That one game you just keep going back to

[Lilani]

So recently I've gotten into Final Fantasy XIV, and anybody who plays MMOs will know that unless you plan carefully it's very hard to play any other games when you get into an MMO. Yet, in spite of all I want to do in that game, lately I've just had a hankering to play Civilization V again. I got it like a year and a half ago on Steam during a sale, and over the course of a few more Steam sales have gotten pretty much every new Civ pack as well as the Brave New World expansion. Whenever I'd get something new, I'd binge play for a little while, then drop it for something else.

But damn if I wouldn't start thinking about it again a few months down the line I'd start thinking about it again. And now I'm starting to think about it again with that new expansion coming soon. I don't want to put too many hours in before the expansion, but I think I'm going to have to just to get this out of my system. I still have Pokemon Mystery Dungeon that I got for my 3DS and still haven't touched, and I haven't beat all the gym leaders in Pokemon X yet.

So, friends, what game of yours can you just not handle putting down for more than a few months without stopping by to put a few hours into?

 

[DarkishFriend]

Grand strategy games keep dragging me back. I still boot up Crusader Kings 2, Civ and Total War every now and then.

Other games, I'm still in the middle of another replay of The Last of Us, I've beaten DS1 on 4 different characters now, all from different time frames and Dota 2 has 1500 hours and no finish line in sight.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I'm now reminded that I have Final Fantasy XIV on my PS3 that I still need to try out...

Anyways...

Assassin's Creed II.

I think I've replayed that game about 4 times now. While I know where to go, what to do, and know the answers to the puzzles I still keep going back to it. I just love Ezio and the world that it's in. And the music, DEAR GOD THE MUSIC, it's just so good!

Pokemon Blue and Diablo II I go back to every so often. I know I've been playing D3 on and off, but D2 was just my crack throughout highs school and early college. Pokemon Blue as well since that was my first Pokemon game ever and I still do certain runs and whatever just for funsies.

Also, Silent Hill 3 because reasons. >.>

 

[StriderShinryu]

Lately it's been The Binding of Isaac. I'm not sure off hand just how many hours I've sunk into it at this point but I still get that itch to boot it up when I've got an hour or so to kill.

 

[Glongpre]

Diablo 2 is just the bees knees. I don't know why it is so good, but I have played it at least once(for a month or so) every year since it was released.

Can't get enough of that zealadin.

The style is just so nice, and it just feels really good.

 

[Scarim Coral]

That used to be Phantasy Star Online for me especially when I was absolutly bored. It was a fruitless attempt to get some of the rare loots in that game.

 

[Elfgore]

Mount and Blade: Warband. The vanilla campaign is awesome as is and I've sunk the most time into that. And the mods only make it better. The game came out in 2010 and people are still making mods for it. A Clash of Kings being the latest big one.

 

[shrekfan246]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

I'm not sure there's any other single game I've repurchased as many time as Sonic 3, and it's something I can just play over and over again without ever getting tired of it. There's just something about it that keeps me coming back. The other two Genesis Sonic games as well, but 3 & Knuckles is my favorite.

Final Fantasy VII/IX.

I haven't done multiple full playthroughs of the games very often (I think I've beaten VII about four times, and two or three for IX), but the amount of hours I've sunk into those two titles over the years is nothing short of astounding.

The Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Again, I haven't fully completed them too excessively, but if I were to count up how much time I've spent playing collected franchises over the years, I think only World of Warcraft would have a higher play-time than the Kingdom Hearts games. Dem secrets and collectibles.

And the Mass Effect trilogy.

To say nothing about playing an entire series multiple times, the Mass Effect games are some of the only games released in the last decade or so which I've completed more than three times.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Generally it's either Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age II or Kingdoms of Amalur that I keep turning back to.

 

[carnex]

Master of Magic
Simply put, most fun one can have in 4X game. At least for me. It's almost as old as first civilization and has barely better graphics but number of races, their diversity and the magic system really rocks in this game.

Slay
Cheap, super quick, uber simple, uber fun strategy game. 'Nuff said.

Slam Tilt
This old pinball is still my favorite pinball game ever. It just has soul.

