We all have games we like to return to and I'm curious to know which titles you guys return to every few years to scratch that itch?

LoZ: Ocarina of Time - I'm going to say I've played through this a dozen or so times. For me, this puts me in the holiday spirit. I only played through the game once when I was younger but I started so many save files and completed the child Link section on so many occasions. I still haven't really mastered the adult sections yet but the game is constantly taking me back to old memories of past holidays and what I was going through or even what I was watching/listening to.

Super Mario World - I think Mario and a lot of the classic SNES platformers lend themselves well to this list but SMW is the stand-out. I think what makes SMW stand-out is all the secrets, the Metroid-like elements and how fun it is to fly around everywhere.

Tales of Symphonia - The game has a NG+ feature which turns it from a 50 hour JRPG epic into a more manageable 10 and there's so much to explore in that time it's like a really fun road trip. There's also a few branching paths, but typically I don't deviate too much outside of one goal like unlocking more titles. For me this came out during a JRPG sweet spot where they didn't try and re-invent the wheel and the game had some variety as far as the world map goes.

Pokemon Blue/Red/Yellow/Fire Red/Leaf Green/Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee - 10 times. Pokemon games in general lend themselves to replay since the core element is assembling your own party and with all the different re-releases, side-games and fan projects the Kanto region is the one I'm far more familiar with. I still think after all these years GameFreak has never quite surpassed that original campaign.

Kingdom Hearts - A recent contender and what makes KH stand out to me is how it's one of the few games where I feel compelled to beat everything in the game. Since each side-quest usually has a worthwhile reward locked behind it, they're enjoyable enough to complete and the game is relatively short. The game also has more of a summer vibe to it which actually lends itself well to an Australian Christmas (and so does Zelda, the country theme hits close to home).

Honorable Mentions - Persona 5 (let it be known I beat this three times in six weeks just to show Blindy up - joke was well and truly on me. Speaking of, Blindy we're doing a Royal playthrough in '23), Banjo Kazooie, Goldeneye, Nioh, Pokemon Gen I-IV, Gen IX, Tales of Vesperia, FFIX, Majora's Mask, Sekiro, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario 64 etc.

BONUS QUESTION - What's one game you want to return to? For me it's currently Pokemon Colosseum. I'm just caught between two minds since I have a save that's right in the post-game and I can finally catch a Gen 3 Ho-Oh. PLUS I'm playing through Scarlet & Violet and I feel whatever time I put into Colo is time I could be trying to get Master Ball rank in S/V.

No Mercy, duh.

Dec 28, 2022 12:32:22 GMT 🤯 said:

No Mercy, duh.

Did you ever beat all the campaigns? I was thinking more single player content wise - so Goldeneye Story Mode = Fair game. Goldeneye Multiplayer = No go.

Super Mario World: I may or may not have mentioned in the past, that in my opinion, Super Mario World is the greatest game of all-time (as I do a yearly playthrough of the game).

Pokémon Fire Red: is another game that's gotten quite a bit of love from me over the years, especially when you factor in all the various rom hacks of the game.

Luigi's Mansion 3: has become another yearly game that I play since its release.

Obviously there are the games that are meant to have multiple re-play value IE Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros: Ultimate.

Following that Ocarina of Time memorisation remark, I had a thread idea about "which games have you played so often that you've memorised", but I like your more general version.

Donkey Kong Country series

I think I’ve beaten DKC 2 well over 100 times

Final Fantasy VII

Whenever it gets ported to a new console

Final Fantasy VIII

I’ve played through the start multiple times but never actually finished it, I came close again but didn’t transfer my saves from ps4-5 and just gave up :lol:. I’ll finish it one day

Diddy Kong Racing

Best kart racing game ever

Grand Theft Auto III

Played this the most out any of the GTAs

World of Warcraft

Not sure if it counts but I’d jump back in every expansion briefly/played classic when it re-released.

