When it’s nearly launch time for an eagerly anticipated game and my hype levels are reaching frothy-mouthed insanity, I often convince myself this is the ultimate game. I envision myself playing it for hundreds of hours, trying out multiple different character builds, and generally just bathing in its gloriousness. That never happens. Pretty much as soon as I get a sense I’m near the end of a game I end up mainlining it. The credits roll and the game is deleted, never to be seen again.
It didn’t always used to be like this though. When I was younger and had a limited supply of games I’d play the same games over and over and over again. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve played the opening few hours of Monkey Island or Mario 64. Now I couldn’t think of anything worse than retreading old ground. There are bazillions of games out there and time spent replaying one feels wasted when I could be experiencing something new.
There are exceptions of course. More gameplay-oriented games tend to keep me coming back for more. I’m still inclined to play through some older Zelda and Mario games, but anything overly long and story-focused is a big no no. No Bethesda or BioWare RPG will ever been played twice by me. Something more compact is doable though, and I still enjoy the occasional run through of Max Payne 2.
I know that a general dislike of replaying games isn’t all that common though, and there’s even a school of thought I can get behind that playing games through a second time is actually better than the first. You know how the systems work, you know where the trick parts are, you can skip the boring story beats. You’re free to just mess around and experiment. Repeated playthroughs also expose details you may have originally glossed over, such as incidental environmental details or little narrative hooks that were overlooked.
There’s also the advantage of better hardware to consider. At the times I’m in desperate need of an upgrade I can play through a whole game on Low or Medium graphics settings, and then when I get new hardware I can blow through it Ultra and gawp at it in a whole new way.
Over to you now then, do you often replay your games? What makes some games better than replaying others? Share your thoughts below!
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Sometimes,depends on the game,especially if they have multiple endings.For instance,I replayed The Witcher 3(and it's expansions) multiple times just to get all the possible endings,and I didn't regret it one second.One of the best games of this generation.
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Replayability definitely is a factor when I purchase games, especially if I get it early. If I enjoy a game, I will hopefully play it for a loooooong time.
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Oblivion, Skyrim, and some missions in Dishonored and Dishonored 2. I kind of replayed Borderlands 2 by doing Vault Hunter Mode and then TVHM (glutton for punishment) after the first go-round.
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I play my games all the time but I usually only buy games that I can play over and over like Quake live, BF4, that sort of thing...
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i will have to play ME franchise again because i have started the 3rd part by defult action and i SPOILER ALERT did a genocide ( killed the quarians ) which broke my heart
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I played Alone in the Dark 6 times :D
Couple of games (Tomb Raider, NFS Most wanted ...) 3 times.
About 7-8 games 2 times.
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Morrowind, mostly :)
About once a year the urge to go back to old Vvardenfell overcomes me.
Other than that the KOTOR and STALKER games are rife with a special atmosphere which in itself is reason enough to replay them.
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In a strange confluence of events, I'm playing Morrowind for the first time and met Divayth Fyr right before I read your comment!
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Heheh :)
Tell him I said hi!
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I am constantly replaying old games. I especially like replaying RTS and RPG games. I have played through all of Bethesda's RPGs at least 4 times each with the exception of Fallout 4 that just hasn't kept me interested. I have dozens of play throughs of Mass Effects and KOTOR games. I still play Total War Medieval 2 at least once a week, and the same goes for the old Age of Mythology that has been remastered. I am currently replaying a really old RPG called Might & Magic 6, and the RTS game Banished. I am loving them both all over again. I really need to get the remastered Baldur's Gate games
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i am replaying even older Might & Magic 2
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i had to play Assassins Creed 3 and 4 again from the beginning due to uplay's cloud save corruption. so indeed those two games were replayed by me twice cuz of losing the save files. honestly i would rarely like to repeat a game.
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Original Thief Series, Thief 1& 2. Played probably 4 times each.
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Mass Effect trilogy, at least 6 times.
Prince of Persia trilogy, probably more than Mass Effect.
Hitman Absolution about 5 times.
Tomb Raider Legend, Anniversary and Underworld a few times.
Just finished Dishonored again to refresh my memory before going onto dishonored 2 for the first time.
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Final fantasy IX (8+ no joke), Final fantasy VIII (3), Halo CE (4) Resistance Fall of Man (7), Rainbow six Vegas (4). Now that I'm older and have my own money I find myself not replaying very many games.
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I used to, but now because of time restraints I try and complete as many games' story lines as possible and deminishing my backlog in the process
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Super Mario Bros: can't remember how many times.
Crash Bandicoot 3: can't remember too.
Resident evil 3: i think 4 times.
Dino Crisis: 3 times.
Dino Crisis 2: only twice.
Silent Hill: Twice.
Jackie Chan Stuntmaster: more than 5
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super mario and king of fighters still love them
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Only if the game has replay value or I really, really, really liked the game.
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Only if those are worth a replay.
Witcher,GTA,STALKER,ME before 3 and DS original.....
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Last December did Mass Effect trilogy back-to-back.More recently-Bulletstorm and Spec Ops-The Line and currently-Prey 2006.Also Dead Space 1 and 2.Also again did 10's of hrs. on UT Facing Worlds map.There are many times i remember some level or scene in some game,reinstall it,play several hrs. and uninstall it.Some months it's easily a few dozens...Can't be just me,right?
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FF VII 3 times, Prince Of Persia franchise 2 times at best, Diablo I and II 2 times, Need For Speed Underground I and II numerous times lol.
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I regularly replay old games I've already completed. I seem to be the opposite of the writer though, it's the "overly long" story focused games that I like replaying.
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dark souls 3 5 times far cry 3 4 times gta 5 3 times gta san andreas 5 times assassin's creed black flag 2 times
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and many other