Has an uncompleted game ever been considered a favorite?

I've never done it, but sure, I think someone can call an uncompleted game a favorite. I'm of the opinion, though, that no one can seriously call themselves a "fan" of a game they haven't even bothered to finish.

Hell no.

Hell no.

@Video_Game_King said:

Hell no.

Yeah. Would you consider a book you haven't finished your favorite, or a movie? It doesn't make sense.

@FluxWaveZ said:

When talking about video games, someone could say that Tetris is their favorite game of all time, for example, but Tetris can't be finished.

This.

If someone said that L.A. Noire was there favorite game a year from now and they hadn't finished it then I would think that was a little odd, but if their favorite game is Bejeweled or something of that sort and they had only played one mode I'd be fine with it.

Plus, it is their favorite, not yours so it can still be their favorite even if they haven't finished it although you may have different personal standards.

I don't think so....I did fail to beat Super Metroid many times when I was a kid even though I loved it, but I eventually got around to beating when my skills increased....same with FFV.

I think it's possible, but not something for me.

@Goly said:

@Video_Game_King said:

Hell no.

Yeah. Would you consider a book you haven't finished your favorite, or a movie? It doesn't make sense.

But those mediums are completely based on storytelling. When talking about video games, someone could say that Tetris is their favorite game of all time, for example, but Tetris can't be finished.

I think OP was refering to games which have a story, since he was talking about Final Fantasy and all. Not games which are more arcadey or based on scores.

I've never called a game I didn't finish a favorite but I can see how somebody would.  In the OP case I can see where he's coming from bc an RPG like FF can take many more hrs to complete than your average action/adventure game so the chances of not being able to complete it is higher.  Plus, if someone wants to call a game, or anything for that matter their favorite, then who the hell is anybody to say no it's not.

@Goly said: 

I think OP was refering to games which have a story, since he was talking about Final Fantasy and all. Not games which are more arcadey or based on scores.

If that's what he meant, my stance on the matter still stays the same because even if the opinion on what someone can call a "favorite" differs from one person to the next, it doesn't matter to the person saying that an unfinished game is their favorite.

One moment can potentially make the game. Maybe the next 5 hrs after that moment are shit! 
 
Also, it can be super difficult to jump back into a game after a long wait, no matter how good it is.

Well I've put more hours into Oblivion than I'd care to admit, but I've never really finished the main quest-line. Just playing side-quests and mods has satisfied me enough, and I'd consider Oblivion (and also Morrowind, which same deal, I never finished) to be some of my favorites.

What about the fighting game fans? While many do contain singleplayer content, I'm sure there are plenty of people who can claim that any particular fighting game is their favorite game without having beaten the story or challenge modes. 

At first I thought you meant a game for which the development wasn't completed, and I was going to say hell yes. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines is one of my all time favorite games.

Story driven JRPGs on the other hand are rarely so difficult that you can't see the game to it's end with a little bit of effort. If you're annoyed by grinding or gathering equipment, yet need to do it to beat a game you love, how can you really enjoy the game? 

Vice City. Think I finished a couple of years ago, but that was years after I had finished even San Andreas. That game was just so fun to mess around with.

Oblivion. Never beaten the main story, still one of my favorite games (don't really have a SUPER DUPER SPECIAL ALLTIME FAVORITE though).
 
 Also, cue the "herp derp Oblivion is shit go die" comments.

People say Final Fantasy all the time and never get near to completing them (I'm not saying that's you). I would venture to say up until the last couple of years where games have gotten shorter and easier, most people didn't finish games they loved. How many people do you know who actually completed SMB1?

I think that if while you are playing a game you say this is your favorite game and you have the full intent of beating that is fine. I am currently playing through the starcraft 2 campaign and although I have not finished it yet I can honestly say it is my favorite new game.

Yeah, totally. As long as it isn't your favorite because of the story, cause I feel like you should probably experience the whole story before saying that. As an example, Super Mario 64 is still one of my favorite games, but I wasn't really good enough at it as a kid to finish it. (I should probably go back and do that, though, if only to play more Super Mario 64.)

I did a poll a while back similar to this subject. I've never finished a Metal Gear game, but consider myself a fan.

Most of the posts here sum up my general opinion but just to add my own little piece, it depends on the style of game. If it's a particularly story-dependent game then I wouldn't really consider it possible to call it a favourite if the ending is disappointing for the player. However, if the player finds the gameplay that rewarding on its own then all the more for it, as long as they don't call it a favourite just to fit in or other ridiculous reasons like that. On the other hand, I know many people that would easily call Halo or Call of Duty their favourite game based solely on the experience they have in the multiplayer, but either haven't completed or even touched the single-player. 
 
TLDR; People like what people like.

I have never gotten 100% in a gran turismo game and thats my favorite series of all time.

Same goes for Tokyo Xtreme Racer. Never gotten 100% there either.