The first thing that comes to mind in Diddy Kong Racing is how crazy the difficulty curve is. I remember coming back to it and expecting to breeze past the game only to get walled by multiple boss fights. The Wizpig races in particular took numerous attempts - I think I went an entire Impact episode and well into Poker before I finally beat it. That race will always remind me of an older Shane Douglas cutting a promo on Daniels and heel Don West. I also think about how difficult the silver coin challenge in Greenwood Village.

Also muscle memory completely kicked in for each hidden key. 'Why do I want to drive up this drawbridge for? Oh....'

DKCII would be right up there for me if the game stops two worlds in. For whatever reason I always feel satisfied by that point, that's definitely one game I'd like to get a few runs in.

MMOs definitely count especially if you're playing private servers/new characters.

DKCII and DKCI are easy runs for me, outside of like 1 level each game that could give me a bit of a fight. I also have replayed the crap out of Final Fantasy IV and VI, the two best FFs. Also just did my 2nd run of Final Fantasy X last year.

And I have done 3-4 runs of Resident Evil 4(And we got the remake baby in 2023) and The Walking Dead Season 1 as well. Have done the Sonic Genesis trilogy a few times as well, most recently in preparation for Sonic Mania few years ago.

Have done a few Shining Force I runs too, have to say a good 3 times or so. Haven't played this one in ages though, we're talking PS3 via Sega Genesis collection.

Dec 28, 2022 13:07:09 GMT Big Pete said:

Dec 28, 2022 12:32:22 GMT 🤯 said:

No Mercy, duh.

Did you ever beat all the campaigns? I was thinking more single player content wise - so Goldeneye Story Mode = Fair game. Goldeneye Multiplayer = No go.

Yes. The only feat that has still eluded me is getting 100 in Survivor. Honestly, not even sure it's possible...

Dec 29, 2022 1:27:47 GMT Blindy said:

DKCII and DKCI are easy runs for me, outside of like 1 level each game that could give me a bit of a fight. I also have replayed the crap out of Final Fantasy IV and VI, the two best FFs. Also just did my 2nd run of Final Fantasy X last year.

And I have done 3-4 runs of Resident Evil 4(And we got the remake baby in 2023) and The Walking Dead Season 1 as well. Have done the Sonic Genesis trilogy a few times as well, most recently in preparation for Sonic Mania few years ago.

Have done a few Shining Force I runs too, have to say a good 3 times or so. Haven't played this one in ages though, we're talking PS3 via Sega Genesis collection.

First time I beat the Wizpig space race I was playing it all day concentrating super hard then a friend came over and he asked what I was up to.

Told him I’d be trying to beat the race all day and making small talk while I attempted the race again not as fully focused… and I beat it.

Hitman: Blood Money, easily the best Hitman game for me, but thanks to the 360's superior music player, which most times keeps the audio track but drops the soundtrack, when I'd just want to tear some shit up or vent, I'd throw on some of my music and go on some rampages through the various levels. I'd also beaten the game 100% on every difficulty.

Resident Evil 2, I could practically walk through this game forwards and backwards, beaten it dozens of times across PS1 and N64. Resident Evil 3 Nemesis too, but to a lesser extent...but not much lesser. I've played a share of times through the rest, but none compare to how many times I've returned to these two.

The original Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon trilogies, several times for the PS1 originals, plus now the remakes. Still great fun.

The Last of Us, while not as much as the others, I have played this several times over, practically a yearly playthrough.  Only once on Grounded.

Super Mario World, my favorite of the Mario games, I'll never understand why they never repeated the template with all the various secrets to be found, I've beaten this dozens off times since it came with my SNES. Every level, the entire Star Road, the entire special road, and every level again in bizarro world.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, being my favorite game of all time, I've put hundreds of hours into this game. Every single square, the glitch squares too, every weapon, every item, the only thing I've never done is level up to 99, because it just goes too slow by that point, and that means playing without any forward momentum, and WAY too much of it.

