Games that aren't exactly bad but aren't good. The 5s or 6's depending on your scale. What's the lowest score a game needs to be beaten by you, regardless of length.

Do you waste your time? I found that playing average/bland/poor games helps you appreciate the good ones. Do you agree?

I find my self often clinging to hope for these games that they'll get better and when I'm far enough in I say fuck it and progress just to get it finished even if the game gets no better. My New Year's resolution was to not waste time with them but here in 2025, I've already stuck through FF16 (one of the blandest games of all time) and now High on life which I feel compelled to finish for some reason but it's like a 5/10.

I done a 5/10 last year with Dragons Dogma 2 and a few 6/10s. I really wish I could prevent myself from bothering and stick to 7s and above but if there is even a tiny strand of goodness in a game that I've already spent much tim, I'm willing to see it through. It's a curse, especially when they are long like DD2.

i don’t have a lot of gaming time. Why throw it away on an average game? Unless it is a game that is infamously bad (e.g. Bubsy 3D), I don’t finish anything lower than 7/10.

When I was younger i beat everything that I started. But back then all free time I had could be spent playing games. Now I often do not even beat games I really really like and often I prefer revisiting games I have already played instead of focusing on new ones.
But sometime there comes along a game that is generally received bad but that i get a liking to and even if i know it is not a great game I just have to beat it to tell everyone to avoid it. It is like I cannot give opinions on games I have not spent a significant time on.

I rarely drop a game I've started but when I do, it depends on if there's an aspect that is interesting or better than the rest of the game.

For example, I finished Shinobi 3D, a game I consider bang average, a 5/10, because it had one aspect, parrying and how it resets your moves that was really well implemented. On the other hand, I dropped DA: Inquisition some time after release (30 hours in), which I find to be mediocre but a more well rounded game, maybe a 6 or a 7, because nothing particularly stood out to me.

Not anymore, no. I used to beat games I deemed below average. But nowadays I'm more likely to drop a masterpiece than force myself to finish a "decent" game.

I dropped Ys 8, Valkyria Chronicles, Tears of the Kingdom, and... wait for it... Sekiro!! One of my GOAT games! I dropped them all close to the end.

Reason I dropped Sekiro is unique though. I got really sick for over a month, by the time I recovered I forgot so much and my immersion was killed. Dropped the other games because they started to bore me so I thought I needed a small break. But then the same thing happened... Immersion = slaughtered.

I do finish games I would rate 6 out of 10 on occasion, but that's quite rare, and usually depends on the game having at least one really good feature or aspect that makes it worth playing, whether that's a really well-written story, very enjoyable gameplay, or something else.

Yep, I've beaten lots of average games in my life. F1 Race Stars, Far Cry New Dawn, Halo 5, Batman Arkham Origins, Need for Speed Payback, NSMB2, Batman Telltale to name a few.

A game that's like a 7/10 can still be enjoyable, it really depends on how much effort the game is. Racing Games etc you can kind of just turn your brain off and go through it. I think it'd be harder for me to finish a 7/10 or less game like an RPG, Puzzle or anything that requires a lot of attention and time.

RPGs and long games definetly need to be of a certain quality for sure. If Dragons Dogma 2 and FF16 weren't sub 30 hours, I'd gave given up but sure when you're half way through the game waiting for it to click and there is a mild hook still within the game, it just sort of makes sense to see it through. 

Agreed. Even a small hook is enough. Playing Black Myth Wukong now and it has a small hook in me, outside of the occasionally really great boss fights there is just a tiny little sliver of stickiness that keeps me coming back despite being very down in the dumps, looks like there is 40 more hours to go but that little tiny hook is all I need to push through the average parts or poor parts and continue progressing for the good boss fights.

Same with FF16 last month but it was the story and characters that saw me through despite everything else being as bland and average as a game could possibly be. 

I'm in exactly the same position as you but there is also the money factor, I wait for half price or under but even at a high 35 euro it feels like I'm wasting money If I don't make use of the game to some degree, the more spent the harder it is to drop the game while waiting for it to get good and the deeper in I end up. But do you wish, as I do, to be able to say nope, I'm only gonna beat games that are great cause you will have more time to play the great games and waste less time? I would have to assume that only beating 9's or above would give you a warped perspective on games and since you have no notion of what an average game is you wouldn't be able to fully appreciate the highs...