Never the same again

[Xander]

I was just wondering how many people replay FF games, and actually complete them more than once.

I find that I can never quite enjoy an FF the same second time round, and I generally get bored after a little while of playing it. Even when I do wait ages maybe even a year or more to replay them. Example:

- Restarted FFVII, got bored after the Cosmo Canyon area.
- Restarted FFIX, got bored after the first town (Dali I think) xD
- Tried to replay FFX-2 to get Perfect Ending, got bored after sometime in Chapter 2.
- Restarted Kingdom Hearts, got bored at Wonderland xD
- Restarted FFX, am still playing so far, but doubt I'll carry on for long.

The thing is games like FFIX and KH are my favourite games and I really wanna enjoy playing them again, but I feel like I just can't get the same experience the second time round. I think that the games can never really be the same again when you know the whole story, what's going to happen, how they end.

Sometimes I just think, ooh I really feel like playing "FF whatever" again, and I like playing to reminisce on it, but just can't keep my interest second time round.

So does anyone else find this with replaying the games, and if you do enjoy replaying, which FFs have you replayed and actually completed more than once?

I've just come to the conclusion that the games can only be fully enjoyed and experienced first time through.

[robfinalfantasy]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I wish there was some way to wipe out my memory that way I could play the game as if it was the first time.

I remember:
the first time I tried ATB (this was with FVI)
the motorcycle chase in FFVII
trying out the various jobs in FFIII & FFV
using general characters in FFII
not knowing you had to EQUIP the weapons/armor purchased in FFI


The good times.

[NM]

I've replayed every FF game i've completed at least once or more all the way through. Which is the following. FFI, VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2.

To me there like books. I remember the main part of the story like the beginning and end but tend to forget the bit's in the middle. If all you play are RPG's I can see how they would become boring to replay over and over. But if I havn't played a game in ages it's always nice to go back and play it all again.

[Necronopticous]

I've replayed almost every Final Fantasy that I've ever played with the exception of Final Fantasy V which I only recently finished. Although I do replay the games on a regular basis I know what you mean, this is because sometimes I do stop, sometimes I go all the way through, I find that if I stop playing the game for something else, I won't want to come back to it. For instance, if I replay Final Fantasy VII, everything will be fine and I'll be interested the whole time unless at some point I decide, "I feel like playing Final Fantasy IX" Even if I only play the other game for a day and then go back to VII I'll find myself totally uninterested and usually end up deleting the save game.

Although I've played through some Final Fantasies so many times I don't even know what to do with myself... (e.g. I think I've literally played through Final Fantasy VI over 10-12 times)

I'm a bad example though because I am utterly obsessed with Square games, anything I say is immediately biased and unrepresentative.

[Sefie1999AD]

I know what you mean, Xander. The story events, character development and powerful scenes just don't come to you with the same emotional impact during your second time through the game. But how much I have fun with my second game depends on how much I enjoyed the first time through, and how long it has been since I first played the game. For example, if it's a short time (like less than a year) since I last played through the game, playing the game again usually just doesn't have the magic it had on my last time. Everything's still quite fresh on my mind so the moments playing the game just don't have the same effect. And though I normally like having a good memory, this is where I wish I wouldn't remember the game's events so well when I'm replaying. :/

FFVII's the first FF I've replayed, and the first time through the game was great, and the second time was really outstanding, making FFVII one of my favorite games ever. Chrono Trigger and FFIX were very fun on my first time, but they somehow lost the effect on the second time. Probably because I spent too much time on leveling up, and the story was still fresh in my mind. FFVI was pretty good at both playing times. I thought FFIIIj, FFV and FFVIII were quite good games, though my opinion on them improved on the second time because the stories made a lot more sense on the second time through. I've played FFIV three times, and the last time was the best. Probably because the first time was the easy type with a lousy translation, the second time with the hard type was an unfinished fan translation and the game felt too hard anyway, but the third time was fun.

