Like many players, I had the moderately ambitious goal of collecting one of every item in the game. Obviously some items are mutually exclusive, and others retired, but other than that I was hoping to collect one of everything.
Then a few months ago I learned of a boutonnier of green carnations I had locked myself out of, due to certain violent choices I made while serving the masters. I was distraught but decided to try again, making a fresh alt character to be my obsessive collector. I made sure to get the carnations this time around. Then, after several more months of playing on that alt, after reaching POSI, I noticed I was missing an exquisite toy, and had locked myself out of ever getting it long ago.
Now I’m pretty sure that 100% collection is a fools errand.
Yeah, unless a way to trade items between characters becomes a thing (and I very much doubt it will ever be a thing) it’s simply not possible to have every item in the game. Not even close, really, if you count all the single-use items gained and consumed in progressing various stories.
Temporary items that you must give up during stories weren’t part of my goal. Just things you could theoretically all gather together while still fully playing the game. I’m sure someone had done it, but it’s extremely easy to miss something, even if you consult the wiki and try to avoid skipping anything.
So many items are mutually exclusive that you’ll never have a complete set no matter what you do. Depending on how you play the game and what options you choose/paths you take, you’ll get different items.
For instance, I got the carnations because I was playing as the kind of character who would help the guy who gave them to me. You didn’t because you were playing as the kind of character who would help the masters. That locked you out of the carnations, but also probably got you other unique items and qualities that my character will never get (not necessarily in that storylet, but just via playing that type of character and the choices you make everywhere else).
It’s probably best to stop looking at your items as a collection you have to complete (because it’s impossible) and instead view them as a record of your character’s journey through the game. As in “these are the things I collected over the course of the game by playing as this type of character.”
I feel your pain though. I’m still bummed I can’t get one of every companion.
I’m pretty sure you can’t even have both a Broken and Exquisite Toy, as gaining the latter consumes the former.
Additional Fate options to reset various storylines would be nice though, so players could get things like the Boutonnier or reset to have both types of toys.
In a game like this, having more mutually exclusive stuff would be nice, personally speaking.
I mean, it is precisely because you can go and do all four main stats path that your characters are inevitably this insensibly "inescapable midnight sagacious constipated" person of various genders :P
Mutually exclusive things mean I either have to use an alt to experience some of them or miss out. I don’t want to make an alt, and I’m getting less and less hopeful that I’ll eventually be able to finish my Ambition and use fate to start another one.