Are you sure? I mean if it was a couple hours into the game that's one thing. But if it's say 50 or 100 hours in, can you stomach feeling like you've already done this and can't get in the mood?

Puffin Forest maybe?

LOL. So you defy the rules of time and space do you? If you can't see that you have no choice but to choose some things over others and that what you choose defines what you care about most then you have not thought it thru, or at all.

Huh? Typical illogic. Duh, glad you figured that out. Wrong. Maybe when you grow up you'll understand how life works, and sometimes you have to do things you'd rather not. Choosing some things over doesn't necessarily mean you care about them more. If you only do things you care about more, that explains a lot.

Mid-game story repetition is always appreciated. Especially for longer games that can stretch out for weeks or months to finish.

It literally does. Substitute the word care with value if it helps you comprehend this better.

Example: You may LIKE donuts. But if you care more for (or value) your health more, then you will choose something else over them that is better for your health. This is true even if it's less enjoyable.

You may LIKE donuts and cake. But if you only can get one you have to choose. And the one you choose is the one you valued more. This is true whether you realize it or not.

yes, I much prefer it (and have done many times) instead of tsarting again the middle. When I restart a game again in the middle, then I have no connection to it an it ends up boring me. But restarting the same game from scratch and I get into it again.

It applies to all kind of games, i have lost count of how many times I have restarted Skyrim or any Fallout game, or a mtroidvaia like SteamWorld Dig, or a puzzle game like Magnus Opus. If I had a break from it, then I delete all progress and start from the beginning again.

Sadly, you don't always get a fair or a proper choice. If you can't pay the bills, your gaming soon stops. If you are drafted for military service, what choices do you have? If you are injured, in the hospital, what can you do?
Perhaps you may find a value proposition in there, but I believe we both understand that life can easily get in the way of a gaming run, and could agree that features that could ease up resuming that run later would not be unwelcome.

Posted by someone who obviously doesn't have kids.

My game-playing habits (as well as other things) have changed quite drastically since I have two young kids, and that has nothing to do with what I want or don't want to do.

That. and for me a forced break sometimes comes from e.g. buying a new PC where I want to continue playing, or moving a game or games from one PC to another, or just having to reset/reinstall the OS for some reason. Cloud saves certainly would help there, but generally I choose to use offline installers etc. where I have to move the save games manually, each game separately.

For instance when my earlier gaming laptop died, I was still able to salvage some of the game saves from it, like for Homeworld: Emergence, HOMM1 and a few others, and I still haven't had the power to reinstall and move those backed up savegames to my new gaming laptop. One day...

The more common scenario though is the combination of having several games being played (usually from different genres), and in some of them hitting some boring or difficult part, hence taking a pause from playing it in frustration, and playing something else in the meantime. Then kinda forgetting to get back to those games.

Very few games are total bliss from start to finish but have parts you enjoy much less. You still don't want to completely abandon the game as you believe or at least hope it will get enjoyable again after that.

For me that would depend on the type of game.

It may just be easier to watch someone else's play-through on youTube, to refresh your memory ... or similar with a walkthru or guide.

But often, as you say, starting over is the best approach. I guess it depends on how much you've actually enjoyed the game up to that point, or just want to tick it off as completed. Some games of course, are only worth playing the once.

I would never play a game just to "click it off as completed". Gaming is a hobby, not work (even unpaid wwork). If I am not enjoying it, then I have no problem abandoning the game and play something else I like instead. I see no point in doing anything else in my spare time, which is precious enough not to waste it on bussywwork and tick-box completion that noone would ever care about and have abolutely no impact on anything - whats the point? .

The same goes for all my entertainment. I stiop reading a book if it is not good, I stop watching a film or a tv series if I am not enjoying it, I stop a piece of music if it is boring, I leave a musem if I dont like the exhibition. I do not see the point in wasting my time for something that is supposed to be for enjoyment only.

<Sigh> Of course it does. You chose to have children. You choose to fulfill your duty to them. Some people don't.
It doesn't matter if the choice is fun or not. We sacrifice for what we care/value most.
I don't take issue with any proposed features.

I think that word 'sacrifice' sums it up nicely. It means giving up something we 'want' to do, which by definition implies that we are not always able to do everything we 'want' to do. If we were always able to make time for things we want to do (as you suggested), then it would never be necessary to 'make a sacrifice' with our choices.

There are situations where we have to choose between different things that we want to do, and playing a video game isn't always going to win. But, that doesn't mean that we 'didn't want to play it'. There are also cases where someone's situation can change suddenly, for example someone could lose their job, or a relative becomes sick and needs support, which can pull use away from something that we 'wanted to do'.

I respect your approach to game playing. To me, some times a game is challenging and I feel a reward when I finally triumph. That rewards my persistence. Other times I wonder if the "chore" is worthwhile at all.
Before setting it aside, I may give it a last chance and resort to cheat codes, exploiting bugs or something of the sort, just to see what else the game has to give, see the story unfold and so on.

But still, I think that giving up at the first sign of difficulty -- which is not what you said you do -- is a bad habit to acquire. Just as it is bad to persist in an error once it is recognized.

But, in the end, yes, we play games to have fun. To each one their own.

Yes I agree. But you can always find time for what you REALLY want to do. Or maybe it's better to say that you can find time for what you care about the most. Maybe I'm not making that clear. I draw a distinction between something you'd like to do vs something that is your top priority.

And seriously, how much time do you need to spend to keep up with the average game so you don't forget how to play or what's going on. Like 30 minutes. I think most people can find 30 minutes a few times a week if playing the game is something they really want. It's like saying you have no time to exercise. You do. You just may not want to badly enough.