Games that you keep coming back to play

[KHCast]

So we love games that offer enticing reasons to come back to play or keep playing. From big console titles to Halo for it's multiplayer all the way to a game on your phone for just being simple fun. We love these kind of games. They are the games that make us look at the time and go "whoa, how long have I been playing this?!"

 

So what are those games? What do you always come back to play? For what reasons?

 

Personally for me right now, I keep playing Animal Crossing New Leaf and Kingdom Hearts 3D. Animal Crossing because it's a game designed around you replaying it and coming back. Every day is always something new.

 

Kingdom Hearts 3D because leveling up my dream eaters and fighting the bosses are always fun.(Seriously, at 99, whooping Julius's ass is always a pleasure.) Plus I still need to get all the Keyblades for Sora.

[JezMM]

I've put over 1000 hours into both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 combined thanks to the ever-different enemy/item spawning system each play and the crazy amount of community-made content for it.

 

Other than that, be it childhood nostalgia or not, I never get tired of playing Sonic 2 8-bit.  I'd be surprised if I haven't clocked up AT LEAST 100 playthroughs of that in my lifetime.

[SkyLlama]

Not many to be honest, most times I play a game and that's it, but there are a few notable exceptions.

 

Altitude - A little indie game made by two guys, but with an excellent community. I've been playing since it first game out in 2009 and have met a lot of people on it and had a lot of fun. This game has taken more time out of my life then any other game at over 600 hours. Sadly it seems to be dying now.

 

Radiant Silvergun - I bring up this game a lot, but it's because I love it so much. I play this game all the time because there is always room for improvement. Going back and trying as hard as I can to beat my top scores, chain things just perfectly and beat the bosses in the quickest amount of time is simply fun. 

Edited July 11, 2013 by SkyLlama

[Vectorman]

I still play burnout paradise a lot because it's still pretty fun. And killzone 3 multiplayer. I occasionally play toy story 3 sometimes.

[Gregzilla]

I have a huge library of games old and new, so I rarely have one game that I keep coming back to.  I suppose Brawl, Super Metroid, and the Sonic games are some of the ones I main.  Though this past Christmas I received a game that has both infuriated me and amazed me on a constant basis, and it is one of the few modern games I would rank among the very best experiences I've had.

 

 

 

Dark Souls is one of the finest and most addicting games I've ever played.  I could ramble about how friggin' hard it is and how the art design is great and how there are so many different approaches the player can take, but when it all comes down to it, the core experience just feels satisfying.  Slashing at an enemy gives you such good feedback with cutting noises and logical reactions from the opponent (unlike SOME games, Skyrim).  Getting past an area fills you with excitement and curiosity of what will happen next.  And despite having a level-up system, it never feels like a grind-fest.  This is because EVERY enemy, no matter how big or how small, feels like an accomplishment when you beat it.  It is never mindless button pressing to rack up souls, there is always a need for strategy and planning, as well as skill.  It is one of the most engaging experiences I've had in a very long time, and if you haven't played it, fix that.  

[Milo]

Pretty much all of the classic Sonic games, as well as Sonic Riders. The classic Mario games also apply. I also return to Star Fox 64, Brain Age, and the NSMB series. Most other games I either lost interest in or don't play again after 85%-100% them.

 

I would also list GoldenEye 007, but I no longer have it (readily accessible to me). I bet I would also return to Diddy Kong Racing if I actually owned the game.

[Da Blu Hedgie]

Any sonic game (and I do mean any). Left 4 dead and l4d2. Borderlands (it's more my friend who adores the series not me). Castle crashers (again my friend). I've recently restarted mario and luigi bowser's inside story in preparation for dream team and every once in awhile I've played superstar saga. Gta and saints row (despite only having beaten saints row 3 I come back to these games to just_blow stuff up and well kill citizens...

[KrazyBean]

Battlefield 3, dat multiplayer. DBZ Budokai 3 and Budokai Tenkaichi 3 because they're just fun as hell games, they both really capture the OTT fighting that is DBZ. And also Sonic Unleashed, cause it's just awesome to blast off at the speed of sound without a care in the world every once in a while...no other game I've played has captured this sense of speed.

[Chaos Warp]

I don't re-pick-up games for long periods of time after beating them. Smash Bros Brawl I guess since I play that with friends? 

Edited July 11, 2013 by Chaos Warp

[MegasonicZX]

All of my sonics, AC:NL (for the moment along with the original AC), f zero gx and SSBM these two because lately ive been really getting into them and after playing them for a bit I realize that the gamecube was probably the one time nintendo had games that weren't easy as heck and actually very hard. As for my sonics, since my gamecube memory card got corrupted i am going back through them and have more or less regained my past progress and have gotten better rankings so im giving colors and unleashed a hiatus for right now.

