So I was watching this new show on GT where a user question came up about difficulty in games, and I started thinking about my experiences with getting to the last boss in certain games and not being able to beat them and thus finishing the game.

I remember sinking a buttload of hours into both Final Fantasy IX and XII, and enjoying both immensely, but for some reason not being able to beat their respective final bosses.

There is something really disheartening about having to look up a ending on youtube instead of getting to it yourself. I still think about returning to those games and finally beating them, but realistically it probably won't happen.

Anyone else have similar experiences they want to share?

Hell, I'm at the point where I played FFIII (I think) where you had to grind your ass of to fight the first boss and I never could.

No More Heroes comes to mind. And I seem to remember getting all the way to the last boss of Final Fantasy VII and not even fighting him.

This happens to me, but it doesn't really happen where I am unable to beat it, I just end up putting the game down and never going back. I loved FF VII, but I got to the last hour of the game and then just never played it again, and I really have no idea why.

The only time I ever actually stopped playing a game most of the way through was Lost Odyssey. There's a battle that pits your 5 or so magic characters against an insanely strong boss who is immune to basically all magic. I broke a controller playing that stupid part and decided the game wasn't good enough to spend any more time trying to beat it.

Edit: Oh, and Kingdom Hearts 2's last boss was an asshole, that's the only other one I can think of that I couldn't beat and just gave up.

i never beat FF12. thats the only game i can remember that i sank alot of time into and didnt beat.

its cus i lost like literally 5 hours of gameplay due to stupidly not saving. i died and went "ok fuck that im done". no clue how the game ends lol

There was this game called the Summoning for the PC. It was released in 1992 and because I couldn't get by this one part I put it down for almost 20 years, but this year 2012 I finally finished it.

I stopped playing FF 3 and 8 at the last dungeons. I just couldn't be bothered grinding through another 2-3 hours when I wasn't particuarly invested in the story at all.

I still haven't completed Dark Souls because I could never beat Gwyn... I generally suck at parrying and my main character's build was kinda all over the place. And this is coming from someone who played up till like NG++++ on Demon's Souls. I may go back to Dark Souls when the DLC is released, but for whatever reason, while it still hit my No1. spot for my 2011 GOTY list, it never gave me the same amount of drive and passion as Demon's Souls did.

EDIT: I also remember getting fed up with fighting Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. That guy's always an overpowered cunt isn't he?

Final boss of Goldeneye Reloaded on 007 Classic difficulty. i tried for 3 days and finally gave up. It was the first time i can ever recall i had to turn difficulty down to finish a game.

If you consider the last 10 seconds of 'Green Grass and High Tides' on Rock Band 1 a boss, then yeah I guess.

That recent Warhammer Space Marine game. I played through the first time on the hardest difficulty and there's no way to lower the difficulty once you've started.

Got to the last dungeons of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, and just kinda stopped playing. I actually found all the side content and collectibles more engaging than completing the stories. Also, got to a point in Mass Effect 3 where I just didn't care anymore. I was doing fetch quests in areas I knew were explicitly made for multiplayer. And in a universe that was so dense with how grandiose every little thing was, I was walking down a lot of small corridors. Just kinda lost the perspective on how important shit was supposed to be, if I keep curing these random ass alien diseases.

Got to the final boss of Torchlight and have pretty much given up the ghost. I kind of effed up my alchemist build for one and can barely damage the guy, and secondly the game is saved at a point where the boss and about 20 dragonspawn (whatever they're called) are crowded by entrance to his lair. So I'll walk in there and die in literally two seconds. Have not figured a way to get around this or reset things because there's no save slots to work with. I'm sure it's possible to do something, but I can't be bothered at this point w/ limited gaming time and a few titles on my backlog to get thru before the fall rush...and Torchlight 2.

While fighting the end boss in Persona 3 Akihiko got charmed and used diarahan on the it, which restores all of the targets HP. I ending up coming back to the game and finishing it but it was defiantly one of those things were I just had to take a break for a while out of frustration.

