Five Collectibles In Good Games That We’re Still Cursing At

I have a problem (OK, I have lots of problems, but we’re only talking about one today). I collect stuff. My shelves are full with Skylanders and Collector’s Editions tsotchkes and oodles of items from Loot Crates. If it stopped there, I’d be fine.

My collector obsession bleeds into gaming. Even before it was about achievements and trophies, I wanted to find every doodad and macguffin on a game’s map. I won’t tell you how much time I spent finding one little “figment” in Psychonauts (at least those appeared in a grid so I knew which was absent).

Here are five more that I still have unkind words for (even though I probably found them all). No matter how much I enjoy these games (and I really do like all of them), these aspects will remain a sore spot.

Assassin’s Creed - Flags
When I played Assassin’s Creed for the first time, it took me about twice as long as it should have. Of course I finished every repetitive objective on the way to the assassinations. 

I picked pockets, threatened snitches, and eavesdropped on meetings. That wasn’t enough, though.

Scattered across the cities and the connecting regions are 420 flags. On my first play through, I found 418. It wasn’t until years later that I returned with the express purpose of finding the remaining pair. 

There are individual, low point achievements for nabbing all of each type, but nothing to reward a full set. They don’t even impact the gameplay experience. What a waste of time. 

Thankfully, things got better in Assassin’s Creed II. The feathers scattered around Italy have narrative significance and award you a little gold on a recurring basis. At least you get something for your effort.

Infamous - Blast Shards 
Don’t get me wrong, Infamous’ Blast Shards are fun to find, but only if you are methodical. If you look up how many there are in each part of the city, and only move on once you’ve found them all, you can save yourself a lot of trouble.

Unfortunately, if you are more haphazard, finding the stragglers toward the end of the game is a nightmare. There’s no good resource to assist.

Furthermore, there are a couple you can’t easily “ping” using Cole’s electro-radar sense. They’re out in the water and you can’t “see” them from the shore. 

There are 350 in the game (though you’ll max out your power before you find them all). In order to get a Platinum trophy though, you’ll want a full set.

In the sequel, you were eventually able to unlock locations on the map once you’d found enough. The improvements are appreciated, but collecting all of them in the first game was an exercise in frustration.

Read on for singing plants, foul-mouthed ducks, and more.