What’s a game you can 100% without hating by the end?

blusterydayve26@midwest.social to Games@lemmy.world – 118 points –

As per title. Most computer games these days are made with such unnecessary padding that I want to murder the devs or myself by the end. See, for example, Hyrule Warriors, the 100% 1000 Hour Nightmare, the Review.

The second game I ever 100%ed was Arceus and I still can’t stand the thought of picking it up again, years later. The first game was Horizon Zero Dawn, which is still fun.

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I'm the kind of person who has no issues with moving on from a game with only 20% of the achievements/trophies unlocked after beating the final boss. If it's not fun, it's not fun.

I think the only two games I set out to 100% were probably Super Mario World, or Donkey Kong Country 2.

I did dk1, dk2 and super Metroid from that era. Great games. Dk2 is unreal, top 20 for sure.

There were WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too many secret caves in DKC1 to try to 100%. I did try to complete DKC3, but I don't think I achieved it.

Ah dk3, the one I've NEVER beat. I always set out to do it and grow bored first. I think by the time I started playing that really good games existed like halo and the like.

Me too. Most things I play because i want to know what happens next. If I know everything then I am done with the game.

Sometimes I like the gameplay that much that it happens automatically. Bloodborne comes to mind.

My recommendation for this will always be Cyberpunk 2077. There are SO many secrets and sub-plots to discover in the game, and every single one of them feels like an intricate, deliberate piece to the overall puzzle that makes up Night City.

To experience everything requires multiple playthroughs, which I normally dislike in long, narrative-driven games because I lack the attention span needed when it comes to repeating things in games. But CP2077 offers so many new ways to tackle every situation, and it's one of the few games I've played where it truly feels like a new experience on the second and all subsequent playthroughs. The writing and acting are spectacular, and going back and picking different options for various encounters will yield very different, yet authentic results.

I've 100%'d it and still went back and did at least 3 full playthroughs after. I can't sing this game's praises enough.

I'm currently playing through RDR2, should I get 2077 next?

A lot of people will still parrot the launch criticisms at you and refuse to acknowledge that they pretty well fixed it. The devs overpromised and underdelivered, even now its not quite what they promised. But if they had dropped what the game is now on release it would be pretty universally regarded as one of the best games of all time.

I'm glad to hear this. Bought it at launch, on PS4, which I understand had some of the worst problems. Maybe one of the most disappointing games I ever got after all the htype. Gave up after maybe two hours because of all the bugs.

I now have a PS4-Pro, and keep wondering if its finally time to give this game another go.

I played it on a fairly ninja pc so I cant comment on if it was absolutely fixed on consoles.

If the world exploration and character interactions in RDR2 are scratching your itch, then 2077 will definitely have you covered there; Night City is huge and has a lot of hidden spots and characters to find. I'd say that the combat is generally a bit more hectic in 2077, but not overwhelming. You can also freely adjust the difficulty whenever you want, so if you're not interested in mastering the buildcrafting aspects (since it leans more heavily into RPG aspects than RDR2) and just wanna get the story, that's also an option.

While it's definitely not required to have an amazing experience, I'd strongly recommend also picking up the Phantom Liberty expansion if you decide to give 2077 a shot. It adds a lot of additional content, including some new endings. And Idris Elba is fucking fantastic in it. He brings a very similar energy to Keanu, where you can tell that he really loves his character and the story he gets to tell. It honestly sets a ridiculously high bar for video game acting in general.

Fuck. I never returned it. Might as well reinstall it and dive in soon. Gotta finish up Lies of P first.

Outer Wilds is an amazing game to 100%, all "collectibles" are pertinent to the world and story of the game.

I stopped at 90% ish. Couldn't get the timing and got annoyed.

Watched the ending and it's great. I'd recommend it for anyone with more skill or patience than me.

Factorio.

Best thing about it is that it never ends.

Nope. I'm not capable of getting the three timed achievements, and I'm not uninstalling my mods.