The only one that comes to mind is No More Heroes 2. God, that was frustrating.

I remember struggling on the last part of Sonic Adventure 2 where you had a limited amount of time and kept switching between the characters to stop the death egg firing or exploding or something and eventually giving up. I'm surprised I didn't finish it to be honest since that sort of thing would have bothered me a lot more then than does now (I don't even make it to the last stage on more recent purchases)

I didn't quit but I bumped the difficulty down a notch in Dead Space 2 once I got to the final boss. I had pretty much zero problems with that game up to that point but the way the last boss is structured, if you go in there with certain weapons you're straight up boned. Thought that was super lame. Can't recall ever quitting a game at the end though. Almost quit Ninja Gaiden 2 at the last boss but I eventually beat it without breaking a controller.

I never beat Final Fantasy VII. Looking at FAQ sheets, I did all the wrong things going into the Safer Sephiroth fight.I didn't have any guides when I played it and I don't really see myself going back to do it over again.

I also get bored with final fantasies at the last dungeon, though that's because I wear myself out doing all the side quests. 4, 6, 7, 8, 12 all remain unfinished for me because I get distracted with side content and then bored with the stagnant gameplay.

I'm kind of okay with that though, since I don't care much for seeing the ending or the trivial final boss anyway

I quit Metroid Prime at its final boss for roughly five years, only finishing that game after I'd gotten too frustrated trying to deal with the wave-defense at the end of "One Shot, One Kill" in CoD4.

I am currently at the final boss of Cave Story's normal playthrough. I got to it in one night about a week ago. But, uh, I haven't played the game since.

@Muerthoz said:

I never beat Final Fantasy VII. Looking at FAQ sheets, I did all the wrong things going into the Safer Sephiroth fight.I didn't have any guides when I played it and I don't really see myself going back to do it over again.

I had to force myself to play because my second disc is fucked up and can't play FMV's. So I literally had to hope that I could get through them, save and never have to go through the second disc of FF7 again... I plan to buy the PC version when I get a new comp so I never have to do that again.

So yeah... I was... VERY unprepared for the final boss. but I beat the fuck out of him even though he did TOAD two of my guys constantly... fucking jackass safer sephiroth

For a guy with little experience with console FPSs, Radec in Killzone 2 was particularly hard. It took me 15+ tries but I got him.

@Little_Socrates said:

I quit Metroid Prime at its final boss for roughly five years, only finishing that game after I'd gotten too frustrated trying to deal with the wave-defense at the end of "One Shot, One Kill" in CoD4.

I am currently at the final boss of Cave Story's normal playthrough. I got to it in one night about a week ago. But, uh, I haven't played the game since.

Yeah, Metroid Primes final boss is an asshole, I finished with 20 HP left! That certainly got intense! But yeah, stand in the blue puddles and just scan for him. Then blast the fucker with your turbo ultra cannon.

Cave Stories final boss is a bastard. That is all I got to say. But I did beat him. Just focus on killing the two others first and then go after Ballos.

I don't think I've ever done that because of the difficulty. I did stop playing JRPGs at the last boss a lot when I was younger, not because I couldn't beat them but because I didn't want it to end. Weird I know, it's over if I fight him or not, but it's just the way I felt.
 
I came pretty close to that in Ar Tonelico on the PS2 though. I was pretty fed up with the game near the end and I just wanted it done and to see the ending. Last fight took a stupid long time. Went in with 99 revive items and left with 6. Boy did I ever start to sweat and swear when my revives dropped below 20 and had no idea if the boss was actually taking much damage. If I had failed I probably would have quit out of disgust because I didn't want to grind just to beat it.

The first Ratchet and Clank game, but i think that was due to a lack of skill on my part...

