Brutal Legend - 10/20 hours

Collectibles in games are kind of a tricky proposition. I like the feeling of finiteness that comes from tracking them down. There are only so many and you can grab them one after another. There's something satisfying about having a list of things to do and then gradually seeing that list get smaller and smaller . . . The parallel to my blog was unintentional when I started writing the sentence, but it seems apt. These sorts of systematic tasks are right in my wheelhouse. I like having a goal and making steady progress towards that goal.

On the other hand, collecting doodads in a game is also kind of frustrating and pointless. It's better in Brutal Legend than most because the best thing about this game is the scenery and driving around looking for hidden statues gives you plenty of excuse to look at everything. Plus, the soundtrack is growing on me. I'll probably never be a true heavy metal fan, but I'm coming to appreciate the nuance a bit more. And yet, this sort of exploration always comes with its own set of worries. How many collectibles are in this particular area? How do I keep track of where I've already searched? How can I be sure that, when I've failed to find a collectible, it's because there was no collectible there and not because it's just especially well-hidden.

Questions like that are why I usually only do the collectibles thing when the game includes some sort of collectible finder. As much as I enjoy the order and rigor of crossing things off a list, I hate the uncertainty that comes with not actually having a list. But in this case, I made an exception because I know Brutal Legend is a short game and I didn't want to run out of things to do before I reached 20 hours.

So that's mostly what I've been doing. I found an online guide and I've been very carefully tracking down the various collectibles, gathering them all whenever a new area opens up, so as to not miss a single one and thus have no ambiguity whether or not the collectibles have been found. Like I said earlier, it's more fun in Brutal Legend than in most other games, but it's not, you know, great.