Remember my Aberrant Gamer on "Completion Anxiety Disorder," wherein I proposed some possible reasons why gamers don't finish games?Well, my usual demon is my own perfectionism. I'm never able (or rarely able) to go through a game without maximizing my opportunities, scoring all the sidequests or special weapons or what have you. You guys all know I adore Persona 3 in the worst way -- and yet I haven't quite finished it.
See, I want to get all the Personas, first of all. As those who've played the series are aware, getting Personas without permanently losing the ones you have takes a bit of effort, time, money and messing with various combinations. Even taking the shortcut -- looking the combinations up on Gamefaqs -- takes time in that you might have to pay to re-fuse Personas you've lost in the making of new ones. And I just can't bear the idea that I'd be missing out on some really cool, awesome one -- to say nothing of the Personas that can generate special items if you hang with them for long enough, or who unlock unique abilities under the right circumstances. There's so much to want that's so hard to get. This little fan comic pretty much sums up my P3 life (see full version here).
And remember my Aberrant Gamer column, "Playing the Field," in which my efforts to be a dutiful Harvest Moon DS farmer were being thwarted by my inability to decide on a wife? A lot of it was I just loved being a playa, but a big chunk of that was I just couldn't bear to think I wouldn't end up with the best wife. What if marrying someone else would give me cuter scenes? A cuter baby? What if I regretted my choice later?
Persona 3 also has a girlfriend component, wherein going on enough dates and having the right relationship level with a girl can make her your special lady. Some girls require your personal stats to be on a certain level before you can make any progress with them -- especially Kirijo-senpai, who'd be my first choice. I mean, she probably will. I don't like Fuuka so much, but she's cute and makes a good girlfriend, right? And, like... Chihiro's so cute, I really feel bad for her nervousness. And, I mean, I like Yukari, and Yuko, and yeah, I completely can't make up my mind, so I'm grinding as hard as I can just to make progress with all of them until I make up my mind (jokes about grinding in the context of a post about video game girlfriends aside).
So, yeah. I adore Persona 3, but it has the pitch-perfect recipe for a game I'll never finish -- and that's without even mentioning the other factors in the Completion Anxiety Disorder column that also apply here: attachment to the fantasy world, the need for a large investment and the fear of payoff.
But I was so excited about Persona 3: FES, and now that I've got a disc here I can look at, I'm wondering what to do. I am a completist, a perfectionist, after all -- so of course I wanted to finish Persona 3 before playing FES. I suppose I could play FES without first wrapping up P3. If absolutely necessary, I could look up the ending just to give me a place to start -- but of course, I'm afraid knowing how P3 ends will further sap me of my motivation to finish it.
What do you think I should do? I mean, I like P3. I really want to finish it. So should I assign myself like, a half an hour of playtime every night until it's over? I wanted to be able to give you guys FES impressions ahead of its retail release; I wonder if I could do it in time?
I'd pretty much have to play P3 to a high degree and crunch it into a short period of time to accomplish this feat. Maybe I'd have to abandon a little of my completist perfectionism. That in itself would be an interesting mission. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
20 comments:
Completist perfectionism is the reason why I haven't been able to finish an RPG in over a decade, and why I decided to give them up until the Internet started raving about Persona 3.
I'm playing through it now, and I found myself constantly referring to GameFAQs for advice for the best way to maximise the character's social stats like Academics and Charm, and which the BEST BEST dialogue options were for maximising Social Links quickly. I wanted to find out the best Personas were and who the most worthwhile teammates to level up with me were. But then a thought occurred to me last night as I got anxious, grinding through the start of second semester without my laptop on: "I should really play this game my own way". Then I woke up and hey, there was your post.
In a game like Persona there are so many different paths you can take your character on, both with his social life and his Dark Hour life. Should I really be aiming to get the 'best' path, or should I just pick the one that suits my personality (or the personality I'm instilling into my character?) I thought I should just stop neglecting my teammates by disappearing for hours on end into the Velvet Room, I should stop leaving my friends hanging in conversation when we're out for Ramen while I look up the ideal dialogue choice, and I should probably stop getting my character try and have relations with five different women.
So, I've decided that I'm going to pick and choose a small team of Personas who I think look cool anc are compatible with my fighting style (They are 'personas', right?), respond to questions and dialogue the way I would respond to them (within the limited choices, at least), and I think I'm going to just go after the woman who I think'll best suit my character (Kirijo-senpai). I think/hope I might have a more fulfilling (and quicker) time playing through Persona from this point, because I'll have the awesome feeling of living life as a shadow-hunter teen in Iwotodai my way, the way I would if I shot myself in the head multiple times every couple of nights.
