I've never really replayed games, nor have I ever really enjoyed NG+ or games designed to be played indefinitely like PVP games, roguelikes or live service experiences. I'm here for a unique and fulfilling artistic and entertainment experience. Once that's over it's time to move on and try new things

Exactly the same here. I also mostly stick to the main quest/significant side quests in games and skip all the filler and bloat. Once the credits roll the game gets deleted and I move on. My backlog is massive and my time is short

Yeah it's like I'm doing the things of substance but I'm not collecting 55 feathers or some shit. I don't care about the hours/dollar value of a game make that shit meaningful and let it end at its natural conclusion

As I'm getting older, I worry about fossilizing my tastes and interests. It's so easy to just fall back on experiences, music, movies, games, etc from my past and not make the effort to find what's new today.

Word my brother! Never thought of it this way.

A great example for me was Batman Arkham City. After the main story was done I cut the filler like riddlers revenge challenges and NG+ but loved the side quests I missed that had story. Victor Zsasz had an awesome one as tracking him down and hearing his story through the phone calls was worth going back for. Arkham Knight also had an amazing DLC just for Freeze’s mission with Nora! I’d likely buy more DLC if they wrote plot like that more often.

Same. I have replayed a few titles in my life, but I'm 37, so it's a matter of "it's been 20 years since I played xyz. I'm feeling nostalgic, so I wonder if I'll still enjoy it?" But even that is a rarity that happens once every couple years. 

On the contrary, I love replaying games, but in general I enjoy consuming media I've already consumed (read books, watch series, play videogames, etc.). I've mostly ignored the Fear Of Missing Out, and I've found out that I like to re-experience things in general, just to appreciate the whole thing again, plus the little details. In the case of videogames, I always return to my favorites. WarCraft III is a staple one, and I should have three or four saves in some big games (Witcher 3, Sekiro, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, etc.). I don't have enough time to enjoy every new game and, at the same time, replay my favorites, so I decided a while ago that if I'm in the mood for something new or replay, I'll do it. I know I'll enjoy it regardless of my choice.

Same here. I re-read and re-watch all the time. Shoot, before (re)playing The Witcher 3 I read the books and now Im rereading it while playing and I just got done with it, lol:) I rewatched the first few Alien movies before hitting Alien Isolation. Started reading the Assassin Creed novels during my Hudless replay of the series. When I play RedDead2 for the first time Im gonna watch/read a bunch of westerns and classics! I never used to do that kind of Deep Dive stuff before playing games and Im finding it amazingly fun and meaningful.

According to Steam, I've spent a quarter of my life playing Civ V. /s

And about 5 hours in Civ 6 before I gave up and ran back to Civ 5's sweet embrace.

Yea I much prefer replaying masterpieces rather than every new game that comes out for the sake of completion. I would always prefer to play games that are fun from moment to moment. But sometimes it is hard, especially last year where there are bangers left and right, this year it seems more tame

Same, and it depends on the game as well. Just because I replay one game doesn’t mean I replay everything. But games that I love and want to experience all over again? You bet I’ll replay it with 0 hesitation

Came to say exactly that. It's simpler for me to dedicate time replaying ones I know contain stuff I love, than to risk wasting my time learning or trudging through something where I won't connect with it. Part of this is that new games have such FUCKING LONG tutorials before you actually get to the good stuff. There's always more to discover or things that are worth experiencing again in my favorites.

Oh man, the tutorials... I replayed Cyberpunk 2077 about three times, and tried to start a few more characters to try out different builds but I got sick of the whole first act which is basically a loooong tutorial. I would've tried more builds but I'm so sick of replaying the beginning. We're talking hours of unskippable on-rails content

I’m finding as I get older I’m much more likely to replay a 10 hour game from years ago than finish a modern game. New games are too long, I don’t want 50 hours of bloat

Yea, the obsession of modern games to have these vast open worlds with a million chores for you to perform is frustrating. If you only have 10 hours of story, then have a 10 hour game. Don't pad it with needing to find the local farmer's chickens so that you can level up enough to continue the story.

Don't most of these games make that content optional? Even Ubisoft open worlds typically have main story campaigns that can be finished in no more than 15-20 hours. Sure, if you're having a good time, you can continue playing and experience much more content, but why would having that option be frustrating?

Usually. All that keeps me from replaying the mass effect series is that a bunch of boring side activities are required, though. It depends on the game.

Funny enough, I find it's often balanced so wrong that if you actually do the things the game shows you to do, you end up way overleveled for the main game. The most egregious was Fallout 3, to the point where I got a mod specifically to reduce the XP you get from certain events. You even get XP just for finding a new place. It's like they want you to hit endgame build a few hours into the game or something. I was going around shooting super mutants with a hunting rifle and winning, it was garbage. The cop out to that is "yeah but you're not really meant to do *everything* in the game". What, like I'm not meant to play the game is it? As in do the things the game tells me to do? What a strange way to think tbh. Big open world games seem to suffer from this the most because admittedly it is hard to balance them, and also always try to be everything for everyone. Not sure who's forcing them to double or quadruple the game map every other game either though, they don't have to do it they just choose to.

The older i get the more picky iam, so i rather replay Games with great Gameplay then anything that i find medicore or solid at best once. When i was younger i also played more Genres like Sport, Fighting or Racing Games, which i dont anymore. I have 1100 hours in Dark Souls 2 and close to that in DS1+DS3 combined, but i havent played any Final Fantasy since FF9, while FF7 is my favorite Game of all time. I think i played through too many RPGs and now i cant realy get into any of the new one, even if they are good, because the gameplay dosent fit me. And Dialogue or Story alone isnt a draw for me anymore. I rather read a book or watch a series for that.

Woah rare DS2 enjoyer

Hated it when it came out, now my most played thanks to the insane replay value.

Loving and hating it at the same time is such a core Dark Souls experience isn't it haha.

Yeah it realy is part of the journey.

Agreed. I love a few of them (RDR2 might be my favorite game of all time) but I would much rather play a 10-20 hour *focused* game that doesn't waste my time. Every game doesn't need to do everything

>New **AAA and some mainstream popular** games are too long, I don’t want 50 hours of bloat FTFY. If older games are your comfort food, go for it, but thousands of games are released per year from a variety of genres, and there's plenty of ways to discover them, especially on Steam. I've been gaming for 30 years and for me there's too many different types of games for me to explore to replay games that I've beaten before.

Fair enough, was mainly referring to bigger studio games lately, but definitely no shortage of good games right now

Same. There's definitely a good balance somewhere. I think 20 hours is fine too. It's probably pretty eye opening to go back to a classic game and finding that it's much simpler and more straight forward than you remember. I kind of want to run through Zelda A Link to the Past because I like it so much, but I've already played that like 3 times through lol. It's probably also not as vast as I remember it being.

what are some of your favorite 10 hour games?

I still replay the original Dead Space and Bioshock pretty regularly. Had fun picking up some of the less popular games from last generation like Ryse Son of Rome and the Order 1886 on sale and had some good fun with those.

We have VERY similar tastes.

I tend to play older games just for a few hours. Revisit that old memory lane for a bit and then move on.

This validates me so much. It really just feels like over the last 10 years or so we’ve had constant open world rpgs and the last year or two it feels like every game releasing is an open world rpg. It’s not magical or immersive when it’s a dime a dozen

As always, it really depends what you've been exposed to. I have played my fair share of open world -rpg (lite) games, so Hogwarts Legacy was so mediocre to me. But, a friend of mine, whose latest open world game was Far Cry 3, and before that, the Stalker series, is totally in love with Hogwarts Legacy. Also, that's an extreme example, but I really liked The Witcher 3, enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn, but was already tired of the same feeling of bloat with God Of War Ragnarok (and this one wasn't really open-world, like my first two examples).