Dec 29, 2022 3:12:48 GMT 🤯 said:

Dec 28, 2022 13:07:09 GMT Big Pete said:

Did you ever beat all the campaigns? I was thinking more single player content wise - so Goldeneye Story Mode = Fair game. Goldeneye Multiplayer = No go.

Yes. The only feat that has still eluded me is getting 100 in Survivor. Honestly, not even sure it's possible...

I've poured hundreds of hours into No Mercy but have never 100% every campaign, eliminated 100 in Survivor or unlocked the Ho. I really need to reboot that save and make my way through, it just became a pain trying to figure out which paths I'd gone on.

If there was ever a WWF No Mercy Remake, I'd love a Community Creation where you create similar scenarios for guys to play through. For instance, a Kurt Angle scenario where you debut against Shawn Stasiak, tag with Steve Blackman before turning against him at Armaggeddon '99, play as Tazz against Kurt at the Royal Rumble etc. You could even do the WWE 2K thing where you have to execute certain moves before you can complete the match.

I would have guessed DKC and Resi 4 for you Blindy, but never the retro FFs or Shining Force. That's why I wanted to start this thread because often it's about the next game but from my experience there's always a handful of games you keep going back to.

At the time, No Mercy was definitely a game I played endlessly. Just not something to make a list here, since I haven't touched it in 20 years, since the time of the N64 passed. Perfected the style from WCW Revenge. That and Here Comes the Pain are my most replayed wrestling games.

I made up full storylines for my created characters.

Dec 29, 2022 12:11:26 GMT RagnarokMike said:

At the time, No Mercy was definitely a game I played endlessly. Just not something to make a list here, since I haven't touched it in 20 years, since the time of the N64 passed. Perfected the style from WCW Revenge. That and Here Comes the Pain are my most replayed wrestling games.

I made up full storylines for my created characters.

The time of the N64 has passed!?

My N64 begs to differ!

N64 is eternal. Notice they stopped counting bits after it because gaming peaked. There's never been a paper version of Master Chief afterall.

Look at the forum dk64 and Mario kart 64. Speaks for itself.

Also, WWE 2K19, still gets played quite a bit, even after releasing over four years ago. Now granted, that's mostly cause of my three universe modes... AEW, MEW (Main-Event Wrestling) and WOW (Women of Wrestling). I picked up 2K22, however, I find myself coming back to 2K19 more and more.

Dec 29, 2022 4:20:53 GMT System said:

Dec 29, 2022 1:27:47 GMT Blindy said:

DKCII and DKCI are easy runs for me, outside of like 1 level each game that could give me a bit of a fight. I also have replayed the crap out of Final Fantasy IV and VI, the two best FFs. Also just did my 2nd run of Final Fantasy X last year.

And I have done 3-4 runs of Resident Evil 4(And we got the remake baby in 2023) and The Walking Dead Season 1 as well. Have done the Sonic Genesis trilogy a few times as well, most recently in preparation for Sonic Mania few years ago.

Have done a few Shining Force I runs too, have to say a good 3 times or so. Haven't played this one in ages though, we're talking PS3 via Sega Genesis collection.

First time I beat the Wizpig space race I was playing it all day concentrating super hard then a friend came over and he asked what I was up to.

Told him I’d be trying to beat the race all day and making small talk while I attempted the race again not as fully focused… and I beat it.

I wish we can get Diddy Kong Racing on the Switch again, Rare is pretty kind to let their IPs get some shine so just a matter of when not if. That 1st Wizpig race gave me tougher fits than the one in space but what kills me is the silver coin challenge & TT time trials. I had loads of patience to go and unlock TT but I am not sure I would muster that kind of dedication to beat his times to unlock him as a racer. 

Dec 29, 2022 9:54:13 GMT Big Pete said:

Dec 29, 2022 3:12:48 GMT 🤯 said:

Yes. The only feat that has still eluded me is getting 100 in Survivor. Honestly, not even sure it's possible...

