Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Question of the week! How much of a completionist are you?


When I was just a young lad we didn't have achievements... we made them ourselves blah blah rant rant...
Ok, don't get me wrong on this. I am not a huge fun, and neither I am against achievement or trophies. To be honest I think they are a nice feature of today's games.

Indeed, the older games didn't have any achievements, and do you remember how awesome it felt when you finally bested the end boss? Yup, that really felt like an achievement. But if I go back to tales of Symphonia for an example. To finish the game 100% you have to make several choices trough different playtrough... the result? An awesome weapon? A secret cutscene? Some dark feature of the game developers for the next games? Nope, nothing at all, and that is were I think achievements really shine. 

That' why I usually try to collect all of em. Some games preview how to unlock them, such as a small text saying, reached the highest level etc. Some are secret and give you just that extra bit of satisfaction on a game. I really liked it that I can show to friends that I collected all rare weapons in a certain game or bested a boss with no damage. That is the middle road however. There are too easy or hard achievements.
Startup the game?... achievement. Made a 2 hit combo, achievement, made a 3 hit combo, achievement. Walk around naked? Depends... anyway. You also have those way to grindy achievements. Collect 999999999999 of the currency in the game... with a max amount of 50 per battle or so this is just a matter of grinding. Beat the entire game defeating all enemies without getting damage... in 30 min.... achievement? Yeah right, I am not Asian( no offence meant bro ;) ).

To cut it short, I like achievements if they add a certain challenge to the game that is doable. Trying to get every last achievement or that platinum trophy is a good way to add gameplay time amount. But what do you guys and gals think of achievements and trophies. 
How much of a completionist are you?
Leave me the message in the comments below. Also, this is a friends opinion about this matter ;)


1 comment:

  1. Well as you know, it is a miracle when I even finish a game... so I guess no ;) However there are exceptions when the award is really good like FFX-2 (the perfect ending) But I remember I got bored somewhere during chapter 3 and ended up watching the perfect ending on you-tube. Anyways... I almost did it in Radiant Historia, but near the end you just had to grind too much so I didn't finish it in the end.. yup... it is a challenge for a game developer to keep me interested long enough to complete even the main story of a game ;)

    ReplyDelete