What makes a game replayable?

Dusty Sinclair

Dusty Sinclair

Headless Horseman
I've been thinking about this a lot recently, especially when I see games like The Binding of Isaac that are tagged with "Replay Value" simply because their levels are randomly generated.

In my opinion, this is not what replay value is. I think of games that offer a different or more difficult experience the second time you play it. The Stanley Parable is a good example of this. Even Kirby games,which have objectives to complete in each level that are significantly harder than the level itself.

Share what you think makes a game replayable.
 
A few criteria.

#1. Enjoyable(basically this is enough, the rest is optional)
#2. New Game+
#3. Branching storylines
#4. Completing the game to your satisfaction. Not to say 100% of the game, but 100% for you.
 
When I get the itch to play it again, then remember that one part, and don't want to play it anymore.

Good thing GTA V lets me replay the fun missions whenever I want.
 
To me, most reputability comes from multi-player. If playing with friends and family is fun and doesn't get stale, then that's usually enough for me.
 
Randomly generated levels only keep their "freshness" if you do pretend Boring Brown Maze #5435435452 is different from Boring Brown Maze #4548575316.

I have to enjoy a game a lot to replay it. There's games which try to make you replay it by blocking the highest difficulty levels until you beat the game once - those usually don't get a second playthrough, as I like to be able to choose to make my game as impossible as I want from the go and work my way down from there if I can't handle the heat.

Games like the Dynasty/Samurai/Orochi Warriors are to me the best example of what makes me replay a game: Lots of things to unlock, absolutely *none* of them based on virtual dice rolls, plenty of characters to play as... Whenever I do a completion check on a DW game and I see everything I could do is done, I reset the save so I can do it all again. And the Elder Scroll games too, I can explore the maps time and again, and even though it's the same thing, changing the way I approach some things can make the whole thing feel new.

Here's what makes me replay a game, though usually more than one is required:

1- Either customization or enough characters to make customization unneeded.
2- Scenery porn. That is, the background/map mustn't just be junk thrown together randomly, but must feel like there's a whole world out there which I want to explore. For example, sometimes I climb one of Skyrim's tall mountains just so I can stare at the landscape. And I know sunsets killed me more times than I care to count on Oblivion and Fallout 3.
3- Main/playable characters I can like. The usual "guy/girl who's out for revenge for their hometown/dead family member/pony" thing is overdone and boring. See how the Elder Scroll does it, you're basically thrown into a mess you have to figure out, instead of being pointed at some silver-haired hobo and told "there, that's your enemy, we'll show you a supposedly sad flashback later on to justify this."
4- Can be played single player. I'm not a team player, and I care little about PvP except in some FPS.
5- It has some sort of New Game+ or "aftergame" mode which you can actually enjoy. Again, Skyrim is a good example, I don't have to feel pressured to finish all sidequests before beating the final boss, or load a save before the boss just to get them done later on.
 
When you die in permadeath, and you still haven't beaten the game.
Then you gotta start aaaaaall the way back.
 
When every once in a blue moon your able to do :red: like this. (Skip to 1:14:20 if ya just want to see the end results)
 
- The chance to take your characters to a new game with their stats and items intact.
- Keep collectibles when starting again. Mass Effect 2 is a nice example where it's not done right. Every replay you'll have to get those plans for weapons and other stuff again. It'd have been nice if you could have kept them when starting a new game.
- Give players choices, leading to different endings.
- Possibly a load of other things as well, but the most important one is: Gameplay. When the game is simply utterly enjoying to play then I'll be back for more, even without poor graphics or storyline. It's the main reason why I still play games like Doom, Ultima 7, Commander Keen, Crusader: No Remorse, Dungeon Keeper and a ton of other old games.
If every second of a game manages to give me enjoyment then I'll be replaying the game on a regular basis until the day I die. Or lose my eyesight. Or my arms.
 
When it has replayable value.
I was joking.
  • It allows me to keep everything and start a new game
  • Has different ending and storyline based on what you do
  • Much more....
 
When it has very atmospheric areas and levels, combined with a very good story with memorable characters. And to name one game that I seriously enjoyed, Portal 2 is one. I love that game because of all those reasons. I've played through the story so many times and still don't get tired. Sometimes I stop for a few minutes to look around during the deep, deep underground portion of the game (you know, after Wheatley slams the elevator into the ground and you fall). That game is all around perfect.
 
Magicite has replay value that is a lot better than, say, Starbound, as although it has the same kind of biomes again and again, they are randomly generated and so are enemies and chests. There are also new races and gear and hats and companions and much, much more. Another nice thing is if the devs are still updating - you don't quite know what to get next from them. Magicite also has random attributes to select and is very difficult, which can seem annoying when you start, but after you play for about 3-5 hrs you piece everything together.
 
Choices, unpredictability (By doing things such as randomly-generated maps and even items), a proper storyline, Easter Eggs, memorable characters and weird and amusing interactions, along with the situations having been made so that they are always different depending on the player´s choices.
 
Razor Knight said:
Randomly generated levels only keep their "freshness" if you do pretend Boring Brown Maze #5435435452 is different
Click to expand...

The_Binding_of_Isaac_screenshot.png
 
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