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

[MoD1212]

I mostly go for the authentic experience but it really depends on the game for me, there are some games I play straight thru without looking anything up and for some others i got gamefaqs loaded up right next to me the whole time.

for example, two games in the same series, chrono trigger and chrono chross, both fairly lengthy with multiple ending.

when i played CT a while back (which if u don't know is the first one 16 bit classic go play it) i just went with it got a good ending (idk if it was the best or not but w/e) and moved on,

when i just recently played Chrono Chross however my friend had told me about all the characters (40+ total i think) and how u could only get about half in one play thru and could just miss some so i used faqs to make sure i got the characters i wanted even tho i made decisions i would have if i played authentically and still enjoyed the play thru

 

[Squilookle]

I sort of do both- that is I'll play one way and stick to it, but often once a level is finished I'll go back and find all the other paths and secrets. Once satisfied, I'll return to my proper game and do the next level, and the cycle repeats.

 

[Logodaedalus]

First time do whatever happens naturaly, but after that, fix everything up to get the most intresting outcomes. As far as I'm concerned getting perfection is replay value.

 

[Arina Love]

i play until i do everything right if i don't like outcome i just return and fix it.

 

[Zetatrain]

I usually go for the authentic experience first, because if I get a perfect run on my first try by redoing the same level over and over there will be less replay value in it for me when I start a second playthrough.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

There is no "right" or "wrong", only different. I think the first DE:HR mission has caught everyone out, but that doesn't make it a bad thing. The effects to the story are minor and it neither alters gameplay or Adam's abilities/skills nor the player's ability to complete the game.

Eidos have given us many ways to complete each level and many scenarios with multiple outcomes. Not a single one will affect the ability to complete the game or any other mission. Don't worry about this or that. If you complete the side mission one way, you'll want to see the other way on a subsequent playthru anyway. Don't waste time on something unimportant. Have fun with the game and have a second playthru where you can have fun, explore different paths then you did first time round and try different things.

Further, beyond HR in games such as ME where you-know-what happens on Virmire, the impact of that stuff is as such because we don't expect it, because we made one decision instead of another and adds to the uniqueness and role-playing of each playthru. Could the outcome have been different if the the player had done/said something different?

Don't reload. You haven't made a mistake....if you're still alive and it doesn't say "Mission Failed", you haven't made any mistakes, just a choice (or at least the illusion of one ;-) ).

Minor spoiler for the OP:

Spoiler

Comepleting the section you're referring too doesn't really change a great deal apart from some lines of dialogue and a news article. And a small discount from one of the first hub's merchants (not worth a reload).

 

[veloper]

Mistakes that the game keeps on record and throws back at you, I stick with. These usually involve binary choices and it's usually pretty obvious when events are scripted.
There atleast you get a little something for staying.

Big tactical mistakes like party wipes(obviously) and very inefficient playthroughs I'll simply stop and reload.
Or when still very early into the game, I may even restart and make a new, more optimized character.
That way you avoid the situation where you are deep into the game and invested alot of time to get there, only to be irrecoverably stuck and going no further.

 

[Titan Buttons]

I was playing Deus Ex and I reloaded a certion because I didn't like the outcome of my choice. I then stopped realising what I did and made the same mistake the second time around, I was ruining the game for myself.

There are times where I'll save the game and then just go nuts doing and killing whoever I want, such as in Fallout, but then when turn it off when I'm done and play on from my save

 

[Hisshiss]

It depends on the RPG, for linear ones that actually have stuff you can flat out miss, I consult guide's and advice and attempt to cut it as close to perfect as I can.

For RPG's that have everything repeatable, like a mission based one or a sandbox/MMO type, I go hard authentic on purpose, so that I have an excuse to backtrack and do all the extra completion later, which I just find insanely fun.

As far as choice based RPG's like dues ex or a bioware title, I don't play them much, but I almost always go straight authentic without looking back, even after multiple playthroughs, cus it just feels like that's how your supposed to play.

That being said, I have had to HEAVILY resist urges to be a perfectionist on those games too, it's just hardwired, the only reason I don't do it for repeatable RPG's is so I can play every mission more than once xD.

On that subject, RPG's with easily missable skills/bonuses/endings/cutscenes/items etc etc tend to make me very sad, and sometimes just flat out stop playing them out of that chewing feeling that Im missing too much, and playing a game word for word from a guide is very tiresome. Unfortunately alot of the old school RPG classics I didn't get to play as a kid and am now trying to make up on are built that way. The most recent being breath of fire 4, which is a madly fun game, but Im worried Im missing alot of cool stuff, and the masters stat growth system bothers me alot too, always makes me think my characters are getting gimped every time they level up cus they dont have the perfect master on them.

Yes I am quite ADD.

