Completing games

[mashers]

I have quite a lot of games, from 3DS, WiiU, Wii, SNES and Mac. I've realised I take games for granted - I play them for a while then move on to something else. I rarely complete a game, and I feel this cheapens the experience. Giving up and moving on to a new game when it gets tough means I'm missing out on the most rewarding part.

So, I've decided to delete all my saves and start again. One game at a time, and completing one before moving on. I'll have to be strict with myself though.

First up: Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. I've decided to not only complete it, but 100% it with all puzzle pieces, KONG letters and hidden/bonus levels complete. I'm probably not going to do the timed challenges as I don't really enjoy them.

So, does anyone else do this - complete one game before moving on to another? Or do people generally leave games unfinished?

 

[robman62]

Honestly, the key is to get less games, and pay for games if possible. I noticed that I rarely ever complete games that I get for free, but then again I don't have much time allotted for games anymore. I probably complete one game per year nowadays. Keep your save files and get back to it when you have time.

 

[mashers]

@robman62
Actually that's a very good point which I forgot to mention. I own all of my games for all systems, whether purchased on cart or disc, or digitally. I don't pirate any games at all.

I think part of the reason I don't complete games is because I buy them not only to play, but also as part of my collection. For example, I've spent a lot of money on some of the rarer SNES carts (R-type, Chrono Trigger and others I can't think of now); I've hardly played them, but just enjoy having them in my collection. The plan now is to work my way through game by game, system by system

 

[FAST6191]

When things get tough maybe a reason to say it is cheapened.

Previously though I have asked whether you have to complete the story. Some felt quite strongly that you do, I still feel as long as you experience the game systems then it is OK and you can say you have done it.

 

[Catastrophic]

Well, you don't have to complete a game if you don't want to. If there's a game I really enjoy, I'll complete it. If I don't, I move on to something else. That being said, there are a lot of games I should give a go but am too lazy to. Especially when it comes to PC. I have soooooo many games on Steam I haven't played yet.

 

[mashers]

@Catastrophic
That's another really good point. Of course, games I actually don't enjoy I won't continue playing. I will generally keep them in my collection though.

Up next will probably be Soma. I stopped playing when I got to a really scary bit

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

To be honest the requirements for 100% Now and days are getting a bit ridiculous. I remember when there was only one way to finish a game, like super mario bros, all you had to do is save the princess. Usually i just use the warp pipe and that is it. Not sure why games had short cutts and stuff, that was when we had to make rules our self that beating every stage in order wa consider our 100%. Then games like Super mario world and Donkey kong country and super metroid had records for your completion by showing it on your save data. Then it got a little bit more desireable to explore every aspect of games.

Now in modern day, we have achievements system and since games are HUGE AND ALMOST UNLIMITED UPDATED. We have games like Super mario 3D world, Donkey kong country tropical freeze, Super smash bros, and lets not forget PSN trophies and XBOX LIVE achievements.

The first week of Wii u i got new super mario bros U. Of course i got all off the stages completed in only 4 days cause i am a mario master.
But then super mario 3d world was like..... What? Since i play the game alone, I managed to collect every stamp, get all star coins on each stage and even beaten THE CHAMPIONS ROAD. Final level hardest one in game. Now the way i see it, In order to get full completion what is left for me to do is BEAT EVERY STAGE WITH ALL CHARACTERS.

Since i was playing alone it means 5 times i play the whole game again. If i was playing four player mode the whole time it might have been less fustrating cause all i had to do was play it again with Rosalina the 5th character which is not as bad is 5 times over.

Donke kong tropical freeze wants you to collect all "Banjo-Kazooie Jigsaw puzzles" in every level, as well as all kong letters, each world has secret stage that unlocks when you collect all cong levels from the island. when you beat all secret stages you get access to one island that is harder than the rest of the game.... What happens? You beat it and the game says. "OH GREAT, you beat the whole game. I bet you can't do it all over again.... on hard mode... one hit point, no checkpoints, and repeat the process again. How tough are you now?"
Yeah, just great, a second playthrough with Higher expectations of the player to challeng that.

Don't let me get started on super smash bros.... Well that all i got to say, unless you want me to say more....

And last but not least the trophy system on PSN games. Take a good look at the platinum one.... let's see.... "Get all other trophies" Oh well okay lets seee GOLD: "Win 10 rank matches in a row" Oh so i need to play against other players online to get some trophies? Put my skill against others? Well good luck with that.

I don't think Games should have achievements that require you to play online against each other and is skill based. If it was to say "Play 500 online battles" Or even "Play 200 local group games" That isn't so bad. but "Win 10 ranked matches in a row" It means your playing against someone else who is probably trying to do the same and won't just lose on purpose for you, ranked is completly random match making so is rare to get same guy multiple times in sucession, so winning 10 in a row is kinda obsurd. I Just don't think it should be a thing. Then again, i understand is a option to play online but if your a achievemtn hunter is required so.... yeah you want that 100% trophy then good luck.

