I gave up on "Tales of Monkey Island" completely. I gave up on the first game with the bells, monkeys, and bees. I just could not get it. I gave up on the second game with the timed sequence followed by go North, North, South, West, East, West, West, North, East, South, West West East ....

I totally gave up Nancy Drew games about 2 years ago. I have played most of them except the ones released in the last 2 years. I just couldn't finish them...And not only because of the timed sequences and mini-games, but because of the dialogs. In several ND games I couldn't get farther after choosing the wrong answer even after replaying the game from the scratch. Not one game caused me more frustration then ND...

In order of discussed the
1. The Experiment
2.ND where she danced and you were timed. That
s the only ND game I ever gave up on. Although there were several that I really did not want to play, but since I spent good money on it, I'd go ahead and finish them.

Game I gave up on:
Grim Fandango - I could not manage the controls and got tired of watching the lead character bump into walls.
Monkey Island 2 - too much talk and nonsensical puzzles. Did not appeal to my sense of humor.
Gilbert Goodmate - too much talk.
Voyage - I gave up when I found what seemed to be a big sound machine - I'm hopeless with tone puzzles.

Well isn't that just the perfect illustration of the hugely wide range in reactions to games. It's so subjective.

I found Riven to be, well, riveting for days, but didn't enjoy the Monkey Island games so frustrating that I couldn't bring myself to play them for more than a couple of sessions.

Only one game ever made me feel this way, and that was King's Quest 8: Mask of Eternity. The game play and story line were changed so drastically, I just had no desire to finish it. Other than that, if I have no interest in a game to begin with, I just don't buy it. I have been disappointed in games I have bought before, but it takes a lot (or certain specific elements) to make me really dislike a game. I can generally find something I enjoy about most games.

Like Becky, I have been stymied before. It took me years to finish Escape From Monkey Island, but that was because I thought I was unable to get past a certain rock throwing section. Turned out I had it completed correctly all along; I just completely missed the new area Guybrush could walk to.

@ Darleen - You are absolutely right. Just because someone dislikes a game does not make the game bad. For example, I wouldn't dream of quitting Culpa and TLJ. These are two of my favorite games of all time, and I would play them over and over again.

And sorry, katbear, but I loved Dreamfall as well. I definitely understand your reasoning, though. I do wish Ragnar had stuck with the traditional adventure game play rather than making a hybrid.

This thread goes to show that everyone has different game tastes-thank goodness there are so many to choose from. Evidently some of us quit a game if:
don't like story or conversation
don't like the puzzles
don't like the controls
don't like the game in general
puzzles or moves too difficult
I am persistant when it comes to games, careful about reading reviews and comments before buying and have only given up on a couple(out of the 100 or so that I've played)The final chase sequence in "The Emporers Tomb" and after only the first 30 min. of "Devine Divinity". I don't know why but I just didn't like that game, although it got many rave reviews.
I will download a saved game as a last resort because I've invested time in playing a game and want to see the rest of it.
I found some of the moves in Tomb Raider Anniversary so impossible that I needed about 6 saved games to finish it, but I'd rather do that than leave it unfinished.

Gobobby, I had to laugh at your reasons for giving up on "Tales of Monkey Island"....might as well tell the gamer to wander arund until their head wobbles off !
I wanted to play "Indigo Prophecy" in the worst way, that is until the scene in an office where giant insects attack you, or something. (it's been a while since I've played it) The controls didn't obey my commands - - there's no other way to describe it. Failed- - or got caught-- over and over. Having played a few action games in the past ( "Tom Clancy's 'Splinter Cell'" comes to mind.) ; I can say that dying repeatedly gets tiresome.
Another game I finished was Benoit Sokal's "Paradise"; and although "Amerzone" was interesting, "Paradise" had some blurry graphics(surprisingly), and the ending left me feeling depressed. There doesn't always have to be a happy ending, but it helps.
"Egypt 1156 BC" - - not sure if that's the right title, had a glitch towards the final puzzle that finished my playing it.
"Riddles of the Tomb:Cleopatra" was disappointing in that it wasn't that interesting. I thought it needed better dialogue.(just my opinion)

It would be interesting to hear some of the weird things everyone has had to do in an adventure game. In "Secret Files:Tunguska", Nina K.talks to the train conductor (a man) while he's in the bathroom stall. I'd wait till the guy was done before starting a conversation. There really was a reason for her to talk to him then ; it just seemed funny.
My husband has played one or two adventure games - - when forced to :), and he brought up what the characters would look like if it showed them carrying everything they actually picked up !! Imagine how you'd appear with several long planks, hammer ,nails,scissors,radio,notebook,etc. ; all presumably stuffed into your pocket.
Sorry for getting so off-topic.

Hi, Venus!

I felt exactly the same way about KQ8, but I persevered through until I finsally finished. Then I discovered "God" mode that made Connor invincible, so I replayed and loved every minute of it !

KQ8 was Sierra's attempt to combine adventure with action, but it seems as though nobody from either genre liked it.

Susan

I have been thinking about what you all posted.

I also have been searching my reasons for giving up on a game...

I have decided that it was "Boredom"

Now...I know many of you have disliked Still Life 2...I for one was very disappointed, and was disgusted with the game play...

<But> For some reason the story, and the thrill of the game made want to finish it.

For me I think "Boredom" would be a fair analogy of why I would give up on a game. Story is very important....If a game has no objective or a thrill to it... To me its not worth playing..

