Imagine this: you are able to totally forget one video game — in its entirety — completely wipe it from your memory, just so you can play it all over again, completely fresh. Which game do you choose and why?
There are so many contenders for me. Some of my all time favourite games like Metroid Prime, Metal Gear Solid 3, A Link to the Past… but I wonder if their impact would be lost given that these games are a bit older now. Thinking about it rationally it would probably make sense for that game to be something either relatively new, or something completely timeless.
So there’s Dark Souls I suppose? The original. Or maybe Super Mario Galaxy? I think those would probably both be extremely good choices, given that they’re both among my favourites of this generation. By that reasoning, Red Dead Redemption is another.
The wild card for me would probably be The Secret of Monkey Island, mainly because I love that game so much and have played it over and over again. But losing the memories of playing that game? It would be like ripping a part of my childhood from my psyche. It would probably have profound, weird effects on me as a person!
What game would you choose?
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65 responses to “Tell Us Dammit: If You Could Play It All Over Again”
Fallout 3. So many hours of joyous discovery. A new story around every corner.
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. Such a beautiful, gothic atmosphere going on there — like nothing I’ve played before or since. Taking in GK’s world was a thing to behold man!
A close second would be Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. It had been a while since I played an RPG and it just blew me away. The alignment stuff, the love interest stuff, the scale. Story was captivating too. I got into Star Wars because of this game, not the other way around.
The feeling I got when I first stepped into the wasteland of Fallout 3, or out of the sewers in Oblivion and saw the vast vista of land ahead of me to explore was pretty amazing. I really love that feeling. I can’t wait to feel that same thing except on a whole new level of awe with an Oculus Rift. That feeling is what I live for.
WoW from vanilla through to WoTLK.
I don’t think any game will give me the same sense of wonder as exploring Azeroth for the first time.
Even today I still like to login and just fly around and take in the world… of Warcraft.
Right now it’s The Last of Us, so I can play it completely fresh on PS4.
Ah, good choice. I remember that feeling of not knowing what was ahead and that was scarier than the zombies. The uncertainty of that world made first play through amazing!
That was gonna be my choice, too.
Or maybe Journey.
All time favourite Warcraft 3.
Most recent one though I wish I could forget The Last of Us so I can enjoy it on PS4 as if it were my first time.
Dark Souls is kind of a given for everybody.
I wish I could replay Resident Evil 4 all over again. It’s still one of my most replayed games ever (and I’m not even that much into RE and haven’t played all the games).
I wish I could take back everything in Halo: CE and do it all over again. It still has this epic feeling of discovery that few games can capture.
I would say FF7, but I think you needed to have played it at the time.
I didn’t play Resident Evil 4 until well after it was first released, but a friend of mine recommended it so I tracked down a Gamecube version to play on my Wii. The whole time I was playing I was thinking “Games can do this? Why don’t any other games do this? This is AMAZING!” …Man, what an experience. So sad that RE has just gone downhill since then (Didn’t mind 5, but 6 was just aggravating).
I really should play this Dark Souls thing, eh?
Final Fantasy VI…
or Yoshi’s Island…
orrrr Journey…
System Shock 2.
I think I’ve finished it about 9 times. I remember playing it for the first time at my friend’s house and then saving money for a new graphics card just to be able to play it at home. I still play it on occasion to run through as a Navy spec on impossible difficulty.
Close second would be Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl. Once all the patches ironed out the worst of the bugs, there was no longer any reason not to put it on the list of the most immersive games ever made.
System Shock 2. Still my secret shame. Consider it one of my all-time favourite games but still haven’t finished it because I was so damn scared. Remains the only game where I’ve actively hid in a corner for ten minutes cause I heard a spooky noise in the hall. Haha!
Only a few bullets left. Weapons all nearly-broken. Low on health packs. I have a fucking wrench, and I can hear groaning in the hallway I JUST finished clearing. God… dammit.
and that’s why the following Bioshock games couldn’t compare.
Stalker is an amazingly atmospheric game. The Zone felt like a real place, and it could be downright terrifying at times. Also, the lightning and thunder was awesome during a storm.
I got such a kick out of the music on the radio in that game.
If you played CoP, you should pick up Misery Mod. It completely changes the game. Unforgiving difficulty, serious survival, an economy that makes owning good stuff a real achievement.
There are heaps of games I’d like to play again just because they’re such good games, but there’s not as many where the sense of wonder you get from a first play-through is integral to the experience.
The obvious one that comes to mind for me is Journey. My first play through was FREAKING MAGICAL, and while subsequent play-throughs were fun and still special, nothing came close to the awe and wonder of that I felt the first time going through that game.
Indiana Jones: The Fate of Atlantis and probably Metal Gear Solid 3 (I have the 3DS and HD remakes but never find time!), I’d also really like to play Metroid Prime, I’ve never played it! I know right?
But you never actually finished Metroid Prime, Mark. So technically, that last part of the game at least would be new to you right now! GOGOGOGOGOGOGO!
Metroid Prime would definitely be up there for me. Also up there would be Soul Reaver, Xenoblade Chronicles, Secret of Mana, Donkey Kong Country 2, Final Fantasy VII, Arkham Asylum, F.E.A.R., Unreal and Super Mario Bros 3.