[RK64]

I haven't played until recently via HD Collection but I remember playing through RC: Up Your Arsenal a ton of times between 2005 (when I got it) and 2010; loved that game to death and the PS3 re-master still confirmed that its still one of my favorite games of all time

 

Outside of that game though, I remember playing through Tak 2 (a Nick game of all things) and KH 2 quite a bit too (I even got to level 99 and beat Sathorath ) .  I usually just play through games I really like to completion (or close to it) and rarely go back to them.  I find it odd though that none of the PS3 Ratchets had the same effect Up Your Arsenal had, as I only beat ToD once and beat ACiT twice; guess I was more attracted to the PS2 games (and those were dam good games at that ).

[MegasonicZX]

I haven't played until recently via HD Collection but I remember playing through RC: Up Your Arsenal a ton of times between 2005 (when I got it) and 2010; loved that game to death and the PS3 re-master still confirmed that its still one of my favorite games of all time

 

Outside of that game though, I remember playing through Tak 2 (a Nick game of all things) and KH 2 quite a bit too (I even got to level 99 and beat Sathorath ) .  I usually just play through games I really like to completion (or close to it) and rarely go back to them.  I find it odd though that none of the PS3 Ratchets had the same effect Up Your Arsenal had, as I only beat ToD once and beat ACiT twice; guess I was more attracted to the PS2 games (and those were dam good games at that ).

Yeah, I think I played up your arsenal atleast 5 times through before finally putting that one down and rachet deadlocked was pretty hard to get off of too.

[RK64]

Yeah, I think I played up your arsenal atleast 5 times through before finally putting that one down and rachet deadlocked was pretty hard to get off of too.

 

I think I played through Up Your Arsenal about 10 times within 2 years time frame; ironically never 100% it (though I did unlock the Insomniac museum by tweaking my PS2 time settings, permentily making it think its in 2000 )

 

I also remember playing through Epic Mickey three times to get the different endings (which pissed me off there was no evil ending and how the cut scenes never changed while your actions are remembered in game; its was jarring having Oswald like you in the cut scenes while in game he hated you) and playing through Unleashed HD on my PS3 throughout the summer of 2011 (got it with my PS3 in June of that year for Generations ). 

[buba]

Its pretty rare for me to touch a game after beating it. I think that there are only two that are an exception.

Those two are:

 

- Pokémon Red: I'm not even sure why. I know every damn thing about this game and no matter how many times I replay it, at least half of my team ends up being the same as the one from the last playthrough.

Nostalgia its a bitch, I guess.

 

- Persona 3: Well, this one has an excuse I guess...

The first time I played it was on my hacked PSP. Since I liked it so much I decided to stop playing it and actually bought it for my Vita.

The second time I played it was naturally on my Vita and this time played it until the end.

After that I decided to try the exclusive feature from the Portable version: Female route. Never finished it. Too kawaii for the game's atmosphere.

Recently I decided to play the FES version on the PS2 to enjoy all the things that the Portable version was missing, including cutscenes, character models outside of Tartarus/battles and the "Answer" epilogue.

So, I technically played it 4 times and would play it again if they made an updated version for the Vita that mixes FES with everything good about Portable.

Still my favorite game of all time.

 

Well, this one shouldn't count since it is a fighting game, but looking back, its the only of those I still play regularly:

 

- Skullgirls: I don't know why, but I still play it when I don't have anything better to do.

Hey, it should be an honor to be a fighting game and keep me entretained for more than a few days...

 

 

[Brad]

Sonic 3&K has every save slot filled normally because it's seriously the best Sonic game I've played still to this day. Amazing level design, music, art style... *gushes* 

Other than that I'd say the Pokemon series in general because it's meant for addiction. I'm always tempted to buy the second game because I want a spare save file to go off and start again on. Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time have had a few return visits, Mario and Luigi RPG games get a few playthroughs because of the magic of save files *glares at Pokemon*, and games like Mario Kart and Brawl too. Arkham games get a multiple plays also.

 

Also let's not forget this son of an addicting bitch right here.

WHY WON'T YOU LET ME LIVE MY LIFE NINTENDO

Edited July 12, 2013 by Symbotic

[Sean]

There's just something about this game that always makes me come back for more

[JaidynReiman]

Honestly, lately, I haven't been replaying games a whole heck of a lot. I was doing that with Fire Emblem Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn for a while, as well as Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and Tales of Symphonia (in the former my disc got damaged).