I guess the idea of 100% is to explore all of the game which is okay, is encouragaging to have someone get the most play of the game they spent value on. But it could also just update the game with more content, either way some games is fun to try and get everything done, and sometimes is a total nightmare.

 

[VinsCool]

I used to play a bit of anything and move to another game when I got bored.

Now, I try to:

Actually complete the game I currently am playing. If I get bored, I'll play another one and proceed the same. Once I complete one or other, I would get back to the other one and finish.

 

[Anunnymous]

I'm a lot like you. I collect games for the sake of collecting but rarely play or finish them. I started when I was younger and played a lot more. Now that I'm older I still have the collecting habit but don't have near the time for video games. That time is cut significantly due to the fact that I don't like playing when I have to work the next day. I hate getting into a game just to have to quit so I can sleep for work, so I just don't play. Then on the weekends, I notice I do a lot more of THIS. Hanging out on GBATemp, or other various websites researching games, or seeing what's coming out or just spending my time in game shops. And then, the day is gone and no time for play. I don't know if it's procrastination or if my love for actually playing the games is dying. It saddens me a little bit but I enjoy my collection none-the-less.

 

[mashers]

@Sonic Angel Knight
I agree when it comes to 'achievements'. I don't consider them to be part of the game, and don't consider the game incomplete just because I don't have all of them. In fact, I don't pay any attention to them at all.

Games that say 'you've done it, now do it again but harder' are slightly unsatisfying. In fact, any game that tells you you have completed the game but not fully or not with sufficient skill is annoying; you've either completed the game or you haven't.

Having said that, the completist in me enjoys collecting KONG letters, puzzle pieces, star coins, stamps etc. But I'm not averse to googling the locations if I can't find them. I really enjoyed the fact that NSMB2 unlocks a whole new set of worlds if you get all the star coins.

I guess it's up to each individual gamer to decide what they feel constitutes 'completion'. Some won't be satisfied until the game tells them they're done and there's nothing more to 'achieve'. I'm prepared to be a bit more flexible

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

@Sonic Angel Knight
I agree when it comes to 'achievements'. I don't consider them to be part of the game, and don't consider the game incomplete just because I don't have all of them. In fact, I don't pay any attention to them at all.

Games that say 'you've done it, now do it again but harder' are slightly unsatisfying. In fact, any game that tells you you have completed the game but not fully or not with sufficient skill is annoying; you've either completed the game or you haven't.

Having said that, the completist in me enjoys collecting KONG letters, puzzle pieces, star coins, stamps etc. But I'm not averse to googling the locations if I can't find them. I really enjoyed the fact that NSMB2 unlocks a whole new set of worlds if you get all the star coins.

I guess it's up to each individual gamer to decide what they feel constitutes 'completion'. Some won't be satisfied until the game tells them they're done and there's nothing more to 'achieve'. I'm prepared to be a bit more flexible

I'm only prepared to play until is not fun anymore. Any secrets i missed? Well sorry i didn't know, call me a bad player or whatever, i can beat mario games and such no problem but some games go too far with thier Oh so smart "Waste-of-time-Bait" (That what i am calling it now) Where you spend soo much time trying to do things and find out how dissatisfying you been or how unappeling the reward is or how much fun it stop being to a certain point.

Sure i would like to have platinum trophies for my games, and i have 2 out of over 100 possible. but cause some of them stop being fun to get. Super smash bros for wii u 3ds is one i have not really been motivated to do. one i didn't want was the "Defeat X number of enemies in Cruel smash" Well cause is cruel smash, is designed to be purposly unfair. I could practice and git gud but the ammount of effort it takes to do that one thing is very long and could be having more fun just as easily doing something else. Maybe i am not hard core but i don't care. Games are supposed to be fun and enjoyed not a Task or quest to be the best. ENJOY YOUR GAME, Let this be a lesson. To everyone.

 

[Deleted-379826]

This post is literally what I've recently been starting to do

 

[hippy dave]

When I got VVVVVV, for 3DS, I was instantly hooked. After playing it for three hours straight, I'd finished the main game, and collected all the shiny trinkets except for the hardest one (you know which one if you've played it).

But I was feeling stubborn, so I continued playing for another three straight hours, and I got the last shiny trinket. The feeling of satisfaction was enormous.

Then that revealed all the additional achievements, including stuff like completing the whole game without dying, and timed challenges. I thought fuck that, as I'd died a thousand times finishing the game and another thousand getting that last trinket, so I knew I'd never be able to get close to doing all the achievements, and it took away a bit from my satisfied feeling. Bah humbug.



