Missable items

[*Laurelindo*]

What do you think of so-called "missable items" in video games?
Personally I find "missable items" pretty annoying, I am a perfectionist in pretty much any RPG I play and I want to finish the game to 100%, and it's really frustrating to spend 30+ hours on one file only to figure out that I forgot 1 copy of some useless limited item early in the game.
In my opinion it would have been much better if the game just gave you very good reasons to obtain an item at a certain point in the game instead, so that although the alternative is very annoying you are at least still able to get it.

Of course I understand that some missable items aren't really intended and just happen to be lost as a result of the storyline (for example, a hidden item in a town that later gets destroyed), but sometimes the amount of missable items is overwhelmingly great - like in Final Fantasy 9, where almost every single screen has some missable item of some sort (chests, Mognet letters, scattered items...), and I doubt that this was just a "mistake".
I guess some people might enjoy missable items because they give you a reason to create a new file and improve from your last time, though.

Discuss.

[Wolf Kanno]

I honestly like them cause they give more of an incentive to play the game again cause you have unfinished business. Granted I usually tackle the game the first time focusing on story and core gameplay so I often miss a lot of things the first time through. I've never been seriously bothered by then and in the second or third plythrough, I get a great sense of accomplishment when I actually do get the items. I've stopped being a completionist except for a few games and even then I usually approach that particular playthrough with that in mind but I hate referencing guides all the time so these playthroughs tend to be less fun for me so I've stopped doing them in recent years.

[Aulayna]

I honestly like them cause they give more of an incentive to play the game again cause you have unfinished business. Granted I usually tackle the game the first time focusing on story and core gameplay so I often miss a lot of things the first time through. I've never been seriously bothered by then and in the second or third plythrough, I get a great sense of accomplishment when I actually do get the items. I've stopped being a completionist except for a few games and even then I usually approach that particular playthrough with that in mind but I hate referencing guides all the time so these playthroughs tend to be less fun for me so I've stopped doing them in recent years.

Pretty much this for me too.

[chionos]

It's a love-hate relationship.
I like them when I don't miss them. I feel special.

[Del Murder]

I honestly like them cause they give more of an incentive to play the game again cause you have unfinished business. Granted I usually tackle the game the first time focusing on story and core gameplay so I often miss a lot of things the first time through. I've never been seriously bothered by then and in the second or third plythrough, I get a great sense of accomplishment when I actually do get the items. I've stopped being a completionist except for a few games and even then I usually approach that particular playthrough with that in mind but I hate referencing guides all the time so these playthroughs tend to be less fun for me so I've stopped doing them in recent years.

Noooooo! Too many games to play! Must get everything on first playthrough! Arghhhhhh!

[Skyblade]

Actually, for me, it's more a case of spending over a hundred hours in a game to find out I missed something from really early on. For example, in FFXIII I missed the Ahriman datalog from the Fifth Ark. Going back and getting it would mean having to redo everything on Gran Pulse again. To hell with that.

I don't like missing things, and I don't like giving up old progress to go back and get them. One of the best things about New Game + is that it lets you go back and work on things you've missed without giving up on everything you've already gotten.

[Bubba]

I agree with chionos. It's only irritating if you miss the smurfers.

I missed the damn Leviathan Scales on my last attempt at a 100% FFVII. That was irritating.

[*Laurelindo*]

I honestly like them cause they give more of an incentive to play the game again cause you have unfinished business.

Hehe yeah, I can see how you think there, you probably want to just sit back and play through the storyline at ease your first time anyway and then work on missable items on your second, more hardcore runthrough.

Still though, what bothers me is when I actually do one of those serious Perfect Game attempts and get almost everything - but miss some crappy item early on that's completely useless but happens to be in a limited amount.
At those times I always kinda wish that the game had a New Game+ option of some sort, which is sadly a pretty rare feature.
Chrono Trigger is very fun to work on simply because it does have a New Game+ option, and so you can go and get countless Haste Helms, PrismDresses and other beautiful stuff over and over.

[chionos]

I play more relaxed than I used to, so I think that missable items are more of a nuisance than they used to be, especially the kind that lead to fun or unique rewards later on as opposed to items needed only for 100% runs.