Getting 100% in Nintendo games doesn't seem fun (Super Mario Odyssey)

[Gemüsepizza]

So I bought a Switch recently, and this is something that really bugs me: After finishing the (relatively short) story in Super Mario Odyssey, I wanted to collect the remaining moons, and get "100%". I really like getting all collectables in games, especially in open-world games where there isn't missable stuff, for example in Spider-Man, Control, Days Gone and Assassin's Creed. Shouldn't be that hard, I thought. Right...

After I got 500 moons, I could travel to Darker Side of the Moon and start a new level called "Long Journey's End". Suddenly, the difficulty level kind of explodes. I spent some time there, but haven't been able to clear it yet. Even with "Assist Mode", there were a few times where I was very close to throwing my controller at the TV. And I don't think I want to continue playing. Then there are moons like the jumping rope game, or some of the koopa races, which I probably won't complete.

Unfortunately this somehow made the game worse for me, retrospectively. Why did I spend the time to collect 500+ moons? What should I do now? Collect all the "easy" moons, so I can get, idk, 628/999 moons? Or 754/999 moons? What's the point? Will it be worth it to buy future 3D Mario games if I will just complete the story and then move on?

I don't mind optional, challenging content, but it doesn't really feel that "optional", because it's part of the main game. Maybe this could be solved by offering different difficulty settings, but I don't think that's something Nintendo wants to do. And when looking at other Nintendo games, I see similar issues that might prevent me from fully enjoying them:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: You can collect 900 Korok Seeds in the game. I haven't played this game yet, but from what I have read it seems to be also quite challenging. At least there doesn't seem to be a list in the game that constantly reminds you what you haven't collected yet.

Pokémon Let's Go: While not being tied to difficulty, there are also quite some hurdles to get a 100% Pokédex, for example trading with other people, or having to buy a 45€ Pokéball.

What are your thoughts? Do you aim for getting 100% in Nintendo games like Mario, Zelda or Pokemon? Does it bother you that it's hard compared to other games?

 

[Normal]

I dropped the game in the forest world which was world 3 or 4.
Never bother to 100% the Pokemon games (collect all Pokemon's/complete Dex) tho. No point in doing that, just complete the main story + post game and then move on to online

 

[gdt]

You don't need to get all the moons or seeds. They are optional challenges.

 

[JazzmanZ]

I generally dont try and 100% games unless its really really good

 

[Mesoian]

No.

Even in BOTW, the first time through I remember getting something like 90 shrines, 200 koroks, looking at the map, letting out a big sigh and just going, "Alright let's go beat this thing".

They are big games that let players cut through them however they want and that's great, but I feel no need to 100% them. I've never understood that sense of completion. Everytime I've tried to do that in the past, I usually get to the last level and just never play it again.

 

[Hero_Select]

I dropped the game in the forest world which was world 3 or 4.

Click to shrink...

Why?

 

[Tracker_TD]

For me, while I was fine with the

Spoiler

Darker Side of the Moon (hint: you can use the flying lizard guy to skip the hardest part, lmao)

I did find Odyssey just had too much. I hate the Hint Moons especially, because ultimately it just boils down to me looking up what weirdly obscure thing they wanted me to figure out, and that's just not much fun compared to actual genuine challenges. If I wanted that stuff I'd play Zelda.

 

[Rhete]

Getting 100% has been miserable in Mario Games for a while now and I don't know why. Ever since Galaxy wanted you to replay the entire game with Luigi to get green stars I haven't cared.

 

[cw_sasuke]

No need to force yourself to do stuff just because - if you aren't enjoying it.

 

[Concelhaut]

100% in Odyssey is 500 moons
200% is 999

 

[storaføtter]

I think Kirby games have nice enough incentive for 100 percent completion. Optional paths and levels. The only exception for Canvas Curse where I couldn't beat one challenge and was stuck at 99 or 98 percent.

Everything I have read about those seeds in Zelda and Mario Moons make me lose interest in trying the games. Simple collecting does well for engaging the player. When Mario Sunshine introduced Blue Coins late I was like done with collecting for that game.

