You Don't Need To Finish Games

I have something important to tell you: You Don’t Need To Finish That Game. Game completion is so obsessed nowadays, people gate-keep and invalidate each other’s opinions based on how far they made it while playing them. Being up-to-date on a long-running series seems to be more important than caring about its trajectory, its quality, and the conditions it was made in. People are so afraid of missing out on the “real impact” of a sequel they’ll prevent themselves from playing it until they beat the games leading up to it. We’re so desperate to be a part of the wave we’re insistent on buying the new thing, and beating it as fast as possible so that we’re riding at the very top. And the truth is, this is a reality we didn’t necessarily force ourselves into. It’s not the nature of recreation. It’s the nature of business.

#Gaming #GCPositive #GamingCulture #BeatingGames #FinishingGames
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gaming backlog

[GCVazquez]

Hello everyone, thank you all so much for watching the video and leaving your thoughts about it! This is the first time I've had trouble keeping up with my comments section, so apologies if I missed yours- I've been trying to reply to all of them! It's been very nice to see you share your experiences with what I talked about in the video. I've also noticed many people share they've never really felt that way about playing games, and I wanna thank you all as well. One of the most important things to for people struggling with this sort of pressure is to see others saying, "hey yeah, I don't do that thing, you don't have to either! It's all good." I appreciate you all so much, and I'm happy we've kept the discussion mostly civilized!

[Chloe_Zana]

I always feel vaguely bad about not finishing games, so this is nice to hear.

[pheria]

"This isn't the nature of recreation, it's the nature of business"
*polite applause*

[captawesome]

more and more I've found myself asking the same questions while playing games

"Are you still having fun?"
"Do you find yourself thinking about the game when you aren't playing it?"
"Are you excited to sit down and start a gaming session with the game?"
"Is the game holding your attention?"
"How long into your session do you find your interest waning and how soon after you stop playing do you want to start playing again?"

If the answers to these questions don't line up in the game's favor, I'll stop. I have too many games that I could be playing and too little time to waste it on something. It was totally acceptable to do it when I was in school and had all the time in the world and only like 5 games to choose from. Adulting really shifts your perspective

[Graphomite]

This is a fantastically delivered anti-FOMO lecture on the habit of compulsive completionism and impulse purchases. Kudos.

[daisychainable]

I am loving the most recent push these days of "Shorter Games, Please!" People turn up their nose at an eight hour playtime but the game is more likely to focus on quality control rather than endless padding and fetch quests to keep you there Forever. They demand less of your time and I feel more accomplished for finishing it and keeping my life healthy.

[penepleto]

I love how the kid saying "my uncle works at Nintendo" is a universal childhood memory within the gaming community

[matthewtheweird]

This is literally what has been dragging me down for years and what ruined my gaming experience. Thank you for making this. You’re blowing a huge hole into the industry and showing thing I never even saw.

[wizawhat]

Damn if this aint some real shit I needed to hear, I say as someone who made a fucking spread sheet to track the games I'm playing this year with the express purpose of beating more games

[adk]

Developers havent been finishing games for the last 10 years

[Devininity]

"No one expects you to cash optimize when you go bowling" - what a powerful point

[Vasarcdus]

Imo, you can't be wrong about how you feel about a game, no matter what point in the game you're at. If you start a game and it has the best opening couple of hours, you can love the first couple of hours. If it gets boring after, you weren't wrong about those first couple hours, just what follows didn't hold up.

[angelina]

I feel this. Growing up, you only get a small hand full of games. As an adult I have bought so many games, some I never even touch just because I finally have the money to buy them.

[jaidens.g.]

my biggest problem, is that there are so many games I've bought that I do want to play, not out of obligation from peers or for paying money, but purely because it was a game I wanted to play. The issue I run into the most is choice paralysis - which of these many games do I want to play? The fact that there's so little free-time in adult life makes each time a lot more stressful than it really needs to be - during Covid, since I had no work and had to make sure I saved money, I finally went back and played a bunch of those games, from Dragon Quest XI to Astral Chain, and I fell in love with almost every one I tried. I guess that's my biggest problem - I know I'm gonna love these games when I play them, but I don't have enough time to dedicate to them as I'd want, especially when there are also new releases to account for that I am anticipating.

[Don_Matteo]

One thing I've learned at forty years old is that the point of playing all these games is that you occasionally find that one game you want to finish. Now, Imagine if I had never tried No More Heroes 3: I would've missed one of the most fun game finishing experiences of last year.

[DeadWhiteButterflies]

Another insecurity I have is also the fear of stopping, even if you're burned out on a game. Either because there's so much stuff to do it becomes a laundry list, or because your attention is pulled elsewhere and you don't wanna abandon it. It's painful leaving behind a game you love, but you can't continue because you've gorged so much on it. You keep going because you fear if you stop, you'll never come back to it. And then it feels like unfinished business if you do abandon it.

[LeoTelles]

The month when I signed up for GamePass I felt horrible because I felt obligated to play and finish so many great games because I paid for it. Even the fee being so small. It's a weird feeling.

[jornsyy]

As someone with ADHD, finishing games has always been a struggle for me. It’s nice to be reminded that beating a game isn’t everything, and shouldn’t be a responsibility. If a game isn’t good enough to finish, we don’t have to.

[JerryTerrifying]

Thank you I needed someone to give me this permission.

[emily]

The video game backlog is so real. I was always a fan of video games as a kid but never had my own console or games, I had to watch playthroughs on YouTube. When I got my first job I went crazy. I bought my very own PlayStation and all the games I had ever wanted to play as a kid. I keep jumping between games and find myself unable to complete them due to the fact there is *so* much media I had yearned to have at my fingertips since I was a kid. It gets overwhelming, especially the thought that I was somehow wasting my money by not squeezing games for everything they have. Thank you for this very refreshing take!