Nat over at buttonmashing.com is asking an interesting question: Do you finish the games that you buy? I had to answer no, but the question is more complicated than that.
I should start off by saying I play a lot of games. I probably on average buy one a fortnight, and since I have an interest in the mechanics of the games I tend to play a lot of games that do interesting things but people may consider to be bad games according to the reviews. Apparently either I have low standards or reviews are rubbish because I don't think I've brought a game that I didn't enjoy since I gave up on non-MMO PC games a few years ago.
All this means that I have a lot of games and so it's not possible for me to finish them all yet. I probably will do though for most over the upcoming years, but there are specific games that I know I will never bother with.
The easiest way to make me never complete your game, Mr Game Devs, is to have a final boss that's a lot harder to beat than the rest of the game. Adding quick time events to that process will help greatly. A perfect example of this is Heavenly Sword which has an impenetrable end fight without using a spoiler site saying what to do, and on top of that it needs random timed button presses. You know what? I failed it a few times and now can't be bothered so won't ever complete the game. I'm probably only a few minutes away from the end titles, but they've lost me. There's no payoff for winning beyond the oh-so-predictable plot so no incentive for me to put up with the lazy gameplay, even though I really enjoyed the rest of the game but the end ruined the experience, and this is a pretty common failing in games I fear.
I will finish lots of games though, but maybe not for a while. I have a habit of playing for a bit, getting distracted and then going back to it six months or a year later. I will probably complete every game I haven't given up with at the final showdown at some stage due to evenings of just waiting to play something different, but it's going to take a while. A good example is Just Cause, which I finished a few months back. Now that's a game with some very good ideas and a distinct lack of variation in gameplay, but coming back to it a few times over the months meant that I got past the boring grinding nature that came about from not having enough variation in missions to take over the villages (at this point it probably helps if you've played it) and had enough fun finishing it off that I'm really looking forwards to the sequel as I know they'll fix that problem. It's amazing what game design problems go away if you only play it for a few hours every so often.
The other problem is what is completion? Getting all the Trophies and Achievements? Getting to the end of the plot on easy? Having extracted every ounce of enjoyment that the game has to offer? I've completed Burnout to 100% (must get around to getting 101%, don't ask) and yet I still play it lots online so can I really consider it completed? I finished and enjoyed Bioshock very much, but I didn't do it on the highest difficulty level so is that considered completed? I'm not going to go back to it again until I want to enjoy the story again, so that's probably not going to be just before I get Bioshock 2. I maxed my skills out in Ultima Online many years ago, is that completing it? Have I completed Dead Rising after the first ending? How about the second? Do I really have to do Infinity Mode to some predefined level, such as the achievement for it?
Something that I would love to see, probably through 360voice.com as part of what it shows for your gamertag is game completion. There are achievements that designate having won at one level or another, so it would be nice if it said and listed the games that you've finished the plot on at any level, or maxed out the level or whatever is relevant for each game. I don't care if strangers can see it, it's just handy information to share between friends.
posted @ Wednesday, July 09, 2008 1:32 PM