 

[Dyno]

I'd be down for getting all of them if it wasnt for the rope and beach ball ones.

 

[BizzyBum]

I typically don't, but Odyssey was so fun and amazing I did end up getting 999 moons for the 100%. It was so good I was actually sad I did everything and wish there was more.

 

[Homura]

I 100% completed both SMO and BOTW (But I didn't start the master mode)
Fuck Let's Go

 

[Deleted member 10737]

i agree that 100%ing smo doesn't seem that fun, but there's a lot of nintendo game where it is fun. recent examples are tropical freeze, yoshi's crafted world, captain toad treasure tracker, nsmbu, etc

 

[kirbyfan407]

I'm a little wary of the generalization here, as the games mentioned in the OP are a relatively recent and small subset of Nintendo's overall releases.

For the examples given, I didn't 100% those games. However, I did 100% (maybe it was called 202% or something?) Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and I think I've 100%ed at least a couple Zelda games. While BOTW isn't very 100% friendly, I'm guessing the Link's Awakening remake is (haven't played it yet).

So I'm with the OP for the games in the OP, but not for other Nintendo games.

To answer the OP's question, it doesn't bother me that achieving this in the mentioned games could be perceived as harder than doing so in other games. In BOTW's case, I didn't see any need to get all the Korok seeds or complete every quest. However, I did do every shrine.

 

[Brazil]

Extrapolating "Nintendo games" as a whole from just two games is a bit weird, OP.

I haven't gotten everything in Odyssey yet, but the fact that there are tons of objectives in there is great for someone like me. I beat the game, but I still have objectives left to chase when I get that urge to play it for a bit once in a while.

And you're not supposed to get all the seeds in BotW. The game literally makes fun of you for doing so, if you do collect them all.

 

[Deleted member 8561]

Getting 100% in any game isn't ever fun OP

 

[LuigiMario]

The post game of Odyssey was so disappointing compared to Galaxy 1, 2, and 3D World.

 

[808s & Villainy]

Then don't. Getting 100% in games is always just extra padding for people who want to keep enjoying it after all the regular content has been completed
Not to mention Nintendo consists of more than 2 games made by 2 studios...

 

[Lusamine]

i agree that 100%ing smo doesn't seem that fun, but there's a lot of nintendo game where it is fun. recent examples are tropical freeze, yoshi's crafted world, captain toad treasure tracker, nsmbu, etc

Click to shrink...

Really? Crafted World was fun with the hiding and seeking?

 

[ErrorJustin]

Play until you're not having fun any more then stop playing.

Move on to a different game.

Let go of your compulsion to 100% things just for the sake if it.

90% of Super Mario Odyssey is lovely. The last 10% is not, and is not worth playing. And that fact doesn't detract from how wonderful the meat of the game is.

 

[Archduke Kong]

I'm of the opinion that Odyssey is a great game but it's a bad collecthathon. It annoyed me when I first played it that there were 900 moons, half kind of just there, but once I accepted that Nintendo probably didn't intend for everybody to to get 100%, I chalked this up as its own thing and went about my business. I WANTED to 100% it, but 3D Mario is usually terrible at providing great rewards for the player doing that anyway (also are, Mario 64 giving you 100 lives when there's nothing else to do, and Sunshine's... uh... yeah). I at least like that there's an unlockable level for collecting most of the moons.

I think the sheer volume of collectibles is so that people have something to work toward over time, especially if you only have the budget to get a few games per year and want to keep playing them without starting the whole thing over. You COULD grind your way through the game and try to get them all in one playthrough, or you could pop the game in for a few minutes and find some stuff in the game over a long period of time. It's a bit shallow, but if I had this game as a kid and this was all I had, I'd probably love that I could keep exploring indefinitely and still find stuff.

