When was the last time you beat a game and started again?

In the last Beastcast Dan mentioned that RE VII was one of the few games he's finished and then immediately started over. The instant replay of a game (to me at least) is probably the greatest compliment you can give it. I haven't done this in years, and I'm not sure if it's down to there being fewer games that I considered worthy of an immediate second run-through or just my own lack of free time now that I'm a proper(ish) grownup. Probably a mix of the two.

Anyway, wondering which games people started from scratch immediately after beating and if there are any particular attributes they think a game must have to be worthy of such an accolade. Is Hitman tapping into some of this mojo with its new episodic format, perhaps?

Should mention the two games that sprung to mind when I started this: KOTOR and Dragon Age: Origins.

Cheers!

I just beat furi last week and immediately started a playthrough on the higher difficuly. It took me months to work my way through the first time, though, and even though I made it up to the third boss relatively quickly I am anticipating it will take me a few more months of off and on idle play to get through a second time. I've already put it down for a few days but will probably drift back to it again when I am less busy and need a quick and mindless play session.

Dark Souls 3. Thought I'd go for the platinum until I realized I'd outlevelled any chance of the (apparently already messy) matchmaking for covenants to get the last few spells etc..

Did the same thing with Bloodborne before it, Dark Souls 2 before that, and I think when I beat Dark Souls for the first time I played a chunk of NG+ because I wanted to tear through the first area again and feel overpowered (it was my first Souls game, so going back and dominating the area that I spent so much time learning the mechanics and steamrolling everything was really satisfying).

Don't really do it with a lot of games outside of Souls though, as I tend to play a lot of JRPGs. I used to do the Challenge Mode stuff in Ratchet and Clank to grind out all the weapons and stuff, but I never got around to it in the 2016 game (mostly because the flanderization of everything compared to the original made me a bit depressed).

The last three were Until Dawn, Dark Souls 2, and South Park: The Stick of Truth.

I almost did with Dragon Quest Builders to get 100% on achievements, but those time challenges didn't seem fun in the slightest.

I never actually pull the trigger fully, the most I ever do is beat the first level or hour with all the ng+ gear but yeah, probably the best compliment you can give to a game.

I replayed RE4 last year and did exactly this.

Pretty much all great games that are mechanically interesting and engaging. Last one was Nioh technically (NG+). Do it with pretty much all the Souls games, XCOM 2, Mirror's Edge, Mass Effect, Ninja Gaiden, DMC, BioShock Infinite... tons of games. I much, much, much rather replay a fantastic game than have a new experience with an 'okay' one. I like mastering games, I like playing games inside out. I don't like having one superficial playthrough and then being done with a game. Therefor, I probably also subconsciously select games that lend themselves well to that.

Dark Souls. Not the first, or my second, or my third, or my fourth playthrough, or my seventh on PC, however.

Before DSIII came out, I decided to play the original. I discovered the incredible power of the Man-Serpent sword, and leveled my strength to 40 before leveling any other stat. I was blitzing it, it was awesome.I beat the game for a fifth time, in 14 hours, dying only twice! -- my quickest by almost nine hours. I was so buzzed from it, I started NG+ immediately, and proceeded to beat the game again in just ten hours. Twice in 24 hours; I'll never do that again with another game, probably... Oh wait, but I did, the next day, with Dark Souls 2! What a weekend.

I beat ICO three times in a row to get the 'beat ICO in under 5 hours' trophy. That was rough, but I got there. I think there's a harder trophy I didn't get.

Total War: Warhammer. Many times over, but that might be pushing it, since it's not that story based.

I used to replay games constantly when I was in high school, had plenty of free time and little disposable income. This has become a rarer occurrence for me in the past several years, mainly because now I have a broader taste in games and can usually find something better to play or do.

The last game I replayed almost immediately was Bloodborne. I had taken a semester off of college when it came out, and at the time, I was having a lot of trouble maintaining sleep, so I ended up playing it on a daily basis (well, more or less).

Thumper

The only time I did that was with Bioshock Infinite, finished and started again on 1999 mode.

