Question Of The Week [June 20th 2024]

No, I don't replay games often. I find that most of the excitement of playing a game comes from me experiencing the game for the first time. I latch on more to the storyline, characters, motivations, levels and the way I progress through the game. Mechanics that are enjoyable are a great companion to the game, as it’s the main way I interact with the game itself. But what has me initially interested is the premise and story. If a game has great mechanics, it can get me to replay a game if there isn't much story or narrative. But I find myself becoming bored very quickly without the driving factor of a story or motivation. Most sandbox style games also become very boring to me once those initial sessions with a game are finished. I need the experience to continually feel new and exciting and when I get to the end of something, I like having that finality of sorts. I like having a cap to the experience, putting it away and fondly remembering what I experienced without trying to relive it.

Trying to “relive” those experiences is never as good as the first time through, and with the way the gaming industry has ballooned, I could play a new game every day for the rest of my life and still never play most of the games that come out. So I just have a hard time justifying going back to a game I played before, unless there is a big update or new way to play it. There are certain games that I can see myself going back to for one reason or another, like Fallout 4, but being able to play it in Virtual Reality that really does change the dynamics of the game, but I still retain most of the story beats, characters and locations and it’s hard for me to get excited when I already know what is going to happen. But when there is a game I can still get really into and have the experience feel fresh even after multiple playthroughs, that's something special.