9 Video Games That Punish You For 100%

7. A Very Cool Use Of Your Time - Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow

If you’ve ever played a Castlevania game you should know that trying to get 100% completion in one of these iconic experiences is no joke.

Symphony of the Night might have thrown you for a loop when you thought you finished the whole game and then realised you needed to go through the much trickier upside down version of the same castle, but at least that’s essentially the second half of the game.

No, Aria of Sorrow and its 100% requirement to collect every soul is much more demanding and much more punishing on the crappy rewards side. Even with the Soul Eater Ring which increases the appearance rate of souls and all the skill in the world this challenge is an absolute grind and requires some very kind RNG.

So, what do you get for this monumental time and effort? You get Soma saying he’s cool. I’m not even kidding.

If you cross off all the same things you’ll get the exact same ending and visuals, except Soma says the experience did change him because, and I quote, “I’m a lot cooler now!” If it’s any consolation, Mina totally agrees, but then one screen later you’re back to the exact same ending and text that you would have received if you didn’t sink untold time into 100% soul collection.

This is another “I hope that completion screen is its own reward” kind of entry.