I would have guessed DKC and Resi 4 for you Blindy, but never the retro FFs or Shining Force. That's why I wanted to start this thread because often it's about the next game but from my experience there's always a handful of games you keep going back to.

These 3 games are super easy to get into. Final Fantasy IV is extremely digestible, I have yet to play the prologue, FF IV: After Years. Have heard mixed things on it but I adore the cast of this game. Just feel like I don't like how the characters that perish are brought back as if nothing matters, even on the newer versions of this game, it was still sorta irksome. 

FF VI is just a great paced game and the amount of freedom you get, especially in the World of Ruin is sublime. Once you get that airship, it's your choice who to save and get back to your party. Another game with a superb cast of characters. 

And Shining Force I is an outstanding Strategy RPG, nothing too overly hard but at the same time, there's nuances like when to promote your team that really makes this a fun playthrough every now and then. 

Dec 29, 2022 14:37:48 GMT Blindy said:

Dec 29, 2022 4:20:53 GMT System said:

First time I beat the Wizpig space race I was playing it all day concentrating super hard then a friend came over and he asked what I was up to.

Told him I’d be trying to beat the race all day and making small talk while I attempted the race again not as fully focused… and I beat it.

I wish we can get Diddy Kong Racing on the Switch again, Rare is pretty kind to let their IPs get some shine so just a matter of when not if. That 1st Wizpig race gave me tougher fits than the one in space but what kills me is the silver coin challenge & TT time trials. I had loads of patience to go and unlock TT but I am not sure I would muster that kind of dedication to beat his times to unlock him as a racer. 

I had no idea you could even unlock TT for years after I first played it and I’ve never done it :lol:

Dec 29, 2022 16:23:00 GMT System said:

Dec 29, 2022 14:37:48 GMT Blindy said:

I wish we can get Diddy Kong Racing on the Switch again, Rare is pretty kind to let their IPs get some shine so just a matter of when not if. That 1st Wizpig race gave me tougher fits than the one in space but what kills me is the silver coin challenge & TT time trials. I had loads of patience to go and unlock TT but I am not sure I would muster that kind of dedication to beat his times to unlock him as a racer. 

I had no idea you could even unlock TT for years after I first played it and I’ve never done it

It was frustrating even as a 10-11 year old kid with tons of patience and amazing eye-hand coordination. Keep in mind

A) I had no idea what drifting was
B) I played Pipsy the Mouse because she was super easy to control but she has the lowest speed acceleration in the game(Had no idea what any of this meant at the time)

I was handicapping myself to the _th degree taking on these TT trials but kid me wasn't getting denied. And when I got TT, he controlled like absolute shit so I still feel like it wasn't worth it in the end. 

That's really impressive Blindy, I didn't unlock TT until well into my 20s. It's actually not that difficult, knowing how to do sharp turns was the biggest learning curve but once you perfect it and understand the levels it's manageable.

TT is utterly broken. He's the fastest racer with the best acceleration. It has average handling, but he's easily manageable by the time you unlock him.

Like you guys, it took my years to realise how much of a handicap Pipsy and Titup really were.

Also do you guys do advance strats like tap the acceleration button for top speed? Are you clipping through walls like TouFool31?

I've been thinking about this and it's mostly a lot of platform games...

Banjo Kazooie
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Bros 1 & 2
Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles

Other than them, I don't really replay games very often.

I've got plans for a FF XV replay soon though and I might replay FF VII Remake before the next one comes out!

Final Fantasy

I've replayed my favourite Final Fantasy games numerous times.
- Final Fantasy I (Playstation remake): at least 3 times.
- Final Fantasy VI: at least 3 times, the most recent time was 100% completion.
- Final Fantasy VII (original and Steam version): only beaten it twice but played through at least 5 times.
- Final Fantasy IX: at least 3 times, the most recent time was 100% completion.

