How often do you replay games?

not very often, i never chase trophies or collectibles, there's the odd title, like The Saboteur or Space Marine, which i replay because i like the world a lot, but those are rare enough.

i will do a second run or third run of an RPG if i'm able to build my character a different way, and play it in a different style - i've played through the Mass Effect trilogy once for each class, that's easily the most revisits i've given to any content.

in Elder Scrolls i tend to make a lot of different characters but i avoid repeating anything if i can, including the main quest.

I very rarely play a game through more than once. I do play a lot of RPGs where its a long first experience so I don't play through the game again, unless its been a long time, and the story and mechanics where good enough for me to want to replay it. There are other cases like Halo where I play through the game again on higher difficulty but this is mostly in Co-Op mode, I don't generally play the game in a higher difficulty solo. Sometimes I replay for collectibles I really like but this is almost always on an easier difficulty so I can get through the game fast.

Depends on the game. There are a lot of games I've only played once but I've played Mass Effect 2 at least 6 times.

I'm very selective with what games I buy, so I play through them more than once. That said, it depends on the game in all honesty. I haven't touched Sunset Overdrive once I finished, whereas I replayed Wolfenstein about three times, the Evil Within 2 times(The game is vert taxing so I couldn't go further than that), Castlevania:Lords of Shadow 3 times, Lords of Shadow 2 twice, and I played Arkham city more times than I can actually count.

I'm even trying to drain the MCC to it's last drop. I've played both Halo 2 and 3 twice (once on normal, now on Heroic), I'm gonna play CE and 4 on heroic as well, I'll later play all campaigns on Legendary(co-op), I've completed Spartan Ops, and once the big patch comes around I'll start playing the Multiplayer.

Basically, more often than not, I will replay a game at least once or twice.

These days, occasionally.

I'm not very likely to replay a game if it takes more than 20 hours to beat it, though, and even the 20 hour mark is a bit of a stretch.

I frequently end up replaying games that I enjoyed the first time(s). It causes some major backlog pileup, but it's guaranteed fun, so... yay fun.

If it's a massive time investment, I'll only play through once. Most RPGs and open world games fall in that category. Games that I have played through numerous times over the past few years include The Last of Us, Portal 1 & 2, Half-Life 2, Halo and all the Uncharted games.

I play through more than once the games that I like the most.

I generally only play things once. It's the same with movies and stuff too. Occasionally I'll repeat something to share it with someone else though, or if it's simply been a long time since I last watched/played it.

But for the most part, one and done is the way to go.

Depends on the game, impossible to average it out or break it out to any rules.

One of the natural problems with talking about game length and replayability / value.

I frequently feel like I've gotten everything I want out of a game before I even finish it (I probably only finish, like, 1 in 4 games I start), so I don't really replay them. The only games I've gone back to after "finishing" them are the Elder Scrolls games / other open world games where the main story isn't most of the draw.

it depends on the game.i almost always play loot games over and over if there good though.

The only answer is "Depends on the Game/Mood"

I replay through games kinda whenever I feel like. There is no rhyme or reason for it, but it usually just happens by coincidence. Rarely do I replay a game right after beating it, last time I did that was BioShock Infinite. For the most part I replay games a year or two years after beating it if I remember it fondly.

Example would be I just replayed Chrono Trigger, first time I beat it was 2 and 1/2 years ago and I just felt like playing it again. I also just recently replayed Tomb Raider (2013) because a co-worker and I started talking about it randomly (I really don't know why it came up) and I just got the impression to play through it again, and enjoyed it more this time than the first time I played it which was in 2014.

As I said I really don't schedule when I replay through things, I guess it usually coincides with a release of a new game in the series (like what I did with the Persona games last year and what I'm doing with the MGS games before Phantom Pain comes out). For the most part it depends on discussions with co-workers and also what I'm listening to/watching in terms of content. I'm listening to older bombcasts and currently in 2012 ones and starting to get the itch to replay Dishonored and XCOM, both games I fell hard into in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

I play through Mega Man 2 every couple of months just for fun. Other than that, though, I usually only go back into a game to get all the collectables. (because I'm an idiot.) It's mostly due to how long it takes me to complete a game, which is far longer than the average person, I've noticed. Whereas I've watched most of my favorite movies more than at least 5 times, I can't justify spending the 20 to 30 (or usually more) hours replaying even something I loved.

