"Overplaying" and the value of an initial playthrough

[Hunter Hedgehog]

I've been having these weird thoughts lately. The more and more I play some games, specifically ones that have linear story-based progression, such as Ocarina of Time, Sonic Generations, or Wolf Among Us, the more desensitized I become to them. I don't mean in terms of violence or anything like that, just that they never hit as hard the second, third, or especially 18th time. This culminated in me watching the openings for Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 (according to my YT stats) OVER 75 TIMES EACH in the course of 3 months. The second opening used to make me cry, and now I am just so dulled to it that I don't even register half of what's going on and feel like I'll never be able to see it the same again.

Similarly, I've played OOT so many times at this point that I'm just sick to death of it. It's a great game but I've just seen it all too much. On the other hand, Majora's Mask is a game I've picked up and put down many times, but never fully restarted, and as a result its still fresh and interesting in my mind. So what games have you overplayed? Have they lost all their value, or has it just diminished for you?

[MetalSkulkBane]

That's ... normal? What did you expect? Lock yourself with your favorite song on loop 24h and it's gonna loose some appeal.

With that said I can't think of anything big (movie, game, book, season of a show, etc) with linear plot  that I consumed more than 3 times (although I'm certain one day I'll replay/rewatch whole Sonic franchise 4th time). There is too many things too see.

[batson]

Personally, I tend to base my opinion on a games quality and fun-level on my experiences of the first playthrough. If a game was great to play through that initial time, I consider it a great game even if that feeling can never be replicted by subsequent playthroughs.

[SupahBerry]

This right here is why I don't really have a favorite single game or movie per say. It's more that I have favorite franchise or genre preferences; if I stick to just one thing as my all time favorite, I grow more and more prone I get to noticing it's flaws (even when it's just a few) and grow just plain tired of it. 

Plus, the ever growing tendency on cashing in on nostalgia and keeping on putting new content into franchises has both a positive and negative effect on the orginals. Unless it's unacceptablebly bad (which may apply in many cases), and just repeating an older story over and over again (which'll only accelerate me growing less found of the old storys) I see little reason to stay with one thing. I don't dwell to much on ranking one game/film higher than another, cause whatever comes on top I worry that I'll grow bored of the quickest.

 

As for initial playthroughs, these days it's somewhat rough to get a lasting impression, cause I feel rushed to complete a game sometimes. Not that I literally try beating it as fast as I can, it's just the lingering thought of my ever increasing backlog of games I haven't started yet keeps interfering. I at least still try making the most said first playthrough even if it takes a while, since I don't expect to go back to it once I'm done and I move on to the next game.

[Wraith]

I have played most Zelda games at least twice, but usually the magic runs out around there. The plots are entertaining enough for one playthrough, but it's not like there's a ton of substance and puzzles just kind of don't hold up on repeat playthroughs conceptually. OOT is the exception but I just kind of play that game when I'm having a rough day.

On the other hand there are games I like less than OOT that I've played countless times. Classic Sonic's skill based gameplay means there's always going to be a little bit of variance on each playthrough. Will I do a little bit better this time? Will I do worse? How fast can I get the chaos emeralds this time? Will I even bother? Most action, beat em up and fighting games scratch this itch so I consider them more bang for your buck than most games for this reason.
 

[VO.SUPER]

I feel at a certain point when replaying games, you need to rely more on your own willingness to bend the rules of the game if you want to keep some magic, otherwise bits of it really does just fall apart, especially in games reliant on puzzles like Zelda. I'd say this is a good reason why speedrunning is even a thing. Sometimes you just want to make your own challenge.

[charmsb]

I don't like Classic Sonic gameplay anymore because of Mania. Not because it's anything near bad, but because I played it WAYYYYY too much.

[Hunter Hedgehog]

17 hours ago, Supah Berry said:

This right here is why I don't really have a favorite single game or movie per say. It's more that I have favorite franchise or genre preferences; if I stick to just one thing as my all time favorite, I grow more and more prone I get to noticing it's flaws (even when it's just a few) and grow just plain tired of it. 

Plus, the ever growing tendency on cashing in on nostalgia and keeping on putting new content into franchises has both a positive and negative effect on the orginals. Unless it's unacceptablebly bad (which may apply in many cases), and just repeating an older story over and over again (which'll only accelerate me growing less found of the old storys) I see little reason to stay with one thing. I don't dwell to much on ranking one game/film higher than another, cause whatever comes on top I worry that I'll grow bored of the quickest.

 

As for initial playthroughs, these days it's somewhat rough to get a lasting impression, cause I feel rushed to complete a game sometimes. Not that I literally try beating it as fast as I can, it's just the lingering thought of my ever increasing backlog of games I haven't started yet keeps interfering. I at least still try making the most said first playthrough even if it takes a while, since I don't expect to go back to it once I'm done and I move on to the next game.

i feel you on the backlog issue, i think mine just hit about 75 games or so. Its so stressful, any solutions?

[Zaysho]

I think it depends on the game and my mood most of the time.

Like I think maybe there's Sonic games I straight up can't play for more than a few minutes anymore before I get bored (mostly in the more recent titles) because they don't really offer me any incentive to play them past the first time. I can still appreciate a lot about them, but they aren't that interesting or challenging for me personally. This isn't really a total knock against the quality of them; I admit I'm not a fan of the newer games anyway, they just don't hold my attention in a very general sense. On the flip side I could say I just want to grab a quick screenshot in SA2, a game I've played hundreds of times, and lose a few hours just dicking around in the levels. Can't help it, I like what I like.

