It'll be interesting to see if that changes along with my workload.

How about you? What game(s) do you really like, but find yourself unable to actually play anymore? Can you explain why? Just played too much? Does it feel too clunky or old fashioned?
 
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Oh, I have a lot of those.

For many, many reasons - but I'd say the overall reason is that I'm much less invested in gaming than I used to be.

I still love playing games - but I don't have the all-consuming passion and focus that I did when I was younger. Games that challenge me better be fantastic - and they better be something I haven't already played.

I get bored and distracted easily - and even if I love me some old classics, I quickly get turned off when I find that I have to invest to succeed or enjoy them.

This would make sense if I did other things that I enjoyed more - but that's not often the case. I find myself wondering what game I should play instead, and the cycle continues.
 
Menigal said:
How about you? What game(s) do you really like, but find yourself unable to actually play anymore? Can you explain why? Just played too much? Does it feel too clunky or old fashioned?
Click to expand...

There is one such game.
Can't say I like it very much, I did like it a bit when I played it for the first time.
Tried to replay it recently…

It's Fable.
Yes I can explain why I just can't stand it. I got too old to let a game torture me with endless respawns for no reason except to make me waste time on clicking.
Honestly, there is nothing spectacular in Fable and because of an average content plus unkillable mobs the real question would be why I liked that game in the first place.

Other than that… I don't replay games over and over to really know if some of them became unbearable. You've mentioned PST, I've replayed it many times, never got sick of it, but I don't want to replay it now as I remember too many things clearly. You've mentioned Skyrim, I assure you, I don't want to replay that game ever again. But… I didn't like it in the first place.
 
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Pretty much all games fall in that category for me. Once I play a game and know the story, I just can't play it again. I don't like doing the same things twice even if it's using different builds, party groups, or even seeking different 'endings'.
 
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I agree with Wolfing, the question should be the other way around instead. There are games that I come back to and play again, but those are more along the lines of Civilization or Total War. RPG's I want to replay only when I've forgotten most of the content, which takes quite a few years. Can't remember replaying anything the last couple of years except for when new content arrives, like Shadowrun returns:Dragonfall and FTL:Advanced edition. But then it's not excactly replaying is it?

Some games I play for the story, and when the story is told I'm finished with the game. I do find myself going back to old titles from time to time, but like I said that's when I've forgotten enough of it for it to be interesting again.
 
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I replay games all the time, so I've probably replayed every game in my top 10 list well over 10 times by now. Some far more than that (Gothic, BG). However, there are games that I've enjoyed in the past that I just can't get into anymore. Most of it is down to technology, as there was something of a "gap" in terms of interface and controls in the mid 90s.

It's easier to explain this with examples:
RPGs:
Might & Magic 1-5: I just can't play them anymore. Too clunky.
Might & Magic 6-8: Love them. Still play them from time to time.

Adventure games:
Larry 1-3, Space Quest 1-3, Monkey Island 1-2: Fantastic games. Can't play them. Too clunky.
Larry 5-7, Space Quest 4-6, Monkey Island 3 + remakes of Larry 1 and Monkey Island 1-2: They're all perfectly fine and I still replay them from time to time.

Strategy games:
Dune 2: Can't play it.
Dune 2000, C&C95: Love them both, still play them every now and then.

Warcraft 1: Fantastic game. Can't play it. No hotkeys or unit grouping(squads) at all, so every unit had to be moved manually.
Warcraft 2 and 3: Amazing games. Still play them.

The list goes on and on. I just can't go back beyond a certain point. Even nostalgia isn't enough to make me invest the time needed to get past old, clunky controls/interfaces.
 
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If I can actually load a game on my pc that's from the 80's or 90's, I do so, then play it. Sadly, that's really limited to whatever GoG has for sale, and the M&M series, I'd love to be able to play the gold box games or EoTB series, but I don't have the computer talent to get them to run. I find that most of the old games still really appeal to me, I'll start to play something recent then find myself booting up Wizardry 30 minutes later.
 
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Great thread!

Sid Meier's Pirates! - Sandbox'y collection of mini games that kept me good for years. There was I time I felt it was like chess or poker - a game that never stops being entertaining. But after a decade, I think its magic may have finally worn off.

Civilization - having gone years with Civ II and IV, and a brief affair with Civ V, I think my empire has crumbled for the last time.

Dungeon Siege II - despite being linear and asking a bit too little of the player, I spent a surprising number of years replaying this. Random loot, decent 'join the dots' questing, puzzles and general ... 'personality' kept me coming back. Now if someone invents one of those memory wiping pens from MiB, I'd happily erase my knowledge and give this another 7 playthroughs!
 
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jRPGs, MMOs, and shooters.

Growing up I was a huge console player. I pulled out my PS2 several months ago and tried to play some of the old games and just couldn't do it. Random battles and the story maturity level just doesn't work for me anymore.
I've also noticed, games that rely heavily on generated quests (M&B/Skyrim) fail to hold my attention as well.

