Completion Themes

Anyone else out there have goals for their achievements (or gaming in general) that don't necessarily relate to one genre, but still span across more than one game? I have several completion themes I'd like to go for on my gamertag. Today, I'll fill you in on what those are, and how badly I want them or are currently trying for them.

Oh, and check out yesterday's post too, if you haven't already. It's #300. Kind of excited about getting to that number.

Complete all Koei Warriors games on the 360

I want to do it because I like the Warriors games, and also as an F-U to Koei, whose achievement lists suck and are far too time intensive. I'm a long way from there, and I'm still burned out on them after Warriors Orochi 2. The best I can do is say I've completed every Warriors Orochi game.

Earn Every Fallout Achievement

I want every achievement that I can possibly add to my tag from a Fallout game. I already have 1550 in Fallout 3 for the 360. I'm working on Vegas, and I'm currently downloading the PC version of Fallout 3. For the record, I will actually be playing FO3 again for those achievements, NOT typing them in. So respect that completion when it arrives, bitches =) If Vegas was GFWL and stacked, I'd probably buy that game twice too, LOL. The Fallout games are that awesome.

Max out Every Halo

Unlike Call of Duty, I've purchased every Halo game, which is kind of funny, since I like COD's multiplayer better. Since I have them all, I'd like to max them all out. I have completed non of them and probably won't any time soon though.

Grow a Reputation for JRPG completion

If my brother is reading this post, and is drinking anything, he just did a spit take. My career with the JRPG branch of RPGs is filled with the corpses of unfinished games. While I've had success with Final Fantasies 4, 8, and 10, the other games I own in that series (1, 7, 9, X-2) never got finished. I completed Dragon Warrior Monster and Dragon Quest VIII, but failed Dragon Warrior III and Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker. I've failed Legend of Dragoon, Wild Arms 3, every JRPG I've played on the 360 except Enchanted Arms... I just struggle with this genre, yet keep trying anyway. I really want to use the completion challenge rule update in 2011 to hit this genre hard.

Max Out Bioware's Games

That would mean Mass Eddect (done), Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and Dragon Age 2 when it comes out. Got a lot of work to do yet with ME2 and Dragon Age.

Max Out Rare's Games

Similar to Bioware, but tougher, since there are more of them. It's something I'd like to eventually do, but haven't worked on at all lately. I'm sick with Fallout Fever.

Obscure Glory

I take pride in completing games relatively few people ever do. The rarer the completion is, the more I love having it. Two examples on my tag would be Warriors Orochi 2 and Deadly Premonition.

Those are some of the completion themes I'm working for. What are yours?

Switching Goals. Surprised?

Anyone who has read this blog for more than a week knows how horrible I am about making a goal, sticking at it for a week, then chucking it for something else. I've have so many goals... Operation Jedi (abandoned), J-Quest (onging but on the backburner), the Rule of Four (couldn't make it work, but I may try again), Hit List 2010... So many goals, none completed. Now for another one so vague, some progress is going to be made on it whether I like it or not LOL.

Hit List 2010 is going bye-bye, replaced by a different goal with a similar medal-based progress system. Instead of going for specific completions, I'm aiming for a set number of completions is general. The medal system is based on an average of one completion a month for the first two ranks, then varies after that.

Bronze: 12 completions in 2010
Silver: 24 completions
Gold: 32 completions
Platinum: 40
GODLIKE: 50 completions

So far I'm at 3. The platinum and GODLIKE levels are rather insane, but it's something so strive for, right? I'll be tracking this goal on the right side of the blog. For a completion to count, it has to be a true 100%, DLC included. If new DLC comes out to cause a game to become incomplete, I remove it from the list until I polish it off again. I'm an all-or-nothing type about completions =)

Entertainment Overload

It happens every year after Christmas. Whether it be from presents or overspending on oneself, there's always too many fun things to do, and you want to do them all RIGHT NOW. I find myself in this predicament. Having overspent the last two months, I'm now sitting on:

2 Seasons of Stargate Atlantis
Dragon Age Origins
MagnaCarta 2
Secret of Monkey Island
District 9 on Bluray
300 on Bluray
Stargate Continuum DVD
Currently reading Stephen King's "Under the Dome"
Last Remnant
Need for Speed Undercover


It's going to take a long time to digest all of that. To that end, I'm cutting entertainment spending to as close to absolute zero as I can while still not cutting back my social life for the next THREE MONTHS, minimum. Why buy more stuff when I'm still working through this new stuff, and all the older stuff I haven't finished yet? I'll be picking up Mass Effect 2, but literally EVERYTHING else is getting relegated to Gamefly (1 game plan) or Family Video rentals for my off days, or getting put on hold.

