Revisiting a finished game

[Angel P]

Although the games I speak of in this thread are GC, I posted this here so that gamers of all the consoles have an input.

 

Now, there are a few games where there are either a number of characters or paths to choose from. After finishing a game with your chosen character/path, how soon after do you return to the game?

 

The first game I had finished in a long time was Metroid Prime. After finishing the game, I was tempted to play the hard mode but decided to take a break from it and start another game. I started and finished Resident Evil with Jill and started with Chris immediately. After unsuccessful attempts to pass the 1st zombie :oops:, I figured that I was REed out. I moved on to another game (Red Faction II) with the promise that I'll go back to RE at a later time. But, I've said that about alot of other games that I've both finished and others that I haven't.

 

I've read in other forums where members won't put down a game until it's been finished and every character, path, item, weapon, enemy, etc. has been gotten, beaten, used, etc, etc, etc!

 

So, how do the members of this forum deal with games that they finish but not necessarily complete 100%?

[secretvampire]

I'm like you, most of the time I don't want to immediately replay a game after I finish it, but will revisit it in the future. I've found an exception to this recently though, Knights of the Old Republic. I'm currently playing as a male light-side character, I'm getting close to the end of the game. But damn, I can't wait to replay it as a female, dark-side uber-bitch the second I finish....looking forward to wreaking some havoc. I guess the game is just that good.

[Robot Monkey]

Right after finishing I start thinking about replaying, but I rarely do with most games (like Morrowind). KOTOR, OTOH, I'm in the same spot as secretvampire -- played as Light male, wanna play as Dark female next.

 

And great topic, Angel!

 

-j

[Sam P]

I'm afraid I don't have the patience.

 

I can hardly finish a game, let alone repeat it on a second outing.

 

See, my problem is that I always play about 3/4 through every game, nevermind how good it is, before I get distracted with something else. Call it a lack of resolve.

 

If I had all the time in the world then yes, I would play through every game, perhaps even more than once.

 

But as it is, I can live with the consolation that I have experienced a worthy title, discovered its merits, subtleties and nuances, and grasped its essence. Then I can move on to the next title a happy man.

 

At least that's what I tell myself.

 

There are exceptions though, like when I'm compelled to finish a game to conclude the story...

[Chris]

For good games, I generally get started again right away, (Silent Hill 3 and KOTOR spring to mind) but I'll take my time, playing other games and things rather than playing straight through again.

[The Daisy]

Only once have I ever started a game over again (other than sports games) right after I finished it. That was Eternal Darkness, and I got about 6 hours in before I got a bit bored with playing it a 2nd time.

 

I'm thinking about playing KOTOR again, but I bought Soul Calibur II and F-Zero right after I got KOTOR, and really should get to playing those.

 

Glen

[Orpheus]

I usually wait some time ro replay a game, especially if it took me a while to get through it. With KOTOR, I'm thinking of going back to a previous save (I have about 25 KOTOR save games) and finishing as a light side since I went dark the first time. I loved the game and will surely replay it all the way, I'd just like to see the other ending right now. Plus, I still have Xenosaga to play which I bought the day it came out and have not touched yet.

[Hank Scorpio]

I find myself going back to old NES and SNES games with more frequency than the newer generation of games. I play through most of the games I buy and by the time I'm done there's a new game to get started on. It's rare that I finish a game and right away get started on it anew.

 

But the classics, I can play those over and over again. I've yet to get sick of Contra, RBI Baseball, Maniac Mansion, NBA Jam, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Smash TV, and so on. Perhaps it's because those games don't require a significant amount of time to invest in - after all these years I've all but memorized what to do.

[Mark E]

Depends on the game and whether I feel the bonuses are worth the hoop jumping. I've never, for example, unlocked everything in a Resident Evil game. For me the requirements are rather insane and I'd rather savour the game versus play through it at lightspeed.

 

I also immediately started a second ED game and got a bit bored with it and set it aside. It's great to pick up and play in little bits though.

 

I mean, some games are endlessly replayable. If I had a DOS machine here I'd be on it all the time. Give me X-Com and I'll play through to the end, start right over again. I usually need a little time between games though, otherwise it stagnates.

 

Slightly OT to the question, I've played many games multiple times. I've played Gabriel Knight through to completion nearly a dozen times, the second one half a dozen. The first Monkey Island, hmm, probably ten times at least, maybe 15 even. I've beaten RE and RE2 at least six times each and Nemesis at least four times. Star Control II is another six-timer. Ultima VI at least four.