 

Believe it or not, when it first game out I played Shadow the Hedgehog to death. Same with SA2; except that's when I got it on GC rather than when it first game out. I did this a long time with Soul Calibur V, and probably would play it more if I had it (my brother-in-law who lives 7 hours away does), and I also did this for Sonic Riders, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. Melee, among others.

 

 

Right now, though, I've been extremely busy lately. Despite this, the only game I can honestly say that keeps me coming back for more... is Runescape. And despite this lately I haven't been playing it much. However, on the other hand, I have not gotten rid of my memy, and its the only game right now that I STILL keep coming back to, and plan to get more into it again later.

 

 

Mainly, at the moment I'm really focusing on playing through and completing as many RPG's as I can, especially ones I have not completed before, or even ones I have NEVER played before. I finished Final Fantasy XIII, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Final Fantasy XIII-2 (my brother-in-laws copy, though we traded XIII and XIII-2 for a while), Final Fantasy IX, Crono Trigger (I played this a while but NEVER did manage to beat Lavos... until this latest paythrough) recently, but I haven't really gone back to play them much yet (although I DO plan on going through many of the sidequests in these games when I can).

 

The next game I plan to complete is Star Ocean: The Second Story. Once again, I have gotten all the way to the Final Dungeon before, but I didn't complete the dungeon or defeat the boss. And later I lost that game file. Anyway, I'm playing it again, and following this I'm gonna do Crono Chross and probably Tales of Destiny.

 

I suppose if you want to argue that, I'd say RPG's in general. I love RPG's all-together, and recently, that's really all I've been playing. I haven't necessarily come back to play individual games, but I sure am playing through as many RPG's as I possibly can.

[Speederino]

Any good RPG with an extensive character creation system will get a lot of replay from me. Games like Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Skyrim, etc. No two playthrough's feel the same since I'm always using drastically different characters (and I tend to get really into the actual roleplay aspects of these games).

 

Aside from that, games like Animal Crossing (for obvious reasons) and Harvest Moon keep me coming back.

[kimplix]

Any game that I own on Steam, I keep playing every day of my life. My recent is Borderlands 2 and to be honest with you ppl, It's so fun, that I keep looking for eridium 

[TheOcelot]

I keep going back to play Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City because I love everything about them. From the gameplay, voice acting, graphics, weapons, bosses and Riddler Trophies. They are two very addictive titles. Playing as The Batman is just unbelievably cool.

 

I often go back and replay the Metal Gear Solid games, especially MGS1 and MGS3. I love the art of sneaking around the enemy instead of going all guns blazing. The crazy stories - and endless cutscenes - are fun to watch. I get a kick out of playing the 'Extreme' difficulty settings which are just evil-very challenging if you are trying to obtain the highest ranking.

 

I replay Sonic CD over and over. When this game was re-released in 2011 I played it constantly. I must have done nearly 200 complete playthroughs, which is not an exaggeration! These days I tend to the play the game more casually. I.e I would play a totally different game - eg The Last Of Us - for a few days, and then play a zone or two of Sonic CD (which I now tend to play on my mobile) and then play a different game.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Adam West -Bender-

[Scott]

Well over my gaming years, I usually always come back to playing any Sonic game (yes, any - all good and considerably 'bad' games too) along with Super Smash Bros. Melee. I don't as much today as I used to.

 

Nowadays games that have me coming back tend to be strictly on my Xbox. Titles mainly being Batman: Arkham City - there is just so much content in this game (I have the GOTY version) and sooo many challenges to do with each of the 4 characters that it leads to a loooooot of play time.

 

Elder Scrolls/Fallout - Bethesda's RPG games really know how to draw me in to a magnificent world filled with character, atmosphere and fun gameplay. Yes, each of their games just always amaze me and leave me hounding for more - even when I've completed all expansions. Though I prefer the Fallout series if that wasn't obvious already.

 

Currently I keep going back to Double Dragon Neon too. I had never played a Double Dragon game in my life till Neon but oh my - it's fantastic. I watched the Double Dragon movie (which I loved) and while it's universally hated and features not many similarities to the series, it left me craving to try one of the titles. Neon is amazing - the closest thing I've played to this kind of game is Sega's Streets of Rage series which I also think could benefit from the DD: Neon style. Fantastic game, brilliant music, humorously cheesy dialogue and a brilliant sing-a-long song for the credits.

 

EDIT: Also forgot to mention Halo 4 - it's mainly just a multiplayer thing for when I'm bored or just small power-gaming sessions. It's not the most impressive Halo game, a lot of missed potential and bringing Forge Maps into the multiplayer has only made it poor. Still the Champion Bundle in August will be a definite purchase just for the Mark V armour

Edited July 16, 2013 by Scott