I'm a completionist with puzzly stuff like the Picross games, will finish one game before starting the next in the series, tho I'll be playing other games in between. I only recently got around to playing Braid, and I've now got all but two puzzle pieces, and am determined to get the others when I can (not letting myself google solutions) - but I didn't find out about the collectable stars until I was most of the way through the game, and it's already impossible for me to get one of them without starting over, so I'm just not bothering with those at all. In my youth I completed every level of the original Lemmings game apart from the very last two, and that still slightly bugs me when I think about it.

 

[mashers]

@Anunnymous
That sounds just like me

@VinsCool
That sounds like a good strategy. I'll try it if I get too frustrated.

@hippy dave
Yeah unachievable achievements are frustrating as fuck. I wonder what developers are thinking when they include things like that, and choose to consider them unnecessary to consider the came complete.

 

[Taleweaver]

I rarely finish the games I play, and I don't feel guilty about this at all.

first of all, there are plenty of games without a clear end goal. Tetris, pac-man and sim city are examples of games that can just be played ad infinitum, and some really attempt that (it took me 50 hours to complete the campaign in anno 2070, and that was basically a wide open tutorial ). Other games have an end goal, but it isn't about getting to that. Guitar hero games are an example. And so are most (if not all) multiplayer-focussed shooters.

So about the games that remain...as mentioned, there used to be a time where these had a clear start and a clear end. There could have been secrets, but it wasn't tracked so it didn't matter. Later, game time became ranked and percentages of completion were given. Around the same time games started using achievements, extra hard modes and....well, mostly filler material. I never understood that...yes, I know that gamers who like games love getting reasons to search every nook and cranny, so it's fanboy service (especially since it has become the norm).
However, times have changed. Gaming has become cheap to a retarded degree (here: spec ops: the line for 1 buck), so even without piracy, you can EASILY stock up on more quality games than you can ever hope to play (even the needed pc's for it become cheaper by the month). And with money out of the way, time becomes the most valuable resource.
Not everyone has a day job or a girlfriend, but think about this: there are only so many hours in a day you can spend on video games. Is a bit of satisfaction of completing a game 100% really worth it if it takes away time you could have spend on the countless other games on your (virtual) shelf?

 

[Glyptofane]

I do this all the time and hate myself for it. I will either finish or really play the shit out of a couple games every half decade or so. The rest go into some sort of time capsule or quarantine... I tell myself, I'm going to finish this one before I buy and commit to the sequel, but I never do.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I rarely complete a game, but most games just don't get me hooked and keep me interested for long enough to finish it. I tend to take a lot of long breaks because I get bored of a game. For me beating a game I really like is kind of a bad feeling, like "It's over... What am I gonna do now?" even though I have lots of other games I can play I never feel like playing them.

 

[DinohScene]

I try to complete a game as much as I can.
I like 100%ing games if possible.

 

[Blaze163]

I mostly play games for the story, the adventure and the scenery. Once I've been everywhere I tend to move on. I don't go for perfect rankings on time trials or anything like that, I've already seen the track. The only exceptions to date have been Starfox 64, which I could happily play on my death bed instead of talking to family, Ace Combat Squadron Leader because repetition is how you earn the coolest looking planes, and Sonic Generations because I was damned if I was gonna let that F$%king Vector level with the bouncing music notes beat me.

 

[FAST6191]

I rarely finish the games I play, and I don't feel guilty about this at all.

first of all, there are plenty of games without a clear end goal. Tetris, pac-man and sim city are examples

Ehem

Vincent Ocasla has beaten Sim City 3000. For those of you saying, "So what? He beat a video game," you should know that beating Sim City is like finishing Pac-Man or arguing with your wife -- there is no actual "win" condition. Or so the creators thought, but they didn't count on Ocasla's unsettling obsession. He created a flawless, fully functional Sim City of roughly six million residents, and it only took him four years. Those aren't "in-game years" either -- those are actual real years of his life: 1.5 years of theory and planning, and 2.5 years of construction (read: clicking on water pipes and power lines while he slowly forgets what it is to experience human love)

The amount of sheer calculation and planning that has gone into this city is beyond any harmless hobby. While we were going about our daily routines, Ocasla was planning. While we were laughing, struggling and just getting by, Ocasla was planning. While we were making love and arguing and growing old together, Ocasla was planning -- planning his ruthlessly efficient, totalitarian dream-state. The ominous Latin names and sinister music in the video don't do anything to convince us he's not the next Borg overlord, either. And then there are his words. When asked about the fact that in his city, the average life of a citizen lasted only 50 years, he stated: "Health of the Sims was not a priority, relative to the main objective."