Holiday Gaming Goals 2008

It's that time again. Time to neglect our families, and spend our days off huddled in front of the warm glow of a roaring television (or monitor... or DS).

Last year's thread spurred some of us into action. Here's one for 2008, a little early this time. As far as I'm concerned the holidays start this four-day Thanksgiving weekend, and extend until January 2nd, 2008. Anything accomplished in that time frame counts as a success.

(Parenthetical titles are late additions, i.e. bonus accomplishments.)

START THESE GAMES - FAILED

• Gladius - Xbox X
• Metal Saga - PS2 X
• Traitors Gate - PC N/A (Not my fault. XP won't boot this.)
• Ys II Complete - PC http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Luminous Arc - DS) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Shining Soul II - GBA http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Mercenaries - Xbox) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Devil May Cry 2 - PS2) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Trackmania: United - PC) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Half-Life 2: Episode 2 - PC http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Advance Guardian Heroes - GBA) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath - Xbox) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960

PUT AT LEAST FOUR HOURS INTO EACH OF THESE GAMES - FAILED

• Morrowind - PC http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Atelier Iris - PS2 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Condemned - 360 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Blue Dragon - 360 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Shenmue 2 - Xbox http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Rogue Galaxy - PS2 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• King's Field IV - PS2 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Baldur's Gate II - PC http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Fatal Frame 2 - Xbox http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Final Fantasy XII - PS2 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Dragon Quest VIII - PS2 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Myst IV: Revelation - PC) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Tomb Raider Anniversary - 360 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Xbox http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Wii http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - DS http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170

FINISH THESE GAMES - FAILED

• Alice - PC http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1167656170
• Kameo - 360 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Hotel Dusk - DS http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Burnout Revenge - 360 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Super Paper Mario - Wii http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Mega Man Zero 3 - GBA http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Tales of Legendia - PS2 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• Super Mario Galaxy - Wii http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Advance Guardian Heroes - GBA) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - DS) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee - Xbox) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
• (Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - Xbox) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960

So, what are your plans for gaming accomplishments this holiday season? You can put your goals here, and then we can revisit the thread next month to see who succeeded (:link:), and who failed (:red:).

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1165698598

You're leading us off a cliff...?

Finish:
Super Mario Galaxy http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
Phoenix Wright 1-3
Assassins Creed FAIL The game was Garbage.
Crysis

Spend X Hours With
Rock Band http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
Halo 3 http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
Final Fantasy III DS
Mass Effect http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960

That's all I can think of

Finish:
Super Mario Galaxy
Blue Dragon
God of War II
Heroes of Mana
Super Paper Mario

Spend X Hours With:
Zelda DS
Zelda Wii
Metroid Prime 3
ATHF Zombie Ninja Pro Am
Portal
Team Fortress 2

LOL Yeah Right:
Half Life 2
HL: Episode 1
HL: Episode 2

Once Christmas day rolls around, this list is screwed. Between my wife and I, will probably have about 20 more games to deal with.

Probably try to finish any one of these 360 games:

Half Life 2/EP1/EP2
F.E.A.R.
COD3
COD2 Veteran
VF5 Quest Mode
Fantastic Four
Just Cause
The Outfit

i hope to finish CoD 4 (pc) and start on Hellgate London/The Witcher. that's about it.

I plan on just playing most of the new holiday releases, as most of them are rentals anyway. With a secondary goal of upping my gamerscore, To catch a buddy of mine, as he said the feat would be impossible.

Finish:

Mass Effect
Final Fantasy III (never got around to this and it was on my list last year)
Sword of Mana (gba)
C&C 3 (only a few missions left)
LotR BfME 2 (360)

Put some time into:

Final Fantasy XII (if I'm done with Mass Effect in time)

• 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy
• 1000 medal points in Uncharted
• Finish Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
• 100% in Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
• Finish Half-Life 2: Episode 2
• Don't buy anything else

Finish:

- Super Mario Galaxy
- Orange Box (Ep. 1 & 2, Portal)
- Eternal Sonata

Start:

- Mass Effect

Spend X hours with:

- Several Genesis and Sega CD games

Lists remind me too much of working.

Games should be nothing like work (sup World of Warcraft!).

I am going to play some Mario Galaxy and maybe start some other games. :)

This Holiday season I want to:

Finish:

Zack and Wiki
Super Mario Galaxy
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Put a good amount of time into:

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Mario & Sonic at the Olympics

and hopefully pick up Time Crisis 4 and Mass Effect...

if i get my replacement Wacom pen in time i'll drop any gaming for that instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by magnifiedplaid

Put a good amount of time into:

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

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If RRR1 is any indication, putting 5 minutes into 2 is too much. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

Don't buy anything else

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It's a year later and i still haven't completed my goal!

