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[COLUMN] The Joy of the Replay | by Marty Sliva
🕑 Added 2025-01-07 15:00:13 +0000 UTC
Backlogs. Backlogs never change. Despite flipping the page to a new calendar year, my list of games, movies, TV series, anime, books, comics, music, and travel destinations that I’d love to experience for the first time is only growing bigger and more unwieldy. I keep telling myself that THIS is the year I finally get to monolithic franchises like Mass Effect, Xenoblade, and The Witcher, just to name a few. And yet, when I found myself with some free time over the holiday break to finally make a dent in some of these, I instead got lost in the quicksand that is yet another Persona 4 Golden replay.
And you know what? After rolling credits on it 50 hours later, I have zero regrets. Part of this is because I was playing the game alongside some of our Patrons via an impromptu book club kind of thing that stretched across our Discord and streams on my personal Twitch channel. Seeing how other pals feel about story choices and mechanics as we all made our way through the game was great, and something I want to keep doing throughout 2025.
But part of why I had no regrets about this replay is that solving crimes with my Inaba pals solidified the fact that the older I get, the more I love replaying games. And not just ones like P4G that I enjoyed the first time around, but games that I either have very few memories of, or even ones that I was a bit cold on originally. Because for me, a replay can bring just as much fulfillment and revelations as a fresh experience.
On a first-time playthrough, I’m generally focused on the big picture. In P4G, that means trying to solve the mystery of who’s committing these crimes throughout Inaba, making the most of my limited free time to max out stats, and attempting to fuse a Persona powerful enough to literally kill god. In the final in-game month of the story, I was scrambling to finish off every lingering social link, treating it like a math equation rather than a life simulator.
But on this subsequent revisit, it feels like those burdens have been completely taken off my shoulder, and I could just vibe out and live in the moment. I found myself talking to more NPCs, even if they didn’t have a quest to offer. I tried using my freetime for various activities that I never really paid attention to, like fishing and building sick-ass mech models to display in my bedroom.
This even led to a revelation that I embarrassingly didn't know about until this replay – I had no idea you could unlock a final third level Persona for each of you party members by hanging out with them one last time in the final months after you had already maxed out their social links. I found this out because I didn’t care so much about min-maxing my playthrough, and instead just wanted to hang out with them one last time in the cozy blanket of winter just because it felt like a nice thing to do. There’s probably a lesson applicable to real life somewhere in there.
But this certainly wasn’t the first time a replay has done wonders for me. I’ve really enjoyed making big projects out of replaying an entire franchise or author’s body of work over a span of a year or so. I did this with Zelda games leading up to Tears of the Kingdom, and Final Fantasy leading up to VII Rebirth. These revisits ended up taking a life of their own, creating a mental timeline that stretches from the opening spark of an idea, through its evolution several decades and iterations later.
I love seeing how a visual, audio, or mechanical motif in a modern instalment is in conversation with games from back in the 8-bit era. How the open-ended exploration of the original Legend of Zelda feels like a framework for the open-air adventures of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Or how Final Fantasy IX contains a multitude of callbacks to the original NES games.
Speaking of FFIX, my recent revisits of the PS1 Final Fantasy trilogy has also reminded me of just how damn gorgeous the pre-rendered backgrounds of the era were. I spoke about it at length in my episode of The Archive on Parasite Eve, but Square was on a whole different level that generation when it came to crafting memorable spaces that truly felt lived in. For the Final Fantasy games of this era, I especially adored poking around each and every inn I came across. Instead of just having a copy-pasted background with a few things shifted around, each one presents as a bespoke respite that reflected the city or area that they’re found in. Cozy as all hell.
A replay with time and distance from the original release also allows me to gain a newfound appreciation for a game that I might not have had at the start. Back in November, I decided to do a cheeky little replay of MachineGames’ Wolfenstein games in anticipation of Indina Jones and the Great Circle. And while I had held 2017’s New Colossus in incredibly high regard, probably considering it to sit alongside Titanfall 2 as my favorite FPS campaigns of the past decade, for one reason or another I never really gelled with The New Order.
But lo and behold, a fresh set of eyes 10 years after release, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time through BJ Blazkowicz’s 2014 adventure. The writing, the pacing, and a ton of little moments sprinkled throughout the campaign really stood out to me as the framework for what the studio would go on to do with their latest Indy project. I especially loved the moment in the last act where your hideout – which has acted as a safe space and hub for a bulk of the game – is invaded by Nazi forces. I’m always a fan when a game takes a place that you’ve grown intimately familiar with during peaceful times and forces you to navigate it in combat. Perfect Dark, Silent Hill 4: The Room, and Doom Eternal all do a bang-up job of this.