I never finished Earth Defense Force 2017 on Inferno difficulty and its in my top 10 games of all time.

Though I did beat Metal Gear Solid 3 twice in one day...

Yes. I very often don't complete games I'm enjoying when I reach a point where it seems like they're adding filler. I don't want to taint the experience, and they won't let me just skip over it, so I stop playing before I ruin my experience. Happens very often. Happens with most Rockstar games for sure. I've enjoyed every Advance Wars game but I couldn't beat the last 2. Its really not a hard thing to reconcile, enjoying a game you didn't complete, unless you're some weird obsessive compulsive freak.

Demon's Souls is my favorite PS3 release, and I have yet to complete Demon's Souls. Old King Allant turned out to be just too much for me.

I'm of the opinion, though, that no one can seriously call themselves a "fan" of a game they haven't even bothered to finish.

Yes.

@uniform said:

Demon's Souls is my favorite PS3 release, and I have yet to complete Demon's Souls. Old King Allant turned out to be just too much for me.

May I ask why?

Yes, FF6 is a favourite of mine as well even though I've never finished it. I just get tired of the game mechanics in jRPGs before I reach the end.

I'm a fan of Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, yet I could never finish that final escape sequence. So, what now? Does that make me not really a fan?

I consider Fallout 3 to be one of my all-time favorite games, and I've never completed it. I still intend to, and I've seen enough of it to know that even a bad ending won't change my mind about how much I love it. I've put probably a good 300 hours into it, and just haven't finished it yet because I explore the world so thoroughly.

I think that a lot of the people that have or do hold a game in high regard that they never finished are normally people that played that game when they were young. When I was 7 years old, I played Ocarina of Time. I thought that was an amazing game, even my favorite. However, I was unable to beat one of the bosses (Bongo Bongo) at the time, and put the game on the shelf for another three years, when I revisited the game and beat it easily.

During those three years of break time, Ocarina of Time was still my favorite games, despite not being good enough to beat the entire game.

I think most older people won't have a favorite that they haven't finished (unless the game cannot be finished) simply because they are capable of beating the game.

@BombKareshi said: 

I'm a fan of Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, yet I could never finish that final escape sequence. So, what now? Does that make me not really a fan?

You can call yourself a fan of a game if you'd like, but I won't take your stance on the game seriously. Just like I wouldn't take anyone who called themselves a fan of the Harry Potter series but only watched the first two movies seriously. To me, a fan of a game is one who is devoted to it and very much enjoyed all it has to offer.  
I kind of have to agree with you here. One of the reasons i went back and played all the FF games from beginning to end when I was a junior was so i could take my own self seriously. I said I was a FF fan, yet couldn't get through one of the games. Now, I feel comfortable as a fan of the series becasue I've beaten more than half of the games.

Yes, FF6 is a favourite of mine as well even though I've never finished it. I just get tired of the game mechanics in jRPGs before I reach the end.

Final Fantasy 4 is one of my favourite FF games, though I never finished it. I was severely underlevelled by the time I got to the last boss and I just could not beat him. Gonna have to break out the cartridge again and start grinding!

Super Mario world comes to mind

All the time as a kid. Banjo-Kazooie immediately springs to mind. It was a fun game, but I wasn't very old and started other games, never finishing it.

Come to think about it, I don't finish a lot of games anymore. Sounds like a personal problem to me.

I have played FFVI about 7 or 8 times up to the final boss fight with Kefka on the SNES, pc emulators, and the GBA.  Never actually finished it.  It's also my favorite game.

@uniform said:

Demon's Souls is my favorite PS3 release, and I have yet to complete Demon's Souls. Old King Allant turned out to be just too much for me.

May I ask why?

Hmmm, like a lot of other posters, I'd have to say that a lot of this depends on what type of game you're talking about.

For example, I generally list WTF (Work Time Fun) as one of my favourite games, but I have not totally completed it. You can see enough of that game to know whether or not you like its crazy Japaneseness without actually getting every possible item from the vending machines etc... Just like there are lots of puzzle games, such as Bejeweled that are pretty difficult to finish.

I have a hard time with someone calling a more story-heavy game a favourite, though. Of course, gameplay is important, but what if there's some ridiculous story twist you don't know about at the end of that game that could possibly change your opinion about it? What if there's an enormous difficulty leap that drives you crazy like the last level in Psychonauts did for me?

I just feel like endings are important enough that if you're going to list a game that has an ending as one of your favourites, you should just lock it up and get 'er done unless, for some reason, you no longer have access to the game.

Yes. I played the shit out of JSRF as a kid, never got to the end. Data always got deleted. But because of the age that I played it at, because of the fun I remember having with it, it holds a special place in the 'favourite' section of my heart.

I never beat Oblivion's main quest line (mainly because it was rather tedious) but i still consider it to be one of my favourite games of all time.