This probably isn’t a unique scenario, but when I started collecting games, I went on a binge buying games. Not even accounting for my Steam Library I have so many games that I’d rather play a new game over replaying another game. Over the weekend I was bored and put in We Love Katamari wanting to play the infinite stage one time, but my save was on another memory card. I spent the rest of the afternoon beating the game in one sitting just having a ball (no pun intended).
I think for me because I spent most of my teens playing MMOs and Multiplayer games that I feel that I “missed out” on a bunch and am playing catch up. There’s a rush of beating a game and seeing the credits roll. But Katamari has me rethinking that. Why don’t I replay more games? I think it would be fun to play Dirge of Cerberus on NG+, or maybe do that crazy mega dungeon in Dark Cloud. I would love to try and plat a game and squeeze everything out of it, but there’s like 50 games on my bookcases that are still wrapped in the plastic waiting their turn.
How often do you guys replay games? Do you give games time to breath before going back in or do you come back years later?
The last game I think I replayed was Binary Domain, but that was me playing it back on hard just because I was having so much fun.
Honestly I think I’ve only really replayed my absolute favourite games, things like Final Fantasy X, the Silent Hill series and Half Life to name a few. I’ve replayed those a few times over the years, but everything else I tend to just play once and then move on, even if I thoroughly enjoy it. There are just so many more games that I haven’t played that I want to explore, which leads me to not replay many things I feel.
Come to think of it, pretty much all of the games I’ve replayed are games from my childhood/teens, I’m sure there’s some psychological reason for that, something to do with them being just easy to dive into, comfortable and nostalgic I imagine.
I’m always a bit impressed/surprised when I hear people say they’ve replayed a game over and over again, even moreso if they replay a game immediately after finishing it, I can’t say I’ve ever done that, it’s just not in my blood haha.
Most of the time I don’t really replay stuff, but when I do it’s close to what @Siors mentions about nostalgia and that comfortable feeling.
The last few months I’ve played through a lot of games I haven’t played before, which were all a blast. I didn’t really think about replaying anything since I didn’t want to become stuck in nostalgia and just felt like trying new stuff, but with fall entering the scene, I am thinking more and more about replaying some of my favourite games. Things like Stardew Valley, Astroneer and some simple LEGO games have been on my mind a lot lately, and it’s just because of that cozy and comforting feeling these games give me. They just always hit the spot for me.
With that being said, I do unconsciously also try to avoid replaying games too often because of not wanting to become stuck in nostalgia but mainly because the thought of “But I have other games I’ve payed for but haven’t played yet“ creeps in, and just the choice paralysis as well. I know this shouldn’t be a factor and most of the time it isn’t, but sometimes it’s just something I think about too much, and it holds me back from replaying sometimes.
So I do replay games sometimes, but only when the time feels right. When I need the comfort and cosiness of something familiar, I lean towards replaying. Most of the time there are longer periods between those replays, but when I do return at the right moment, these games hit very hard.
There’s no consistent rule for me. I’m usually replaying a couple different Pokemon games every year (alternating). I’ll replay the Halo games every 5-10 years. I’ll sometimes revisit ones I’m in the mood for, it depends entirely on the game and how long it’s been, etc.
Especially games from my childhood-college years that I barely remember playing I’ve been revisiting off and on.
I’m going through my fourth play-through of Stellar Blade right now!
I try to replay a few games every year. There are certain games that become comfort food with repeat plays; it’s fun to see my co-workers reactions when I tell them Dark Souls III is my cozy game. But it’s also tough sometimes because there are so many new games that I’m interested in and novelty is hard to argue with. At the same time, I often find myself frustrated because I yearn to return to an old favourite and yet I feel guilty for playing something I’ve already finished when there are so many games I’ve yet to even crack open. Having said all of that, lately I have been trying to be more intentional about what games I introduce into my collection while at the same time curating what is already there. My goal is in part to arrive at a lean collection of favourite games with high replay value.
In college, my roommates and I joked about Skyrim being so expansive that we’d never need another game again. A few years ago, a Discord friend and I made similar comments about Elden Ring. And I consistently champion the replay value of Resident Evil titles. That game I mentioned yearning to return to earlier? NieR:Automata. So I find myself asking myself, “Why do you need anything else?” Especially as the cost of this hobby continues to grow, I find myself opting to wait for steep sales for new games and otherwise revisit the Commonwealth, Lordan, or Silent Hill. As Mads Mikkelsen once said, “It’s a simple life.”
Now a more interesting question is what games would you not want to replay again? Specifically the games you enjoyed that you don’t think you can play again. For me it would be the Darkness series. It was such an emotional roller coaster for me and the endings messed me up so bad I can’t even think about playing it again.
Oof that’s a hard question. I would say that with some games like RDR2 or other story heavy games you already know the story so that’s part of the magic gone, but most of those games have very big replayability so those are definitely worth replaying. I do think less replayable story games can be replayed, but I would always leave big chunks of time between them so you “forget“ some aspects and the game is able to surprise you again if that makes sense lol.
I think I would have to go with League of Legends or any FIFA (online that is). Played those games a ton a few years back, but they always made me rage more than they were fun to play. Maybe one day with friends, but never solo.