Probably did it a few times with Diablo 2 as well but I don't think it counts hehe

Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3. Bloodborne is my favourite of the whole series, and the first one I went through in its entirety 3 times before moving on. Undertale is another, simply because it's essentially designed to be played twice. I played through 3 separate difficulty modes in ascending order for DmC, back to back. I think my most recent is probably Salt and Sanctuary, which I finally played this month.

Dark Souls 3 probably. I'm fairly likely to do the same with Nioh, but I still have a little bit to go.

I may be in the minority, but ALMOST every game I buy, I will play it again.

Mos recently, Dishonored 2( actually finished my 3rd playthrough last night)

Last years Doom was the most recent but until then it was the first and second inFamous games so it had been a while.

DOOM, because my trigger fingers were not down yet. A lesser one titled Shantae Half Genie Hero for NG+.

A lot of Dark Souls mentions here. Maybe if I'd ever finished one I'd feel the same!

I approve of your gaming decisions.

I finished Dark Souls in one sitting once. Don't know how long I had played, but probably at least 12 hours. I also finished Dark Souls II three times in a week once. Such a fucking amazing game with all that DLC.

Loads of them, but they all generally favour being mechanics heavy games rather than story based but there are some story based ones.

Just off the top of my head would be: Souls series (excluding Bloodborne), Vanquish, Nioh, Bayonetta, DMC 3 and 4, Metal Gear Rising, Hitman Blood Money, DOOM, Max Payne series, Dragons Dogma and the Ninja Gaiden Series. The more story based ones I can think of are The Witcher 2 and 3, Mass Effect 2, Fallout New Vegas and Metal Gear 3 and 4.

This is just focusing on more recent games because I don't remember whether I specifically played certain games pre-2004ish immediately after I finished them. I probably just wrote out my favourite games in general but there you go!

Nothing immediately after finishing as in Dans example, but I did complete X-Com 2 again when Enemy Within came out.

Mass Effect is the one I remember off the top of my head.

I do this with all the Borderlands games.

Most recent thing I can think of was Shovel Knight. That game was rad, and I actually felt like going for most of the challenge achievements. Think I ended up doing 3 playthroughs or so? Got pretty close to getting all of the cheevos.

Beat the campaign in grim dawn about 8 or 9 times so far, before that i think mass effect series where i beat all 3 with 2 different characters. I guess I beat diablo 3 a few times as well.

@zevvion: DS II is super underrated. It has this almost icky reputation for no reason at all. It's a creative, colourful, wondrous slab of dark fantasy. Walking up to Drangleic castle, almost like it were carved into a mountain of obsidian, in the pouring rain, is one of the coolest gaming memories I have. It's so damn big.

That game rules. On my NG+ I was rocking a poison rapier, and wow, that is so much fun. You attack so quickly and the poison just eats em away. On bosses weak to it, it's over in a minute. You just unload those light attacks like an M16. Four rings makes so much sense, too, I'm glad they made that decision. It's more fun to replay than the original, especially on a fresh run when you can exploit bonfire ascetics and level like a mofo.

I beat Devil May Cry 3 on Dante Must Die mode by exploiting NG+ (I think your items carry over, so I had full holy waters, 30 vitality stars, etc.) I tried to do it again recently, and I have no idea how fifteen-year-old me did it, frankly. I will succeed again one day.

I very rarely do this anymore. I will sometimes play a game a second time, but it is usually much later on; not right after I beat it.

The exception is strategy sandbox games. There's been tons of times I beat a game of Civilization V and immediately started another game.

I think the last time I immediately started a second playthrough for a narrative game was for Bioshock: Infinite, and I didn't finish the second run.

I dont' do it as much anymore as i used to. Most game just aren't that immersive for me to spending more time on them. But the last game i did it on was Dark Souls 3, i beat that game 3 times in a row. I usually always end up playing through Souls games twice in succession.

After I completed MGS V I went back and S-Ranked all the missions and got my Raiden outfit. If that counts. Before that it was either Bayonetta 2 or Bloodborne.

As for games i've replayed the most it's probably Ninja Gaiden. Especially if you count all the revisions. (Black, Sigma, Sigma Plus) MGS2 is a close second though.

Probably Mass Effect 2.

