Replayability - Do you care? Really?
 

Replayability is one of those features you see touted around when talked about games. It's always viewed as a good thing when replayability is perceived to exists in a game, and a great detraction from a game when it doesn't. But I ask you anyway, do you really care about it?

When I see that a game is said to have replayability, it makes me slightly more likely to buy a game than rent, but at the end of the day I almost never do it. In fact, I think replayability can go right along side backwards compatibility in the PS2 for me. It's nice to have, but something I never take advantage of. The main reason behind not replaying a game is they're either too long, or just long enough, that I can't dedicate the time to go through it again (even if for additional content). I also often lack the desire to do so. As great as RE4 was, once was enough. As fun (and short) as Gears of War was, again, once was enough.

Thinking back to the last few consoles I have owned, and the games I've bought and played for them, I honestly don't think I replayed a single game. When I'm done, I'm done. There are a select few games that I would like to revisit someday, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen.

Now, I'm not talking about puzzle, fighters, racing games, or similar pick up and play fare. I'm speaking more about games with a story or some sort of narrative that is mainly found in action and rpg type games.

Is replayability important to you? If so, do you actually take advantage of it?

Similarly, has online play replaced the need for a game to have replayability?

Not as much as I used to. I have a ton of games sitting I want to replay at some point, but I rarely find time to even play all my games much less replay them.

I'm fine with games being short and having no replay as long as its a great ride while it lasts.

Agreed. Once is usually enough for me too. The only time replayability really matters to me is for sports games. Other than that, I'll take my time to play through it once and I'm done. On the rarest of occasions I'll revisit the game a few years down the road. Right now I can see myself doing that with SM: Galaxy but not for awhile after I finish the game the first time around. I'd rather go out and pick up a new game.

I honestly don't. The number of games I finish is very low, the number of games I've replayed is a minute fraction of that.
Exceptions: board or trivia type games, or the occasional baseball game. But I don't play a career mode in those anyway, I just pick a team and play a game.
The only games I can recall replaying more than 50% of the way through are:
Final Fantasy VII
Vandal Hearts
Final Fantasy Tactics
one of the Ratchet and Clanks

There are lots of games I would love to be able to have the time to replay--Skies of Arcadia, Growlanser Generations, Parasite Eve, Bioshock, all three R&Cs. Too many good games out, not enough time.

I pretty much only replay games to earn achievements. I've gone back and replayed a few levels in Heavenly Sword just because I love that game. But it's kinda like extras on a DVD it's nice they are there but I rarely check them out.

Nope. The experience is never the same after the first time. Only games I remember playing more than once are my all-time favorites Super Mario World, Super Metroid and the Metal Gear Solid series. You did mention Gears of War, and when it comes to co-op games I can definitely play more than once with different people. It's like doing Contra a bunch of times back in the day.

I personally replay my video games a lot. I don't play lengthy RPGs, except for D&D RPGs. I am a hardcore D&D nerd.

The vast majority of the games I play are fairly short action and/or adventure type games. I also don't have a social life, so that gives me more free time than most. Both of those help. :)

Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox is my most often played game. I have played through that game well over a dozen times. I am currently replaying the Thief trilogy which I have played through at least four times prior. After that I plan to start my third playthrough of KOTOR.

I usually only play through a game again if there is something to make it really worthwhile.

Resident Evil 4 is a great example - after beating it once, it was awesome to go back through that game with a rocket launcher and unlimited ammo. But if it's just the same thing again, I rarely have that desire.

I really enjoyed that experience as well. Especially after all the trouble of getting through the game the initial time, it felt good to go back and annihilate every enemy in the game.

In general, I usually enjoy replaying sections of games that I particularly liked, so it's nice when games have a selection of instantly accessible levels on replay. Replaying an entire game can be fun if enough time has elapsed since I finished it originally, and I can still be somewhat surprised by it. But I generally won't instantly replay an entire game after finishing it, unless it was one of those very rare really, really fantastic games.

at $60 a pop there better be at least some degree of replay value...

