It's okay to stop playing

You don't have to finish everything

When I was a younger man, if I started playing a game, I would finish it. After those first few hours of starting a new title, eagerly anticipating whether or not this new adventure would be worth it, I’d know if I would going to love it, or if would be a slog.

If it felt like it was going to be a slog, I’d still power through. Maybe it will all be worth it by the end, I’d tell myself. Invariably, it never was. I had the same attitude towards television series, maybe I didn’t like the first few episodes, but surely it will pick up, I’ll become invested in it by the end. Rarely did that happen.

In the past few years, I’ve finally decided that I don’t need to finish everything I start. Who am I trying to impress? The world of video games is so large now, so sprawling, that very rarely are us gamers all playing the same game at the same time. There are very few games that collectively puncture the gaming consciousness at the same time in the way they used too. People are just playing what they like to play, without the same kind of pressures that used to come with it.

A few months back, I started playing Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD. On paper, it was a great game for me. I love JRPG games, I like Atlus games, and I’ve always held an affinity for Playstation 2 games. It should have ticked all the boxes. After about six hours though, I just wasn’t enjoying it. The story felt like nothing. The gameplay loop felt uninspiring. I didn’t get hooked on the monster summoning gameplay. I know a lot of people really love this game - but it just wasn’t working for me. For whatever reason, I just was not having fun. It had become a chore rather than an enjoyable pastime.

So, I just stopped playing. I ejected the disc from the Playstation 5, and uninstalled it. It’s that easy! You can just stop doing something you don’t enjoy. Gaming is at it’s core supposed to be an enjoyable way to spend our spare time. It’s not supposed to be some mandatory education that dictates we have to play certain games and we have to play them in a certain way. We can just have fun.

I’m so glad I did that. I was still in the mood to play a JRPG, so I decided to give Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore a try instead. And I really loved it. It ticked every box for me, and I had a huge amount of fun playing it from start until finish. If I had pushed on with SMT, I would have wasted another couple of weeks doing something I didn’t enjoy.

We only have a limited amount of time on this planet - and there are already more games released than any of us could ever play in our lifetimes, even if it was our sole task. We have to be picky, we have to go after the experiences we want and embrace them. I always suggest deciding on your next game by what kind of experience you want, rather than strictly by reviews or word of mouth.

Perhaps you want to go on a fantasy adventure? Perhaps you feel like grinding up skills? Building an empire? Crafting homes in the wilderness? Surviving on an alien planet? Start with the experience you want first, and hunt down the game that best matches that feeling. That way, you are always satiated.

Long story short - nobody is tracking whether or not you finish your games. There’s not some achievement at the end of life gifted by the gods of gaming for completing Crazy Frog Racer 2. The most important thing anyone has in life is time, so use it as best you can.