How do I know when I'm satisfied? (Why I don't like "post game" content)

After much waffling on whether or not to play FFXV, my "gaming schedule" freed up enough and the game + all DLC became cheap enough for me to give it a chance. I don't think it's a good game, but it's not a bad game either. It has some interesting and engaging elements, but it's deeply flawed and there's already been a lot of good analysis of the game to that end. Still I ended up sinking a lot of time into it. For me it kind of occupies the same space as a Dynasty Warriors game - sort of mindless action that keeps me occupied in a way that gels with my mood right now because I'm not looking for something more involved.

I've sunk about 65 hours into the game, but now I have a dilemma and it made me realize something that I really don't like in games.

I'm a bit of a completionist when it comes to games. Not to the "get every single collectible and trophy" extent, but to the "do every sanely completable unique sidequest" extent. When it comes to open world games, I always do everything I can before the ending. I spend hours clearing out side content, then do the last story quest (usually way over-leveled), get credits, and then move on from the game. Even for games that allow you to keep playing after the end, I never go back to them like that, I'll start a new game if I want to revisit them. I like having the definitive breaking point to move on from a game that an ending gives.

FFXV however, has quite a lot of content that only becomes available after you complete the story and I've already made the mistake of completing some of it. There's no way I'm going to do all of it though. I've had my fill of the game's combat and the extra dungeons that open up seem mind-numbingly tedious. The problem is, I've already lost my clean mental exit point. I know it's silly, but if I stop playing he game now, it feels weird leaving the 4 dudes hanging there in the middle of world, with a quest log still full of entries. I could always replay the ending I guess, but I've come to realize that I really do not like post-game content because of this feeling that you've left the game hanging, so to speak. I want to be able to do everything before the credits, get credits, and feel like I'm done with the game. I don't like "live" games like Destiny for the same reason.

Is this just super weird on my part or do other people feel like this?

I'm exactly the same. Once I see credits, I kinda check out of the game. Biggest reason for this is due to time constraints (work, family, life in general), another is the feeling of what's the point if the story is done? But there are some instances where I can keep playing cause the game is just that enjoyable. I'm still playing breath of the wild, even though I saw credits 3 years ago. The souls games are another. It definitely isn't a weird thing at all, I know a few people that do this too.

I've thought about this a bit as it pertains to certain kinds of games that people just expect to be able to play infinitely. I remember when The Division came out players were upset at the weak end game content. But I had spent around 20 or 25 hours slowly working my way through the main content, and felt good and satisfied when I finished the story. Seeing people mad about that was crazy to me, because we don't have the same expectation for other games. Nobody who finished The Last of Us was angry that there was no end game content, for instance. It's like the presence of an end game makes players ignore everything that comes before it, like none of it matters.

That's a bit different from something like FFXV though, since that's a single player only game. Typically in those instances I don't really bother completing the post-credits stuff like you said. Watch Dogs Legion actually has a sort of epilogue quest line after you finish the story but I didn't bother with it. I guess Red Dead Redemption I and II are the only cases where they make good on that post-story stuff for me.

Post-game content was created for the same reason that tacked on multiplayer was created...to keep people from selling their games. Especially in Japan where game rentals weren't legal developers started putting grindy post-game content into their games to provide people with grindy time sinks that would push back the date they'd sell the game, thus preventing the market flooding with used copies.

Knowing that makes me less interested in post-game content because I'm definitely not the "grind it out" type, and a lot of the content has very high time commitment to enjoyment value. Sometimes if there's an interesting epilogue that wraps up some character arcs or something I'll do that, but I have no interest in grinding levels to take on super bosses or anything.

In terms of knowing when you've had enough, I think the question is purely utilitarian. Will you gain more from continuing to play and the "satisfaction" of having filled out the list or from stopping and not having to do that stuff? I understand feeling like you don't want to leave the characters' situation half-finished but you can always take them to a good stopping point and just set the game down for a while and then resume it if you feel the need.

Given that it seems like you want to stop, if I were you I'd just find a good breaking point and take a break for a couple weeks and then re-evaluate. If you want to go back and finish the stuff...do so. If you don't, then don't.

The completionist mindset can be poisonous when you're not actually enjoying yourself. Games are recreation. When they become an obligation they are just fake activity. I think it's worth asking "why am I doing this?" every once in a while. If the answer is "because I enjoy it" or "I will enjoy writing/talking about it later" or anything else that brings satisfaction then it's worth considering continuing. If the answer is "because it's there" then I would try to stop. Life's too short for "because it's there."

I'm very completionist about games but also at the same time pretty strictly tied to the narrative arc of whatever I'm playing.