Remarkably I've only played FFX through one time. Nowhere near 100% completion. The post-game stuff is scary and feels even bigger than the main game. But I'd like to return to it in the future. I'd also like to try the FFVII remake. Besides that, not sure I'll play one of these games again. I love them, but I have no particular desire to go back.


Crash Bandicoot

Played the original trilogy multiple times, played the Remastered version, platinum on all the Time Trials.


Super Mario Land

For those who don't know, this is the launch title for the Game Boy. 2D platformer in the style of the classic Mario games, but a bit more wacky and relatively short. I give this a whirl every few years for pure nostalgia. First video game I ever played, and I love it.


Pokemon Red

As above, nostalgia Game Boy classic. Played through several times. Last time was a Bulbasaur only run. He wrecked shit.


Overcooked 2

Played through the campaigns multiple times with different friends/groups of friends. Right now my girlfriend and I are trying to four star every level. We're doing a lot better than I thought we would, not because we don't have the skills (we certainly do), but because of the near perfection required to get four stars on any level. Tough going but really fun, and I love how we're on the same wavelength.

I do not replay games very often because there are so many amazing games to experience, that I do not want to use the time on something that would lead to less overall exposure. So while I have replayed some, they are all only 2-3 playthroughs. Mostly a single replay of a game I played as a kid, but also some are for co-op replays with different people.

Final Fantasy Tactics

This is my #1 favorite game. I just love everything about the story, the party management, and the tactical battles. Perfection does not get old.

Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night

Probably my 2nd favorite game. The gameplay is just solid as fuck in this. Feels really fun to chain whip things.

Halo

All of the Halo games are just amazing in terms of revolutionizing AI in shooters and really pushing the bar on fun campaign experiences, so I have played through the campaigns on my own and a few times with others.

Super Mario 64

Possibly the best game ever made as far as gameplay mechanics and innovation go. Miyamoto is my idol for a reason.

Final Fantasy VIII

I don't know entirely why I like this game so much. In large part, it is probably sheer nostalgia power that brought me back. The ridiculous long boss fights and other things in this can be very frustrating, but something about the aesthetic just makes me think about how cool the game is a lot and want to play it. Reflecting on this, it is one of the most immersive experiences I've had in a game. Certainly the first significantly immersive one I played. The extensive dialogue from all the characters makes you feel like you know them and actually care about these characters and trying to be cool with them. Wandering around the school grounds aimlessly to try and figure out where to go really connected me to the character and made it feel like I was there. Doing menial tasks to build connection is something perfected by Death Stranding, and while I love Death Stranding, it doesn't have the charm that this game does. Of course, you then get rooted out of the comfortable familiarity this game builds through series of insane plot twists, but that's okay.

Uncharted

The movie-like feeling of all the games in this series make their replayability high and the gameplay is refined really well on top of that.

Glover

This game has infinite charm with the intricate ball-switching puzzles and how the glove interacts with them in different ways to get through everything. Very innovative.

Jersey Devil

One of the more challenging platformers. It is nice to go back to the past and experience a platformer that isn't ridiculously easy and doesn't hold your hand every step of the way.

Crash Bandicoot / Spyro The Dragon

It is good to replay some classic gems. They have such solid gameplay fundamentals. They give me good inspiration for how to program gameplay at work now that I am a gameplay programmer myself.

Are you still with Rockstar Lionheart?

Because if so, I've replayed RDR2 a gazillion times and I've yet to make it to Tahiti with Dutch!

Guess how many times Emperor your so-called bosom buddy has played it?

Thankfully, no, I do not still work at Rockstar. While I love RDR2 and it was an amazing game due to the great story and whatnot, that was not a good place for passionate people. Plus I never made it to Tahiti either, so it is obviously unwinnable. Major design flaw.

I am with Nintendo now and currently working on Metroid Prime 4.