Poll: RPGs; Do you prefer Perfection or an Authentic Experience?

[StoneCutter]

I should explain.
The other night I started Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and played through the first major level. During the level I made several mistakes. I'll try to avoid spoilers and just say that I failed to complete a side mission, I chose poorly on a conversation which lead to a bad thing happening, and to complete the mission I was forced to resort to *blank*.

Now I'm faced with a question I've come across in other games (such as Mass Effect, or oddly enough, Pokemon) but I still can't answer: Do I replay the mission to fix what I had done wrong, or should I continue and let my actions have personal and authentic consequences?

I feel that on the one hand my play through would feel more "complete" if I finished the mission without making a mistake, and maybe the rest of the game would go more smoothly. On the other hand, maybe the game would be more enjoyable if I acted as I would act normally, and not as if I already knew what to do.

Let me know what you think, share any experience like this you've had, etc.

tl;dr - Read Title.

 

[gabycms]

I used to try and try a lvl multiple times until I got perfection but in recent years I have shifted to authenticity, it feels more like i am the character.

 

[Jordi]

I think ideally I should do both. Be authentic on the first playthrough and strive for perfection in subsequent ones. However, I almost never (have the time and patience to) replay a game, so I always try to do everything and everything right on the first go. I just hate the thought that I missed something.

Also, I feel the value of authenticity really depends on the game. If the game has me reload all the time anyway because I died, I start to care about it less and less, because I'm already rewriting history all the time. In a game like Mount & Blade however, you don't die when you lose. There is a pretty severe penalty (you lose your army), but you don't have to reload. This made me feel like I was really playing "my" story, for better or for worse.

 

[Zhukov]

It varies, but I lean towards the perfection side of the scale. I figure, if I have the means to secure the desired results, why not do so? It's no different than loading the last checkpoint when you die. After all, if you really wanted authenticity you'd delete the game after dying once.

For example, in Human Revolution (don't worry, no spoilers) there's a certain scenario involving an aircraft in a construction site. If you've played the game, you know the one I mean. I messed it up the first time around (hey, don't look at me like that, I was playing on hard). I hit that 'load game' button in record speed.

 

[gostchiken]

I usually go for the authentic experience first run, then go for a perfection(or close to it) run.

 

[JesterRaiin]

I should explain.
Do I replay the mission to fix what I had done wrong, or should I continue and let my actions have personal and authentic consequences?

"If won then save, if loose then restore".
Or, lately "bad decission, play no more". This pinnacle of boredom called "Mass Effect" suffered that fate and was quickly erased from my hard disc.

 

[Archangel768]

Other.

I usually leave whatever happens but there are sometimes where I go back and change things and others where I just can't be bothered.

Mass Effect 2 examples.

I failed one of the side missions for Mass Effect 2 but, wanted to get it right because I quite liked the character and it would only take a few extra minutes to get through it.

In the suicide mission I lost a few characters (one in particular that I really liked which was also the mission that when first played, I failed on.) By that stage I had been worn out of playing Mass Effect and just wanted to finish the game. (I had been playing Mass Effect 1 and 2 all week since I just purchased them) So I really couldn't be bothered restarting the mission just to get the character back.

 

[octafish]

Ever since X-Com I have always let the chips fall where they may. Some of my favorite memories of X-Com are of losing three quarters of my squad but still managing to scrape through. I'll admit losing an entire transport to a blaster bomb it is pretty tempting to hit that reload button.

I'll admit in Deus Ex: Human Resources I have screwed up a few things, but that just colours my experience of Jensen. It becomes a part of his motivation to me. Of course I'm playing sneaky and non violent on Give Me Deus Ex so if I get discovered by guards I usually end up reloading after I get shotguned to pieces trying to run to a hiding spot.

 

[Mr Thin]

I try, oh how hard I try. But I simply cannot see a failed persuasion check as anything other than a failed persuasion check. Not an alternative, not a new possibility; a failure. A failure that must be rectified with extreme prejudice. Using the reload button.

I wish I could; I'm well aware it would heighten the experience, incorporating failure into a game as an actual feature rather than simply the opposite of playing well; but as things stand, I just can't bring myself to accept it.

 

[Wuggy]

When it comes to RPGs with multiple outcomes on situations, I never backtrack to a previous save to get something "right". That is, unless I die of course, in which case I do because I want to continue playing the game.

Playing this way makes the game feel more personal to me and I end up getting way more out of it.

 

[Supertegwyn]

Depends how badly I have screwed up the level. If I do it perfectly (or near enough) I will continue on. Most of the time however I look up walkthroughs for games whilst it is loading up, making sure I miss no hidden items or the like.

 

[Supertegwyn]

I should explain.
Do I replay the mission to fix what I had done wrong, or should I continue and let my actions have personal and authentic consequences?

"If won then save, if loose then restore".
Or, lately "bad decission, play no more". This pinnacle of boredom called "Mass Effect" suffered that fate and was quickly erased from my hard disc.

How do you loose a game?

Or on that fact, decission?

 

[NeutralDrow]

I think ideally I should do both. Be authentic on the first playthrough and strive for perfection in subsequent ones.

This.

It's also my policy for visual novels.

 

[subfield]

At the risk of blowing the mind of anyone reading this - it is a game. Doing it over and over until it's perfect seems ... like work. Usually I play through the game however I want, and if I like it enough, I may play it over and get "everything".

 

[JesterRaiin]

I should explain.
Do I replay the mission to fix what I had done wrong, or should I continue and let my actions have personal and authentic consequences?

"If won then save, if loose then restore".
Or, lately "bad decission, play no more". This pinnacle of boredom called "Mass Effect" suffered that fate and was quickly erased from my hard disc.

How do you loose a game?

Or on that fact, decission?

Have some compassion for poor, old dunce from sh*hole of world.

 

[ZephrC]

I find that when I play through a game letting the dice fall as they may, it's generally far more memorable and just more fun overall.

Sadly, I'm a weak and fallible human, and that quickload button is just so damn easy to use...

 

[Battleaxx90]

On my first playthrough, I go for an authentic experience.

On the second, I make damn sure to do absolutely everything the right way, even if I have to resort to hax0rz.

 

[AwesomeNinjaPowers]

I'll do multiple playthroughs till I get every outcome rather than get everything 'right'

 

[Krantos]

It depends on how things are presented.

Normally, I let thing go as the they lie. However, when I feel like I got a certain outcome, not from my actions, but from some contrivance of the game, I reload.

The Landsmeet in Dragon Age: Origins is the example I always give. You need to collect and present evidence to denounce Loghain, but you don't have a choice in gathering the evidence, the game forces you to. So when you get to the Landsmeet, the developers wanted a way for you to fail so they just made it so if you present the evidence out of order it won't let you present anymore. There's no indication what the order is though, and it's completely arbitrary. If the evidence built on each other, it'd be one thing, but it doesn't. "Success" is determined by how many pieces of evidence you present, which ones you present doesn't matter other than the fact that picking the "wrong" one jumps you forward to the vote.