 

[josemlopes]

Call of Duty 4 used to be the one, before that it was Timesplitters 2/3. Now its probably GTAV (both the online and offline have a ton of content that even by itself have a lot of replayability).

Other games that I still end up coming back from time to time are Perfect Dark, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Battlefield 2.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

hmm.. Saint's Row 4 never gets old.. I also keep going back in and dabbling in DC Universe Online.. oh and Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2..

 

[Compatriot Block]

Civ 5 lately, but over the long run it has to be WoW.

I'll lapse for months at a time, but every once in a while a friend will ask if I want to resub for a bit and I can't say no.

 

[Menageryl]

I have three sets f games that I go back to again and again and again... So much so that - with each game or series in question - I have made SURE that every single primary game system of mine has copies of these games installed to them IMMEDIATELY upon getting the system in question, and the games thereafter have a permanent presence on my hard disk!

They are:
Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas.
... My digital crack. Especially with the modding capable, these games are my time-sinks!

The Thief series and their freebie modern remake The Dark Mod.
... I replay the series once every two years or so. And then there are all the fan-made missions and campaigns which are STILL being updated and added to. So there's always something new to play on the horizon!

Quest for Glory (from old Sierra).
... These are just amongst my favourite games of all time!!! I STILL occasionally find something in one of the games that I've never seen before! And I've been playing them since the first was released in 1989 and the last in 1998!

 

[Neverhoodian]

Open Steam, pick your class,
Saddle up to kick some ass!

Spoiler

I tend to gravitate more towards single player experiences, but hot damn if TF2 isn't loads of fun. Frankly, the number of hours I've put into it is nothing short of obscene (and more than a little embarrassing). I've basically been playing it on a semi-regular basis ever since I started back in October 2007. The distinctive art style, the humor, the rock-solid gameplay, the emphasis on good teamwork, the careful balance between classes, etc. It's basically everything I've ever wanted in a multiplayer game. When you're playing with decent people that know what they're doing, the experience is nothing short of sublime.

 

[votemarvel]

It is not one but two games I keep returning to.

The first Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins. They both have that certain indescribable element that just hooks you in and doesn't want to let go.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms X for me. A quasi-sims life of being a freelance warrior, an officer, or warlord spent making friends with other officers, performing missions, devastating armies with magic, tactics, and brute power, and so forth, is pretty awesome.

It's not graphically stunning, being a ps2 game, but the rich amount of options is nice.

 

[THEMILKMAN]

Jet Set Radio Future on and off for about the past 11 years now. I've always loved it considering it was one of the first games I had after I got super into gaming after my Crash Bandicoot dirty casual youngster days. The nostalgia definitely is the leading factor for why I keep coming back on a pretty bare-bones game, from a technical standpoint anyway, but I've always loved the character of the whole game. The music, art style, game play and everything else about it just hits me where it counts I guess.

When I was 11 and playing it I had no idea it was a sequel to Jet Set/Grind Radio, I never even heard of it because I only knew like one friend with a Dreamcast and he surely didn't have it. I finally got around to playing it when it came on the digital console arcades but man is it hard for me to get into it. In my eyes, JSRF is a perfect sequel in that it improved on the first game in nearly every way imaginable.

 

[RJ 17]

Just to be original I'll pick my tendency to go back and play some Tenchu Z every now and then. I got it when the local Blockbuster Video was going out of business and selling off all it's stuff, literally paid only $2 for it and I'd say I've gotten more than that in terms of enjoyment out of the game. It's essentially a puzzle game...only with ninja assassins! I just have a lot of fun planning out my infiltration of a building my learning the guard's patrol patterns and determining when and where is the best time and place to pick them off one-by-one without getting seen, working my way around the entire level as the shadow of death until all of my enemies have been vanquished!

But yeah, Tenchu Z is a game I play for a few days every month or so.

 

[lunavixen]

snip

Someone likes Brentalfloss

I keep going back to FTL, it's so addictive, and it's even worse now that I have it on my tablet too >.<
I've sunk 104 hours into it, and that's just on PC, breaking away from it is really difficult, it's regained my favour with the advanced edition stuff.