In your opinion, what give a game a replay value?

[FakeSympathy]

You just completed a game where you invested god-knows-how-many hours into it, or finished playing your first multiplayer match of that game.
What makes you want to come back to it? Name a game(s) and reason(s) for replay.

 

[JinxedAqua]

There are many things that contribute to a replayable game. This can be broken down more simply by the type of game played. If I'm looking at a sandbox such as Mad Max, Burnout Paradise, or Spiderman I am looking particularly at motive of transportation, how much chaos can I cause, etc etc...
If I'm playing an FPS such as Halo or Gears of War I am looking at my tools of destruction, ease of navigation to my various presets, etc.

 

[Mashed]

For me it has to be the core gameplay mechanics. An amazing story/narrative can only pull me in so many times, but I'll find myself repeating the same stuff over and over again if, for example, the combat mechanics are really tight.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Mainly competitive multiplayer.


I don't tend to replay story driven games, I do 100% complete them (which may take hundreds of hours in some cases, I'm at the 180 hour mark with dungeon travelers 2 and still not done everything) but even that time pales to the replay value of something like a 2d anime-inspired fighting game like Blazblue or Guilty Gear which I have had thousands of hours put in over the last 6~ years (spread through their various iterations).

 

[Casual Shinji]

Me liking it.

Simple really; If I like the game and enjoyed whatever it served up, I'm most likely going for seconds... and thirds.

Though the biggest reason for me coming back to a game over many years will always be story/characters/setting. I loved the shit out of Super Mario Galaxy, but beyond the gameplay mechanics, which are pretty sweet, there's very little narratively or thematically that genuinely sticks with me. (Although it does have some good stuff going on in that department for a Mario game.) With something like Wind Waker though, that setting and those characters are just so endearing to me that this is the only reason I ever return for another playthrough.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

Being so good, you can always revisit if the need arises is the simple answer.

Procedural generation is a good selling point if done well

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Non-linearity - a big one. RPGs (with actual choices), Metroidvanias, open world games

Engaging gameplay and story/characters - Is doing the same thing once more still fun? Are the NPCs or party members worth encountering over again?

Atmosphere - Do you feel like you're just playing a game? Or, are you pulled into the environment being beamed into your eyes and replacing the player character with your own mind? Visuals, audio, and fluid controls can really help here.

Familiarity - If I really like a game, I probably will keep going back to it very often just because of the fact that I know it's good. My opinion of the state of the industry right now (don't like what's being made and don't trust much either) and finances also back up this point.

Art style or Graphics - Even if the game is linear, is the world fun to run around it and look at, time and time again?

Music - If the soundtrack fits the mood of the game, it will hook me even more.

--

Metroid and Zelda are pretty replayable in my book. Exploration. Neat Gadgets to get to new spots. New paths to try in most of the titles. Their art styles are very gorgeous, even when they don't use cutting edge graphics. Zelda has tried many art styles that make them visually distinct and fresh. Most Metroids are dripping with the atmosphere of isolation - that you are alone and have to navigate a world of creatures out to kill without help. Metroid's music also adds loads to the mood of each area in each game.

I'm pretty sure I've played Guacamelee 6 times in the year or so I've owned it. (Maybe 7 hours for an average playthrough.) It is that good. Lot's of colorful art inspired by Dias del los Muertos. Addicting luchador fighting. The characters are pretty engaging for a game about pile-driving skeleton warriors, and humor is in almost every cutscene. The look and musical themes are amazing.

Some of the old Final Fantasies have more than one playthrough from me. (4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12) IX probably has the best story out of the franchise, and there is a lot to do beside grinding in all of those games (except maybe 4). Uematsu's soundtracks are also gold.

I also fall back on 90's Crash, Spyro, and Sonic. Nostalgia of course comes into play, but they did what they sent out to do well. It's still fun to run around jumping on robots/fierce creatures and collect shiny things.

Classic Doom is, well, Doom. Do I need to mention why I love firing up these every time I feel like fighting something with huge guts using the great communicator?

I also like going back to the original Halo. It had the right amount of mystery around the villains, the hero, and the setting. The pacing and most of the weapon balance was better than latter games. The latter half's backtracking through old levels is seen as cheap by some, but I find it to make the game seem like the Chief is really traveling around a connected world, not being teleported (even though that's what happens in-story) like in some FPSes and othe genres.

 

[happyninja42]

If the game is fun. I mean, I don't really know what else to say. The details are different for each game, but the bottom line is whether or not I found enjoyment in the story of it, and want to experience it again. Or since you mention multiplayer, whether I'm having fun continuing to play it's content regularly.

 

[Something Amyss]

How much fun I'm having.

Mechanics can be good or bad. The story can be good or bad. The map can be good or bad. Though if all those are bad, I probably won't be having fun. Still, it's the X-Factor of fun that really draws me to a game and keeps me there.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Something different? And I mean substance different, not just aesthetically or basic gameplay different. It has to be different enough that it feels fresh, like a new game all over again.

Mass Effect trilogy for example? Maybe have some replay value if you want femshep vs manshep, or a romance option or character class. But it loses replay value significantly after your 3rd or 4th play-through. Like why bother playing the whole trilogy again as Manshep Soldier just to romance Jack this time instead of Liara? Just watch Jack's romance scenes on YouTube. Save yourself the 80+ hours of literal identical gameplay.