I 100 percented it before going into mods. There is no spoon is very achievable, I did it in half the time it takes. Best part is you can just do a multiplayer run with it, you and your mates.

I almost got one, and never tried again. Fuck that noise, I need the Squeak Through mod and refuse to live without.

Lots of indie games, but To the Moon is an easy one. Super sad, but it’s a short game that’s 100%’d once you finish the story

I loved To the Moon. Imposter Factory was great as well.

I hadn’t checked out their other stuff, so I didn’t know about Imposter Factory. Another game added to the wishlist, excited to check it out!

You can 100% the first three Spyro games in about 9-12 hours each. The first one can be done without any backtracking, even, since you have the same move set throughout.

I believe modern games take 100% runs way too far. I enjoyed 100%-ing the 3D Mario games... and then I got to Odyssey, and it was such a ridiculous slog that I couldn't get much further than the standard ending.

I really enjoyed Hades

I didn't hate Hades, I liked it a lot, but I absolutely would have hated 100%ing that game.

This is why FSM made YouTube clips of secret endings.

For me it came naturally… I tried improving my times and using more pacts… the game is so fun I just kept playing it and competing with my previous times

Yeah, one of the only games I've 100%ed, the achievements are deliberately set up so that you can get most of them organically by the time you get to the true ending. The rarest achievement on Steam has like a 6% obtainment rate, which is a lot.

If you don't mind using an exploit for the pantheons, Hollow Knight is a very fun game to 100%.

If you don't use the exploit, you will become a shell of your former self.

The pantheons was the only thing I never beat. Shit's crazy.

I thought I would never beat the pantheons... Until I did. On both PC and PlayStation. As long as you enjoy it, I guess it's just practice.

SOMA. I unlocked all achievements just by beating it lol. I've 100%'d Kirby & the Amazing Mirror a few times.

The Walking Dead Tell Tale game also gave you 100% by beating it.

Based on games that I've 100% myself.

  • The Stanley Parable
  • Graveyard keeper
  • Out of space (This is a couch co-op, me and my SO 100% this game and still play it regularly with one mod installed to enable huge ship sizes)

Oh shit I played graveyard keeper until the beginning of the communist DLC and then forgot about it. Thx for the reminder, I need to finish it some time.

FTL. Unlocked every ship and got every achievement, and I still play it from time to time

This is a fun game I recommend to anyone. I eventually got a bit bored but installed the multiverse mod and now have 50x more content to play with

Spider-Man 1 and 2. It's just more excuse to swing around.

Chrono Trigger

People really love this game huh

Because it's just good. It's like a modern indie game with big bucks software company money. They got top notch crew for everything and managed to make combat not feel like a chore in a JRPG with great music and story.

I mean, it's hard not to like it. Recommend SNES version btw, modern versions are not as nice.

... Yes. If you haven't played it, I highly recommend it. It's a fantastic classic RPG.

Oh, I'm actually playing it. Just about to fight lavos. I just didn't know it was this revered in the gaming community

It’s one of those games where the sooner you play it in life the better. Because the sheer amount of references and homage to this game is insane.

My kingdom for the ability to play this on the Switch or PS5...

Retropie. You may already know what it is, but it’s well worth it and works rather beautifully.

Return to the Obra Dinn

By the time I got to the end and didn't have a few secret achievements I was angry because I solved the puzzle entirely. Great game, probably my most common recommendation, but it doesn't fit this category exactly.

That said, I was much less frustrated than I woukd be for other games.

I just got 100% on Nier Automata, and I only loved it more as I played it more. Usually I hate any grinding in any game and will either skip any content that requires grinding, use mods to bypass it, or just put down the game and move on to another one. But the whole game just felt so damn good. I could just walk around for hours doing nothing because the movement felt so good.

There was quite a bit of grinding, but I didn't find any of it too bad. I got 100% in about 50 hours, which is my sweet spot. Any longer and I feel like the game is dragging on.

Cyberpunk 2077 with Phantom Liberty. 100+ hours of pure joy. And when you need to take the edge off, you can always spend a nice evening with the love of your life.

