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Serious Games You Like Replaying

ziggyrivers

thunder
Pronouns
He/him/his

We all have that one game we play once or twice per year and throughly enjoy it!

What's your replayable game of all time?

Mine is FINAL FANTASY IV Advance. Even though I've recently replayed Breath of the Wild a lot, the GBA port of FFIV is a game I routinely liked to replay (mostly because I would grind Cecil to Lv. 40 once he became a Paladin in Mt. Whatever xD).

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For those that don't replay games a lot, why don't you replay them?
 
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I'm replaying the Powerwash Simulator career mode. I don't often replay games, but after I was done, I found the whole experience so satisfying, I just wanted to do it all over again.
 
I replay my favourite games on the regular. If I really like a game it's rarer for me to stop with one playthrough.

I've played Banjo-Kazooie at least three times a year since 2020, so that's my answer.
 
Dark Souls 1 I beat once or twice a year still and have for a long time.

I've beat Metroid Prime a dozen times and still play it every now and then.

Some of the older Pokemon games I can easily replay and not get bored with.
 
Mine are mostly older games I can rattle through in an evening or three. Zelda LTTP/LA, Super Castlevania IV, Megaman 2. That kind of thing. I love RPGs but I rarely replay anything that’s over 5 hours or so.
 
Pilotwings-SNES-11.png


I'll put Pilotwings SNES on once a year or so, I love the vibes.

I wish they would make another one, maybe give the game Advance Wars type characters and style instead of bland Miis like in the decent but forgettable 3DS game.
 
If I want to replay a lifelong favourite, I do a 100% Super Mario World run. I usually do that about once a year.

I have found myself replaying Yakuza 0 a lot. I’m in the middle of my… 8th play through I think? I’ve lost count.
 
I think I've probably replayed Yoshi's Island at least once every year or so since I first got the GBA version as a kid

For Halloween, I usually end up replaying either Luigi's Mansion 1 or Batman Arkham Asylum since they're thematically fitting and fairly short to play through

couple other games I'm kinda always thinking "is it time to give that another go?"
  • Mario Land 2
  • Kirby's Adventure/Nightmare in Dreamland
  • Portal
  • Mario Sunshine
  • gen 3 Pokemon games
  • Super Metroid
  • Doom (the original)
  • Resident Evil 4
 
I have already lost count on how many TotK save files I've started and restarted. I know that I have save files across 8 different Switch profiles. One is my main, but I've started and restarted save files here and there on the 7 others.

And don't get me started on BotW.

I am the diametrical opposite to people who don't replay them and say "The first time was magical but the game really does lose its luster when you've explored the world/done all the shrines/beaten Ganon/etc. I wish I could erase my memory and reexperience it for the first time". I really disagree on that. For me, the magic in the games is reexperiencing them, and finding new ways to play, new approaches, discovering new quirks and intricacies both when it comes to the gameplay and also when it comes to the world. Every playthrough is unique depending on where you go and what you do. Everything is so flexible. On a macro scale, it's so much fun to replay for those reasons, but it's also gratifying on a micro scale. There's so much density and scope and attention to detail in Hyrule (See all the dozens of "STILL didn't know" by GameSpot and others) that there's always something small and new to find, even after thousands of hours.

if that's not a replayable game, then I don't know what is.

Even something like the TotK intro is immortal to me, I love reexperiencing it time and time again, always finding the smallest stuff to obsess over, such as new nuances in the music, new things in the enviornment or subtle animation details. The magic just never dies for me in a way that it perhaps does for many others.
 
1.Fire emblem Radiant Dawn.

-The large cast. You can either steamroll with the best units or make up some dumb challenges with the terrible ones
  • the chapter variety, lot of different type of goals to do. Adds to the first point
  • the structure of the game being presented in different armies meaning you have this “starting over” feeling that isn’t present in some games so a game doesn’t get too easy.
-the difficulty is pretty decent. Of course I can steamroll easily. It’s still challeng when you get too confident.
-Ike

And Yugioh. I just like the card game a lot. The legacy of dualist is pretty good.
 
I played Persona 5 for the first time in 2019. I got about halfway through a new game plus run right after that before burning out. Then, I played Persona 5 Royal when it came out in 2020. A few days after I beat it, I played it again with new game plus. Once it came out on switch, I had to play it again in portable mode. So, between all versions of Persona 5, I have played it 4.5 times.

Don't get me started on Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I covered every route - some of them more than once - and got over 250 hours in that game.