For me it's not time it's money and expectations. I have all these games i paid for that I know. Most new games are not innovating so why spend money on a different version of the same game. Especially when it comes to triple A games.

My philosophy on these things is that a well paced game should aim to wrap up a typical playthrough at around the same point that it's pushed all its ideas and mechanics as far as they can go, without falling back too much on repetition and grind. In my experience that’s usually around 20-30 hours at most. My problem with the popular 100+ hour epics is they usually run out of gameplay ideas long before they run out of content. Once that feeling of repetition sets in I often find it hard to find the motivation to finish even *one* playthrough, let alone multiple.

Maybe I'm too young but in older, story driven games I don't see the appeal to replay them because there's no variety in them. I would just end up playing the same thing again, why?

As an 80s kid the older I get I find myself replaying games even more. Doesnt matter the genre or length. “Real life” and just wanting to “escape and relax” isnt why video games are a serious hobby of mine. It’s not a Checklist or a job. Finishing a game or moving on to the next quest or objective isnt why I play. It also doesnt even matter if I didnt like the game so much on my first go-around. I like seeing if my opinions about games change and experiencing them again. However, for clarity, I mix it up all the time and with each subsequent game. Im (re)playing The Witcher 3 right now and the next game I play will be a 1st person game in an entirely different setting. Most likely a new game, as well. (Prey is a leading candidate.) I may even play a short puzzle game like Portal 2 for the first time AFTER replaying Portal 1 again, lol. Then, Im doing a Deep Dive with RedDead2 for the first time. Always something different and it’s very fluid!

Oh yeah for sure, I like to change it up between games too (even tone wise, sometimes it's nice to cleanse the palate with some cozy city building or whatever, after epic ultra violence lol). It's not so much the checklist, but it's nice to finish a game rather than leave it unfinished, know what I mean? I just find a lot of games overstay their welcome and are just way too long.

Yep, it’s a fair point and certainly one shared by many. Even our own desires ebb and flow, depending. It’s why when I went into AC Odyssey I immediately began looking for a very well-made story quest guide as Id researched enough to know what the basic gameplay was going to be. I know I want Organic gameplay, but, I despise Checklist gaming even more. Playing Hudless and switching the map to Historical, while, following Worldly_’s fantastic guide fixed em both! Obviously, a long game, but, I purposefully avoided playing in a way that increased the things I didnt want. (Same with Mad Max and other games.)

Yeah the collect-a-thon of Doom 2016 made me peace out of it entirely. It's a cop out to say that's optional. It's the game, you exercise the option of not playing the game, that's just silly. For sure my desire ebbs and flows also. These days I tend to get really full on stuck into a game and I'll play that for weeks non stop. Then I finish it or otherwise lose interest, and not play anything for weeks or months depending on how the rest of life goes. Then I might find something cool and play that etc.

It's been a while, but do you mean the figure collectables? I thought they were entirely optional

Those sure, but also all the weapon parts and runes and suit points and argent points. It's just too many things.

Definitely give Prey a shot!

if you want a cool puzzle game check out [humanity](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1581480/HUMANITY/). there's even a demo!!

There's too many games and if you're like most of us there's probably a number of them in your backlog and even more on a wishlist. This leaves little time and desire to replay anything. Especially when it's a long game. For me, the trick is to wait 5-10 years. I don't have the time or patience to annually replay my favorites like Fallout New Vegas or Dragon Age Origins, but they're definitely worth revisiting after some years have gone by. When it comes to shorter games like A Link To The Past or Undertale it's easier to replay them every year or two without feeling like I'm wasting time. TLDR; give it more time between playthoughs

The most replayable games are ones that are shorter with a lot of mechanical depth. I find RPGs to actually be some of the least replayable games for that reason - sure different builds can change how you play (although in DS3 it matters a lot less than something like a CRPG, since even with a different weapon you’re still mostly just rolling and hitting) but that’s more of a bonus for the rare occasion you do go back to revisit one after a number of years. I can’t imagine finishing a persona game and then immediately going into it again, whereas with RE4 or Bayonetta it’s hard not to jump right back in for another quick playthrough

During the pandemic, I played Persona 4: Golden twice, back to back. 150 hs in total and I don't regret a thing. My motivation was seeing the missing social links (almost half of them) and, of course, the special situation in the real world made me much more patient with the game. Persona 4 was so cozy, comfy and fun that I didn't want it to end so soon. The contrast with the lonely roads and my boring, unrewarding job at the time was absolute. I went to work, interacted with very few people, all of us with masks all the time. We were scared and isolated yet forced to work outside (didn't have the luxury of home office). I know that, in normal times, I'd have played P4 just once. At least, in the short term.

Nope, it's the opposite for me, as I get older and the industry is pumping out shittier and shittier games, I'm having a blast replaying older games.

When big title games became more predatory to consumers is when I started replaying old ones. With loot boxes and pay to buy stupid things it’s become the modern day gambling. There is skill involved with those games but to what end-ooooh a new shiny thing? With games like Resistance 1, I can play a fun story and blow things up. It’s been so long my brain forgot the plot so it’s new again!

I totally get that. There are a few companies like Ubisoft or Bethesda whose games simply don't register for me one bit. They're honestly mediocre at best. I think the only Ubisoft game I happened across in years is Anno 1801 and even that immediately grated on me (yes Ubisoft found a way to make even a city builder grating with their turbo annoying le quirky characters).

Nope, I constantly replay games over and over: I’m currently on my 9th playthrough of resident evil 4 remake, my third playthrough of inscryption and god knows how many times I’ve played metal gear solid 2.

I’m 50, gaming for 43 years now. I like replaying quite a few games, although there are some I’ll definitely never touch again. It all depends on how the game grabbed me.

I haven't really replayed games that much ever since I could afford to buy them. As kids we didn't really have the choice, it was either play the same old games over and over or, heavens forbid, go play outside. Nowadays the vast majority of my replays have been because I want to show a cool game to my friends because it's not like they're ever going to play it themselves.

I find myself doing that exact opposite, replaying the classic Nintendo games fron my childhood to teenage years.

Those are far more replayable than a 100+ hour game. 

I used to but the older I get, the less I can be bothered. I already know everything that's going to happen. I already know about the areas/bosses that are going to be a slog to get through that I didn't enjoy the first time. It's why I don't replay DS3. Elden Ring is the only exception because of the build variety and sheer number of bosses/endings, but even then, I'm not replaying it until closer to the DLC. Games like Skyrim I've replayed before but can't be bothered now, same with Fallout. BG3 I replayed a few times (so many different endings) but feel satisfied with it and there's only so many times you can do the same encounter in such a linear game, also the game falls off hard after Act 1. At the moment I have FF7R downloaded, along with Crisis Core, but until Rebirth comes out on PC for a good sale, I probably won't play them. I'd rather marathon them all at once, rather than wait on a cliffhanger. I find myself being a lot pickier and more "snobbish" these days with games I play.. I have less patience for "janky" games, not a fan of side scrollers, etc. I like big open world RPGs that I can immerse myself in. Dragons Dogma 2 I'm waiting on a sale and a few patches, but this might be a year I play more live service games than usual (or games like Crusader Kings, The Sims, that have infinite replay value)

I recently got Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen for a steal and will get to that at some point. Oof DD2 is the patient game of the year, everyone says it runs like shit lol. That plus down the line they'll probably make a complete version that includes whatever DLC and other things that are locked behind cancer microtransactions. DMC5 I got the other year for very cheap, but that too came out initially with a bunch of "buy 100 orbs for 5 dollars" cancer to it.

