I don't want choice... I don't know what to do with it!

I've just finished Mass Effect 3 and felt I had to share some things I noticed about myself. I know no-one cares... but it helps me.

I love a game that gives you the chance to change the course of the game. The problem is I hate having to make a choice. I am an obsessive completist! I must complete every quest, visit every planet and explore every line of dialogue. At it's best this means I get to discover rich worlds and hidden secrets, at its worst it makes my character sound like a schizophrenic amnesiac who can't remember the last two sentences that came tumbling from their mouths as he relentless flips from concerned to dismissive, from sympathetic to nonchalant.

Look, I know there is a war on but there
might be something in these crates.

I was eternally frustrated by a bug in the first Dragon Age that left a completed quest appearing uncompleted in my journal. I spent hours, literally, scanning every planet in Mass Effect 2 to satisfy myself that I had searched every inch of the universe for every possible scrap of resources so I could purchase ever upgrade for my ship and squad. And in the original Mass Effect I did the same thing only this time I drove over the entire planet in my Mako, ensuring I chose the most efficient route covering the whole map in the shortest distance. I read every word of text that I find, which in games like Oblivion and Skyrim is a huge invest of time as the number of books, their length and proliferation in the world is quite staggering.

More books no matter where I go... is nowhere safe?

The main problem I find with choice is it offers two or more options. Which is obvious I know but it means at least one option won't be picked, which means at least one section of story won't be experienced. If there are two hundred choices in a game, that means there are at least two hundred events, dialogue options, rewards that I haven't experienced. I can't handle that. In some games it means I watch an entirely different ending to the one a friend might experience. It leaves me agonising to make sure I get it 'right' because I want the best ending, the best gun, the best piece of armour.

Garrus, don't make me choose! How insensitive!

There is a section in Mass Effect 2 where I had to make a seemingly minor choice for my character. I could chose a fantastic sniper rifle (one of my specialist weapons) which I wouldn't be able to obtain otherwise, or pick a proficiency in another type of weapon. It was excruciating. I had wanted my Infiltrator to have access to assault rifles for the entire game yet when I was given the chance to use them I was suddenly offered a big shiny sniper rifle. I literally spent fifteen minutes trying to decide. When I finally made up my mind I immediately regretted my decision and reloaded an earlier save and chose again. I replayed that section four times and I still wonder whether I should have chosen differently. I am useless with choice. It is wasted on me. 

To come to a close I am, quite definitely, an obsessive completist. But sometimes it has its perks. I often do find the best hidden loot, get the best endings and get a lot of value for money. Most of the time, I get a lot of enjoyment from exploring the fringes of a story. Unless it involves scanning planets... which is just shit.