I think some of my favorites to replay and not get sick of tend to be RPGs, though even then it depends a bit. Yeah, subsequent experiences do not quite match the first run. Things are new and different, there's systems to learn and party formations to consider, it can be kind of confusing and take a bit to "click" but even in those moments if I'm having a good time it's worth it. It can be a lot of fun going back with the knowledge I've gained, figure out how to manage things better, and experiment. And if I like the story a lot, then I get the bonus of better understanding stuff or finding little things I wouldn't have noticed.

For example, I really like replaying older Pokémon games. It can be a lot of fun thumbing through a strategy guide or Bulbapedia, picking out a team ahead of time and routing my way to try to get them as best as I can (sometimes I end up picking up and keeping something I didn't plan for and just roll with it especially if it's gen 1 where trainer experience is a premium). It can lead to new favorites or strategies I hadn't thought of before because hell, sometimes I just brute force things in these games. There's also plenty of ROM hacks these days that can enhance the experience or extend the challenge in some way.

I also recently, in the last year, did full replays of Xenoblade 1 and 2. I found the various additions and improvements to Xenoblade Definitive Edition to be a boon that benefited the game and the way I like playing it. In these games you gain experience and levels not just from battle, but from doing all sorts of things like side quests, explorations, and achievements. This is an excellent feature that can help out newer players in keeping pace with the game, though as I've played the original Wii version more than a few times, it also means I get overleveled because I genuinely enjoy just doing that stuff. DE, however, includes an "Expert Mode" which allows me to bank the exp. gained from quests (anything not battle related) and also lower or raise my level if really needed so I'm generally "on par" with the game. It's a nice way of setting your difficulty and I never feel overpowered nor in danger. What also helps is that I know the game way better than I did nine years ago (goddamn), so I know what equipment to shoot for and how to better utilize characters' abilities. There were bosses that gave me trouble all the time in the past, but just knowing what I'm doing I can basically rip through them now with the a good build just by having Melia inflict Poison or whatever.

With Xenoblade 2, there is a randomized element to what Blades you pull so it can be fun trying out different Blades and party formations. I found new weapon types that mesh well with what driver, I better understood Fusion Combos to pull them off, everything fell together so well because of all the time I spent playing the base game and NG+ and doing the challenges. I also didn't really hold myself to as much of a completionist standard as I did with my original playthrough in 2017. I already have a file with everything, so this file just being the one where I play at a regular pace with no pressure made it a ton of fun. It's one of my favorite games because it allows so much room do things how you want and I was honestly surprised at the amount of optimal gear you can get if you're paying attention, as well as what Blade types actually work best with which Driver. What's better is that I wasn't overleveled too, which was a thing in my original playthrough (I was level 99--the final boss is in the 60s). Your level does matter, but your Blades and your equipment matter just more, and I was amazed at how much better I did in some problem areas just knowing more (but I wouldn't trade the original blind run for anything because it was a hell of a ride).

I get this probably isn't the way everyone likes to experience games, and RPGs are typically long hauls so I can understand getting your fill with them and moving on (there's some I probably won't replay), but some of them afford me so much control once I understand them that a lot of the value comes in how quickly I can get to an optimal point and what challenges I can get out of them.

[Thrippa]

Oddly, books are unique in this sense because (with a few exceptions like Murder on the Orient Express) I somehow pretty much forget the plot when I start a reread - but only while I'm reading the book.  So I can get a pretty good repeat of the original feelings even if I repeat the read right after finishing the book.  The exceptions are all books with really unique twists or endings, and those I have to leave a while before I can get the amnesia effect.

For games, I tend not to rely on the story for enjoyment as much as the actual playing, so if the game is fun to play, it tends to be as much fun whether I've completed the story or not.  Which is important since I really like collectibles-heavy games so I'll be rerunning things a lot to get everything completed.  Games that wear out their welcome are games I really didn't enjoy on the initial playthrough either.  (Although I might persist long enough to finish collecting through sheer stubborness, but those are the games I sell when I'm done.)

Movies are where I align most closely with the OP, where I can rather easily overwatch a movie to the point that even years later a clip will bring the whole thing back with a dull, 'yeah, I used to like that movie', but the enjoyment doesn't come back.  I've learned to recognize the signs so I can put such a movie aside or otherwise avoid it; then I can come back after a substantial amount of time has passed and still enjoy it.

[Remy]

I definitely get this with singleplayer games I've played a couple times, RPGs in particular I really have trouble replaying the second time around, especially if I feel like I have the game mechanics "worked out" and am not gleaning anything new on a replay. Sometimes if you take a long ass break from something (like over a year) it can make it good as new.

I'm also a hypocrite though, as I play Ninja Gaiden Black and Bayonetta over and over, and have played almost 1400 hours of street fighter V and i'm still like hmm maybe I'll give it another try after watching some videos of Akira today

[FlameStream]

The first experience is probably the most important part of games nowadays, and it's good enough for most people.

For single player game, which are typically trying to sell you a story you progress through, I personally cannot through it more than twice unless I force myself to, which means that I'm probably not having fun then and that my time would be better spent on something else

[Cube]

I love replaying games. I've played through Sonic games a few times, Mass Effect Trilogy, the Uncharted games. Although Zelda I love and most I've only played once.

I play Banjo-Kazooie every Christmas. I don't think I'll ever get tired of replaying that. 

[StaticMania]

There is no inherent value in an initial playthrough of a game...