Finish:
Mass Effect, VF5 Quest Mode

Start:
Contra 4 DS

why are there 2 gaming goals threads?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Finch

It's a year later and i still haven't completed my goal!

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No doubt about that.

I was going to pick up Front Mission DS then I realized I still have Front Mission 4 sealed on my stack.

Kooky.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kingoffighters

If RRR1 is any indication, putting 5 minutes into 2 is too much. :p

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hahaha. It seems sad to say this, but the original Rayman Raving Rabbids was my favorite Wii launch game :) I actually thought the first game was going to be retarded too, and I hated it for about the first hour or so, but then it really grew on me.

The second game is a lot of fun so far too, and I look forward to inviting my friends over this weekend to play a few rounds :)

Partially piggy-backing off of Yoshi's list:

120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy
1000 medal points in Uncharted
Finish VF5 Quest Mode
Finish Halo 3 (co-op and/or solo)
Finish Gears of war (co-op and/or solo)
Finish Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Finish Mass Effect (pending purchase)
Playing for fun: Contra 4, KOF XI, GGXX AC, VF5, FPW R, Ghost Squad
Don't buy anything else

These will all be difficult but the last one in particular will be hard to achieve.

Start & finish Super Mario Galaxy.
Get level 51 in CoD4.
Get level 40+ in Halo 3.
Finish Half Life 2 from Orange Box.
Get Mass Effect.
Beat GH3 on Expert.

I'm just going to put down a list of titles that I have stacked next to my desk, without any pre-conceived goals for completion or amount of time I plan to put into them, because I know I probably will not meet very many of those goals. So I will just list them, and if I can manage to finish any, I will add a check mark to them.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Hotel Dusk: Room 214
Gitaroo-Man Lives!
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Sid Meier's Pirates
Jeanne D'Ark
God Hand
Final Fantasy XII
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Eternal Sonata
Vagrant Story

1 hour of Dodonpachi DOJ
play some Twilight Princess

I don't have a lot of free time during holiday season, but since none of my friends do either, all my free time is going to be spent finishing and puting time in with my games.

Finish:
Super Mario Galaxy
Mass Effect
Assassins Creed
Eternal Sonata
GHIII

Playtime:
skate.
Disgaea Afternoon of Darkness
Zack & Wiki
Beautiful Katamari
CoD4
Team Fortress 2

Goals:
Prestige Mode in CoD4
40+ in Halo 3 after new maps
Legendary Halo 3

242 stars in Super Mario Galaxy

Beat:
COD4
Half Life 2
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Eternal Sonata
Zack & Wiki
Phoenix Wright 2
God of War II
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Start/continue:
Phoenix Wright 3
HL2 eps. 1 and/or 2
Hitman: Blood Money
MGS: Portable Ops (+)
Jeanne D'Arc
Assorted RPGs I have lying around untouched or half-finished (FFXII, SMT: DDS, Shadow Hearts 2 & 3, Brave Story, Baten Kaitos 1 & 2)

Finish:
Chantelise http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
Ys: The Oath in Felghana (again) http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960
Persona 3
1cc Gradius V (lol) AS IF

Start:
FF12 (only made it 8 hours in last time, restarting)
Zack & Wiki
Harmful Park http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1166234960

edit: Jeez, I almost forgot the annual holiday playing of Shenmue. Gonna start in Dec.

edit: oh well

Starting Dec. 1, I have six weeks of freedom until spring semester starts.

Finish:

Bully
MGS3

In the cue:

Deus Ex (my all-time favorite; I start a new game every January)
Resident Evil 0
Zack & Wiki
Tomb Raider Legend
Whatever I get for bday/Xmas

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grave

1cc Gradius V (lol)

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I love that game, but lord do I suck at it. GL.

Finances haven’t allowed me to spend much on video games this past year, (aside from the occasional DS game,) and I haven’t yet been able to get a ps3, 360 or wii. But this Christmas I’ll be getting a wii, and I’ll have access to a 360 over break. So, though I may not complete a bunch of games, I’ll be able to start some and catch up. And I have 5 weeks(!) off.

So games I plan on starting over break:

Super Mario Galaxy
Twilight Princess
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
Phanton Hour Glass
Viva Pinata
Beautiful Katamari (maybe)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Mass Effect
Zack and Wiki (hopefully)


“Holiday Challenge”
I really suck a shooters, and I’m pretty closed-minded when it comes to liking them. So while I’m with the boyfriend I’m going to try to get into one of them and actually become proficient. (That is if the motion sickness doesn’t get the best of me.)

