Board 8 > What's your most played game that's not "replayable?"

(+) Yeah! (+)

I came back to Hollow Knight this week, which is a game with a surprising amount of content and a strong candidate for a game you might want to play a second time...but isn't really "replayable," and I was surprised when I realized I had about 70 hours and had never actually gotten the true ending. It made me wonder...

What I'm considering replayable:

• Anything that is a singular gameplay loop that gets repeated ad nauseum (fighting games, sports, probably racing games, 4x, match 3)
• Online multiplayer (MOBA, MMO, FPS deathmatch, social deduction)
• Games where you might replay with a custom character (many open-world RPGs)
• Games with strong random elements (rogue-likes, many rogue-lites, randomizers, card battlers)
• Games driven by your score (rhythm, match 3)

What I'm not considering replayable:

• Games in the replayable list if you only play them one-and-done
• Games with a finite number of replay loops (Undertale, Mass Effect)
• Collectible or achievement hunting
• Games with multiple difficulties or endings
• Games where you need to git gud (classic arcade)
• Grinding (unless that literally is the whole game, like idle games)

Situational:

• Speedrunning
• Games with freeform objectives (sandbox, simulation)
• Gacha/casual/anything with an energy system

Basically, a game is not replayable if it has a singular, finite gameplay experience, regardless of how that experience plays out specifically for you.

You are not required to use my interpretation. You probably know what is and isn't replayable for you. This is just for anyone who needs me to spell it out.

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And in hindsight, I suspect the answer is probably Might and Magic: World of Xeen. It's an incredibly long game that I played in totality quite a few times back in an age when I didn't have a lot of games to choose from and had to make them count. It's open world, kinda, but it's not a Bethesda game -- you only have limited, pre-programmed things you can do. You can also play with different parties, but I always used the default team. I'm guessing I've played at least four or five hundred hours in that. Maybe more. It's not like games tracked your time played in the 90s. But when I think of games I know I've put more time into, they were all designed in such a way that the devs intended for you to come back, that you could come back meaningfully, or that the game was just one endless gameplay loop.

I used to replay lengthy single player games like Zelda and Final Fantasy all the time. Nowadays not so much though.

Probably the first three Ace Attorney games.

You've done a good job of defining the type of games that I play vs. the type that I don't often play. I'd have to think about which one I've played the most times.

Although I wonder why score-based games are labeled situational instead of replayable. Aren't they mostly defined "a singular gameplay loop that gets repeated ad nauseum"?

I've played ff9 4 times now so probably that

Persona 3. Even before FES and Portable Id played it like 3 times and probably reached about 400 hours for that alone since my first playthrough was near 200 hours >_>

By your definition, I would say Resident Evil 4. Easily 200+ hours logged across all versions of the game, hell that's probably a low estimate honestly.

But I consider it a fairly replayable game, along with the rest of the series. By own definition I would say either Spec Ops: The Line or Batman: Arkham Asylum, two of my favorite single-player games I have played through 10+ times and where the experience doesn't really vary between playthroughs.

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

Although I wonder why score-based games are labeled situational instead of replayable. Aren't they mostly defined "a singular gameplay loop that gets repeated ad nauseum"?

It depends on if it's a game that's played ONLY for score...or if it has levels that you might play once to see completion or try to improve upon for perfection. I would argue that a lot of the tower defense games I've played fall into the latter, for instance.

edit: Okay, I moved it and added to non-replayable: "Games in the replayable list if you only play them one-and-done"

Final Fantasy XIII(including the sequels)

Fire Emblem PoR
FFX
Ogre Battle 64

Those are probably my top 3.

I have near 1000 hours in RE2 and another couple hundred in RE2Make

By the definition in this topic, it'd be Path of Radiance, but I feel like FE games have plenty of replayability for the type of player I am considering all the different sorts of runs you can do in mixing up units and such.

So my answer would probably be Tales of the Abyss.

I've got almost 200 hours in Subnautica, but over half of that is from multiplayer randomizers so not sure if that counts.

I play through the original Half-Life and Bastion almost yearly.

for hours spent, probably Pokmon R/B/Y, maybe FFX or SMRPG. Definitely some RPG from when I was young that I replayed a bunch of times.

for number of times played through, it might be Banjo-Kazooie. DKC2 and SMW are up there too.

Super Mario RPG?

I'm going to go with Kirby Super Star. I played that game a ton when I was little and it was definitely the one SNES game I kept going back to and replaying when I was a kid.

I guess it helped that the game is short and the SNES cartridge for some reason was so bad at keeping save data that it would constantly reset itself. This wasn't an issue uniquely to me, it was a common issue as seen in the Kirby Super Star board (which infamously had an over decade old topic regarding it).

I never really know how to answer questions like this because I have a different definition of "replayable" than everyone else. Like, using the definition of what isn't replayable in the OP, those are the types of games I tend to replay the most.

I guess the answer for me would be Ace Attorney because I've beaten all of those multiple times, except for GAA1 and 2, but I'll probably remedy that soon.

Off the top of my head, some of the beginning-to-end games that I've played through multiple times (excluding speedruns):
Pokemon Gold/Silver
Kirby 64
Wario Land 2

i play ff7 and ff10 like every year or two

Probably Final Fantasy Tactics by this definition. Dozens of partial playthroughs. Close to 10 full playthroughs. Just different team gimmicks and challenge runs usually

As a kid my most replayed games were FFIV and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, and I wouldn't really consider those "replayable".

