Games You Cannot Go Back To

[JezMM]

Tornado's comments on Sonic 3 Complete and CD remind me that pretty much any decently enhanced port tends to cause this for me.

 

I always tell myself I'll still "sometimes" play old Sonic games through Mega and Gems Collection "like I always used to" back when those were the most convenient way of playing, but it pretty much never happens.

 

I tell myself I'll still play the GameCube versions of Zelda OoT and Zelda WW, because of preferring small aesthetic things that aren't present in the 3DS/Wii U versions but... time will tell if that actually happens.  Prolly more likely with OoT than WW since that has major aesthetic differences but... ehh.

 

 

 

Banjo-Kazooie will always be the one that torments me most in this regard though.  The XBLA port is perfect in every conceivable way until you reach the horrifically butchered end sequence and the end sequence is just so important to me that I'm willing to put up with an entire game of non-widescreen and fiddley application of original control scheme to a 360 controller to play it via emulator and get the non-glitched/correct length end sequence.

[Blue Blood]

The Phoenix Wright games.

 

For me, these games are all about the plot; the twists and turns, revelations and dialogue etc. These things are really important to the experience and make up a good 95+% of the fun in the series. I can't go back to them if I already know what's happening, what twists are coming etc. It really does lose something in being replayed. Perhaps if I leave it a good half decade or longer I might better enjoy another go, but certain plot points will always kinda stick in the memory.

 

Great games though.

 

Having just recently gotten into the series, I came into the topic to post exactly this. And for that reason alone I don't think I could justify paying full RRP for any of them despite how much fun I've had with the all so far. They're the most linear and one-time only games I've ever come across. I'll spent hours playing them in one go, just cause absorbing all the information and watching the plots twist and turn is so much fun. But it's a real problem when you can only play them once and have gotten the full experience.

[Sean]

I like replaying Ace Attorney games because it's like rewatching a TV show or movie. Just because I know what happens doesn't mean I can't appreciate stuff like characters, writing, and how overall well-crafted (most of) the cases are. I've replayed the first game alone five times and counting over the years.

[Blue Blood]

I'll tell you what else I can't go back to these days: Pokémon. Any game, any gen. Nope. Can't play it. I've done the same thing now many times over, with the same cheesy plot and corny characters. I'm all burnt out. Just trying to play any of the games literally puts me to sleep. And yes, I do mean playing them actually makes me feels tired. I think it's the first series I've ever grown properly sick of. They're formulaic to a point where not one ounce of skill is required and that really takes it's toll after a while. It's such a shame really cause I do still massively seeing new 'mons and get caught up in the hype that ends up being nothing but empty promises.  Oh well...

[Solkia]

Another one is Tales of Phantasia.

 

It's a perfectly fine game but for fuck's sake is it archaic. It's just not fun to play after playing the games since Symphonia.

[VO.SUPER]

I can never play a Zelda game any less than a year at a time because of how simply long winded they can be in the latest installments. The only one I can get into is Majora's Mask, because I love to analyze the thing to death. I love to analyze and personalize the small story details found in the environment. Hell, the game is basically based around the idea of replaying again and again, so I think that's what helps it stay for me, unlike others. 

 

Skyward Sword is one I won't be touching for a long while for sure. That thing was so long winded and based solely on puzzles and linear story that it makes replaying the whole thing not worth it. And hey, the Boss Rush gives me even less incentive to go back. 

[Blacklightning]

Stormrise, off the top of my head. Granted, it is a pretty shit game, but I can usually bring myself to finish anything just for the sake of closure - Stormrise, however, is an incredibly special kind of convoluted awful that just defies belief. As far as I can tell a lot of the basic metagame relies on crossfires - that is, flanking an enemy from two different angles simultaneously - but this makes it so damn easy to turtle that breaking through enemy defences efficiently and timely is nigh on impossible, even if you build an army all the way up to the unit cap. And to make matters worse the tutorial doesn't even cover all the necessary skills in the game - they actually have the nerve to wait until 1-2 missions into the game (this takes hours, fyi) to teach you, get this, how to control more than one unit at a time. In an RTS. This shit was obscure and convoluted even when playing only with the most basic units in the game - I finally ended up getting to a point where they introduced vehicles, found out they were getting their shit wrecked easily for no discernible reason and I was like "yeah, fuck this".

 

As far as less shit games go, mostly the Borderlands games - on principle, because I can't really bring myself to touch anything Gearbox after what they did to Sega and Colonial Marines. And Sonic Colours, mostly because I find Red Rings absolutely asinine as replay value, despite finding the game itself not all that bad.

