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[Danjin44]

Armored Core VI has FANTASTIC NG+.....you get new missions, some your old mission get altered and get new parts and new final boss.

 

[worldwithpyramids]

Even for games I replay yearly, no. The first time is always best.

 

[poodaddy]

Chrono Trigger gets substantially better after you finish the first run as the narrative possibilities open up so much that the game becomes a playground of what if's and experimentation due to killing the boss at different times in the story affecting the ending massively. 999 and Virtue's Last Reward also are good examples of this in my opinion. I'd even go so far as to say that these games are actively so involved on subsequent runs that you can't really say you've "beaten" them until you've done multiple paths. My daughter beat 999 the first time and was utterly confused, asked me what the hell happened lol. I just told her you gotta go through multiple times making different decisions, then the story will come together. She did, and it ended up becoming one of her favorite games of all time.

 

[calistan]

The only games I think are better on repeated playthroughs are those where you can unlock super weapons or cheats that let you mess with the enemies next time.

Resident Evil 8 and Halo Infinite recently, Goldeneye way back when.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

There's no definitive answer. You can't recreate the magic of a first playthrough, but there are some games that I actually enjoy more over time and upon replays. A lot of times a frustrating segment of gameplay is improved next time through (looking at you, Ashley slide puzzle section of the original RE4) because you know what to expect. This is common in some games that are designed with replayability in mind.

 

[consoul]

The games aren't better the second time.
You're better.

 

[Zannegan]

Depends on the game. In general, the more narrative-centric a game is, the less replayable it tends to be, though obviously any game with a meaningfully branching storyline would be the exception to that rule.

Sometimes one playthrough is too many for me when it comes to really "cinematic" games.

 

[buenoblue]

If you didn't pay attention to the story then yes, it's better.

I mean games are long and I play over many weeks, tired after work. It's understandable not to take a 70h long story stretched over many weeks I think.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Absolutely.

 

[SHA]

I mean games are long and I play over many weeks, tired after work. It's understandable not to take a 70h long story stretched over many weeks I think.

It's obviously better, other reasons would be better money spending, being more manageable and organized, discovering game mechanics that you wouldn't think of without second playthrough, which leads you to play on harder difficulties.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Sometimes games are better on the second play through.

 

[PsyEd]

I usually play 3p beat'em style or action games and first playthrough will always be on hardest mode available...to get my moneys worth in SP games.

So when it comes to 2nd playthrough I'm usually untouchable in even the unlocked hardest mode available and do no damage runs for fun and to increase my e-penis size.

 

[Mortisfacio]

Very few times have I enjoyed a game more the second time and it's always due to the "head space" I was in at the time. Doom Eternal being the last one. I liked it the first time, but I had so much going on in my personal life I more just played it to keep me distracted. Played it again last year with a clear state of mind and absolutely loved it.

 

[buenoblue]

I usually play 3p beat'em style or action games and first playthrough will always be on hardest mode available...to get my moneys worth in SP games.

So when it comes to 2nd playthrough I'm usually untouchable in even the unlocked hardest mode available and do no damage runs for fun and to increase my e-penis size.

Maybe use a guitar hero controller

 

[Arsic]

RERemake
RE4
RER Remake
Diablo 2
Path of Exile
MGS2

Replay value is insane in these.

 

[Chastten]

Some games are.

I think, for example, Bayonetta is better in the 2nd playthrough. The story is still batshit insane but the 2nd time around you understand the combat mechanics a lot better from the start.

Story-driven games though? Nah, they're one and done for me.

 

[Raonak]

Depends on the game, and depends on the content of the game.

Many games feel weird without abilities that are unlocked later, but other games allow you to unlock even more in the first half.

Games like DMC, or MGS are better on the second playthrough

 

[Laptop1991]

Yeah, some are, but as others have said it depends on the game, FEAR 1, the Dishonored games, Half Life 1 and 2, all 3 Bioshock's and Doom 2016 were all better on 2nd playthrough's to me as i missed alot of things on the 1st and obviously good open world games TES, Fallout's, GTA games and also The Outer Worlds i enjoyed more playing it again, but it doesn't apply to every game

 

[Paasei]

I replay a lot of my games, especially those that reward it. Hitman is the best example I can give. I have a few thousand hours across the current trilogy.

Same with games that allow for different builds and/or have mod support.