As for MMOs, the genre just feels stale. The basic formula is the same and it's just gotten old to me. I had high hopes for GW 2, but all it really did was a bunch of quality of life improvements (which are great, just not enough for me). I'm hoping the dynamic mechanics for EQ:N will revitalize my interest, though I expect my hopes will exceed what's delivered.

I played tons of Goldeneye 007 & Perfect Dark during and after high school, but I absolutely can't stand the genre as a whole these days. Lost interest in Battlefield when they did Vietnam, never liked Halo or CoD, and Gears of War went downhill after 1 for me (same with Bioshock).
 
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That's funny ... when I first saw this I thought it was about games you couldn't get to run any more - and my first two thoughts were 'Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire' and 'Wizards & Warriors'. :)

I find that some games can be 'superseded' - certainly anything sports related. Most multiplayer shooters - Call of Duty, esp - are only good until the next one. Other than that .... not too bad. Still love many of the games I've been playing within the last 15 or so years.
 
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DArtagnan said:
I get bored and distracted easily - and even if I love me some old classics, I quickly get turned off when I find that I have to invest to succeed or enjoy them.

This would make sense if I did other things that I enjoyed more - but that's not often the case. I find myself wondering what game I should play instead, and the cycle continues.
Click to expand...

I know that feeling. Most of the time I want to fire up a game and just have fun, but having to fight the clunky UIs Maylander was talking about or slogging through dull stretches can turn me off pretty quickly. Of course, modern games can do that almost as easily.

With old games, I think I expect them to be just the parts I remember fondly, and not all the other bits I've forgotten or used to be able to ignore more easily.
 
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Menigal said:
I know that feeling. Most of the time I want to fire up a game and just have fun, but having to fight the clunky UIs Maylander was talking about or slogging through dull stretches can turn me off pretty quickly. Of course, modern games can do that almost as easily.

With old games, I think I expect them to be just the parts I remember fondly, and not all the other bits I've forgotten or used to be able to ignore more easily.
Click to expand...

Yeah, exactly.

You forget that you used to have both the time and the inclination to invest and adapt to whatever quirks and challenges any new and cool game would provide.

As I recall, the frequency of new and potentially interesting games was much, much smaller than we're seeing today - certainly when it comes to RPGs.

So, when anything new arrived - you'd be willing to deal with a lot of crap just to have something to play.

These days, it's overexposure and we're witnessing the law of diminishing returns before our very eyes. It takes a LOT more than a few RPG mechanics and an interesting setting to keep out attention.

So, it's a combination of factors, really.

But, for my part, it's definitely much harder to get really excited and particularly to STAY excited about a game, old or new.
 
Jeff Vogel games. I just can't go back to those types of graphics.
 
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I'm with those who never (or rarely) replay games, especially story heavy ones. Good action and strategy games where different tactics and builds and difficulties become available are the rare exceptions.
 
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Heck yeah, that happens all the time. I played City of Heroes to death. The "Eden Trial" was full of fascinating landscapes and crazy huge battles… the first time. By the tenth time, not so much. I may not have played every possible character but, after thousands of hours, I had played WITH as many combinations as I cared to. The developers were still pushing out content but even that was starting to feel empty - in the end, the battles were still basically the same thing I had been doing for years.

I'm trying to replay FF7 now but that's a story heavy one that I seem to remember all too well. The battles are fun but I don't think they are going to be fun enough to carry the game when I've got the story almost memorized.

And yet… there are some movies I can watch a jillion times. Well, OK, maybe a couple of dozen times… shouldn't the games with really strong stories still be fun half a dozen times through?
 
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I think the "puzzle" element is missing the second time around. Even for story-based games, there are basic things to work out, which of course, if already done, makes the game more boring the 2nd time through. Not puzzles in teh true sense of the words, but other stuff to figure out.
 
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Zloth said:
And yet… there are some movies I can watch a jillion times. Well, OK, maybe a couple of dozen times… shouldn't the games with really strong stories still be fun half a dozen times through?
Click to expand...

Movies are a LOT easier to consume, though.
 
Betrayal at Krondor. My computer crashed on me when I first played the game when it first came out. I never got a chance to finish it but I loved developing my avatar to be competent at the guitar.

But after I accomplished that this year, (restarted in Jan 2014), the graphics were just too hard to take. And to get the most out of some of the quests you have to take notes from many of the NPCs. I'm just way to lazy to do that nowadays.

Curiously, last year I too went through M&M 7 & 8 with no problems and had a blast.
 
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Zloth said:
And yet… there are some movies I can watch a jillion times. Well, OK, maybe a couple of dozen times… shouldn't the games with really strong stories still be fun half a dozen times through?
Click to expand...

Like Dart said, movies are a much more passive form of entertainment. Since you have to engage with a game a lot more it probably makes you more aware of it. I do wonder if the nature of storytelling in games has something to do with it. In a film the story is woven more tightly into what you're watching, where in games it's usually split apart from the actual game (as in, the bit you actually play), which makes it a bit more jarring to your mind.
 
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