Mine isn't very long, and I'll most likley only do the first two.
Reach level 55 in CoD4
Buy and play the hell out of mass effect
Open and play kessen III
Open and play okami

I'm setting the bar pretty low. These are mine:

- Complete Mario Galaxy 100%
- Beat Contra 4 on normal
- Get through at least half of Suikoden V

Finish:
Mass Effect
Assassins Creed
CoD4
Half Life 2 (maybe Portal also)
Dracula X
Contra 4
Picross DS
GH3 on expert

Play a bunch:
Ace Combat 6
Mario Galaxy
Scene It!
Kane and Lynch
Oblivion GoTY
Megaman ZX
FF Tactics

I probobly won't finish all on my list but its a good goal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pineapple

Half Life 2 (maybe Portal also)

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Portal only take about 3 hours to run through. Get on that shit.

Man I can't even list the games I want to start and to finish... I have things on Saturn that I've not even played let alone finished....

Well I'll give it a shot tho it's going to be totally incomplete.

Games I'd like to finish.

Wind Waker
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Paper Mario 64
Dead Rising
Puzzle Quest
Halo 3
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Tomb Raider Legend
Ghost and Goblins (psp)
Virtua Fighter 5 (quest mode)
Gears of War (complete some achievements on hard and insane)
Astal

Games I'd like to start

Ratchet and Clank Future
Panzer Dragoon Saga (more than certain the battery died and the save is gone)
45% of my PS1,2, and Saturn collection

Someday I'm going to at least play all the games I own and hopefully finish 80% of them. Maybe when I retire...

Playthrough:
Mass Effect
Contra
Lost Odyssey
DQIV (maybe)
Stuntman Ignition
Planescape Torment (have had a strong urge to play it again)
Snatcher
Policenauts
Rainbow Six Vegas
Overlord
Splinter Cell: DA



And that is probably more then I'm going to be able to do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kidnemo

Games should be nothing like work (sup World of Warcraft!).

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It is what separates the men from the boys.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Melf

Finish:

- Super Mario Galaxy
- Orange Box (Ep. 1 & 2, Portal)
-Contra 4
- Guitar Hero III (Friend's copy)


Start, Finish, and Replay:

- Mass Effect

Spend X hours with:

- Cod 4 on Veteran/multi

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Changes bolded as applicable to me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grave

1cc Gradius V (lol)

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Have fun with that. Game seems like it's 2 hours long.

I'm adding Silent Hill Origins. I would like to finish it before starting Contra.

I'm getting killed on my "PUT AT LEAST FOUR HOURS INTO EACH OF THESE GAMES" category. I just haven't been in the mood for most of those.

The main point of that goal, though, is more to get me playing stuff I'd otherwise ignore, and hopefully get me hooked on something that really hits the spot. And this totally just worked with DQVIII. I was so bored before, but now I'm way into it. The PS3's upscaling almost turns it into a completely new game.

Getting Mass Effect and Mario Galaxy for Xmas. I plan to put lots of time into both. Also more COD 4 online. If I'm playing another game on 360 send me a invite. I'm pretty much always willing to kill people with fellow TNLers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bbobb

Playthrough:
Mass Effect
Contra
Lost Odyssey
DQIV (maybe)
Stuntman Ignition
Planescape Torment (have had a strong urge to play it again)
Snatcher
Policenauts
Rainbow Six Vegas
Overlord
Splinter Cell: DA

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Well the first two are done now. And due to bad word of mouth I'm not getting Lost Odyssey. Working on FFIV now which wasn't on the list, then I think I'll be moving on to Snatcher and Rainbow Six Vegas.

Also I need to add:
Playthrough DMC3 again.

So how is the FF remake bbobb?

Try checking the thread.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

• 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy
• 1000 medal points in Uncharted
• Finish Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
• 100% in Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
• Finish Half-Life 2: Episode 2
• Don't buy anything else

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I've failed miserably in the last one, and the first 5 have been scrapped in favor of finally finishing FFXII, since I am not sure when I'll have enough time to hammer that out again.

Beat Mass Effect.
Play Mario Galaxy until I get bored with it.

I need to beat Mass Effect and COD4.

I hope to beat the game of Life and get full-time employment instead of being nickle and dime'd as a freelancer.

Hey, me too! Except i'd be happy with freelance work. ): actually almost anything right now.

I prefered freelancing when I made $50 an article and had about 3-5 articles per week, but I left that place once they wanted to just give me 1-2 per week. That shit ain't gonna help pay bills.

The place I'm at now is just as bad. $35 per article and one article per week. They are about to get a huge fuck you if they don't give me more work per week.

So it goes:

• Finish Contra 4 Challenge Mode
• Put some time into "Contra: Shattered Soldier" (definitely not as good as C:4)
• Play through KOF XI a few dozen times, unlock Mai on Challenge #20
• Play through Shadow of the Colossus start to finish in one afternoon

That ought to round out the year pretty well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Drewbacca

Beat Mass Effect.
Play Mario Galaxy until I get bored with it.

