Patient Gamers

It kinda happened for me with Fallout New Vegas. I was maybe 11 and never played anything from the series. I spent my time killer hobo-ing my way through but I always felt like I was missing something, then I started reading negative opinions about it online and got influence by that, so I dropped it. After some time I played Fallout 3, liked and thought it was much better than New Vegas and decided to give NV another shot (I was at 12 or 13 by then). I loved it to the point where it is probably on the top of my emotional top 10. It got me into 50s/60s music, got me interested in politics and ethics, made me become a fan of science fiction and old school RPGs focused on story and a variety of approaches. Really a fantastic game

The first Dark Souls. At the time I had played Demon's Souls, but didn't really play games for the challenge so I was very much not used to those types of games. Was also a diehard FPS player.

But a good friend, the same one that introduced me to Demon's Souls, gifted me Dark Souls. It was a game a genuinely enjoyed, but couldn't quite find my groove. I'd create a character, get to a certain point, then feel lost or too frustrated to proceed. So I'd stop playing for a few months, then pick it up again and roll a new character.

This trend repeated for a while, and I DID progress farther every time. Eventually, I hit a wall with one of the bosses and raged quit. So fast forward to my inevitable return to the game, instead of starting over I just went right back to that boss and tried again, and again, and again... and actually won?! That was the moment I feel like my gaming potential was awakened.

From Software fanboy, but also truly invested in a good challenge.

Unrelated, but I'm polishing of Nioh 2 now with NG+ and the DLC

Stardew Valley. I pirated it because I really didn't think I would like it, but was curious about all the positive buzz that was going on around it. Played for maybe 45 minutes and decided that it wasn't for me. I think it was two weeks later that I picked it back up again because some article wouldn't stop singing it's praises. Start playing, look up, 4 hours had passed.

So I bought the game and proceeded to put over 200 hours into it.

Then I bought it on Switch and put like 160 hours into it.

Then I bought it on Mobile and put like 60 hours into it.

Never thought I'd click so well with some silly farming game.

Same happened for me with Deus Ex Human revolution. Back in 2012, I just didn't understand the plot and the atmosphere of the game, and wasn't a fan of the decision-making system. Last year, I plugged in my dusty PS3, started the game and I just had all the keys to a better understanding. Adam Jensen is a charismatic character and the scenario makes you want to go through the whole game in a row

The first time I played Jedi Fallen Order, I got through the tutorial mission, went 'Eh' and put the game down. Went back a year later and had an amazing time. Can't tell you what it was that changed.

Morrowind - played it when it first came out and had no idea what to do, then played it again a year or two later and loved it.

The Witcher 3 - I didn't like The Witcher 2 so put it off for ages, but after the first boss fight I really liked it.

Breath Of The Wild - at first I didn't like it so much, but after beating the first boss I got the hang of it more. TOTK is miles better though.

Deus Ex. The first one. I would always get kinda lost on the second to third level and lose interest, but once I got into it, I was INTO IT! It was all I played for a long long time, although eventually I stopped at Hong Kong because it was too dark to see and I couldn't figure out how to fix it before I lost my momentum

I'm going way back here, but I recently grabbed the original Doom, mostly to show my kids for historical value. I did play the shit out of the shareware version of the game, but I never got into the full game particularly... by the time I was old enough to survive the harder levels, there were fancier games out.

Now, I find myself surprisingly addicted to a 30 year old shooter. I had forgotten why this game is such a classic, it's just... it's just friggin' good. In terms of fun and depth of play, it holds up just fine compared to far more advanced modern games.

Personal 5 for me. I never had a way to play it and when it finally came to the Switch I played a few hours and then moved on to another game. Probably was burnt out from SMTV

I'm in the same Witcher 3 situation, except I haven't been able to get past the hurdle. By coincidence I tried it again yesterday and... "Ug, what do those runes do again? Nah, lemme try the Mass Effect remaster instead."

When I first played Dwarf Fortress, I thought it was the dumbest shit ever because it was taking so long during world gen, I thought that was the game and it was like an ASCII Progress Quest.

Then it took some time to get used to the terrible interface it had pre-Steam version.

Now I acknowledge it as one of the greatest games ever made.

Vampire Survivors. I did like it in the beginning, but I started to get bored since I got stuck in the first map. I uninstalled it for a while then I installed it again last week. I've been playing on and off again, since I was basically just trying to get a lot of coins. I managed to reach level 20 and unlock the second map, then yesterday, I reached 27 minutes in the second map and now I'm addicted to it lmao. I got the magic wand without cooldown on that playthrough, and it was so satisfying to see everything just dying.

Monster Hunter. I first tried it on the wii u when I was honestly too young to really comprehend what was going on and bounced off. Years later I picked up MHGU and MH World and got basically addicted. Now I own almost all the games physically, as well as picking up a 3ds and Vita so I could play the psp and 3ds games on the go.

Mass Effect the very first time. Got bored on the Citadel, quit for two weeks. Went back, started over, and now it's my favorite game of all time and I've beaten it 23 times.

I had a similar experience with The Witcher, but the first one. Bounced off the game twice. Third time was the charm. I fell in love with it and then ended up playing the other games in the series as they came out. I'm not sure what made me keep trying, but I'm glad I did.

Long before that, when Morrowind was released, I couldn't quite understand it. I had grown up on JRPGs, and the openness of Western RPGs was confusing. I kept trying and eventually fell in love with it too. This opened up a whole new genre for me.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown had a similar effect for turn-based strategy games and Elden Ring for Soulsborne games. I'm still looking for the games that will open my eyes to several genres. I occasionally try games in genres I don't typically like in hopes this will be the one. It's really cool to have that new door opened for you.

I got Detroit: Become Human as agiftx, but have only played about 20 minutes of it. Gonna give it another try when the summer is over.

Actually yes! Days Gone took me 3 reinstalls to get into it. I think I just pushed through the start. I ended up enjoying it I dont know why it got all the bad press.