 

[Phobos Base]

Depends, but I find a game can be more enjoyable once you have an idea of how close you are to the end of a level, or if you can use certain items in the knowledge you'll get another one soon.

 

[March Climber]

Any game that goes the extra mile and adds new features, levels, content, or randomizes enemies, are usually all better on the second playthrough imo.

DS2 is a great example:



Also if you're on any system that allows mods to games, I recommend item/enemy/door randomizer mods for second playthroughs. It can make the second playthrough experience feel like a brand new game.

 

[killatopak]

RE games keep getting better the more I play and optimize each run.

 

[abstract alien]

Going through games a second time is hardly ever an option, but Viewtiful Joe actually got better through each enhanced difficulty setting. They didn't just make the enemies sponges or artificially inject the game with stupid difficulty spikes. Last time I remember replaying a game and actually enjoying it more.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

How can a second playthrough be more enjoyable when you already know everything that's going to happen, nothing is a surprise? No, I'd always much rather have a lengthy campaign from the start than a shorter one that has "high replay value".

Of course, there are exceptions. The Resident Evil series always prided itself on it's replayability but gave the player cool incentives to replay it under certain conditions to unlock more content. Even with RE though (a series I've been a fan of since the very beginning) the first playthrough is always the best, not knowing what's lurking behind the next corner, what monstrous abomination awaits beyond the dark hallway.

I'm closing I'll say there are a select handful of games that do successive playthroughs better than the rest, a recent example would be Armored Core 6. To get the full story you need to play through the game 3 times but each playthrough opens up new missions/bosses/story beats, it's great stuff.

Edit: then you have games like Hitman that are an anomaly, structurally designed from the ground up to replay the levels over and over and again (I love Hitman).

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Games have become so long that after I finish them I'm done with them.

 

[MrRibeye]

Oh I just remembered that back when Kirk Hamilton was editor of Kotaku, they did a podcast and it must have been an episode in late 2018 when he talked about how replaying games makes him appreciate the story and game mechanics much more. It was around that time when I also made it a habit.

 

[keram]

So due to financial uncertainty and short hours at work I haven't been able to buy new games lately. I used to buy a new game probably monthly.

But it has given me the chance to replay games that I already own.
I've replayed GOW 218, both Horizon games, Hogwarts legacy, Spiderman, and just about done with FF7 remake.

And i ve got to say I'm having a blast. Being already familiar with the mechanics of the game, picking up little points of the story you may have missed and being so much better at the combat has made these games so much fun to play.

So do you replay games? And are they better second time through?

No, not for the game itself, but rather for the thropies (-> platin)

To get the "best" immersion of the game I do the 1st run already with hard difficulty level.
For me it's the best option, because the story is still "new/unknown" to me (not the case of 2nd run) and with the hard difficulty level I need to "stay focused" on the game.
Yes, I may die more often and I need to repeat some chapters/bosses etc. but as you said, that it the way how you learn the mechanics of the game.

 

[balls of snow]

No, not for the game itself, but rather for the thropies (-> platin)

To get the "best" immersion of the game I do the 1st run already with hard difficulty level.
For me it's the best option, because the story is still "new/unknown" to me (not the case of 2nd run) and with the hard difficulty level I need to "stay focused" on the game.
Yes, I may die more often and I need to repeat some chapters/bosses etc. but as you said, that it the way how you learn the mechanics of the game.

Haa same I tend to go hard on the first run always if there is an option. The devs certainly balance the gameplay around hard difficulty at least since gears 1.

 

[Loope]

Dark Souls for me was better on the 2nd time (although the wonder of finding new thing was gone, especially exploring Blightown) because of the build. I did a regular strength build on the 1st run and on the 2nd i went for Dex which made the game way more fun and rewarding to play.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Rarely imo. The only games I enjoy more the 2nd time around are usually Souls games as I find them only clicking with me a long way in. So it tends to be quite frustrating. On playthrough 2 I can simply enjoy the ride.

As much as I likes the games you mention (like GoW and Hogwarts) I could never play through all that filler content again.

 

[buenoblue]

I want to be clear, most games I'm replaying apart from Hogwarts I played multiple years ago so have some memory of the story and gameplay but the details are fuzzy. Like in Final fantasy 7 remake I was like I don't remember most of the last few chapters lol.

 

[marquimvfs]

I like replaying some games. But i think it works better with old games. I couldn't see me replaying, dunno, Horizon Zero Down, but I replay SOTN, almost every year.