The last game I did 100% was Psychonauts 2. I loved the world and after playing the fantastic story it was a good reason to spend some extra hours revisiting the levels.

Oh that's really rare for me, since I'm not a person who can generally do "grindy" parts well if the grind extends past what is clearly the main intent of the game (that is, usually the story).

The last game I 100%ed is Pineapple On Pizza. A free 10 minute game, 20 if you go for all achievements. Says a lot about me I suppose. 😅

However, I do sometimes go after rare achievements because the ideas behind them sound intriguing to me. But I can't be arsed to go for all the other stuff, ingame and external, too. One good example of something I had to do is that the expansion Hate Plus has an achievement that for the longest time would get manually credited by the dev if, at a fitting moment in the story, you bake an actual cake and take a picture with it in front of the monitor at that scene.
Was time to bake something again, anyways. 🎂

You'd probably be able to 100% Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. Only about an hour or two to finish the game, and another 15-30 minutes to figure out the two extra achievements.

Metroid Dread.

I beat the game on Normal, then went back to 100% it, then immediately played again on Hard mode, beat that and 100% it again.

If, by 100%, it includes 100% of the achievements/trophies, I can only remember Mary Skelter Nightmares¹, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir and Starbound as games I still enjoy after doing 100%.

¹og version; dunno if the updated version bundled with Mary Skelter 2 has trophies (didn't stop me from finishing it on the Switch, though e.e")

Banjo Kazooie

Banjo Kazooie 2

There are no others...

Speaking of Rare games, I was on track to 100% DK64 until my save corrupted on the final fairy. Never tried again, damn those bananas.

At least personally, its a lot of the shorter, gameplay-focused games that always leave me wanting more, or wanting to further improve, without having some unbeatable new-game++++++++ mode or anything overly RNG based.

A couple games I've 100%ed that still have significant bonus/optional content outside the main plotline include:

  • Inscription - Willingly played through the story twice and spent nearly as many hours on the bonus new-game+ mode. Super solid gameplay, that while well explored in the base game, leaves plenty of room to further experiment and perfect your strategy.

  • Just Cause 3 - while there is a ton of bonus content, its not overly hidden, and the core gameplay is solid enough that challenges feel fun and rewarding, while travelling around gathering collectables is satisfying in a chill, podcast-listening, but not unengaging way.

  • Hotline Miami - after completing the game, I wanted to go back and get a A+ on every level because the gameplay was fun and I felt I still had more room to grow. "The puzzle" wasn't as fun, and I did use a guide, but I was just happy for any reason to play through the game again.

  • Wolfenstein the New Order - again, just a solid gameplay loop that made me want to keep playing, with bonus objectives that worked as an objective rather than a chore. Also, unlike later ID shooters, it doesn't have the "beat the whole game without dying" achievement, which just feels too punishing over mistakes that may be minor or downright unfair.

I 100℅ed sekiro and another crabs treasure, both games (especially sekiro) sort of had grindy achievements, but the gameplay was so good it still ledt me wanting more

It's interesting that you mention Just Cause 3 because even though the campaign was a lot of fun for me, I didn't enjoy completing all the vehicle challenges.

The vehicle challenges were definately the weakest part, but on average, I still enjoyed them. In particular, a lot of the wingsuit courses and land races were fun, and actually took advantage of the game's strongest elements.

I got all but one achievement in Subnautica, and all of the achievements in Below Zero (the sequel) in my first playthrough of both games, just from taking my time and thoroughly exploring both of the worlds and completing the story without even consciously trying to go for the achievements.

With that said, they are open world games and at times don't really give you a whole of guidance as to what you need to do next. So you are kind of left to explore and figure it out on your own. If you don't like that sort of game you might end up hating them by the end too.

Do you recommend Below Zero? I loved subnautica so much but I generally think buying another game instead of an expansion is usually a better deal.

Absolutely magical game

It's made by a different team, but it's still Subnautica. I liked it, just understand it's not as good as the first.

Subnautica is AMAZING, an 8/10 for me. Absolutely stellar.

