I find myself wondering that right now, as I contemplate purchasing Mass Effect. I had rented it long ago, though I felt rather bored and pretty lost during my short time playing through it. To be fair, I only spent an hour or two with it before dying and having to replay a large section (I think that's what happened anyway, and I wasn't about to go through it all over again). There was a lot going on in the game, and apparently it didn't peak my interest enough for me to give it another shot. Truthfully, I suppose I felt somewhat overwhelmed. Even as I was just trying to figure out the core of the game, I was encountering decisions where I felt like I just didn't know enough yet about what was going on to make my best judgment. That's nothing compared to all the really big choices I know I'd have to make long, and all the different branches and outcomes that could occur from it. I'll admit, as I play through games, I like to be able to see everything they have to offer. I was nothing to be missed or left behind. I want to experience games to the fullest. I want to see everything that is possible. In some cases, I think that greatly hinders my ability to play through games.

Take Fallout 3 for instance. I can without question tell you that Fallout 3 is one of my favorite games of all time. Absolutely my favorite game of this console generation, and it's easily pushed it's way into the ranks of my top five favorite games ever, which encompasses about 20 years of gaming. I have spent over 250 hours playing the game. Heck, maybe even 300 hours. And you know what? I've still never finished it. I rented it a couple times and spent a good 100+ hours playing it as a good guy, then decided to wait around for the inevitable GOTY edition. When t finally purchased the GOTY edition, my old file was corrupted with a graphical glitch (well, actually, I found out later that clearing my cache file fixed the problem, so it works now), so I started anew as a neutral character this time. I've easily reached about 200 hours in that playthrough. I've discovered almost every town on my own, often opting to explore entirely on foot rather than fast traveling. I've finished the majority of the quests at this point, but I still feel I have a ways to go. Then I need to finish up my original playthrough. Then finally play a third playthrough as an evil character. I've been playing this game on and off since it came out in 2008. I can easily see myself taking at least a couple more years to finally feel completely satisfied with my playthrough. Did I mention that I haven't even started any of the DLC? Then you got the fact that they released New Vegas, which I'd love to play through just as thoroughly. At this rate, these 2 games could be the last games I ever play in my life. I could be spending the rest of the decade trying to finish them. As much as I love the games, it's completely exhausting.

I know not everyone plays games to such an obsessive extreme, and I don't always myself, but when it comes to games I really like, I want to see as much as I can. I've never grown tired of Fallout 3. It's been a heavenly experience for me all the way through, and I've been fortunate enough to not really encounter much of any glitches. I had to clear my cache because of the graphics glitch, and had to restart once because my character got trapped. That's it. But the truth is, my enjoyment of this game has kept me from thoroughly playing many other games, or even playing them at all. Is that too far? You could argue that as long as I'm enjoying the game, it's okay for me to keep playing, but this is pretty extreme, I think. Truthfully, I'll probably pass on the final (evil) playthrough of Fallout 3, and probably just play through New Vegas once, but then I know I'll be missing out on a lot of great content and changes to the story.

I bought Mass Effect 2 for $10 in a Lighting Deal on Amazon last year. Haven't played it. Everyone says it's worth it to play through the grind of Mass Effect 1 to get the most enjoyment out of it, so that's held me back. Now I got my decisions branching between multiple games? As if I wasn't intimidated enough as it was, now I have so many different paths and outcomes. Then we have Mass Effect 3 on the way, which will only serve to up the ante of possibilities. The game is supposed to be catered to your personal experience, to reflect your decisions, so perhaps it doesn't necessitate multiple playthroughs, but everyone I know who's played it has or plans to play through it again on an opposite path. I feel like sometimes, games just gives us way too many options.

NO ONE MAN SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWER!

I find myself wondering that right now, as I contemplate purchasing Mass Effect. I had rented it long ago, though I felt rather bored and pretty lost during my short time playing through it. To be fair, I only spent an hour or two with it before dying and having to replay a large section (I think that's what happened anyway, and I wasn't about to go through it all over again). There was a lot going on in the game, and apparently it didn't peak my interest enough for me to give it another shot. Truthfully, I suppose I felt somewhat overwhelmed. Even as I was just trying to figure out the core of the game, I was encountering decisions where I felt like I just didn't know enough yet about what was going on to make my best judgment. That's nothing compared to all the really big choices I know I'd have to make long, and all the different branches and outcomes that could occur from it. I'll admit, as I play through games, I like to be able to see everything they have to offer. I was nothing to be missed or left behind. I want to experience games to the fullest. I want to see everything that is possible. In some cases, I think that greatly hinders my ability to play through games.