 

[PurePareidolia]

I generally have an idea of what I want to do for each mission and if I don't do it that way I consider it an imperfect run and start over. If I actually intend to go in guns blazing and let the dice fall where they may, that can still be a perfect run as much as a perfect stealth run, but it's all based on how I want it to go beforehand

 

[CannibalCorpses]

once through for fun, once through for completion. I beat the game my own way and then often i'll play it with a guide the second time and get everything. I'm an achievement hunter though. As we speak i'm playing Infinite Undiscovery through for the 3rd time for just that reason

 

[Dark Knifer]

I"m usually perfection but I'm thinking of trying more authentic. Might replay the mass effect series when 3 comes out and try that, see how it goes.

 

[M920CAIN]

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.

I feel you bro! Played the game on Gimme Deus Ex the 1st time too. No way I was gonna let Ma--- die, even though I fucked it up the 1st time after the cutscene.

 

[Metzeten]

I usually let the dice fall where they will, except for if people I like end up dead (examples already cited: ME2, Deus Ex, etc) due to negligence or me just generally playing like I have hands of ham.

Thing is I find replay value in more or less every game, so even though second or third playthroughs I've inevitably learned from my mistakes, what works, what doesn't work.... so I manage to find new mistakes to make!

 

[kouriichi]

I will do Authentically 90% of the time.
The only reason i wont is when the makers are D*CKS.

"OH GAWD! Were all gunna die! Someone save us OH GAWD!"
Choices: A) Calm Him Down. B) Have his friend calm him down. C) Calm Him down yourself.

I would choose C, because it sounds the most logical to me. And then "BAM", Shepard punches the dude in the mouth. Thanks Bioware thats totally what i wanted to happen.

Or like, A) Do a single Evil Act because it will make the game much easier. B) Do a good act, and make the game harder.

It turns out, after you choose the single evil act, you have to kill off 70% of your party. But they dont tell you that until after you decide.

 

[WarpZone]

It depends on the game, for me. In something like Bayonetta or Sonic Adventure I don't care if I get the best score on every single stage or not. But on something with asymmetrical scoring or a branching storyline, I'll play until the game does what I intended for it to do.

I think it stems from this mentality I have that if I try to do a thing in the game- say, save the princess, and the game state results in my character somehow not saving the princess, that's a design flaw in the game. I mean, obviously not if I fall in a pit and die, but when the game's writers pull a fast one like killing off Aerith in a cutscene, that's the game's fault, not mine.

If I work my ass off to make a thing happen in a game, it'd better fucking *happen.* Artificially removing the ending I've been striving for all this time through bad writing is a contrivance, and it's one that makes the game less fun, not more fun.

This attitude taken to its logical extreme is why I have such a controversial gameplay style when it comes to the Fallout games. I literally cannot bring myself to play the games in that series without a guide, because the unintended consequences of every little choice and insignificant random encounter just drive me nuts. One time I had to restart because I hadn't gotten the bobbleheads in the right order for my character build to work, and now I was too high of a level with too much experience to go and get them without accidentally killing something and leveling up along the way. You'd think this would convince me to take it a little easier and just settle for a "pretty good" run, but instead I started over and soon lost interest in the game for a while.

So yeah. I quickly get frustrated with a game that tries to make me accept what I consider to be a fail state and just move on. Besides, I think it's just lazy design. They think if you can skip a level by accepting failure, then that means they don't have to bother balancing the game for different gameplay styles.

 

[Dragoon]

On my first playthrough I just go with it but if I playthrough again i'll go for a perfect playthrough

 

[Silenttalker22]

If the possibilities intrigue me, I might skip waiting for the 2nd playthrough and just reload a bunch of times now, just to see what the devs thought up. Especially with Mass Effect.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I'll suggest an exception to my and other comments above. While the choices and outcomes of dialogue and what have you I believe should be considered "the way the story goes", there are two circumstances where I think reloading does make sense, though probably not on a first playthru.

If trying to play DE:HR for example completely non-lethal/set-off-no-alarms for the two achievements, a reload is not only forgivable but necessary. Further, if trying for a very specific outcome because that's how you would like your game to play, then that's fair enough; it is your game after all. But for the best experience, especially on a first time thru any game, just go with the flow. Both "failures" and "successes" have much greater impact for it.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

First playthrough: I do whatever feels natural, but I get upset and twitchy when it doesn't turn out perfectly. I remain upset and twitchy until I can play it again.

Second playthrough: I correct all my mistakes from the first playthrough, and I consider this to be my "true" playthrough. The first time was just practice.

Third playthrough: Something totally different, like playing as a different character with a different personality and trying to break the game.

That's the most I've ever done so far, though I didn't get into offline RPGs until a year or so ago.