Replaying RPGs?

[Leo]

I can only think of Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Seiken Densetsu 2, and Xenogears. They all have a memorable cast of characters, great soundtracks, and lots of unforgettable scenes. It depends on how big of an impact the RPG had on me, either through character development, setting, or storyline.

[Ryos]

Although I've spent time replaying old games, I've very infrequently played them all the way through again.  Partially it's because I have way too many games/things to do, partially it's because too many RPGs are too long. That's great for the journey since the conclusion is long in coming, but that doesn't lend itself to replays very well. :p  The RPGs I've revisited most often are those with multiple endings, since I'm very interested in seeing the alternate conclusions, and game paths (which is unfortunately not nearly as common in JRPGs :p).

[Cauton]

It depends a lot on the game, really. There are certain games that I've played through more than once - Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Xenogears and Chrono Trigger just to name a few. My main driving force when playing RPGs is to experience the story and characters, so the games I replay must either have an exceptional story, or really good gameplay (or a mix of the two) - otherwise I will not bother to go through them more than once.

[Aelph]

Thanks for the welcomes. :-)

The idea of going back through a game for the story is interesting -- I would have thought that doing so would be boring, because you'd know all the ins-and-outs and secrets, and all the mysteries would already be solved. But then I thought about it a bit more... and considered how often I re-read the same books over and over and over again, and never get tired of them. Of course a game's not going to be any different in that respect.

Although some of you have mentioned replaying more when you were younger, I don't think I would have had the patience to replay a story/text-heavy game when I was young (if I even had the patience to play it in the first place, that is)... Well, I would have by high school, but that was during my off years. I think I'd be much more likely to replay now than then. I've also found myself sometimes replaying much more slowly -- i.e., when I have just a short while to play, I don't want to let myself get too sucked in to something I won't have time to spend hours on, so I'll just have a few minutes at an old game,  where I know how it turns out, and I won't forget what I've been told to do next. (I do that... irritating, that is. And rather sad. ;-))

[Bloodstar6078]

Hello, welcome to the boards. You actually read the rules and didn't just do a "I'm new" thread! I think you'll do well here.

There were rules? I don't remember reading them, lol.

Anyways Welcome.

I have to agree with some of the others. I replay games all the time when I feel nostalgic or when I have nothing else to play.

I've probably replayed FFVIII well over 5 times, and I just bought Legend of Dragoon again if that tells you anything (never should have gave that away... now I just need to find Legend of Legaia and I'll be happy).

[CastNuri]

Ooh, didn't see this topic. Welcome to the boards, Aelph. :P

I almost never replay RPGs (or games in general, DMC aside) but I make exceptions for games that I haven't played in a long time. Nowadays I feel like re-playing Chrono Cross, Legend of Mana, Legend of Eternia...lots of playstation stuff.

It's more about the nostalgia for me. I'm not the sort who likes completing a game 'to the max', what with all the side-quests and such.

[Willy Elektrix]

What makes me come back and play an RPG again is excellent character customization. If I can go back through the game with a different type of party or character that requires a different play style, then I'll probably do it.

A good example is Final Fantasy 1 (which I've beaten with almost every party combination I can think of). With PC RPG's, Fallout and Baldur's Gate kept me coming back because of the different types of characters I could play. Really, any kind of job system or customizable skill system fires me up...

[GrimReality]

I am at the point in my life where I barely have time to play an rpg once, let alone 2 or 3 times. There are far too many good games out there for me to play, than to go back and play something I've already been through. I miss enough good games as it is.
Anyone wanna spot me some cheese?

[Evil Gately]

First off, hi Emily! Welcome to the 'Fan! It's always nice to see a fellow Brit around these parts, too!

I think I've replayed most of the RGs I own, especially the 8/16-BIT era stuff.  Phantasy Star, Shining Force, etc. all got quite a hammering when I was younger. I'm currently replaying KotOR II and Shining the Holy Ark, so yeah, I do replay quite a lot.

ps,

Masamune, I've got FFVII on PC!

