I replay games all the time because I always find something new, I always learn something more about myself and why I love them. You can't take everything in on a first playthrough (same goes for reading books or watching movies/TV shows). There are elements of foreshadowing you don't catch, references you don't recognizes, thematic cohesion that you don't quite notice on a first playthrough, without the benefit of hindsight.
But there's more to it than that. Here are some logical reasons why some people would enjoy replaying games:
1) Player choice. Not just dialogue and story choices, but even just gameplay choices. Challenge runs, switch up your game style, speed-running, going for a perfect run, or just trying new options in games that give you tons of options that you can't fully explore in a single playthrough.
2) Analysis. For story, gameplay, world design, level design, game design, and more, if you are interested in learning about a craft, analyzing an existing work is a really good exercise. And you can't learn everything about it and fully understand it from just a single once-through.
3) You just love it. You don't get sick of it, you don't get tired of it. Revisiting this story or this experience is like spending time with your best friends, with your favorite family members, with the people you love most in the places you love most. It's comfort food, or it's a guilty pleasure, or it's a profound, powerful experience that moves you every single time without fail. There are games, books, movies, shows like that for everyone. Some have a lot, some have just one, but there's something that hits that note for everyone.
4) It's cheaper! Trying to keep up with new games, only ever playing new games, that gets freaking expensive. Replaying is the frugal option
Not saying the author SHOULD replay games or enjoy it. But understanding why others enjoy things that you don't, or why they behave or live in ways that you don't, can be really instructive and broaden your view and perspective of the world, so I always love to explore why people are different from me. I hope these explanations make sense to those who aren't big replayers.
Comments 1
Re: Soapbox: Why Do You Replay Games?
I replay games all the time because I always find something new, I always learn something more about myself and why I love them. You can't take everything in on a first playthrough (same goes for reading books or watching movies/TV shows). There are elements of foreshadowing you don't catch, references you don't recognizes, thematic cohesion that you don't quite notice on a first playthrough, without the benefit of hindsight.
But there's more to it than that. Here are some logical reasons why some people would enjoy replaying games:
1) Player choice. Not just dialogue and story choices, but even just gameplay choices. Challenge runs, switch up your game style, speed-running, going for a perfect run, or just trying new options in games that give you tons of options that you can't fully explore in a single playthrough.
2) Analysis. For story, gameplay, world design, level design, game design, and more, if you are interested in learning about a craft, analyzing an existing work is a really good exercise. And you can't learn everything about it and fully understand it from just a single once-through.
3) You just love it. You don't get sick of it, you don't get tired of it. Revisiting this story or this experience is like spending time with your best friends, with your favorite family members, with the people you love most in the places you love most. It's comfort food, or it's a guilty pleasure, or it's a profound, powerful experience that moves you every single time without fail. There are games, books, movies, shows like that for everyone. Some have a lot, some have just one, but there's something that hits that note for everyone.
4) It's cheaper! Trying to keep up with new games, only ever playing new games, that gets freaking expensive. Replaying is the frugal option
Not saying the author SHOULD replay games or enjoy it. But understanding why others enjoy things that you don't, or why they behave or live in ways that you don't, can be really instructive and broaden your view and perspective of the world, so I always love to explore why people are different from me. I hope these explanations make sense to those who aren't big replayers.