I checked the back of my box to be sure, Y0j1mb0 and I both definitely have
on the back of our boxes; and as such, I'd like to discuss a problem I've found I've had for the last several years: Game Completion.
First of all, this isn't an emopost™. I'm not complain-posting about how I have a life and I don't have time to play games yadda yadda. I'm stating that I am an adult with very large time constraints put upon me by my own doing. I am VP of a credit union, I have a side business doing website design. I DM and play in 2 D&D games per week. And I have to sleep in there, too. So there IS a limited amount of time that I can dedicate towards a game. And that may or may not be a contributing factor to what I'd like to discuss today.
You see, I have had an odd tendency over the years: I don't replay videogames I've beaten.
I find, once I've beaten a game, that it is very difficult for me to muster the gumption (that's a euphamism for sex in Louisiana, in case you didn't know. Tell your friends. Muster the gumption.) to pick it up again.
I used gumbo here because gumbo shares the first three letters with gumption, and isn't gumbo really just sex in your mouth with seafood? I think we all know the answer to that.
Let me use a recent example:
Demon's Souls.
I cannot extol the virtues and rewarding gameplay of this title enough. I contend that it's perhaps one of the greatest games ever published in North America within the last 10 years. AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO GET EVERYTHING THE FIRST TIME THROUGH.
And herein lies the rub for me. It took me 37 hours to beat it. My skill is WAY up, and I rarely die 'stupid' (on my part) deaths anymore. I'm a heavy-duty character, and my confidence in my demon-slaying skills is way up there. But I find myself burdened by the fact that I know what I have to do now to get the things I missed; which is start at square one once more and retrace my steps for the entire game. And that really doesn't appeal to me. It seems like a heavy burden as opposed to something I look forward to.
Another example:
I imported this game from Japan and played with the Japanese client in Japanese for 3 years. Then, my compy crashed and I had to get a new system. I switched to the PS2. I couldn't migrate my account to the NA servers. I played for two more years, never coming close to reaching where I was initially; again the burden of having to do the same thing over surmounted my enthusiasm to play the title.
A final offering:
I started playing CO on day one. In exactly 30 days, I max leveled a character (lvl 40). It's still a launch MMO, so other than grinding monsters for character costume parts that would only unlock on the character I have already perfected (hence, no desire there); there's no endgame content yet to speak of. I LOVE the game, and I have 7 other characters around level 20. But do I really want to take them to level forty; just doing the same thing again? No; again, the burden of knowing exactly what I have to do surpasses my enthusiasm to play the game.
Generally I try to invest in games that have infinite replayability, like Call of Duty 4 (I never did get the gold cross, it was too much!). Or I'll just take forever and NOT beat the game (FFVII, FFXII, Burnout Paradise) until I really have exhausted EVERYTHING there is to do.
I don't watch movies a second time (unless I REALLY love it), and I don't play videogames again after I've beaten them, unless there is some online component that makes it different. But even then, sometimes I don't, unless I feel like I'm making progress and the gameplay is just blow me out of the park. (Call of Duty 4 is a gem to me specifically because I beat single player, I achieved double rank prestige in multiplayer, but the game is just.that.fun. that I keep on playing, even today, even tho I'm not gaining anything.)
So like I said, this is not
emo-post™ central.
What I am interested is hearing your opinions on whether you replay games and/or why you do/don't.
It's cawfee..let's tawk. Discuss.
that is all. 
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This is an awesome post. You know I'm curious if you reread treasured books, Mark.
As for everything else you mentioned I am your polar opposite. I do replay a LOT of games. Not just for completion's sake either. Just because I want to relive the original feeling I had when I played the game. Though typically unsuccessful, if the game is indeed a special affair I get some of it back.
As a huge movie buff, with a massive collection, I watch a LOT of the same movies too. Like books read and reread for an even richer experience. I'm not bogged down by what's going to happen next because I know what will happen. Now I can just chill and enjoy the ride. I guess that can be said about everything.
Also I have had two blogs to make live in your site forever. Maybe a year from now I'll actually put 'em up. ;)
I don't know why you think this post would be interpreted as emo. I see nothing here to even get close to suggesting that.
I also find it hard to replay games, but at the same time, there are a lot of games that I've gone through a second time immediately after finishing. I did this with Metal Gear Solid 4--I didn't even think twice about it. It was the sort of game that was the perfect length to allow for another playthrough. A giant JRPG, though, I'll never be able to do, as I just can't justify that sort of extra committment.
I'm nowhere near finishing Demon's Souls, but I'd love to think that I'll have time to replay it once I'm done. The reality, however, may end up being a lot different. As I look at the upcoming games schedule, I have to worry about finishing them all even once.