I also go back to Metroid Prime and Zelda Wind Waker at least once every few years. Can't go wrong with either!
 
There are a small number of games I've played a second time, many many years after the first play through. OG Zelda, Link to the Past, SMB1. Mostly games that I looked at with adults eyes. But I've never really understood replaying games. It's just not how I engage with them.
 
Baldur's Gate I + II are always fun ones to go back too.

Arcanum as well.

Any RPG that gives you that degree of freedom to do whatever you want, lends itself really well to multiple playthroughs since the content still feels fresh each time.
 
Rarely replay games

Sometimes I will if there's more exploration I want to do with the systems, but I've finished the main missions etc.

Happens most with immersive sims (or adjacent) e.g. Deus Ex, Deathloop

Also, shorter FromSoft games like Bloodborne

Some childhood favourites get another look years later too (Final Fantasy IX, Mega Man Legends)
 
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If there's metroid in the title, I am most likely replaying it, expect for the ogre and other M. I also do mega man X and Banjo Kazooie at least once a year
 
I've replayed most of the Ace Attorney and Professor Layton games (especially both original trilogies and crossover) so many times I lost count ages ago. Those are just comfort games for me now.

If it doesn't take up too much time I like doing series replays as part of new game hype too, been thinking of doing one for Doom (or at least the modern duology) thanks to Dark Ages.
 
Most Metroid games. They're my biggest Nintendo obsession, but they're also short and sweet and fun to 100% again every time
 
1- Kingdom Hearts - 17-18 replays in total. I just love everything about this game. Something pulls me back all the way to the start everytime I finish it.
2- Golden Sun - 15 replays - Same as above. Maybe it's the soothing Sakuraba soundtrack
2- Wario Land 3 - countless - GOTY 2000 for me. This is what I call a flawless game.
4- Link's Awakening DX - countless - my savior from boring times of my childhood.
5- God of War (og) - ~15 replays - It's definitely the chilling soundtrack. And delicious atmosphere. I could go for another replay right about now. Too bad the 2018 game doesn't even match the 1 percent of this.
6- Yoshi's Island - countless, especially in the 90s - Two worlds: Bring. Ha.
 
Metroid Dread is by far my most replayed game because I can beat it in one sitting and there's always enough of a challenge for each run to be interesting. The level design is so good that I don't have to memorize where to go or even look at the map, it just comes naturally to me in the moment. And if I'm really feeling it I can go for Dread mode or try some sequence breaks.

I also replayed BOTW frequently up until the release of TOTK.
 
Bloodborne
Hollow Knight
Sekiro
Mario 3, the GBA version
Botw
Links awakening
Mario Galaxy

All games i'll replay or play in short burst, since i find these all very good.
 
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as a general rule I don't really replay anything(and not just games, other forms of media like books and movies as well)

the only exception is sometimes if a game gets a rerelease but even then it has to be like at least a decade or two since I played it and it has to be a game I have a lot of nostalgia towards
 
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Usually end up replaying platformers a lot since they’re typically on the shorter side and easy to pick up and play. But like others, if it’s one of my favorites, I’ll replay it often. In terms of longer games, I enjoy replaying Pokémon games, often with some sort of self-imposed challenge; I’ll also do it while multitasking on other things since input-wise they are very simple.
 
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I replayed Ocarina of Time like, 3 times since december last year so I guess it'd be that game haha, I always love to just pop it on to relax. Honestly after playing Perfect Dark for the first time recently I'm already tempted to replay it again!
 
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I have played the original Legend of Zelda on NES at least 30 times over the years. It just never gets old for me.

Honorable Mentions: Super Metroid; Super Mario Bros. 2 USA; Final Fantasy IV & VII; and Hollow Knight, of course

I love video games
 
First ones that come to mind—
Luigi’s Mansion
Pikmin
Super Mario Land
Kirby’s Dream Land
Metroid

All short and sweet. Not so much Luigi’s Mansion but the rest can be easily completed in one small play session and are very replayable.
 
I replay Chrono Trigger almost yearly.

Resident Evil 3 Remake is a great weekend runthrough.

