This week, nearly 3 years to the day after the release of Grand Theft Auto V, I achieved the coveted 100% completion award. In previous versions of the game, you were rewarded with weapons or a special vehicle; GTA V gave me the proverbial lousy t-shirt. Still, I’m not too upset about it, as I was able to while away a lonely hour in a fully realized (albeit murderous, vaguely misogynistic and deeply disturbing) sandbox universe. Thinking back, it’s the same sense of nebulous accomplishment I got upon making my way all the way to Oregon without dying of dysentery, or warping away from an asteroid just as I would have been annihilated (Yes, I’m old, thank you.) Even though I didn’t personally take out the corrupt government agents, ramp a taxicab over a chasm to a lighthouse or catch Bigfoot myself, I still feel good about having held the plastic box that made imaginary people do so, leading to today’s pixellated query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) remembers fighting through all those dang turtles to jump at the final castle in Super Mario Bros with similar pride, asking: What game are you proudest to have achieved 100% completion of and/or finished?
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I play lots of games but I’m not a 100% guy. Usually finishing the story and little extra things here and there is enough. However, I’ve beaten some pretty hard games back in the day. One of the more impressive ones is Mike Tyson’s Punch Out on NES, I still do it sometimes if I want to show off to buddies. Not everyone can beat Mike, here’s an example why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipWyO_Qeung
Pretty much any expansive RPG with branching trees that can change the story and lead to not only multiple endings, but have an effect on various other parts of the game (such as who joins your party, learning certain skills or obtaining certain weapons/armor, etc.).
I’m really proud of 100% Arkham Knight. Grand Theft Auto IV I 100% completed and will never forget hunting down the pigeons and marking them off my guidebook. I thought I got them all and there was 1 I missed somehow. Had to double back and check areas again. Luckily it only took 2 hours to find.
Binding of Isaac. Took nearly 700 hours until I got the 1001% achievement for unlocking everything in the game. The description of the achievement is “Nerd x 1000000”, which is apt.