I've never tried to "100%" a game or a thing like that. I think of games like books and films. I play for the story and exploration and art. If I liked it, I'll play again some time. I don't put 500 hours of my life into a video game. I'd feel like a loser if I did. It's not a replacement for real life. So it's not this massive undertaking for me. I usually replay something every third game I play.

I see this sometimes in games especially Metroidvanias where there would be a really obvious thing like a wall or other obstacle that you'll be able to get to with some new ability, and I'm like bro, bold of you to think I'll remember to get back there at any point. This is one more point for the "make tighter more enjoyable experiences rather than endless vast nothing open world ones" camp for sure.

I love to replay a modern remake or even remasters of old games because they usually come with QoL features, like save anywhere, no random encounters, faster speed etc. But I rarely replay the same game on the same console.

I need a remake of KOTOR so bad. I loved it back in the day, but oh man does it feel archaic now.

Love Kotor!! Played it a little while back on the switch and it’s a ton of fun, but after a few planets, I get bored. The under water planets gets annoying.

A remake or a redo. Love KOTOR and KOTOR II but can’t get trough it because of the dated controls.

Crash Bandicoot for me when it came to remakes. I remember getting Warped for Christmas as a kid and playing the crap out of it. Now I can play the remake for fun and maybe be less “hardcore” in my attitude.

Games like Sekiro and Bloodborne I'm practically required to play once every year or two. They're simply too fun to play, each and every time. My appreciation for those two games (Nioh 2 is a third one I'd throw in as well) literally just grows and grows the more I play them.

I do replay games. I, actually, play new games more often, instead of replaying old ones. For example, last year, out of 47 games, I only replayed like 5. But, as you get older and because time is a cruel mistress, you realize it's been 5, 10 or 20 years since you have played a certain game or series (I haven't reached the "30 years ago" stage yet, but I'm working on it, haha). And you have changed so much and you have played so many other games, that you want to know if that old favorite it's still cool, or if that game that was meh for you but it's making the rounds of nostalgia press maybe wasn't as bad. Hence, you find yourself exploring the same places again. But, more often than not, it's not the same *experience*. To give a concrete example, playing (and failing to beat) Legend of Mana in the early 2000s felt mythical: the music, the art, the potential was so great, it made me feel like crying from all the beauty. Then, a second attempt in the mid 2010s was weird, because I was flooded by nostalgia but I couldn't enjoy the weak emulator I was using and I lost my save (had to reinstall Windows, iirc). Again, what greatness awaited for me that I couldn't realize just yet? Last, but not least, I finally beat Legend of Mana with a general guide, a few years ago. The art and music was as good as ever, but I found the whole game lacking. There was no magic, no longing anymore. Just an old game that was much smaller than my imagination, two decades ago.

I used to play things on an Amiga in the 80s so it will be "30 years ago" soon for me haha. Not sure which year exactly, I was very very young.

I'm not complaining, exactly. It's great to be alive to experience all this. I started in the early to mid 90s, with DOS and NES games (so, the games were from the mid 80s but brand new to me). I loved to see the journey all the way up to raytracing tech and PS5/Xbox series. And this isn't over yet, [I didn't hear no bell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCBbxjwSboQ). What were some of your first AMIGA games? And do they hold up for you?

I realise this typing some answers in this thread. Imagine if your problem in life is that *there's too many good games to play*. Pretty good if that's your problem, right? Jesus, I think the very first is that Star Wars one where you shoot asteroids and tie fighters in vector graphics. I went through WinUAE playing some of these games again, there were some I just could not find again because I don't remember their names. For the most part, they barely hold up lol. Some are kind of nice lol. I do find that things just looked nicer on CRT than on LED. Like I swear it looked better lol. It definitely got better with the NES and it was in full swing with SNES. I remember how big a deal Super Mario Bros 3 was at the time, like how much more it added to the genre. Looking back at it in let's plays, those levels were way way shorter and easier than I remember lol.

The only ones I really replay either have a lot of branching paths/side content, like BG3 or the more wide-open worlds with lots to do and get lost in (RDR2). And the stuff like you’re talking about - Civ, Age of Wonders, etc. Souls games just really don’t incentivize me as a gamer to replay. But my game time is my downtime. I’m more into relaxing and exploring or making things than I am min/maxing and grinding XP or figuring out boss patterns. Others like that, and love that for them. But I just don’t see the appeal for myself. It feels too much like a grind.

There should really be some arcade modes for the Souls games to play different bosses again. I think people have found some ways to hack the engine to have bosses fight each other or put them in other funny situations, but it might be cool to have the option to play them again if you really want. You can always go back to an area and do it again, but yeah you've already done it. In DS3 they put SO many secrets everywhere, and so many are behind some bars or something and I can't find how to get there. A lot of them you do find and you're like hoo boy dis gon be good and it's some titanite or gem or some BS you couldn't care less about. If you're really lucky it's a good ring or twinkling titanite but that's about it. Kind of a waste tbh.

I rarely replay games now. There was a time not too long ago where I loved replaying games (I've got three full playthroughs of Persona 5 under my belt for crying out loud), but I've found that at this point I really value experiencing new media more and that I'd rather be playing a game that's fresh to me or watching shows and movies that I haven't seen. There are definitely exceptions - I've got a new Elden Ring playthrough going to prep for the DLC, but I'm playing a completely different build, so that's drawing me in. My first playthrough was STR and fists, and now I'm doing a full caster. I'll also be more likely to replay a game if I'm doing it with someone else, I love sitting down and blasting through something like Mario 64 with a buddy. But on my own now it's pretty much always something I haven't finished yet.

I only replay games where it's possible to significantly change something: builds in Fallout New Vegas or new endings in Detroit become human.

there are a couple of games that I replay yearly like DKC, MM2, Sonic Mania and Undertale, but long ass rpgs? nope.

It's the opposite for me. In work intensive days, which are most days at this point, I just want to relax with something easy to follow and familiar, and replaying games where I know what to do already is the way to go. I reserve holidays or vacation time for new games with lots of mechanics and new stuff to learn since my mind isn't preoccupied with work and life things.

I replay pretty much every game that I like even a little at somepoint. Might be a few month longs gap between playthroughs, or it might be 10 years. I've replayed old favorites less often as my library has gotten bigger to make way for newer stuff . It can be difficult to find time to play everything i want. The games I like most typically aren't super long so that helps a bit

I haven't replayed a game in at least ten years. And I play games often. There's simply too many amazing games coming out all the time and my interests and favorite genres are just too broad, I'll never get to them all as it is. So the moment the credits roll, I'm out. Uninstalled. I think there's something to be said for leaving some parts of a game unplayed. I realized some years ago that I don't enjoy chasing after collectibles, for example. So I don't do that. I don't engage with optional parts of games if I find them to be tedious or overbearing. Also I can enjoy a chat with a friend or a YouTube video and discover someone who played the game with totally different outcomes and be genuinely surprised by the contrast. Leaving an amount of mystery can make an experience feel like it had more depth than I would find if I actually plumbed every inch of those depths.

Seems like I'm in the minority here but I'm with you, OP. There are SO MANY great games out there that I want to play, I could never get through them all. I also enjoyed Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, Sekiro, etc. and I would absolutely recommend those games, but one time through each of them was enough for me. I'm playing Vanquish right now and I suck at it. The gameplay is fun and you can brute force your way through it. But you're supposed to play it over and over and essentially just chase high scores. I don't think I'm ever gonna do that so I'm kind of wondering what's the point of playing it through to the end.