Shining Force – favourite game of all time and nothing since has matched the awesomeness of it 😀
I remember Full Throttle blew me away at the time. That strong, strong atmosphere. Exploring Melonweed come nightfall. The writing: “Whenever I smell asphalt I think of Maureen.” The imagery. Also a clearly different take on a point-and-click adventure from what came before at LucasArts.
Pretty hard to choose between Chrono Trigger & Secret of Mana.
So instead I am going to choose Morrowind. I don’t think I have ever found myself so lost in any other game to date as I was when I went on merry adventure across Vvardenfell!
I came here to say Crono Trigger.
Myst…
Fable 1 probably or maybe The Sims!
Haha! There’s nothing like the wonder of a Maxis game for the first two hours. And then that feeling of never wanting to play them again on hour number three. 😀
Well I think at the time I first played ‘The Sims’ I would’ve only been 11/12 and it kept me interested for weeks (read probably days.) Now yeah, you’re right it would blow my mind for 2 hours (or until I’d built a house) and then move on to something else. Still…2 magical hours.
I want to give you these wonderful two hours!
*smacks jumpman over the head with a 2×4*
2×4? That’s 8! He gets a whole workday worth of Sims. Mazel tov!
Oh, Dragon Age: Origins was pretty amazing. I got so immersed in that quest, but I’ll happily take Inquisition over an amnesia induced playthrough.
Seconded on both counts.
Mass Effect.
Funnily enough, when I bought it the conversation was about this very topic. See, I’d waited to buy Mass Effect until the second one came out, knew absolutely nothing about it. Went in to EB where it (Mass Effect 1) was on sale for $20 and the guy behind the counter was an acquaintance. He asked if I’d ever played it before or if I was playing it for the first time. When I said it was my first play he got quite excited about the prospect.
“I’d give anything to be able to go back and experience Mass Effect again for the first time. Savour every moment, you’re going to love it!”
And I did. And it was amazing, and there were so many moments where I’d just stop and think “Yep. Nothing will ever compare to seeing this freshly for the first time.”
Absolutely Mass Effect is very high on my list.
Just last night I grabbed the DLCs for ME3 and I’m going to take my Shep through again from the start, starting next week. By leaving some of the DLC (and the Extended Cut) so long, and the fact I’ve not played 1 or 2 for 3 years, I hope I’ll relive a portion of the joy of First Time Through.
Battlefield 4 so it didn’t ruin my Battlefield fondness and play it again when they fix it on ps4
If I would to go into a game spoiler free and without expectations it would be Shadow of the Colossus. It would totally blow me away. I’m glad I get to experience Metroid Prime this way back then. Limbo gave me happy shivers too.
I think I’d have to say Breath of Fire III. It’s one of my favourite games and to be able to relive my first playthrough would be fantastic. Although, I was sick at the time so I can do without that part…
I’d like to experience World of Warcraft for the first time again. The amazement I felt those first few months years and years ago. So much fun.
Oh man, if I could wipe my memory of MMOs and knowing the core mechanics they use almost universally… why, I’d have thousands of hours to enjoy again!
Indeed 🙂
If I could go back in time to when I created my first character I’d smack myself for rolling a Paladin.
NOWAI. Paladins were the bomb! Seal of Over-poweredness was kickass on launch!
My first character was a warrior, who was slow as hell because he had to sit down and eat to heal all the damn time. But my pally? Lightspeed! She could self-heal and be smashing mobs with just as much damage as a warrior!
Pallies were totally awesome up until stupid Blizzard went and nerfed their best seal. Well. They say ‘bug-fixed’ so that it wouldn’t escalate in power but would instead diminish in power, but whatever. A nerf’s a nerf, even if it is a bug-fix.
Heh. Funny thing about those days was in the early days? If you played a female character, people assumed you were a girl IRL. The days of internet (relative)innocence.
I think I came in just after that nerf 🙁 There were videos of pallies one shotting level 60 Elites They called it the Reckoning Bomb if I remember correctly. My offence was basically Seal of Command and Consecrete…As soon as I was snared or slowed it was game over for me, sure I could stay alive for ages and be a pain in the arse but my DPS was abysmal.
When I raided I was just there for buffs and assist heals. Oh and pulling bosses. I actually fell asleep during a ZG raid once, I’d put myself on follow on our main priest, heh. The Judgment Tier set is still my favourite though 🙂
During Burning Crusade I rerolled a Warrior, which was more successful. I crafted the second best 1h axe in the game at the time 🙂
During WotLK I rerolled a Hunter (don’t judge me) and its what I’ve used ever since. I grew attached to my polar bear, Bundy. He was a good pet. He managed to tank a few bosses in his day. I even farmed the rare Winterspring tiger for a pet – Riley 🙂
Even though I struggled with my Pally in the early days they were the most fun I had, I learnt how to make fun of myself playing along my friends who were Warrior/Mage/Rogue/Druid.
Haha! My friend came over and made a human female warrior, by the time he got to Goldshire he was getting so many whispers.
