How to catch up?

[saif]

I am sure everybody does it:
Play a game but not finish it. How do you get back into it? This happens especially with RPGs, what would you say is the best way back into a game?

I say with specific thoughts of Persona 4 (40hrs in) but generally, are there any good methods to reacquaint?

[Jebus]

Some games I find you just can't, unless you are willing to start them again.

Zelda Wind Waker I never finished because I got half way, didn't play it for ages and couldn't get back into it, had no idea what was going on or what I was supposed to do!

[toythatkills]

How on earth you could stop Persona 4, 40 hours in, is beyond me. I'd quit any prior engagements to get it done!

[kernow]

With Wind waker I picked it up a whole 9 months later and managed to finish it.

If you can't get into it try restarting, if that fails, just sell it.

[smouty]

I continued with my Mass Effect save just over 1 year later. I was only 2 hours in but I am playing through it again anyway as the first part is quite important. I can't give you a strategy though, just play it.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Gamefaqs are good for catching up with the plot/what to do next

[Number45]

I can't if I've played a game for more than a few hours, I just start again. I've done it at least twice with FFX (And still haven't finished the game) and more recently played through Fallout 3 from the start again because I hadn't a clue how to play the game after installing Broken Steel.

So now I don't leave the game unless it's complete, or I know I'll never play it again.

[Paddy]

How on earth you could stop Persona 4, 40 hours in, is beyond me. I'd quit any prior engagements to get it done!

Play it for 2 hours, then it'll work it's magic from there (that plus you'll want to get the true ending if only for feeling a sense of completeness when you finally lay it to rest).

And, that it's an enjoyable game to play after all. Thank goodness they took some of the best bits of P4 and added those to P3P!

[saif]

P4 is a great game. I stopped as I could not find the 90mins everyday to play it for a few weeks.....

[Charlie]

Modern RPG's tend to keep logs of what quests you've completed, conversations you've had, what you've previously done/still need to do in current quests, etc. which can help when returning to a game.

[speedlolita]

I didn't play Persona 4 past the first save point. >_>

I think Bayonetta may conquer my short attention span though.

[dataDave]

I'm about 30hrs into Ogre Battle 64, I haven't touched my save file in nearly ten years so I'm definitely going to have to start again, which is a shame because I'd developed some neat characters on there, namely a Beastmaster with two really strong Cerberus dogs that had evolved from crap pups. He was unstoppable.

[saif]

Continuing my FF12 save, it tells you where to go and there is a lot of info about hunts etc. Very well done.

[Welrain]

I tend to start again if I have left a game for too long. Restarted Oblivion a good 3 or 4 times.

[Concrete donkey]

About 209 hours into Oblivion back in 2006 my PC broke down. Being that far into it and invested in the persona I had created for myself I failed at attempts to start again on the 360. 3 years later and my PC was fixed and as you can imagine I still found it hard to get back into. I avoided doing any quests or visiting any cities for a few hours, just dungeoun crawling until I got back into the swing of things. Then I started picking up quests again and becoming more involved with the world again. I've taken another break, now about 270 hours into it to play other games and confident I can find my way again.

Getting back into Half Life 2 after the PC failure is a different story though, having restarted the game several times but never getting close to where I once was.