Yakuza 0 im just having so much fun with that game.

I mean, not immediately, but I did speedrun Resident Evil 7 a few days after beating it for the first time. Before that, the last game I did that with was Doom, which I eventually got the platinum trophy for.

It does around these parts, but it's held in super high regard by the Souls community. There is even a community event going on right now for Dark Souls II. Everyone is supposed to replay it again from scratch, in an attempt to get the online parts of that game surging so people can interact with it again.

Dark Souls II is the best Souls game made to date. It is balanced by far the best and has over 270 some weapons and 120 some spells, it's insane how many times I have finished that game with completely different builds (like 40+ times).

The Witcher 2. In my first playthrough I went with Roache at the end of chapter 1 and I wanted to see how different it was if I went with Iorveth. It was awesome that it led to an entirely different city in chapter 2 with different characters and different end-game decisions.

Wolfenstein: The New Order, there were two choices you could make in that game so i played through again with the other choice.
Spoilers, it doesn't make any difference pretty much, i feel like i wasted my time... good thing the game was still fun a second time through.

RE7, but I tapped out right before the second location. I was more curious to see the item/content changes on Madhouse than anything. Still going to go back at some point and finish that run, though.

Abzu. It's short. The game is beautiful visually and musically (so I wanted to stay within the world a little longer). Plus, the collectables are fairly easy to find, and result in more sea critters to swim freely; it felt horrible to leave the game with some of the fish still locked away.

The Witcher 3. I went the Yennefer route and wanted to go Triss next, but ended going Yennefer again. Still worth it.

The Last of Us is the only game I've ever played start to finish twice in a row. I've gone back to clean up collectables in other games, but never played them through again from the beginning.

I've played through games like Diablo 2 and 3 many, many times, but I usually put it down for a while after maxing out a character and then come back to it later. I also replayed a lot of the levels in Hitman, but I don't think that's the same. I certainly wouldn't have started that game over again if it had come out as a single package.

@aktivity: I'm replaying the Witcher 3 at the moment as I was waiting for both the expansions to be out. I'm enjoying it almost as much as my first play through.

Dishonored 2. After beating it with Emily on low chaos I pretty much immediately started a new game as Corvo and finished with high chaos... I might have then started a no powers run right after that. I kinda like that game.

I generally only do this with bethesda or Bioware titles. I think the last one that I played through immediately after completing it was Dragon Age: Inquisition. I'm attempting to do the same with Fallout 4 as I've recently beat that for the first time, but I doubt I'll play much more with other games coming out.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance, way back in the day. Even for games I absolutely adore, I almost always need a break before a second playthrough.

I just did this with DOOM the other day. Started a Nightmare playthrough right after I finished (the name is...apt). Also I think with every Souls game save 3 (haven't beaten it yet). Most games with a NG+ I'll at least play a couple of hours into straightaway.

And maybe Hitman? Does that count? I feel like I'm just constantly playing Hitman and finished the story missions a week after I got it in December.

And here I thought to myself "Dark Souls is probably a game noone has mentioned yet!"

Damn son.

Anyway, I speedrun through Serious Sam TFE every few months.

EDIT: Besides that, sometimes I play though Duke Nukem 2 and Turrican also but its mostly once a year or so. Great games.

Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite in the Bioshock Collection. Platinum baby.

I actually liked it even more the second time through. Really took my time to read the books and engage in the world. The only negative thing I have to say about that NG+ is that you can't start a NG++ with the character you bear NG+ with. I don't need it to change difficulty or anything, I just want the option to play through it again with everything I have now.

I don't do this very often, but when I do, I immediately start a new playthrough and then stop after a few hours and move to a different game. Dark Souls if the only example I can think of in recent memory. I played 90 hours then started another character then quit a few hours later.

GTA V. Finished it then restarted immediately while doing the heists differently. I also looked up how to maximize money the second time around so I could buy everything.

Revengance since I knew I'd be OP anyway. It was actually much easier than I thought. Monaco and Lost Planet 2 I both played by myself and then replayed several times in coop. I honestly don't replay most games immediately ,if at all. I really prefer to finish most games and move on.