[Raze]

Back when I was a kid I'd play FF2/4 over and over. Two things were different back then though. For one, not many rpgs came out. And if one did I probably wouldn't be getting my hands on it until christmas. If I were lucky blockbuster might have one, but their selection was downright terrible back then. Not that it's particularly great now(Uh..no DS section? I could kinda see that honestly, but then they carry psp games?), but it's like a goldmine compared to what it used to be.

 For another, when you're younger you're more creative. I'd just be running from point A to B on the world map for the fifth and in my head I might imagine something like say, a conversation between Yang and Cecil. Being that I'm now 29 instead of 13 I won't just be able to satisfy myself with content that I just made up in my head.

 Almost no RPG that comes out is designed with replay in mind and a new average rpg will be more fun than replaying a great RPG. There's newgame+ type things pretty often, but these actually turn me off more than want me to play again. Putting me at the start of the game at level 99 isn't going to be fun for me. In fact it's going to be incredibly boring.

 A game needs forks in the plot and character customization to make me want to replay the game now. Things like the sphere grid or liscence board touch on the character customization, but get it wrong in that you eventually get everything. A fork in the road should lead to a choice that leads to vastly different characters. What you do instead is just go down both roads and the customization becomes trivial. Not too many games have that seiken densetsu 3 'play me again, but in a different way' thing going for them.

[Alisha]

um i played through the original valkyrie profile about 10 times. theres so many characters and unlike vp2..... each one is unique. i played through xenosaga 3 twice because i wanted to check the alternate skill paths and i missed a lot of sidequests and such in my first playthrough. typically theres 2 reasons i'll replay a game
A.nostalgia
B.gameplay

[Aelph]

First off, hi Emily! Welcome to the 'Fan! It's always nice to see a fellow Brit around these parts, too!

I'm a fake Brit. I'm actually American, but I've been living in Britain for about 3 years now. ;-)

[Willy Elektrix]

A game needs forks in the plot and character customization to make me want to replay the game now. Things like the sphere grid or liscence board touch on the character customization, but get it wrong in that you eventually get everything. A fork in the road should lead to a choice that leads to vastly different characters. What you do instead is just go down both roads and the customization becomes trivial. Not too many games have that seiken densetsu 3 'play me again, but in a different way' thing going for them.

Totally. What's even better is if your character's abilities make you approach the game in an entirely different way. SD3 is cool, but all the different abilities are essentially combat abilities. So, really, you play the game in the same way, you just fight battles differently (granted, SD3 is all about fighting battles, so it's still great fun). A different example would be Shadowrun for Genesis,  where there are a ton of non-combative abilities that completely alter the structure of the game, combat and otherwise.

[Losfer]

First off, hi Emily! Welcome to the 'Fan! It's always nice to see a fellow Brit around these parts, too!

I'm a fake Brit. I'm actually American, but I've been living in Britain for about 3 years now. ;-)

Harhar.  I'm a Canuck living in Britain.  Welcome to the lands of eternal rain.  :P

[Dincrest]

Re: what Raze said.

Some genres of games like dating sims are totally like that in terms of forks in both.  Dating sims are very stat driven and not only do choices made in the plot determine which girl's storyline you'll follow, so will how you build your character.  Meaning, if you want to go after the artsy girl, best do what you can to build your stats in artistic ability and creativity.  Want to woo the girl on the track team or swim team?  Can't unless you do gameplay stuff that ups your athleticism stat.  

Love adventures are different in that it's all plot and there are multiple endings solely based on the choices you make in the story (like Choose Your Own Adventure.)  Pre-set characters and all that.  

In terms of RPGs, look at something like Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.  There are a whole slew of ways to customize your main character as well as many choices/forks in the storyline that determine your path and ending.  However, that game is so long that I would not want to replay it.  75 hours on one playthrough is enough for me, even if I didn't do half the side stuff.  

For me, I find that visual novels and dating sims are more replayable than RPGs, but that's just personal taste on my part.