100%

[Timmo]

Yeah horses for courses, man. I see it as you, one guy, travelling through a massive island full of hostiles. I wouldn't have had half as good a time if I didn't feel really vulnerable while playing. I haven't died much but it's only because I've played very carefully and methodically. If I was a bullet sponge I wouldn't have anything like the same experience.

I'm not being elitist here, I'm not amazing at the game or anything. I'd just hate for someone playing the game on easy to cast the game aside as unexciting, unengaging or lacking in tension when they're exactly what I feel I'm getting when I play. Like I said, in this case difficulty is funadamental to the experience like it is in Halo. It's not a rollercoaster shooting gallery like a lot of FPS's.

[Steven]

I've never understood the compulsion to 100% games. I think shooting all 500 pigeons or whatever on GTA is a bit sad really. Orbs, Coins & Pigeons always just feel like a weak effort to pad out a game to the user.

Saved me typing it. Cheers.

[angel]

i dont think anyones denying halo 3 is way way better when you have to play it properly, conquering the massive battles using every means necessary. its just nice to have the option to do both. anyone criticising a game on normal for not being challenging is an idiot. it'd be like going to the cinema and blaming the film because you couldnt see for the man in front's top hat. you have the choice, change it.

[Ketchup]

I've completed Mario 64 100%, but that was because it was completing all 100 challenges. I later completed Banjo Kazooie 100%. Something i would never do now. Collecting every sodding jiggy, redoing the boss fight (with extended bonus quizz section) and every other little thing in the game. I then tried to do DK64 100% but realised about halfway through that some of the challenges were totally stupid and having to collect FIVE different sets of coloured bananas was no fun. Now i also play games on easy as long as nothing is removed from the game. I'd rather shoot enemies in resident evil and get away with them biting me than having to feel tense for an hour in the game trying to hunt down a herb knowing a zombie could kill me at any second and i haven't saved for a while.

It's all about the experience, not the difficulty.

[bigbrick]

i gave up trying to 100% games years ago, but recently became utterly compelled with 100%'ing the Lego games.

finished up Batman yesterday and have now done them all except the complete saga version of LSW....which i will end up picking up cheap and doing despite having already spending 40-50 hours of my life on the split versions.

as for difficulty levels, i have too many games and not enough time to spend honing skills so i tend to stick them on easy on the first run through and only replay the ones that were really good on a harder setting.

[dan_tm]

As far as I am aware, the only game I have 100%ed, achievement wise, on the 360 is Marble Blast Ultra.

So no, not really.

[shynra]

Only 100% games i really really like and enjoy playing. I think the last game i really 100%'d or tried was Ouendun 2, completed it on all difficulties including hidden, but then went on a 100%, Perfect, hidden each song - done about 6 songs like that but stopped as i think my DSs touch screen is a bit dud (no its not my fault - its the screen honest...).

Anyway, i do believe to 100% modern games are a lot harder in some ways then back in the day, the amount of useless/ill thought out extras just to extent games are on the up - probably just to satisfy the marketing’s desire to stamp 'Over 200 hours of gameplay' on the box

[ManInJapan]

Would sir like that with ketchup, mustard or mayonnaise?

[Fry Crayola]

I don't care about full completion, I'm happy to just run through the story, have my fun and move on. If there are additional modes and the like they may or may not get played, depending on how good the game is.

100% completion is rarely fun anyway. As I always say, I don't like looking for something I've lost in real life, so why developers think I might find it entertaining in my spare time is beyond me. If you're going to make stuff out of the way of a normal playthrough, make it worth working for.

[Mr Do 71]

It would be nice to 100% Lego Star Wars, but there are too many annoying moments in the levels. So I'll probably never brother, like Crackdown and the bloody hidden orbs.

[angel]

at the end of the day, 100% means nowt to anyone. its not like you've climbed a mountain..youve fulfilled enough of the developers lazy quests to earn their achievements. the pigeons being the shittest, laziest example.

[locke_211]

I rarely 100% a game. The last one was Mario Galaxy and before that Resident Evil 4.

[Nick R]

I do replay games I really like (often at the expense of experiencing a new game for the first time). But it's usually to complete them on higher difficulties, or because there are a few particularly great levels, or to time attack them or go for high scores. I love unlocking bonuses if they're time or score based, but I don't make much effort to hunt down secret items through exploration.

[thesnwmn]

I hardly finish games for the most part.

The games I finish, and the ones I might go on to 100%, are the non-story driven ones. Racing and puzzle games. Things where it's mostly about not need to evaluate and thing on a problem, but rather react and repeat a task.

Most story driven games are far too long for me. All too often I get the time to invest in a game for one weekend, and then it will be a few weeks before I can invest another reasonble amount of time again. In this environment even the best stories can't hold your attention. Thus they either need to be short enough to finish that first weekend or be designed to allow me to dip in for 45 minutes, i.e. like a TV episode.

[Dapple]

I went through Super Mario 64 trying to get all 120 stars. I got to 119 and realised that there was one that I couldn't get (it was one held by the rabbit that used to run around outside the entance to the lava world) so had to go back and start all over again - and did it.

I just don't have anything close that kind of resolve for gaming these days. I'll occasionally try for the odd achievement, just for the sake of it, but often give up after a few goes if it's no fun.

[bigbrick]

the pigeons being the shittest, laziest example.

what pissed me off most was there wasn't any incremental bonus to finding them at all, unlike the hidden packages of earlier games.

i think i got 20 or so before realising i wasn't unlocking anything, checked online to confirm my fears and didn't bother wasting my time on the rest.

[angel]

i dont even like it calling them flying rats. theyre birds. just birds.

[goofy pls]

I used to be, a long time ago. 100% in Banjo Kazooie, all stars in SM64, all cheats in Goldeneye, all medals in Rogue Squadron. These days, not so much so, mostly with FF games, I essentially 100%'ed FFXII, FFX and FFVIII in the last few years. Achievements don't really do it for me, they seem to be for things I don't enjoy (completing CoD 4 on veteran) or bullshit online challenges (hi skate.), thankfully my OCD levels of completion haven't kicked in there or I'd be utterly fucked.

[angel]

in summary: too many other games and entertainment competing for your time.

[mchugh]

recently i hit 100% in COD4 on 360, before that, it was probably goldeneye. I don't usually have the time to arse about doing something very difficult for a minor statistic.

[divine visitor]

Due to various reasons I've pretty much only played three games so far this year (GTAIV, Smash Bros and Bionic Commando Rearmed), and I so naturally I've ended up thoroughly exhausting all the different modes, mini-games and side stories for each of them. I'm no completist though, I just keep playing a game if I'm enjoying it.

[Sprite Machine]

I'm with you guys, playing a new game is always more entertaining than finding some hidden coins.

Basically this, unless the game is really special.

[Varnsen]

i've recently started doing games on easy. Not all but some - I wanna see all the levels for example and i also don't want to get frustrated or irritate if i'm having a quick 20 minute blast on a game shortly before bed that kind of thing. Totally agree on Halo 3 though - the harder difficulty almost defines the experience.