What makes a game replayable?

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navynuke04
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What makes a game replayable?

#1 Post by navynuke04 » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:21 pm

I've played games where beating them once was enough. I've also played games that I found myself going back to many different times to replay.

The old Hugo games are an example of "once is enough". I tried replaying them, but they were pretty simple and I remembered all the puzzles. I ended up flying through them and not enjoying them much.

The earliest King's Quest games are close to this category in that once you beat them, they are pretty easy to get through. The big replay value for them was that there were so many in the series. I could play all of them once per year or so, and I'd have forgotten enough that it was enjoyable.

The big thing that brings me back is trying to get the maximum score and trying out all the different solutions to puzzles to see what kind of dialouge I may have missed the first time through. I really enjoyed this about King's Quest 6. With the two possible endings, I almost always had to play it through twice.

What things make you guys come back to a game repeatedly?

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#2 Post by Bobbin Threadbare » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:35 pm

regardless the genre, an original-captivating storyline with amazing music libraries always makes me want to revisits those, even if I already know it by heart. Original gameplay also came as another bonus.

My fave was based on great combination of mystery with classical melodies that was integrated with the gameplay itself, added with a very gorgeous scenery. I think @eric was one of the biggest fan and I personally thank him for sharing these to me. :D

Of course, this also depends on the generations. And speaking of generations, MGS was also quite rare example because of the combination of action-stealth gameplay with a very deep-woven narration and dialogues par with great hollywood movies. I personally love this, but there are other (often younger audiences) that felt the story was a bit drag, mostly because the game has very long conversation and dialogues that could scratch or confuses those who didn't quite grasp the story itself.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#3 Post by cyberdalekyeti » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:49 pm

How about replaying these earlier sierra games to try and complete the games with the least points as possible? Now that is a challenge.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#4 Post by navynuke04 » Sat Jan 29, 2011 12:35 am

Have you ever attempted to beat your best time?

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#5 Post by Klytos » Sat Jan 29, 2011 2:45 am

I've had contests with my brother, playing on two computers next to each other to get the full 504 points in QFG1 EGA. We speed play it with the same character build. It's fun and I'm the current winner holding at about an hour and a quarter.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#6 Post by pbpb33 » Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:27 am

In addition to everything that has been said, I think that, more generally (and as obvious as it probably sounds to say), high quality adventure games with timeless humor and clever, witty dialogue, puzzles and story situations will always be more replayable. Look at Monkey Island, DOTT, etc. They don't have to be comedies, but the story/writing has to be very good. It's the same reason why people can watch the same tv shows and movies over and over. Maybe you aren't going to have the urge to replay one of these games immediately after finishing it, but sometime down the line when you play it again, you can still get a lot of enjoyment out of the game, even if you remember the answers to many of the puzzles. I guess another thing that can make a game more replayable is the forgetfulness of the player over time... I often forget how to beat certain games that I haven't played in a while. :o

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#7 Post by edenwaith » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:43 am

cyberdalekyeti wrote:How about replaying these earlier sierra games to try and complete the games with the least points as possible? Now that is a challenge.
Just did that with the original KQ2. I've played the game 3 times in the past week. Beat the game with all possible points. Then replayed it by trying to get as few points as possible (109/185). Then discovered a few other things to not gain points and lowered my score even further to 94/185 points.

But in KQ3, I do like seeing how quickly I can get through the game. I think the fastest I've made it through the game is a little under an hour. It would be faster if I didn't have to wait for the boat to cross the ocean!

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#8 Post by edenwaith » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:49 am

What makes a game replayable for me is to have different ways to approach things.

My wife recently played the PS3 game "Heavy Rain", and it was interesting to see that even thought she completed the game, she sort of "lost" because most of the main characters were dead! It certainly added an interesting level of replayability to the game by offering different endings.

One thing that was interesting about the first two KQ games was the number of ways to approach certain solutions. When I was a kid, I was confused why we had all of this treasure in KQ2, but couldn't do anything with it! Apparently I wasn't much into bribing people, instead doing the "correct" thing. But I recently replayed KQ2 and tried to take alternative paths to problems (don't help Grandma to get C.D.'s stuff, don't give the trident to Neptune, bribe people, etc.).

