An opinion feature on Nintendo Life examines how perfectionism shapes the way some people play video games, drawing on the writer's own experiences with titles like Breath of the Wild and Harvest Moon DS. It explores why players feel compelled to complete games "correctly" rather than simply enjoy them, and offers psychological insight into breaking that pattern, which matters because it reframes gaming as a source of stress rather than relaxation for some players.

The piece cites a 2023 study describing "self-critical gamers" who play compulsively to avoid criticism and protect self-esteem, and features comments from Daniel Kaufmann, a psychologist and director of gaming services at Kindbridge Behavioral Health. Kaufmann advises players to pursue only goals that genuinely matter to them, to consider whether a game respects players' time or is designed to exploit it, and describes how he tailored his own Breath of the Wild playthrough to focus on elements he found meaningful, such as the Divine Beasts and Master Sword, rather than completing every side quest.