The Completionist in You

[Koh]

If the game is enjoyable to play, and doesn't feel too grindy, or the grind can be multitasked to, then I don't mind going for a complete record. If I have to baby sit the game the for the entire grind, then I'm less likely to do it, because I hate grinding. I'm all about skill-based gameplay, rather than luck-based gameplay. So while I do enjoy the simple gameplay of the 2D Final Fantasies, or the Dragon Quest series, I also hate having to grind on them to progress. But of course, I do it anyway, because I'm a total geek.

Also, this sort of ties into one of the game design conundrums I've thought about before, where it's like, what sort of things can you add to both increase replayability of the game, and also be engaging? So here's one of the solutions I came up with for our planned RPG series: Character perspectives. At the start of a file, you'd choose which main character to play as through the story, the whole way through, and experience the story from their perspective (with their unique play style and abilities). So if they weren't present in the party at some point in the game before, you'll get to see what they were up to, as well as control them through it. So while there would be an "intended viewpoint" of the story, in that the first time you play the game you only have one character to choose from, all of their perspectives would add up to the entirety of the events that took place over the course of the story. Of course when they are part of the party, things would play out the same cutscene wise, but you'd be controlling a different character gameplay wise. So the incentive to play through the game again comes through two main focal points: A change in playstyle, and additional story bits.