While in this spending freeze on items that are nice to have but I don't really NEED, my #1 priority for gaming will be to make aggressive progress on my Hit List for 2010. I posted it before, but here's my revised list for completions that will fall next year:

1. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.
2. Eternal Sonata.
3. Lost Odyssey.
4. Blue Dragon.
5. Infinite Undiscovery.
6. Last Remnant.
7. Red Alert 3
8. Halo Wars
9. FFXIII
10. Mass Effect 2
11. Dragon Age Origins
12. Ninety Nine Nights
13. Magna Carta 2
14. EDF 2017
15. Gears of War 2

The list of 12 has balooned to 15, with MagnaCarta added since I own it, and Gears 2 added for the LOL factor. Anyone offering prizes if I actually run 15 for 15 on this list? That's a really hard list! So, I'm breaking it down into tiers:

Bronze: 5 completions from this list.
Silver: 9 completions
Gold: 12 Completions
Platinum: 15 for 15

If I should work my way into the Gold or Platinum levels, I'll be doing something significant to reward myself for the patience and dedication. I may special order a real-life trophy. Yes, that's dorky as hell. No, I don't care.

WIth the help of the Hand of Thrawn Boosting Alliance, I'll still see some regular Gamerscore progression next year, so my GS won't come to a complete standstill. I'll also be working on polishing up some easier games while I bounce around between this list.

I'm adding a new text box on the right of this blog to chronicle my progress on this quest.

Now, time to hang up blogging for the night and play some more Dragon Age! I'm NOT using the saving trick on this game, opting to truly enjoy the experience and get the most from the game over taking the fastest route to completion, so my time to completion for Dragon Age could be over 100 hours... we'll see.

The Honor Roll

As I ease into my recent fixation for getting more completions from the tough or long games, I thought I'd take a look at what's already on my card for motivation, as a reminder that I do have the dedication to take down those games when I want to. While the list isn't nearly as long as I'd like it to be, I have some satisfying accomplishments.

Condemned 2: 25+ hours, very limited boosting. I had a blast with this game, though it took several playthroughs to pick up everything. I'm proud of it.

Dead Space: 24+ hours. There's a few challenging achievements in there, but hacking off limbs is sweetness. Can't wait for the sequel next year.

Warriors Orochi 2: 80-100 hours, most of which was spent in an insufferable grind. That grind was extensively documented in this blog. It's not a 1k for the faint of heart, which is why very few people have it.

Oblivion: 130 hours for 1250/1250. Not a tough game, but a very huge one. It was also my first regular 1000, and largely responsible for getting me into gamerscore in the first place.

Virtua FIghter 5 (985/1000): Okay, so that's not a completion, but very few people have the dedication to get as far as I did in that game. I love VF5 to death, and happily logged long hours playing it. Every time I play, I have fond memories of Japan come back. I played the game quite a bit in the arcades there prior to its US release.

Puzzle Quest (250): Over 50 hours logged for that arcade completion, and I loved every minute of it. The final boss was a real bastard, but fun to finally take out.

Fallout 3: Approx. 65 hours logged for my 1550 here.

Mass Effect (1200): Probably 50-60 hours across five playthroughs of the game. Can't wait for the sequel!

Rainbow Six Vegas 2: Over 40 hours invested for the 1k. I'm a legit elite, and only boosted the Attack and Defend achievements. I still consider the Rainbow Six games my favorite to play in coop.

Considering how many games I've played, the list of ones I truly take pride in is rather short. Here's to hoping I can double it in the next year =P

Hit List 2010

Since I've already shifted into my 2010 playing mode of going for tougher/longer completions to make my gamertag more respectable, I thought I should work up the hit list of my prime targets. If I make good headway at finishing many of these off, more will be added. I'm looking to make some significant progress with RPGs, and make a showing for myself in strategy games. I'm no Creech, I have no ambition of tackling all that genre has to offer, but I do want to do better in the real heavy hitters. So, here's the current list:

1. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. Not too hard, but it will take over 150 hours to complete.
2. Eternal Sonata. I'm still stonewalled in my 2nd playthrough.
3. Lost Odyssey. Going through the list to find the two seeds I missed will be the worst part of finishing this one off.
4. Blue Dragon. I dread the button mashers, and the possibility of missing one item or monster, so I'm being very, very careful here.
5. Infinite Undiscovery. Another 150+ hour project, and one that takes some skill.
6. Last Remnant. Have not started yet.
7. Red Alert 3: Most reasonable strategy game to complete.
8. Halo Wars
9. FFXIII: We don't know the achievements yet, but I'm sure completing it will be hard.
10. Mass Effect 2
11. Dragon Age Origins
12. Ninety Nine Nights

There's an even 12... a lofty goal of one tough/long game per month. (with the rest of this month as a slight head start)

While working on those heavy-hitters, I'll be bouncing around completing other games I haven't finished, enjoying the occational new title, and hopefully boosting with the dedicated group I'm forming (see yesterday's post). If I manage to get through the majority of this list, I've got some bonus objectives:

1. Magna Carta 2
2. Tales of Vesperia
3. Dynasty Warriors 6
4. EDF 2017

It'll be a challenging year, and I'm looking forward to it after so many easy games. You'll see this list come up again as I chronicle my progress.