General Gaming What game/games did you never finish because of difficulty?

[nublood]

For me, Sekiro. Don’t know why but I just never successfully grasped the mechanics, namely the block/counter timing. And I’ve beat every Souls game ever made. 🤷‍♂️  I also completely gave up on Rogue Legacy even though I was enjoying it. And man, I reeaaally wanted to beat that game, if it was even possible. But alas, these are a couple games that got the best of me. 

[Paperclyp]

Not sure if I gave it a fair shake, but I gave up on Darkest Dungeon. That game kicked my ass. 

 

I also got destroyed by Pillars of Eternity on normal mode. 

 

Getting good at Sekiro and making 90 percent of that game trivial because you just "get it" was one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had playing games tho. 

[crispy4000]

Most recently, 20XX.  The final boss gives you several rounds of guaranteed, unavoidable damage.  That's absolutely dismal design for an action rogue-like.

[nublood]

1 hour ago, Paperclyp said:

Not sure if I gave it a fair shake, but I gave up on Darkest Dungeon. That game kicked my ass. 

 

I also got destroyed by Pillars of Eternity on normal mode. 

 

Getting good at Sekiro and making 90 percent of that game trivial because you just "get it" was one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had playing games tho. 

I’m hoping it’ll click for me one day too, if I ever return to it. Because it’s a great game at it’s core and one of the best of the From games. But with so many new games on the horizon, it may just sit in my library unfinished for eternity. lol

[skillzdadirecta]

I'll second that about Sekiro. You'll bew surprised once it clicks with you.

[Xbob42]

Hmm... I don't think I've ever not finished a game because I found it too hard, but I did give up on the Queen Valkyrie fight on the hardest difficulty in God of War because it's fucking busted with teleporting grabs and one-shot kills and shit that just makes it unbelievably frustrating. When you see your character teleport into a grab it's just rage-inducing.

 

But I have given up on many games for being too easy. Some games don't need difficulty, but many are too easy for their own good and become boring because you no longer have to pay attention to anything. I know some people like turn-off-your-brain gameplay, but if I want to turn off my brain I just won't game to begin with, I'll go stare at the sky or something. JRPGs are especially guilty of this; you can't have me go on a long adventure with tons of battles where the battles are me just mindlessly hitting one button, that's gonna bore the hell outta me!

[X-pert74]

I gave up on the US version of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse because it was bullshit hard (couldn't get past the sunken ship stage). I recently went back to it, but with a patched Famicom version of the game instead. That ended up being a relatively playable experience, thankfully.

[DarkStar189]

Sekiro definitely.  After seeing videos of the later boss fights, I knew there was no way I was going to put the time in required.

[best3444]

Demon Souls. I gave up.

[Bloodporne]

Spelunky 

 

Most recent on in memory. I was late to the party on that one. I love the game, love playing it, but once I got to the third level or whatever it was, I just realized I don't have the motivation to do it anymore and just uninstalled it.  

[LazyPiranha]

There aren’t a ton that I truly wanted to finish and just couldn’t.  Spelunky is one, although it honestly never clicked for me and I never got the joy of the loop.  Never beat Thumper, which I enjoyed but just became tedious with difficulty.  I never beat all of the bonus stages in Super Meat Boy.  I really loved Advance Wars for GBA but I could never beat the final boss and just gave up.  I’m sure there are countless NES games I gave up on as a kid though.  

[AbsolutSurgen]

Rogue Legacy

[crispy4000]

2 hours ago, LazyPiranha said:

I’m sure there are countless NES games I gave up on as a kid though.  

 

Same.  Rygar and the Ninja Gaiden games come to mind for me.

[crispy4000]

12 hours ago, nublood said:

 I also completely gave up on Rogue Legacy too. And man, I reeaaally wanted to beat that game, if it was even possible.

 

1 hour ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Rogue Legacy

 

I'm just gonna rub this one in

 

 

No way I was going to do new game+ runs.  The persistent upgrades eventually can push you over the top for the main game though.

 

Enter the Gungeon I gave up on full stop.  I think that's a much more difficult game.  I've got no patience for it.. but still not as bad as 20XX.

[Mr.Vic20]

Lords of the Fallen. Stupid final boss! I played the whole game but never beat the final boss. Quite frustrating. 

[XxEvil AshxX]

Any Souls-like or Rogue-like. Including all the FromSoft games.

 

I always love the art direction and storytelling aspects, but I'm not a trial-and-error kinda guy, and my reaction times/reflexes just aren't what they used to be. If these games would've come out when I was in my teens, I would've been all over them, but I'm old and just don't have the energy for it. Elden Ring got the most time out of me because of the open world but I didn't even finish that.

 

Also... games that have "true endings." Fuck that noise, and fuck you Dragon Quest XI.

[nublood]

10 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

Hmm... I don't think I've ever not finished a game because I found it too hard, but I did give up on the Queen Valkyrie fight on the hardest difficulty in God of War because it's fucking busted with teleporting grabs and one-shot kills and shit that just makes it unbelievably frustrating. When you see your character teleport into a grab it's just rage-inducing.

