Board 8 > Games you loved the first time but not so much during replays?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Prime examples for me are Danganronpa 1-3 and Zero Time Dilemma given their story telling nature and mystery element.

All? Nothing captures the magic of the first time

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The Walking Dead comes to mind. Playing future Telltale games definitely makes you see the holes in that game design, but it felt so fresh at the time. You just end up realising that choices don't really matter much at all.

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Seiken Densetsu 3/Trials of Mana. It's fun the first time but after you get used to the spells from class changes the first third of the game is exposed as just a shallow beat 'em up on replays until your party reaches level 18.

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Heavy Rain was a big one. Once you start watching certain scenes with certain knowledge, you realise how terrible it actually is.
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Aecioo posted...

All? Nothing captures the magic of the first time

I've had multiple experiences where my second/third playthroughs are more enjoyable than my first due to having a better feel for controls/knowing what happens, etc.

To answer TC: Tales of Vesperia is the most recent one that comes to mind

JackMan posted...

Heavy Rain

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Snake5555555555 posted...

The Walking Dead comes to mind. Playing future Telltale games definitely makes you see the holes in that game design, but it felt so fresh at the time. You just end up realising that choices don't really matter much at all.

Hell, I realized it by the end of the game.

Every major choice ends up not mattering in the long run. Whoever you save out of Doug/Carly in episode 1 dies in episode 3. If you don't abandon Lily, she runs away anyway. If you save Ben in episode 4, he dies in episode 5. The list goes on but the only thing that really changes is Lee's relationship with each character, producing different dialogue and resulting in one relatively insignificant consequence near the end of the game.
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Aecioo posted...

All? Nothing captures the magic of the first time

That's not what the topic is asking. It's asking about games you went from absolutely loving to feeling "eh" about a second time.

colliding posted...

To answer TC: Tales of Vesperia is the most recent one that comes to mind

This one so much. I couldn't even beat it because it was so bad. Virtually no plot, nonexistent character chemistry outside of a few scenes, battles that took way too long to feel fleshed out, forgettable music (can only recall two songs), and really nothing going for it except for Yuri and Fatal Strikes.

And this is coming from the guy who wrote the goddamn board sticky for the original game (and revised and reposted it for the DE) >_>
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Tales of Symphonia
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I just finished Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night again a few days ago. The 1st playthrough was great. Playing it the 2nd time though, not so much. Made me realize the game isn't anything special at all. Everything is something that has been done before and better by other games in the same genre. The music is also inferior to almost every Castlevania game in comparison.

Whereas SotN is a game that I love playing again and again and again. I don't see myself doing the same for RotN.

In reverse of this. I played ffxii the first time and got bored, and despite making it all the way to the final dungeon, never finished it. Many years later, I started it over again and I loved it.
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I can't think of any during my SECOND run

I got super hella burned out on Link to the past and Kirbys adventure back in the day. I loved them so much but I played them wayyyy too much. I had 3 perfect save files in Kirby, for example

I can't stand to replay them or listen to their music now. I'm starting to get that way with OoT, one of my most beloved games. Unless I do something super stupid like doing the spirit temple second post master sword.

My older bro said He feels the same way about TMNT in NES
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Not counting visual novels, probably something like Final Fantasy X. When I first played it, it was easily my favorite game of all-time, but anymore it's just another pretty good JRPG.

On the visual novel front, I'm gonna say the first Phoenix Wright. At the time, it was amazing, because it was new. Now, after having played 7 other Ace Attorney games, thinking back to the original makes me realize how ridiculously simple and predictable each of its first three cases were. And even the 4th case, when compared to other finale cases.
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ttyd

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Terranigma
- The first few times I played, I was just taken in by the world building (figuratively and literally), the combat, and the quest to get back to the underworld. Revitalizing all the different places, then the passage of time were really cool concepts, and there were some great moments later.

On later replays... it all just felt really hollow. Illusion of Gaia still holds up for its emotional moments and great music, Soul Blazer still has the piece-by-piece reclamation of lost souls and buildings which is really cool, but Terranigma just felt much more hollow and point a to point b, especially for a world rebuilding game. The lack of a surrounding cast also hurts; there were the few people in the underworld and a few characters who pop up once or twice more, but it's just meh. The combat even feels lesser with the running jump attack being the best move 95% of the time.
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Final fantasy X
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Sonic Adventure 2
Star Ocean 2
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MrSmartGuy posted...

Not counting visual novels, probably something like Final Fantasy X. When I first played it, it was easily my favorite game of all-time, but anymore it's just another pretty good JRPG.

Complete opposite for me. First time I played it (granted I was like, 10) I enjoyed it, and it registered in my memory as being a decent game, but nothing super special.

Playing it nowadays though I consider it an absolute masterpiece and one of the best RPGs ever made.

I know of a game I don't think I'd like if I returned to it. And I think everyone can guess what game that is.
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Fire Emblem 6-10 are some of the most replayable games for me. I thought Awakening would be the same after playing through it once. It was not.
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Oh man, multiple Vesperia mentions already - that's probably mine as well. After the first run it felt like an absolute high point for Tales, but while I still respect it for playing a huge part in elevating the series to where it is now, it's just flat out painful to play after the more recent entries have so hugely improved on every area.
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Dels posted...

