Replaying Video Games

Every single gamer as a favourite game, heck even a favourite franchise, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always reply that particular game. In fact my personal opinion is that a game is only enjoyed fully during the first playthrough, particularly as I am a fan of narrative and a twist never works properly the second time. There is one exception to this rule; and that is BioShock. I can play this over and over due to its pleasing aesthetics and interesting characters and environments – Thank You Kindly!

For starters the replay treatment is substantially different from replaying a game to obtain the remaining achievements or trophies. No, replay a game yearly is only saved for those truly wonderful experiences – the ones that bring back nostalgia or give you the change to lose yourself for hours at a time.

As I’ve grown old my game purchasing as become smaller and may opinions of games have gotten harsher. Once upon a time I’d have loved the Dead Island series but I cannot forgive its terrible contact systems and unintuitive AI. However, I have a large list of replay games that date back to my childhood.

For starts I often play – Super Mario World, TES: Morrowind, Jedi Knight 2, Grim Fandango and older classics like Pac Man. They all means something to me and aren’t necessarily the ‘best’ games to ever grace consoles but they are games that I have plugged many hours into and plan to plug in many more.

As a fan of stories in games, or more specifically role-playing, I have jumped into the genre with a lot of fever. I have played and continue to play all of the Fallout series (both old and new) which have a very adult feeling and are difficult to grasp for newcomers as well pick up and play titles like Pokemon.

Probably my favourite Role-Playing franchises are Mass Effect and KOTOR – both of which I have played through various times. I guess this shows that I am a fan of Sci-Fi but followers of this blog will know I also love the Final Fantasy series, especially IX which is anything but futuristic. It still gets to me that FFIX gets such negative press, yet it is so well put together. I know why people rave about VII but the involvement from the characters in IX and the distinct locations have given me many hours of enjoyment.

I grew up in the nineties so I’m one of those people who often goes back to their N64. I love the Smash Brothers games as well as the standard classics like Ocarina of Time and Mario 64. In fact I love OOT so much that I have 5 various means of playing it – and it was the sole reason for my ambassador purchase of the 3DS. Still it isn’t quite as epic as A Link to the Past.

What games can you play through again and again? Do you play any of the ones I have listed above – Please add your comments to the section below.