I can look over my game collection and easily say that I haven’t completed at least 90% of them, and with so many titles to pick from why in the hell did I go through a game that I’ve already beaten twice?
For me to play through anything a second time is a pretty rare occurrence, but a third time? Unless it’s the story mode of a fighting game or we step back in to the 8/16-bit era when I only owned 5 or 6 games at a time, it’s safe to say this doesn’t happen often, if at all.
Sitting here right now, I could probably list off every game since the PSone era that I’ve beaten at least twice.. actually, fuck it, here we go.
- Final Fantasy 7
- Final Fantasy 8
- Final Fantasy 10
- God of War
- God of War 2
- Borderlands
- Dragon’s Dogma
- Dante’s Inferno
See, that was easy! I love games, especially RPGs, and there are few things I enjoy more than getting lost in a great story, but rarely do I ever want to go back and revisit those worlds. Maybe it’s a mental thing? Hell, I can barely listen to the same album or artist multiple times in a row without changing things up. It’s gotten to the point where I annoy the crap out of my girlfriend when we go on road trips together. The CD ends and I immediately eject it, wedging it in to my sun visor and waiting patiently for her to put something else in.. even if she’s reading a book, browsing her Kindle or, you know, sleeping. Sometimes I have to fake a cough during that last part to wake her up and then play it cool, but I can be an asshole like that I guess.
But anyway, back to my original question. What makes us, as gamers, replay something over trying something new? I’m sure everyone has their own answers, whether it be finances, achievement hunting or just having fun, but I’m curious about why I do it when this rare occurrence.. well.. occurs. Yeah. Words. I’m doing it.
I can rule out finance because I have a pretty decent sized game collection and tons of stuff to pick from that I haven’t even played yet. I’m definitely in to achievements but not enough to play through a game twice, even with short games like Lollipop Chainsaw or Bayonetta. Fun definitely plays a factor, I’m sure, but I’ve had more fun with other games that I beat once and set aside, so it obviously isn’t at the top of my list. I can’t even say game length since most of my double plays are RPGs with multiple 100+ hour sessions. I don’t really have a solid answer, I guess.
To add more variables to the equation, I finally got around to playing Dishonored and my roommate let us borrow Metal Gear Rising (two games I have yet to complete), but somewhere between those two I decided to stop and play Dante’s Inferno instead. A game that I almost have 1000G with the 360 version and now have 60% of the trophies in the PS3 version. Why? Give it to me straight, doc! As much as I wanted to get in to Dishonored, I was lured away by absolving unbaptized children, watching a giant whore shoot stuff from her nipples and wonky platforming. I opted to play an overlooked and (in my opinion) underrated game that offers nothing new to me over a 2012 game of the year candidate.
Watch, next time I’m going to stop playing Bioshock Infinite to give HAZE another go.. or maybe Kane & Lynch. I own both, so it’s totally possible.
Cheap Boss Attack 