Replay value, is there any?

[raankh]

In reviews there's often mention of replay value. Games add content that supposedly up this value; multiple endings, character classes, companions, hidden content only available through replaying certain levels etc.

I suppose the epitomic example is The Legend of Zelda and its Second Quest, although overly simplistic nowadays.

Replay value is more or less only valid to consider with games that have considerable length. Games that constitute an entire game within one session (eg Tetris) have an intrinsic replay value, since they don't really have an end anyhow. Mostly it's an issue with games that have narrative, although there's plenty of examples of non-narrative games that lack replay value (Strip Poker, anyone ).

However, paraphrasing our beloved yahtzee, how does that really stack up considering today's ritalin frothing hype-guzzling twitchgamers. Do gamers today really play through games more than once? Does it make sense to add a bazillion endings; will anyone but dedicated hardcore fans see more than one? Do gamers really unlock all those busty bouncy jiggly characters in DOA, or just punch in GIMMEDABOOBIES at the (now-defunct) password screen?

Or do modern games have to incorporate replay explicitly in order to motivate the additional development costs? Dead Rising is an excellent example, even recommending you to start over at times through tutorial hints.

 

[Count_de_Monet]

If I thought hard I could probably count the number of games I've replayed on one hand. I usually play on medium/medium high difficulty once through then either move on or try out the multiplayer. For me the ultimate replay value is in a game's multiplayer because upping the difficulty doesn't make the game feel more difficult to me just more tedious and I don't get any enjoyment from finding every secret room or picking up every dead bird.

 

[dl_wraith]

Look at Starfox Command for a great example of replay value - once the game is complete new story paths through the game can be unlocked. Very nice, kept the same old blasting action feeling fresh and made me play through the game umpteen times, allowing it to last longer and feel like I got better value from the title. I'd like more games that worked a little like that, where replay is encouraged through alternative story arcs (Resi and recent Castlevania titles being a great example of this). New powerups and new skins for characters just aren't enough to make normal players come back for a 2nd bite.

Truly great games will haul you back months after you've played them through. Seeing poorly managed clones will only make you crave the original experience (if it doesn't sour it, that is!). Metroid Prime (NGC) was one such recent example for me.

One thing is for sure, Multiplayer modes always bring added value to a game and should be included as appropriate to the host game. Co-operative modes in particular can offer replay oppertunity, even when the replay offers nothing new by way of gameplay.

 

[Kaisharga]

Another sterling example of replayability is Lufia 2, whose designers had the absolutely ingenious idea to make battles on a second playthrough yield quadruple the experience and money. You've already done the exploring, so there's no need to run around pretending to be lost, just so you can grind levels and cash, and the programmers recognized that. Which is absolutely brilliant.

I know one thing for sure is that if a game is really well made but difficult, I can easily convince myself to go through it a second time on a much harder difficulty. God of War has seen me beat it on all its difficulty settings, and I'm working up to that on God of War II. After that I may go back to Ninja Gaiden Black for the same reason.

On the other hand, if you're a CRPG, and you don't have multiple endings, you probably don't have replay value--with very, very few exceptions.

 

[strayjay]

Wow... epitomic. good word.

Replay value is important to me as a player, but there are also times when I want a short game I can just rip through- usually while waiting for the next cool game's release date.

Like Assassin's creed. I played through it in a week, did all the sidequests, got maybe a quarter of the flags, finished the storyline, and I was done. I turned it in for credit on Mass Effect, and bought that game a day or two after release.

The Orange Box and COD:4 are both great examples of built in replay value. I still want to replay portal, and TF2 is calling my name, but COD:4's multiplayer is monopolizing my play time, and if it's not, I'm absorbed either in MAss Effect (unlikely) or the latest Forza cars and tracks.

So MOST of the games I buy I intend to keep for a while. I generally look for games that will still be fun four or six months down the road, like Rock band and guitar hero. Heck, I've been playing since GH:2 came out, and I still have my PS2 guitar AND my 360 guitar AND both games. And I still play every now and then, especially when friends are over.

