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Games with too much collecting....


Zathras

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Ok games have gotten a little too collect happy lately. It used to be grab 100 coins and get an extra life - That's it. There you go.

 

Now you have to practically take notes as for what everything does. So I need to collect 17 key shards to open up the enchanted safe to get a fuscia gem fragment which when completed gives me a new hat that gives me the power to jump higher and collect more things.

 

So we need a term to describe this trend in video games and maybe even a scale to describe how collect crazy a game is.

 

 

Any suggestions?

Or even examples of games that exhibit this wonderful feature...

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I'm pretty sure that they call that kleptomania ;).

 

All hail the kleptometer! :P

 

Collecting in games is really something that has to be done properly. If you are actually rewarded with a magnificent power-up or neat thing then minimal (and I emphasize minimal) collecting isn't so bad.

 

Metroid Prime has only one collecting segment that is mandatory and I think it's done quite well (I won't give it away to be totally spoiler-free). Other games, well, not so much.

 

The best example of collecting that I personally like would be in Super Smash Bros: Melee, where the collecting has nothing to do with the main game. If I want to get all the trophies then I have to work at it, but I can ignore it. Better yet, I can win the trophies just by playing the main game for a few hours with friends. Thumbs up on that.

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The best example of collecting that I personally like would be in Super Smash Bros: Melee, where the collecting has nothing to do with the main game.

 

I don't think that's a good example of kleptomania in games. It's more like the collecting in Star Fox Adventures that's a symptom of lazy game design in my book.

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I'm pretty sure that they call that kleptomania

-I dunno about using the word kleptomania, isn't that like stealing? And heck, if I find a giant gold coin just sitting in the middle of a road you bet I'm gonna take that sucker to the bank, and if someone asks if it's stolen I'll say nope, it's more like finders keepers losers weepers. We'll have to call if findomania!

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Rare is by far the most guilty party of "collectomania." I O.D.'ed on collecting while playing Donkey Kong 64. I went through the entire game, found every Golden Banana, and earned a completion rating of 101%. Once that was done, I never touched the game again. I also stayed away from Banjo-Tooie, a game which I had been looking forward to with a great deal of anticipation, because I didn't want to engage in another super collect-a-thon.

 

Recently, I've played a few platformers that have done collecting right. Namely, Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. With Jak, you collected three things: Precursor Orbs, Power Cells, and Fruit Flies. Not only that, but you didn't have to find every Precursor Orb to finish the game with the good ending. Couple that with worlds that are big, but not overly huge and sparse like Rare's recent efforts and you get a collection game that remains fun and interesting.

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Still...if you find a certain amount, you're rewarded with certain items, money, ect. So, it's not just worthless, gratuitous collecting.

 

 

I guess it's a matter of perspective. Insofar as collecting coins or bananas are gratuitous, collecting snowflakes to unlocks stuff is pretty much the same deal.

 

However, I think you might be suggesting that collecting snowflakes gives you rewards but you aren't forced to take part in the collection because you can still progress through the game regardless.

 

That I agree with. Let the hardcore players indulge in collectomania, but let use finish the game without it.

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"That I agree with. Let the hardcore players indulge in collectomania, but let use finish the game without it. "

 

That's exactly the way it works in SSX3. Although, you won't "completely" finish without finding them.

 

...kinda like GTA/Vice City's hidden packages. Can finish the game but, you'll never get the 100% rating.

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...kinda like GTA/Vice City's hidden packages. Can finish the game but, you'll never get the 100% rating.

 

Right. I played Vice City to death, but didn't bother with beating all the Firetruck/Ambulance/Police/Taxi missions or collecting all the packages.

 

I guess if I had too much time on my hands...

 

I had far more fun with the rampages and finding new, inventive ways to hijack a tank with a full wanted level... :lol:

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Originally posted by Pharmboy@Oct 28 2003, 10:18 AM

Metroid Prime has only one collecting segment that is mandatory and I think it's done quite well (I won't give it away to be totally spoiler-free).

If I'm thinking of the same thing you are when you say "mandatory collecting" in Metroid Prime, I agree, that was well done and almost not even noticable, given how it fit in with the story of the game. As for the other "collecting" (or scanning) in MP, I liked the way they did it - not mandatory (not most of it anyway) but it did add depth to the game... and make it easier to win... and gave you the 100% rating at the end :D Not essential, but enjoyable.

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