As gamers, I think we have a desire to accomplish things. We have various achievements we are proud of, like finishing certain games that are long and/or difficult. But undoubtedly it's impossible to finish every game ever made, and even someone like myself who (used to) call himself a "completist" and at least try to finish every game that's at least started, might not be able to (or choose to) devote the time it takes to master some difficult games, with new games always coming and a thing called "real life". However, some of our defeats sting worse than others, or are memorable in some way, so I thought it would be interesting to recount those.
Here are mine:
-Despite claiming to be a huge Zelda fan, I don't think I have ever completed either of the two NES games (The Legend Of Zelda / Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link) without the aid of Game Genie codes or constant realtime saving/loading. There are other NES games I now question if I got to the end legitimately, but as a Zelda fan, I feel I should at least have finished those.
-Chapter 7 of F-Zero GX's Story Mode (the part of the story where they, you know, actually do a "normal" race in Mute City, of all places) was where I got stuck on the game in a rental. Years later, when loading up on used games for my now-regular "Nintendo Night" events, I ended up buying this game. I ordered a Freeloader to play the Japanese game DreamMix TV World Fighters, but when that got lost in the mail I got credit from the store which I put to a King Dedede plush. I then decided to get an Action Replay (since it includes Freeloader) from a different seller to play DreamMix TV World Fighters. And then with the Action Replay and F-Zero GX there, I gave in to temptation. With cheat codes I could clear Chapter 7 as well as Chapter 8, but unfortunately victory still eludes me because the Action Replay can't help me with Chapter 9. Having codes for infinite boost energy/health and one-hit kills don't help when my main issue is falling off of the railless track, and the ghost racer can't be hit. Can't even win with a cheat device...pathetic.
-Even following a guide, I did not get 100% in Final Fantasy X-2. The game is relentless for having % associated with missable actions, such as one at the very beginning when finding Yuna in the Moogle mascot costume, which I missed. So then I followed the BradyGames guide to a T, but then even doing so I did not get the Trainer DressSphere from Kimahri (it had to do with having the correct responses to his people - which would be probably be near-impossible without a guide, and there's no indication of the magnitude of these responses). Was the guide wrong? Thanks a lot, Kimahri, you jerk. I played the original Final Fantasy X and this is how you treat your former adventuring pals Rikku and Yuna by denying them a whole DressSphere because I said something wrong? >_< I managed to do everything else in the game, even that long optional dungeon and getting all the Blue Magic and maxing out the experience levels and all the DressSpheres I had, so the couple things I missed are aggravating. Maybe I should have started over at some point.
-Similarly, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES also had missed opportunities early on. For those not familiar, the game is an RPG, but has emphasis on building relationships with various other characters at school and around town. As the game strictly follows a calendar spanning a few months in game time, there are events on certain dates, people are around on certain days of the week, or some things have to be started early enough to see them to completion. 10 hours in, I realized I should have followed a guide, but instead of restarting, foolishly continued the game. If I had known it would end up taking me over 200 hours / five months of real time before I finished he game, I would have rather restarted so that I could maximize all the relationships and therefore not miss out on a few entries in the compendium and could've gotten Orpheus Telos (which requires fusing the maxed-relationship Personas). If I ever can set aside time for Persona 4 (which my friend insists that I do), I will certainly consider following a walkthrough, but it is weird to essentially be penalized for not doing so.
-In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's Hard Mode (was that what it was called? Whatever it was, the more difficult second playthrough), the demo troopers near the end are idiots. This is why Samus prefers to work alone. I want to save them all to get the Gold Token, but alas, my game is stuck at that point because I have never been able to save them all. Can't they just stay behind and let Samus deal with all those Space Pirates first? Sheesh.
-Blaster Master: Overdrive on WiiWare is like any other Blaster Master sequel/spin-off/etc. Not that great. I think I saved last after beating the boss in Area 4, but couldn't get to a save point in Area 5. Granted, I probably only tried a couple times. But my frustration at another point earlier made me dislike this game. While I don't feel a ton of shame in giving up on this, I just find it noteworthy only because I find it so bizarre that no Blaster Master game remotely compares to the awesome original on the NES, which was probably ahead of its time. For a year the NES original was the only game I owned without completing, and once doing so it was the greatest thing ever. Overdrive, on the other hand, probably won't be worth the frustration.
-Though I've raved about the three "Operation Rainfall" games, the three epic games for the Wii whose North American releases at one point seemed unlikely, you know, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower, I admit that I used cheat codes for infinite money on each one. I can enjoy a good story like anyone else, but I apparently can't be bothered to farm gold. Grinding/farming can be part of the overall experience, but at a certain point when it becomes tedious...well, cheating is cheating, so this makes my list, even with my "justification".
-Between Pokémon: SoulSilver Version and Pokémon: Black Version, I have indeed "caught 'em all", but I don't know if I can be bothered to transfer them all into Pokémon: Black Version 2, even though there is now an item I would get by consolidating everyone into one game (as I had done for previous generations even without a special item for the effort). Now it seems like a lot of work for too little payoff. Well, there's still a tiny chance I still might do it, but ehhhhh... It'll probably just turn into me dividing the number of Pokémon I need to transfer by the number of days until Pokémon: X/Y Versions to figure out a daily quota of transfers, but that now becomes more like work than fun.
What games are on your unfinished "black list"?