Huge problem with replay value with the Fallout or Elder Scrolls game. I mean one playthrough to another are damn near identical. Fallout especially. If you want a new character, just go to the in-game character face changers and use a new type of weapon. Hell, my play-through of Fallout 3 and New Vegas felt identical. It was me, using whatever weapon I had the most ammo for to barely scrape by against Super Mutants.

 

[veloper]

SHORT
varied
fun

A game can have multiple endings and random encounters and all that good stuff, but if I'm still going to have to invest 50 hours for a full playthrough and see a lot of identical filler during that time, I'm probably not going to replay it much.
Now a simple, but fun platformer or schmup I may return to many times, even if there's not even all that much in the way of variety, because the core experience is tight and there's less pointless filler to bore me.

 

[FPLOON]

Something worth going back to overall... not due to obligation or hypnotic impulse, but because you deem it worthy to go back to... Sure, a creator of a game can claim that something in their own game is worth "replay value", but it's up to the player to naturally see that something that makes a particular game worth going back to in general...

Other than that, "New Game Plus", for me, is a nice incentive if I was already enjoying the game in general... and it doges double if some (or all) of my goodies came with me...

 

[FalloutJack]

I have to agree with the fun assessment. A game can be beautiful as the sun and still boring to me if not done right. Fortunately, there are games that fulfill the fun factor AND have other boons to their name.

 

[Synigma]

The game that has the most hours invested in my steam library... Civ 5. Because there are just so many ways it can play out, so many different ways to approach the game, multiple different enjoyable DLC additions... it never feels the same twice even if you pick the same country and general strategy.

I've also played most of the Bioware games through a couple times... but I think Baldur's Gate 2 had the best combinations of classes and party member banter that just kept bringing me back. Plus so many different ways to play through it and the fact you could skip many of the parts if you didn't like them... because as mentioned above having to go through the same parts the same ways over and over kills the desire to replay.

 

[Mister K]

There isn't a single answer to this question, because everyone of us thinks of different things when someone says "replay value".

But at the core of each and every of our subjective answers is what exactly do we find engaging about this particular game:
- A person may replay RPG's many times to try out different builds, characters and classes;
- A person may constantly play fighting games to hone their skills and find challenge;
- A person may replay spectacle action games to try and "style" as much as possible.

But most importantly, no matter the genre, a person may wish to return to a game because of it's story, character, mechanics. Or because it is simply fun.

 

[Godhead]

A game that's enjoyable outright and allows for multiple play styles. Bonus points if your actions can change what you can and can't do, like the conflicts between the Fighters and Thieves guild in Morrowind.

 

[BaronVH]

The best example of a game with high replayability (is that even a word?) is the original 2D Fallout. What made it so good is that the story is not too long but not too short, and there are many different ways to play it. It is also designed in such a way that you cannot do everything or you will lose. Yes, you had a time limit. If you want to be a good guy, you can. Evil? Also OK. I don't know how many times I played it, but here are some of my characters: A female assassin/marksman that only functioned best at night. A huge, stupid hulk that had tons of luck. My favorite: a very smart but frail nerd who actually talked the end boss to death without firing a shot. I found Fallout 2 a bit too tedious, and Fallout 3 was simply too long to ever attempt a second playthrough. Some other games that I enjoyed playing multiple times have been the Diablo games, the first Gears of War, Knights of the Old Republic, and the Portal games. An interesting thing of all of my Baldur's Gate playthroughs is that I have always made the exact same decisions, but I don't do that in other games. The thing that turns me off is when a game is so long that it becomes so repetitive that it is tedious. I will never play Skriym or Fallout 3 again due to this. Not to say they were bad or I didn't enjoy them, but I doubt I will ever get back to them.

 

[VoidOfOne]

I enjoy playing it.

I have come back to Torchlight 2, a year since I've played. And I still find it fun. The thing is, I'm using mods, which still work. However these are the same mods I used since I last played. Sometimes a bit of change helps.

With story in games, if the story is compelling enough, it can be nice to go back to it. It is all relative, from what I understand.

I went back to The Old Republic, because I felt like playing an MMO with other people, after almost 2 years of an absence. And I find it more fun than before, especially with people to play with.

I have gone back to the Mass Effect series, and played each game at least twice. I find myself making the same or similar choices, ultimately going Paragon and ending up with Ashley (I take it as a matter of pride that I'm in the minority in the latter aspect).

Then there's the reverse side, where I don't go back. Sometimes, a game just feels too old, such as with Dragon Age: Origins. I enjoyed it, but I don't feel compelled to go back.

And then there's the Mass Effect series, which I don't plan on playing again anytime soon. Not because of the ending (I don't hate it as much as others, but I don't like it either) but because with the DLC added, I can no longer play online. That's another issue.

Not quite OT, but it is interesting on how with games being able to change throughout the years, the changes can draw you to come back, or keep you far away. I came back to Diablo 3 with the expansion of Reaper of Souls, but left when the game was no longer satisfying.

In the end, I'm just rambling. But it is always an interesting question to ask, especially in the years of which new games are no longer guaranteed to remain the same as when they came out, for better (Civilization 5) or worse (P.T.).