I own a lot of video games, and I enjoy a wide variety of them. I’ve bought games based on my own interest, recommendations from others and even just from looking at the cover. I keep most games; it’s rare for me to ever trade them in. 

But there are some games that I just completely regret buying:

1. The Beatles: Rock Band

I was really into music games and I still have almost every Guitar Hero and Rock Band game. At the peak, I even had Frets on Fire and DrumMania on my PC because I wasn’t getting enough of a fix. This game was doomed from the start. I’m not really a Beatles fan, and I found the game boring. It doesn’t help that the songs weren’t even exportable to the mainline game, like every other game allowed. I played through the game once before trading it in.

2. Grand Theft Auto IV

I loved Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City. I didn’t own San Andreas, but I enjoyed playing it when my cousin brought it over. I was ecstatic when I finally got myself Grand Theft Auto IV for my Xbox 360. That excitement was short-lived. I hated the physics in the game, and the campaign had such a slow start that it sparked no joy. The experiment lasted about a week before I got rid of the game. Years later, I decided to give it another shot on PC, with DLC. I still have the same complaints about the base game, but I do enjoy The Lost and Damned story. At least it has something going for it now.

3. Marvel’s Avengers

I was genuinely hopeful for this game and the early parts delivered. I loved the setup for the story, and that should have been how the game continued. Had this been a linear, story-focused game it could have been one of the best superhero games of all time. Instead, after getting invested, I got thrust into repetitive, live service focused garbage. I’ve never gone from fully invested to disinterested so quickly.

4. Gears of War: Judgment

This is a game from one of my all-time favorite franchises. It still sits on my shelf, since I own every Gears game, plus action figures, pops, art books, and an RC tank. I can’t get rid of it despite how much I hated the game. What could have been a fine spinoff turned into a chore to play through. The campaign constantly paused for wave-defense sequences, breaking my immersion and making me not want to take the time to progress the story. 

5. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

What a disappointment. I have great memories associated with playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and the third entry is one of the best fighting games I’ve played. When it was finally announced a new entry was on its way, this game is not what I expected. The graphics are fine, but it felt like a missed opportunity not to tie character designs into the MCU. The roster was absolute garbage, and moving down to a two-person team makes the game feel like a downgrade in every way. I have to keep my 360 out because I wish 3 was backward compatible. 

6. Resident Evil 6

This is another game that still lives on my shelf, a few times I think. Resident Evil is another series I collect, with multiple copies of each game and movie, as well as other merch. But if I never play this game again, I’d be completely fine pretending it doesn’t exist. I had enjoyed every other mainline game in the series by this point, and I got the copy of RE6 that came with digital editions of the first five. This game was not Resident Evil at all. Instead, we got a skinned zombie action game that could have been from any other franchise entirely. 

7. Skyrim

I tried hard to get into this one. I’ve bought it multiple times and started campaigns at least ten times. And each time I remember that I just don’t care about this game at all. I don’t have an explanation, I just don’t have any interest whatsoever in playing this.