General Gaming What's your preferred playstyle for games?

[Remarkableriots]

For example in Assassin's Creed: Origins I explored the entire map and collected all the collectables before doing the main story. In FF XIV I spent a lot of time leveling up, crafting and gathering before tackling the main story. I sometimes focus on getting all the trophies.

[Chris-]

It really depends on the type of game, but in games that have character progression (which is most of them these days) I LOVE grinding. Leveling up, upgrading gear, unlocking abilities, and so on, so I spend a lot of time doing that. 

[skillzdadirecta]

This is a good question... I need to think about this.

[ShreddieMercury]

I play mostly single player, and it depends on the game.  In a game where the sidequests/collectibles are engaging and don't feel tacked on, I'll work on them.  In other games that just pad this stuff on, I'll ignore it entirely.  I typically end most open world/exploration games with about 60-70% total completion and that feels fine to me.

[Remarkableriots]

Games like Spider-Man, Hulk, Superman Returns etc i spent a lot of time just traveling around not doing much just having fun being the character.

[Dodger]

I care way more about achievements than I should, but for the most part I don't end up finishing most games. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

I mostly play single player, and generally do most/all side missions as I go. I usually don’t pay much attention to collectibles, but will get them if they are convenient or have an interesting reward. 

[TwinIon]

My primary concern is the main story, and the amount of side quests and what not I'll do is fairly dependent on what they're like and what the rewards for them are. If I feel like the rewards for the side quests are worthwhile or will help me a good deal in the main quest, I'll do them, but I couldn't care less about collectibles. I find that area unlocks or save point unlocks or fast travel points are really good incentives for me, because I know I'll value them. Playing Division 2 had a nice system in place for that, because as you cleared out enemy strongholds you'd see less baddies roaming in an area, and you could use those locations as spawn locations and fast travel points. So I would do all those missions in a given area, and then head through the story stuff.

 

If the side quests are simply there for exp or items then I'll often skip them. Spider-Man PS4 was probably the most recent game that I'd do everything just because it was fun, even though they also had some of that other stuff that incentives me.

 

I guess in general I'd say that I like to do optional missions primarily to be better prepared for the main story, but only to a point. I won't do any crazy power leveling or exhaust every possible mission, but I'll go in with more than just the bare minimum.

[Bloodporne]

I'm so OCD with big, rather open games that I tend to burn myself out before the end and never fully finish them until way later.

 

Dark Souls is possibly my favorite game and my first playthrough I put it down before Duke's Archives I think and returned only six or eight months later to finish it. It wasn't because I disliked it, I was just so intensely invested in doing and seeing every pixel, I just felt exhausted and needed a break. I've done this with quite a few games since. I'm just now picking Death Stranding up again for the ending section because I was so absurdly invested in it, same thing.

[Dre801]

Exclusively single player.

 

With open world games, I almost never go for completion.  I do the main story and a decent amount of side and collectible stuff.

 

Infamous Second Son is the only game I've 100%'d and that's because it's pretty easy to do it.

[Keyser_Soze]

I mostly do side stuff before I finish the main quest.

[crispy4000]

I try to finish most of a game’s side content before taking on a final boss.  Especially if the game has a relatively linear progression, and it’s not totally bonkers in challenge or repetition.

Basically I like to feel prepared, and also that I didn’t miss anything substantive.  With a lot of games today that means I’m overleveled a good portion of the time.

 

Achievements mean nothing to me in of themselves.  If they don’t provide upgrades or show me something new, I typically don’t care. But I will collect some objects purely because they’re dangling fruit presented in the game itself.  Then be disappointed if they amount to nothing.

[Nokt]

Going for 100% feels far too daunting for a first play-through for a game. If its a subsequent play-through I must have really enjoyed the game if I want to attempt a 100%, which has only been a handful of games.

 

I typically enjoy doing side quests if it nets me something to a certain degree. It always feels worthwhile if its a well written side quest or adds a bit of world building. Obviously weapons, gear, XP, crafting materials, whatever would be useful to me as I'm playing the game. However, if its just fetch quest after fetch quest or they don't feel valuable as I'm progressing I axe them pretty early on.

 

Competitive games seem to be axing campaigns completely as they continue coming out. Growing up I would always play the Halo campaign prior to jumping into the multiplayer. In more recent years though, I skipped most of the CoD campaigns and even dipped on the Halo 5 campaign after a few hours to try out the multiplayer.

[gamer.tv]

Mainly single player and I will usually try and complete the main side quests and then a handful of the more pointless ones until it dawns on me I don't need to. I tend to mostly play single player games, however I do occasionally get the urge to delve into the online world and end up playing something fairly obsessively. 

[Bacon]

I do as much as I can before I beat the final level/boss because I usually stop playing once the credits roll. That usually results in me missing somethings but I usually get to around 80-90% before then. I hate games were a lot of content is post game because I lose all desire to play it once the game tells me I beat it. Don't know why, but that's how it is.