Games you just can't bring yourselves to play?

[ShenGCH]

This might sound like a bit of an odd question, but are there any games out there you simply can't bring yourselves to play? Whether it's down to bad memories or experiences, a psychological block, or maybe even a particular genre you simply can't tolerate?

For example, my biggest one is Fable II. (Things are gonna get weird and/or pathetic-sounding, but please bear with me.) Back in 2008, I rented Fable II about a week or so after it was released. I wasn't particularly impressed in the twelve or so hours I played the game, but I still gave it a go anyway to see what all the hubbub was about. So, a few nights later, I had the fucking weirdest nightmare about the game, only it wasn't about monsters, demons, or the many chickens I'd kicked tearing my torso to shreds. Rather, the nightmare focused on - dun, dun, dun - the incredibly repetitive combat. Yep, the combat. I can still picture the nightmare to this day; a kind of isometric view in a hilly area with an endless supply of enemies with crossbows, with each one dropping those orb things upon death. It just went on and on and on and on and on, and it felt like I was completely stuck and helpless. It sounds pathetic, but it really freaked me out, and I remember how intense and 'direct' the whole thing felt, kind of like a fever dream. I woke up in a cold sweat, jumped out of bed, and put the game in the return envelope. Completely turned me off even touching the game ever again.

I also have a kind of trepidation and anxiety about the Resident Evil remake on the GameCube, too. It's easily one of, if not the, greatest remakes of all time, but 11/12 year-old me couldn't shake the anxiety the atmosphere they'd so brilliantly crafted. It was way too much

What about you guys?

[shredingskin]

Silent Hill 2 I just hate horror games (well I hate dying in horror games, I can play horror adventure if I know I can't die), but I've seen full walkthroughs/movies and I have to say it's the best told game around.

Planescape Torment: There's something about games that have lots of stats that actually matter, that makes me feel like I'm missing content (same happens with deus ex and bloodlines). Also there's just a ton of dialogue, but since I play it on and off (sometimes with months appart) I just don't feel it.

Also pretty much any jrpg, I might love everything about them, but there's a moment when I think "there's probably 50 hours left to finish this" and I just stop playing.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

I have the uneasiest feeling about an old black and white PC game I played as a child, and I don't know why. It was called Felix, and I suppose it was a clone of Boulder Dash.

When I rediscovered it a few years ago, instead of the warm glow of nostalgia I felt my blood run cold, as if my brain associated it with some unspeakably awful memory that has otherwise been suppressed.

I'm pretty sure that's not the case, and I just learned to hate the game after reaching a stage that was too punishing in its design, but I've never experienced the same gut reaction to another game before or since.

I hope the programmer doesn't read this while idly googling his old work some day. Not the kind of retro review he'd be hoping to find.

[Axm]

Strategy RPG's. ie. FF Tactics, Disgaea, Fire Emblem etc.
I just think they are tedious and fruitless. Take way too much god damn time and often overly convoluted.
I don't like chess much either so that's that.

I used to say I didn't care much for sports games either but the past 3-4 years or so I've been in love with the MLB The Show game's and play it pretty much every day. That's the only sports game i'll mess with though.

Can't say I like the Dynasty Warriors type games either with the hundreds of enemies just standing there while you spam the same move set over and over while trying to run somewhere far away but having those enemies constantly in the way.

Also any RPG with just way too stereo typical plots and character archetypes. If I hear a prince/princess has amnesia who needs help from a kid hero with his fat old bearded one-liner joker friend I fall asleep immediately after the first overly tutorialed battle.

[Henry Spencer]

Can't get myself to play any RTS games, sports games, tablet/phone games (cannot stand no buttons, don't know how anyone plays through such long ass games with no buttons, especially RPGs and the like) or most PC games generally unless they are adventure games or old ass PC games.

Must admit I'm not really big on Sony's first party output this gen either (Naughty Dog games, The Order, Killzone, Knack etc) since they all bore the pants off me. Same goes for Nintendo's first party output since it was really samey and boring on the Wii U (generic Mario games with no new flavour injected, no Zelda games, too many Pokemon games) outside of their collabs with other developers like Platinum Games, Namco (Super Smash Bros.) and Tecmo (Fatal Frame V/Project Zero V) and definitely Microsoft's as well which comprises of just Forza (*yawns*), Halo by 343 (*YAWN*) or Gears of War (Zzzzzz). In fact, thinking about it, all three of them are boring on the first party side of things, aside from the odd one or two cool games.

Racing games bore me nowadays too. Too much realism for me now, I much preferred the 90s and 00s arcade racers that we used to get to these boring as feck racing sims we get so many of nowadays. I drive all day long as it is, the last thing i want to do when I get home is drive again in a realistic racing game. Fuck that noise. Arcade racers were a nice escape in comparison.