 

[AtomicShroom]

I got them all but I agree with you OP: These days they include just way too many things to collect/accomplish in games to 100% complete them, and often in the most tedious ways. It's part of their strategy to get you to play games longer than ever before. It's good in that sense, but it makes replayability undesirable. I can pick up Zelda Link to the Past anyway and 100% complete it in just a few hours and every single minute of it will be damn good fun. Doing that in Breath of the Wild though? Oh hell no.

 

[Black_Red]

Of course it isnt, you should just play until you stop having fun.


In fact, I cant even think of games where getting the 100% was fun all the time because of collectibles, challenges, puzzles, etc... except for some 2D platformers like Celeste or super Meat boy.

 

[PucePikmin]

Still more fun than in most games.

 

[logash]

I got all 999 moons in Mario. Put over 70 hours into the game and loved it.

I put over 120 hours into Zelda but couldn't care less about gathering the korok seeds.

 

[Stryder]

I only ever complete the story.

The Witcher 3 is an example of a game that keeps all content interesting becasue there is a story tied to literally everything.

Most Nintendo games treat their side content like a series of fetch quests. Not really fun or appealing.

 

[Josh5890]

I'd be down for getting all of them if it wasnt for the rope and beach ball ones.

Click to shrink...

I saved video of both of those because I didn't believe that I actually did it.

 

[Leveean]

I feel like this would be solved if they had achievements. Getting every achievement usually functions like a 'soft' 100% where you do everything except the insane stuff and that satisfies most people.

 

[KillstealWolf]

I sorta don't like the idea of "Nah you don't need to get them all". Getting all the things is part of the gameplay, it should be fun to get the things. If it feels like Busy-work to get the things, I'm not having fun. Hence the idea of "There isn't a need to get the things", is that because getting the things isn't fun, meaning the game isn't fun?

I got enough Moons in Odyssey to beat Bowser and when I got to Achievement Toadette, I had enough. Though will probably go back to it.
I gave up BoTW in the Hebra Mountains, one too many Tests of Strength and I just had enough, and I got bored of the Korok's long before that.
Actually got most of the Spirits in Smash Ultimate, only missing some of the insanely tricky ones like 1 Life defeat the final stage. I think this was fairly dull though and wouldn't do it again.
Didn't even bother with Let's Go. Though that's more Let's Go being a trash-fire of a Pokemon game. I pity anyone who had to beat all the Master Trainers in that game, worst post-game in the series by a loooooong shot.

 

[Parthenios]

I don't think Nintendo intends for its games to be 100% completed necessarily. I think they just want enough content to last an average player and maybe a second playthrough. I finished BotW the first time with about 60 shrines, and instead of going to grind out the other 60 post game, I could have started a new playthrough and had essentially a whole new game to play.

I think Mario Odyssey and Fire Emblem Three Houses are designed the same way, and you're not supposed to 100% of the game in a single run.

 

[Leviathan]

I didn't think it was supposed to be fun to 100% a game. I thought it was about the brief moment when you're finished when you get to point and say that you've done it.

It's why I never do it.

 

[Ultimate Bear Cub]

I am a complete sucker for the Mario franchise. I loved getting every moon in that game. I was more disappointed that you could straight up buy moons though. That was padding. I can understand not 100% the game, makes sense. Mario is more of an exception for my completionist side though.

BOTW was a different divine beast. I only wanted all the shrines, with the seeds being extraneous beyond upgrades. So it really depends on how you feel or when you had enough.

 

[mclem]

I don't mind optional, challenging content, but it doesn't really feel that "optional", because it's part of the main game. Maybe this could be solved by offering different difficulty settings, but I don't think that's something Nintendo wants to do.

Click to shrink...

I'm curious where exactly the distinction lies, in your opinion. I absolutely regarded Darker Side as an optional extreme challenge; indeed, I regarded everything after I'd done enough to beat the finale and roll the credits as optional.

 

[William_Herschel]

I agree. A few people are saying that you shouldn't generalize Nintendo games, but the collect-a-thon late game has been a common theme across their titles for years.

