u/LoopyOldJohn1212

We can all think of a few, a game that's part of a larger franchise/series but didn't really bode well with its fans. Maybe it was the writing, maybe something else. But some of them still ended up being fun and enjoyable in their own way.

I (25M) have been with this girl (22F) for over a year, maybe a year and a half. It all started off very lovey dovey, I hadn't been in a relationship for over 5 years prior to this one and it had gotten so bad that I was very depressed, being alone.

She's a very sweet and beautiful girl that I had an amazing time with the first 8-9 months. We'd become really close... I've met her parents, she's met mine, I've been to see her in the hospital when she was quite sick, we've travelled together a little bit, celebrated holidays and birthdays together, exchanged quite a few presents and gifts, met each other's friends... Many things that people consider investments when in a relationship, and things that often unconsciously create certain expectations for the future.

However, I've sadly began to lose interest. I've began to lose interest a little while now truth be told, but I feel like it's peaked these past couple of months. We see each other once a week, actually we have been seeing each other once a week for some time, and it used to be twice. What with me working and her still being a student, and living quite some distance away from each other (not even a 20 minute drive but neither of us has a car). Despite how little I see her nowadays I sadly don't feel anything about it, I've just come to not care. I no longer enjoy being with her that much, I've come to realize we don't really have so much in common and aren't interested in exploring each other's interests, which is fair. The sex is decent, but it's not enough for me, and I've started to feel tremendous pressure to spend more time with her. She has been complaining about this recently, us not seeing each other so often, and she's obviously very much still in love with me and dying to spend time with me.

But I can no longer reciprocate. I don't want to get into detail about all the reasons why this might have happened but I've come to the conclusion it's nothing that can be talked about and sorted through communication. We're at somewhat different life stages (yes, despite the small age gap), she wants things I don't feel like I can provide, she wants constant romance and.. anyway, things I'm not up for. I feel like i've fallen out of whatever it was I used to feel for her, and i've started to want out. Only problem is, she has absolutely no clue. She just thinks I'm busy with work and other things and is a little sad about not meeting very often, other than that.. clueless. I'm fairly sure it would, probably will, absolutely devastate her when I sit her down to talk to her about it, and I have no idea how to do it. She's always been highly emotional, cries very easily and I can just tell rejection to her will be like a flashbang in a dark and empty metal room.

It has been her first actual relationship, I obviously don't want to make her sad, but i've been through this before because I was the one to break up with my ex girlfriend as well. I know the drill, sometimes the right decision will make people upset or hurt, I know I can't control her feelings and her reaction, and yet it still pains me and scares the shit out of me to even think about. I certainly know it would be no better for either of us to just pretend like nothing is going on. Only thing i've been thinking about to try and salve my conscience is that maybe I could ease her into it somehow, like maybe I could avoid seeing her for a while longer to somewhat kill the interest from her side too, but at the same time im afraid it might be a childish way of thinking and only make her feel sad for longer. I'm afraid of doing it in person because she is guaranteed to break down crying and draw attention, plus she'll then have to wait to be picked up by her mother which makes me feel even more awkward. At the same time I've always heard that these conversations shouldn't happen over a phonecall or a text, especially when there's history between the 2.