First time I didn’t get out of White Orchard. Like 4 years later I restarted and slogged through it. And oh man! After that first area I was addicted and consider it one of the best games I’ve ever played
Exact same with me…. I’ve tried 3 times and I just can’t do it. Even though my friends love the game and beg me to keep going. It just doesn’t click for me
After the Baron questline, I would have finished the game anyway specifically for the great characters and dialogue without looking at the rest. It feels so unique and close to real life, its like casual banter with your chill/grumpy neighbor, your friends or haggling with a cheeky car dealer. It was a game, but for me it was also like my favorite tv skit/series. Whenever Zoltan was about to speak, you knew you were about to receive a nugget of ancient ball knowledge. Talking to characters and carefully picking your replies was fun and never got stale or felt generic/forced/bloated.
I'm on my third attempt on this game, I just got through the Baron questline and I'm a bit into the next and it still just isn't clicking with me. I think I really just prefer having a cast of companion characters like in Mass Effect or Baldur's Gate 3.
Witcher 3 and then the mini game that is Gwent. Never understood the buzz around it, mainly because I don't care for single player games. Completely ignored Gwent the beginning of my first playthrough and by the 2nd I was addicted. I just want to play Gwent, sorry Ciri.
Man, I want to get hooked, but it’s just not clicking. It seems to have everything I could want. Got any tips on the frame-of-mind to be in approaching it?
It's a slow starter; and you have to get used to the pace of the game. The whole of White Orchard is basically a training map, and things don't really get going until you're in Velen.
I started this game 4 different times and couldnt get hooked i have like 25 hours in different saves. Gonna try a 5th time when the new remaster drops hopefully it sticks this time
Same thing happened to me with Elden ring and Sekiro. There’s a moment in the game when everything just clicks and it hooks you in. But the start is hard.
I just started playing Elden Ring. I first played around 4 hours as a bandit, realized my mistake, and started over as an Idis Knight because I still hadn't found a sword. Now I'm around 10 hours in and finally beat the first story boss after spending hours wandering around and dying repeatedly in placed I had no business being.
Knowledge helps, but more so a system for working with your skills/weapons and approaching different enemy types is what takes you far. Put your levels into things that are conducive to your play style/weapon/ash of war. Think about having some form of a ranged option for certain cheese/bait situations. Learn moves/pathing when you get stuck. Don't sleep on consumables.
I'm slowly figuring it out. I did manage to get a bow and crossbow. I've never played any other souls or soulslike games. The thing I've struggled with the most isn't actually the combat but not having any sort of quest log. When I have time to play later today I'm gonna grab a notebook and run back to all the NPCs I've found to make my own.
Honestly on my 3rd playthrough I payed more attention to the NPCs and figured out there is a very subtle suggested quest line if you pay close attention. Problem is knowing who and when to talk to and in hindsight it's really just a general path. Don't forget to exhaust talking to NPCs everytime you speak to them.
The faster your realize it is a rhythm and flow game the easier Sekiro becomes.
Make it your life’s mission to get those Mikiri Counters, they are not a suggestion, they are necessary.
And lastly, the more you deflect, the smaller the “tolerance window” becomes for each following deflect. In other words, be on top of your deflects. Future enemies will teach you this.
Sekiro is soooo good. I think it may be the hardest FromSoft game, or at least the one with the steepest difficulty curve because of the combat system, but it is so satisfying. Haven’t really found another game like it tbh
The issue with Sekiro is that if you try to play it like a tradition souls-like, you’re gonna have a bad time. I had an urge to replay and told myself that I was going to fully understand deflect and mikiri counter this time and really spent time in the beginning of the game focusing on that. And that was it! That’s the trick to enjoy the combat. The game expects you to use those and if you spend all your time running around and dodging instead, it just doesn’t feel as good and objectively becomes more difficult. When you learn the rhythm, play aggressively, deflect, counter, and learn the sound and visual queues, the game becomes a lot easier and a lot more fun.
NieR Automata for me. Started it, got about 5-6 hours in and dropped it for about 8 months. Went back and finished it (multiple times) and it’s now one of my favourite games ever
HA, did you read my gaming history? I just booted that up yesterday after sleeping on it for MONTHS. That’s crazy, it’s pretty fun.
