Topic: How do you deal with your completionism in games?

I feel it's kind of a curse, for me. I often just want to consider a game finished and move on to the next, but post-game goals, achievements, collectibles etcetera make me spend more time with one title than I'd like.

This is not always the case; I gladly finish every Zelda 100%. But on other games it seems like I'm wasting my time with timesunks the developers added on a whim; or maybe I move on but can't shake a feeling of not really beating those.

I know it's way more common for people to not care at all for those things.

Depends on the game. I got 100% on DK Tropical Freeze, but there is no way in hell I was going to replay the game on hard for my save to show 200%. BotW I was happy with doing the shrines and not bothering with everything else, but 3D World I finished with all characters + collectibles. Achievements I believe to be asinine and won't touch. So, for me, it depends on what the game considers to be complete and whether it's worth it.

I play so many games, if games could be happy, they should be happy I finish them at all. But there are certain games, games that are just such fun to me, that I feel the obligation of claiming I 100%ed them. Games such as Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker (HD), Pikmin games, Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie, Mario Galaxy and Odyssey will certainly be completed as well. The objective itself doesn't always have to be fun. Spending more time with a game I love is fun enough. No matter how fun a game is to me, though, playing through it again in Hard Mode? No thanks, mate, I'm good.

Yeah... I try to stick to only going for objectives that don't include replaying the game from start, even if there are "considerable" differences between playthroughs (I've yet to find a game with a lenghty campaign that convinces me to replay it).

When I'm rationalizing to convince myself to not make some of those completionist objectives, I tend to consider the ratio of the time it took the developer to conceive an objective/the time it would take me to do it.

Of course, asking yourself if you're having fun is always above that rule. But that's kind of a tricky question, anyways. When am I doing extra stuff because it's still fun, and when am I doing it just be relieved of the anxiety of that glaring 98%?

Depend on the games, depend also on my mood.
I have some games finished, but also have a lot of unfinished games due to my mood.

I normally advance on several games to add variety, but I do try to complete them... as long as I find it fun. Not saturating myself with the same game for the sake of 100% it has worked really well for me.

People can make their life so hard by sticking to certain principles. A while ago I read a comment from a guy that had the principle of having to 100% every Zelda game. He was busy finding all of the korok seeds in botw and was hating it. That's just nuts to me. I understand the urge, but I think you should try and resist that urge when it isn't something you like doing. Now when you do like it, go for it, absolutely. I liked finding all of the stars in Mario 3D land, NSMB and NSMB2, but with most games I'm just happy if I finish them at all.

For me it depends on how fun/optimized it is to complete a game or in other words, how willing I am to get along with the game's requests.
Usually that means that I try to complete only games that place their 100% requirements along the way of the main story, offer valuable contenent for side quests (like extra stories or interesting-unique challanges), or just require so little time to waste that I can't avoid to get tricked into wasting 5 minutes for a boring fetch quest or something similar.
But if the game start expecting me to play hours and hours of what sounds like pure boredom, then I'm out, NOPE, next game please! XD

With PS4 games my golden rule is single player story/campaign complete with 70% of the trophies. Most trophies today are prompts by the developer to experiment with playing the game in different ways and explore certain content. By sticking to this, I know that I am experiencing what the game has to offer, whilst side stepping some of the more asinine trophies. Works for me.

That's where I draw the line. As someone who used to care about 100% completion in games, I've just learned not to. Feels like every AAA game asks me to commit to at least >100 hours if I want to 100% it nowadays. I've learned to appreciate my time enough to avoid falling into that trap. Content for the sake of content doesn't have any value to me, it has to be meaningful in the context of the game.

For example, I always play the loyalty missions in Mass Effect because they reward you with side-stories focused on characterization. They also affect the outcome of the overall plot, IIRC, and you get gameplay bonuses on top of that. That's what I'd consider "the whole package", it's so good it might as well be part of the "main game".

Not saying this exact template is what every game should offer (wouldn't really make sense for a platformer to do this), but most [open-world] action-adventure-RPGs would definitely benefit from it. I'm currently playing NieR: Automata and I'm just not bothering with most side-quests. Most are fetch-quests, the ones that are worth doing are those that explore the game's themes on a micro level.

I guess the answer is: I almost never go for 100% completion in open-world games, but that's because they tend to waste a lot of my time. Sure, I'll 100% stuff like Pikmin or even a Mario platformer, but shooting 200 pigeons in GTAIV? Hell no.

I only 100% games if I feel motivated to do so - for example, when I played Red Dead Redemption, I was enjoying the world and its characters so much that it didn't feel like a chore at all...after I completed the main story, I didn't want it to end - so the end-game tasks provided the perfect excuse to keep on enjoying the game and the world they created right until the last moment! It was a similar story with Mario Galaxy - I was really enjoying the game and its variety of puzzles and challenges, so I just kept playing until I'd completed every last one of them!

With GTAV (PS4), on the other hand, I played over 1000 hours (including online) without earning the platinum trophy - I just never felt motivated to try because I always felt I could be having more fun doing something else...so I did!

I could never be a 'completionist' gamer - if I feel satisfied by the ending (eg. end of story at, say, 70%) then I'll quite happily put it down - but if I can't get enough of the game I'm playing, I'll happily sit and squeeze every last morsel out of it! Gaming is a form of entertainment at the end of the day - continue for as long as you're being entertained

Until the credits roll.

I am extremely thankful that all of those achievements/trophies bobbins and a percentage statistic doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

During a typical working week, I get maybe four or five hours of time to myself to actually sit down and play a game so, for me, seeing the credits roll is when I feel that I have not only finished the game for good, but am able to move onto something else.

The only game that I have felt compelled to fully complete is the Metroid series, by finding all of the super missiles, power bombs and energy tanks to 100% the game, and to be able to see the ‘true ending’ too.

There is a problem when gaming becomes a chore rather than an enjoyment. That has happened to me and now I am, though not with entirely positive results, playing games for fun and when I am finished or no longer having fun, not playing them. There are enough obligations in life without making an unnecessary one out of what should be a leisure activity.

I only 100% when it comes naturally to me, I've never been into actively forcing myself to play games to completion.

And when I do, I usually stop playing very soon after I start.

I play until I get whatever the "true ending" in a game is, unless it has multiple endings, in which case I just pick the route I like the most.

I don't care about 100% completing most games. Only really do that in games where doing EVERYTHING is part of the natural design of the game.

I got into a cycle of trying to 100% my games and then realised it just wasn't making me happy. I have done it on a few games but in the end, I just judge when I am losing interest. I did that with BOTW, after doing all the shrines and all guardians, I spent another good few hours exploring then decided that I wanted to finish the game while I was still really enjoying it.

I just set some goals for myself: in botw for example, i chose to do the following:

Complete all shrines
Obtain all outfits
Obtain enough korok seeds to have all the inventory upgrades
Complete all quests

Peronally I don't like to use guides, so I don't want to aimlessly wander around looking for all the remaining things.

Completion means credits role. I don't get caught up in going for 100%. Before throwing all rotten tomatoes my way, know that I do respect those that do put in the time and effort for sure.

Cannon

I just play until I don't find it fun anymore.