@kaos_cracker It's interesting that you specifically mention RPGs as games that require only one playthrough. Many RPGs have gameplay or narrative choices that could make subsequent playthroughs very different than the first, so I'd say that the RPG genre probably actually has the most to offer on a repeat play.

Depends on the game. I make sure to play Half Life 2 at least once every year (sans episodes). I constantly go back to various RTS / Strategy games.

I hop back into RPGs like Skyrim or New Vegas occasionally.

Something amazingly silly like Besiege, I'll hop into randomly for an hour or two.

I eventually replay most of the games I like, because there isn't much else to choose from.

Not very often

With very few exceptions, I play through games once and never go back. I've never had a 'backlog' either, I just move on and look forward to the next game.

I've got a good deal of games I've never finished, though the older I get the more I tend to finish my games instead of just playing some and moving on to the next. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that as an adult with bills I can no longer just afford to buy games for the sake of just having them.

Some games I only play through once, but others I replay a good deal. Okami and the hand held Legend of Zelda games being good examples.

I probably do more of that than most people on this site, just because I have kinda fallen out of love with video games and I could give less than two shits about anything new coming out, Bloodborne being pretty much the only exception I can think of. I just don't have that, "I don't have time! There's too much new stuff!" mindset in the slightest. At this rate there's like one or two games a year that interest me, so I have plenty of time to replay stuff I love or try out older games for the first time (such as the Metal Gear Solid series, which I'm loving. Thanks Dan & Drew!)

I typically only replay my absolute favorite games though. Ocarina of Time, PoP: Sands of Time, Castlevania IV, Sly Cooper Trilogy, Hotline Miami, Bastion, Outland, Mario Galaxy, KoTOR 1&2, Dark Souls 1&2, Oblivion/Skyrim, Mirror's Edge, Bully, Portal, World of Goo, etc. All of those are games I've played more than once, in some cases several times, and that I will almost undoubtedly play again. I'm sure that seems like an odd list to a lot of people, lol.

@ezekiel said:

I'm here^ these days. I used to play whatever just to play; good games were good enough. Now I just don't get into something unless it's really great and/or I can revisit it for years. I think of it more as keep-playing than replaying. Anything that doesn't fit that mold is a temporary diversion rarely worth full price.

The downside is that it makes the shortcomings of those games that much more significant. I get really annoyed about how Souls doesn't bother to expand on its multiplayer concepts, how GTAO sucks so hard at filling lobbies, and how Horizon 2 separates the single-player from the multiplayer...that kind of thing.

I only play through games once. I couldn't care less about achievements or trophies, don't tell me how to enjoy a game, if other people like that stuff fine, but a lot of them come off as time wasters, or "you're playing it wrong" or, "you didn't REALLY play the game."

I'll explore side areas and look for collectables, but won't go out of my way to find obscure and secret things.

For side missions and optional content, I usually do somewhere around 40~70 percent of it before I've had my fill and decide to get back to the mainline game; I find it difficult to go back to a game after I beat the critical path.

I mostly play games slower than average, going by times on how long to beat, but try and do everything I want to do in a game in that one play through.

Not as much as I used to. I have like 200 games now plus the PS+ games. If I replayed them all I wouldn't be able to start a lot of them. I'll play good games a lot though. I've 100% completed Vice City 10 times. I've gone through Persona 4/4G 5 times. I've finished Valkyria Chronicles 7 times. On the other end, if a game is bad I'll gladly not finish it. Metrico, Dokuro, Binding of Isaac, Max Payne, FFV; all games I don't think are good enough to warrant the time to play them.

It really depends on the game. If I was to look at all the games I've played I'd say I've replayed maybe 10% of them, and I never trade them in or sell them so that's not too much replay value at all. The games I do find myself coming back to would be games like the Souls series, GTA series, Fallout series and a few others. Trophies aren't too important but if the game has a chapter select and it's fairly easy to get I'll most likely go for it. In the games I do replay I find myself exploring every area, but I think that comes down to a fun game world worth exploring fully.