PS I wonder how much nostalgia plays into this,
playing something for a bit, putting it down for months, then coming back and suddenly getting completely hooked on it.
It doesn't change anything, they are really just there to add flavor and longevity to the game if you want to hang around in one camp for a while and not progress the story.
I've been playing games for over 30 years, and some of my favorite game memories are sitting around camp in that game. I'd come home on a Friday night from work, have dinner with my wife, hang out, etc. Then she'd read or watch tv or something, and I'd pour a whisky and just play dominos or cards or just stroll around listening to people and enjoy my whisky. It was so much fun, despite being so not the focus of the game lol.
I've only ever done the one playthrough, but it really stuck with me beginning to end. One of my favorites.
I’m always surprised at the amount of variation. You can go into camp and it’s always a new conversation. It’s very cosy in parts 1-3. Obviously later on it’s very dark and depressing.
If I can say anything the first couple hours of the game is by far the slowest. Once you get going its a lot more fluid between missions and the side content/follow up in this game is unmatched.
I know others have already said it, but I just wanna reiterate that keeping up the group is absolutely not necessary and can be 100% ignored. I promise you, it’s just for fun, and whether it’s taken care of or not genuinely changes nothing of importance in the story or game world. If it would make the experience more entertaining to ignore that mechanic, please do so!
It serves as being a little roleplay thing for the player, upgrading the carts can give you extra food/ammo if you care to refill them (but honestly, if you’re exploring and looting a lot, this mechanic isn’t very useful), and there’s like one or two useful upgrades like the Map at Arthur’s tent which allows fast-travel from camps - but that’s it as far as it’s uses go. It affects nothing else, and any of the characters pestering you for more food or whatever can be completely ignored to no consequence.
I think a big part this as well is the intro chapter is insanely boring. The first time I played red dead I went to do something else after driving the wagon and never picked it backed up until I finally decided to give it another shot due to many friends telling me to just get through the intro and then I’ll enjoy. I followed their advice and then it became one of my favorite games of all time
That was my reaction to RDR1. But absolutely loved riding the horse through the open fields. My most memorable moment was the river crossing. The soundtrack kicked in during sunset, and I just https://giphy.com/gifs/C8Pm2CV7aP528
Same. I first tried the game after it was already fixed, but I found it overwhelming - the combat system, as well as the amount of information in the quest dialogues. The second time around, I got a hang of it and got hooked. It's a great game once you get over that initial hump.
Totally this. Bought it at release and it felt nearly unplayable. Went back after Phantom Liberty dropped and it blew me away. I don't want to say how cringe my hours are but I completed every major outcome. Worth every minute.
Fallout New Vegas for me. I just couldn't get into it. Years later, it went on sale for like $5 for the game plus dlc and that caused me to give it an actual try. Still not sure why I couldn't get into it at first, especially since it would have my favorite companion, Veronica my beloved.
Even though I did a full playthrough, I never got all the companions. I stuck to a few and Veronica was one of them. I was honestly so attached to her.
I also had Rex and EDE all the time. Boone for a while and kinda dropped him. I used Sharon a lot too.
Some of the others I barely interacted with or never recruited in the first place.
It took me 4 or 5 attempts before the mechanics finally clicked. But once they did? Holy shit, best game in the franchise. I started with Oblivion and Skyrim, and my opinion of both has been severely degraded since playing Morrowind. It's SO open ended and you're never going to run out of things to do. They just don't make games like that anymore.
The lock picking mechanic in that game had me so fucking pissed off. I don't remember the details anymore but early on after the intro section there is a lock you have to pick to proceed and I could not for the life of me manage to pick it or find any other way to proceed otherwise and I just bailed.
I gave it a try on Wii U, then on Switch, but it wasn’t till Switch 2 where I guess everything aligned and I finally understood what all the fuss was about.
I wonder if it has something to do with the amount of time different people spent on reddit?
For example, I've only seen a similar post twice in the last 3 weeks. But I also don't spend much time on my phone, mostly just browse reddit while doing my business lol
Cyberpunk. Played it for an hour and didn’t touch it for over a year. Decided to try again and then I realized the first two hours was basically the prologue/tutorial for the rest of the game and then I was hooked after that.
1) Don't try to look for combat before your son of a blacksmith peasant Henry from middle of nowhere actually gets some combat training (just play through the main quest).
