AX's Reflections of 2016: Gaming Roots / A New Focus

DOBERMAN_AX

published on January 7, 2017

The Early Years


I remember being 9 years old playing Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return for many hours of the day, just memorized by everything about it. Most notably, the colorful cast of characters. Tomba as a character to this day still intrigues me. He is not entirely a silent protagonist, but the only one who can understand him is Zippo, his loyal best friend. Tomba is a wild, untamed boy who speaks in grunts and yells, like an ape of sorts. Throughout the adventure, Zippo, his critter-like companion with wings, helps others understand Tomba. I found their relationship to be exceptional, so it always kind of stuck with me.

Even on it's own, Tomba! 2 stood strong as a sequel to a great platformer for the PS1. It was one of the first games I've ever had the desire to complete 100%.

I did the best that any 9 year old could do, but I ended up getting stumped not too far into the game. Clearly aware of my utter defeat, my father bought me the official guide to the game in hopes that it would lift my spirits. To say it was an invaluable treasure map would be an understatement. I could finally open the secret Towers, collect the Great weapons, and clear every Event before defeating the final boss. It was quite a challenge at that age to fight through some of those stages and side Events (as they were called rather than quests). Even now I find some of them to be painfully difficult.

After picking apart the guide, I came to realize the game had a unique feature. Achieving perfect completion required an upload of a save of Tomba! 1 in order to gain access to the super secret Events buried within the last portions of the game. This requires you to complete Tomba! 1 perfectly, then, in Tomba! 2, you must fulfill certain conditions to allow a transferring of saves to occur. This causes a cast of hidden (but familiar) characters to appear. I had never played Tomba! 1, so sadly the dream of a perfect file faded. I was forced to end the adventure with 99% completion.

As dedicated as I was to perfection, it was never the ultimate goal though. The joy and satisfaction of getting to see Tomba in a tuxedo at the end of the game when he takes off with his girlfriend Tabby (after saving her from the bad guys) was enough to lift my spirits time and time again.


The Right Tools for the Job


Long before settling in with Completionator, I was always bouncing back and forth with my games, and never really driven in the same way to complete them like I did Tomba! 2.

I had no real incentive to beat the games I had acquired over the years. My old PSN account was a mess, riddled with games that I had no intention of ever playing again. Whenever I felt like gaming I would bounce back and forth between a few classic, short games that left me satisfied in the moment. But the feeling was never on going. I was never driven. I never felt like I worked hard for it. Killing time was always the ultimate goal.

Over time, PS3 games started to get a lot cheaper and I began to collect them, little by little. Collecting helped reignite the spark that was extinguished in my gaming progression. I discovered and began to own a lot of really sweet games, and was intruiged by them, and wanted to play them all. Not only that, I wanted to beat them all. That same feeling that I had as a kid when I played Tomba! 2 began to resurface, and I was determined to be a completionist. I created a new account on PSN to wipe the slate clean.

As mentioned in my stacks, I obtained 100% trophies for Zone of the Enders HD on PS3 in 2016. I had played this game an infinite amount of times as a child, but could never perfect the game, or even come close. The idea of perfect scores on the rescue missions seemed like a joke. Ten years later, there I was, fighting Orbital Frames faster than light in order to save innocent civilians below, without letting a single life perish. The task was exhilarating, I failed countless times. I screamed and yelled in response to the painful defeat. I couldn't do it. I was stuck at 99%.

I wanted to just give up. But I couldn't. I had to save the world. All of it.

Staring at the those two horrible words.. Game Over.. I asked myself, "How could I ever be a completionist if I can't beat one of my favorite games? This has to be the one. This is it." I kept going. I was immersed. The stakes were on. I battled with all of my will. I wanted to win. Not in a selfish, competitive way, but in a rightous, heroic sense of wanting due to being so drawn into the game. I was determined to be the hero the game demanded I be. I began to think more strategically, carefully plan my next attack on the enemy. I dodged seas of bullets and slashed through what seemed like an endless wave of mindless Frames until I triumphantly achieved my task.

The battle through my last playthrough carried on all through the night. I had finally reached Anubis after somehow doing the impossible of acing all of the rescue missions and defeating the face melting bosses.

Then the credits roll. The battle for my life was over. I had won.

After the experience I was filled with joy. Thrilled in knowing that others can witness the proof of my experience, or at least a small portion of it, in the form of a footnote, proudly displayed in my online bag of adventures called Trophies.


What's Next?


Throughout 2016, while I was anxious to keep my ever growing collection of games at bay, I stumbled upon Completionator. I had tried other logging sites before, but they had always been lacking in one way or another. With all of the site's trusty features, the incentive to complete games has never been higher. Over the course of the year, we have worked together as a community to integrate new and exciting features to keep us all motivated to beat our games. We all want to feel like I felt beating Zone of the Enders that night. For the purpose of going above and beyond, there are always the right set of tools.

I want 2017 to be full of hardcore gaming sessions and a finished library.

I've completed many more games since that event, and I still find that joy in each one, whether the game be horribly bad or exceptionally fun. The joy of victory is what keeps me going. I'm always looking to do outdo myself and beat whatever I face. I also don't wish to be so "locked-in" to my batch of games that are more than halfway finished this year. I want to branch out more and try a bunch of other games that I could have already at least beaten once if I wasn't so steadfast on the particulars of another game. I just need to remind myself that it's okay to go back and clean up later.


Here's to another great year of gaming! Best of luck, Completionators!


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