The one big exception to the rule of keeping games with a ton of replay value and trading the ones that don't is Bioshock. I bought the collector's edition, and I'm keeping that forever.

 

[alexhayter86]

yeah those dead birds in Condemned sucked. That whole game was pretty much the same premise over and over again: wack a rabid homeless guy with a plank. A fun premise, nonetheless.

 

[rawlight]

GIMMEDABOOBIES

What game is this a password for and does it need to be in caps? Just out of curiosity of course...

 

[Projekt Spartan]

GIMMEDABOOBIES

What game is this a password for and does it need to be in caps? Just out of curiosity of course...

Yes...of course.

 

[Xirei]

Being more of an RPG player, I find that the "New game plus" sorts of features are enough to keep me occupied. Currently my time occasionally devoted to hacking my way toward the big extra baddies in Makai Kingdom still, but I don't grind enough to think I'll ever be big enough.

On the other side, many of my friends tend to play newer games and they're also sucked in for the strange replay value. One of them has recently spent several hours playing and replaying stages on Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles just to have enough credits to upgrade available weapons, so I guess that's something else to consider?

 

[Kaisharga]

That is indeed an interesting form of replay value, though its impact varies: in CRPGs or MMORPGs it's referred to as grinding, where I'm not sure I would call it that in a game like Umbrella Chronicles or Devil May Cry. Hm.

 

[GrowlersAtSea]

Resident Evil 4, I played through at least a half a dozen times. The simple reason for collecting and upgrading the weapons was amusing, and it was a fun game to begin with. I later went through for various challenges based on weapon usage and times, but it was still fun.

Knights of the Old Republic really compelled me to play through it many times, and the reason was simple, that it offered vastly different experiences based on how I wanted to play. Most games, a replay means that you just go through the same thing again, this time knowing what's going to happen or where to look for pre-scripted events. Multiplayer games can appeal to me for the same reason, the fact that the experience change and that I don't have the same thing going every time I sit down with it.

So, I think replayability, at least in my mind is based on a changing game experience, substantive rewards and challenges.

 

[The Irrelevant Gamer]

Unlockables have never gotten me to replay a game. Going back through the entire story just to grab what I missed feels too much like work. Games where you can return to previous areas to acquire more unlockable content without going back through the narrative are a different case. That could be done in Jet Grind Radio once the game was beaten, and I actually managed to collect all of the tags that way, but this is the exception rather than the rule for me.

Multiple endings have a better chance of getting me to replay a game than unlockable content, but it is still not a certainty. I have to really enjoy a game to bother replaying the whole thing just for a different ending, but usually the replay is months apart so I can forget some of the things in the game, and not feel deja vu the entire time I'm playing. I did this with VTM: Bloodlines, but it not only had different endings, but different choices along the way, and if you played a Malkavian, and then a sane vampire it had different dialogue choices as well.

This brings me to my third point. Games I really enjoy I will replay just because they are fun even if they have the same ending every time, and there is nothing to unlock. Half Life 2 is a game I've replayed a dozen times at least.

I think the best route to giving a game replayability is to either make the entire experience different based on player choices, or make the ride so enjoyable you want to go again when you're finished. Unlockable content, and different endings are half measures.

 

[FreelancerADP]

I think Mass Effect actually had a pretty decent replay value in that you could go through and be whatever you weren't the second time around.

By altering the gameplay of the entire game rather than offering a different 30 sec cut scene after 30+ hours of game play, it made me actually want to go through and play it again.

Though I'm still debating whether to play it the third time through to unlock the last achievement.

 

[raankh]

Thanks for the input, I'm rather interested in the issue. As for myself, I replay games ad nauseum, but very rarely through to the end so multiple endings tend to be rather useless from my perspective. Chrono Trigger, the first Fallout and Metroid are the exceptions. As for unlockables, I think GTA Vice City is to date the only game with such content that I've really unlocked everything in.

GIMMEDABOOBIES

What game is this a password for and does it need to be in caps? Just out of curiosity of course...

It's probably illegal for me to disclose which game it is, but of course it has to be in caps. You ain't gonna get none if you keep whispering about it.