...and if I really regret any choices I made, or am curious about some of the others, there's always New Game +, right?
I really like Ed's comment and I fully agree. You should just try and let your completist perfectionist side take a break and just try and enjoy all of Persona 3 at a more relaxed pace. I'm pumped to start this up in about a week when FES comes out since I missed the original launch.
Plus...don't how is your completist perfectionist mind going to handle skipping the story of Persona 3 and learning all the spoilers in FES?
Well, the FES situation will make your life a little harder, I guess.
I may be mistaken, but although you can import your base P3 file and start straight from the new FES chapter, you may be losing some of the new demons and special fusion weapons they're putting in the new basic chapter. I only have the japanese version of P3, haven't got any of the FES editions yet.
Like Mara. It's first true 3D rendition. *sigh*
And yes, completing the Demon Compendium is a bitch. Gameplay-wise you'll "only" need the likes of Messiah and Satan for absurd massive damage and boring battles on the end of the game, but making each one of the special fusions is...argh. Specially when you`re dumb like me and manage do get a Reverse status in some Social Link. Kendo club girl got pissed at me and I couldn't find her later, so I ended up missing one or two new Links. No fun.
You know, reading this about the girls makes me wonder if the game doesn't push you a little towards Yukari since the beggining of the game. She IS the Lovers arcana. On the other hand, Kirijo is the
Empress. Hmmm.
I already finished the game (actually I watched my girlfriend finish it) and it's interesting how P3 is, to me, one of the few games that makes you care about the world you're about to save. A whole year passes, you make friendships, you get to know each one around you personally, you live their lives. In the end, you wanna go to Tartarus and beat the evil guys because you just genuinely want everyone to be happy. Kinda melancholic if you think about, but I digress.
Anyway, I could just say "go with the hot anime chick you like. The game has only two endings unfortunately, and who you pick doesn't really affect it", but that would sound kinda cruel. Follow your heart, just follow your heart.
I'd pick Fuuka or Chihiro
I get that sometimes. Like with the steam achievements on HL2:EP2, I was obsessed with them, and stuff like replaying the strider attack endlessly to get the 'protect the buildings' one.
I think it kind of spoils the game a bit if you go too overboard with it. Tabbing out to Gamefaqs every two minutes breaks the immersion somewhat.
I think maybe it's like the kind of critical thing that a reviewer does, nitpick the game's faults to the nth degree, or in this case see and complete every. last. inch.
Don't forget that to *truly* complete P3, and beat the (spoiler) hidden boss, you have to do a New Game+. So suck it up, finish the story, play FES, and then restart with all your money, levels, and Personae intact to go for the perfect game. (It's also worth noting that once you've gotten through the game once, and gotten the hang of the S.Links system, maxing them all will not be that difficult on a second playthrough.)
(Also, Chihiro is a clingy and obnoxious, but Mitsuru is made of love and sexyness.)
Blatant self-promotional post: I did my first "true" post at the new gaming blog I just started.
It would be awesome if you (Leigh) and the other SVGLers could check it out and drop a line or two. If it's worth it, that is.
-> http://kotowari.blogspot.com
Thanks!
I'm so glad that I'm not a completionist when it comes to games because I would be missing out on so many titles. =p
I think you should just make that final push and forget about getting 100% of the Persona for now. Finish off Persona 3 and then start FES. I'm sure you'll be much happier in the end that you don't have to waste so much time trying to fuse all the Persona perfectly to get every single match.
My goal was to get Thanatos, and I would be happy about that. I'm now about 30 days away from the end of the game so if I make a final push this weekend I should be able to finish this game up. :) I hope you can do the same for your own sanity.
I too think you should at least TRY to let your perfectionism go. You could always save your game now, go through the game like you didn't care... tell us how that makes you feel, and then if you foam at the mouth you can go back.
BTW I loved your 'playing the field' article. I read it out loud to my GF and we both had a good laugh... I loved your closing statement.
My personal experience with Harvest moon 'save the homeland' for the PS2 had me wooing (or just being nice to) all the girls but because they had individual plot lines that would end the game with them if followed to the end... yeah, I didn't ever pick I just saw who I would complete first. Then you can go back and do it again!