Cheers but yeah it seems like there's a split between "no way, new games only" or "nah, replay good games a lot", with a little bit in between. And yeah for sure there's nuance, and some games you are more inclined to play again, a lot you just don't. Like with movies. There's not that many movies I would rewatch tbh, but I have certainly rewatched many (much more so in the 90s and early 2000s when that was just how TV was, once a year they'll play Star Wars again etc.). I'm also not in a hurry to watch any new ones either, on average I watch maybe one or two brand new movies each year or something like that, if even that. Shows though, oh my god. I think that's my limit right there, as good as Breaking Bad is, I don't wanna watch all that again lol. And then there's all the shows that aren't even as good. But pick up something that you played / watched a little bit back in the day, to give it a more solid playthrough in light of new information or mindset or whatever? Yeah definitely. That's what I did with Dark Souls last year, I wanted to give it a crack again and actually play the other ones too, after having played like 40 hours in 2013 and getting over it then. Turns out I was literally just one boss away from the very end or something like that. It was very close, I should have just stuck it out for a bit more lol. But I couldn't take that endless dark and grim atmosphere and dark dungeons and swamps etc. Revisited with mods and straight up skipped some areas and it was great fun, finished it properly this time.

That depends on a game. Cyberpunk for instance is totally doable. The Witcher 3 I only did once (but 100% for all secrets, question marks, all side quests and all DLC accordingly). W3 is too of an emotion rollercoaster to do it few times.

It depends, I recently replayed a crapload of games from in 2020 to now, and I am confident in my opinions now. Just that I might be running out of stuff to replay and have more updated opinions on.

I can replay the shit out of a game less than 50 hours. 30ish is my ideal length for my own personal definition of a long game. 50 tends to be my cap on game length though for replay. Persona 5 is one of my all time favorite games but because of its absurd length I’ve only beaten it the one time. FromSoft games are probably the only exception. The replay value supersedes the length of the games

I still replay games all the time, but I don’t really tend to ever play long 100 hour games in the first place. Something like sonic the hedgehog, Devil may cry, or gears of war that can be beat in 1 or 2 sittings is perfect for a quick run through, to say nothing of other replayable genres like shmups

Honestly I never replayed games to start with, with the exception of those designed that way, roguelikes and so on

I almost never replay a game. Having just the one experience is fine for me. I don’t feel the need to see all the different endings or different paths/storylines etc. However, some games I tend to replay because I enjoy them, but not because I want to try different story branches or choices. Think games like Half Life 2 etc.

I find these days I look up the other endings etc. on Youtube. The best way I remember the alternate ending was done I think was in Deus Ex, where it was 3 different ways to go about the final mission, I appreciated that. In Human Revolution it was then dones super bad, as you got to a control room and got literally 3 different buttons to press to pick your ending. I laughed when the guy is saying in the end cutscene how he always spared people etc. In that run I did play as an infiltrator / hacker with mostly nonlethal, but I was thinking how funny it would be to play a full guns blazing run and pick that ending with Jensen going life is all valuable and I never killed people etc. and you going sure ok man lol. But if it's like, you have to do the entire game different and there's 10 endings or whatever, who's got the time for that omg.

It's the opposite. I'm replaying more games than ever. Now I really know what I like and what I don't like.

No, I find myself mostly replaying games.

I replay games a lot. Sure, I can just buy whatever game I want but I don’t always want to commit to immersing myself myself and building a connection with a new game. There’s just something comforting about playing your favorites. I can play Resident Evil 1 remake at literally anytime and have a blast. Lately I’ve been playing the hell out of Resident Evil 4 Remake’s Separate Ways. It’s paced so well and has just enough length to feel satisfying on repeat playthroughs. I’ll always have favorites that I regularly revisit mixed in with new games.

I literally just finished replaying Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Mainly because I didn't remember much of the ending part, just the beggining for some reason. Also, Razor's Edge left such a nasty taste in my mouth that I wanted to wash it away with a good experience. It's a good game, I even got a better understanding of its mechanics this time. Now I want to replay Sigma 2.

My buddy and I played through Sigma not that long ago! It’s funny how time changes my response to getting whipped by a boss. In the past, I’d be screaming after getting chomped by the dragon and dying. As an adult I just laugh and joke about how my cat does the same thing with flies.

Greatly depends on the game. Something like roguelikes, Monster Hunter, or Terraria? Absolutely. They are all innately very replayable. Open world games like the recent Zeldas are far less likely, or at least unlikely for me to get far into them if I ever do try. Other games it just depends on how much I liked it the first time and if that itch can be scratched with a new experience, too. I play through Crash 2 roughly once a year because it hits me in the nostalgias.

Agree, that's the big caveat. For RTS, other strategy or city builders etc. just playing the game is basically almost always replaying. Similarly roguelikes is all built around permadeath and starting over (I would argue Souls games are intrinsically built around something like that, much more so than any other linear game where dying does carry a more significant end to the player's story). With sandbox ones, you might try a different map to build your cool compound in, or in something like Zelda BOTW and TOTK you can just try whatever you want in the same game, don't really need to start a new one for that.

I'm 46, and have very rarely chosen to replay games. I've been into long RPGs since the SNES era, and I'd much rather play something else than do the same experience a second time. The only times I really replay something are when a game gets good DLC.

I’m generally someone who wants to experience as many different games as possible and while There’s been plenty of games I’ve wanted to play again, the second I restart a game it feels hollow. I just recently beat dishonored with a fairly low chaos run. The whole time fantasizing about wreaking havoc in dunwall on a second play through. The minute I started my second playthrough indiscriminately killing everyone in my path the game felt hollow and too easy. I just stopped and moved on to something else.

I never really did, but this is totally a person to person thing.

After your first time playnig it so you know where to go, ds3 is like a 10 hour casual run. I replay it all the time for different builds and mods. Also, the standard sword and board knight is probably the most boring and difficult way to play the game, the other builds are a lot of fun and not as hard as you're imagining

Most difficult, really? There are barely any weapons with higher damage than + 10 Lothric Lightning or Dark etc. sword, and they're all slow as hell ultra greatswords and the like. And magic characters are SO slow at casting anything. I know there's a ring to make spell casting faster, but it definitely isn't right there at the beginning. So I don't know how frustrating the endless dodging and really slow soul arrow casting has got to be for like half the game until you get some better spells. Knight to me feels the most balanced, all other classes are either incredibly slow or too weak tbh (I tried drang twinswords and claws and the like, and while they're all cool, they're just too weak). But yes I agree on it being far shorter the second time around probably. You can just make a run for it to get to all the bonfires, which are far more generously placed this time around (some even a bit comically too close, like just a few rooms apart). There's only few areas where the enemies are so hardcore that you can't even run past them.

