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Subnautica: Will I Ever Finish and Then Play Below Zero?

Last Updated on October 7, 2024 by Michael Brockbank

Subnautica happens to be one of my favorite games. It checks all of the boxes for me behind what makes a stellar experience. But, I have yet to finish the game in the three years I’ve been playing. Why is that?

I’m, unfortunately, one of those people who loves to start over with a different strategy. It’s why I have more than 530 hours in Fallout 4 and have never been through half of the game.

Not to mention how I often get into games only to stop playing after a month to play something else. By the time I come back around to any particular title, I forgot what I was doing.

At that point, I simply start over. It’s a vicious cycle, really.

The only games that held my attention long enough to beat as quickly as possible are Diablo and StarCraft. But, that’s because the cinematics and storyline did an incredible job of sucking me in.

This doesn’t mean that Subnautica’s plot is weak. It just means I am more of the “movie-goer” type of player. I absolutely love the storyline to Subnautica.

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Why Finish Subnautica Before Playing Below Zero?

Another oddity of my gameplay is that I like to finish games in chronological order. And even though Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero can stand alone as their own titles, Below Zero is essentially the sequel.

But because I have a tenancy to start over from scratch, I never get to finish the first in a series before moving on.

A good example of this is when my ex bought me Neverwinter Nights 2. I never beat the first one and wanted to finish it before starting the sequel. The end result is a game still wrapped in its cellophane for the past 20 years.

I’ll finish it, eventually. Especially since my daughter is really interested in playing Neverwinter now.

Delaying Completion is a Curse

Although I often don’t mind starting a game over, I often view it as a curse, really. For one thing, my ex went out of her way to get a game I really wanted but never played.

This kind of thing makes me feel quite guilty. Yeah, there are a lot of regrets from my past that I’m still working on.

But if I don’t set aside the time to finally finish Subnautica, I’ll never truly enjoy what the developers had in store for Below Zero. And I’ve owned the game since they launched it on Steam in the very beginning.

My mindset for certain games also ensures that I’ll never truly be an expert at any one given title. But, I’m not trying to be a badass or enter eSports competitions.

I’m a casual gamer who just wants to get lost in an imaginary world for an hour or two.

Life Gets in the Way

Unlike a lot of younger gamers on Twitch or YouTube, I have a lot of things going on. For one, I have a full-time writing job that demands a lot of my attention.

Then, I also manage five blogs, four YouTube channels, two podcasts, and writing an eBook.

Needless to say, I don’t really have eight hours per day to dump into any one game. It would be nice, but I don’t know if that would make me happy.

To be honest, I rather like what I do for a living.

This is what happens when you start wearing a lot of different hats as a content creator. It can be hectic as hell and take a lot of time away from things you’d like to accomplish.

So Many Other Games to Play!

I can’t simply dedicate all of my time to one particular game. I know a lot of Twitch streamers make a living off of certain titles, but I’m not them. I want to enjoy a wide range of games and genres.

For example, right now, I am working on Season 24 of Diablo III. And then with Diablo II: Resurrected coming out on September 23rd, I’m sure I’ll dump some time into that title as well.

So if I want to finish Subnautica at any point, I need to balance my time. And this is something far easier said than done. Especially given what I do on a day-to-day basis.

I guess I’m just all over the map when it comes to the games I want to play.

Do I Intend to Finish Subnautica?

One of the things I have planned for the near future is adding more Subnautica videos to the YouTube channel. At one point, I was doing a series on Twitch for the hard mode of the game. But, we’ve since moved gaming efforts to YouTube.

Granted, we don’t upload or stream very often. Hopefully, that will change very soon.

At any rate, I do plan on uploading Subnautica videos more often, which should inspire me to finish the game. There are just so many things going on right now that I need to figure out how I can do it all in a logical fashion.

In other words, I need to figure out how to get more time, motivation, and help to keep the channel growing.

Regardless, I am going to work on finishing the game at some point before the end of the year…damnit.

Perhaps I Can Stick to a Live Series

Now that the kids are back in school, I can always dedicate a few live streams to finish Subnautica. Though, I did trade my Tuesday gaming streams for a live podcast.

Technically, I’m supposed to do a live stream five days a week for three different platforms. Two of which are the podcasts.

I’m not entirely sure if that’s possible at the moment. With so much going on in September, it may be unrealistic to put in a lot of effort for gaming videos.

Not that anyone watches them anyway.

Still, you can’t build a brand without actually working on the content. So, I’ll have to jockey my schedule around to get more playtime in my day.

I could dedicate an hour on Tuesdays for just live streams.

Yes, I Will Finish Subnautica…Before 2030

There are times when I wish I could focus more on one particular title until I finish. But, that’s just not how my brain works, unfortunately. Although I have a lot of fun playing games like Subnautica, I’m more likely to start over than to finish.

Perhaps I just need to make it a goal for my YouTube channel. If I can find a way to focus on completing a game with a greater sense of urgency, I just might.

Then again, I play to have fun. If I have to force myself to do something, it won’t end nearly as well.

So, we’ll just say that yes, I will finish Subnautica before 2030. Hopefully.

Michael Brockbank
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Michael Brockbank

Michael developed ColoradoPlays to help various charities through his favorite pastime. Since then, the blog and Twitch channels have donated several hundred dollars to Extra Life, Geeks of Grandeur and Operation Supply Drop, to name a few.