GameCentral readers discuss their greatest in-game achievements, from platinum-ing Dark Souls to Call Of Dutys mile high club.
The subject for this weeks Hot Topic was suggested by reader Tom Meadows, who asked which in-game reward did you find the most satisfying to get and how long did it take you? How much do you care about achievements in general and what inspires you to go after the more difficult or time-consuming ones?
Although most people claimed not to obsess over achievements almost everyone seemed to make exceptions for games they particularly liked, often as a means to extend its running time to as long as possible.
Time extension
Ive always been mildly against Achievements and Trophies. Not to the point where I hate them or anything but I never bothered with them on purpose and always thought people that were obsessed with them were weird.
But occasionally, if its a game I really like, I will make the effort, as a last ditch attempt to drag out something that I just dont want to end. The last game I did this with was The Witcher 3. Getting 100% was extremely time-consuming, especially getting all the Gwent cards, but it gave an excuse to explore the world some more and made it seem like the game hadnt quite finished yet, even though it really had.
Im not sure pride is exactly the word Id used, as it was all a bit silly and a waste of time really, but I enjoyed it and appreciated the excuse it gave to extend the life of a favourite game even further.
Wiggum
Much practice
Im a PlayStation 4 owner with a fair number of Trophies. I can generally take or leave them, but I do think that on certain occasions theyre worth pursuing and can add to the challenge of playing games.
I was quite proud of getting the Platinums on Dark Souls (I to III) and Bloodborne.
My fond memories of Head Over Heels meant I just had to get the platinum on Lumo, which was inspired by that great 8-bit game. I managed to do so after much, much practice.
I also got the same top achievement on Bleed 2 which took some doing, believe me.
Treguard The Dungeon Master
Switch it off
I could not care less about Trophies/Achievements. To me it turns gaming from an organic experience into a checklist of busy work, just to hear that plink and feel rewarded. I turned the notification off a long time ago, and Id advise others to try it. I understand that its a way to add longevity to a game, but I much prefer when games reward achievement with more gameplay or tangible rewards.
I good recent example of this is Resident Evil 2 (game of the year already?) which gave me stuff like Hunk mode to suffer through and not just a metaphorical pat on the head. I think this restrictiveness is why an achievement system has been ignored by Nintendo, Miyamoto pretty much said it himself; Im not a big fan of using the carrots to motivate people to play. I want people to play because they enjoy playing and want to play more.
ANON
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Feeling pushed
I dont know if its just me but Achievements feel like theyre more of an Xbox 360 era thing than current gen, even though of course theyre still going on. But for some reason, perhaps because of the annoucement of Back 4 Blood, the one that sprung to mind for me with this Hot Topic was the first Left 4 Dead.
You had to beat ever campaign on expert and with nobody taking any damage from special Infected. Probably also reminded me because of that crazy story about the guy beating all the SoulsBorne games without taking a hit.
Im not pretending what I did was quite that impressive but it sure did tax my abilities to the max. Its good to feel youre being pushed though, stops you getting bored with games – the one youre playing and the concept in general. Im not an Achievement junkie or anything but Id rather have them there than not as they can add a lot to a game, especially one thats naturally replayable anyway.
Wag
Unexpected Achievement
I cannot say that I am proud of any of my Achievements and Trophies, not even the Platinums. I do however like it when they pop, especially if it is unexpected. So I am going off on a slight tangent and will instead discuss the Achievement that has impressed me most.
This is similar to Bioshocks Irony, but I prefer it as I got it without knowing the objectives.
I was trying to do a good, pacifist, completion on the first Dishonored and encountered someone who would help me if I gave him the code to a safe. I immediately did not like the guy but helping him appeared to be the only way to proceed on the pacifist path.
After some deliberation I got the safe code and gave it to him, however I cleared the safe out beforehand. Doing this yields an Achievement called The Art of the Steal and that is the Achievement that has impressed me most as I was not expecting it.
PazJohnMitch
Extra tension
I think the one Im most proud of, or at least enjoyed doing was Dead Space 2. You had to finish it on hardcore difficulty, which meant you could only save three times. Im really not that great at games so Im sure thats nothing to Dark Souls experts but to me it was extremely difficult and I would be constantly worrying about whether I should save now or not.
When you die you go back to your last save, so you dont lose everything like ironman mode or anything, so I guess it wasnt really that impressive an achievement. But to me it was something to be proud of and added a lot to the tension and stress of an already scary game!
BreekieRead More
