What is your "white whale" of gaming?

I've been thinking about games that I had wanted for years as a kid, finally got my hands on, then immediately disliked/horribly failed at/just never finished. Most of these games are now rare, and too obscure to be prolific on eBay or archived on abandonware sites, so it makes it difficult to finally get closure.  
 
So I ask you, what are your white whales, and did you ever get to finish them?  
 
Mine is /maabus/61-8012/. A demo disc I owned had a trailer for it that was mind-bendingly cheesy, yet awesome.  
  

the asteroid sequence of Dead Space and the first boss level of Descent.

Mystic Ark: Maboroshi Gekijo. I found it easily, but the hard part is beating it. Why? A glitch that prevents a cutscene from finishing. I've tried everything I could, but nothing has worked. Someday, I will beat it, though.

Enemy Zero, Burning Rangers etc.
 
For a kid in Australia, a lot of the best Saturn games only theoretically existed.

@ShaggE: For your Giantbomb game link, press the link button on the toolbar within your post - in the bottom box, fill in the name of the game.  A drop down should appear with suggestions matching the name you typed in.  Select the one you want - voila! Auto-linked.  For the Youtube link, click the Insert button for the dropdown menu, select video, and enter your youtube link in the box.  Voila again!

I've bought and sold Oblivion three times now, because I want to get into it, then I can't get into it, then I want to try again, but I just can't it's too boring...but now they're releasing a 5th anniversary edition, so maybe I'll try it again.  4th times a charm, right?  I really want to enjoy that game, but the whole "gates of oblivion" thing is so stupid and the combat feels so janky and every cave and every environment feels the same...and then there is the terrible voice acting and character designs.  I just love open world games though.  I love the freedom in Oblivion...I just wish I could choose to do things that weren't boring as hell. 

                    @ShaggE: For your Giantbomb game link, press the link button on the toolbar within your post - in the bottom box, fill in the name of the game.  A drop down should appear with suggestions matching the name you typed in.  Select the one you want - voila! Auto-linked.  For the Youtube link, click the Insert button for the dropdown menu, select video, and enter your youtube link in the box.  Voila again!

                    

     I was wondering how to do that link stuff myself. Thanks.

I've bought and sold Oblivion three times now, because I want to get into it, then I can't get into it, then I want to try again, but I just can't it's too boring...but now they're releasing a 5th anniversary edition, so maybe I'll try it again.  4th times a charm, right?  I really want to enjoy that game, but the whole "gates of oblivion" thing is so stupid and the combat feels so janky and every cave and every environment feels the same...and then there is the terrible voice acting and character designs.  I just love open world games though.  I love the freedom in Oblivion...I just wish I could choose to do things that weren't boring as hell. 

Culdcept Saga.  
Bought it and made it to the third stage and then just gave up because I don't have time to play monopoly against computers. 
That was two years ago so I decided to give it another chance and realized that I still don't have time to play monopoly against computers.

I've bought and sold Oblivion three times now, because I want to get into it, then I can't get into it, then I want to try again, but I just can't it's too boring...but now they're releasing a 5th anniversary edition, so maybe I'll try it again.  4th times a charm, right?  I really want to enjoy that game, but the whole "gates of oblivion" thing is so stupid and the combat feels so janky and every cave and every environment feels the same...and then there is the terrible voice acting and character designs.  I just love open world games though.  I love the freedom in Oblivion...I just wish I could choose to do things that weren't boring as hell. 

I have never finished Ocarina of Time. 
I have never played GTA III.

Bioshock. It was the first game I bought for my PS3, even before get it. Don't like it at all. It was in december 2009.

I've bought and sold Oblivion three times now, because I want to get into it, then I can't get into it, then I want to try again, but I just can't it's too boring...but now they're releasing a 5th anniversary edition, so maybe I'll try it again.  4th times a charm, right?  I really want to enjoy that game, but the whole "gates of oblivion" thing is so stupid and the combat feels so janky and every cave and every environment feels the same...and then there is the terrible voice acting and character designs.  I just love open world games though.  I love the freedom in Oblivion...I just wish I could choose to do things that weren't boring as hell. 

After what had been one of the best games ever made, I was really, really excited for Final Fantasy VIII. I got about half way through, nothing about the story had gripped me, the music was boring, the combat systems were a little vague, and overly complex.
 
I think that was the first time I asked to nobody in particular: "why didn't they just remake Final Fantasy VII?".

Yeah, oblivion for me too... At least I did dark brotherhood. But the main quest suuuuuuuucks.

Demon's Souls. I completed with a friend who is obsessed with the game, I really can't wrap my head around it. I've experienced all the levels but on my own I can't get far, I get lost and then owned. I have no idea what is happening in terms of story, I want to get into it but I can't.

Beating Seth on the hardest difficulty without continuing.

Age of Empires II. 