I think being able to take character leveling up and weapon upgrades into a new game is totally the way to go. I wish more games would do it.

:thumbsup:

Too bad developers haven't taken that to heart! Acheivements come close, but don't usually offer any change to the game play (like the RE4 example mentioned earlier). One look at my gamerscore will tell you I don't care about them at all.

I'll replay a game if it offers something different (Light/Dark sides in Kotor). That being said, if the game is good enough I will replay it regardless just to re-live the experience. Sadly, there has only been one game that did that for me...and that was Half Life.

I barely have enough time to finish games the first time around, let alone replay them. I still keep games around just in case I want to play them again, but it rarely happens. So it's definitely not a negative if a fantastic game doesn't have much replay value.

Exactly why I liked Tomb Raider Legend and Ratchet & Clank Future.

I replay games all the time. I still have SNES, Genesis, and PS1 games that I replay. That's why I love stuff like the Virtual Console and the PS1 games on the PSN store.

It depends on the game. Shorter games (like Ghost Squad) had better have some replay value to justify the purchase. For longer, epic games (Zelda TP), it doesn't matter as much.

As long as it has good online replay value (CoD4 comes to mind), then yes. When it's a game like Super Mario Galaxy, I know it's not going to have much, so I want the experience to be great.

i always say to myself that i need to be able to have some replay value on a game before i buy it but usually i never touch 90% of them again. ex. kingdom hearts, ratchet and clank

i beat all these games on more recent consoles like N64 ara and forward and play maybe goldeneye for 5 mins on occasion or halo 1 here and there.

the only replay value i really have nowadays are genesis/snes/nes/atari games, aswell as obvious ones like scene it? on the 360

like most gamers, i don't have the times to finish the games on hand, so i don't give a damn about replayability....

if a $60 game doesn't have much replay value and it's a good game, i consider it's a good buy. Also, since i rarely buy any game at full price, replay values are meaningless.

i kept some of my games b/c i want to show it to people when they come over (actually, more like "can you beat this level for me?"). You know, my guests play more games than i do :grunt:

I don't replay a game. Even if they give me extra weapons or the like, it's just too similar. Maybe if I replayed the game several months after beating it the first time, that would help. By that point, I've moved on to something else I won't replay.

I spend more time playing very old games from the Amiga days, SNES games as well as old PC titles than current stuff. Not sure if that's more for nostalgia reasons, but I do enjoy going back and replaying most (good) games every once in a while. To me, replayability derives from either significantly divergent storylines (i.e. the game can be played multiple times without being repetitive) or from simply being a great game.

I rarely finish games, but I do occasionally replay them. Depends on the game. Mario games always seem like the most replayed. I end up; keeping most games though because I never get a chance to finish them.

As I've gotten older and had kids, I find myself thinking this way exactly. My gaming time is too short as it is. I enjoy games that are shorter, but still provide a memorable experience.

On replayability, I do finding myself replaying certain games or series'. The first that comes to mind is the Metal Gear Solid series. I've played every game many times. I love those games. :)

I've replayed Atari 2600 Adventure about a thousand times. :)

But you're right. I never really thought about it before, but who cares if it's replayable? Finishing a video game is kind of like finishing a book. And even for books I've really enjoyed and hang onto for sentimental reasons, I'm quite sure I will never, ever read them again.

With great games I find myself replaying them several times before I move on to another game. Sometimes I do it to get achievements, and sometimes I do it for unlockables. The Resident Evil games, for instance, usually have some kickass weapons you can unlock after beating it, and it's just fun to run through the game with an unlimited rocket launcher. On the flipside, I enjoy upping the difficulty to the hardest level on something like Halo 3 and going through it again knowing I'll have to employ different strategies at that level to succeed.

I guess my method is rare, mainly because I only play about 5-10 games on average a year but choose to spend quality with them (at least the good ones) rather than playing dozens of games and dumping them as soon as I've beaten them.