It’s usually around this time of year, with holiday sales clogging every media outlet I use, that I take stock of my gaming library, because the questions looms as to what “on sale” items I might want to add to it. In an effort to curb my wallet, I’m looking back at the gaming regrets that cause me the most remorse. I’m only human, after all, and am not immune to the siren call of gaming’s flashy good looks and the promise of fun times. Though I don’t immediately jump at any game that catches my fancy in the moment (thought I really wanted that new Metal Gear Solid collection, for example but middling reviews have kept me away), I have certainly garnered a few titles in my library, which spans a couple console generations, that I purchased in haste and wish that I hadn’t. Yes, if I could get my money back for the following top unplayed and/or unfinished titles that mock me every time I pass my gaming shelves/digital queue, both my mind and bank account could rest a little more at ease.

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Deathloop

When Deathloop popped up on Game Pass a year after its PS5 release, I felt it, and it didn’t feel good. By that time, I had fully given up on the game. It’s a good game by all standards, with great graphics, excellent acting, fluid combat, and an interesting story. Problem was, I just grew tired of the “loop.” I got to a point where I had battled the game’s seven villains all according to the “loop’s” mechanics, which made me happy. But, in order to see through Colt’s (the main protagonist) story, I had to defeat them all again, just in the proper order as the “loop” demanded. That’s when I called foul. While I had looked forward to the game, my decision to buy it at release was driven more by the desire to have an actual PS5 game for my then-new PS5 than anything else. That’s not a great reason to buy a game.

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Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition

Every single time I turn on my Xbox, I’m sure that this GTA trilogy (III, Vice City, San Andreas) laughs at me from the update queue. It just knows how much I shame I hold about jumping on its purchase, like belly flopping into a pool. Buying it was driven solely by a passing thought that I wanted to replay San Andreas and maybe also experience some of what are called the best early GTA titles. Nah. Nope. Nein. I made it about halfway through GTA III, which was decent enough until so much jank with the gameplay made it impossible to progress. I haven’t even touched Vice City or San Andreas as a result, and I can’t help but feel that I should have just thrown my money into a virtual river, instead.

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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

I really don’t know what I was thinking with this one. It was a gift to my husband for something grand he had done at work, and it was supposed to be a treat for me, too. It was the summer of 2019. I knew about FromSoftware and its difficult Dark Souls titles, but reviewers made Sekiro sound intriguing and somewhat more accessible than Dark Souls. We were both interested in trying it out. And there I was in Target one day, checking out the video game section. It was available, and so I bought it.  I don’t think either of us has spent more than a couple hours with it. Though I would later try my hand at Bloodbourne, and we continue to watch Elden Ring from afar, we’re just not a FromSoftware household. It was an inexplicably poor impulse purchase.

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Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix & 2.5 Remix

I’ve flippantly called the Kingdom Hearts series my greatest “nemesis.” I love everything about them in principle, and I maintain a drive to want to play them…despite how much I dislike actually playing them. When Kingdom Hearts III was released in early 2019, I thought it might mark my way back to the series, as I had long fallen astray from it. At the time, however, some broken connection in my brain made me think that I should really retry/try to understand the earlier games in the series, as I only ever played the original game and Chain of Memories. Enter the two “remixes” at hand. Though more recently available as a single compilation for newer consoles, I purchased the KH 1.5 and 2.5 compilations for the PlayStation 3. Oh, how naïve I was. I played a little of 1.5, but the fun quickly petered out. To this day, the 2.5 remix remains in its wrapper. [sigh]

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Thief

Alright, so I didn’t spend much money to obtain Thief on the PlayStation 3 back in 2018. This 2014 stealth game was on sale for just a few dollars, if that. Still…Eidos, Square Enix, whoever, I want my few dollars back.  I went into the purchase knowing that Thief had a checkered past, but…I don’t know, I guess those few dollars were just burning a hole in my pocket, because I still gave in. I played Thief for a good dozen or so hours, and those dozen hours were boring, dark, and gloomy, and they did not offer up suitable stealthy gameplay. Between bad controls, a very confusing map, repetitive mechanics, and trying to manage in literal darkness, I gave up trying. The dismal experience still haunts me and my PlayStation 3.

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Any gaming regrets you’d like to get off your chest? Sound off in the comments!

Lede image was captured by author during PS5 gameplay of Deathloop (© Arkane Studios).