I enjoyed Below Zero. I gave it a 6/10, a good solid game. I absolutely recommend it if you enjoyed the first.

(I use the real rating scale like I rate movies, where 6/10 is a good game… not the bullshit “scale” that starts at 5/10 = shit game)

I got 100% on hollow knight and ender lilies. Two good metroidvanias

The newer spider man games. I think it has a reasonable amount of collectibles and is fun to collect. The secret photo ops were tricky but not impossible if you've ever seen any of the movies. I've 100% every one including all trophies and new game+.

Elden ring. It's atmosphere and exploration just draw you in. Huge areas that are technically secrets. I haven't 100% it because of being locked out of certain questions but I'm sure I'm close. The gameplay is just so addicting to me I've got over 700 hours in it.

  • Snake Pass
  • Röki
  • VVVVVV
  • The Turing Test
  • Smushi Come Home
  • Alba
  • A Short Hike
  • Firewatch
  • Sanctum 2

Cyberpunk personally, have done it a couple of times. I can just soak into the couch playing that game. My average playthrough time is about 150 amazing hours

Such a great game, I'm so glad to have waited long after the release to play it.

I would recommend it to anybody now!

For Pokemon Legends Arceus I think what would prevent me from playing it again after 100% isn't the amount of repeated tasks to max out the Pokedex, most of which are fun and a few of which just suck. I think it's the slow dialogue/gameplay. When playing the actual game I'm usually having fun. When I'm stuck in a forced tutorial or dialogue it's just a slog.

South Park: The Stick of Truth. You can 100% it in one run and it takes around 20 hours. Super fun game too :)

I 100%ed Factorio recently, and I still play it, and I'm looking forward to the expansion that's about to drop

........you can 100% that game? I thought it was like tetris, where it just keeps going on and on and on and on, stripping your sanity away, until you even see the game when you close your eyes. Soon you forget you have a wife and kids. Must grow the factory......must......grow......wait, was my son 11 months old, or 11 years old? He's in college???

Must grow the factory......

There's achievements and you can also "beat the game" when you launch your first rocket. The expansion is going to make it way longer though.

Dark Souls 1, Dark Souls 2 but not Dark Souls 3. The silver knight farm is brutal and I'd never do it again.

Citizen Sleeper, Chants of Sennaar, Papers Please, The Curse of the Golden Idol.

Helltaker - I got hooked on the awesome music and fantastic silliness. (It's free btw)

Only games I ever 100%ed were....Assassins Creed 1 and Rocket League, strictly by achievements only. Like I never made it past Champ in RL, and AC1 was really just beat game and collect flags. I never have the urge to 100% a game cause usually it's just a grind for grinds sake and that isn't fun to me

Champ is already pretty high, well done!

Thanks! I spent years in Diamond, and had a mini goal to get to Champ. Never really been one to practice mechanics, it was just sheer rotation and positioning. Like I can't hit off the wall with any kind of consistency. Hit it in like...2019 and haven't played much since, I actually played last night prior to this comment for the first time in probably a year.

Oh yea I see

Hope you enjoyed playing again! It isn't getting much content anymore, but the game is still so good :)

If you mean 100% achievements on Steam for example, I really enjoyed doing that with the following games:

  • Slipstream (2018): arcade racing game, 7.5h to 100%

  • SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated (2020): platformer with some collectathon elements, 13h to 100%

  • Polyball (2017): think Super Monkey Ball, but a bit faster and stronger momentum iirc, gets quite difficult later on, and although the amount of content isn't ridiculous, it's very very hard to manage the requirements for 100%. My playtime is 59h, but I kept playing after 100% to get into the top 10 leaderboards on a bunch of levels, so I think it was more like 30-40h for 100%.

  • The Stanley Parable (2013): narrative game with some unconventional puzzle elements, 40h to 100%, but not really: one of the achievements is "play the game for the entirety of a Tuesday", so that adds over 24h. Another achievement is to not play the game at all for 5 years. Some people love this silly stuff, some hate it, up to you :)

  • Firewatch (2016): narrative game with exploration and some puzzles, 6h to 100%.

