What makes you replay (any) games?

[LeKill3rFou]

Well, nowadays there is plenty of everything: books, movies, games, music, but for me it is like 90% rubbish quality, so after trying new stuff and getting disappointed I just go back to something I have enjoyed .

That's exactly what happen to me yesterday... Searching for a "good" thing to watch during about 20 minutes... But I finally ended to (re)watch Heat

 

[Iferrebee]

it has to be fun and there needs to be a lot of stuff to keep me busy

CP77 is fun but once the missions are done the fun factor drops below 0

 

[ReptilePZ]

Now if only we could have this...

Hah, right?

Although, in reality, I don't think I'd trade such memories for the chance to experience them once again for the first time. There's great value in those memories, as they help inform how you perceive future experiences and thus in some way shape you as a person.

 

[dtv20]

Do it enjoy it? That's really it.

No specific thing is required either. I've replayed the Mass effect games multiple times and have picked the same choices too.

 

[tru3story]

but it's definitely better than most of new things "generally"

Yeah, there's that for sure filters on filters on. But on the other hand there's a bit of a fomo with all the choices - are there things we're missing out on? And then there were moments when I went like: "wish I read/watched/played it earlier". So it all depends, I guess.

 

[LadyMiseryAli]

The story and the characters are what keeps me coming back. On my third playthrough, as a nomad. I will still romance Kerry and choose The Sun ending, but I am making some different choices in side gigs to see what happens.

 

[SigilFey]

For me, it's usually a matter of how concise the experience is. Like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. That's a game that can be played, start to finish, in about 4-5 hours. And it's great. I've played that game probably 50 times.

Or, it's some mechanic I feel drawn back to. Like Kingdoms of Amalur or Dragon's Dogma. I love the combat systems. I could play over and over again just to get into the groove of taking out hordes of trash mobs. (Wait...I have!)

 

[ToreadorVampire]

I think it's been said already but, I'll return to a game if:

• There's a substantially different way to play it. Typical of RPGs, try a substantially different character class/build to previous play-throughs
  • I've done this to death with Diablo 2, but also Grim Dawn, Torchlight and tried it with Cyberpunk.
  • I stopped short of completing my 2nd CP playthrough because my Netrunner had just gotten too OP to keep the game interesting. I'll pick up CP again probably when the story DLC arrives.
• If the game is sufficiently cool or immersive to just want to play through again
  • I'm currently replaying Ghost Recon: Wildlands. This time round I'm going for max difficulty (I'm gonna try for Tier 1 too, but not playing Ghost/permadeath mode). I'm doing that despite my last play-through on Advanced difficulty taking ~150h
  • I can see myself doing the same with Far Cry 4 in the future (didn't enjoy FC5 enough) and perhaps also the 2015 Mad Max
• If it's a plot-based game and it's been long enough since I last played that I don't really recall the plot
  • I did this with the original Assassins Creed a while back, hadn't played it since it was new

 

[SoulzzSwag]

different character builds, branching storylines and achievements for completing the game in different difficulties

 

[FiberPunk]

Knowing that there will be some things different on every playthrough, and there will be new aspects of the game discovered. Nothing is more boring than playing a game over again that is static and nothing changes. It's the exploration aspect of discovering the world that excites me.

 

[pliskards]

There are three things that can make me replay a game:

1. A phenomenal story. The Witcher 3 is the best example here - I revisit it once every year or two just because the story itself is incredible. It is the same reason I go back to watch something like Breaking Bad from time to time. It is worth revisiting. I think Cyberpunk 2077 is going to end up falling into this category as well.

2. Supremely good gameplay or loot systems. I burnt through a ton of time earlier in my life on Diablo 2 and WoW because the gameplay was crisp and the loot systems were incredibly good. Hades is the best modern example of this, in my opinion. While Hades does not have a "loot system" so to speak - it has systems that make every play through feel rather unique and rewarding... plus it is just genuinely a ton of fun to play.

3. Well done difficulty or PVP challenges. I enjoy a lot of the Firaxis games like Civilization or X-Com because they present a solid challenge that seems reasonably well balanced (until you just fully figure out the systems). I was a big Magic: The Gathering player earlier in life and enjoyed Hearthstone because it was competitive and challenging while at the same time being easily accessible.