MrSmartGuy posted...

Not counting visual novels, probably something like Final Fantasy X. When I first played it, it was easily my favorite game of all-time, but anymore it's just another pretty good JRPG.

Complete opposite for me. First time I played it (granted I was like, 10) I enjoyed it, and it registered in my memory as being a decent game, but nothing super special.

Playing it nowadays though I consider it an absolute masterpiece and one of the best RPGs ever made.

This, this, and THIS.
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I think Secret of Mana was the most "What did I see in this?"
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ff7
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I recently replayed (most of) Pokemon GSC for the first time in well over a decade, and after many years of calling it a top 5 game of all time... I dom't know whatever made me think that other than blind nostalgia. The difficulty curve is stupidly out of whack, far too many Gen II Pokemon are locked away until late/post-game, meaning in the early stages of the game you are encountering/using a really dumb number of Gen I Pokemon, and it really lacks the magic of the first game. On the plus, the Gen II Pokemon ARE really great and I like Johto as a region.
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Banjo-Kazooie

Did not age well.
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Recettear. Loved the first playthrough but on the next go-around it quickly felt stale and formulaic.
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I think I have to agree with aecioo.

Any story-based game loses its luster after the first playthrough

That element of mystery that carries you through boring gameplay or tedious scenes isn't there on the second trip

I think the mass effect trilogy is one of the greatest things around, but I've never been able to get through any of the three a second time
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FF8 and Tales of Symphonia are the two games that come to mind when I think of "enjoyed the first time, seem worse with each subsequent playthrough"
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Wedge Antilles posted...

FF8 and Tales of Symphonia are the two games that come to mind when I think of "enjoyed the first time, seem worse with each subsequent playthrough"

Nawww man I beg to differ. FF8 gets better and better with each replay.

Firewatch

I tend not to replay games unless I really like them or the platinum requires multiple playthroughs.
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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Wedge Antilles posted...

FF8 and Tales of Symphonia are the two games that come to mind when I think of "enjoyed the first time, seem worse with each subsequent playthrough"

Nawww man I beg to differ. FF8 gets better and better with each replay.

And I think the opposite. Aren't opinions and different taste wonderful?
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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Prime examples for me are Danganronpa 1-3 and Zero Time Dilemma given their story telling nature and mystery element.

Ironically I'm playing DR1 right now, and when I saw the topic, I thought, man I wouldn't want to play this a second time.

SSJSephirothGokuX123 posted...

Seiken Densetsu 3/Trials of Mana. It's fun the first time but after you get used to the spells from class changes the first third of the game is exposed as just a shallow beat 'em up on replays until your party reaches level 18.

paperwarior posted...

I think Secret of Mana was the most "What did I see in this?"

No argument here. I say SoM is my favorite game, and I refuse to go back to it so as not to tarnish that nostalgia. However, SD3 is pretty terrible in the first third of the game, especially if you don't have Carly in your group to provide healing.
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Underleveled posted...

I recently replayed (most of) Pokemon GSC for the first time in well over a decade, and after many years of calling it a top 5 game of all time... I dom't know whatever made me think that other than blind nostalgia. The difficulty curve is stupidly out of whack, far too many Gen II Pokemon are locked away until late/post-game, meaning in the early stages of the game you are encountering/using a really dumb number of Gen I Pokemon, and it really lacks the magic of the first game. On the plus, the Gen II Pokemon ARE really great and I like Johto as a region.

Gen one pandering is almost as old as gen 1 lol
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Prob Mario 64 would be the closest thing. Mario 64 was kinda magical first time I played it but a saturation of uninspired collectathon games and not really realizing they were mostly terrible until I'd played too many of them soured me on 3D platformers in general.

Mario 64 does a lot right that they don't, but I still don't like it all that much anymore. I've never fully replayed it successfully.
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banananor posted...

I think I have to agree with aecioo.

Any story-based game loses its luster after the first playthrough

That element of mystery that carries you through boring gameplay or tedious scenes isn't there on the second trip

I think the mass effect trilogy is one of the greatest things around, but I've never been able to get through any of the three a second time

I love replaying story-based games if only to catch all the hints and foreshadowing I missed the first time around. Those "Aha" moments are great.

But I've never had a problem replaying games I like in general.
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Leonhart4 posted...

I love replaying story-based games if only to catch all the hints and foreshadowing I missed the first time around. Those "Aha" moments are great.

But I've never had a problem replaying games I like in general.

There are certain specific parts that are really neat about replaying RPGs. I think I would enjoy replaying them more if they all had the FF7 max level/invincibility/infinite limit break/combat fast forward cheat codes or whatever to breeze through the grindier sections.

I typically replay games until I get to the first large/obvious filler dungeon/combat section
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I dunno. If it's a game I love, I never want to breeze through it. I'll take advantage of NG+ features and the like just to make battles easier, but that's it.
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