I've probably replayed Dragon Quest 3 100x since childhood (so you can guess how excited I am for the remake)
 
Most 3d mario games
I’ve lost count of how many super mario 64 100% play trough I’ve done, probably over 15 if I had to guess since I’ve had to cancel my save files multiple times since I had 4 different 100% files in 3 different mario 64 games (og, virtual console and 3d all star)
Similar to this is my mario sunshine in 3d all star where I had to delete a file to complete the game 100% for a fifth time.
I’ve beaten galaxy 6 times 100% (3 as mario and 3 as luigi).
And I’ve done a 100% all sticker run of mario 3d world 3 times which means I’ve played all the levels 18 times since I didn’t use the multiplayer trick to complete the levels with multiple characters + I lost count of how many bowser’s fury run I’ve done.
3d mario is my jam and even odyssey, galaxy 2 and 3d land I’ve beaten multiple time 100%.
I’ve done 6 different hard mode run of dkc tropical freeze plus 3 normal mode runs.
I beat castlevania 1 every halloween and I beat ninja gaiden nes everytime I feel bored (I’ve probably done more than 30 run of that game).
And of course fire emblem, like all of them.
And the 2 open air zelda games especially tears of the kingdom, I don’t even do multiple play through, i just love opening the game and playing it and do stuff in it.
 
I'm replaying the Powerwash Simulator career mode. I don't often replay games, but after I was done, I found the whole experience so satisfying, I just wanted to do it all over again.
lmaoo how's the game? Is it like those ASMR Tiktok/Instagram videos of people cleaning? xD

I replay my favourite games on the regular. If I really like a game it's rarer for me to stop with one playthrough.

I've played Banjo-Kazooie at least three times a year since 2020, so that's my answer.
Pokemon Diamond Version and Platinum come to mind as well! I really liked replaying them. I always find it satisfying to raise a team from zero, from their Starting Evos

Dark Souls 1 I beat once or twice a year still and have for a long time.
Dear, God. I can't see myself finishing Dark Souls and those types of games and thinking: lemme do that again xD

I love RPGs but I rarely replay anything that’s over 5 hours or so.
lmao I understand xD

Was about to say Side Order but it’s a roguelite so, like... yeah. I do replay Super Mario Bros. Wonder every ~2 weeks, as well as Pikmin 4.
Now that you mention Super Mario Bros., I used to replay Bros. 3 a loot!

If I want to replay a lifelong favourite, I do a 100% Super Mario World run. I usually do that about once a year.
Oh, oh! I used to replay World a looot!

I have found myself replaying Yakuza 0 a lot. I’m in the middle of my… 8th play through I think? I’ve lost count.
Wow! 0_0 I def need to give the Yakuza games a try.

I don't know how much you like the games because of the Yakuza content, but HBO's Tokyo Vice is a very cool series you could watch.

I think I've probably replayed Yoshi's Island at least once every year or so since I first got the GBA version as a kid
This is another game I used to replay a lot back when I was a child! haha

For Halloween, I usually end up replaying either Luigi's Mansion 1 or Batman Arkham Asylum since they're thematically fitting and fairly short to play through
I used to love replaying Luigi's Mansion as well. Have never played any of the Arkham games, and I'm a die hard Batman fan ahhahah (my boyfriend gifted me a Batman logo necklace)

couple other games I'm kinda always thinking "is it time to give that another go?"
  • Mario Land 2
  • Kirby's Adventure/Nightmare in Dreamland
  • Portal
  • Mario Sunshine
  • gen 3 Pokemon games
  • Super Metroid
  • Doom (the original)
  • Resident Evil 4
Is Nightmare in Dreamland the GBA game? I loooved replaying that as a kid

have already lost count on how many TotK save files I've started and restarted.
I've been meaning to replay Tears of the Kingdom, but I really wanna play the Apollo Justice Trilogy first. There's something about the starting areas of BOTW and TOTK that really grab me into reexperiencing the full game. They're very relaxing starting areas.

Speaking of Ace Attorney, those are games I easily replay once per year. I had a sudden urge to replay the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, but I wanted to get Paper Mario, ahhahaha

I am the diametrical opposite to people who don't replay them and say "The first time was magical but the game really does lose its luster when you've explored the world/done all the shrines/beaten Ganon/etc. I wish I could erase my memory and reexperience it for the first time". I really disagree on that. For me, the magic in the games is reexperiencing them, and finding new ways to play, new approaches, discovering new quirks and intricacies both when it comes to the gameplay and also when it comes to the world. Every playthrough is unique depending on where you go and what you do. Everything is so flexible. On a macro scale, it's so much fun to replay for those reasons, but it's also gratifying on a micro scale. There's so much density and scope and attention to detail in Hyrule (See all the dozens of "STILL didn't know" by GameSpot and others) that there's always something small and new to find, even after thousands of hours.
Yeah, since BOTW and TOTK are the types of games that you can go from Point A to Point B through various ways, it still feels like you're playing it for the first time. I always feel the same way whenever I return to the Great Plateu when restarting BOTW.

