The Final march. Updated on 25 April 2021
The truism that the longer something takes, the more satisfying its completion isn t always applicable to videogames. Many of my joyless grinds have ended in a bitter sense of relief rather than waves of joy. But when that game is R-Type Final and the grind is unlocking the full ship roster, the little ding that announced I d unlocked the final of Final was a profoundly personal moment of deep satisfaction. 16 years in the making, it s probably the longest grind I ve ever undertaken and alarmingly it only took 40 hours of gameplay to achieve, which tinged the whole thing with a weird sense of guilt. I should have done this a lot sooner. But nonetheless, the deed was finally done and my instance of the glorious R Museum is now resplendent with a complete catalogue..