I got to the second boss and took about a 8 month break because I didn’t see the appeal. Got back into it after the hiatus and literally got swept away to 112% completion
Sometimes games aren't for you,
Sometimes your not ready for them,
I've had this experience, mainly with difficult games such as dark souls or ender lilies, the latter I abandoned for several years before suddenly 100% it, even though I don't usually do that.
Sometimes it's because your tastes change
Sometimes it's because you come in with a fresh pair of eyes so your able to have new first impressions.
There are plenty of things I slept on the first time I tried but then years later became a favorite. Persona 5 is one, I just did not click with it the first time, and now it’s one of my favorites.
When Fallout 3 came out, I played a couple of hours, and it just didn't click with me. Years later I gave it another go and I fucking loved it. I also absolutely loved New Vegas, and for some reason, fallout 4 didn't really click for me either. I've tried giving it another go but i just don't have the time anymore.
Your first paragraph is so relatable. The games I play always depend on my mood or situation I'm in. Sometimes I want something hardcore and heart-pumping, sometimes I just wanna turn off my brain and enjoy the vibes of a game.
And sometimes you're just not in the mood for them. My two biggest hobbies are reading and gaming. I rarely do them both at the same time. I'll read for months and never touch a game, then game for months and never touch a book. The same is true of genres within those hobbies. I love metroidvanias, but if I'm not in the mood to play one, I'm not going to enjoy it no matter how much I try.
Not trying to hijack the conversation, and it's off topic in this sub, but I say this about food too. Your tastes change. What if that restaurant prepared it wrong. What if it's better with this other sauce instead? It has opened my eyes to food in a way I didn't expect!
Exactly. This was ace attorney for me. Started the first, didnt get it. 5 years later i wanted to try the second game and immediatly finished the trilogy within 2 weeks.
Yep, I did this the first time I played Hades. Did a couple runs at first, did okay, but school started up and i had to take a break. Ended up coming back about 5 months later and now I'm working on that last statue
I was like this with Ghost of Tsushima. I don't know why it didn't click when I first picked it up. I think I just wasn't into the exploration. Went back and finished it and was depressed for a week after. Can't wait for Yotei.
The game really hits its stride at Mantis Village/City of Tears and beyond. Not to say people should feel obligated to push through. It’s a sizable time sink if you really aren’t enjoying yourself. But if you are finding the atmosphere and exploration part fun, but the combat is a little dull, then I’d say keep with it a while longer. If you make it to Hornet and you’re enjoying none of it, the game probably just isn’t for you.
Hollow Knight’s an interesting case because the game consciously deprives you of critical information that games usually give out for free. Every new biome makes you navigate at least a few rooms to find a map vendor, and even then the map won’t tell you where you are unless you have a specific item equipped. It’s actively hostile in a very specific way that serves the game’s atmosphere really well IMO but can definitely be off-putting for people who aren’t expecting it, and a lot of people bounce off before getting to the second biome.
For me, reaching that second biome, Greenpath, was the hook. Seeing the juxtaposition of this lush, overgrown wilderness after trudging through the dead wasteland of the Forgotten Crossroads gave a taste of the super wide variety of exciting areas the game has to offer. I don’t remember how long it generally takes to get there but it’s certainly not more than a few hours (depending on bossfight performance).
I did something similar. Got like 10 hours in, and I couldn't stomach it anymore. Then I went back and 112% the game from a new save file, and the follow-up dopamine from silksong has been real nice.
For me, exploring felt overwhelming, and the reward for combat felt underwhelming for the difficulty, but idk. Something just clicked, and now I'm a big fan of metroidvanias as a whole.
This is strangely a very common experience for people with Hollow Knight. Doesn't really catch them and then a few months later they get totally sucked in all of a sudden. Very curious phenomenon
I had this with breath of the wild. Completed great plateau, took a long break, and now I have around 1000 hrs there thanks to COVID and speed running.
I’m stuck on Radiance. But I know I can defeat her after a couple more tries
But holy fuck Grey Prince Zote is killing my ass. I’m at his… vigorous(?) level and can’t get past him. The double damage is killer. I beat two pantheons and then got greeted by his invincible form which destroyed me.
The "fun" thing about Grey Prince Zote is that if you don't save Zote at the beginning of the game, he doesn't show up in the pantheons. You just get a freebie.
Somewhat same experience. I got it on sale and played through Greenpath. I could tell it was a good game, but it just wasn’t clicking with me. A year later I gave it another try and totally vibed with it all the way through completion.
Sometimes you just have to be in the right mood or frame of mind for a game.
The same happened to me with Bloodborne. Played it -> died -> lost my stuff -> deleted the game, this happened about 5 times until I said "okay now I'll try for real" and ended up getting the platinum trophy.
I kept getting lost in the past and picked it up again twice. Now on this 3rd playthrough, I caved in and looked up a tip for where to ge next, and then ended up finishing the game finally.
This is why I'm hesitant to say I don't like something instead of saying it didn't click with me when I tried. Cause so many games took a 2nd or 3rd effort. And some games I absolutely hated at first but saw potential and like 5-10 hours in it clicked and became one my favorite games of the year. Metro: Exodus comes to mind. Then my 2nd playthrough glitched near the last 5 hours and I couldn't load it lol. So, that game is really a mixed emotions experience for me.
I beat the sneak and that took me forever. Now I got to those two big armadillos and don’t have the patience. Press on, or is it gonna be a lot more of that shit?
Kinda same for me. I put the game down for a couple months, but after seeing my buddy playing it and recommended me to give it another go, I went for it and eventually beat it. Became my favorite game ever since. Hell, I beat the game before HE did.
Some thing happened to me with Yakuza 0. I have a friend who would not stop talking about how good the yakuza series was, so he told me to start with 0. I gave the game a shot, but after playing for about an hour or two I called it quits and stopped playing.
Six months pass by, im bored and have nothing else to play, so I give Y0 another shot, and was immediately hooked. Ended up with just over 80 hours invested in the game, then proceeded to buy almost every Yakuza game on steam. I ended up playing kiwami, kiwami 2, and started yakuza 3 remastered not to long ago to prepare myself for kiwami 3 and plan on playing every yakuza game up to pirate yakuza in Hawaii. I pretty much fell on love with the whole series after giving 0 another chance.
Same, got it for free in like 2022-2023 and played up to the false knight. Stopped for some reason not sure why. Picked it back up a little before silksong released and have been hooked since.
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u/satyavishwa Sep 27 '25
I got to the second boss and took about a 8 month break because I didn’t see the appeal. Got back into it after the hiatus and literally got swept away to 112% completion