Feelings of accomplishment in games.
I was playing Super Mario Sunshine, well, just now, and I finally finished one of the platforming sections, you know, the ones where you don't have your water pack? Well, I finally finished it and I felt like a BAD ASS. I mean, I haven't gotten that feeling after beating a section in a game in a long time. It seems like most games now just can't muster up that feeling in me.
When was the last time you felt such a since of accomplishment after finishing a game or a section of a game?
There's nothing like finishing something for the first time ever.
It's been a while since that's happened to me, I'm hoping I can actually complete Parasite Eve 2 this time, after giving up and restarting.
"If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made."
I think this feeling is the reason Legend of Zelda is the most anticipated game of the year. Each time I complete a Zelda game, I feel that another chapter has closed, and I await the decade when a decendant of Links, must find the courage to defend the new Hyrule, from the same fucking warlock/wizard/witch that has broken free from his locked box, to kidnap a descendant of Zelda, whom bares the sacred mark. The Triforce Tattoo of DEATH!
I was some satisfied when i finished ninja Gaiden. Although i'm still working my way thru very hard mode.
I'm going to have to agree with this member, who was probably banned for one or a combination of the following: racist, sexist, homophobic, or mean spirited comments.Originally Posted by njiska
While I love video games, I've never thought of myself as very good at them. But when I beat Ninja Gaiden on Xbox, I felt like a real ninja. I only beat it on Normal, but after hearing how so many gave up on the game I felt pretty good about myself.
Then a few months later I was put back in my place, by a latter stage of Sniper Elite. Fuck that game. It now sits on my shelf unfinished.
Contra III.
Man this is a great topic for discussion...
I think that you have gotten right to the heart of why we hardcore gamers are hardcore gamers! I mean if you don't feel like you have accomplished something at the end of your gaming session then you pretty much wasted your time... Unfortunately it seems like after reading most of your posts that you are all chasing after that feeling of accomplishment rather than experiencing it.
There are so many games that i can think of that give me a sense of accomplishment that it seems a little depressing that none of them are on the newer systems that everyone seems to be playing. And after reading these posts i think that most of you would agree...
Sure we can all point to Zelda and say those games are great - 0f course they got a great begining on classic systems! The newer games have such a legandary status to live up to that they tend to get delayed for a couple of years while the greates programmers in the buissness try to tweak it up to that same level of perfection that seemed to come so effortlessly back in the days of 2d gaming. And the last game that i can think of (other than guitar hero) where I really felt a sense of accomplishment was Alundra on the PSX - which felt an aweful lot like Zelda - Link to the Past on the SNES.
I don't mean to say that games now a days are not enjoyable - I enjoy lots of current gen games. Bioshock was a lot of fun to play through. I enjoyed Mass Effect, Gears of War, Oblivion - they create a fun distraction that looks incredible but I don't feel like I have accomplished verry much.
However If i plop in a Mega Man game on the NES (even if i beat it a hundread times) It feels really good to beat a level and get a new upgrade. When I play the original Metal Gear or Snakes Revenge and i finaly get a Key Card that opens up all the doors I have been unable to get into... well its exciting!
Even going back further - its incredible fun to have someone come over who can compete with me on some Atari stuff... Clearly the sense of completion is not what drives the feeling of accomplishment but when you put up a great score that your friends cant beat, or vice versa and then you practice for a couple weeks and finaly beat someone elses score it's just good stuff.
Maybe this is why the current gen systems are finding such success with the retro games or there "Arcade" games. I did feel a sense of accomplishment going through Marble Blast & Wik but these are not the Marqui games that companies are spending hundreads of millions of dollars on developing.
Something seems a little out of balance here and if you don't know what i am talking about here than do your self a favor - go out and get your self a NES system and a copy of Super Mario Bros. The system and the game will combined will cost you less than a new game on a current gen console and i will bet that you have more of a sense of accomplishment and better enjoyment with it than any of the new stuff thats out there anyway! Once you get past the 8-bit graphics and standard stereo/mono sound... oh and don't worry that controller is only supposed to have 5 buttons - your not missing anything ang there are no 47 button combos to worry about!
Klonoa for me.
When I saw that ending, and the music that played throughout, I burst into tears uncontrolably. Never have I ever felt such emotions as in that game. Sure, I remember playing Illusion of Gaia and loving the ending, but it was no where near the emotional level I had when I finished Klonoa.
And even now, while pre-ordering the game for the Wii, I almost cried, remembering the ending that once brought me a new level of emotions.
IMO, if a person cries in a game, then it trully is one helluva game.
Proud owner of a Neo 25 Neo Geo Candy Cab!