[The Pit of Mystic Cave]

There's really no example of a game I enjoy that I won't go back to eventually, but the ones that take the longest for me to get back into are metroidvania-style games. 

 

Symphony of the Night is a good example. That game is absolutely spectacular and if you haven't played it, then you're doing yourself a disservice; however, once I finish a session, I won't touch the game again for a few years. That also goes for stuff like Super Metroid and the most recent Strider released a few months ago. 

 

I'm not sure why, but i feel like it's because of the intense backtracking required to fully complete the game (I am a bit of a completionist). I HATE being in an area and knowing that I'll have to return eventually for something just out of reach or something related to the story. That's why the first playthroughs are the best for me. 

[Mr Useful]

Star-Fox Command.

 

I love the gameplay, but the beginning few stages become really tedious when you just want to play to see what different outcomes or stages you can pick. The first 2-5 stages almost always land to the same planet whenever I play and it gets boring. Also, a lot of the endings are kinda crappy and some would be better as actual stages or fleshed out scenarios. 

[Cyalume]

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (GC)

Theres a fair chance that I've played this one every other year or so since the day that it came out. I haven't had the patience to collect all of the games available emblems, and I doubt that I ever will, but nonetheless I still feel like I've wrung this game dry of nearly all of its enjoyment factor. I practically have the map layouts for each stay memorized by this point.

 

Animal Crossing (GC/"Population Growing")

 

A proper example of a game that has been thoroughly improved upon if ever there was one. While theres still some inherent charm to it, and the nostalgia factor will likely always be kicking, its quite simply not enough to convince me to invest any of my time into it again (if anything, I should probably devoting more time to New Leaf, as I've barely touched that one at all, and this bit also applies to Wild World, as it too is obsolete).

Maplestory (PC)

 

Bogged down by limitless freemium purchases that all but suck the game dry of any potential enjoyment, Maplestory is a game that was at some point centered on teamwork and socialization. What was once one of the best free-to-play 2D MMOs on the market has now degenerated into a pay-to-win, antisocial borefest rivaled only by the worst of freemium phone apps in terms of game breaking "in-app purchases". Riddled with hackers, botters, scammers and a (more) terrible community alongside radical changes made to the game's core systems, it is almost depressing to return to, and certainly lacking of any fun.

 

Starcraft II (PC)

After completing its campaign (both WoL and HoTS), I lost interest quickly. It doesn't have the same magic that the original did for me.

 

 

Paper Mario (N64)

Once you know what to do, you know what to do. As previous posts in the thread have stated, these sorts of games are the type that require you to leave them and come back after you've had long enough to forget how to beat them; otherwise, they're not any fun to replay.

 

Sonic Generations

Played the death out of what little there was to play the death out of. Theres still some missions left undone, but for the most part, I've had my fill.

 

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

There isn't much replay value to this one beyond the Boo missions, in my opinion. There also isn't any real incentive (to my knowledge) to actually collect any money in this game, as all its good for is upgrades to your strobe light and Poltergust. After all of that is said and done, money becomes worthless. This game was basically a "one and done" for me.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I'm slightly ashamed to say it, but now it looks like I wont be continueing SS for a couple weeks, after a 2 week first time playthrough of Twilight Princess, the pace, gameplay and tone change is just too dramatic for me to jump back in, after finishing both WWHD, and TP, I see what you guys mean by it having a tad too much filler, just have to wait for my tolerence to build back up

[Tornado]

Symphony of the Night is a good example. That game is absolutely spectacular and if you haven't played it, then you're doing yourself a disservice; however, once I finish a session, I won't touch the game again for a few years. That also goes for stuff like Super Metroid and the most recent Strider released a few months ago. 

 

I'm not sure why, but i feel like it's because of the intense backtracking required to fully complete the game (I am a bit of a completionist). I HATE being in an area and knowing that I'll have to return eventually for something just out of reach or something related to the story. That's why the first playthroughs are the best for me.

For whatever reason, I never really thought that applied to Portrait of Ruin. Possibly because of how huge it is, but the backtracking wasn't so bad on that one.

[HippyAmy]

Yeah Pokemon, haven't touched X/Y in ages.

 

 

I to seem to hardcore play them and basically do everything you can, never touch it again, till the next one.

 

 

I may get hate for this, but I can't stand Sonic 3, played it till competition and never again. This isn't including Sonic and Knuckles.

[Chaos Incarnate]

The Werehog stages in Sonic Unleashed.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the Werehog, and I'm technically cheating as I go back to the Day stages, but I just can't bring myself to ever replay his levels, like ever. True, his stages become more enjoyable once you fully upgrade him, but I get really tired of beating up enemies corridor after corridor in a Sonic game. I always found myself raging over how bad I was over his platforming sections as well. 