As an adult it's very rare that I replay games. Any gaming time I have usually goes to either new stuff or rhythm games.

I basically only play games from your definition of "not replayable", lol

My personal definition, roughly, would be that a game is replayable if it is as good or better on a subsequent playthrough. By this definition something might be replayable once or five times or endlessly, and they would all count as replayable. So like, for me Hollow Knight absolutely counts as replayable, but I probably wouldn't count certain rogue-lites (e.g. Hades).

My most replayed game that I feel gets significantly worse on a subsequent play is probably Phoenix Wright. I've played it 3 or 4 times and while going through the story again is fun it's definitely something I have to put years in between so I can forget large parts of it. Something else probably has it beaten in sheer number of hours but to me number of playthroughs is a better metric here than playtime, because certain games you could hit 200+ hours and still only be playing them once.

It might Pokemon game for me if it counts, but I'm not sure it does. The way you can make your teams should fall under the character customization, right.

Super Mario World is a good contender.

I think it has to be Final Fantasy Tactics.

I've played through DMC3 about 5-10 times but that game has multiple characters and it's pretty short.

Games in the 90-100 hour range for me are Witcher 3, Xenoblade 2, DQ11, and maybe Persona 5. But those were just long games, I didn't do much achievement hunting or crazy bonus stuff (except DQ11 I got platinum because that game rules).

4-5 plays of FFX so probably that. I played MGS3 like 20 times but each was like 5 hours so FFX still wins.

Terraria, if you don't fit it into "roguelite" status.

If you do, I'm thinking either Metroid Prime (went through 1-3 every year until 2015) or Ultima Underworld 1-2 (trying a bunch of different characters before ultimately resorting to the magical pocket sand bug for infinite free spellcasting)

I also redo Ultima 7 every so often, so there's that.

Whenever I am sad I play some dqv so that.

Ffx is up there

it's a dubious case for sure, but thinking about like... single player experiences i sunk more time into than anything else, the missions of gran turismo 4 come to mind. yes, i also put over a thousand hours into multiplayer and just actual standard races in that game, but i also remember dedicating days to 24 hour endurance events several times. easy to shoot this one down for it being because i chose to replay them but i don't think they're exactly designed to be replayed a ton

Either RE4, Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda or Ocarina of Time.

UF8 posted...

i chose to replay them

If that was entirely on you, then sure, that counts.

By the OP's definition of 'not replayable' I would say MGS1, RE4 and the Soulsborne games (offline) but by my definition I consider those infinitely replayable games.

Ocarina of Time
Breath of the Wild
Xenoblade Chronicles

These are the three single-player games where I may have invested over 300 hours apiece. I know I've done three complete playthroughs of both BotW and XC, and each playthrough logged in at a good 100+ hours. My memory with an older game like OoT is much hazier, but I wouldn't be surprised if the first playthrough took me nearly 100 hours as well, and I must have beaten it a good 10 times.

I've played Donkey Kong Country 2 30 something times so I guess that, though I'd imagine shorter platformers are generally considered somewhat replayable.

Also not really speedrunning, or trying to at like a pro level anyway. Just used to replay the game religiously because it's a perfect game.

I played (100% completionist) Majora's Mask at least yearly from like 2002 to 2019 or so. Haven't done it the past couple years because I've been scratching that itch with the randomizer instead, but that's still a lot of time in that game.

By sheer hour count, the only things I can think of that come close are Persona 4 and 5 (At 3-4 playthroughs of 80+ hours for each) and maybe Gen 1/2 Pokemon, and I'm not sure those are particularly close

FF7, estimating around 35 times at this point, kind of wish I kept track as I might've hit 40... maybe a dozen of those were speedruns.

FFIX quite handily I reckon.

Probably RE4

MGS2 and 3 have fallen behind due to being unavailable on ps4, while re4 came out on everything. But it's definitely those 3 ahead of the rest...maybe Pokemon RBY, though only if you count all its incarnations including remakes.

I hardly ever replay games anymore. There's simply too many I haven't played once!

I've played Ocarina of Time probably at least a half dozen times. Same with Half Life 2. So I'd likely say those.

Chrono Cross. Or Spyro 2. Both were way back in high school.

Id say I beat Chrono Cross about 5 times. Spyro 2 about 6 times. And just because Ill mention Resident Evil 4 which I beat 4 times.

Seanchan posted...

I hardly ever replay games anymore. There's simply too many I haven't played once!

same. although i rarely replayed stuff as a kid, too- my parents limited my screen time enough that a few games a year filled up that time

to answer the question, i think it has to be super mario 64. i'm not a speedrunner or anything, but it's straightforward enough to blast through on a lazy saturday. i think i've beaten it maybe four times

I think I spent 400ish hours on pokemon red

I can't think of any other offline game I've spent anywhere close to that much time on.

Probably one of the Fire Emblems

tcaz2 posted...

Probably one of the Fire Emblems

Probably three houses. Awakening and Fates also have more than 600 hours.

I read most played as in number of times you played through one game. If were talking total hours, its Fallout 4. It ran me up to 200 hours or so.

Mine is likely Morrowind. Definitely gone through that quite a few times.

Aside from that, one of the Final Fantasy's, as I've played through quite a few of them multiple times.