Even something like the TotK intro is immortal to me, I love reexperiencing it time and time again, always finding the smallest stuff to obsess over, such as new nuances in the music, new things in the enviornment or subtle animation details. The magic just never dies for me in a way that it perhaps does for many others.
Wooord! I always find and notice something new whenever I replay games!

I also go back to Metroid Prime and Zelda Wind Waker at least once every few years. Can't go wrong with either!
I got an urge to replay Prime during the Prime 4 Beyond trailer fever! haha

Wind Waker is a game I replayed a lot back when I had it for GCN

1- Kingdom Hearts - 17-18 replays in total. I just love everything about this game. Something pulls me back all the way to the start everytime I finish it.
Oh, yes! I've restarted the series twice now. Have only ever made it to Birth by Sleep. I actually need to buy the II.8 Collection

2- Golden Sun - 15 replays - Same as above. Maybe it's the soothing Sakuraba soundtrack
Have never replayed them. Really need to tho

2- Wario Land 3 - countless - GOTY 2000 for me. This is what I call a flawless game.
Wario Land 4 for me! Used to love replaying it as a kid

I replay Chrono Trigger almost yearly.
Oh! This is another game I replay a lot, but like, on a two year basis
 
As a kid I used to replay Link's Awakening, The Minish Cap and Metroid Zero Mission all the time. One of the games I return to every couple of years or so is Banjo Kazooie. It's my comfort game.

Funnily enough I'm replaying a lot of games at the moment that I played a decade or so ago. It's cyclical, I guess.
I'm not replaying most games too often, since I try to go for 100% which can be exhausting in the case of JRPGs for example. Whenever I finish a game I liked I'm collecting its soundtrack. If I want to revisit the game I simply listen to the music which often is enough to satiate the interest. I also like to watch retrospectives by folks like KingK.
 
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Resident Evil 4.

It's one of those games that you get a sixth sense of after you play it enough times. You know how to move through a hoard of ganados and never get hit, even if you couldn't explain how you were doing it. When you bait out an axe swing so you can knife someone in the head to get a stagger that allows you to roundhouse kick a crowd of ganados that are already reaching for you--it feels amazing.

It's tied with Paper Mario: TTYD for my favorite game of all time, but with TTYD, you have to preserve that love rather than reexperiencing it through replaying the game. The more you play TTYD, the more boring it is to play and the less charming its writing is. That's the nature of RPGs and quirky funny scripts.
 
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For those that don't replay games a lot, why don't you replay them?
Question for those that don't like replaying games. Genuinely curious
 
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I used to love replaying Luigi's Mansion as well. Have never played any of the Arkham games, and I'm a die hard Batman fan ahhahah (my boyfriend gifted me a Batman logo necklace)


Is Nightmare in Dreamland the GBA game? I loooved replaying that as a kid
Yeah, Nightmare in Dreamland is the GBA remake of Kirby's Adventure for the NES

Would definitely recommend checking out Arkham Asylum. Esp. if you liked the 90's animated series, since it's got Paul Dini as a writer and a lot of the actors (including Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill) reprised their roles. It's a bit of a meme at this point but it really does do a good job of making you "feel like Batman"
 
I usually ADD away from games before I can beat them once, no matter how much I enjoy them, so I can name the number of games I've beaten twice on one hand.

Big shoutouts to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 as one of those though. It's not the best game of all time, but it's way better than it has any right to be. When they release the remake I'll beat it a third time.

And yes, that is a 'when', because I will commit numerous unspeakably heinous acts if they decide to remake the first game, sell two million copies, and then never come back for the superior sequel.
 
Pikmin 2 is usually up there. Very good memories with that game.

I am perpetually a breath away from replaying Umineko at all times. And that's dangerous since it is so long... But I love it so much, I have to stop myself from doing it actively. Like no, you can't just keep replaying this 80+ hour visual novel experience all the time. You'd get nothing else done. But once I think about it again even slightly, it's "Oh, I should play that again." Dangerous stuff, folks.
 
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Yeah, Nightmare in Dreamland is the GBA remake of Kirby's Adventure for the NES
Oh! I didn't know it was a remake of the NES game xD I always thought it was an original game.