I finished P3 a few weeks ago and I just kinda sat there when I was done and had to fight the urge to instantly play through for the 100%. I'm doing that on my second play through this month when FES comes out the day before my birthday - happy birthday indeed!
I really wouldn't recommend going the spoiler route, because I do think it was a truly great ending that should be watched as a whole with the game.
I'm going through the same process. Still not finished with P3, but really want to before FES comes out on the day of my birthday. (High five, cinder_bird!) As a gamer I am absolutely 50/50 split on soldiering through to the ending, and going all-out psycho-completionist. Once upon a time I had decided to do 100% on my second play, but I've got so little time these days that it's not much of an option...
It's a powerful testament to Persona 3's design that people like me aren't asking, "Do I want to play this 100-hour RPG again?" but rather, "Will I make time to play this again?" I mean, this isn't the first time I've caught the RPG sidequest bug, but it is the first time I actually care that enjoying the optional content will take time away from enjoying the scripted content. I so wish this were not the minority among long games!
Currently stuck in the same quandary, Leigh!
As I'm sure others have pointed out, the looming release of FES means that even if you collect EVERYTHING in the vanilla version, you'll still be missing out... so I'd recommend just powering through and beating the game now, and then worry about getting a "perfect" run-through on the FES edition. There is a walkthru on gamefaqs that shows you how to do this!
Let's just hope it still applies to the changes made in FES!
Exactly how far have you gotten, anyway?
Based on what I've read, I agree with the advice that you should just push through. FES is the original game with additional content (with at least one new persona I can't wait to hear your impressions of) (plus an epilogue game) and you're probably best served by getting a clear save file and starting a New Game+. Don't worry about getting a perfect now, at least.
I have been able to mitigate my own similar tendencies thanks to GameFAQs and YouTube. I play mostly my way, but if I'm not willing to dump another 40 hours into earning another ending, at least I can still read/watch it.
But I still hate Square-Enix for the bullshit with the Zodiac Spear.
Given that the ending of Persona 3 is really rather impressive quality, I'd advise not ruining it for yourself if at all possible.
Unless I'm mistaken, I think you can date multiple girls in the game, as long as you're not dating them simultaneously. I dated Yuko and completed her storyline, then moved on to Fuuka. You may not be able to date them all in one playthrough just due to time constraints, but I don't think you have to choose just one.
The completist compulsion does rear its head for me now and then, though usually all the way to 100%, but what I've found is that I'm a much happier person in RPGs if the first time through I just dig into the story and enjoy it and complete the game without worrying about getting to every nook and cranny. I don't power through or anything, and I wander around to things that I find interesting.
That way, when I inevitably start the game again immediately after finishing it, I can have a second go (maybe seeking an alternate ending) and can be confident that there's a lot of extra stuff to find.
I've fought every urge to dive back into Persona for that second comprehensive go ever since I heard about FES, and finally I'll see the payoff for all that willpower! THIS time I won't run out of time to woo Mitsuru, damn it!
@brian
The Zodiac Spear thing is NOTHING compared to Steiner's special weapon in FFIX. You had to rush the game like a madman... and it was not even worth it.
The Zodiac Spear certainly wasn't meant for a 1st playthrough treasure, though. If you did manage to get it the first time, you'll just find that all the battles are ridiculously easy and that the most enjoyable mechanic in the game is now incredibly boring.
It was a poorly planned "bonus" in the first place, anyhow. Excruciatingly hard-earned extras that only hack your character stats but by legit means are rarely fun... At least in other Square games, the reward is secondary to the satisfaction of beating a really awesome secret boss like Omega Weapon or KH's Sephiroth.
(BUT ENOUGH ABOUT WHY FF12 IS MINUTELY UNSATISFYING. HA. HA.)
I'm a perfectionist. And yet, I've finished so many RPGs (mainly western ones) because I have one thing absolutely clear from the beginning:
If it's too much of a hassle to get 100% completion, then I leave it for the next playthrough.
So that's my advice. If you feel like you just can't go on because getting 100% completion is just too damn hard, then play the game to the end, and leave all the sutff you miss that way for another playthrough. Even if you never, ever play it again.
On the objective scale, continuity integrity trumps completionism integrity.
You wouldn't watch Indy 3: Last Crusade without watching Raiders and Temple of Doom first, would you?
You WOULD? Why you little...!
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