New ‘N’ Tasty Guilted Me Into My First 100% Completion

I started playing Oddworld: New ‘N Tasty and oh god I gotta save all these 299 Mudokons, right?

In 2014 Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty, you play as the Mudokon Abe, an overworked, underpaid alien who works for a company that is destroying the ecosystem and expelling native creatures – so your typical Amazon employee. New ‘n’ Tasty follows Abe as he escapes from RuptureFarms, a malevolent meat-processing plant whose board has decided to turn its workforce in Mudokon into its latest product. There are 299 Mudokon slaves that you can rescue from the clutches of Evil Alien Jeff Bezos, but you only need to save about half to complete the game. I don’t have 100% complete games, even though I want to sometimesbecause I think it’s a waste of time, but I can do it.

For most of the game, you’ll navigate gruesome platforming puzzles, such as dodging falling pieces of meat or sneaking through armed, trigger-happy guards. You save your colleagues by calling them with a number of commands. To get their attention, you can have Abe say “hello.” To get them to follow you wherever the closest portal to freedom is, just say “Follow me.”

The reason I only planned to save the minimum number of Mudokons it takes to get it right is because Mudokons are as dumb as bricks. Without careful guidance, they walk carefree into the various traps and dangers that make RuptureFarms an OSHA nightmare. Forgot to turn off a meat grinder before beckoning to your friends with the “follow me” command? Well, now there are chunks of Mudokon exploding across the screen with a heartbreaking beep to mark your failure. I don’t need that kind of stress, all of you.

While I was exploring, I came across a large sign that said “If you leave, everyone will die.” It’s a big, heartbreaking sign with a bunch of sad, dead Mudokons quietly asking, “You’re not leaving us here to die, are you, Abe?”

Yes, I would. After all, what do flight attendants tell you before you take off: “You must secure your mask before helping others.” Abe has to save himself first, right?

Strange world is nice because it keeps track of how many Mudokons there are and how much you have saved through large billboards placed in the game sporadically. Before escaping RuptureFarms, I checked my progress on the billboard. I was rescued at 20 Mudokons, no casualties and 279 Mudokons left. The game is sneaky because it tells you how many Mudkons there are in total (299), but never how many only in your level. So when I got to the next level, I was unprepared for the horror I felt when I learned that I had left 50 Mudokons to their demise. I knew about the secrets – the well-hidden hatches and portals that reveal hidden areas where more workers can be released. But I was not trying to make this game 100%, I had an idea that people were going to die, I just didn’t expect more than 2/3 of the Mudokons in that level to be in hidden areas.

I felt really bad, in a way that I didn’t expect. That 50 in the “victims” spot on the billboard was not a condemnation of my thoroughness as a gamer, but as a person. What kind sample Deliberately leaves 50 Mudokons to die for your crimes? If it had been one or two, maybe I could have continued with my “bare minimum” run. But 50? That was too much. Those lives were on my head, and I had to make it up to you. I’m Jack Shepard and I have to go back

I thought it would be a simple matter of reloading my last quicksave, except that quicksaves don’t work between levels. To go back I have to restart the game. So I did. There is a point in the first level where you can sneak through or kill a sleeping guard. I snuck past, but I should have chosen violence: When I went back to that area after realizing I missed a secret, the way the guard was positioned prevented me from killing or sneaking again. Another reboot. All told, I spent more than three hours searching a place that normally only takes 40 minutes, before finally completing it with all 70 Mudokons saved.

Since I had no intention of completing the game 100%, I thought I was willing to accept some casualties. I don’t need 299 Mudokons to get it right, but these are lives at stake. When Mario misses a hidden cat shine, no one shoots a cat. If I don’t find my colleague hidden in a hidden area, damn him diesThe guilt is devastating.

So this is my life now, I’m on my way to save 299 colleagues because I can’t live with the science of leaving them behind. I have to play with my laptop nearby, walkthrough lined up, because I’m paranoid, I’m missing a secret area.

It is difficult to be saddled with this new responsibility. All that stress I’ve been trying to avoid has become my constant companion. I’m gutted when I screw it up and a co-worker dies, forcing me to reload a difficult puzzle. It’s worse because Abe knows their deaths are his fault, but he just shrugs and offers a pitiful “oh no” answer. Why am I cursed for caring so much?