It was tough, but I had an absolute blast 100%'ing Neon White and Hades

Escape velocity (1996, ambrosia software game for macOS). My favorite computer game of all time I think.

Check out Endless Sky if you haven’t heard of it

I heard about it when it was in development but hadn’t followed up! I still have escape velocity on my 2024 Mac but maybe I will check I out the loving homage.

Yes!

Love that game, and the sequels; EV Override and EV Nova. I was looking for a game that played like Starflight, a PC game from the 80s, found EV and was pleasantly surprised.

Though I do hold Starflight in higher regard than EV. It deserves a solid remake.

Sable was a perfect open world that I 100% in about 30 hrs. Totally didn't overstay it's welcome. I think they added a fishing quest after I played it so not sure how much that changed things.

I really liked that game and got to 100%, but damn the frame drops. Did the devs ever fix that? It was excruciating anytime you took the hover bike anywhere

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2...the exploration of the wilds while so vulnerable in the first game is something I'll never get bored of while the second game just takes it to a whole other level with your power growing so immense. They still totally hold up with the extended editions!

Those games are so littered with trash mobs that I definitely didn't have the stamina for 100%.

i would recommend anyone playing them to use the teleport cheat to skip the slow map movement and backtracking

saves several hours in a playthrough easily

Armored Core 6 is pretty easy to 100% and it's really enjoyable the whole way there. Just don't bother with PvP.

And my favorite 100% grinding game that I keep playing just because I enjoy it so much, is the Earth Defense Force series. The game encourages you to play each mission with each of the 4 classes in each of the 5 difficulty levels. Even though clearing Hard also gives you Easy and Normal completion too, you're still looking at over 200 hours of gameplay, easily. The games have over 100 missions, tons of weapons to gradually improve, and at higher levels become true combat puzzles to solve with said weapons. Cheese is a way of life, in an enjoyable way.

I burned myself out of many a game as a kid attempting (and usually succeeding at) 100% them, so I learned my lesson. Nowadays I just play for fun and maybe go after the platinum if I liked the game enough. My time has value and I'm not going to squander it to "look at the minimap, go to waypoint/marked location, collect random collectible, rinse and repeat for 10-15 hours", nor am I spending dozens of hours grinding some random activity.

For example, I did almost 100% all Yakuza Kiwami. Did all side quests and enjoyed most of the random activities! Iirc those I had most trouble with were karaoke and billiards, but I still had tons of fun learning them and gradually getting better at them. But fuck me I'm NOT going to grind the coliseum for hours just to buy random weapons that I don't need but are arbitrarily required for the 100% completion.

I've also learned not to rush it. I frequently replay games that I like, so if I miss an achievement, that's fine. Maybe in five years I'll pick the game up again and grab the random achievement I missed the first time around. There's no need to sweat it, no need to read guides before/while playing the game and potentially spoiling me some major story events, and no need to immediately replay the game just to reach that random achievement.

That being said, the game I had the most fun with was CrossCode. Movement is fluid, combat is snappy, story and characters are fun and puzzles are actually challenging. It's the most charming experience I've ever had playing a game, and it's why it immediately jumped straight into my top favourite games ever. There is technically a "completionist list" within the game with some abdurd and missable requests, but it's not required to 100% the game and it's basically just a pile of challenges that you can tackle on if you feel like it. If you don't, you can just play the story, do the side quests and collect all the treasures, which is a lot of fun. The platinum only requires you to beat the story iirc, so you don't even need to do any of that; I did it because I liked the game and wanted to do it. Twice! I bought the game on PC and console and 100% it both times.

Most other games that I enjoy completing are platformers/collect-a-thons, such as Spyro, Crash (except Crash 1, never managed to finish it, but had tons of fun nevertheless), Ori, Celeste, PS1 Oddworld games, etc... and metroidvanias, if they are not overly long (basically every one I've played except for Hollow Knight).