@Little_Socrates: i always thought Metroid Prime(the boss not the game in general) was rather easy, the fight with ridley or the giant phason mutated space pirate(forgot the name its been a while) or the emperror ing and quadraxis in metroid prime 2 on the other hand......

I was never able to defeat The Master from the first Fallout.

Unlike the more recent Fallout games, the first Fallout allowed you to have several companions following you at the same time. I had amassed about five or six buddies and wanted all of them to survive. So, every time one of them was killed, I reloaded my save. This was fine for most of the game, but The Master was so hard (for me, at least) that I couldn't keep them all alive through the fight. They died over and over and over again, and I reloaded my save every single time. My attempts to keep everybody alive proved so fruitless that I gave up on trying to beat the game at all.

Metroid Prime and Parasite Eve 2 for me...

probably could have done it if I had more drive to do so, but games where I have to travel to even get back to fight discourage me I admit.

Kingdom Hearts 1. Never finished that game due to the boss.

I was playing Dante's Inferno at the highest difficulty, and after losing 3 times barely scratching Lucifer(That fucking inverted cross move...), i just gave up.

MGS2 on European Extreme difficulty. The n-1 Metal Gear Rays fight broke me.

If I burn through a game, all the way to the finale, then I am going to finish it. The only game I can name that I didn't finish when near the end was the original Far Cry, and I don't think many people will blame me for wanting to skip out on fighting the cheesy bullet sponge Trigens.

I'm stuck at the final boss in Chrono Trigger and Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door. I only attempted TTYD once, and apparently it's really easy, and I shouldn't have lost. I'll get around to it someday. As for Chrono Trigger, I just hae that I have to go back and do sidequests after I've fought the final boss. I've already done a couple of them, and still can't beat it.

I ultimately gave up on Mega Man 7 after losing all of the E-Tanks, M-Tanks, and extra lives that I had saved throughout the entire game trying to bet Dr. Wily. His first form was easy enough to beat, but I could never master the timing of his second form's shots.

I ended up not completing Ninja Gaiden Black because the way I was checkpointed at the very end meant that I had very little health going into the final boss battle, but was way too far away from any shops selling potions or anything for me to viably make my way through the hordes of everything else out out to kill me. It continues to be a real downer for me and I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering the game's difficulty in general, but it feels terrible having to do that with a game I otherwise profoundly liked.

I was fighting Nyx in Persona 3 FES. It was a grueling fighting, lasting over a hour. Nyx's health was only a sliver and I had it in the bag. He curses (cant remember the actual spell) to take control of Yukari. I figure this sucks but I will use a item to fix this once It is the MC's turn. On Yukari's turn she healed Nyx, when I seen her about to heal I though "ok he should gave a couple thousand health, sucks but I can manage". Wrong, Yukari healed Nyx to full health. FULL. I was shocked and felt as if the game punched me in the gut. I rage quit turned it off. Something I never, ever do. Suffice it to say I have not beaten Persona 3.

If I get to the point where I'm at the final level/boss of a game then I am finishing it even if I hate the game. I would feel like I wasted my time if I didn't finish.

I've mostly only beat each Mega Man X game once, even though I've played through them all a lot more than that. Each time I get back to Sigma I usually call it quits now.

@Socialone said:

For a guy with little experience with console FPSs, Radec in Killzone 2 was particularly hard. It took me 15+ tries but I got him.

15+ is pretty good dude. I'm experienced with console FPSs and it took me like double that.

I was fighting Nyx in Persona 3 FES. It was a grueling fighting, lasting over a hour. Nyx's health was only a sliver and I had it in the bag. He curses (cant remember the actual spell) to take control of Yukari. I figure this sucks but I will use a item to fix this once It is the MC's turn. On Yukari's turn she healed Nyx, when I seen her about to heal I though "ok he should gave a couple thousand health, sucks but I can manage". Wrong, Yukari healed Nyx to full health. FULL. I was shocked and felt as if the game punched me in the gut. I rage quit turned it off. Something I never, ever do. Suffice it to say I have not beaten Persona 3.