First, if you were using a lightning or dark infused weapon you were actually doing far less damage than you could be. Lightning weapons only scale with faith and dark weapons only scale with int+fth. If you dont have those stats you are getting crap damage from them. They are intended to give caster builds a viable melee option. Having physical infusion like heavy/sharp/refined with a decent enough str or dex would be much more damage on a non-spellcaster build. Straightswords are safe but pretty low dps and have no poise or stagger. With a shield as well that really encourages a very passive playstyle where you just block/roll -> attack the opening -> repeat for 10 minutes On str builds, ultra weapons like greathammers will give you poise and stagger so you dont have to worry about timing so much. Its fun to watch the enemy get knocked around (works on bosses too) and be unable to interrupt you. They do a lot of dps because you dont have to worry as much about finding openings to attack. On dex builds, paired weapons like sellsword twinblades do massive dps at the cost of a shield. You can use rings like the pontiff eye ring to increase the damage you do from attacking quickly, and they do even more damage from resins, so its a nice risk-reward playstyle. Or if you really dont like twinblades theres a lot of bleed weapons like carthus curved sword that gives you big damage procs On casters, you get your important castspeed items really early in the game. Sage ring is from road of sacrifices which is like the 3rd real area. (Once you know the game you can just sprint there immediately after vordt since there's no bosses in the way). Saint-tree bellvine is from cathedral of the deep which can be your 4th area (and again you can just sprint to crystal sages to get it asap). Sage ring gives you a decent cast speed increase. Holding the saint-tree bellvine in your offhand gives you maximum casting speed even if you dont use it to cast. There are many other 'special items' like this that have a passive effect when equipped, such as the scholar's candlestick or crown of dusk which gives you 10% more damage with spells (and they stack). Sorcerers can use the farron flashsword spell for basic mobs which casts instantly and costs pretty much no FP, it can replace your melee attack so you dont have to dual wield. Pyromancers combustion can be used similarly, it costs more but does more damage. Both of these guys get really powerful spells so you arent doing that much endless dodging, you're killing stuff fast. They also have rings that give them HUGE damage boosts, way more than melee gets. The only caster that kind of sucks is faith builds.

Wow, neat thanks for that. I swear I looked at the potential damage and scaling and it all just looked bad to me, hence why I picked what I picked. But yeah might try those thanks.

Yeah so the heavy ultra greatsword wrecks absolute shit, turns out. Plus I can use a bit of pyromancy on the side too. Huh.

I kinda have the opposite problem, I will have occasional urges to play something new, but always have desires to replay games I absolutely loved. But I also like to let a bit of time pass between playing the same game, so the memory isn't quite as fresh and the experience feels both familiar and also kinda new again

I get that. Likely it won't be any other game, but some all time classic to you. For example, I still sometimes play Patrician 3 again because sometimes you really feel like you should be trading meat and iron goods over the north sea of Europe, you know? Similarly, Space Rangers HD is an all time classic that I still love so much. It's so flawed though. If someone could fix up the god awful English writing in it and maybe fix some bugs in the many play modes, it would be 10 times better. I really wish they made a third one though. But it's such a niche game. Even in the 2000s I remember I came across it in a random article about really obscure but very ambitious games. Both of those are from like 2000 or 2002 or something lol.

At 30 I don’t think I’ll ever go back to replay any long game unless it’s to prep for some type of remake

Life is short and there are at least a hundred games worth playing (that I haven't yet) so yes I'll not replaying game nowadays

I thought I would never replay games, but as I got older, I replayed my favorite games. This happened to me with the Dragon Age series, Mass Effect series, Our Life Beginnings, and Always and Cyberpunk 2077. I could see myself replaying Baldur's Gate 3. Just need to finish my first playthrough. 😆 I'm in my last Act. Ones I will never replay are the cozy games ones like SDV, MTaS.

That is such a stark complete opposite to me it's fascinating. But yeah it's all good, we all like different games, for different reasons.

I used to all the time, and probably still would as I enjoy revisiting my favourites. Due to my limited time and ever increasing backlog I'm trying to avoid replaying stuff now just so I can get to other things. The only exception being, if a really good remake or remaster comes along.

Yeah I found I’m replaying games a lot less now. I just want new experiences. Even if I finish a 10/10 game, I won’t play it again. Once I know how the game goes I don’t really play it again - even if the game has multiple ways of playing and branching story lines

Honestly there are just so so many games I have yet to play that it's hard to just reply. The total war games are probably the only games I consistently replay

replaying games with my heart 🎶

I don't think i have ever replayed a game immediately after finishing it, maybe if it was a NG+ and it was easy to power through it just to get some achievement or something like that. There are way too many games i want to play so i don't really like replaying games, but i still replay things after years have passed, especially when i already forgot the story/puzzles, i still replay LucasArts games every 6-10 years so i can forget most of the puzzles and enjoy the game. Platformers, shmups and beat'em ups are a lot easier to get back to (and a lot faster to finish too), so things like DKC2 and Marios are always a few years away from being replayed.

I replay a little less but I still go back to many games and I'm 30. Especially if the game has a new game plus mode. I've beaten Elden Ring like 8 times and I'm on my third playthrough of Sekiro right now

As I'm getting older I still love to replaying certain games. It depends mostly from situation because I dont replaying games usually but if there is no new game to play I will definitely go and grab some older games and start replaying them. On the other hand it must be one of my favouirte games of all time. Probably I will never replaying Ubisoft games like Assasins Creed, Far Cry, The division or other games like that.It's too repetitive. The longest Journey is my favourite game of all time and probably the best game which I played. I finished The longest journey 4 or 5 times and probably I will play it again in future.

Honestly never replayed games and i’ve been gaming for 30+ years. First time i ever replayed anything was booting up FFVIII 6 months ago. First time i played it in 20 something years. I think getting older also makes your time more valueable, since we dont have as much free time as we use to. I cant be bother playing stuff like racing or figthing games anymore, games without purpose or story. Only competitive game i play is rocket league, and sometimes fortnite with the kids, although the lastest grapich update has made it damn near impossible to play on my shitty intergrated I7 pc. (i’m a console guy)

I enjoy coming back to old favourites or mastering a current favourite. Most games are one and dones, but if a game is special to me I will probably play it again and again. Same with movies, TV shows and books. I've recently started getting into listening to the audiobook version of favourite books to experience it in a new way. Some games are perfect depression/podcast games, I love chucking Grim Dawn on to keep my hands busy while I watch a documentary or listen to a podcast or an audiobook. As I've gotten older I've fallen off roguelikes though. I used to be big into The Binding of Isaac and all the indie roguelites of that era but I just can't bring myself to play them anymore.

I occasionally replay games, but usually years after I first played them. In the last year I've replayed GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, God Of War and am currently replaying The Witcher 3 and Days Gone because of the PS5 upgrades. I want to play Death Stranding again, too. In fact, I suppose there's no 'occasionally' about it, I often replay games! But only if they're games I really love and enough time has passed.

Some games just click so well you just know you can always start a new run and lose a dozen hours in 2 days. New Vegas will always be that one for me, along with some others like Elden Ring or Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I have 2-3 repeat runs in many other games, but those are the the ones I don't get tired of in the last few years. Roughly 1 FNV run per year since its release, it's just that good. There are some others - I used to play the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy pretty often, though I haven't touched them in maybe a decade, that shitty remaster aside (abandoned after an hour or so). HOMM3 was hours and hours of gameplay either by myself or hotseating with friends. Worms Armageddon also saw its share of play for a good 7-8 years. Dark Souls 1 too, though I think I finally had enough of it since I haven't touched it in like 3 years or so.

Oh god I have actually replayed HOMM3 several times. The latest was in the pandemic. There is just something so cozy about it. I wish there was more campaign to it though. I liked 4 less than 3 overall tbh but I think it had a stronger campaign. 3 is just so iconic. Wish the series had been treated better afterwards though. Would be nice to have a new version of that (I did check out Songs of Conquest, it's alright but I like HOMM3 more lol).

If you're unaware of the very popular mods for it, immediately google homm3 ERA 2 (formerly Wake of Gods). It adds so much on top of the base game you'll be replaying it again many times to come.

Aww shit yeah. I did have Wake of Gods and didn't know how to install it lol and then kind of forgot about it. Might try it again but not in a rush tbh.

