Replayability in Games

[4RM3D]

As far as I can think of, there are 3 reasons to replay a game:
1) Trying a higher difficulty setting
2) Expanding your gameplay (hidden secrets, doing missed achievements)
3) Choosing a different path (good, evil and stuff)

For me all the above applies. What about you...

- Do you replay games?
- And if so, what is your reason to replay the game?

 

[Kahunaburger]

I think it all boils down to #2: you've gotta be able to get a worthwhile experience the second time around, see content you missed, and so on. IMO, the most repayable games are ones that offer some kind of emergent experience like RPGs and multiplayer games.

Maybe we'll get a game that's repayable for the same reason a book is re-readable one day. Maybe some of the really well-written stuff from like Black Isle or Double Fine qualifies.

 

[Vegosiux]

You know, sometimes I re-read a book or re-watch a movie, even if I know exactly what is going to happen.

If the game can pull off that, then it has a natural replay value. Difficulties and different dialogue options in an essentially same game are just artificial.

 

[C F]

I replay some games either to relive the experience or refresh my memory on certain aspects. On occasion, I'll do the branching storyline paths if I care about the game enough. Usually I'll just play through the branching story only one way.

If the game is fun and easy enough, I might go achievement hunting (AC: Brotherhood), and sometimes I go back and do the higher difficulty settings if I feel I need the experience of doing so (Halo 3). But most of the time, I only bother replaying it to re-live it.

 

[repeating integers]

Replayability in games is, for me, down to how much of the game can turn out differently each time you replay it. I don't mean story, necessarily, just gameplay - that's why the Halo games have near-infinite replayability for me, because the series of mini-sandboxes style of gameplay means every fight turns out differently. Skyrim is even more replayable, what with the completely random events nature of most of the world, and of course Minecraft takes it to the logical extreme.

 

[Zhukov]

The game just needs to be good enough.

If I enjoyed it once, chances are I'll enjoy it again.

 

[Fappy]

You know, sometimes I re-read a book or re-watch a movie, even if I know exactly what is going to happen.

If the game can pull off that, then it has a natural replay value. Difficulties and different dialogue options in an essentially same game are just artificial.

I agree with this. Sometimes you just want to relive the experience. I have replayed almost every game I own more than twice.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Mostly it's like comfort food, or a warm blanket to wrap yourself up when you want to wash away all the worries.

After a really bad game you just need that fall back experience to reassure you all is not lost, that there are still a select few who understand what good games are about, that the knowledge is preserved.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I replay games for various reasons: I plan to go back to Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced because I never beat it. I replay Yoshi's Island because it's just freaking awesome. I replay the first three Resident Evil games because of how awesome the Bosses are. I replay Tetris because I don't always have a new book to read while I'm doing a number 2 (heh, poop reference)[/spoiler]

When I play more modern games though it's generally to take the opposite path: I need to re-do Infamous so as to be Mr. Nice Guy. I want to do a run of Mass Effect and 2 wherein I (in 1) don't get romantically involved with anyone and (in 2) pound on Tali's back door.

As for other games I plan to replay, it's because I don't remember much of them and want to go back to see what they're all about. I haven't played Ninja Gaiden since the time before the prequel trilogy (same with Contra, Megaman X and other S/NES titles).

 

[GundamSentinel]

I replay every game I like, even if it has zero extra value. Just like re-watching a movie I like: to experience it again.

 

[Mike Richards]

I'll replay pretty much everything I liked at some point or another, just cause I enjoyed the experience.

Interestingly enough though I'm more likely to replay something on a lower difficultly. I rarely play games for challenge and have no issue with turning it down if I get stuck, so if I'm revisiting something I already finished there's a good chance I'll turn it down to still have some fun with it while avoiding the occasional frustrations that come with working it out the first time.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I mainly replay the game again if there are hidden secrets within the next playthrough or taking a different route.
While there is grinding but that is a bad way to replay the game (sure they may raise the enemies strength/ levels) but kind of pointless (not as rewarding and nothing new to it).

 

[Hazy992]

There are two other reasons:

4)Fun.
Sometimes a game is so fun the first time you played it, you have to play it again.
5)Story.
Like watching a movie again, playing a game again allows you to relive the plot.

Yeah I agree with this. Number 4 especially. I've lost count of how many times I've played through Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Why? Cause it's so damn fun (love that game ^_^)

 

[Swyftstar]

With today's games giving you multiple ways to play or achieve results, I like to replay to try different styles. RPGs give me fits because I always want to try out every different spec I can think of. In shooters I like to go through again using different weapons, like pistols only or something. Stuff like that. I usually only get one or two finishes before I get bored though.

 

[Limecake]

I find it difficult to replay a lot of my games, I've done it but mostly for achievements or because I just flat out really liked the game.

I've caught myself thinking "I just bought this epic new game I'm going to devote 250+ hours to it and see it through to the end" and then forget about the game a week later because a new one came out.

It's almost at the point where I wish more games were linear so I could get back to finding all the secrets in the games I've put down too early.

 

[SckizoBoy]

You know, sometimes I re-read a book or re-watch a movie, even if I know exactly what is going to happen.

If the game can pull off that, then it has a natural replay value. Difficulties and different dialogue options in an essentially same game are just artificial.

Seconded...

There are many reasons why I've played as Prussia on N:TW about half a dozen times and it's hardly because there is a 'different path' I can take. After the first few turns, the 'path' is chosen for me and off I go, throwing 12lb cannonballs at anyone looking at me funny.

That and...

5)Story.
Like watching a movie again, playing a game again allows you to relive the plot.

Now, ACB had great gameplay, but why did I only play it one and a half times? Shit story, pretty much same with ACR. On the other hand, Deus Ex... borderline shit gameplay (OK, maybe not that bad) but the story is very engaging and going through the plot (and the lack of sunlight in it) is exhilirating every time.

*meh* ... RTR beckons...

 

[Redd the Sock]

If you need a reason to replay a game, it must not have been very good. Aside from the general fun, a replay can take the edge off as you know where the ammo is, where the traps are, and how to beat the boss.

Reason 6) mastery. While a holdover from the NES era when games were rarely purchased over rented, we played to improve our game (Higher scores, faster times, less damage), that still can exist today as we still try and do better than we did the first time.

 

[Vegosiux]

Try playing some Black Isle/Trokia/Obsidian games where your choices have a much greater impact on the game/your characters. You could even look at character creation and the different dialog options you can get depending on your character builds.

I don't think there are many BI/Troika/Obsidian games I haven't played by bow. I'd still say it's basically the same game on subsequent playthroughs even with a different disposition.

I also think you might have misunderstood me - I did not say a game that remains more or less the same no matter how you play it doesn't have any replay value. I said that different dialogues aren't what one should be building replayability about. A good game will have me replaying it at some point, even if it's completely linear.