 

Oh, and that battle music. Good god, the Night music is so damn good, but it's a shame you barely even get to hear it when the same obnoxious song interrupts every five seconds. That combined with the fact his stages overstay their welcome makes me never, ever replay his levels since I first completed Unleashed. 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Every Pokemon game. I like Pokemon, but dear god, they're so long, and the thought of trekking through all that again just...no. I can't. I just fuckin' can't.

[Agie]

Most games I'm unable to go back to, I can't go back to them because they disappeared, and may never be seen again.

[EmmBee]

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Started playing it earlier this year on my PSP since I found it at Gamestop for a really cheap price. I enjoyed it for the most part, being the first time I managed to make any progress in a Metal Gear game. There were tons of times where I found myself frustrated though, like thanks to the controls (aiming with the face buttons of the PSP and trying to sneak around with the nub) or certain map layouts and soldier placement.

 

Some of the boss battles gave me issues. The tank, armored vehicle, and helicopter missions were just the worst, since doing run where you take most of the soldiers with you through fulton is difficult to do alone and using the PSP controls. Getting caught just once leads to an alert that stays up for the entire fight. So you can get fucked over pretty easily and have a perfect run ruined just like that.

I've gotten most of the good weapons and outfits now, and I've beaten the game to the true ending. There are some bosses, aside from the ones I've already mentioned, that I'll never touch again. The Peace Walker battle was just the worst. Nothing worse than having it down to two bars of health, just to go into nuclear launch mode and not have enough time to knock it out of it. I really hate any boss that has automatic game over moves like that.

 

So now MSF is getting pretty big, and even though I'm done with the story, there's still tons for me to do. I'll get around to it, but I doubt I'll ever start a new file after all of that bullshit. Maybe only if I ever get the HD version of the game. Only maybe.

[-Mark-]

The Last of Us

Its a really good game, I'd even put it on my top 10 video games list. Its fantastic and its pretty fun and what not. I won't say anything more because I gush a lot about this game a lot if you hadn't noticed in the TLoU thread.

But I just can't muster another playthrough. My guess its just a game that gets so fucking depressing all the time. It does have its hilarious moments and can be heartwarming but overall its more depressing than anything. I don't really like being depressed all time as I learned from FFX but TLoU does have a place in my heart regardless.

 

That reminded me; the Telltale Walking Dead games.

 

As much as I love them and would like nothing more than to replay them, the fact each story is so personalised makes it feel like I'd be ruining it if I ever played them again.

 

The only way I can see myself ever going back to the series would be after it's ended outright. Going back and replaying parts whilst it's still ongoing just doesn't feel right.

[KHCast]

Bioshock Infinite is one that comes to mind quickly. I really only played infinite because of its story. I was engaged, and sucked into the world. It was a great experience. But a experience was all it was. Sure I could level up my weapons and abilities, get all the trophies, but with a game like BI, I just can't motivate myself to do it. The most important part if that game for me was its narrative, and once I finished it, I couldn't really think of much to get me sucked back in.

Also Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days. Not only was its gameplay a poor mans version of the console version of the games, but it was tedious to boot. I was glad I finished the game, because there literally is no reason for me to go back. Why would I want to unlock Sora? To do so is annoyingly tedious as it is, and to top it off, his gameplay isn't all that better. The overall gameplay is still a mess on the DS. (Same goes for Donald, Goofy, and Mickey)Plus all you can do is replay the missions you've already completed. I've never played multiplayer since no one around here has the game, but I've heard it's not all that good anyways.

[Salamander]

I guess replaying a game that's near-on a visual novel is a lot like rereading a book.  If it's really well-written you might want to soak it in again, or if there are a lot of plot twists you might want to reread to catch all the clues, but otherwise they're one-time-only experiences.

 

There was this game Yahtzee (yes, that one) made called Poacher, a Metroidvania that was challenging, fun, really difficult, had multiple endings, and was pretty damn well written and hilarious. It also got really open ended at some points. Sounds like perfect replay value right? It is.

 

Only for some reason I've just found that I've never gone back to it. It doesn't even come under my radar even though I really enjoyed it.

 

Oh, I played Poacher!  For me it was a game to replay a bunch of times immediately because the achievements pointed me to all the stuff I was missing, and it was short enough that it was never too far to the new stuff... but once you've done everything, the game really is totally exhausted.  There's just nothing left for me there.  (Also, I recall it secretly wasn't all that open-ended, it just looked that way.)  I guess something like Iji would be the same - that had loads and loads of different possibilities and ways to play, and I spent quite a while going through it over and over, but afterwards there's nothing new to do in it.  Those are the sorts of games that you need to go back to straight away in order to remember what else you can do.  If you leave it long enough to forget, you really are back to square one.