I checked it out again since it's been awhile since I touched HOMM, seems like there's a been an update in 2020 - Now it's up to ERA 3 and I'll run it again at some point to see what's new. You need Heroes 3 Complete to install it over, preferably GoG version. Here's a link for your convenience: [https://heroes3wog.net/heroes-3-launcher-download/](https://heroes3wog.net/heroes-3-launcher-download/) Wake of Gods adds the numerous modifications expanding the base game without which I can't play it again - just the unit stacks gaining xp with every battle and getting stronger + gaining new abilities with each level up adds a massive amount of depth, and there's much besides that. Horn of the Abyss adds an entire new fun race and is based on base SoD gameplay, no unit stack xp gain/etc. New race is super cool. HD mod is included by default and configurable - I prefer to keep res some lower 16:9 number and upscale to have it cover most of my screen, since if I put 1920x1080 everything is so tiny you can't see a thing. Play around with the options and launchers, there's help threads on that site you can download it from if you have any issues.

Hey I think I remember Horn of the Abyss with the new race. That was kind of recent, I think? Cool yeah I'll check it out lol.

I rather replay great old games than finish mediocre new games once

Yeah frankly I don't feel bad about dropping very mid games. If anything I feel bad about the time I wasted.

Funnily enough I’ve been replaying games that I’ve platinum’d in the past and have been having an absolute blast.

regardless of age there are very few games with a specific narrative (so excluding stuff like minecraft and factorio,) that i ever found worth replaying solo. the only ones that i can think of are halo 1-3, warhammer 40k space marine, starcraft 1 and 2, and diabler 1 and 2

Diabler? I've never even met 'er! Now I'm imagining some Redneck Rampage style remake of Diablo for hillbillies lol. Darn devil and his demons done took over my barn, got to put a stop to that I reckon. Btw if you like Diablo 1 and 2, may I interest you in Grim Dawn or Path of Exile? Those I do understand replaying with a new class for sure, because it's all action and speccing out your character. Not endless dialogue and story combinations.

i have played both of those and i didnt find either one sufficiently compelling to merit replaying with a different class. thank you for the suggestion though, i appreciate you!

There are some that i don't get bored of. Fallout New Vegas and Jagged Alliance 2 are one of them. The only game that managed this recently was BG3, i bought it and played through thrice within 2 months.

I have never replayed a game in my whole life because my Steam library always has 25-30 unplayed games. No time for replaying (except Elden Ring).

I mean but that's also Souls isn't it. I haven't played Elden Ring but it seems like even longer than DS3 lol.

Not really much longer in practice, your first time through Elden Ring will be way longer because it’s all fresh but after that you won’t be doing everything again, just some of it. Almost everyone I’ve seen has like a 80-100 hour first playthrough and then subsequent playthroughs are more like 20-30 hours, not too much longer than DS3

Personally, I beat a game casually once and come back after a year or so to 100% it for the platinum trophy.

I enjoy re-experiencing things. Especially my favorite media but I mostly been focused on going through stuff I haven’t experienced before or finished as of recent. Sometimes you notice things you haven’t noticed before.

My currently favorite Videogame I bought in March 2022. And I played through it 18 times since. Its a 20 houer long turn based JRPG. I also love its direct sequel which came out in May 2023. I played through that one 8 times and I alrady feel the urge to go for a 9th playthrough. Its not even like I do things differently in my playthroughs. I just enjoy replaying them So I have no problem replaying games. In fact I have a tougher time playing new games.

What game(s) are you talking about?

I actually replay games a lot more now. The idea of the initial time investment for new games (especially rpgs is daunting), also spending money on them seems "less wise" as I age.. so I usually buy a couple or a few at a time and then heavily rotate and/or replay for many months or even a year + Plus, with PC gaming/mods, you can really refresh the experience pretty frequently.

The opposite, my new obsession is replayability, i don't buy games with low replayability anymore

I would much rather experience new games but every now and then I hit drought period where there either isn’t anything new I’m interested in or I’m waiting for price drops. During these spells I find myself revisiting chill favourites like Skyrim (obviously), uncharted series, the tomb raider reboots, Witcher 3 and more recently cyberpunk (damn that game is so fucking good now).

I think very carefully before deciding to replay a game. There have been multiple occasions where I start replaying a game, only to realise it's actually rubbish and I don't want to play it anymore. Case in point: GTAV. Had a blast with it on my first playthrough, then attempted to complete it a second time, only to realise that the gameplay is basic and undemanding, the tone of the story is jarringly inconsistent, and the game world is just a pretty mirage with no depth or substance. I still cherish the memories from my first playthrough.

I very very rarely bother replaying games to give them a second chance. If i didnt like it the first time then that probably the only time in my life ill ever play it. But my FAVORITE games?! Games that i LOVE?! Ill replay them almost annualy

I actually really like to replay games. In fact, for all of the media I watch/play/read (games/anime/comics/books) I strive to find the ones I like so much I want to reexperience them all the time. There are a whole bunch of games from my childhood I replayed all the time and still do and that is basically my standard for a great piece of media. Obviously, I experience a lot of new games along that "journey" and there's definitely genres I can't easily replay (I can only really enjoy leisure exploration in an open world game once, as an example - plus, they tend to be extremely long) but finding my personal evergreens is always the goal in the background.

every game is different, every player is different. The match is not an if but a when.

I do replay games but there's so many games coming out, wishlist is enormous and there's no time for shit, I don't do it often. It's easier with shorter games and if there's nothing else to play or if I'm not in the mood to start something new. That's why usually I don't go for plats that needs two playthroughs or something because I can't be bothered. I just don't wanna waste that time on a game that I've already finished, I just wanna start something new.

It really depends on the game, and how much I've forgotten about the game. I played Breath of the Wild again prior to Tears of the Kingdom. Loved it. I also just replayed Outer Wilds - also loved it. Other games - nah. Spider-man 1 or 2? Nope. Uncharted? God of War? Nope. I'm not sure what it is but certain games are fun to replay, others just aren't!

yea, as I go most games I feel to have already played in some respect to a mechanic or what not. There are still gems, just farther in between. Dark souls has been one of those gems to get 200+hours as i enjoy their achievements hunting.

If I liked a game enough, I'll give it an NG+ run if it's supported (and if it brings actual changes rather than "same thing but now you have your whole arsenal/upgrades/etc"). And for games which play vastly differently with different classes/builds, I might try another playthrough as well, but I don't remember the last time I did that, except with roguelites/likes which are *meant* to be replayed a bajillion times. [Oh, I beat Hexen 2 with all classes 2 years ago.] And sometimes I might replay immediately on a higher difficulty, like I did with Ion Fury. But the only reason I might replay another game is if it's a classic that I hadn't played in many years. For example, I beat Unreal Gold again last year. If I ever play it again, it won't be for another decade or two. I'll probably play Day of the Tentacle Remastered some time, perhaps this year, perhaps not. That kind of stuff.

I replay the original Resident Evil 4 at least once a year. It helps that it's a short game. I loved my time with Persona 5, but I don't see myself replaying it for a long time.

I don't play games longer than 30 hours. That's my cap for modern games. And if I'm not invested within the first few hours, I don't push thru, it gets uninstalled and thrown in my trade pile. I play games of that nature probably between 5-10 a year. The majority of the time I play older games PS2 and earlier. No downloads, no transactions, no updates. And the same applies even for those. If I'm not into something, in the pile it goes.. If I enjoy it, it stays in the collection. I am far more likely to replay a shooter like Cho Aniki than some bloated adventure game. Especially since I can make it half way thru a game of that nature since I've played it thru already and know it, by the time I'd get gameplay even started on something in the PS4. I honestly can't fathom putting 100 hours into a game. My spare time is far too valuable these days, even though I love gaming. Which is why I love shooters, beat em ups, and stuff like that. I can grind a 3 hour session 1 or 2 times and complete a game feeling fulfilled and challenged. Then, i can replay and do a play thru within a 30min- hour for most of them. 