Take Fallout 3 for instance. I can without question tell you that Fallout 3 is one of my favorite games of all time. Absolutely my favorite game of this console generation, and it's easily pushed it's way into the ranks of my top five favorite games ever, which encompasses about 20 years of gaming. I have spent over 250 hours playing the game. Heck, maybe even 300 hours. And you know what? I've still never finished it. I rented it a couple times and spent a good 100+ hours playing it as a good guy, then decided to wait around for the inevitable GOTY edition. When t finally purchased the GOTY edition, my old file was corrupted with a graphical glitch (well, actually, I found out later that clearing my cache file fixed the problem, so it works now), so I started anew as a neutral character this time. I've easily reached about 200 hours in that playthrough. I've discovered almost every town on my own, often opting to explore entirely on foot rather than fast traveling. I've finished the majority of the quests at this point, but I still feel I have a ways to go. Then I need to finish up my original playthrough. Then finally play a third playthrough as an evil character. I've been playing this game on and off since it came out in 2008. I can easily see myself taking at least a couple more years to finally feel completely satisfied with my playthrough. Did I mention that I haven't even started any of the DLC? Then you got the fact that they released New Vegas, which I'd love to play through just as thoroughly. At this rate, these 2 games could be the last games I ever play in my life. I could be spending the rest of the decade trying to finish them. As much as I love the games, it's completely exhausting.

I know not everyone plays games to such an obsessive extreme, and I don't always myself, but when it comes to games I really like, I want to see as much as I can. I've never grown tired of Fallout 3. It's been a heavenly experience for me all the way through, and I've been fortunate enough to not really encounter much of any glitches. I had to clear my cache because of the graphics glitch, and had to restart once because my character got trapped. That's it. But the truth is, my enjoyment of this game has kept me from thoroughly playing many other games, or even playing them at all. Is that too far? You could argue that as long as I'm enjoying the game, it's okay for me to keep playing, but this is pretty extreme, I think. Truthfully, I'll probably pass on the final (evil) playthrough of Fallout 3, and probably just play through New Vegas once, but then I know I'll be missing out on a lot of great content and changes to the story.

I bought Mass Effect 2 for $10 in a Lighting Deal on Amazon last year. Haven't played it. Everyone says it's worth it to play through the grind of Mass Effect 1 to get the most enjoyment out of it, so that's held me back. Now I got my decisions branching between multiple games? As if I wasn't intimidated enough as it was, now I have so many different paths and outcomes. Then we have Mass Effect 3 on the way, which will only serve to up the ante of possibilities. The game is supposed to be catered to your personal experience, to reflect your decisions, so perhaps it doesn't necessitate multiple playthroughs, but everyone I know who's played it has or plans to play through it again on an opposite path. I feel like sometimes, games just gives us way too many options.

NO ONE MAN SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWER!

@TheGreatGuero:

So it is not necessarily that the game's narrative or gameplay is too deep or complex but rather that the games have too much content?

I think you're just picking games that don't suit your tastes. If you want a game that has very little content those games are out there. In fact, they are seemingly everywhere.

I would certainly argue that their narrative and gameplay are deep too. There's a lot to learn. Took some time before I really felt like I knew exactly what I was doing in Fallout 3. It's not just about content, though I think we've seen a surge in game length in recent years. You could write a freaking book on Fallout, and I'm sure Mass Effect is no different. Dark Souls is another example that I think applies, and I haven't even played it myself yet. Just reading about it, there's all kinds of crazy possibilities. You'd really have to invest a lot of time to be able to consider yourself an expert in any of these games.

I don't think it has anything to do with not picking games that suit my tastes. Like I said, I absolutely love every inch of Fallout 3. I'm open to all different types of games, but as I grow older, my time spending playing games is limited. Knowing the daunting scope of these games can be intimidating. It's one thing to get your money's worth, but it's not good when a lot of other high quality games are being cast aside because of it. I'm not saying games need to be short and mindless shooters, for instance, but we're given a lot of incentive to play games to their fullest and really get to know them. Throw in the fact that nearly every game has multiplayer, and I don't know where anyone could possibly find all the time to play them.

2 deep 4 u

So basically, your completionist nature is preventing you from ever finishing Fallout 3 or moving on because you have to see Every. Last. Piece. Of Content. This isn't so much an issue of a game's content as it is your individual anxieties in regards to options. I was done with Fallout 3 after around 90 hours across multiple playthroughs (as opposed to the no doubt hundreds of hours I have spent in Oblivion), and I have yet to replay New Vegas despite my assertion that it is a dramatically better game (seriously. Play that game if you like Fallout 3) Then yeah. I could see how Mass Effect could be paralyzing, considering all the different dialog options there are.

