I have an addictive personality. I'm willing to guess that more than a few of you out there do too. This means that when I like a game, I really like a game. So I want to play more of it.


This is all well and good with my big-time JRPGs and other sidequest-heavy epics where one can willfully extend the game, but often I get hooked on something with a set end and concrete levels (remember when games had levels? I kind of miss levels). In No More Heroes for example, I wasn't done cutting bitches in half and suplexing goons when the game told me it was done. Therefore, I told the game to shove it with it's "ending," and kept right the hell on playing (okay, New Game+ helped, but still). I wanted more of the game than I was given, so I took it.


With Metal Gear Solid 2, I found myself doing so well at the climax that I felt cheated when the experience ended right after that. I was better at the game then when I started, so I needed to start over and annihilate beginning to end. If I was checking for cameras in real life (which I still do, goddammit), I might as well keep doing it in the game.


Then again, most of the time, I keep hacking away at a game because I know that there's more content just waiting for me. This game I can't get enough of has... more! And my favorite way of getting more is with extra characters. Done well, as in Viewtiful Joe, it keeps the same great gameplay intact, but adds some twists that keep the player interested (a little more story is always nice too). Once in a while, you can start the whole cycle over in the same game and get months out of your money.

In the end, for me replay is like buying the DVD of a movie you like; sure you saw it once, but wasn't that once great? Don't you think it can stay great? For me, it's not every game, but let's put it this way: I've probably played MGS2 5-6 times.