Depends on the experience. The Last of Us, Shadow of the Colossus, Half-Life 2, and Persona 4 are just a few examples of stories and experiences I want to go through again periodically. Beautiful Beautiful works of art.

Most of them. I keep a log of everything I've played and write a little summary saying something like "I'll loving playing this again in a couple of years" and sometimes with things like Advanced Warfare I'll complete on Hardened and immediately start again on Veteran if it was a blast. Tell you a game I'll never play again, though. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It was cack.

Like a good movie or book, some games are worth experiencing more than once. It can be a tougher sell if the game is very long, but that hasn't stopped me from making several Skyrim and Dark Souls characters.

Any game I enjoy usually gets replayed eventually, sometimes multiple times. I do have less and less time to replay stuff lately though. So busy.

I'll try and replay my favorites every year or so. Stuff like the Arkham games, symphony of the night, Pokemon (Insert any of the first 3 gen's colors) are a kind of annual tradition for me now. Not many games make that list though.

in the modern era that we are in now, I have only played 2 games more than once. Metal gear solid 3 and dark souls 2.

I used to replay games all the time, but when I got a gig as a games journalist, I had to give that up to continually blast through the newest releases. Now I'm freelancing and doing it on the side rather than a day job, I've found myself starting to replay games again. I'm not really a collectible gamer, but if it has a great story I'll definitely revisit it at some point.

I'm always hoping for a proper sequel to SWAT 4 so every now and then I'll install it back and play some. I recently installed COD4 and am enjoying just as much as I did back then.

If people don't want to replay games anymore does that mean modern games are increasingly unrememberableableable or that there's just more choice, or that something something something?

I tend to push my way through every game I start and replay most games at least once - I often don't finish the second playthrough, but I at least generally start a second playthrough.

Some games though, I replay a ton. I do a playthrough of Fallout and Metal Gear Solid every year, I was once tied for the most playthroughs of Mass Effect 2, and I've played through the first Mass Effect an ungodly amount of times that I'm too embarrassed to even say.

All games every year.

Depends on the game/mood. When I was a kid I beat Final Fantasy VIII at least fifteen times, for example. I played Mass Effect 2 three times in a row due to the dialogue options and just genuinely enjoying the ride. I replayed the first inFamous when it was part of Sony's Welcome Back freebies because I'd sold the disc and hadn't digitally downloaded a game to that point so it had a nice novelty. I've played through GTA V three and a half times, once was watching my girlfriend and helping with the harder missions, the half time was the PS4 remaster. Red Dead Redemption was either a PS+ game or there was a big discount for it bundled with Undead Nightmare which I didn't play originally and I replayed a little bit of it but had to delete it for hard drive space.

But I also burn myself on games I think would be really awesome to replay and then I just have them. I'm about halfway through Zone of the Enders and I bought the MGS HD Collection as part of the same sale because I thought it'd be awesome to have those games but I just rarely fire up my PS3 and if the PS4 ever got HBO Go/DLNA media streaming I'd sell my PS3 in a heartbeat for some extra cash. I also bought some JRPGs like the Chrono series and PS1 Final Fantasies I had every intention of playing but know they're just too time consuming for me at this point, new games would have to really dry up. I do it to myself though for sure, I admit I was wholly naïve and assumed up until the system was finally here that they'd find a way for all your PSN purchases to be useful on PS4; maybe someday that'll get tied into PS Now but who knows.

Sometimes, because I need to work!

It's sort of starting to bum me out, but recently I've been replaying more old games than I have been completing new games. I guess it doesn't help that at the moment, the big companies are putting out a ton of HD remakes/remasters, but even still, there haven't been many new games which could hold my attention. I've started to fall into a pattern of buying a game, playing it for about 10 hours, then never going back to it again. Like I said, it's starting to bum me out...

Usually only once, but if I buy a game digitally, I might easily pop back into it at some point in the future.

Or in cases when I got something for free. I bought a PS4 with GTA5 and Last of Us, and I'll probably play those two again at some point. Just played Mirror's Edge again because it was free from that December PS event.

