Which games would you love to be able to play for the first time again?

[Jessabi]

The title says it all really. We all know that feeling, when you play an amazing game for the very first time. It's exciting and new, you can't wait to see what happens next, and you don't want it to end. Subsequent playthroughs are still fun, but it's never quite the same feeling.

For me, I have quite a recent example - the Mass Effect series. I was very late to series, and didn't actually play through it until I was bought the trilogy box-set for my birthday this year (I know right? Super late). I'd loved Dragon Age and had just assumed a futuristic space adventure wasn't my kind of setting. Well I was wrong, and I LOVED it! And the awesome thing was, I didn't have to suffer the wait for the next chapter of the story when I finished the first game (and then the second)because I could just pop in the next game straight away and continue. I also avoided the controversy of 3's ending as my first exposure was the Extended Cut which my boyfriend already had installed. So yeah, it was just a great experience I wish I could have again.

Another one would be World of Warcraft. I started playing it and was hooked, despite being a "noob" who barely knew how to do anything. It was my first foray into a MMORPG and I was in awe, could barely tear myself away from questing, chatting with my guild mates etc (probably a hint of that addiction the GAME employee had warned me about when I bought it...) Now I'm two expansion packs behind and can barely play it without getting bored very quickly. That feeling I had when I first played is just gone, which is kind of sad really.

So what about you? If you could erase your previous knowledge of a game, which one would you love to play through for the first time again?

 

[Zhukov]

Portal.

I remember going through my first playthrough with a non-stop grin on my face. However, subsequent playthroughs just weren't the same since humour is not something that improves with repetition.

Despite being a big Mass Effect fan, I wouldn't want to mind-wipe that one. While playing through for the first time was great, being familiar with the games is fun in its own way.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Probably Gothic 3 actually. Holy fuck was it fun to explore every inch of that game world, so going back into it blind without knowing the whole map like the back of my hand would be fun.

 

[aozgolo]

Earthbound, hands down Earthbound. I rented this from a movie rental place as a kid, it came with the big box that included the strategy guide and I remember I kept renewing the game until I got to the very end, I never beat Giygas though.

It wasn't until years later that I got a chance to play it again, but it always stuck out in my mind. It's one of THE best RPGs on the Super Nintendo, and everytime I play it I feel a nostalgic tugging from my childhood that makes me wistful for the days when I still was so curious and wide-eyed about video games, wondering what kind of secrets lay within them, and not jaded by the knowledge of technical or design limitations.

Earthbound is still one of my favorite games, and if I could go back and replay it again for the first time, I'd be a very happy man.

 

[MysticSlayer]

BioShock: To some extent, this is because I want to relive the first experience that has mostly faded away over the last few years, especially since my third playthrough was arguably the most enjoyable. On the other hand, since it did give me a greater interest in more story-driven, atmospheric, and semi-horror games, I am wondering if I'd appreciate it as much given that I've played numerous other games since that does each of those things better.

Super Mario Galaxy: I don't think any game in recent memory has awoken my inner child as much as this one, but that feeling gets lost on each playthrough.

 

[Poppy JR.]

Portal.

I remember going through my first playthrough with a non-stop grin on my face. However, subsequent playthroughs just weren't the same since humour is not something that improves with repetition.

Despite being a big Mass Effect fan, I wouldn't want to mind-wipe that one. While playing through for the first time was great, being familiar with the games is fun in its own way.

Portal, definitely.

As for myself, Fire Emblem Awakening. I just love that game. The characters are well-rounded and likable, the music's excellent, the combat is fun and deep, the graphics are great, the aesthetic doesn't suck, and that ending. Oooh boy.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Portal 1 & 2, Bioshock: Infinite, Metro 2033 & Last Light, and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.

The game I think I really want to experience for the first time again in Bioshock: Infinite, because even though it might not have as great mechanics or story as Bioshock, the sheer beauty and character of Columbia was enough.

I still need to get Burial at Sea too...

 

[axillarypuma]

final fantasy IX, it was an awesome experience which i couldn't finish because my 3rd disc broke near the end

 

[Clowndoe]

Planescape: Torment: Someone who has played this game will hopefully find the thought amusing.

 

[Lucyfer86]

Err, both Half-Life's maybe.

Oh i don't really know, i mean i'd like to get that first time feeling on any of my favorite games.

 

[O maestre]

Shadow of the colossus, the mystery and wonder during the first play through is something I have struggled to find again, the melancholic mysterious surrounding the colossi, and reflecting on each battle interpreting encounters and scenery for hidden meaning.

 

[FrozenLaughs]

Final Fantasy 7. I loved the sense of scale I got from it, how little we all are.

 

[Storm Dragon]

Probably Knights of the Old Republic. If you've played it, then you can guess why.

 

[roonder]

Ps1: GT1, GT2, Resident evil 2, Tomb Rader

Ps2: GT4, SSX tricky, GTA 3, Vice city ,San Andreas, Guitar hero 1, 2 and 80s edition

360: Skate, Forza 2 Guitar Hero 3 COD4

Pc: Counter Strike Source and Team Fortress 2

 

[Muspelheim]

Fallout 3. Definately

Stepping out of the vault, with nowhere to go but forward, seeing the Capital Wasteland spread out before me. Stumbling around the ruins, gathering old bottles and gawking at everything. I would've waved cheerfully at the people camped out in the school ruins, but they got out their rifles and shot at me.

Of course, those are all rather cherrished memories by now. Like finding a familiar face in a very unexpected place, meeting a familiar stranger in another, bearing the weapons on the past of the savages of today... It'd be very difficult to part with them.

But it'd very very almost be worth it.

 

[Fox12]

Final Fantasy 7. I loved the sense of scale I got from it, how little we all are.

Beat me to it. The game was a real masterpiece, well ahead of its time. The story was great, there was a great deal of emotion, and I still love the characters and gameplay. The atmosphere was fantastic as well.

As for newer games, I'd like to replay TLoU again. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

 

[SonofaJohannes]

Probably Secret of Mana; I loved that game so much as a child that I'm afraid of playing it again, because I'll probably break down crying from the nostalgia overload. Seriously, just hearing the soundtrack is too much for me to handle and I have to turn it off.
This hasn't happened for any other game. Playing it for the first time would eliminate this nostalgia issue.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Fallout 3 or Skyrim. They are the most atmospheric games I know (apart from games that are atmospheric in a bad way) and I can't forget the feeling over traversing the windy icy cliffs of Skyrim with poor visibility, exploring the College of Winterhold etc. Now I just play those games to get shit done, I don't get as engaged. Jesus Bethesda hurry the fuck up.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Okami! Specifically because I already played the game twice and I know nothing beats the first time.

 

[SteveTR]

Final Fantasy VI. As soon as I started the game up, I knew I was in for a ride.