 

[Rodocastiza]

1. Roleplaying. Mental one. No necessarily with game options.
2. To discover more things or try other stories.
3. To enjoy.
4. Mods.

 

[SpookyFX]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSsssssssss....

And patches and DLC, any new stuff.

I have been playing Fallout 4 at least once a month for over half a decade. And before that Oblivion for a full decade! But to be honest that was really because I MADE mods, thus making the game the PERFECT game for me. When you have the perfect game how can you stop playing it?

 

[Rodocastiza]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSsssssssss....

And patches and DLC, any new stuff.

I have been playing Fallout 4 at least once a month for over half a decade. And before that Oblivion for a full decade! But to be honest that was really because I MADE mods, thus making the game the PERFECT game for me. When you have the perfect game how can you stop playing it?

I need to change games sometimes to avoid just burn. But yeah, I'm like you.

As same as movies and books, I enjoy replaying/rewatching/rereading the same all the time.

But... life is too short too!

I try to find a balance. Try.

 

[Draconifors]

I am likely to play through a game more than once if at least one of the following applies:


1) The game has a great story that is well-written and has some twists and turns along the way. Bonus points for stories that really make me experience different emotions and/or want to keep playing just to find out what events unfold.

2) The game has believable characters that have their own personalities and flaws, just like real people do. Bonus points if I can really relate to a character.

3) The gameplay offers multiple options and approaches, e.g. via different specialisations or character builds. Even if I never explore all such options due to one of them being a favourite (*cough* Skyrim stealth archery *cough*), having the options is always nice. You know, in case I one day decide that I want to try something completely new.

4) The game has an open world with plenty of stuff, ranging from quests and collectables to random chests and items, to find.

5) The game offers fun things to do when I do not feel like doing quests, collecting crafting materials, or anything like that. Examples include but are by no means limited to following NPCs around, using game physics for various purposes (e.g. stacking items or dead bodies), using spells for more unusual purposes (e.g. using Skyrim's Telekinesis to launch dragon bones at NPCs), and simply idling somewhere admiring the game world.

Things like good combat systems (e.g. Witcher 3) or fun minigames (e.g. dice poker) on their own will not make me re-play a game, but they do affect how likely I am to do so.


Of course, the game also has to be one I like the first time around.

 

[ZingFreelancer]

Too much free time and boredom.

 

[yabab]

We have two people in this household replaying the same single player game at the moment. I was all excited about trying new skills, new weapons, new quest choices and well... everything I hadn't done before. I'm also waiting for my next playthrough, where I'm gonna do things differently again.

While the other half is playing just the same as before. Same character looks and lifepath, same weapons, same skills, same story... And we are both equally enjoying our games.

So this made me curious about what motivates other people replay games?

I usually play again to check out what I missed: in that sense I'm more aligned with you. Sometimes I do know what I'm playing, but I'm mixing it differently.

For instance, I might have already played a Blades build, but I originally did it with hacking and now I'm playing it with Sandevistan or I played Blades + Control and now I'm playing Blades + Covert. Things like that.

 

[ToreadorVampire]

I forgot another reason I will replay a game, and this is probably the most important of all of them! It's also probably what causes the greatest accumulation of "total hours played" too. Like, I've played through Assassins Creed twice in total but I've still spent nowhere near as long in that as I have Door Kickers 2.

I will replay a game if it has an AI skirmish/mission-generator mode, which means that I can play through a self-contained level/map/mission in between 5 and 30 minutes. In these cases, I tend to leave the game installed for extended periods of time. Larger games that have a "completion" point, I'll install, complete then uninstall. The games below tend to stay installed for years at a time for "a quick blast when I've got a few minutes spare". I have done this in the past with:

• Unreal Tournament '99 & UT 2004
• Warhammer 40k Dawn of War and its expansions (never bought DoW 2 or 3)
• Star Wars Battlefront (2004) and to a lesser extent SW Battlefront 2 (2017)
• Star Wars Empire at War
• I'm doing it right now with Door Kickers 2: Task Force North