 

Give me good old-school adventure games in the Sierra and LucasArts mold and I'm happy as hell. I really play those games to death. I think I may have scoured Gabriel Knight for just about every possible interaction, conversation, and response the game has. But even better, last time I played through I heard a snippet of dialogue I hadn't before and that just makes it all worthwhile.

 

For me it's like a novel. If the story was worth the trip once, I'm happy to take it a bunch of additional times.

[Angel P]

My son finished Vice City with 100% packages (whatever that means) soon after getting the game and is now returning to start all over.

[Sam P]

Originally posted by Angel Pagan@Sep 14 2003, 01:59 AM

My son finished Vice City with 100% packages (whatever that means) soon after getting the game and is now returning to start all over.

100% packages means he went and found every single hidden item in the game. These are in the forms of tiny green bags, i.e. packages.

 

Though that's no mean feat (if he didn't just use a game guide), it would be even more impressive if he had 100% completion. That would mean he played all the missions, all the side-missions, the crazy taxi-esque mini-game, crazy ambulance, crazy pizza boy, crazy renegade cop ), robbed all the stores, beat all the RC missions, succeeded at all the rampages, owned all the properties, did all the unique jumps, and perhaps even recite the entire Star Wars Trilogy on a single breath of air.

 

If that's the case, kudos to your son!

[Angel P]

Dont' know about all that. But I'll ask him.

[JoeyN]

I rarely finish games as well. Even with Knights of the old republic. I played it non stop, had a busy week which i couldnt play and i havent picked it up again since. But i will get to it eventually

[JTello]

-I'm with Joey, finishing can be a probelm. I buy a great game, start to get into it, then 'something' comes up to bring my progess to a halt. I do eventually get back to them. Having just bought a house, I've had to put KOTOR down for a month now, and I'm dying to get back to it more than any other game (My character is a dark side male, and he looks exactly like Capt. Sisko pictured in Joey's signature.)

 

-Last game I played through multiple times,... Contra!!!

[General Zot]

pharm - My godness man, the amount of time you must have spent on beating Ultima VI four times could equate to all the time I spent playing all the Ultimas (and I've beat several)! Wow, way to stick to it! PS - you're crazy.

 

For me, I definitely need to let a game get cold before I return to it. Exception would be if there is an immediate unlockable after first time that is attractive. Like getting the sumachine gun with unlimited ammo in SH3, I would start another game to enjoy something cool like that.

 

Or if a game was just so good that I feel a loss at completing it, I'll play the first few bits again just to reminsce. MGS on the PS1 was that way for me, I needed to play a little more because I was so into the game and didn't want it to have an ending.

 

The odd thing is I will totally come back to a game that is even generations old if I get nostalgic. LIke Pharm stated above, I love to fool around playing Ultima III still or an emulated version of Defender of the Crown. Ghetto by any standard today, but fond memories and great gameplay never die!

[Mark E]

the amount of time you must have spent on beating Ultima VI four times could equate to all the time I spent playing all the Ultimas

 

No, not at all actually. Once you get into the system of U6 it's fairly easy to sneak it up a bit. For one thing, you can completely forgo the pirate treasure map crap (I think I only did it once just to see what was there) and do other more important things.

 

Further, there's a very nifty little quest you can do for the wisps where if you have a specific book when you talk to them they will ask if they can have it. If you hold out for them to give you cash, they will literally give you the party's weight in gold and fill your empty inventory slots with as many gold nuggets as you can carry.

 

With an eight member crew who has mysteriously decided to leave their equipment back at the castle that is a serious pile o' gold and you can quickly equip your team with mountains of good gear, making the whole thing much easier :green:.

[Derrik Draven]

I finished Dungeon Keeper II about 4 years ago and, I just started replaying it again about a week ago. It seems to me, to be alot better when you wait quite awhile to replay. There's been a bunch of stuff come up in the game that would surprise me because I forgot all about it. Made it kind of nice, ya know?

 

I'm considering loading up System Shock II and giving it a whirl again. I remember it being friggin great! Those sound effects...sheesh!!!!

[Mark E]

I'm considering loading up System Shock II and giving it a whirl again. I remember it being friggin great! Those sound effects...sheesh!!!!

 

Agreed. Those screeching monkeys are unnerving enough, but those freakin' midwives are some of the scariest damn monsters I've ever fought against in a game. Just hearing them talk creeps me out completely.