/bubble
/hearth
/rasp
DK tank 4 lyfe.
Nothing ground my bones more than a grip right after a disengage, coupled with icey chains.
The last time I had a serious play for a few months was during Cata, do you still play?
On and off, when my brothers/mates want to do something with the GB.
Last I played was in Pandaria, a fair while after the introduction of Timesink Isle to go bash the plentiful almost-latest-raid-tier-loot-pinatas.
I’m tired of the raid-grind now, so I’ve only really ever popped my head in for non-raid content drops. See the new stories, pick up the new shinies, be told by the game that I can’t get the GOOD shinies unless I raid, because that’s all the endgame is, cancel sub til next solo/small-group-friendly content.
I would probably be indefinitely subscribed if the developers could ever let go of the raid-or-die mentality.
Re: hunter PVP – thank god they got rid of the dead-zone for hunters. That was the worst.
@transientmind
I was tempted to resub last month, only to create a new character and see what changes they made to the lower tier zones during Cata. I missed levelling from zone to zone, taking my time and getting into the story. Putting on music and farming. The occasional gank of newbies if we crossed paths.
I found that once I reached level cap and my only choices to advance was raid or arena I couldn’t be bothered. I liked the days of farming honour through WSG, AB and AV and 5/10 man dungeon crawls.
Getting tempted again..
I’ve never been more excited in a video game than when Lightforge shoulders dropped in UBRS and I won the roll, with a 33. I wanted to run screaming through the streets telling strangers what had happened.
Really hard to say, but I think Abe’s Oddysee would be a good one…
Possibly why I am so excited about the remake coming this year.
“hello!”
“heelooo”
“follow me”
“ok”
“pppffffttttt”
“hee hee hee”
So both my choices are taken already.
The Last of Us definitely but for me the curveball would have to be World of Warcraft.
As RileyJones brought up, experiencing that amazement you had when everything you loved about Warcraft 3 became something you could explore every aspect of in detail would be a no brainer.
Walking up to the gates of Stormwind for the first time, getting on your mount for the first time, equipping your first epic, that ding to 60 on your first character and watching Onyxia die for the first time. All things that I would want to make me feel the same way again as they did back in the day.
Definitely Ultima VII parts 1+2, those game are amazing, would love to be able to explore again without knowing that there’s a glass sword hidden behind this bush, or a secret lever allowing access to that treasure room etc..
Following that – Lucasarts adventures, ahhhh so good. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max in particular.
Soldier of Fortune 1
First ones to come to mind are something like Fez or Antichamber. The kind of thing that you can’t really play through a second time, because you already know all the answers.
Ico.
Bubbling under: Portal, Mass Effect, Lucasarts adventures, Heavy Rain (flawed but what a strange experience), Flower, Journey.
Duke Nukem Forever, it was special…
Seriously though, i think I’ll have to go with Batman: Arkham Asylum.
That game is just perfect, and I’ve played through it 4 times, 2 x orig, 2 x GOTY
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for sure. Has to be up there amongst the best of all time.
MGS2 or 3, but i think 3 would win out.
The Dig! But maybe with slightly updated graphics.
I’d love The Dig HD.
Red Dead Redemption no question. It stole a whole month of my life in 2010 and I’d have no problem with it taking another.
Close seconds are Shadow of the Colossus (though Agro controls like a shopping trolly) and Assassins Creed 2. But I’d probably need my memory of all the other AC games since wiped as well. I love AC2 but Black Flag and Brohood are better games.
Shadow Man, RE4,All 3D Zelda’s.
Bioshock one. Just to re live the big twist where Andrew Ryan revels everything, and I’m just sitting there dumbfounded, because I never saw it coming.
Ditto.
damnit… this is such a hard question. Honestly it would have to be either Heretic II (Amazing game on the Quake 2 engine) or System Shock 2 (Even better game on the Dark engine). weird choice i know but they was the games that got me into to PC gaming the most. Anything from that era would be absolutely amazing.
Mass Effect 2 would be great to go back through again. Meeting the squad again and experiencing the end game area is one of my gaming highlights of all time.
I also would love to go through Alan Wake again for the first time. Would be great to see that story unfold again.
Xenoblade, Xenogears and the Xenosaga Trilogy.
That is all.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. While there have been others, there is no game I wish I could replay fresh more than that.
Bioshock Infinite.
Just so i can have that heavy as hell ending unloaded into my brain a 2nd time. That game had me thinking for days and talking about it with every person who had also completed it was just a ball of fun.
I think either Fallout New Vegas or Beyond Good and Evil.
Fallout New Vegas because I always crave that Fallout experience, but I’ve nearly exhausted Fallout 3 and NV’s worlds. I choose NV over 3 because NV was my first Fallout and (coincidentally) my favourite.
Beyond Good and Evil because it’s arguably my favourite game. The atmosphere is great, and I could play that game over and over and never lose that nostalgic feeling.
Gothic 2 for sure!
FreeSpace 2. Definitely FreeSpace 2.
it’s an old PS1 game, but my pick is Tales of Destiny. It’s still one of my favourite games of all time.
Deus Ex back in 2000…
Or maybe Morrowind
Or Ocarina of Time