Big shoutouts to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 as one of those though.
Oh! I love Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2! I replayed it twice since I first got it as Explorers of Time and then double dipped into Explorers of the Sky~
 
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  • Metroid games are perfect for this. It's easier to say the games I DON'T replay often, which are Metroid NES, Metroid II, Other M, Prime Hunters, and to a lesser extent Samus Returns (has some annoyances that I don't really want to return to in hindsight). The rest are perfect for replays.
  • Both Sin and Punishment games. While Star Successor is like over two hours which is actually insanely long for a rail shooter, it's still absolutely a joy to blow through in one sitting no problem.
  • Sonic games, but especially Sonic Heroes. That has the least amount of annoyances to do full playthroughs of, compared to most other Sonic games aside from Generations.
  • Shmups are great for replays as well. Special shoutouts to Gradius V and Radiant Silvergun, some of the best games I have ever played.
  • Xenoblade is a special case because I have actually replayed the games before in a relatively short amount of time, which is actually relatively hard for me to do for such long RPGs. I'll put this in here even if I don't replay it like every single time I can.
 
I like to move from game to game quickly and experience a lot of new games, so I don't replay old favourites that often. But when I do, Donkey Kong Country is a frequent pick. It's very much a nostalgia thing, but it also helps that it's not an overly long game and is very easy to start without having to grasp complex controls or such.
 
Hollow Knight is basically my comfort game. It came out shortly after a personal tragedy and really lived up to the idea of games being "escapism." I was just so absorbed by its world that I actually strived to fully complete it (and would've succeeded if it wasn't for those meddling expansions ;p).

I go back to the game every now and then when I'm feeling nostalgic for the spell it once had on me (e.g. last year when I tried to conquer steel soul mode, only to fail by the nail of those wretched watcher knights).

Currently going through another rough patch, so Silksong plz sometime soon lol
 
I have replayed the mass effect trilogy and the individual games within at least once a year, some times multiple times a year, for the past 17 years. I replay super Mario Galaxy about once a year as well, but I didn't play that for the first time til 2011.

Regarding more recent releases, I think I have replayed the resident evil 2 remake about twice a year since its launch in 2019.
 
Yakuza 0 and Ishin I’ve beaten multiple times in the last few years (0 like seven times now).

Fire Emblem 3H I’ve played through a dozen times and still love too, every route multiple times (and Black Eagles way more than twice).

I’ve also replayed every pre-3DS Pokemon a ludicrous number of times (I’d guess 30+ playthroughs of Yellow, Ruby, Silver and Pearl, a dozen or so for Black and Black 2) but I’m sort of done with them for the moment
 
I never replay any games. Even the one's that I absolutely love and would label a 11/10. Sometimes I'll go on youtube and watch cutscenes if I get the itch. I just find it hard to go back to 30+ hour story games when I already know what's going to happen.

Platformers like Mario is different. Their is nothing you really have to remember and be invested in. I'll just go through the map picking levels at random and play.
 
  • Sonic games, but especially Sonic Heroes. That has the least amount of annoyances to do full playthroughs of, compared to most other Sonic games aside from Generations.
Oh! I liked replaying Sonic Heroes a lot!

Fire Emblem 3H I’ve played through a dozen times and still love too, every route multiple times (and Black Eagles way more than twice).
That reminds me, I need to replay the game and properly do the Yellow Deers route
 
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I’ve always been someone who typically plays a game, enjoys it, then moves on to the next game. Whenever I do replay a game it has to be one of my goats (Sonic Mania, Mario Odyssey, DKC2), be a multiplayer/ non single player game I always love going back to (Mario Kart, Smash Ultimate, Jackbox), or be different enough when played in a certain way that it feels like a new game (playing 3D World multiplayer, playing Kirby Superstar with a friend)
 
Metroid (to the shock of no one). Fusion and ZM I can reliably blast through in under two hours so they're great if I need a break from a longer game I'm playing. Definitely up for another Dread or Prime run soon. Portal 1&2 are up there with my most replayed. Bloodborne as well if I've got enough time between new releases.
Availability is a big thing as I don't have a computer for games. Any older titles I would replay in a heartbeat require digging out an old console, so they don't really get priority compared to something on Switch. Sonic Adventure 2 and Rayman 2 got a lot of replays when they were easier to get my hands on, as did much of the Resi series.
Lately though I play games so intensely and completely that I get burnt out and don't touch them again (yet), like every Resi since 7 or Hades.
Plus there's plenty of games I'll dip in for a bit just to run around even if it's not a whole replay, BotW/TotK or a Bethesda rpg.
 


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