Are you a completest?

I've been wondering how many other gamers on here strive to achieve 100% completion in all of their games?

When I was a kid, I didn't receive very many games; I'd often only got one or two games a year. However, that didn't dissuade me from playing the games I had to their absolute fullest. In 1982, my dad bought me an Atari 2600. As the years passed, I collected several awesome games such as Donkey Kong, Pac-man, Dig Dug, Q-bert, and Space Invaders. Since I didn't have very many games, I had to be creative with what I had, so I bought a large paper notebook and filled it with all of my top scores in each game. I even set goals to reach in each such as 50,000 or 100,000 points, and I'd work my tail off to reach them. What was so great about playing this way was that it instilled in me a way of playing that hasn't changed much over the last 27 years.

I'm a completest.

Warping to 2007, I still have a notebook (a binder with printed pages now) where I actually keep a list of all of my games, and what I have achieved or unlocked in each. For instance, I have a list of every item in Animal Crossing Wild World, and as I unlock each item, bug, fish, or fossil in the game, I put a check mark next to it. I will not stop playing this game until I have earned every single item in the game. In fact, since I started playing this game back at Christmas 2005, I've put in well over 500 hours of game play into this one $35 (USD) game. Crazy, huh?

This binder also has several pages devoted to all of my GC, Wii, and DS games. I have lists of my high scores or track times in Alien Hominid, Ikaruga, Wave Race 64, Mario Kart DS, Tetris DS, Mini-games in New Super Mario Bros, ect. I also put in there how many stars I've collected in Super Mario 64 and Sunshine. Endings are another part of my completest nature. I have to see every ending in a game good or bad such as all three endings for Metroid Prime.

What has really amazed me is that many games have nice little secrets that most gamers never see because they didn't take the time to scour every square inch of their games. For instance, I recently discovered a funny little thing in Zelda: Twilight Princess. If you go to the Zora's throne room, look behind the throne. :lol: It's little touches like these that can make taking our time playing these games more enjoyable and longer lasting.

Another thing I love to do with my games is to create my own games or goals within the game. Recently, in Super Mario Bros. (NES/ VC), I created a goal of beating the game without using any power ups, cheats or level warps. Basically, I'm playing through each level consecutively as little Mario which means one-hit-death. It also means that I won't be able to collect all of the coins in the game, so I'm limited by how many lives I can have. It has been a fun challenge that I still haven't completed despite my 15+ attempts, but I know I will reach it eventually.

Now I only allowing myself to buy six or seven games a year, so this sty-le of gaming has been very beneficial to me. I honestly don't feel that I get my moneys worth with new games if I don't try to do everything each game has to offer. Granted, some challenges are beyond my skills, but it is still fun to try them anyway.

So, how many of you are 100% completest?

WOW!!!!! I admire your dedication to fully completing your games.

I, sadly, am no longer acompletest. Like you when I was younger I rarely got new games so all of the games that I did have I would play the hell out of them. I would strive to complete every game that I owned 100%. But....now times have changed. These days I find myself just completing the main story of a game and then thats it. I think it has something to do with the fact that I buy soooo many games and I don't have the time to complete every single thing in the games. I'm pretty sure that if I became more selective with my game selection then I wouldn't have this problem.

I was a lot like that when I was younger, but while playing FInal Fantasy X I had an epiphany. You see, I always felt that if I had a game I had to finish it. That's just how it was. But I hated FFX. I mean, I loathed the game. So after 30 hours of gameplay I asked myself why I was still playing it and I couldn't figure out why. There was no reason aside from just the need to complete the game.

So I turned off the game and now I basically play games until I'm not having fun with them anymore. I finish a lot fewer games than I did before, but it doesn't bother me one bit. I'm a much happier gamer this way.

I always try to complete the games I buy. I usually only try and make sure I get the main storyline done. If I dont enjoy the game, or find that its becoming a chore to play then I dont bother trying to get "extras".

Ive got to say, I dont know wether to admire, or feel sorry for you (no offence meant). But, it seems as though youre completely obsessed by getting everything done in every game.
Most people see games as a form on entertainment, to play and enjoy for as long as theyre enjoyable. Its all about having fun. BUT - if you have fun painstakingly scouring every game you have for every little tiny bit of progress, then congrats :) You've probably achieved more in 20 games than most people have in 200.