Wolfenstein isn’t the only game that I warmed up on thanks to a recent replay. Jamming through Asura’s Wrath the other year made me realize that there’s nothing inherently bad about QTEs, it’s just about how a developer chooses to use them. And holy moly, they’re used to perfection in Asura in order to create an anime power fantasy that displays some of the most batshit insane action ever featured in a video game. Same goes for Ryse: Son of Rome, an Xbox One launch game that was chastised for being all looks and no substance. And yeah that’s absolutely true, there’s not a whole lot of depth to be found in its combat and systems, but it’s wild how well its visuals hold up 10+ years after release, and I had a blast playing through its big, dumb, gorgeous, and wonderfully short campaign.
That said, there can be times where a replay has the opposite effect, and actually diminishes the quality of a game in your eyes. Going back to FF, this happened to me just a few months back when I replayed Final Fantasy VIII for the first time in 25 years or so. While I dug the art, music, and characters that filled Squall’s adventure, I was left incredibly cold on the game’s battle system and messy slew of minigames strewn about. The clumsiness of all things Junction felt like a constant roadblock between me and the next area I might enjoy just puttering around.
Thankfully the modern remasters have various quality of life features like 3x speed and god mode to help sand off some of those rougher edges, but the fact remains that this recent replay ended up placing VIII quite low on my ongoing personal ranking of the series, right down there with Final Fantasy II when it comes to the entries I’ve replayed so far.
So yeah, while in my head I know I should probably be giving something new a try, I also don’t feel like a replay is ever a waste of time. A fresh perspective can shine an entirely new light on a game, and make me appreciate it in new and wonderful ways. Life’s too short to turn art into a backlog checklist. Play what makes you happy, even if that play is a replay.
Comments
Nightbreeze
I agree wholeheartedly. Like Jack, I've been replaying Dark Souls games a lot (including at Christmas); and funnily enough, I just started a Fallout 3 replay, so the start of your opinion piece fits with that. I wasn't always this way, but I've gotten more into replays in the past couple of years. Along with this line of thought, I've also let my mood drive me more even if it tells me to stop playing a game for now. I used to try to force myself to finish a game before I moved onto the next one. But now, I'll drop a game and switch to another if I really feel like it. Sometimes, I'll return to the original game if I really want to, but other times I never do... And I've learned that that's OK.
icedkocha
I kind of feel like being able to replay games is a luxury. I barely have time to touch my backlog.
Jared
Marty, I can't wait for you to play Mass Effect. I think a lot of people play it for the blue waifus, which might be your prerogative, but personally I love it for combat.
melchar
"Backlogs. Backlogs never change." ... are you feeling a 'fallout' in your game-play, Marty? ^_^ TBH, I very much understand & agree with the comfort & enjoyment that comes from replaying a game that I really love. I will play a new game, or 2, but then return to a game I loved to give it a bit more love.
Nosk
I just replayed Pokémon Blue version after a tremendous amount of years and I was surprised how much I remembered
Desman
Sometimes a replay will be more different than you think. The game probably hasn't changed, but you have.
Angelnickl
I hate time, it gets everywhere.
Marty Sliva
Yep, it’s the eternal struggle down the river of time. I’ve learned to just lay back and let the flow take me.
Marty Sliva
There are dozen(s) of us!
Marty Sliva
I hope P6 lets us decorate our room/hideout more. I like making my space feel like my own.
Marty Sliva
Heck yeah, definitely want to keep it going with more (and hopefully shorter) games.
Marty Sliva
Oh, I totally get it. Have a bunch of pals who feel the exact same way.
Marty Sliva
Hell yeah, another satisfied Junes customer. And yeah, warm blanket is a great way to put it.
Far Too Many Frogs
retrospect helps with a lot of games, honestly. I don't mind waiting longer to play certain titles and give them the attention that they deserve well after they've released and people have had their time with it. The only new release of the Modern Wolfenstein series that I played around launch was youngblood, and I was already familiar with New Order and New Colossus and the Dishonored series that I was able to find my way around quickly. Much less than it wasn't a very good Wolf game. the most recent game that I can think of that wasn't released this year that hit the itch for me was Dead Island 2. It was on my radar briefly because I worked at GameStop when it released (as did Tears of the Kingdom and Jedi Survivor), and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I not only avoided the initial release buggy phase, but I'd gotten it on a discount with all the expansions. and it was a hell of a romp. That and more recently, Forspoken. And I felt that I confirmed my beliefs that the massive shitting on it that people have done has been due to a crappy performance on launch (happens with a lot of games, and not all of them are going to get redemption arcs) but also the same racism that major black characters- and especially black women -in games suffer from If they aren't as calm and cool headed as Ikora in Destiny 2, or as silent and serious as the player character in Flintlock: Siege of Dawn is. Hell, from Wolf TNC, any search for Grace Walker will get auto complete results for "annoying." And ya know what? My only complaints about forspoken were that it was kind of long, and that it suffered from the same jank that a lot of open world games did. It was fine. Now I've got a number of games that I want to go through still. That was planning on starting the last of us part 1 today, and get back to Dragon Age Veilguard later.
