A thought about "Replay Value".

It seems to me more and more that the idea of replay value can be based on opinion. Sure, un-lockables increases a games replay value, but only if the game is good enough to keep you comming back. What if the game is horrible? What then?

For me, replay value is based on how much I enjoy a particular game, and the experience it presents. Games like Devil May Cry for example: most people play them once, and that's it for them. Me, I loved the game soo much that I lost count how many times I have beat it! Same with Onimusha, a game that you would usually play only once.

How about you? Any thoughts?

<small>[ February 19, 2003, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: Verbatum ]</small>

my opinion :
magical drop 3 = replay value
i'm addicted to that game.

Hence my favorites on PSX are FFT and SotN, I've played through each of those at least 4 times and never played the same gam twice.

I agree I've lost count at how many time I've played through Devil May Cry too buttrock

But, replay value to me is not just unlockables and codes; replay value is how many times you will play through the game.

I do believe Online capability is the biggest replay value for games now. But I never put down the old 2D stuff, that's why I have all of my old systems still because I never get tired of 2D (especially fighters).

Different endings are also a factor. If you can play the game again, and by choosing different paths, or performing certain actions get a different ending, then chances are I'll want to play again.

I've been playing Street Fighter 3 every night for 2 years now. Lots of replay value, why? because its a hilarious game, I can't stop laughing whenever I play it!!!

It's a real laugh to play as Sean and do all those funny moves, and do massive combos as Gill.

To me, replay value is a combination of how much time I spend playing a game and how many times I come back to it. Take for example SD: SYM for the PS2. I've spent around 200-250 hours on it thus far and I still play it at least 30 minutes a day and probably will continue to do so until the sequel. To me, that's replay value.

Yeah I think replay value is if I can go back to a game over a long period of time. There are games that came out 10-15 years ago that I still have a desire sometimes to pick up and play.

It's ironic because I find arcade-like or classic action games to have the most replay value of any type. Games like Metal Slug, Castlevania, Super Monkey Ball, and Layer Section. RPGs I play through and never pick up again. I've been playing Metal Slug 3 on a regular basis for the last 8 months! I spent about 3 months on Super Monkey Ball. Mastering these games keeps me coming back for more, and they're fun to boot! I can play MS3 for a serious challenge of my skill, or I can just go for the tough paths and have a blast screwing around. The reason I decided to get a Neo was because I was upset at the amount of RPGs I had that I never wanted to play again. I needed some arcade style games!

<small>[ February 19, 2003, 12:10 AM: Message edited by: dmhawkmoon ]</small>

I like playing DMC too.The reason why i play it a lot is because of the challenge.Getting S-ranks for every missions was cool too.I like that King of hell rank .After going through the normal mode, i will be all over the hard and DMD modes.It felt good when i beat the DMD mode for the 1st DMC game.It was very challenging and fun.I also like the LDK mode which is tops IMO.DMC2 also has tons of replay value.Playing as trish with the sparda sword was cool.DMC has tons of cool combo options and Dante looks dope while doing it!
I also keep playing it to find more combos and to perfect my skills.
Hell, i even play MGS2 many times on the harder difficulty levels just for the challenge.
Fighting games such as GGXX has a lot of replay value.Having to go through the survival mode or story mode(60 endings) to unlock the 3 secret fighters are cool.

<small>[ February 19, 2003, 12:18 AM: Message edited by: Devil_Gans ]</small>

GT3 has a lot of replay value... and if you get into making hybrid cars then forget about it ....
i spent about 3 days getting the lambo!

Playing the nes castlevania and beating it over and over and over...and on a side note on DMC, the game is just too boring and to easy and when a game is too boring and too easy it sucks. oh_no DMC oh_no

I have finished Genma Onimusha 5 times since i got it. I often replay games if they offer the whole package - such as wondeful art and good music. Often in games like Onimusha and kof2000 i will let the charcters idle so i can listen to the music. The recently released Panzer Dragoon Orta i play over and over due to it's high quality combo of gameplay, music, and artwork. So yeah, games that are a joy to look at, listen to and play usually get loads of replay. one of the games i have played most in my lifetime has to be the original Vigilante 8 on PSX. It still has the awesome gameplay today. And you could take out the game CD and put in your own music CD. I used to pick a car, and have 20 enemy cars in total to face off against, and i never get bored of it. When it came out (spring 98? 99?) i played it every day for hours and hours. Nothing else i had was played whatsoever. Some games just get you in a vice like grip and refuse to let you go. Shenmue II , and most 2D games today still have this effect

Hmm... Replay value.

For me it equals to lots of things:
a) unlockable bonuses
b) alternate endings
c) different game play modes

Generally the above will get me to play a game again but there has to also be a delicate mix of:
1) good atmosphere (mostly sound but graphics help)
2) ease of pick-up-and-play (IE: I can't play games for marathon sessions much anymore, so I need a type of game where I can just sit down for 30 mins and play without having to spend half of it looking for a save point and/or moving from the save point to where I was.)
3) amount of effort to get anywhere in the plot line. IE: In games (mostly RPG's) that you spend countless hours "powering" up, generally will disuade me from replaying the game again.

In most cases, a game that is heavily dependant on its plot line, will have less replay value for me, but I will more then likely enjoy playing it through that one time then a "mindless" action game.

Master Giby:
Playing the nes castlevania and beating it over and over and over...and on a side note on DMC, the game is just too boring and to easy and when a game is too boring and too easy it sucks. oh_no DMC oh_no

Click to expand...

Are you refering to DMC2?
That game was easy on the default setting but was much more fun on the hard and must die modes.
As for DMC1, that game was fairly balanced on the normal mode and hard on the hard mode.The DMD mode in DMC1 was no walk in the park i will tell you that...

Another thing that I would like to add ontop of most of the things that were stated, controll is a big one.

If the controll is really good, be it a shooter/RPG/Platformer/action whatever, and I can get into it I love to play it over and over again. This does not mean that they are simple controlls or complex, they just have to make sence and be easy to pick up.

An example of poor controll (IMO) is Metroid Prime. Dont get my wrong here it is a great game, I just find myself hitting the wrong button all the time. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is about the controll scheme, I know what every thing is/does, but when it comes to combat I find myself hitting L when I am trying to do the things that R do and then accidentally turning into a ball or what ever. I don't even want to go into the controll for Resident evil .

Now Halo has awesome controll scheme. I can pick it up after a month of not playing it and BOOM I'm there again. SuperMonkeyBall is the same, but that is because it is only 1 button .

But again controll is not the only thing, just one more thing. I will probably play Metroid Prime more than once even with the bad controll, same with Resident Evil.

If unlockables somehow alter the gameplay or add new features/areas then the replay value in my opinion (usually) goes through the roof. Soul Calibur and Rez being very exceptional examples of this.