A couple weeks ago, I started playing Hogwarts Legacy. Adding the title to my routine occurred after learning that a sequel to it might be in the works, news that had fans stirring. Not that I’m a Hogwarts fan – I know of the universe thanks to the related Harry Potter movies, and that’s about it – but I am a fan of RPGs. If all the game’s press last year was true (not to mention that it was a hit in my own household), then Hogwarts Legacy was definitely one I needed to experience. Long story short, it’s a solid, engaging, and very enjoyable RPG. More to the point of this article, it’s a game that has me thinking about achieving 100% completion. That’s a rare thought as far as my gaming history goes.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I’m not a completionist. I rarely approach any game with the notion of completing it to its fullest extent. To this day, plenty of secrets remain in games I’ve played a dozen times; I’m in them for the experience, not the singular, 100% achievement. That said, every now and then, a game comes along that makes me want to reach out for that extraordinary prize, or, at least get very close to it. The compulsion to reach completion in these games is purely personal. There’s nobody out there telling me I must finish this game to completion; there’s no external pressure to get that platinum trophy or diamond achievement. In fact, the effort has nothing to do with achievements or trophies; it’s just my brain not only telling that I should do it, but that I can do it.
Therein lies the heart of completing, well…anything really. But, we’re talking about games. And if a game puts what I perceive as insurmountable barriers between me and 100% complete then I’m never going to achieve that. A good case in point is Fallout 76. The notion of “completing” the game varies from player to player, but I’m talking about completing the game’s original campaign that ends with the launching of a nuke. Although I’ve certainly tried (and tried and tried again), I’ve never managed to complete the task. The process of doing so is difficult to the point of exhaustion, and it’s just not worth my time and effort. So, my nukes remain unlaunched, and I will sit at not-100% complete in Appalachia…forever? Or until I work up the courage to try again.
On the opposite end of the scale is something like Street Fighter 6’s World Tour. Never in a million years did I think that I’d be driven to achieve 100% complete in a fighting game. Not that the World Tour is a typical fighting game, but its primary means of progression is through one-on-one matches, so it’s mostly a typical fighting game. Semantics aside, going into the World Tour, I didn’t expect to become so absorbed in its many challenges outside of the main story, from seeking out tough individual fighters scattered around the map, to maxing out every fighting master, to locating every last piece of available gear. For as long as I’ve been playing fighting games, I’ve only felt like a “good” fighter. I know enough to challenge but not enough to win. In utilizing the World Tour’s RPG options and taking advantage of its flexibility, I achieved 100% complete feeling as if I had become the best fighter I could be. It was a fantastic way to finish.
Alongside Hogwarts Legacy, I’m also working my way through The Talos Principle 2, and a funny thing happened on the way to the ending. I was there about to start the endgame when one of my companions began musing about the game’s puzzles. “I wonder what would happen if you completed them all?” they posited. Well. That made me wonder, too! I didn’t go into the game intending to complete everything, but suddenly then, I had to. So, now I’m working my way back through each level to uncover the many secrets I missed. Based on how well things have gone in the game so far, it’s a goal I’m sure I can reach, if slowly. When a game makes you feel like you can achieve anything, the notion of completing it fully, to an actual or subjective point, simply becomes part of the process. Reaching that end fuels confidence, pride, and satisfaction, all good things for gaming…and life.
What are your thoughts on fully completing games? Do you always strive to achieve 100% completion in games, or do you prefer a different approach to playing?
Lede image captured by author during PS5 gameplay of The Talos Principle 2 (© Croteam, Devolver Digital.)
VIRTUAL BASTION 
For the most part, I’m like you in that I don’t really care about getting 100% in my games. I’ll still do it sometimes and I did do it more when I was younger. There are really only two scenarios where I’ll 100% a game. The first is that it’s easy and I don’t have to go all that far out of my way to do it. Might as well, right? The other is that either the process of getting 100% or the reward for doing so is really fun or interesting.
I 100% ME1 and ME2 back in the day because playing them was a lot of fun, and, in the case of ME1, getting trophies granted real advantages in-game. I 100%-ed Ratchet and Clank 2 and 3 because The Insomniac Museum sounded really cool (and was!). I fully completed BioShock and Transistor because I just wanted to keep playing them. It’s the same for unlocking end-game weapons or secret stages (like the secret stage in Sonic Adventure 2): if it’s fun, then I’ll probably go for it.
Unfortunately, most games these days hide that 100% behind aribtrary challenges or arduous grind that, like you with Fallout 76, I just have no interest in spending time on, especially when the so-called reward is just a little trophy icon that’ll flash on my screen for all of five seconds before being forgetten. Not worth it.
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Oh, I really dislike arbitrary or grindy achievements, too. The random ones feels like they are jammed in for no good reason, and no, I’m probably not going to “kill 5000 spiders” just for a shiny, virtual reward, but thanks. As well with the arbitrary ones, what fun is it trying to figure out what they are anyway? After a while, the process just becomes boring or, at worst, unpleasant.
But yeah, if the road to 100% is enjoyable, than I’m all for it, too. And, of course, that’s going to be subjective. One person’s fun with infinite dungeon delving is another person’s dull nightmare. I guess there can be some fun to be had in trophy hunting, if that’s the mindset one has going into a game, but personally, I’d rather play to play. 🙂
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