Lil' Cass
Very well put there at the end Marty with "Life’s too short to turn art into a backlog checklist. Play what makes you happy, even if that play is a replay."
Snakeinthegarden
It's the fella who sells you models. If you do them in your room you can keep making mechs and bump your stats. Cool models, can look at em in 3d rotate too which is neat
dirtside
"Backlogs. Backlogs never change. Despite flipping the page to a new calendar year, my list of games, movies, TV series, anime, books, comics, music, and travel destinations that I’d love to experience for the first time is only growing bigger and more unwieldy." Having a "backlog" is understandable, but it's also a sign that you're deluged in content and being subjected to FOMO. There's already far more content in just *one* medium than any person could ever experience, hence trying to experience it all is impossible; why not be selective and avoid soaking up all your free time with it? That's without even getting into the political angle that the powers-that-be love it when people spend all their time on entertainment and none of it on paying attention to how those same powers are exploiting us. ;)
Insomnia Inc
There are certain games I replay pretty much every year, Mass effect and dragon age for the most part I do it full series run, It's basically like watching a favorite movie at this point makes me very happy, I'm currently doing mass effect right now just because I needed to pick me up. I'm also doing a telltale walking dead replay because apparently I hate my own soul
Angelnickl
This is an interesting discussion. On one hand I find myself with a large desire to replay games (Lisa the Painful and Chroma Squad) that strongly affected me in order to 100% them and again just for fun ad nauseam. But if I allowed myself to do that, it might be all I play forever. On the other hand, I pick up to many on going playthrough of new experiences without finishing all the other ones I started. I then have a current log or back burner filled to the brim with me tossing more and more on top because I enjoy new experiences. I have no simple solutions to my predicament but I will keep trying nonetheless.
LookItsAnEric
Book club buddies unite
Scattershot
Ironically, you just gave me a reason to replay P4G. Just finished it as part of bookclub and I never even saw the option to build mechs for your room. I always do my first Persona playthrough blind and then use the second (or third) to look at a guide and see what I missed.
Lord Robert
Great column. Hope the idea of the book club can grow into something even greater in 2025
GayBearDaddy2
I'm someone who wholly and utterly hates replaying story-rich games or rewatching shows/movies, even remastered, so this is a wild perspective to me. That said, ignore me. People going back to comfort games/shows/movies seems to be significantly more popular than people like me who would have more fun watching grass grow than replaying/rewatching a story.
Jim Roberts-Miller
As a guy who recently finished a P4G revisit and is currently halfway through a Fallout:NV replay, I feel this post. In an uncertain time, familiarity is a warm blanket.
Marty Sliva
Yeah, my terrible memory + me forgetting shit is also a big reason I replay so many games.
Marty Sliva
Yep, the length of games vs movies is definitely a hurdle when it comes to replays. In the 50 hours I put into P4 Golden over the break, I could’ve watched 25-30 movies.
Marty Sliva
Yeah, completely hear you when it comes to those handful of special games where the first experience can’t really be replicated. The two you mentioned, Outer Wilds, Obra Dunn, and The Witness are all games I genuinely adore, but haven’t revisited yet.
Denmark
I'm sure at least one person can attest to me getting rather irritated when it came time to replay P5 via Royal's gamepass release, but for a larf I restarted hollow knight, saying I was gonna finish it before silksong, and it's impressive how much I had forgotten. Like the Royal Waterways, and how to open up the howling cliffs
Lil' Cass
Agreed👍
Tim Wilson
I’m finding this with films more than anything, especially the “classics” from my childhood. Unfortunately the older I get, the more I struggle to do this with games, but I find that I can justify revisiting an older game through either a Let’s Play, speedrun or an updated re-release (Thanks P5 Royal! Soon…) but I still guiltily eye the Gamecube and MGS The Twin Snakes I’ve been meaning to replay for the past few years…
David C
I think there's also something to be said for games which hit you with such an impression the first time, that a replay is an entirely different experience. Tunic and Animal Well both come to mind for me; replaying them with what I know now will be incredibly different, I will never recreate that first playthrough for those games. Which may sound sad, but I think that just makes that initial experience all the more special.