Yakuza 4 was on PS Plus, so I'll play that again sometime.

I replayed games more so when I was younger. Back then, I would only get a few games a year so I there weren't lots of new games for me to move onto. Also, I had more time to revisit older games.

Now I don't really have the time to play most games so I tend to play new games. But it really depends on what I feel like playing. Sometimes I have an itch to replay the entire MGS series. Sometimes I don't.

I also replay Metroid games zillions of times cause I like to speedrun them!

All the time. My favorite games are those that are good enough that make me want to replay them immediately as soon as I hit the credits. Games I'm currently playing are XCOM Enemy Within, Dark Souls II and Destiny. I'm also looking to get controller support mods to be able to start a new ME2 and 3 playthrough.

Other games I often play are Mirror's Edge and Fire Emblem. Though somewhat less often. It's hard to find a game that is so good that makes me want to replay it basically until the end of time. Resident Evil 4 used to belong on this list, but no longer. I've finished that game so many times in so many ways, it doesn't really offer any great replay value on its own. I made challenges for myself like not firing a single shot or stuff like that but I know that game inside out. There is just no challenge in playing it anymore. XCOM on the other hand, I just got done having my squad wiped. I missed every shot, they hit everyone of theirs, no one in the world was able to do something against it. It's just RNG. But now I am faced with barely trained soldiers and it's going to be a challenge getting through it.

Mirror's Edge, it's always fun to try and beat your personal record. A game build for speedruns. Dark Souls, so many builds and things to experiment with. Endless PvP.

Some people call me crazy, but I don't think there are that many great RPG's. There are just very few of them that scream to be played again. Here's hoping The Witcher 3 will be good.

Well I tend to replay my favourite games. I pretty much always replay RPGs at least once no matter how long they are, depending on the game I might replay it multiple times - for example I'm currently on my 4th playthrough of Dragon Age Origins & I plan to periodically replay the series maybe once a year or so. I do the same thing with my favourite books/TV shows/films too.

I don't replay for trophies or anything like that & for most games its usually a while before I'll replay, typically at least a year or so after the first playthrough but there are exceptions. Then there are some games I really like but never seem to get the urge to replay and some I was fairly 'meh' about originally that I'll randomly want to replay years later. So it totally depends on the game.

I used to replay everything I owned over and over again until I got steady access to new stuff. Now I just replay some of my favorites when I get the urge and find the time.

I agree with the sentiment that RPG's have the most replay value. I mean the LEAST replay value is probably action games, the COD campaign or Uncharted one don't have much for second playthrough but I might still play them to show friends of mine.

I never finish games, I am crazy resonated with me. In the few cases where I've actually finished a game, I usually don't replay it from start to finish ever again, but I do tend to play a few hours of them every now and then.

Then there's of course open world sandbox games like Elite/Frontier or Wing Commander: Privateer which I return to every year, but again, only to explore the world, not to finish any story stuff.

No option for "Most games I never finish but some games I play several times."

I've got plenty of games I have barely started and instead I am replaying Mass Effect 2 again.

Most of the time I play them once, even if I absolutely love the experience. I can't really enjoy it as much the second time around because I already know what happens, unless the plot is extremely clever and you're able to pick up on small details in a second playthrough like Bioshock Infinite.

As many have said, it depends on the game. Most single player/linear experiences I'll only play once. Games like Spelunky, or FTL, I can almost play infinitely, but those might not really apply to this question.

Some examples for me though are Bioware games. I played through KOTOR 1 & 2 at least twice, the first Dragon Age like 3 times, and multiples on the Mass Effects.

I probably end up replaying games more than I play new games. It isn't an achievement/trophy thing, either. It's possible it's partly due to spending 10 years playing WoW off and on, but I tend to go back to RPGs a few times a year. I've replayed Fallout 1 through Vegas a number of times, Elder Scrolls from Morrowind to Skyrim, Mass Effect, Dragon Age.... yeah, mostly those, I suppose.

I should note it's mostly just once a year on them - not replaying them every few months or something.

I very rarely replay games. If I do it's usually because of a great co-op mode, like Halo or Gears of War.