I'll do dozens of added hours of side content if it takes place before a story "ends" but if this content takes place exclusively in a post game I usually no interest in it whatsoever.

There's this post-game dungeon in XV that is only accessible with a flying car.

And, frankly, to me it was one of the more enjoyable aspects of the game.

So go figure.

When it comes to Final Fantasies in general I'm pretty much a completion freak and will more likely than not try to platinum them. The exception was Final Fantasy XIII. I came very close but missed the platinum due to not obtaining one item to complete the item library. What's worse, the item was missable so I couldn't go back and obtain it without having to restart the game. Just brutal as far as I was concerned.

@berfunkle:Pitioss Ruins, I just did that. I despised it! I mean I played through it because I was kind of intrigued by the absurdity of it, but what a ridiculous thing to put in that game. A pure puzzle dungeon would have been welcome...but oh god the platforming required gave me hand cramps.

For those not in the know, it's a dungeon that is extensively platforming based, requiring fairly precise jumps, in a game that controls like the action RPG that is and not a platformer. As a metaphor, think of someone putting a 2 hour long platforming section in Witcher 3, pre-patched movement ;)

@sweetz: Yeah I feel the same way. Thou I never get the need or want to play infinitely. I am content leaving quest on the back burner as long as I've already fought the specific ai beast or adversary. If I fight random mooks in the RPG world once or twice and have their patterns down. I'm not interested in doing it again unless I'm trying out new ideas otherwise I run past it. I feel the same way about extra quest. Give me something unique or ill just run past it. I completed everything in witcher 3 before doing the final quest besides those treasure chest hunts etc. I didn't need to go to a random place to open chest 400. That said maybe I missed something don't know don't care. If it's that big a deal we live in 2020 and can just live vicariously through a google search for the specified mission and watch it in 2x speed to skip the mundane walking etc. I feel like we're rushing our lives to meet some arbitrary satisfaction quotient but that's another rant...

Anyway, to get back on track, I usually try to do the story extras, etc before I finish the game. I like to bring my fully realized team to the final war or battle. Long games are hard to go back to so it's important you finish em good the first time. That said this whole myriad of quest we got into after reviewers kept arguing in the 90s, for more bang for their buck has caused the over abundance of stuff to do...leading to option paralysis or just boredom as you get too much of a good thing. Even if every quest was perfect you just can't play some games for 300 hours.

Thou there are exceptions leaving you wanting more and saying that's it....your cast went on but well leave you imagining is nice. Skies of arcadia is a 50-hour RPG I beat about 3 times. Each time doing all quest. It ends with a definitive that's it, no extra quest, no extra anything. It leaves me wanting more so bad but I know if it just allowed me to sour the skies for hours doing radiant quests, Id feel the hollow feeling that i let my crew down. The journey ended and like them, it's time to move on. There are plenty more adventures so finish that game and get ready for your next one.

Normally I like the extra challenge/time/story of a game that I've put a lot of time in (this coming from someone who yearly plays through Batman Arkham City and does ALL of the Riddler Trophies, sidequests, and post game Catwoman collections). Though every once in a while a game will come along that makes me second guess the post game dungeons. My first Dragon Quest game that I completed was Dragon Quest 4: Chapters of the Chosen on the NDS. There was an added narrative chapter to that game that basically required a fully leveled party. Looking at the tens of hours that I would just have to mindlessly grind in the final dungeon to do that, I made the decision to just let the story end for me there, but I TOTALLY get the feeling as if FFXV would be incomplete for you by leaving the party hanging.

You ain't weird, you're just drawn into the narrative.

I've definitely gotten much better about maintaining a quest flow and I think ffxv might have been my tipping point? Because I knew about the post campaign stuff (and I wanted to beat that one chapter before they updated it). Since playing that, I've actually started mainlining the story in games and only doing side stuff if I need to level for a bit. And I find myself finishing more games nowadays because I actually get caught up with the story.

I remember playing Witcher 3 and by the time I finished the game I had completed every side quest I had accepted from every board. I had completely forgotten what the main story line was and why I cared about fighting the end boss. I still love that game, but I could not tell you what happens in the main story line because I just was randomly doing quests the entire time.

I stopped Red Dead Redemption at the second ending. It felt like the best place to end it. I know what comes after it but I'm satisfied.

Usually if I have to ask whether I should keep playing, I don't. Game Pass made it way easier for me to uninstall something so casually, but I think if I'd played any more of FFXV I'd have ended up hating it.

I am the same way... even in games I really enjoyed, like the Yakuza series, I get very little motivation to get completionist once the story is over.