"I Have No Memory of This Place:" The Replayability Factor
If you've followed this blog for any amount of time right now, you'll realize that I have an affinity for video games and the paraphernalia that is often associated with them. I geek out every time I see a t-shirt associated with The Legend of Zelda, and I can name offhand the different titles found in the Ratchet and Clank series. You could even say that my calendar is based around the release windows of major video games during the year. But with so many video games to interact with, the issue of replayability becomes a factor.
Replay value is how much fun or enjoyment a gamer can get while replaying a game that they have already beaten. "Replayability" is a word that often gets thrown around by gaming magazines, and in the gaming world, it's become a buzzword concerning new games. For more information on "replay value" or "replayability" go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replayability to learn more about it. But for now, we shall broach the subject in a different light.
This morning I had a bit of free time in between work and school and thought I would like to finally beat Super Mario Galaxy 2 on my new Wii. Because I traded in my previous console, I had lost all my data on previous games, and was forced to regain that former status that had been on my previous Wii. So here I find myself playing through world 4 of Galaxy 2 and I find myself running around a level that I know I had previously encountered, but at this point, my brain is thinking:
I knew that I had done the level before, but it had been so long and there was so much variety in the game that my brain had completely forgotten the level.
And that's the beauty of replayability. Often times games will give the player alternate ways to complete the game or have different objectives to complete the second time through the game. Or games might have collectibles and puzzles to complete before the game can be officially "finished." Most games that I tend to buy have a high replayability, either because of the large amount of content or because of the quality of the content these games contain.
Of course this is something that is affecting all game makers. Games made in the early 90's often have a high replayability because they force the player to play the game from the beginning. But nowadays with all the checkpoints and automatic saving points, gamers can often power through a main game in less than 9 hours. That may seem like a long time, but consider that the "larger" games often take 20+ hours to complete the main game and often 40+ hours to fully complete all side-missions and obtain all collectibles. It's no wonder that a polarization has occurred in the gaming world.
But replayability isn't the only thing that matters. Don't always rely on reviews to buy games. Let them be guidelines, but don't be afraid to stray from those guidelines. I've found a few gems that are fantastic and have brought some great memories even though they weren't rated well. Be adventurous. And if that fails every once in a while, don't get discouraged. That's life.
Replay value is how much fun or enjoyment a gamer can get while replaying a game that they have already beaten. "Replayability" is a word that often gets thrown around by gaming magazines, and in the gaming world, it's become a buzzword concerning new games. For more information on "replay value" or "replayability" go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replayability to learn more about it. But for now, we shall broach the subject in a different light.
This morning I had a bit of free time in between work and school and thought I would like to finally beat Super Mario Galaxy 2 on my new Wii. Because I traded in my previous console, I had lost all my data on previous games, and was forced to regain that former status that had been on my previous Wii. So here I find myself playing through world 4 of Galaxy 2 and I find myself running around a level that I know I had previously encountered, but at this point, my brain is thinking:
And that's the beauty of replayability. Often times games will give the player alternate ways to complete the game or have different objectives to complete the second time through the game. Or games might have collectibles and puzzles to complete before the game can be officially "finished." Most games that I tend to buy have a high replayability, either because of the large amount of content or because of the quality of the content these games contain.
Of course this is something that is affecting all game makers. Games made in the early 90's often have a high replayability because they force the player to play the game from the beginning. But nowadays with all the checkpoints and automatic saving points, gamers can often power through a main game in less than 9 hours. That may seem like a long time, but consider that the "larger" games often take 20+ hours to complete the main game and often 40+ hours to fully complete all side-missions and obtain all collectibles. It's no wonder that a polarization has occurred in the gaming world.
But replayability isn't the only thing that matters. Don't always rely on reviews to buy games. Let them be guidelines, but don't be afraid to stray from those guidelines. I've found a few gems that are fantastic and have brought some great memories even though they weren't rated well. Be adventurous. And if that fails every once in a while, don't get discouraged. That's life.
Comments
Post a Comment