It’s never the final fantasy

GameCentral readers name the games they’ve never played but always wanted to, from Total War to Pokémon.

The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Rich, who asked whether it was not owning the right hardware that kept you from playing a game or some other reason – like not having enough time or worrying you wouldn’t be good at it.

Time was a major factor for many of the responses, as well as the money and burden of owning too many consoles at once – especially given what that would do for your backlog.

 



Hype bubble

Believe it or not but I’ve never played a Final Fantasy game. The thing is though I’m not sure how unusual this is because I also don’t know anyone that’s ever played a Final Fantasy game, not in real life anyway. I know the series is well known but it’s always seemed strangely distant and elitist to me, as if I need to be in the know (but about what I’m never quite sure) to play it.

I would like to try them, the graphics look great and I’ve dabbled in role-playing games before – although I don’t think any of them were Japanese. I’m not really sure why I never have though. I think some of it is reverse peer pressure. Because none of my friends ever talk about it the games never seem to enter my hype bubble and I keep forgetting about it.

The thing is the amount of time it takes to play these games, which I hear can be very long and that seems off-putting. Especially if I’m supposed to remember a story through all that as well. And then finally I guess I’m just worried about wasting money on something I might not like. I realise that’s a bit cowardly but there it is. When the next one comes out maybe I’ll try and do something about it.
Chomp

 



Advanced knowledge

I’m curious to see what everyone else says for this, because I’m sure we all have certain games we consider to be must-haves that you can’t imagine anyone not having played, but mine is Street Fighter. I have sort of played it before, like once or twice with a friend but I’ve certainly never owned it or sat down to learn the controls or anything.

I do keep meaning to get one of them but I’m not big into competitive games at the best of times and fighters just seem so restrictive and complicated that it’s all very intimidating for a first time player.

I think I was also a bit too young for the first wave of them, so by the time Street Fighter IV came round I had no nostalgia for the original and was put off by the fact that everyone else seemed to know the basics before they started. I never got into it then and now I’ve got an Xbox One I guess I won’t be with the sequel either. I like to think I would give it a try if I could though.
Fido

 



Child’s play

I’ve never played Minecraft. I guess I feel it’s really for kids but I do get the feeling I’d still enjoy it and I bet I would’ve loved it when I was younger too. But it’s kind of in a weird position now where not only is it promoted as a kid’s game but it’s kind of difficult to get into without some help.

Or maybe I’m just not being courageous enough, but I’ve played other survival games and have just become kind of paralysed with dithering at the start and then kind of lost interest. I think it would be the same for Minecraft if I did it’s story mode and yet starting in the sandbox mode seems too daunting.

I dunno, maybe I’m just being a wimp about it and should dive in, but there always seems to be something else easier to play that comes along at just the right/wrong time.
Catzh

 

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Exclusive strategy

I have never played a real-time strategy game, even though I’d really like to. My reasons for this are pretty simple: I don’t have a gaming PC. I do have a PlayStation 4, but that obviously doesn’t help me when it comes to Halo Wars. Or with backwards compatibility really, so I can’t play those Lord Of The Rings and Command & Conquer games that were on PlayStation 3, although they never looked as good as most of the other of those type of games.

I’m particularly interested in the Warhammer 40,000 stuff and Starcraft but obviously they’re never going to be on consoles. I know people will say that PCs aren’t that expensive or complicated but they are if you don’t really want one for any reason other than these type of games.

I’d get a console just for it exclusives but the only other thing on a PC seems to be indie games, and they almost always end up on consoles anyway.
McManus

 



Early decision

I’ve never played any Naughty Dog game, which has left me feeling pretty left out from conversations lately about whether Uncharted and The Last Of Us are overrated or not. My reason is pretty simple: I had an Xbox 360 last gen and an Xbox One this gen. I do kind of regret that though and am considering getting a PS4 Pro, but the rumours of PlayStation 5 in a year or two is putting me off.

I think it’s definitely true that exclusives can affect your buying decisions when it comes to consoles but the problem is you need to make those kind of decisions at the beginning of the gen, when there’s not much out yet.

After being very happy with the Xbox 360 I naturally gave the Xbox One the benefit of the doubt and, well… you all know what happened. But at the beginning of the gen the PlayStation 4 didn’t really have anything to shout about beyond being a little bit more powerful. If I was choosing a new console now though it would totally go for the PlayStation 4.
Boosh

 



Swapping over

I have never played a Battlefield game. I’d love to tell you why but I’m honestly not quite sure. I guess it’s because I’m not a huge online shooter fan but I do enjoy single-player first person games. So I’m happy to get Call Of Duty for the campaign and then just dabble in the multiplayer as the mood takes me. But with Battlefield there just didn’t seem to be enough good content in there for me to bother with.

Of course this year the roles seem to be reversed and after hearing good things about Battlefield 1’s campaign I think there’s a good chance I will give Battlefield V a chance and skip Black Ops 4. Kind of good for them both to reverse roles like that actually, give me a chance to see what I’m missing.
Bobbrains

 

Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here

 



Classic options

I don’t think this is too unusual, considering how rarely the games seem to get new sequels but I’ve never played a Castlevania or Metroid game. I wasn’t into games that much last gen and as far as I know there hasn’t been a new version of either this generation at all. I had considered getting Symphony Of The Night on PSN but I’d rather jump into something that was new, with modern graphics, rather than potentially be put off something I would otherwise like just because the presentation is dated.

There was the Metroid II remake on the 3DS but since I don’t that console I can’t play it. I am very much looking forward to Metroid Prime 4 on Switch, but I’m always aware that the traditional games are 2D.

I’m quite tempted to get a Classic Mini SNES because I believe this has good examples of both series and it’s so retro I should be able to compartmentalise it in my brain. It does seem a bit absurd I have to go to that length just to play two classic series. Why not release an easy to get hold of compilation for both?
Korey

GC: There are rumours of a Castlevania compilation, but nothing’s ever been announced.

 

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