How often do you play through games that you like? Do you think you need to play through various games, multiple times to get a proper grasp of their systems?
Depends on the game, depends on you.
Some games have a lot more up-front complexity. Some games have a lot of subtle details. Some games have a lot more mechanical processes to master. Determining which is which requires good judgment. Determining if you really understand it takes good judgment.
I don’t have very consistent records of how many times I’ve played through all the games I’ve played. I’ve beaten Demon’s Souls twice, Dark Souls 1 at least 7-9 times. Dark Souls 2 maybe 3-4 times. Dark Souls 3 once. I’ve beaten God Hand once, same for Bayo and Ninja Gaiden, so I haven’t played hard mode in any of these games unless it was unlocked from the start, which I know I should do, but I just haven’t had the time. I’ve beaten Mirror’s Edge maybe 15-20 times. I’ve beaten Tales of Symphonia twice or 3 times. I’ve beaten DMC3 twice. DMC4 maybe 4 times on various difficulties. Mark of the Ninja perhaps 5-6 times. DXHR perhaps 4-5 times. MGR at least 7 times. Beaten HL2 perhaps twice, HL1 once, maybe twice. Halo 1 twice, Halo 2 once. Hotline Miami at least 4 times. Crysis Warhead at least 5-6 times. Beat Dishonored at least 6-7 times. Beat Wind Waker 3 times. Beat Cave Story twice. In both Thief and Thief 2 I stopped on the last level. Super Mario Bros I beat 6 times in the same month.
I replay it if I have time, if I like it, if I feel like there’s more content, if it’s been a long time since the first time I played it, if I happen to look at it when I have time open.
I think that replaying games is ideal, I don’t always have the time for it. I think I got the gist of a lot of the games above on my first playthrough and very few of them had me actually significantly learn more across playthroughs. I also supplement my play with gleaning facts online, seeing speedruns, reading about tricks and techniques, etc. I try to limit it sometimes so I figure things out myself, it varies. If it’s a crazy action game, I tend to look up whatever advanced techniques there are. Sometimes I wait until I’ve played the game a bit before doing that. Sometimes I find games to play because I’ve seen advanced techniques from them and think it’s cool.
Replay if you can and if you feel the game deserves it.
Celia Alexis Wagar's CritPoints 