Books are an interesting proposition, Jimbo. I only allow myself to read 2 series, as to not stop eating, sleeping, working and everything else since I am consumed by books. It is basically I become zombified and live inside my head, wanting to turn the next page. I consume an inordinate amount of text daily via periodicals, magazines and trade journals both for work and also for the video game industry. When I DO read books, whether I read them again or not depends. The Wheel of Time Series, yes, I will generally reread the last book or two just to catch up on details because it's been two years since the last book. It also doesn't help that I consume 800+ page books in a single sitting/day. Leaving me 2+ years until the next release. My other series I read, the Shannara series by Terry Brooks, I've never reread. So mostly, no, I guess even with books I tend not to reread. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've reread from book 8 up in the Wheel of Time series, either.
Oddly, I do re-read treasured books... but I won't often re-play a video game. Once I've played the game and know the story, it's very rare that I'll play the game on a different difficulty level or go back and play again for different trophies.
... it's usually a matter of "a new game" that I want to play (oh, look! Something shiny!) or a preference for online play where the game is always different.
I fucking love The Wheel of Time series.
Long live the Dragon. :)
I generally don't replay games myself, though not necessarily because I "don't want to" so much as wanting to get through my ever-growing backlog more - even if I've enjoyed a game immensely, once it's "done" it generally stays done for a good long time, as I've got loads of other stuff I've "been meaning to get to" for too long already. As you mention yourself, though, especially if it's a game I really like I'll be sure to play it as "completely" as possible my first time through, and refuse to move on until I've done pretty much all that can be done in a single play-through.
It could be that I'm young and that my time is much more free than yours, but I find myself returning to games that I truly love to play more often than not. I may have experienced the journey of a long JRPG before, but that's not to say that the journey won't have minute differences that make it feel fresh the second time through. It could be that I love the cast, the world they inhabit, or even the act of carrying out gameplay to achieve victory, but I have no qualms returning to a game that I absolutely adore over a new title that may or may not hold my interest.
With gaming as expensive a hobby as it currently is, with my want to play four titles this holiday season totaling up to $240 (YIKES!), I just can't afford not to return to old experiences. Of course, that might just be where we differ. We'll see if my outlook changes as time wears on.
I won't purchase a game unless it has replay value. Also, I agree with Krow that money is a huge constraint on gaming, especially if you insist on buying everything new. Finally, [I'm too lazy to make an Okami reference, so you create one].
I think I'm pretty similar to you. I dont reread books, unless they're among my favourites AND I havent read them in a long, long time AND I have nothing else to do. Movies I can watch twice in a row, since I like picking up on things the second time through, but after that they need a good cool off. I generally find its my memory; its always been somewhat of an information sponge, and when I think of a story (whatever the medium) I can often recall enough of it that I dont really want to go through it again.
Games I can replay more often, depending on the game. An FPS can be played many different ways, even though the same levels, and as long as they're fun and satisfying, I'll play them many times. Half Life 2 is a good example. Rpg's, on the other hand, I find myself in the same boat as you; once I've done something, I have hard time going back and doing it again without leaving it for a long time. I've lost save games now of both Oblivion and Fallout 3, and have not touched either since.
I 100% beat Ghouls n Ghosts, you can imagine why I don't want to go back to it. I can still get fairly far into the first loop without continuing. my skill skyrocketed after the whole thing was beaten. I feel like I proved myself, why do it again? But then again, I accept the faults of the game and I have almost come to enjoy the cheap shit. its a very well made game, although it seems otherwise to a beginner.
For me, it really depends on the game. I'll replay some of my favorite games (especially older, more retro games) but some games that have specific replay value, I end up never playing again.
Take Bioshock for example, it has different difficulty settings and I didn't get everything on my first play through, but I'm probably (almost) never going to play it again, despite the fact that I loved its story.
Books are a different type of beast all together. Books are my ultimate hobby so I'll re-read my favorites over and over.
Great blog though/
There are two types of videogames that I love replaying; retro-classics and original comedies. If it makes me laugh, or is fun to beat in under an hour, I'll replay it every couple of months just for fun.
"Epic" games of today are a little less appealing to trudge through over and over again, thought there definitely are some exceptions (Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4).
My Top five replayed games:
1. Saturn Bomberman
2. Guardian Heroes
3. Radiant Silvergun
4. Super Mario Kart
5. Burnout 2
You'll notice all these games are Arcade style, games mean for replay. My Saturn died on me from overuse. Cry for me, my Dreamcast is making angle grinder noises and Crazy Taxi and Power Stone 2 would have made the list if it were longer.
The thinking, as Holmes noted, that games now days need to be epic often leads to them having large parts which are drudgery; Who the hell wants to replay drudgery even in classics like Half-life (series).
*meant* for replay.