I know we've been a bit quiet in the article department recently and there's a good reason for that: we've been far too busy playing games instead of writing about 'em. Games such Okami, which I just finished on Saturday and just can't shut up about. Okami has its problems (some of which I'll be delving in an article later this week) but, no doubt about it, the game has that Clover magic in it. But what part of that magic entices me to immediately replay the game upon completion?
I did the same with Viewtiful Joe. In fact, once I finished Viewtiful Joe the first time, I didn't stop playing it until I had finished it again. That surprised me enough, since I normally finish a game and move onto the next, even though Viewtiful Joe can be briskly completed, even if you don't know what you're doing. Okami, on the other hand, is a sprawling epic of a game, the type of game that feels like it will never end. But low-and-behold, a matter of hours after watching the credit crawl I was back at it, romping through Kamiki Village and blooming trees willy-nilly.
It takes a very special type of game, one that is engrossing and fun enough to merit an immediate replay and, apart from Viewtiful Joe and Okami, I'm hard-pressed to think of another recent, story-driven game that have elicited a similar response from me (I'm not counting multiplayer or arcade games that are more or less the same thirty seconds over and over again). Perhaps Half-Life 2, but that was done more out of visual curiosity as opposed to any actual desire to play the game.
So what about you? What games have had you immediately crawling back to them, reliving the adventure right after you had wrapped it up?
Filled under:
#1 Chibitofu Oct 16, 2006 10:53pm
While not the most original of answers I do have fond memories of immediately replaying Ocarina of Time upon completion. Granted this was partially due to it being my only N64 game for a good long while but I somehow was just enticed by the idea of deku sticking my way through the game and actually looking for those stupid golden skulltulas.
#2 Soup Oct 16, 2006 11:46pm
Does Majora's Mask count?
I honestly can't think of a one. My "story-driven" games are usually RPGs, which take so long to complete that by the end I'm thoroughly exhausted. Of course, I get the itch maybe a couple months/years later to retry, but I don't feel it right away. If the story-telling was a little bit more layered, I might feel a desire to go back to the beginning, seeing what kind of hints and subtext they might have put in at the start. But so far I haven't found a game that does that.
But what's the rule for sequels? There was a huge break between Jak and JakII (mostly because of my dissapointment with the "secret" ending), but upon finishing JakII, I went out and bought Jak3 the next day and devoured it as quickly as possible. It's not technically the same game, but the feeling was similar. My desire to play was not due to dangling plot threads but a genuine desire to play more (albeit with new content) with the game world/control system.
Wait, okay, maybe one. Shadow of the Colossus was such a joy to play that it still felt fresh starting up that second runthrough. But it's the exception that proves the rule!
#3 WholeFnShow Oct 17, 2006 12:12am
The only game I've ever done anything near an immediate replay with is Knights of the Old Republic. The only reasoning that spawned the action was that I would, for the most part, be playing a different game the second time through. I find it very hard to play through a game any time within the same year. But I'm just picky like that. I watch good movies the same way, which is why I've only sat through the entire Firefly DVD set once to this day.
#4 hobbie Oct 17, 2006 12:56am
I can only think of games with alternate endings. Or games from the SMB/Castlevania series where you would go for 100% completion.
#5 4_point_maverick Oct 17, 2006 01:44am
Man i thought i was different in the aspect of me not playing a game i just beat again, but it seems i'm rather normal.
Like most of the others i usually play through a game just to get alternate costumes etc. Such games include Metal Gear Solid 2, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Ghost Recon, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 and 2, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos + The Frozen Throne.
But there are very few games that right after beating i play right again.
Onimusha-After beating it i got the Panda suit, so i beat it again to see if i could get something else. Plus i was still a freshman in High School so i didn't have a job or anything and my dad would only buy me a game once in a while, so i had to make them count. I think i ended up beating it about 4 times to make sure i got everything, plus it was rather enjoyable.
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter-I don't know if people loved or hated this game when it came out, or even played it, but i got it for my birthday and ended up beating it, then beating it again, and again because i loved flying around it it. I was also aiming to beat every challenge on every level, which i eventually did. I think i can honestly say i mastered that game.
Kingdom Hearts- I remember getting SO HYPED about this game. I got a Playstaion demo disc which had a video, yes just a video of the game, which i watched many, many times. I bought the game the day it came to my Walmart. Which means about a week after it hit shelves because its a small town. I got it on a Thurs. and forced myself to go to bed to go to school the next day. I played the absolute shit out of this game too. After beating it, i had to play it again. I loved the starting place, the little tropical island, i loved the music, the characters, just everything about it. Unfortunately i picked it up a couple of months ago and am dumbfounded as to how i managed to get through it with the horrid voice acting in it. And it sorta ruined it a bit.
#6 w3a2 Oct 17, 2006 01:56am
aside from Goldeneye 64, just to get some of the cheats, I haven't really replayed many games.
actually the original Splinter Cell i did probably a month after completion, just because I like creeping round killing people.
i struggle to get time to play a game through once, let alone twice nowadays.
#7 Chibitofu Oct 17, 2006 02:00am
It occurs to me now that I did replay Streets of Rage an ungodly amount of times. I never quite got tired of beating up random generic thugs with baseball bats and eating turkeys off the ground for full health.
#8 whtrbt Oct 17, 2006 04:31am
Nethack.
#9 R. LeFeuvre Oct 17, 2006 02:49pm
I certainly play a lot of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. I mean... like every day. Every hour...
#10 w3a2 Oct 17, 2006 07:32pm
oh yes and Street Fighter EX2 Plus Alpha (i think there were more words in there), i played repeatedly and always came back to. in fact it probably is more of a comfort game.
#11 Dublyner Oct 18, 2006 12:14am
I doubled up on HL2, especially because of that teaser ending.
#12 TrueTallus Oct 18, 2006 03:33pm
I know I jumped right back into The Mark of Kri after I finished it. Playing the game through again with the axe was such an exhilerating, invincible feeling. I started a replay of Resident Evil 4 immediately after completion for the same "I'm unstoppable" rush. I don't know that I've ever gone right back into a game after I've beaten it if on replay my character isn't granted some semblence of the status they had at the end of the game my first time through.
#13 Boring K Oct 18, 2006 06:28pm
I remember barrelling through Silent Hill twice in a row because I wanted to find the secret weapons and get a better ending. I tried an immediate third playthrough, in fact, but quickly got frustrated with the difficulty level at that point.
#14 Wrestlevania Oct 18, 2006 07:14pm
- Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
- Doom II
- Gunstar Heroes
- Mario 64 DS
- Mario Kart DS
- Street Fighter II (including most 2D versions/sequels since)
- Streets of Rage II
- Thunder Force IV
Of all those listed, Streets of Rage II would easily qualify as the most instantly-replayed game I've ever owned -- just superb, especially when played with an equally skilled friend. Gunstar Heroes would probably be second.Mario Kart might as well be glued into my DS right now; it's so brilliantly balanced.
#15 KillerTeddy Oct 18, 2006 08:35pm
Silent Hill UFO endings ftw.
#16 hobbie Oct 19, 2006 02:39am
#17 Innes Oct 19, 2006 07:39am
I played through Resident Evil 4, 3 times in a row. Even though there is a lot of stuff to unlock, the main reason I kept replaying was because it was such an awesome game.
Even though I've got absolutely everything there is to unlock, I could play through it another 3 times and not be tired of it.
#18 Jake_The_Robot Nov 15, 2006 07:53am
man! i haven't been here in forever...damn.
anyways, both Resident Evil 4 and God of War (after completing the challenge of the gods).