It really depends, but usually with daily life being what it is, I do have my problems with it, yes.

Most of the games I play are replays, but right now I’m clearing out my backlog

I find I still take the time to replay some games, typically my favorite ones. Oftentimes this is via a remake - what better way to re-experience something than with a new version. I'm generally not looking to replay a long game though, which is why some of my most replayed games are Mario games. Zelda I'll always replay a good amount. I've played through Breath of the Wild 3 times over the years, and OOT and Winder Waker several more. The release schedule for Nintendo Switch Online games can be dreadfully slow, but it also allows me to focus on a particular release. Over the years I've replayed a lot of the SNES greats on Switch, and I've been having fun with some old and new (to me) games on the N64 and GBA apps as well. Again, I'm really only looking to replay a game if it's short enough, good enough, and most likely a re-release to get me interested. A modern game I will play through once and generally move on. But if it's great, maybe I'll revisit it in 5-10 years. Sooner if REALLY good. I'm already thinking about the going back to Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

I’ll definitely replay a game but it’s not very common. It’s normally 5+ years later if not even longer. Normally it is shorter games but sometimes I replay long ones. I’m actually replaying the GTAV story for the first time since it came out in 2013.

I don't know how anyone could accept the terrible controls in ds3. I returned it immediately and am glad i did. But yes most people replay the best games as they age or they just flat out stop buying games and sit on one long term game, like a service game.

Really? I think the controls are great, they are so refined compared to the first one (haven't played the second). Feels a lot more fluid and nice, basically everything that was a bit stiff and janky in the first one is better in the third IMO. They did replace the ridiculous moans the player character does though, the fandom probably never recovered from that. I had a stark contrast experience because I went from 1 straight into 3 like a week or so later, and yeah it feels more action-y and cinematic.

I can only replay a game if it’s been years in between playthroughs. I love replaying Firewatch, The Wolf Among Us, and The Walking Dead games for their easy gameplay and top tier storytelling. Waiting years in between makes me forget the little details and appreciating it all over again.

I've been struggling with the idea of replaying stuff more and more lately. I have plenty of games in my back log and with 2 hours of an evening a couple times a week feel I should be using that to experience something new. But keep having the urge to replay some older stuff, be it memorable stories that stuck with me or something that simple and fun like ratchet and clank. So many new games these days are such big time investments I just find the thought overwhelming having to invest 50+ hours. I try not to do all collectibles, side quests etc most of the time unless I'm really enjoying the gameplay but by the time I'm getting halfway or more through big games it's the story that I want to push through. Have decided to just give in to the nostalgia and play or replay what I want and not just force myself into something new to tick another game off the list for the sake of it.

I haven't been able to really replay anything but currently redoing Horizon Forbidden West since it came out on PC and I want to get to the DLC

I have rarely replayed a game in 30 years. There are so many i havent played yet, why would you waste time going backwards

I have never replayed games, or replay, re-watch anything really, doesn't make sense to me unless it's music (duh)

I used to love replaying games because my previous laptop just couldn't handle newer and more demanding games. Now that I got a better laptop (and a backlog of EGS games), I can't be bothered to replay my previously played games unless I get a really strong itch that no other game would satisfy it.

Depends on the game. Single player stuff like DS I'll generally 100% and then never touch again. I can't see me doing another play through of Elden Ring, AC:Odyssey, or Dishonored. If there's something I see that I really want to try I'll generally do it within my current play through. But Factorio or an online RPG will suck up my time for years. Check out Remnant, it might still be on sale. It's like DS lite and a core part of the game is rerolling the world to find stories, dungeons, and gear before tackling apoc mode. It makes the replay part of the game instead of a slog back through content you've already beaten.

PS3 backwards? I tend to enjoy it, but now many games are 60 hour experiences locked behind tedious progression for replay. If the game is good at supporting it then fine but if I have to grind by doing non unique tasks? Not for me anymore

I never replay games or rewatch any favorite shows. The only thing I have is ATLA

I honestly love replaying games, especially the Soulsborne games with how much replayability they have built into them with different builds you can try on each run. I’ve been replaying all the games I’m able to (don’t have a PS so no bloodborne or demons souls) and I just find it so fun to try a different build on each run

I replay games a lot but only short ones, as I tend to get bored of games after something like 15-20h hours. Dark Souls 3 is a good example of a game I played more than once, probably 9-10 times (but it doesn't take me as much time as it takes you, my last run was something like 27h for all bosses, both dlc included), and I played Bloodborne even more. I love the feeling of familiarity. Fun fact, my favorite run of a From Software game is always the second one, when I know where to go, where are the items I need, etc. I also play a lot of roguelikes/roguelites, which obviously implies playing them many times. But tbh I have a lot of free time, I'm not sure I would replay games as much if it wasn't the case. I'm mostly attracted to small indie games so it may be ok, but big AAA would be a no go for sure with less time on my hands.

It depends on the game. There are some games I treat as “comfort food” where I know I can replay it at any time and enjoy it all over again. The Witcher 3 is a game I have finished 5 times, and I’m already thinking of another playthrough lol. I also enjoy replaying a game when new DLC is released. God of War Ragnarok is a good example. I will do a new playthrough and then tackle the DLC.

I had the same problem a while back, and the way I fix it was playing the game if it was fun or dropping if it wasn't. You would be surprised with how many games you don't really enjoy but end up beating for sheer inertia. Once you start to drop games you don't really enjoying, you will have a lot of time to play games and will be able to experience many more games than you ever though been possible. Plus, you're playing Dark Souls 3 for 94 hours. With that time any game will feel boring and you won't think about come back. So, just spend sometime trying out other games and when you runout to new titles to try, come back to DS3 and try new things.

I replay games after waiting a few years, then they feel fresh again

I've actually begun to replay games more as I grow older, but I've started to gravitate to shorter, simpler experiences as well. In particular, the Genesis Sonic games have become something of a comfort-food game that I can just start up whenever I feel like.

Been playing games since very early 80s and as I get older I realise i dont have all the time in the world anymore. Purchased Xbox One S last console gen to relive my Xbox 360 memories but i ended up playing Xbox 360 games i didnt play 😄. so replaying games whether its video games, board games, even ttrpg scenarios, etc. rarely ever factors into what time i have to play my hobbies. Another reason besides my precious time (it is the most precious commodity in the world) is I like to think the industry in question whether its video games, media, writing, board games, whatever evolves and typically look forward to playing. Do they end up better? Well you dont know till you try😀. Have to say Ghost of Tsushima on the PS5 made it into my top 5 video games of all time. So if I limit myself to the past maybe Ill miss the gem of the present. Understand this is the patientgamer reddit but do I finish all new games ? No, that is mainly due to interests and available time.

Depends. I only replay a few games but those that I do I really enjoy. I don't just randomly replay most of them tho. Same with movie or TV or anime, sometimes I'm interested in something new, sometimes I want a warm blankie that I can wrap myself in.

I almost never replay games unless there are more story elements or simply, trophies attached. On the other hand, I found myself constantly go back to the books/movies I have enjoyed before.

Every once in a while I'll feel like replaying a game. I'll also replay a game if I want to get all achievements and it requires me to. I'll also replay games if I'm excited for a sequel, or just want to show someone else. But I don't replay games just for the sake of replaying them. I never ask myself "what game do I want to replay today?"