Likely my favorite game series is Quest For Glory, which offers an enormous amount of replayability with several different character types, which can offer different solutions to various puzzles, and even some unique sequences for each particular character class.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#9 Post by edenwaith » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:50 am

Klytos wrote:I've had contests with my brother, playing on two computers next to each other to get the full 504 points in QFG1 EGA. We speed play it with the same character build. It's fun and I'm the current winner holding at about an hour and a quarter.
Wow, how did you beat that in 75 minutes? I think the fastest I've been able to get through the game was around 4 hours with a thief.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#10 Post by Erpy » Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:44 am

Actually, there's a you-tube video showing someone beating the game in 10 minutes.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#11 Post by Gronagor » Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:34 pm

The EGA version of HQ/QfG1 is easy to play through quickly. A bit more difficult with the VGA version.

Hmmm... wonder what the record would be with KQ3Redux. I doubt anyone could beat Erpy's time. :) Actually, some of the beta-testers could probably play the game with closed eyes, and the mouse tied behind their backs. :P

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#12 Post by Kurdt » Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:36 pm

What will keep me coming back to games is the simple fun of it all. At this point, I've played the Sierra library enough times that I will never forget a single iota of story or puzzle. The other day, I beat SQ1EGA in 20 minutes without dying. A few months ago, I played through every KQ, SQ, and GK1 for 24 hours straight for a charity and didn't die once. I keep coming back to them because they're like rereading my favorite books or rewatching my favorite TV shows or movies. If I have an enjoyable experience with a game, it doesn't need to necessarily have replay value built in. If it's great writing, great gameplay, and great design, I'll replay it forever. I've already beaten Batman: Arkham Asylum about six times, and that's linear as hell. But that's just me.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#13 Post by Bobbin Threadbare » Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:56 pm

a cool way to contribute for the charity. :D
btw, what kind of charity there?

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#14 Post by Kurdt » Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:08 pm

It's called the Extra Life 24-Hour Gaming Marathon or something like that. Essentially, you set up a page and maybe join a group of people doing the same as you (which I did) and raise money to sponsor you playing video games for 24 hours. All the money you raise goes to a local children's hospital of your choice. Mine went to Texas Children's. Anyone can participate all over the world and the playing part is basically on the honors system, but whether you play or not the money goes to children in need. If I remember correctly, navynuke and Erpy both donated, and I think Klytos and Bt did as well for IA. It was a lot of fun. I did the aforementioned Sierra games, my friend played the "correct" way through Final Fantasy III, and my other friend beat 24 Nintendo games. I'm definitely going to do it again next year, so if you stay a regular around here you'll see a post from me.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#15 Post by Fender178 » Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:31 am

Well to me what makes a game replayable to either get the max score or complete the game with the lowest score possible.
My brother Completed KQ1AGI/EGA with only 84 points or so. Another thing that makes a game replayable is for nostalgia reasons if is an old game such as the KQ games. One more thing that makes a game replayable is when you trying to complete a game 100% with everything unlocked or have all the achievements completed.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#16 Post by Bobbin Threadbare » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:42 pm

wow. kinda wish I could see that. Maybe you've posted on youtube so that I could watch? :)

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#17 Post by MysticTechWizard » Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:47 am

One of the things I find that makes a game re-playable is having branching paths in the game's storyline and multiple solutions to puzzles. A great example is all the different ways you could play KQ6.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#18 Post by navynuke04 » Sun Mar 06, 2011 11:10 pm

So, ummm... Would you consider King's QuestIII: Redux "replayable"? How many times have you played so far?

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#19 Post by Bobbin Threadbare » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:49 am

a thing we all yet to see, especially considering KQ3 Redux as an entirely new game.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#20 Post by Billetwound » Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:03 pm

navynuke04 wrote:So, ummm... Would you consider King's QuestIII: Redux "replayable"? How many times have you played so far?
I consider this game very replayable. I've personally played thru it 12 times already. 11 to get all the awards knocked out, and then an extra time goofing around with the debug mode.

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Re: What makes a game replayable?

#21 Post by MartijnF » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:25 pm

navynuke04 wrote:So, ummm... Would you consider King's QuestIII: Redux "replayable"? How many times have you played so far?
I'm sorry to disappoint some people, but I don't feel like replaying KQ3R at all. There isn't enough variation to justify the hassle of going through the entire game again. I don't care much for points or achievements and the story really has only one way of unfolding, I think a single playthrough is enough. I will probably play it again in a few years, when I've forgotten some of the details, but I do that with almost every game I've ever finished.

Not that it's a bad thing, I consider most adventure games not replayable. And I've certainly enjoyed KQ3R a lot more than the original, so well done.

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