Repetitive Joy!

[Vyk]

A lot of games get flack for being too repetitive. And yet some live off their repetitive-ness. I just picked up Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. And just like in any other Castlevania game since Symphony of the Night. I'm addicted and can't put it down. I love the exploration. Running around whacking enemies. Getting new gear and abilities to help me get to blocked off places. At the heart they're all the same game. You do all the same stuff throughout all of them. Sometimes it works for a game. Any other addictive repeaters out there? :D

[Jessweeee♪]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Unfortunately, Castlevania is pretty "broken" at this point. Each new title superficially cribs from Symphony while the less obvious qualities that made it so great steadily crack and decay.

As for the main topic, when I find myself enjoying some form of repetition in a game, it's usually due to accompanying factors that aren't repetitious keeping the experience varied and dynamic.

[Cz]

As long as the core gameplay's good enough, it doesn't matter how repetitive the experience is. The best example for me is the sports sim genre. A faithful recreation of a sport, that accurately reflects the dynamics of the game while controlling well and providing a decent challenge, can eat up more of my time than any RPG or adventure title, even though it's essentially the same experience over and over again. The same goes for fighting games. A tightly designed beat 'em up of sufficient balance and complexity can attract a dedicated fanbase and tournament scene, even though the core gameplay doesn't vary much from bout to bout. Maybe that's not the sort of repetition you mean, though.

[Vyk]

Oh right. I actually kinda forgot about beat'em up games. They don't make good games in that genre anymore, do they? :[ Konami tried to resurrect the Ninja Turtles. But the last one I remember being well received was Bouncer or something

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

No More Heroes is largely constructed like a beat'em-up, and it's quite excellent.

[Vyk]

... I'm gonna have to get a Wii just for that game. I've been hearing too many good things about it to really justify missing out on it >_>

[NeoCracker]

I wouldn't buy a system soley for No More Heroes, regardless of how utterly kick ass the game is. However 2 games like no More Hereos would do it for me.

And thats my pick, it is fairly repetitive, but it still stays so fun through the whole game.

[Ichimonji]

I love fetch-quests and collectibles. I also like some dungeon crawlers, like Dark Cloud. So, I don't mind repetitive. Although some games are pointlessly repetitive which makes the game less fun, like Rogue Galaxy. Imo, anyway.

[Markus. D]

I like incentives in an already pleasurable gameplay mechanics thingy to play around with.

[KoShiatar]

Most RPG's are incredibly repetitive. Town, dungeon, random encounter, three steps, another random encounter, three steps, boss/hidden treasure (or boss AND hidden treasure), back to town, repeat. However, seeing the story advance is a big incentive - big enough to keep players playing.
Extreme repetitivity is also acceptable in well-designed puzzle games. There was a time when I could spend more time at once playing Puzzle Bobble than any other game.

[Madame Adequate]

Games are, in terms of actual input, inherently repetetive. What makes them unrepetetive is the situations you can find yourself in. Sim City is the same basic thing over and over - building and zoning. But building a small scenic town brings completely different challenges to building a huge CBD, so the game doesn't feel repetetive.

Of course, if something's insanely fun, repetetion isn't necessarily a problem. Something like Dynasty Warriors, for instance.

[Bolivar]

^ that's what i was going to say. For much of its history, game design was taking one simple model and repeating it over and over again in a different context. In essence, that's what computer programming is. For example, calculators perform all of their functions by using only addition in different ways and combinations.

Eventually after enough times any game will become boring, but even the simplest things can be fun for a long time. Counter-Strike, since I brought it up in another thread, is one such example.

[Jessweeee♪]

... I'm gonna have to get a Wii just for that game. I've been hearing too many good things about it to really justify missing out on it >_>

+Rayman, Tomb Raider, Brawl

Four games!

[Vivisteiner]

Dynasty Warriors is addictive.