993 Seems Obvious Now.
I have almost come to a point where I might just buy Paper Mario Sticker Star as a download. This feeling began while I was lugging my DS and game case from point a to point b for the millionth time. I was like “This wouldn’t be a problem if I just had these on a memory card…” then I was like “So this is how it starts…” The reality is that most RPGs only get one play through now. They have to be exceptional on a level equal to Mass Effect to get a second go. As good as the Mario RPGs are I haven’t ever gone back to one a second time. There hasn’t been a Final Fantasy worth playing twice since 8, arguably. Pokemon practically forbids a second playthrough, unless you buy the mirror version of the game, or are willing to delete your Pokemon. Those games are just taking up space now.
And really, who am I saving these things for? My kids? They seem less likely every year. Besides, if I ever did manage to have a child they are going to have a whole world of better games to play, if they even want to play them at all. My family is filled with sports enthusiests. There’s a good chance that I’d end up with a little jock. As much as that would pain me you have to let your kids be who they are. (It’s kind of odd that I’d be more sad if my son liked sport than if he was gay… That’s a whole other thing, I guess.) At this point all these games I have are just clutter. A select few are ones that I will ever go back to. The rest were just good stories I experienced, and never need to again. If they took up nothing more than space on a memory card it would free up a lot of space in my world.
This is the slippery slope of a world without physical copies…
As far as multiple playthroughs are concerned Bioware is pretty much the king. I played Mass Effect a few times through, and 2 at least twice. KOTOR one and two both god multiple go rounds. I expect Mass Effect 3 to be the same way, once I actually get it… (I’m wondering if there’s going to be an everything included release that I should wait for at this point.) That’s the only game I’m looking forward to that I’m likely to play more than once. As long as the ending doesn’t break my spirit the way it seems to have for others. XD Batman will probably be great, but unless there’s a power up mode after the main story it’ll probly get 1 and a quarter plays, because I’ll do a short test run where I fuck up the leveling system then do it right when I restart.
I played Fable 3 a couple of times through just to see what sort of changes being male or female made available. In the end, there really weren’t any. I really enjoyed that game though, so it didn’t feel like time lost.
What I need to do is get back in to “game enhancing”. I want to see the stories of some of these games, but not waste a bunch of time with bullshit grinding. Someone, somewhere, has to be working on ways to cheat. I just need to set aside a little time to see if they’re any good at it yet. Last time I checked no one had the brain meats to get anything done. I think there’s a thing for the Wii now. Maybe it could get me through Fire Emblem’s insane level of dificulty. No way am I playing hour long battles only to have to restart after some bitch gets killed.
I should poke around while my internet is holding up… Or read more Homestuck…
13 Comments
I also played Final Fantasy 8 twice. Good times.
I played Mass Effect 2 twice, good male and evil female, just to see the diferences. I found playing the female way easier because she covered less of the screen, allowing for a better view…
Before that, I never suspected that women had such advantages ;)
Hmm…in terms of game replayability I feel pretty similar. I keep thinking I’m going to go back and play a game again, but usually I’m so relieved and satisfied I’ve finished it that the likelihood of me going back to a completed game is often low. I have gone through the Paper Mario games twice, but the second time was with my younger brother who played and I backseat-gamed. You see mostly everything the first time in non-RPG’s, and many JRPG’s have minor elements that I’m more than happy to devote way too much time to my first playthrough, but if I try to play them a second time those small things seem pointless and I lose interest with the game as a whole (like Xenoblade Chronicles and gem crafting). To that point, I love the Advance Wars series since it does away with the troublesome permanent deaths of FE and has enough replay value when trying to S rank everything. Also, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is a more meaty experience but better if a story means something to you.
Also comic woo! Here’s hoping Mike never lets Carol’s obviously more vital role get to him whenever she coaches him. Jealous Mike would be a bad Mike.
I almost said something about Advance Wars but I thought I was getting more rambly than usual and losing my point. I’ve only played the story mode of most AW games once or twice, but I’ll play the other bits and war room stuff over and over because there’s so amny ways to try things out. Days Of Ruin was kind of sucky, so I don’t play it very much, but I break out Dual Strike when I’m stuck someplace for a longer time, if I have my game box handy.
When you think about it, there’s really no difference between a “physical copy” and a “download”. I mean the difference is purely an abstract one – they’re both data saved on a medium. You could in theory (ok, in practice too, although that’d probably be “illegal” or some shit, thanks to the copyright mafia, but I digress) the data from either form and save it on a hard drive, and there would be no difference between the data files.
Just posting to ask, “No love for FF9?”
Seriously, must’ve played that one at least 4 times through. Favourite one after 6.
That’s why I modified my statement with arguably. I liked 9, and it has one of my favorite characters in any rpg in it, but once I was done I was done. No desire to try again and do better.
Having played Mass Effect 2 six or seven times and watched most of Mass Effect played, Mass 3 was a HUGE deal for me. I invested quite of a bit of time and emotion into how some of the characters turn out and parts of the third game are absolutely BRUTAL. I could only play it for so long because it got REALLY heavy. It’s not that the third game isn’t worth replaying again – It absolutely is. Hell, I even tried. But once I got to the part in the story where some of the past decisions started coming home to roost, I stopped. It is absolutely worth a play. These three games really epitomize the fact that the Journey is the worthier part.
I usually play through Elder Scrolls (Oblivion and Skyrim, anyway) at least twice, too, once for mage and once for rogue. The games are so huge, though, that I usually make deliberate choices of not doing this or that quest, knowing that I’ll do it with a different character. Basically, any game with the good/evil, peace/chaos sort of dichotomy lends itself to at least a partial second play through. Currently on my second round of Dishonored…
Stabilizes*
Hey dude,
I just wanted to drop a comment now that I’m up-to-date on your work. I came here from QC, and I have no regrets!
This is a really adorable comic and I cannot wait to read the rest of it.
Awesome, hope to see you around the comments. Thanks for giving it a try.
So, then, is this a prelude to you getting rid of the games you have played before? If after you play a game you never touch it again then why keep them around?
Why indeed. Basically anything that’s a disc is valueless, so there’s nothing to do other than wing them into the trash. That’s like burning a book. You don’t burn books.