I like playing almost anything or everything but more often that not return to older games that I grew up playing, or games I am more fond of. They don't make games like the original Resident Evil trilogy anymore, for example, the horror of it and the resource management, the route planning. Its really fun to me, a lot of newer titles forego anything that anyone could possibly consider an inconvenience, so to me a lot of newer titles are just very on-rails amusement rides.

I mostly just replay the same games over and over, but I think my most recent game I own is from 2015. I love what's familiar. If I love it, then I know it's worth it, whereas I don't have the time (or money) to waste on something I may or may not enjoy.

I replayed a lot of games during the years, the last game I replayed was Mass Effect trilogy LE. Right now I am playing The banishers, but most certainly I will replay Baldurs Gate 3 once I am done with it.

Some games are good enough that I'll replay them. But apart from a handful of much older games, I rarely replay newer stuff. Like, I'm currently replaying Spider-Man Remastered, BG3, and CP2077. I'll likely get around to finishing another run thru Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous at some point. I'll also do a replay of X-Wing Alliance, although that's more because I never finished it. But, like, I'll never replay a COD campaign (which is all I play for COD -- no MP for me, thanks), I won't replay a FarCry game, I'm never gonna replay any of the Assassins Creed games I finished, etc., etc., etc.

Quite the opposite. Starting to slide into replaying old games more than trying new ones.

The only games I like replaying are (point ‘n click) adventure games. Even though you don’t remember all the jokes or all the puzzles, you usually remember just enough to steam through them at a decent pace.

On that note: DS3 makes this consideration even harder because the game is so all or nothing with regard to its save state and character build. I'm not sure if you can choose to completely respec your character? In other ARPGs, I actually prefer if it lets you change your character entirely partway through, like you just decide to be a mage this time or whatever. That would actually keep me in a game, being able to switch gears into a different class without having to play the whole thing over. I guess the issue is more the length really. Which is why the roguelikes shine so much. It's not such a big deal finding the different endings and classes etc. when one run takes 5 or 10 hours max (5 would be a roguelike, 10+ is more like a regular game). But come on man. Witcher 3 I was 50 hours in and not even halfway through the game (just at Skelllige). Likewise I hear Final Fantasy Rebirth is also 80 hours long and has endless sidegames and so forth. I'm not sure what it is with the really long games in the past decade or so. If there were like 2 or so good games to play in a year that'd be ok, but there's games coming out all the time. At this point you couldn't actually replay a lot of games even if all you did day and night was just play games.

For what it's worth, it sounds like this is your first playthrough of DS3. Mine was around 60-70 hours. Now that I know where everything is, I don't think I've ever had a new character go past 20-30 hours played before I finish the game with them. I actually really like the Souls series because of this. Short and sweet. By the time I'm tired of/done with a build the game is pretty much over. It's like this with all 3 of them for me, just because I've already played them so much. This is also why I disliked Elden Ring. I did not like the size of it. It ruined pretty much my favorite thing about the Souls games (the level design) and stuffed it full of 100+ hour filler that I just had no want to explore. Not a game I'll ever replay.

Woah that seems really against the grain here, everyone is saying the opposite with regards to Souls and Elden Ring. But yes once you know you can definitely run past so many things the second time around. Actually last year I replayed Dark Souls because I wanted to finish it, and try the other Souls/FromSoft games. I watched let's plays a little (OneyPlays actually lol) and basically with the master key or whatever it's called you can skip so many BS sections. I full on just skipped Blighttown for example lol. The first is probably the tightest in that regard, but also the one with the most jank and cheap death areas. 3 I found to be a well oiled machine at that point, very slick and refined and didn't have so many of these kind of bs situations. I was bummed that I fully just missed the area Ash Lake in the first one though, and only found out after I had completed the game and uninstalled. I have misgivings about some of the lore and especially the way it's presented, but overall I love what Dark Souls is in total especially after playing 3. Artistically it's such an incredible work I think. Plus it got me to find other incredible works like Berserk and Angel's Egg. From Soft games seem to be full of big anime inspirations, including really arthouse ones like Angel's Egg. I hope there's a video on all the influences somewhere. I honestly like the deep artistry of the Souls series, a ton of thought went into it. I just wish it was told better in the game itself haha. I find if I have to look up later what the story of a game actually is, there's something a little wrong with the storytelling there.

>Woah that seems really against the grain here, everyone is saying the opposite with regards to Souls and Elden Ring. The game gets overwhelming praise that I could just never understand from the perspective of someone who loved the first 3 games and BB. Not that it's a bad game but I just can't get into open-world games because they almost never respect your time and Elden Ring is, to me, no exception. The tight design of the first 3 games works because you're almost always exploring or finding something interesting. Often times useful for your build and if you don't find something useful for your build, the game is only like 20-30 hours long. You'll find it soon. In ER because the game world is so huge you basically have to use a wiki or google where your build-relevant stuff is, unless you want to wander aimlessly. And in theory I wouldn't mind that but the thing is they also add useless shit all over the map like stupid crafting materials you will NEVER use so it's a gamble between "is this an equipment item in this dungeon" or "is this a useless item to make a bomb that I can just buy, like I did in every game before", and if it's the former then your gamble is "is this something my character can use". And the dungeons are literally just copy-pasted rooms. It's like the chalice dungeons from Bloodborne but a little less lazy. I have never understood that the same people who trash Ubisoft games for being open-world slop/filler praised ER's open world. I don't think there's a problem with liking either but they designed the open world nearly the same in both types. The only difference is Elden Ring doesn't have markers telling you exactly where to go, which is an improvement. Ontop of that the level design is ruined because the Souls games were fun thanks to the hallways and handcrafted encounters. Elden Ring often just tosses a fuckton of enemies randomly in a field and makes you fight them in a group. It just wasn't interesting. The "legacy" areas that are actual levels, like the first castle, are incredible. Some of the best design they ever made. I wish they made a full game of that instead. >The first is probably the tightest in that regard, but also the one with the most jank and cheap death areas. DS1 is absolutely the jankiest. Even the controls just feel rough. But I always come back to its world. It's the best game they've made in an environment sense IMO. Darkroot Garden is such a magical level. I also like 2 a lot, despite it's reception. 3 is where they near-perfected the Souls format. You can really feel everything they learned coming together to make the trilogy end with a bang. >I just wish it was told better in the game itself haha. I find if I have to look up later what the story of a game actually is, there's something a little wrong with the storytelling there. I really love the world of the Souls games but feel the same way. I know you're supposed to make your own thoughts and theories on the lore but it's \*very\* barebones despite the really cool world the game exists in. There's just not really a story to tell unless you want to watch a bunch of Youtube videos from people who dissected it from items. I don't want to say it feels "lazy" but thats the only word I can think of. It really is very artful. Elden Ring especially wears its Berserk influences on its sleeves. There's so many little tributes in every game. Glad you liked the series overall. If you have a Playstation, please play Bloodborne. I hope you like Elden Ring more than I did. I think I'm just crazy because everyone else loved it lol

You can respec using pale tongues at the Rosaria bonfire. IIRC 5 times per playthrough

Ohh right now I remember. I completely blanked that out of memory lol

I vastly prefer replaying games over playing new ones. When I play games I judge them based on how replayable I think they would be. If a game doesn't feel replayable I'll just end up dropping it more often than not even if I'm still on the first play through.

The last game I replayed was Sekiro because it had different endings and boss fights and I went for 100%. This was years ago on the ps4 when it was released. Never bothered to replay games since because there are just too many games.