Not Finishing a Game is Okay.
Michael Scott
In recent times a particularly strange affliction has been sweeping the internet and many of the younger people using it. If you’ve noticed that your feed has been suddenly populated with people who are “autistic” or suffer from “ADHD” or “OCD” you’re not alone. It’s so virulent that there are even memes about it.
To Infinity and Beyond!
But the fact of the matter is that a requested diagnosis and self-diagnosis of such mental illnesses has resulted in shortages of drugs that people actually suffering from these disabilities need to function normally on a daily basis.
This obsession with finding fault and self-diagnosing oneself with debilitating, but invisible conditions is the most significant effect of the so-called “Oppression Olympics”. I believe it was a certain “certified freak” who popularized the term and went on to explain that western society’s interest in supporting those who are (or believe themselves to be) marginalized has resulted in an ever tightening curve as people race to see who’s opinion is most valuable based entirely on how difficult they perceive their own life to be. How many boxes you check. A masturbatory form of social sacrifice.
This is all to say that i full appreciate the magnitude of stupidity when I say I might have a tinge of OCD when it comes to video games. Or I did.
For a long time I felt pretty uncomfortable not finishing a video game. I felt like every game I bought needed to be a justified purchase and on the few ocasions that I made a bad purchase (and couldn’t return the game) I would hide it or delete it from my console, incapable of staring down my failure. When games were sold on discs ONLY this wasn’t a problem for me. Sure I might lose a few bucks at GameStop when I traded it in, but I would generally know if I hated a game and wasn’t going to finish it within a week of play, but alas we no longer live in that world. The vast majority of video games in 2023 are digital downloads only, with just major releases getting disc prints. And many of those discs aren’t even games, they’re just digital licenses in a physical form.
What is this a game for ants?
What I’m getting to is that I no longer force myself to slog through boring games or games I’ve lost interest in simply because I feel like I’ve been ripped off if I don’t. Me spending 6 hours playing a game I stopped having fun with 4 hours ago isn’t going to get me my money back, and it’s certainly not going to make the game better. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a single game I’ve disliked, and then forced myself to play which has resulted in my liking the game.
Because I know what I like, I am a red-blooded man after all, I rarely make these mistakes. But on occasion I’ll be tempted by an interesting artstyle or a gimmick and get sucked into the hype before my brain is able to deploy my common-sense counter-measures. Notable examples includle the pixel-art speed running game Dustforce, a game which is just a much less fun version of Super Meat Boy. BRINK, an ahead of its time team-based hero shooter. And Final Fantasy 7 on the Nintendo Switch. I know I hate JRPGs but considering how popular this one was I thought I’d give it a try.
Turns out it was just as unbearably sluggish and boring as every other JRPG that’s ever been made. Only this one has aged terribly with inscrutable PS1 graphics that require watching walkthroughs to see not HOW you’re supposed to get somewhere, but WHERE the actual door to exit a room is. But I digress.
I’m basically just talking about buyer’s remorse and how I’ve overcome it in the realm of video games. But more than that, I’ve been working to overcome that sense of shame and annoyance I have with being unwilling or unable to finish a game. It’s usually not a failing of my own, it’s a failing of the game’s to keep my interest.
Please, monk-chan! Don’t break my butt.
Sekiro I’ve stopped playing because my ass needed a break from getting spanked over and over by the Corrupted Monk boss, but that doesn’t mean I stopped having fun. I just need to let the wounds heal before I return.
But games like Snake Pass and Blasphemous were different. I just kinda got bored. And that’s okay. There’s only so much wrapping myself around ancient ruins or running in circles looking for the next boss that i can stand before I feel my eyeballs drying out and need to go outside and scream.
I guess the lesson to take away from this is two-fold. Firstly, it’s okay to drop a game. Even if you can’t get a refund, you shouldn’t force yourself to play a game you’re not having fun with you. Your (and especially my) time is too valuable to waste doing something you’re bored with when there are hundreds of better games to play.
The second takeaway is that I need to stop getting suckered in by detailed animation and pixel art and start making my decisions based on what the game actually plays like. We need refunds on digital games in the US, however. It’s ridiculous that we don’t.
Hope you’re enjoying 2023!