Beating Seth on the hardest difficulty without continuing.

final fantasy tactics  

Mystic Ark: Maboroshi Gekijo. I found it easily

Maabus really is terrible.  I found it in some bargain bin years ago, played it once, and then stuck it in a box and tried to forget about it. 
 
My white whale is The 7th Saga for the SNES.  I rented it when it came out but got kinda stuck so I returned it without beating it.  I forgot about it for a long time then, for whatever reason, I decided that I really wanted to play it again so I'd check every used SNES game any time I went to a game store.  After years of doing that I finally found the game around 8 or so years ago.  Unfortunately that game is so damned grind heavy that I'd invariably get annoyed with it and put the game away for a couple of years until the urge to play it struck me again.  I played it earlier this year and got to the last castle before stopping.  One more time and it'll be all over.  

For the longest time it was Lunar Silver Star Story Complete but I finally went back to it and finished it. I had gotten to the last boss but barely. Once I was there I was stuck fighting him but I hadn't leveled up enough and I didn't have enough items to get back down through the dungeon that would allow me to level up. On top of that it was my only save so I had to restart it all over again and leveled up enough to the point that I beat the last boss in a couple of minutes. 

Hang on, I brought a list...
 
If you want a more comprehensive look...my backloggery is that.

The zombie genocide achievement from l4d I got up to around 50,000 and then an update wiped it out

@phish09 said:

I've bought and sold Oblivion three times now, because I want to get into it, then I can't get into it, then I want to try again, but I just can't it's too boring...but now they're releasing a 5th anniversary edition, so maybe I'll try it again.  4th times a charm, right?  I really want to enjoy that game, but the whole "gates of oblivion" thing is so stupid and the combat feels so janky and every cave and every environment feels the same...and then there is the terrible voice acting and character designs.  I just love open world games though.  I love the freedom in Oblivion...I just wish I could choose to do things that weren't boring as hell. 

Pro tip: never do Oblivion gates. Ever. The only reason they're ever worth doing is if the main quest MAKES you do them, or if you really want a Sigil Stone for the constant effect enchantment. Other than that, ignore them.  In fact, just skip the main quest. There are much better quest lines you could be doing, like the Dark Brotherhood.

@528seven said:

@phish09 said:

I've bought and sold Oblivion three times now, because I want to get into it, then I can't get into it, then I want to try again, but I just can't it's too boring...but now they're releasing a 5th anniversary edition, so maybe I'll try it again.  4th times a charm, right?  I really want to enjoy that game, but the whole "gates of oblivion" thing is so stupid and the combat feels so janky and every cave and every environment feels the same...and then there is the terrible voice acting and character designs.  I just love open world games though.  I love the freedom in Oblivion...I just wish I could choose to do things that weren't boring as hell. 

Pro tip: never do Oblivion gates. Ever. The only reason they're ever worth doing is if the main quest MAKES you do them, or if you really want a Sigil Stone for the constant effect enchantment. Other than that, ignore them.  In fact, just skip the main quest. There are much better quest lines you could be doing, like the Dark Brotherhood.

Yeah just do the Guilds (specifically Thieves and Dark Brotherhood). They're the best content.  And you can skip most of the gates. Or, make five pieces of armour with 20% enchantment for invisibility on each item, and then walk through them. Way more fun!

@ShaggE: that music...

Right now it's Demon Souls... I really want to like this game (and I do) it's just so hard...

"White whale" must be a European thing, because I've never heard that term, and Google turns up nothing except for white whales. 
 
I assume by the responses in this thread, it means games you have yet to finish, but started at some point. I suppose Streets Of Rage 3 is mine since I've never beaten it on normal. I've gotten to the final boss and the timer times out before I can beat him.

I never completed Lemmings 2: The Tribes on SNES. I have one medallion left and all I have to do is beat the last or second to last level on Classic to advance but I could not figure out how to complete that lever with only one lemming left.

Final Fantasy X...I have tried 3 times to finish this game but, just that f***ing Tidus voice and his overall whiny, bitching attitude makes me cringe and wanna punch babies...

"White whale" must be a European thing, because I've never heard that term, and Google turns up nothing except for white whales.  I assume by the responses in this thread, it means games you have yet to finish, but started at some point. I suppose Streets Of Rage 3 is mine since I've never beaten it on normal. I've gotten to the final boss and the timer times out before I can beat him.

I was a kid when The Phantom Menace came out and got totally excited for the game. Then I got stuck on the level where Obi-Wan has to jump through an obstacle course of columns that drop into the ground as soon as he lands on them and never finished it. I'm afraid if I went back and played it again now I would discover that the game is terrible.

Battletoads, because fuck that second level.

@zippedbinders, you should just pirate Earthbound. One because Nintendo hasn't given you an alternative and 2 because it's the only way to play that game now. It's a grind heavy game and being able to speed up the emulation makes it that much more fun for a modern player. I bought the game on the SNES, but I still prefer to play it emulated when I have the opportunity to choose.  ALso, Mother 3 for the GBA si oen fo the most emotional games I've ver seen.

IWBTG!