I duped two Nancy Drew games because there were boring chores to do like sewing a dress or cooking hamburgers

Some games disgust me because of unnecessary violence added just for effect, torture like scenes like in and others, I don't dump them though. I am used to violence because I play shooters but you are expected to see violence there and you are somehow defending "your life" and the life of the goodies against the baddies.

right now,it's secrets of atlantis,since i can't finish,or even uninstall it ! talk about being dead in the water

i think before this,it was a cameron files. the one where they had a different artist and he didn't look so "scruffy". i just didn't like him the new way,and the charm of it was gone. plus i had to use a walkthrough so much for some reason, that i just decided to give up and move on.

so i guess for me the reason to give up is - it's not any fun anymore in a BIG way

I quit on Evidence because after awhile, the creepiness was just too much. Nancy Drew, White Wolf I finally just gave up on. I would go back and try to figure out where to go, die in the snow, or have to snowball fight over and over, and by that time, it's time to make breakfast, lunch, supper and/or do laundry. I wasn't progressing in the story, just working on what seemed to be "filler". And my real cooking and cleaning isn't getting done! I don't want to do chores I already need to do in real life! There are also a few games that were real hard to use keyboard/controls and I didn't end up really playing them.

Susie, glad you enjoyed the game. It just goes to show that what is bad for one person could be great for someone else.

How do you put the game into God mode? If I ever get crazy enough to want to finish it - I still have it after all these years, believe it or not - it would be nice to know that secret.

You might try these cheats for KQ8, Venus
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/code/88800.html

Thanks, Jenny. I will bookmark this, and if I ever decide to play the game again, I'll try that code.

Hi, venus!

I didn't enjoy the game at all until I discovered "God" mode and replayed it but, since I paid big bucks for it (back then, games were between $60 and $70 each here in Canada), I wanted to finish. In "God" mode, I got immense satisfaction mowing down all of the undead creatures that tormented me the first time around. In fact, I remember saying "take that you little creeps" several times . You can still die in "God" mode by falling off buildings, but the undead creatures can't get you.

I see that Jenny gave you the website for the cheat codes so, if you didn't finish it before, now you can.

Susan

That's great, Susie. Glad you had fun with it!

I don't think I'm ever going to enjoy the game, as it's not my kind of thing, but I think I might like to finish it sometime just for the sake of completion. As in your case, the game was expensive here in the US as well, so I felt that it was quite a bit of money wasted. Also, if The Silver Lining gets released - which I hope it does - I know they are basing their "history" on all of the games, including KQ8. So it would be nice to know what they're talking about in certain situations.

Thats funny, I just dumped Mati Hari to, I am not into alot of action, what was I thinking, getting
that one...

Also

For me, the game was Black Mirror
I found the ending , VERY desturbing,

Maybe it was just to close to home,
it shocked me to, I was not prepared for it,
I quess I dumped it at the end, but you can be sure
I will not play black mirror 2.
I was sad about it to, because I liked the rest of the game, I just hated the ending,
Marcia

HeavenlyJoy -- I put a spoiler tag in your post so that those who haven't played Black Mirror yet won't find out about the ending.

I know what you mean. If something very serious has happened in real life, it seems strange to encounter it in a game, and it changes your outlook.

HeavenlyJoy, I am sorry to hear about that. I don't blame you for your reaction to the ending.

Becky, that is definitely true. I was in a very bad car accident a few years ago and broke my leg, so the beginning of Next Life was actually very difficult to watch for me. (I have the same reaction any time I see a car crash on TV.) Still loved the game overall, though, in spite of those horrible action sequences.

I got really, really bored with Necromicon from Microids. It felt like talking to someone, then talking to someone else who would direct you to talk to yet another boring old bottom burp! I could open my front door and do that!

Venus! I played KQ8 years ago and was going to quit and then somehow found out about 'cheat codes' and 'trainers'. I don't have fast enough or accurate enough reflexes for action games and can't do them unless have that extra help..and i do NOT find it takes away any enjoyment(for me)..they allow me to play a game i might otherwise not be able to enjoy!..My one regret is i have never been able to play the Tomb Raider games..their 'cheats/trainers' are too complicated for me to use...but i sure enjoyed watching my son and his friends play them! I don't know if KQ8 will play on xp..i played it on my old Win98 Pentium II..and loved it! That got me brave enough to try some other action/adventure games (if i can find the codes!): Undying, Wheel of Time,Alone in the Dark:New Nightmare?, and several others, so don't give up...check and see if there are some codes/trainers and that link you were given is a great spot to check for them!

Heavenly Joy,
Just wanted to pop my head in and say how sorry I am to hear about your friend. My heart goes out to her and I hope that somehow she finds peace in life despite her pain. {{{HUGS}}}

Also, on a much lighter note, I'll join in and say that for me, boredom and repetition are game-killers for me and here are a few that I either got bored or frustrated with enough to quit without ever finishing:

Still Life 2 (I really liked the first one but man....)

Myst V (it's so pretty and I wanted so much to like it but I was so bored that I never finished it)

Dragon Age (beautiful game, but after playing Oblivion on the dark side for the past 3 years or so, I'm spoiled and this game just was frustrating compared to that one)

Myst URU: Not my cup of tea. Not sure why but this game felt "lonesome" to me compared to other Myst games. In the original Myst you were certainly "alone" on that island and yet I never felt "alone" because there was such a presence of Atrus and his sons still there.

I'm sure there are many others that I can't think of right now (am home sick and my brain isn't working at top speed), but I just wanted to jump in and toss these into the fray.

it's so disappointing when you're eager for a game but then after loading and playing you realize that it's just not going to do it for you.

Thanks for a great topic you guys!
Cat

thanks!! ,
and becky , thank you for putting that in spoilers
I didnt even think of it!!

Marcia