I didn't have much fun with my first game of FFII, and so far all my attempts to replay the game have pretty much failed. I've finished FFI five times now, and the best moments where during my third game of it, playing a Fighter-Thief-Red Mage-White Mage game on WonderSwan Color. Oh, those fun times. FFX wasn't that fun on my first time, but I try to replay the game every now and then, and so far, it's been okay. Most of the time. FFX-2 was neat during the first time. I haven't really wanted to replay it yet. I loved Kingdom Hearts during my first game, but I haven't started a second game yet. I'm trying to play KH: Chain of Memories before starting a new game of KH.

As for other Square games that I've replayed, I've played Seiken Densetsu 3 loads of times. I'm currently playing it for the seventh time. The game has a pretty good story, which also changes according to which characters you pick, but after playing through it so many times, the story doesn't really matter. It's more about the cool battle system and the excellent replay value that the game has. Hard to say which time through was my favorite since I've had many fun times playing SD3.

That's all I can say about replaying FFs. Just for your information, Xander, there are occasionally times when you won't feel like playing video games at all. When that happens, don't try to force yourself to get back to playing games because that won't help. It can make you even more tired of playing games. So at those times, take a break from gaming. Or try some other genres. I made a long speech about this in this thread, I'm not going to quote all that here, but go read it if you can be bothered to read anymore after this long post of mine.

[YunaGirl05]

I know how you feel it just is not as meaningful. its still good. but not as magical as the first time you play it.

[DJZen]

I've replayed FFVI more times than I care to remember, and I get caught up in it every time. This is also true for the older games (especially FFI). I really get into 'em every time. FFVII I can't imagine wanting to play more than once every few years, if that. I think it's because of the different stylistic direction. FFVII is more like a movie while FFI is more like a tabletop RPG. I think that's why I enjoy some of those games more. They have more lasting power with me because they're not strictly plot driven.

[The Man]

It depends on the game for me. I actually enjoyed FFV more the second time around, but FFIV bored me when I tried to replay it. FFVI will alawys be enjoyable to me, though.

[Chris]

Yeah.

But I never get tired of playing Final Fantasy VII, I mean... I finish the game at least 5 times a year.

Final Fantasy VIII however is my favorite... but... ya' know... it's so friggin' long.

Final Fantasy IX I finish up to three times a year... it's starting to get a little repetitious.

Final Fantasy V I complete three times a year... so easy.

The rest I play whenever I feel like it...

[Xander]

I read your whole post Sephy. ^_^ And yeah I remember what you said before... the thing is now I think I *do* feel like playing an FF again. I'm just not sure which. I'm considering playing one of the older ones (I own them all but haven't played 1-5 yet) but I can't get back in FFVI after leaving it for a while. It's annoying if I leave a game for a while I just can't go back and pick up where I left off. But I've already restarted FFVI twice from doing that and I don't really wanna restart again xD Although I was enjoying it...but now I've totally forgotten what's going on and why I'm where I am and where am I. Darn it.

[Cless]

I guess the lesson here is to REALLY make the most of your first playthrough and savour it while it lasts, because no amount of repeated play is going to rekindle the feeling you had about a game on its first playthrough.

[Sefie1999AD]

I've restarted FF2 and FF3j loads of times when I've stopped playing them for so long. However, that actually wasn't a good idea for me since I usually didn't play them even that much as I did before restarting. So I'd suggest just continue playing the game, no matter how long you've stayed away from that game. I think there were times when I had unfinished games of FF3j, FF7 and FF8 that I hadn't played for almost a year (over a year and a half with FF7's case), but when I continued playing again, catching up what I had missed wasn't all that hard, and I was still able to enjoy the game a lot.

Restarting the game every time after a break is a bad idea also in a way that you'll soon see the opening intro so many times that you'll remember it too well, and the opening has pretty much no effect on you. Then it's very hard to get into the game and enjoy it if you can't even get any excitement about the opening parts of the game.

[Old Manus]

I have replayed IX, X, and V.

IX: At Ipsen's castle, gave up.

X: Trying to get those last Al Bhed primers. Stopped at Macalania temple.

V: Just before going to ExDeath's castle, world 2. Bored.

My memory card is cluttered with unfinished games which "I'm going to play, but not now."

[theundeadhero]

I've beaten most of them at least twice.

[Rusty]

I like replaying them at least once, you found out things you didn't know when you first played it and you can choose to do things a different way. I find it fun