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won't happen until maybe around 100 stars. The game is incredible at adding new gameplay elements and challenges to keep you interested. Once you're down to just comets and the trial galaxies though you might burn out.

I finished Mass Effect and VF5 Quest mode some time ago. I'm not sure if I want to play Silent Hill Origins now that I accidentally deleted my save.

Current plan looks like:

- Finish Chrono Trigger by Christmas (no sweat)
- Start and finish Assassin's Creed

There are a few games I'd like to start (whutup Under a Killing Moon, Riven, Phantasy Star), but I won't decide on anything at least until I finish Chrono Trigger.

Games to beat:

Phantasy Star
Under a Killing Moon


Other:
Find and play through some Master System or Turbograph games via Emulation for now to make up for lost time. Also may try out Myst.

Also Learn to beat Tain's Jackie more often.

Need to add a few more games to the list:

Put some hours in:

Persona 3
College Basketball 2K7
Super Mario Galaxy
Metal Gear 3 Subsistence
Time Crisis 4
Mass Effect

Try to get high score in:

Everyday Shooter
Super Stardust

Of course, I will just end up playing Gears and COD4 with the TNL crew and ignore my list.

I tried to maintain the last couple years' Christmas Eve tradition by starting and finishing a Daydream and/or Safecracker game, but alas, Traitors Gate refuses to boot in XP. Sucks. Supposed to be a pretty good game. I guess it'll have to wait until I drag out my old Win98 machine some day.

So to at least keep the Dec. 24th adventure game marathon tradition intact, I went back to Myst IV: Revelation after a year-long break.

I spent 6 straight hours working through the Spire Age. Granted, I was half-watching TV or listening to music a lot of the time but still. Probably the hardest Age in any Myst game ever (unless my memory deceives). I'm pretty sure I'd still be stuck if I didn't get lucky a couple times.

In other news, I don't think I'm going to be able to finish American McGee's Alice. It's much longer than I thought.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Compass

I tried to maintain the last couple years' Christmas Eve tradition by starting and finishing a Daydream and/or Safecracker game, but alas, Traitors Gate refuses to boot in XP. Sucks. Supposed to be a pretty good game. I guess it'll have to wait until I drag out my old Win98 machine some day.

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I'm pretty sure I played the Traitor's Gate demo fine in XP but maybe the full game is different.

Apparently there was a re-issue of the game that works on XP. Maybe your demo is from that re-issue. I have the original big box release.

Finish:

Final Fantasy XII
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI

May not get RoTK done, on Advanced difficulty that Cao Cao is a crafty bastard who goes down hard. I'm in a tough scenario (Three Visits where I wasn't the one to get Zhuge Liang) and I've been fighting a protracted back & forth war with him for 4 months (and 14 years of game time) now.

But as long as I don't spend too much time getting sidetracked, I should be able to handle FF. Really, the internet is my biggest enemy these days. It cuts into more of my gaming time than anything.

Goals:

* Finish Career mode (Medium) on Guitar Hero III.
* Reach 6,000,000+ on Time Crisis 4.
* Finish off Halo 3
* Finish off Call of Duty 4 (I'm playing on Hardened level)
* Finish Half-Life 2 Episode 2 before Ep3 drops
* 1CC Contra 4 (may take awhile)

Came real close in a couple categories, but ultimately failed all my goals.

:red:

I'll get 'em next year. :tu:

1. Mario Galaxy, I got tired of it 93 stars in
2. Mass Effect, taking my time with it
3. HL2, EP1 and EP2, I want to play the whole game through in one swoop
4. Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, been neglecting it
5.Dirt in cockpitview, If I do this I will be suprised

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timber

Final Fantasy XII

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy

Final Fantasy XII

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

FFXII

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So did any of you manage to actually get through it? I'm back at work tomorrow and I didn't even touch RoTK, FF XII took up all my gaming time this holiday. I thought I was close to the end, but 30 hours later I'm not done yet.

That mostly has to do with the fact that I realized that if I didn't go after the espers & elite marks I was basically missing out on like 20 boss fights, so I got away from the main story.

But it's disgusting how much content this game has, it's in Elder Scrolls territory with nearly 200 sidequests. I'm currently at 107 hours with I'm sure plenty more to go. At this rate I won't finish it until FF XIII comes out. That's not such a bad thing really, I wouldn't still be playing it if I weren't enjoying it. It's a testament to the game's design that after this many hours there are still all kinds of things I'm discovering, and items & abilities I haven't even gotten around to using yet.

I got like 7 hours in and got bored again.