Really can't say I ever get to the LAST BOSS and quit. Usually if the game is that hard/frustrating I quit long before then. If the last boos sux I usually just muddle through, even if it takes a while or internet help.

@Yummylee said:

I still haven't completed Dark Souls because I could never beat Gwyn... I generally suck at parrying and my main character's build was kinda all over the place. And this is coming from someone who played up till like NG++++ on Demon's Souls. I may go back to Dark Souls when the DLC is released, but for whatever reason, while it still hit my No1. spot for my 2011 GOTY list, it never gave me the same amount of drive and passion as Demon's Souls did.

Same. I ended up taking a three month break, came back, and spent a few hours grinding. I put ten extra points in strength and dexterity, and was able to beat him after a couple tries. I always got anxious and couldn't parry effectively. I will admit when I defeated him, half the time I was hiding behind the pillar taking potshots like a chump.

@DoctorWelch said:

This happens to me, but it doesn't really happen where I am unable to beat it, I just end up putting the game down and never going back. I loved FF VII, but I got to the last hour of the game and then just never played it again, and I really have no idea why.

The only time I ever actually stopped playing a game most of the way through was Lost Odyssey. There's a battle that pits your 5 or so magic characters against an insanely strong boss who is immune to basically all magic. I broke a controller playing that stupid part and decided the game wasn't good enough to spend any more time trying to beat it.

Edit: Oh, and Kingdom Hearts 2's last boss was an asshole, that's the only other one I can think of that I couldn't beat and just gave up.

^^^^^ i thought beast's second or first boss was the hardest in the game. the final one just got damn annoying because of his stupid health bars. oh and sephiroth but i dont count him

No More Heroes is the only game where I couldn't beat the boss and gave up. There have been a few Final Fantasy games where I made it near the end and just lost interest for whatever reason and never picked it up again.

Persona 3 FES and NYX. I lost to it after an hour+ of fighting and pressure and I just lost out of no where. I quit playing it for about 3 months until i settled down and finally beat it.

Nocturne and Strange Journey both stopped me cold at the final bosses. I was doing fine up to that point then I reach the final boss and they can one shot my entire party. I tried grinding out some levels so I could survive but it's so god damned boring that I just quit.

I also quit at the final bosses in Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy 3(DS). I didn't care enough about FF3 to bother giving it more than one try and I just couldn't beat Vagrant Story no matter how many times I tried. That final fight is such total horse shit, probably the worst boss fight in any game I've ever played.

I'm still pissed about Nocturne and Vagrant Story because, up until I reached the end fight, I had every intention of immediately starting the game over and playing through it again. After being unable to finish them, though, I just couldn't bring myself to bother starting a new game.

Great topic. For me FFX and Batman, Arkam Asylum. For FFX I just dont know what happened, the game wasnt hard at all exept for a few bosses, and then get to the end and get DEMOLISHED in 1 or 2 hits. I bought a cheat disk for the ps2 to finish it (no internet for me back then to just youtube it. As for Batman, I was really loving that game, but I gt stuck constantly, I really suck at brawlers. Ive never been good at any type of fighting game or beat em up. I loved it, but in the end I gave up... Because now I could just youtube the ending I guess. Oh, almost forgot... Outland in xbla. Another tough game that I stuck With longer than I was really capable of (this might be because they both have metroid influences). I had to give up on that one or my Xbox would have gone through the wall.

Alpha Protocol's coked up russian dude with a Stealth character on the very hardest difficulty was impossible. Have yet to beat it.

Kingdom Hearts is probably the only game where I quit a game for a long period of time because I was frustrated by the long cutscenes that it forced me to watch.  A year later, I went back to it and beat the last boss in one attempt last week even though I was confused by the controls at first.  

Alpha Protocol's coked up russian dude with a Stealth character on the very hardest difficulty was impossible. Have yet to beat it.