I like to get to the end of a game if there is a campaign or story, and usually on the default difficulty.I'm a completist in that respect.

But I don't go back and look for hidden items or then try on nigh impossible difficulty - there's too many games and not enough time for that - for me anyway.

8)

Dang; I never try to complete games 100%. I'm thinkin about trying with Metroid Prime, but my self-imposed ban on walkthroughs of any sort means I usually enjoy just replaying through the game again more.Funkyhamster

I always try to complete the games I buy. I usually only try and make sure I get the main storyline done. If I dont enjoy the game, or find that its becoming a chore to play then I dont bother trying to get "extras".

Ive got to say, I dont know wether to admire, or feel sorry for you (no offence meant). But, it seems as though youre completely obsessed by getting everything done in every game.
Most people see games as a form on entertainment, to play and enjoy for as long as theyre enjoyable. Its all about having fun. BUT - if you have fun painstakingly scouring every game you have for every little tiny bit of progress, then congrats :) You've probably achieved more in 20 games than most people have in 200.

VinnoT

Yeah, I don't consider myself to be obsessed with completing games. I do it because it is fun. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun, believe me. It often takes me months or years to fully complete a game, but it is always my goal. I certainly understand why most people don't fully complete their games; shoot, there's a ton of awesome games out there to play! I just feel like I get more out of my games when do fully complete them. It also forces me to buy only the very best games.

I went throuh a period from mid-2002 through Christmas 2004 where I bought pretty much every game I had an interest in (sometimes two or three new games a month). I had armassed a huge library of titles between my Xbox, GC, DS, DC, and PS2. However, I soon realised that I just wasn't having as much fun with my games as I used too. I constantly felt overwhelmed by them all, and knew that I could never finish all of them even once. That's when I realised that the old saying, "less is more" is very true (at least for me). I decided then and there to sell off all but my absolute favorite games, and go back to being the gamer that I once was, a completest.

It is a struggle to keep my self from impulse buying more games than I do now, but this is the only way that I truely enjoy this hobby. Besides, it also saves me a ton of money too! :)

[QUOTE="Funkyhamster"]Dang; I never try to complete games 100%. I'm thinkin about trying with Metroid Prime, but my self-imposed ban on walkthroughs of any sort means I usually enjoy just replaying through the game again more.Greatgone12

QFT. I've found that by scanning each room from different angles and heights helps a ton in finding everything.

Yes! Exactly with me! I hardly got any games when I was little. I think I had about 6 nes games, but man did I play them like no other. :D

The trend continued on with SNES and N64, I didn't have a ton of games for either of them, but I played them a whole hell of a lot until I became really good at them.

These responses are pretty much what I expected. There's certainly nothing wrong with enjoying a game anyway that you like. . . even if that means you never finish it. I'm kind of surprised (but very happy!) that devs put as much effort in these side-quests and secrets as they do since it seems that most people don't actually bother doing them. I recently read (don't remember where, unfortunately) that Peter Molyneux (Fable) stated that he was saddened by the knowledge that most people don't finish the games they buy. I think these are the reasons we are seeing a lot shorter games coming out lately. I'm interested in finding out how many hours of gameplay are packed into Fable 2, Metroid Prime 3, Zelda Phantom Hourglass, and Super Mario Galaxy.

Side note: I put in over 60 hours of gameplay into Fable 1. So, be happy Peter, there are people who did finish it. . . several times actually! :lol:

I tend to be a completionist...I just don't see the point of playing unless you try to do it well. Which, for me, does include total completion.

Although yeah, if the game is boring....I won't force myself to play through it entirely. But generally if the game is good enough to play to the end, it's good enough to put in the extra effort.

[QUOTE="Greatgone12"][QUOTE="Funkyhamster"]Dang; I never try to complete games 100%. I'm thinkin about trying with Metroid Prime, but my self-imposed ban on walkthroughs of any sort means I usually enjoy just replaying through the game again more.MLJ28

QFT. I've found that by scanning each room from different angles and heights helps a ton in finding everything.

Yeah... I already did that on my first playthrough, so I have a lot of the scans; I think I missed a boss scan or two somewhere though. :cry:

I'll probably try to get all of the scans when I replay the game in a few months...