r/Games • u/AutoModerator • 22d ago

Discussion Daily /r/Games Discussion - Free Talk Friday - December 06, 2024

It's F-F-Friday, the best day of the week where you can finally get home and play video games all weekend and also, talk about anything not-games in this thread.

Just keep our rules in mind, especially Rule 2. This post is set to sort comments by 'new' on default.

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Scheduled Discussion Posts

WEEKLY: What Have You Been Playing?

MONDAY: Thematic Monday

WEDNESDAY: Suggest Me A Game

FRIDAY: Free Talk Friday

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u/nmad95 22d ago

Let's say you're playing a game and for one reason or another you end up putting it down. Not because you didn't like it, maybe life stuff happened or you hit a tough spot and just couldn't get past it. If a solid amount of time passes by and you decide to pick it up again, do you feel like the immersion has been broken and you need to restart?

The example for me I'm thinking of is Resident Evil 2 (Remake). When I first picked it up years ago, I started with Claire A. I got really deep and got stuck in a boss fight with little to no ammo. Tried loading a previous save to scrounge more ammo but I was finding nothing. Felt like I was cooked so a while after that I started the game over with Leon A this time. Last time I played was probably over a year ago and I was in a similar position.

Right now I'm playing RE4 Remake and it's one of the best games of all time in my opinion. I feel like I'm also getting better at the mechanics of these RE Remakes, so I might have better luck not working myself into a corner if I give RE2 another go. But I tend to be one of those people that hates jumping back into something after such a gap.

I'm leaning towards replaying it from the start, honestly. I feel like I might regret not doing so because it might feel more complete.

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u/HallowVortex 22d ago

idk if it has to do with immersion but i will restart almost any game if im coming back to it after a while. Just doesn't feel right to start from the middle.

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u/CCoolant 22d ago

For games like those, starting from the beginning really wouldn't be bad, and could even end up being beneficial (waste less resources as you progress).

All games are a bit of a pain to get back into, since you have to "warm up" again, but I find it worthwhile for most. I end up feeling pretty good, like I'm finding my stride again, after playing for an hour or two. I recently did this for Persona 3 and really enjoyed the last 15-20 hours of the game without having to replay the first 60.

If you're close to the end of a game though, firing it up and just finishing it can feel a bit anticlimactic. I find it gives me a nice sense of closure though, not leaving a thread dangling like that, especially if I don't have time or energy to do a replay.

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u/nmad95 22d ago edited 22d ago

Oh man, I definitely could never restart a Persona playthrough lmao. This thing of mine definitely usually applies to shorter or harder games. Like with Bloodborne I started playing that in 2017. Got stuck at Blood Starved Beast, picked it up randomly in 2021, and somehow I started kicking ass and I beat the game. I don't think I would've done as well if I had to rehash the difficult sections again just to risk getting frustrated before making any new progress.

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u/HammeredWharf 22d ago

Well, in RE's case, I might restart. They're all really short if you know what you're doing. I might also restart a highly non-linear WRPG to see how some other choices play out and try other builds. But if I'm playing a long linear game like a JRPG or Assassin's Creed, no way. I'm continuing from where I left off. usually they're fairly straightforward to return to, luckily. I paused both AC Odyssey and Ys VIII for over a year and came back with renewed motivation.