One of the best feelings of accomplishment I got out of a game was when I finished Donkey Kong 64 over summer break, circa 2003. I remember spending many, many weeks trying to get all the really important collectible stuff in the game so I could get the perfect ending, and after much struggling, I managed to beat King K. Rule. Outside of missing one item thanks to a glitch in the game, I did feel very good that I finally managed to beat DK64.
Another one would be when I first finished Diddy Kong Racing. I remember playing it very frequently (Out of my collection of games at the time, it was as high traffic as Mario Kart 64), and eventually getting stuck on the first race against Smokey the Dragon. Eventually, I made it all the way to the final race against the game's main villain; Wizpig. After much struggling and getting used to the layout of the track (figuring out where I can cut corners and where items are), I finally beat him; just narrowly, though (Had I been a second too late using the speed boost item I was saving, I would have lost the race...again).
One that needs little explanation would be Mega Man on the NES. So far, it's the only one out of the 6 on the NES I've actually gotten around to finishing.
Out of more recent games, the one thing I got the greatest feeling of accomplishment out of was when I finally beat Skeith in .hack//Infection. After surviving the area before the fight, I made it to the battle against Skeith. Using some buffs on my party and checking my equipment, I charged in, and was slaughtered in minutes by his over-powered attacks. Adding insult to injury, my PS2 died with them, and it tried to take the game disc with it. The aftermath left me with a nasty circular scratch on my disc, a PS2 that could no longer read DVDs, and a burning desire to finally defeat Skeith. Once I got a working PS2 a few months later, I planned out a strategy around who will be in my party and what the basic battle plan is, and began to level up my party and build up plenty of supplies. By late January 2009, I finally managed to defeat him, and I felt great about it.
Last edited by PentiumMMX; 05-05-2009 at 11:15 AM. Reason: Some things I forgot to add
There have only been a few times that I've ever felt a sense of true satisfaction when finishing a game. Three great ones would be Ocarina Of Time, Jade Empire and the other? Lord Of The Rings The Third Age. Seriously. An incredible game that got bagged on by the media, ensuring that no-one would buy it. For shame.
Ocarina of Time for me as well. I remember I got stuck in the one temple where the center fills with water and I thought once you fill it up you couldnt remove the water. So I stopped playing. About 2 months later I picked it back up and found you can lower the water as well as raise it. Beating that game gave me a sense of achievement.
Beating Braid felt pretty good. I'm sure a lot of people accomplished this but it's such a good game and I got stuck more than once. Of course I had to look at a walkthrough to get all the stars my second time through!
Getting the scarab gun in Halo 2 also felt pretty darn good. That took a looong time.
Alot of love for Zelda here. So, in that vein, I've got to say the last time I felt like I accomplished something was in Twilight Princess. It's nothing major, but for some reason my buttons weren't working. I was trying to close up 3 twilight monsters in a black circle (I was the wolf in the beginning of the game) and everytime I pressed B nothing happened. Finally, after going through the same level about 8 times it worked. WTF?!? I thought Zelda games were known for their control, but this game has some of the most unresponsive control ever. It's very disappointing to feel accomplishment only due to the programmers shortcomings.
Your ad here.
I just finished RE5 last night with a good friend of mine. Notable accomplishment because he's played VERY few current-gen games and I had waited for him to be available to continue in the story, so we essentially finished it together. Can't remember the last time I played through the story of a game like that with someone else for the first time. Since I had to wait for us to be able to get together, I felt like I enjoyed it more and didn't just blaze through it like I probably would have had he not been there with me.
I felt this way just a few days ago when I finally... FINALLY got a character newly rolled to her first weapon in Alternate Reality: The City.
You want to play a hard RPG? Get an A8 emulator and try AR. Have fun. Awesome soundtrack and ambiance and now that I have a weapon I think I'll get to enjoy the game!
-AB+
Holy crap. It's been a while.
Skies of Arcadia was the last one to do that for me. I started it and abandoned it so many times because of all the random encounters, but I stuck with it long enough to get the engines that allow you to avoid most of them and started to really enjoy the story.
The greatest feelings of accomplishment usually come from RPG's with cheap end bosses that take 1-2 hours to beat. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne comes to mind.
I also was pleased with myself after beating Devil May Cry 3 after reading how difficult the game was...
...even if it was on "easy" mode.
Aaron.
While I didnt beat the game, I felt like I had accomplished alot putting 18 hours into riviera on GBA. Why? these days I simply find it very difficult to find an rpg that holds my interest for more than 2 hours, and putting 18 hours into a GBA RPG was a huge accomplishment for me.
Re: Feelings of accomplishment in games.
That's pretty much what I've just done. TWICE!
Mario Sunshine seems like one of those games. It gets really frusrating, trying to get past one tiny little section over and over again. I left it alone for a day then did them first attempt both times. It always feels especially good when you do it first time after a lot of frustration.
Getting the Biggoron (sp?) Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Period.
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