Really though, most of that game can be seen in two playthroughs. It's not like the game itself fundamentally changes based on your choices or anything. At most it's just choosing between two extremes on a karma meter, with there also being a neutral "weenie" response if you enjoy an ambivalent Shepard with no real personality. If you blaze through the story content, ignoring the cookie-cutter side quests because they are boring, you could easily get through Mass Effect in around 15 hours. Remember: every time you have the temptation to play something that isn't on any of the story related planets, just remember that most of it is shit anyways and your time is better spent playing the actual game part of the game that wasn't churned out by a single programmer in a few days.

Certainly, sometimes you can feel bogged down by a mish-mash of stuff you simply don't care about, and which has little bearing on the outcome of your experience.

As someone who played through Mass Effect 1 for the first time not too long ago, I can tell you that it's not nearly as deep or complex as it may seem at first. It's a very streamlined game. You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. My intention at first was also to finish every little side missions and see everything, but I realized quickly that it wasn't necesseray. Like ArbitraryWater said, the content that matters is the main story missions. All the side quest stuff is really dull and unsatisfying.

@TheGreatGuero said:

It's one thing to get your money's worth, but it's not good when a lot of other high quality games are being cast aside because of it. I'm not saying games need to be short and mindless shooters, for instance, but we're given a lot of incentive to play games to their fullest and really get to know them. Throw in the fact that nearly every game has multiplayer, and I don't know where anyone could possibly find all the time to play them.

But, it's you who cast aside other quality games, not the game itself. And at some point, you're missing more than you gain by grinding through every piece of content of every game you decide to play. The reason other people have time to play more games, is because they know when it's time to move on. I can't fathom how someone can stand Fallout (or any game) for 100+ hours. I try to finish one game at a time, and I see no reason to see everything because that comes not only at the expense of other games possibly being played but it usually means seeing very little new things and a whole lot of the same. Take Mass Effect for example, the broad strokes of the story is the same, the fact that some outcomes differ doesn't really change where the story takes you. It's cosmetic differences at best, considering how much beyond those things are the same. You still run down that corridor and shoot dudes. You still do that one mission. Sure, the story overall in detail means something different in some aspects, but overall, it's the same experience.

In essence, you could have finished Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 3 with time to spare in the time you have spent Fallout 3.

I'd break it down to how much you enjoy completion. I don't get the feeling that it's torture for you to leave the game incomplete. I mean, unless I'm misinterpreting you actually went through the trouble of going on foot to all the locations without fast traveling, so there must have been more to it than completion there.
 
I mean, I tend to take the depth angle and play the hell out of a game before I move on. Just match your purchases to your playing style, first off, and then you can decide if you've had enough of something and want to try something else. It just adds to the irritation to have games you bought that you haven't touched, as much as some might find undiscovered content irritating. They're both similar, but at least with a game you already bought, you're spending time gathering virtual things, not money gathering games you may not play.
 
The skill is to find the balance, and each person is different. I've tried to keep purchases to a minimum knowing that I like to delve deeper into a game. I don't think it's smart for me to buy things when they're first released or even stock up on older games (even though I do the latter) unless I know the game may disappear if I don't get it. With retro game sellers preserving older titles now, the rush to buy stuff doesn't feel as strong to me anymore.
 
If you were really distressed when playing Fallout 3 I'd tell you to maybe take a step back, but you say you love it. Nothing wrong with staying in one place. You might, like I did with Morrowind, eventually decide to complete the game. It took me a LONG time to get there, but the key is to remember that if you're genuinely enjoying yourself, there's nothing to worry about.

There's no excuse for Caravella's Syndrome.

If you're a super completionist you can complete all of Mass Effect 1 & 2 in two 50 hour playthroughs.

The first Mass Effect is about twice as long as the second one but all the side stuff is not necessarilyas interesting. D the main story and a few side missions in the first ME and then move to Mass Effect 2, it is a much better game.

ME is a solid IP that has a good developer and publisher. IMHO ME 2 was a little bit of a let down compared to ME. Mostly because I feel the searchable map space was reduced (I have no evidence of this) and the equipment management was taken out in favor of a direct upgrade path (I LIKE LOOT!).

Seriously, play these games. How can you resist banging your way across the galaxy in a ship analagous to a formula 1 race car and choosing between being a selfless savior or selfish vigilante?

@Three0neFive said:

2 deep 4 u

I kinda agree with this, although I think it's odd that the OP seems to be upset about getting hundreds of hours of enjoyable gameplay from a single title. I think most people would look at that and see it as a great value and awesome experience rather than a problem that needs to be solved.

@TheGreatGuero said:

But the truth is, my enjoyment of this game has kept me from thoroughly playing many other games, or even playing them at all. Is that too far?

Any time spent doing anything is time that could have been spent doing something else. As long as you're having fun, I don't get the issue. As far as other games, you can always put one game to the side to play another or simply wait to buy a game until you've finished the one you're currently playing.