The longest run I had was Final Fantasy XIII. I liked the game so much that I kept going back to it over the years, slowly chipping at the side content and grinding my way to max level. I got the platinum almost ten years after starting my save file, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much if I attempted to rush it all in one sitting.

Pokemon Uranium. The (in)famous(?) banned fan game that is still being developed. Minus a couple pokemon, it follows the Black and White philosophy of having no returning pokemon.

I've played through the game multiple times, beating the final fight for the main story and calling it there, without hating myself or the game.

Hell, I've even gone through the trouble of completing the pokedex once and struggled to find an early route bird for the last two entries I needed. Pokedex for that game can be hard because when it comes to 2 of the pokemon, you can only get one per save and must online trade to get the counterpart and 1 line is a trade evolution with no in game trades for it or trade evo items. Obviously starters require online trade, too.

Only problem I have with it is the fact I'm still waiting for the rest of the post game to be developed and released so I can hopefully get the unreleased legendaries you can find on the fandom wiki.

I'm not sure ive ever 100%ed any game, except simple (mostly old) ones.

Maybe stuff like Super Mario World and Odyssey.

I almost did Oddworld 1 and didn't hate it. Portal, I guess.

If I remember correctly to 100% Mario Odyssey you need 999 moons. The game gives you 850 or so normal/good/fun moons, but the last 150 or so you have to buy with coins. For me this meant grinding a flower challenge in Bowsers Castle ~20 times in a row.

I did it, but that part wasn't fun.

The rest of the game is perfect, but that part would keep me from 100 percenting the game again.

Super Mario World (I 100% it multiple times)

New Super Mario Bros Wii (I 100% with friends and we still play it time to time via Dolphin Online)

Mario 64 (Also did 100% multiple times)

Mario Galaxy 1 and 2

Super Mario Bros Wonders (I also 100% two times already)

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Furry

Super Mario Sunshine defiantly NOT!

HOLLY MOLLY to 100% this game you must be a real masochist!

Besides Mario Games: Zelda Majoras Mask, I love this game

Ocarina of Time

Elden Ring (I 100% The Base Game a few times, once Singleplayer a few other times with Seamless Co-op)

I don't think I've ever 100% a game. I don't care about achievements and I've finished the campaign/story on many but I rarely go back to any.

Why? The padding is there for those with the stomach for it, but you can just… play a new game once you’ve stopped having fun?

I've 100% Kingdom Come: Deliverance three times back to back if that tells you anything. Red Dead Redemption 2 is also up there.

I had a ton of fun 100%ing Super Mario Odyssey. There's a big amount of post-game content and a good amount of variety in exploring the different levels. Some of the moons need a guide though since they can be reallt vague.

I felt differently, so many of those stars and collectibles are uninspired filler. Trying to 100% it led to me significantly disliking it. They could have cut so much and it’d be a much tighter experience.

Two games I have platinumed on PS4 that I still go back and play are Subnautica and Kerbal Space Program. Not sure if you mean 100% as in like scan and collect every item, or get all the trophies, cause I don't think I've ever 100% a game in that way.

Most Lego games. It's like a physical pain to me, NOT to 100 % them.

Lego Star Wars TCS took a LOT of backtracking... but I did have fun with it. Think it took me about 40 hours by the end?

I've 100 percented a few games without getting tired of it. In fact, some of them only just began with my 100 percenting.

Factorio Pacific Drive Learn to Fly 3

I typically don't try for 100 percent.

Subnautica. It's not long but I enjoyed every minute of it. And the requirements for a 'perfect game' on steam aren't too difficult.

We didn't 100% yet, but we did just beat Super Mario Wonder. It's a lot of fun if you like the side scrollers.

Umineko VN.

It has about 100+ playtime and excellent story. The anime sucks ass though.

100%a game only exists for people who really want to sink in some hours. That just isn't me. I'll beat a game amd ignore all the percentage stuff.

I just 100% Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey and am still playing the game.

My daughter calls it the weird monkey game.

It's a great game, but a little hard to get into at first.