Is replay value important to you?

[The Nihilist]

I'm usually pretty busy or traveling, so I'm not able to plow through any game in one sitting, nor do I have the luxury of having a game library larger than 5-7 games at a time for several months if I'm deployed. Replay to me for all games has 2 criteria:

- Is it engaging enough that I can play it for 20 minutes to a couple of hours and want to pick it up again 2 days later?

- Upon completing the game, do I want to play it again?

There's a lot of little things that can help and hinder the engaging gameplay (music, in-game bonuses, difficulty)

[CFFJR]

Its honestly not a factor I ever consider. Do I think I'll enjoy the game enough to play and beat it? Yes? Ok then, job done, let's play.

There are many games I've beaten only once and look back on fondly, and many others I've beaten multiple times and feel equally good about.

For example, lets look at the original Fable (including The Lost Chapters, just because). Now, a lot of people bitched about this game (a pox on them) but its easily one of my favorites. It's not a game I would say has real replay value in the sense that most people consider it, because aside from doing things evil or good on a first and second playthrough, nothing really changes. You only make a couple of meaningful choices, and they mostly affect whether or not you fight a couple of battles. That's it.

And yet, since the game came out, and I bought it day one, I've beaten it somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 times.

Of course, the first couple of times I replayed it, I did different things, tried alternate stuff where I could, and very quickly learned the entire game. What's funny though, is that now I continue to replay it every once in a while, and every time I do I approach it the exact same way. I make the same choices, accomplish things in the same order, and even have my character wear the same clothes. Every, single, time.

I've seen everything it has to offer and then some, and yet I keep coming back to it and repeating myself. There's only one reason to behave that way. Because its god damn fun.

But that's something that is so strongly controlled by the person and their connection to the game that it can't really be given a score on a scale for "replay value". I'm willing to bet the majority of you read this post and thought I was crazy to play Fable so many damn times and never change anything. I don't really disagree. I just know I like it.

On a simpler note, I don't understand how some folks can play the same shoot em ups over and over again and never get tired of them. And yet I never get tired of playing the same beat em ups over and over again. What the hell is the difference between the two other than preference?

[The Nihilist]

On a simpler note, I don't understand how some folks can play the same shoot em ups over and over again and never get tired of them. And yet I never get tired of playing the same beat em ups over and over again. What the hell is the difference between the two other than preference?

Perspective. where do you want to be when all the action happens?

Either You are watching Michelangelo hit the Foot Clan with nun-chucks

or

You ARE Michelangelo hitting the Foot Clan with nun-chucks

[Erik_Twice]

On a simpler note, I don't understand how some folks can play the same shoot em ups over and over again and never get tired of them. And yet I never get tired of playing the same beat em ups over and over again. What the hell is the difference between the two other than preference?

Perspective. where do you want to be when all the action happens?

Either You are watching Michelangelo hit the Foot Clan with nun-chucks

or

You ARE Michelangelo hitting the Foot Clan with nun-chucks

Very sharp comment

[CFFJR]

Perspective. where do you want to be when all the action happens?

Either You are watching Michelangelo hit the Foot Clan with nun-chucks

or

You ARE Michelangelo hitting the Foot Clan with nun-chucks

Honestly, I don't really understand this.

Are you saying that when you play any given shoot em up, you feel like you're in there, piloting that nameless ship and blowing things up?

More power to you if you do, because I certainly don't get that feeling. Its not a genre that sucks me in that way.

Although somehow, I get the sense that you might have thought I was referring to First person shooters, and I wasn't. Forgive me if I'm wrong about that.

[Erik_Twice]

^He means that it's not the same thing to play them than to watch people play them.

[CFFJR]

Ah, that makes more sense. Sorry about my misunderstanding.

Though maybe I should have worded my original comments on the two genres differently.

[Zing]

Yes, 100% of the time i usually tend to buy a game with high replay value.

100% of the time you usually tend to?