There are many things to enjoy when playing video games, but the one for players like me is finishing everything the game has to offer. This bar can mean different things depending on the console era as achievements or trophies serve as this benchmark for this specific hobby. Letting us know when the time is up on the experience. Even this simple joy does not extend into all the possible genres as we have our comforts and preferred playstyles. Ultimately, it depends on whether or not that game is for you or if the grind is truly worth it. I'll take you through some of my completions and my current fancy to give an idea of how this joy can shift into a chore the more you play it.
One of my favorite completions thus far has been for the original Xbox remaster, Voodoo Vince. A 3D platformer about a Voodoo doll in a New Orleans-esque setting trying to save his owner. The appeal of the game is the setting and the wise-cracking Vince. Nothing too crazy, but I played the game as a kid and I went out of my way to get the original before the remaster was even announced. What made this completion one of my favorites was the nostalgia wrapped in an updated package with achievements to go with it. The game didn't need the achievements as the experience without them just means you don't get gamer points. There aren't any over-bearing challenges or hurdles, so completing the game fully by getting all the abilities and collectables was very much in the original make-up. Getting to enjoy the game in all of its glory without too much stress can make some games feel like a dead-end job. That enthusiasm of wanting to get back into the game is the kind of drive that is needed. Not to say completing a game through spite or willing yourself through it is the wrong way, but a positive drive can make you look back on it in fondness. While this one of relatively stress-free, my other completion was most certainly not.
As a huge fan of the Sonic series, I cannot stress enough that this franchise has some of the worst completion hurdles. I generally do not go for full completions on any of these games because of how absurd and grind heavy they can be. If this was any other game in the catalogue, I would tell you to just play the game and be done or to not worry about getting all the A or S ranks. Sonic Colors Ultimate has the easiest completion that I have dealt with, but that is also thanks to the people that make guides for video games. I used guides made by Stickman Guides on YouTube. They used timestamps and everything, even had solid routes for the more time-sensitive challenges. When I say this was the easiest of the Sonic games, that means I didn't have to learn frame perfect jumps and speed-run tricks where I go through walls. Just needed to grab items in a specific order and make up on the time where applicable. At the end of it all, I think I ended with thirty to forty hours of game time. A true blessing because it could have been quite awful. I still refuse to go for all the A-ranks in Sonic Adventure 2 and that is my favorite game. Sonic Colors Ultimate felt obtainable and when I finally finished it, I felt great because I never thought I could complete a Sonic game. That form of joy is what I look for in my games. The less painful the experience, the better for my own sake. My current trial has me questioning whether to through with it at the moment.
I have been playing Dark Souls 3 as of late. While I am enjoying the game, the completion is pretty fucking annoying. Many of the misses for me are obtainable in New Game+ but the amount of things that count towards the completion are vast. This is what weighs the most on me. I am close to just playing the game for the reason why I wanted to in the first place, killing all the bosses. That is the biggest reason why I play From Software titles. I've done it with Dark Souls and Bloodborne's main game, still need to clean up the DLC. While I need to go back to Dark Souls 2, I hate that game. As I felt relatively close to Bloodborne in completing it, I can't say the same about Dark Souls 3. I already have too many hours and I am hoping that there is an item where I can bow out of the completion and just kill bosses. This is where the joy starts to become lost. I get that some people like games that do this, but having to kill a specific group of enemies over and over for an item with a low drop-rate is infuriating. If you come to this point in a completion attempt, get out. Save yourself the hassle because dumb people like me will do it for you.
There are many joys in fully completing a video game. But don't sacrifice your sanity for completing everything. Know your limits and make the boundaries that make your completion the most worth in your eyes. Video games are supposed to be fun. Have fun with your games.
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