 

[exodus]

Getting 120 stars in SM64 added to the experience. Getting 999 moons in Odyssey detracts from the experience.

There are too many of them, and far too few of them are memorable at all.

 

[Deleted member 17402]

I find it difficult to beat new games nowadays if I know that the side content won't amount to a lot. This is also why I gravitate toward games that have RPG elements and leveling of some sort. Whether artificial or not, knowing that I can almost infinitely level my character helps quell my conscience and allow me to complete the main story and always have some leveling to do there after.

 

[Phendrift]

To be quite honest, this is really is only for Odyssey and BotW.

they wanna give you a sandbox with a fuckton to do. I don't think they necessarily intend for most people to go for 100% (just look at the reward for collecting all the Koroks) just that there's always objects of interest.

The linear games in these series are much quicker 100%s

 

[YolkFolk]

Nintendo games are meant to be played for fun rather than the grind.

You're coming with the mindset where you have a set list of tasks and once you complete those tasks then you're completely done with the game, get a trophy/achievement and can move on to the next game.

Unless you get enjoyment out of searching for every korok seed or every moon then there's absolutely no need to do it. If you're not enjoying what is a completely optional task then there is no point in doing it.

I finished Breath of the Wild and have completed all 120 shrines and finished the DLC. I consider that I have completely finished the game. I have no desire to collect the rest of the optional korok seeds and neither should you if it's not something you enjoy doing.

 

[Lobster Roll]

There are people out there absolutely obsessed with games like BOTW and Odyssey to the point where they will have fun collecting all 999 moons and all 900 Korok seeds. There is no point to doing this, and there is no point in getting 100% in any given game. It's just a file that will sit dormant at 100% and be nothing more than a representation of "oh right I did that". What purpose does 100% even serve? It's not like you'll even load a 100% file ever again to look around and think "ah, look at the all of the things I can't do anymore". Just play games until you're done having fun with them and move on with your life.

 

[Deleted member 6730]

The game wasn't designed for 100% completion. There's so many moons because it's basically an open world game and the developers prioritized players getting moons at a decent enough pace. There's a reason why unlocking the final level doesn't involve getting everything in the game.

 

[Advc]

Omg yes. Trying to 100% Odyssey is not worthy at all IMO. My advice is to just finish the main campaign, grab a few extra moons after that and move on to the next game. The post game in Odyssey was sooooo dissapointing. 3D World's post game content was 100x better. Decrease the amount of stars/moons on the next 3D Mario, Nintendo. Please. Add less and make each mission to grab them memorable instead of adding 999 and make 800 of them a chore to get. You can even buy them! Like how is that supposed to be memorable? Just buy the amount of moons you need and be done with it? Nah son.

 

[iag]

I rarely 100% a game. Last one was DKTF on Wii U, but it was worth it. 200% though? No way

 

[Horohorohoro]

I fully completed it, bought every costume, maxed out my coins, and got 999 moons. I don't regret it, but it seems like most people didn't really enjoy the game enough to get every single moon.

 

[RochHoch]

Odyssey is clearly intended for you to get to Darker Side of the Moon and then stop, which is fine.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

because it's not fun

 

[mgrimble2]

You're missing an option.......

Moons felt so worthless since there was so many, I have up before even beating the game.

That's what I did.

 

[KillstealWolf]

To be quite honest, this is really is only for Odyssey and BotW.

they wanna give you a sandbox with a fuckton to do. I don't think they necessarily intend for most people to go for 100% (just look at the reward for collecting all the Koroks) just that there's always objects of interest.

The linear games in these series are much quicker 100%s

Click to shrink...

I say Smash and all it's Spirits very easily count as well for this.

Of course, going for smash you have the further debate of if the single players modes are something you should be doing and instead should be focusing on learning to fight other human players instead.

 

[Undeniablybiased]

They definitely seem like they're trying to actively push back against completionism with BotW and Odyssey. Seems like they want you to have something new to do every time you pick up the game, but to not grind it out. Which, of course, doesn't line up with how a lot of people play games.