Discussion: what’s the best game you started but never finished?

With so many great games out there, it’s hard to get to them all. But some failures sting more than others—what’s the best game you never finished?

Iain: Shadow of the Colossus. I have started this game so many times over the years but the fates themselves have always interrupted my playthrough. The first time it was in the form of a broken DVD; nobody ever owned up to it. The second time it was in the form of a Playstation 3 meltdown, long before the days of cloud backup. Most recently I have failed because there are not enough hours in the day! It sucks because every time I play it, I love it, and Shadow of the Collossus is an essential part of video game canon. Not having completed is it a constant black spot on my permanent gaming record. I vow that 2014 is the year I will slay the last colossus, and finally end a decade of spoiler avoidance.

Kuanyi: Persona 4. I played and finished Persona 3, and to date it’s one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. Naturally I was completely hyped for Persona 4, and I was counting down the days till its release. When it finally did come out, I enjoyed it immensely, spending a good deal of time alternating between fighting monsters and hitting on Japanese schoolgirls.

However, I soon became a victim of a most unfortunate mistake: I forgot to save for a three-hour duration and died, losing all my progress. Just the thought of replaying through all of that story and battling made me feel exhausted, and I put the controller down. I never picked it up for the game again.

Recently Persona 4 was added to the Playstation 3’s PSN store, so maybe it’s time I give it another go.

Charlie: Sleeping Dogs. On paper, Sleeping Dogs should be my favorite game ever. The gameplay of Grand Theft Auto with better-looking graphics set in a Chinese city and starring tatted-up mobsters—what could be better than that? But for some reason, while I blew through GTAV in a few weeks, I still haven’t beaten, or even come close to beating Sleeping Dogs. The kicker is that I don’t really know why—I haven’t had unfortunate save incidents like my colleagues, and I really genuinely like the game! But for whatever reason, when I have a free minute and sit down to do some leisure gaming, I almost never feel like playing it.

That said, although it’s been over a year now, I still think I’ll finish it someday.