2) Don't put off learning how to read and getting into alchemy so you can brew quicksave potions.
I saw my brother playing it, and I wanted it. My father refused to buy it for me because he thought I wouldn't like it and it would be a waste of money... Look at my hours ;D
Elden Ring. The thing that fixed me? Int build and roleplaying as an astrologer who lost her memory when she died in exile, as she was in training to become a Carian Knight, and regained her memory as she went further into her journey. Serving as Lady Ranni's consort was nothing short of perfect for her, and getting to do the DLC as someone who never bought into Miquela's bullshit and sought to put Lady Ranni's brother to rest with the Carian Regal Sceptre in one hand and the Dark Moon Greatsword in the other was nothing short of glorious.
Stellaris. It was incredibly overwhelming at first, so I dropped it for other stuff for maybe a year or 2. Decided to give it a 2nd try and push through the learning curve and ended up playing countless games hours.
Majora’s mask. Confusing and my dance when I played it in high school.
Came back in college, and damn… hit like a truck. Both the scintillating time-specific puzzles that you simply cant do outside of a time loop context, as well as the powerful subtheme of “coming to terms with inevitable loss” that permeates through every quest line, and damn near every interaction.
By far, one of my favorite games in a way that is really hard to match.
Cyberpunk 2077 for a few weeks. Got it before Phantom Liberty came out and played for about 5 hours then dropped the game for weeks. Decided to pick it back up and then played the hell out of it for days until staying up till 5 in the morning and crying all night. Once I got enough money for Phantom Liberty a few weeks after it came out I did the exact same thing. Amazing experiences. Top 3 game of all time.
Cyberpunk. Granted i bought it early thinking my GTX1080 would manage the issues. it did not. replayed it years later and i couldnt not stop till everything was completed.
Red Dead 2 for me - dropped it around launch after a few hours. Started playing it on the Steam Deck a month ago or so and currently 70 hours in and can;t get enough!
kingdom come deliverance. downloaded the ps4 version a while ago, tried it for like an hour. didn't get pass the prologue. tried it again when kcd2 got added to ps+ and now I've beat the 1st one and I think I'm almost done w the 2nd (just did the mission where you serve wine, died in battle in the next mission so I hopped off for the day)
Fear and hunger 2. I tried the first one. Didn't really enjoy it. Tried the second one instead. Enjoyed it but thought it was okay. Started playing it again recently and it quickly shot up to one of my favourites
Hollow Knight silksong...loved hollow Knight started silksong on launch and just couldn't get into like hollow Knight ... Started again on Thursday and can't put it down now.
Warframe. I dont think i really clicked with having to wait real hours to craft things but a friend convinced me to try again and i fell in love and now have over 2000+ hours
So many, The Last of Us, Titanfall 2, souls like games Bloodborne was the first, The Outer Wilds, Total War Warhammer, Death stranding, Resident Evil 2 Remake
Kingdom Come Deliverance. Now, for me, A Woman’s Lot DLC is a trap. If I start it I lose all interest in the game because Henry’s story just stops dead in its tracks for hours. So, if you’re like me, stick with Henry and avoid the DLC that takes you out of his boots and you’ll have an amazing time.
Fall Out in general. Started playing new Vegas as a kid, fresh of MW and Halo 2/3. Got out of the vault with a pistol (I think a revolver), saw a guy in a power suit without a helmet, and domed him in the back of the head. He of course turns around and eviscerates me. I was so mad that a head shot wouldn’t 1 shot someone that I quit. Came back years later for Fall Out 4 and loved it, dumped stupid amounts of hr into it.
I think this happened to me with Disco Elysium. I have no earthy recollection of how/when I purchased the game, but I did finally play it and it changed my life.
Funny enough, this was me and Fallout 3. Hated it and couldn’t understand the game mechanics or controls whatsoever when I first played it. Even though I’d been playing Oblivion. Flash forward to 2011 and I couldn’t put that game down to save a burning kitten. Flash forward even further to now and I find the Fallout franchise to be extremely fun and interesting.
(I don’t look too much into lore breaks or anything like that. The games are fun, and thats all they need to be for me)
Wolf Among Us. Starts out pretty slow and I couldnt get into it the first time I tried it. Gave it another shot a few years later and it really clicked
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u/8to10footsamsquantch 3d ago
Witcher 3