 

But I have given up on many games for being too easy. Some games don't need difficulty, but many are too easy for their own good and become boring because you no longer have to pay attention to anything. I know some people like turn-off-your-brain gameplay, but if I want to turn off my brain I just won't game to begin with, I'll go stare at the sky or something. JRPGs are especially guilty of this; you can't have me go on a long adventure with tons of battles where the battles are me just mindlessly hitting one button, that's gonna bore the hell outta me!

 

I did that as well. I literally tried for days to beat her on hard difficulty. Then I said screw it, I've got to get on with my life... and I beat her on easy.  That was a tough pill to swallow.

[nublood]

5 hours ago, best3444 said:

Demon Souls. I gave up.

The PS5 version? Also, what part made you give up?

[crispy4000]

38 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

Also... games that have "true endings." Fuck that noise, and fuck you Dragon Quest XI.

The true ending part was great. 
 

Best non-DLC expansion packed into a game.  I love it when SquareEnix isn’t greedy.

[Biggie]

Elden Ring. The game is ass. 
Also Sekiro. The game is ass. 
In fact From Software as a whole is ass. 

[best3444]

18 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Elden Ring. The game is ass. 
Also Sekiro. The game is ass. 
In fact From Software as a whole is ass. 

 

Elden Ring was one of the best games I've ever played. 

[Biggie]

3 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

Elden Ring was one of the best games I've ever played. 

So you enjoy ass games. I’m happy for you. 
 

[GameDadGrant]

4 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Same.  Rygar and the Ninja Gaiden games come to mind for me.

Same. Never played Rygar but I definitely got my ass kicked by Ninja Gaiden. 
 

I also never finished Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES. I’m not sure if difficulty was really the factor, it was more about the fact that I kept getting lost. My little kid brain couldn’t figure it out, haha. 
 

I wonder if I should finally get around to completing it now, since I have the Cowabunga Collection.

[eventide11]

I beat Sekiro @nublood

[eventide11]

1 hour ago, Biggie said:

Elden Ring. The game is ass. 
Also Sekiro. The game is ass. 
In fact From Software as a whole is ass. 

Wow. I thought you liked good games 🤔

[TheLeon]

15 minutes ago, eventide11 said:

Wow. I thought you liked good games 🤔

He enjoys crapping on things more than any game. 

[crispy4000]

19 minutes ago, GameDadGrant said:

I also never finished Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES. I’m not sure if difficulty was really the factor, it was more about the fact that I kept getting lost. My little kid brain couldn’t figure it out, haha.

 

TMNT Game's Infamous Dam Level Couldn't Even Be Beaten By Its Co-Creator

SCREENRANT.COM

---

TMNT's dam stage was too hard for its co-creator.

 

Nah, that one is legitimately ridiculous.

[Brian]

Difficulty can be a catalyst for me quitting but it is never the main reason. Hitting a challenging spot usually is the point where I start questioning whether I am having fun, do I care about the story/characters, and if I want to finish it. If the answer is no, I’ll move on. 

[legend]

I don't skip a game just because of difficulty. There's plenty of hard game experiences I've played through. But I will if I think the difficulty is uninteresting, which is really just another way of saying the game is uninteresting  

[nublood]

4 hours ago, eventide11 said:

I beat Sekiro @nublood

[Vitalsign]

Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube was the only game I smashed a controller because of. 

[Xbob42]

8 hours ago, nublood said:

 

I did that as well. I literally tried for days to beat her on hard difficulty. Then I said screw it, I've got to get on with my life... and I beat her on easy.  That was a tough pill to swallow.

Joseph Anderson's breakdown on why the fight is so bad at max difficulty with all that proof of the jank was cathartic as hell though!

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Too many retro games to count because I lack the patience to learn patterns by repeating levels over and over. 
 

more recent? Not sure. I never really gave any of the Souls type games any serious effort because I knew the difficult style wasn’t for me. I also recall giving up on God of War Ascension because there was some long series of fights that I just couldn’t get through, so I gave up. It’s still the only game from that series I never beat. 

[EternallDarkness]

28 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Too many retro games to count because I lack the patience to learn patterns by repeating levels over and over. 
 

more recent? Not sure. I never really gave any of the Souls type games any serious effort because I knew the difficult style wasn’t for me. I also recall giving up on God of War Ascension because there was some long series of fights that I just couldn’t get through, so I gave up. It’s still the only game from that series I never beat. 

 

 

which one was that? I'm pretty sure I've beaten all the GOW games, I just can't remember one form the other  (except for the last one) 

 

as for games I didn't beat because of difficulty...plenty, though the real question for me...how many games didn't you beat because another game came along and you got distracted...or as I call it the SQUIRREL! effect 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

7 minutes ago, EternallDarkness said:

 

 

which one was that? I'm pretty sure I've beaten all the GOW games, I just can't remember one form the other  (except for the last one) 

 

as for games I didn't beat because of difficulty...plenty, though the real question for me...how many games didn't you beat because another game came along and you got distracted...or as I call it the SQUIRREL! effect 

The last one on PS3, I think. I think it got overlooked a lot, just more of the same.