Also, I'm a big fan of horror games but it seems like Western horror games are all the same - first person perspective, no weapons and you must hide from the big bad monster who will one hit kill you, made for YouTube personalities to overact and flail around like idiots begging for money on YouTube. It's cool for the first time but then everybody is making the same horror games and it gets dull quickly. I kinda find horror games nowadays so samey and pathetic for that reason. Like with racing games, I muuuuch prefer the PSX/PS2/Xbox for horror gaming.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

Did I misunderstand the topic? Is this just about types of game that don't interest us?

[Hyo Razuki]

Fifa. I can play that at a friend's place for an hour but could never see myself buying one. Sports games in general are very unattractive to me.

Also all of the Nintendo party games stuff is really something which turns me off. When I'm doing a gaming night with friends, as soon as someone says "Smash Brothers" or "Mario Kart", I'm out of the room and in my car starting the engine to drive home before they can even finish the sentence.

Also "Western Style" RPGs with real time fighting and "open worlds" mostly are a no-no to me (exceptions do exist, however), just like first person shooters (vertical or horizontal 2D shooters on the other hand, like Ikaruga or Under Defeat are one of my favorite genres).

[Hyo Razuki]

Silent Hill 2 I just hate horror games (well I hate dying in horror games, I can play horror adventure if I know I can't die), but I've seen full walkthroughs/movies and I have to say it's the best told game around.

Planescape Torment: There's something about games that have lots of stats that actually matter, that makes me feel like I'm missing content (same happens with deus ex and bloodlines). Also there's just a ton of dialogue, but since I play it on and off (sometimes with months appart) I just don't feel it.

Also pretty much any jrpg, I might love everything about them, but there's a moment when I think "there's probably 50 hours left to finish this" and I just stop playing.

It's a shame you've never played Silent Hill 2, dude. That's one of the best games of all time imho and probably the best Konami game ever.

Guess everyone has their own preferences, right?

[Thief]

Biggest one for me would be Bravely Default. I love final fantasy 5, one of my favorite games, so I thought that a similar, turn-based, job centric, rpg would be ideal for me... however every time I try to play Bravely Default I just hate it. I don't even know what about it I hate... I just can't get past the first hour or so. I eventually gave up and sold the game. On paper, Bravely Default sounds like a game I'd really love, but when I actually play it, I have the worst time. It's strange.

[OL]

I can't say there's anything I just can't bring myself to play. I'm open to just about anything.
I think maybe Yakuza 5 is the closest I can think of, but the feeling is less that I can't play it, and more that I really dislike the part I left off on, so I have to wait a while before I touch on it again. Gonna be hard to go back to it, but I'm sure I will eventually.

[shredingskin]

It's a shame you've never played Silent Hill 2, dude. That's one of the best games of all time imho and probably the best Konami game ever.

Guess everyone has their own preferences, right?

I've played it, I just can't keep it going (finish it). I think it's one of the best stories told in videogames, but when I start hearing the radio or get damaged it just gives me an uneasiness that makes me want to quit (I guess no dying in adventure games spoiled the death challenge to me).

[St. Elmo's Fire]

Nier. I did play it to completion once and did think it was a good game, but fuck me, no other game I have ever played has come anywhere even close to Nier has of creating an atmosphere of depressing, hopeless futility. Even the music was quite sad a lot of the time. I still have it and still have a 360 and know that there is still a lot of "saveplus" stuff to do, but the dark and no-good-ending nature of it kinda hit me in the plums, hard, and I am a bit afraid of taking on such an opponent a second/third/fourth time...

[ShenGCH]

Did I misunderstand the topic? Is this just about types of game that don't interest us?

Sorry if the OP wasn't clear enough; it's not games that simply don't interest you, but intentionally avoiding them for more cerebral and visceral reasons, such as anxiety caused by a particular game/genre, etc. Your initial post was completely on-track.

Some great posts so far! Very interesting reads.

[MiTT3NZ]

Pokémon Go. I try to avoid plebs as much as possible and would inevitably bump into several.

[Henry Spencer]

^Oh god yeah about Pokemon Go, or any Pokemon games in general, I cannot bring myself to play those games at all.

How about games that we might suck at as well? Does that count? I suck at Mortal Kombat so can't being myself to carry on with it and certain other fighting games as well (Guilty Gear & Blazblue I also suck at, it seems). Tried Persona 4 Arena as well and couldn't bring myself to carry on with it due to the visual novel presentation was pretty dull to me (and I like visual novels) and the fighting game part frustrated the heck out of me. That, and the game tanked my last PS3 into oblivion (and lost all of my game save files in the process for my PS2 games and certain PS3 games I was playing at the time), so yeah, can't bring myself to tempt the devil again.

Nier. I did play it to completion once and did think it was a good game, but fuck me, no other game I have ever played has come anywhere even close to Nier has of creating an atmosphere of depressing, hopeless futility. Even the music was quite sad a lot of the time. I still have it and still have a 360 and know that there is still a lot of "saveplus" stuff to do, but the dark and no-good-ending nature of it kinda hit me in the plums, hard, and I am a bit afraid of taking on such an opponent a second/third/fourth time...

Second time through is essential if you like it. It's way more depressing than the first playthrough.