 

Conversely, there are a lot of RPGs I'd like to replay to go for the stuff I missed, but I just can't bear the thought of having to grind to get back all of my great powers and items again.  For which reason, New Game+ is pretty high on my list of desired features for any RPG.  It's kind of a courtesy, really - letting me really complete the game without giving up on everything I worked so hard for.

[SuperStingray]

That reminded me; the Telltale Walking Dead games.

 

As much as I love them and would like nothing more than to replay them, the fact each story is so personalised makes it feel like I'd be ruining it if I ever played them again.

 

The only way I can see myself ever going back to the series would be after it's ended outright. Going back and replaying parts whilst it's still ongoing just doesn't feel right.

Came here to say this.  I loved Heavy Rain the first time I played it but it completely lost its magic once I started looking for other story routes.  I didn't want to make the same mistake with a genuinely great story like The Walking Dead.

[Emmett L. Brown]

Final Fantasy X. The painful linearity, over-abundance of cutscenes, and the fact that none of them are skippable makes it way too much of a chore to want to sit through again. Which is a shame, because I really enjoyed the combat system and visual aesthetics.

 

I...just can't listen to Tidus for another twenty hours straight. I just can't.

[-Mark-]

Banjo-Kazooie will always be the one that torments me most in this regard though.  The XBLA port is perfect in every conceivable way until you reach the horrifically butchered end sequence and the end sequence is just so important to me that I'm willing to put up with an entire game of non-widescreen and fiddley application of original control scheme to a 360 controller to play it via emulator and get the non-glitched/correct length end sequence.

 

Wait... what did they do to the end of Banjoe-Kazooie? D: I never finished the XBLA port...

[JezMM]

Wait... what did they do to the end of Banjoe-Kazooie? D: I never finished the XBLA port...

 

Three things:

 

First one is a pet peeve and probably me being fussy - but the original staff credits finished very warmly with Nabnut in his little house giving the copyrights during a very sentimental sounding part to the music.

 

On XBLA, after this, the cast roll goes back to the start and they begin doing the staff credits for the XBLA port - which ends very depressingly on Loggo in Mad Monster Mansion and a completely whatever part of the song.  I'dve rather they did extra standalone credits after everything else (like OoT and Starfox 64 on 3DS did).

 

 

 

Second thing - just to skip ahead to the 100% ending - is the demo footage of Banjo exploring the Treasure Trove Cove secret area goes out of sync with the action (presumably due to the imaginary controls he's programmed to respond to do not appreciate the higher FPS or something) and he ends up falling off the tower.  The footage quickly ends and goes to the next one as soon as he does, and it makes for a weird moment where they ask about "the eggs" when we've only seen one.

 

 

 

But to go back to the pre-final boss ending, the most offensive thing for me because I adored it as a kid was (presumably due to issues similar to the above thing), the scene after the credits where Banjo and Kazooie are running home through Spiral Mountain to the BBQ (and Kazooie is all "You missed a carrot!" etc) is cut entirely.  Goes straight to the BBQ scene.

 

 

I just find it kind of bizarre considering the title screen demos play fine.  And even then after all the other improvements they made to the game I'm surprised they were unable to go into the code enough to "re-record" these scenes with new control input.

 

 

Either way Banjo-Kazooie had one of the most elaborate and amazing endings back in the day compared to some other games so having it be colossally messed up like this (after the rest of the game was ported so perfectly no less) is such a shame and totally bursts my little nostalgia bubble.

[Milo]

In addition to games I can't go back to because I don't find them interesting to play, there are also games I'd love to go back to but can't because they are practically lost forever or I am literally unable to play them. GoldenEye 007, Jet Set Radio Future, and THPS3 are my personal biggest casualties for me (my copy of GE 007 got lost, the JSRF disc -which was the Xbox holiday bundle version, so Sega GT 2002 is also lost forever- was ruined beyond repair, my sister's -usually sluggish- Xbox had it's video cable damaged, and not long afterwards the console disappeared somewhere, retroactively leaving my sister's entire Xbox collection without a console to play it on). I've mentioned it before, but my PS2 somehow lost the ability to play DVDs, making almost my entire PS2 library (save for one game) unplayable since they're all DVDs. My disc of Backyard Baseball also broke in half, so that's essentially gone too. :/