Welcome back to GameSpot Q&A a weekly section where we ask our staff and readers an interesting discussion question about video games. Look at this as a forum where you and others can discuss and compare your opinions of this beloved hobby of ours. Let us know what your answer is to this week’s question in the comments below!
This week’s question is:
What game do you absolutely love the idea of but just cannot play?
When you play video games, there are often moments when you encounter a game that sounds really interesting but just cannot play. Sometimes this can be for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you don’t like the mechanics of the game, or maybe it just isn’t aesthetically pleasing. Either way, what game has made you feel this? Below is what our editors had to say.
Dark Souls | Alexa Ray Corriea
I have some real problems with the original Dark Souls. It’s not that I can’t do it, it’s just that it frustrates me entirely too easily. I didn’t get far and never finished. I find its successor, Bloodborne, far more accessible than its predecessors, and I think that’s mostly because the story makes me want to learn more and therefore pushes me to get better. I feel like if I die in Bloodborne, I die because it’s my fault, and I feel like those extra Blood Vial drops really make a big difference. I’m also a run-and-gun person, so shields are a thing I just never end up wanting to use. I couldn’t really get used to the shields in Souls; the riposte system in Bloodborne was much more my playstyle. But Dark Souls would make me rage quit, and though I love it, I can’t bring myself to finish it.
Dark Souls
MOBAs | Daniel Hindes
I wouldn’t say I love them, but I fully respect any big-time MOBA like Dota 2 or League of Legends. I feel like I’ve grown out of my own competitive multiplayer phase, and even then it was with more immediate things like first-person shooters, but I can still appreciate how the intricate skill-based matches in these games can create such a long-lasting community.
EVE Online | Kevin VanOrd
EVE Online. I love the political stories that develop around the game, and I want so badly to play a role in one of those stories. But I just don’t have the time and patience to devote to a game that requires both of those things in such great quantity. Experiencing the drama of war means enduring hours of mining and uneventful travel. The reward may be great, but the drudgery is too much for me to bear.
EVE Online
Pokemon | Matt Espineli
Pokemon. Unfortunately, I never grew up with the games so I don’t have the same kind of attachment that most people have with them. Regardless, I really love the look and overall concept of the series, but I just cannot get into any of the games without being absolutely bored to tears. I don’t know what it is. Considering my love for demon collecting in the Shin Megami Tensei series, it’s not like I don’t like the monster collecting aspect of it. For me, I just think it’s probably the bare bones story that makes it hard for me to stay.
Hagane: The Final Conflict | Peter Brown
I adore Hudson Soft’s Hagane on the Super Nintendo for its complexity, but the range of actions at your disposal is a double-edged sword that also makes the game incredibly difficult to master. Unfortunately, the level design and enemies aren’t designed for casual play. In addition to standard maneuvers, you can combine buttons to tumble across the screen in numerous ways, as well as to make use of multiple weapons. However, remembering what every button combination does and how the resulting action may serve you is far easier said than done. I’ve never made it past the second level.
Hagane: The Final Conflict
Minecraft | Chris Watters
I think Minecraft is fantastic. The creativity it engenders is wonderful, and the diverse range of people who play it are a shining example of the massive appeal of video games. The game itself, the things people create in it, and the content people create about the game all make me happy. But between my own lack of enthusiasm for crafting and building in games and the visual aesthetic that doesn’t exactly scream, “Come explore me!”, I’ve just never been able to get into Minecraft.
P.T. | Rob Crossley
P.T. is awfully frightening to the extent that, in some ways, it’s outright unentertaining. I’m drawn to it and fascinated by it, but it’s so stressful that I just can’t bring myself to play it anymore. I made a huge mistake trying it the first time, alone in my home, in the middle of the night. It genuinely messed with my imagination for weeks; I actually put a knife next to my bed for a few days (incredibly lame, yes, but true nevertheless).
P.T.
Eve Online | Danny O’Dwyer
Is everyone on here going to answer EVE Online too? Yea, EVE Online. I mean, it’s a game that produces the most incredible stories of corruption, deceit and ruthless capitalism. Amazing stories I love reading about months after they’ve happened. It’s a one-of-a-kind game, the first true MMO universe that is malleable in ways that most online worlds could only dream of. But as much as I love it I have absolutely no desire to spend 50 plus hours a week to mine asteroids.
King of Fighters | Zorine Te
King of Fighters. The art-style is gorgeous and the lore is interesting but the execution required to play that game at a higher level is insane. Those frames, those frames. I can only watch the pros do it with a look of intense longing and wipe the drool off my keyboard.
King of Fighters XIII
Final Fantasy XIV | Justin Haywald
I love Final Fantasy XIV. Well, I love the idea of Final Fantasy XIV. It has Chocobos, and multiple character classes, and plenty of callbacks to my other favorite Final Fantasy games. But it’s also a game that demands a significant time investment, and time is a resource I seem to have less and less of as I get older. The world of Hydaelyn is, sadly, one I’ll have to admire from afar. At least until I quit working and just start playing games full time.
LittleBigPlanet | Eddie Makuch
The LittleBigPlanet games have such lovely visuals, imaginative gameplay, and silly humor. I enjoy all these elements on paper, but I’ve never quite connected with them in LittleBigPlanet. I can’t put my finger on why that is exactly. Maybe Media Molecule’s new PlayStation 4 game will have something I’m more interested in.