Image by Flickr User: clubizarre (cc)
It’s been a week and a half now since we said goodbye to 2014, and I still haven’t quite gotten my head around the fact that the world has turned once again and left us at the bright beginning of a new year (just…wow!). So as you might imagine, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for the new year. That’s changed now though. You see, a couple weeks ago I posted my “replay” list for Listmas; that is, the list of all the games I’d like to revisit someday. Like most years, the list continued to grow in 2014, because even though we had more problems and controversy than usual, it was still a year filled with plenty of new games worth playing. This new year is looking like it’s going to be even better, so I figured I’d take a page out of Simpleek’s book, and issue myself a challenge. That is, to fully complete at least one game on the replay list each month this year!
It’s become all to easy lately to play a game and enjoy it, only to move onto other games and never return. That’s an unfortunate situation don’t you think? Many of us gamers buy our games rather than rent because we think the games we’re buying will be good for more than just one playthrough before they get permanently shelved, but time and circumstance seem to conspire against that mentality don’t they? I don’t know about you, but I’ve played some truly excellent games over the last few years that deserve to be revisited. I’ve also got at least a couple on there that I think deserve a second chance; games that had interesting ideas but perhaps got dismissed a little too quickly. Aside from all that, it always interesting to see how a game holds up after it’s memory starts getting distorted by that rose-colored pair of sun glasses called nostalgia that we all put on at one point or another.
Basically this is a challenge about finally revisiting those game that I always wanted to spend more time with and never have, as well as rediscovering those games I wish I’d given more of a chance back when I first played them. It all starts off this month with a game that actually wasn’t on the published list: Ratchet: Deadlocked. This is the oft-forgotten dark horse of the Ratched and Clank “trilogy” on PS2 and it’s been sitting on my list for so long that I actually forgot about it when I published the list last month. I’ve been wanting to revisit it because I actually remember the game being pretty fun and would like to know why it’s never gotten anywhere near the same level of acclaim that the first three games received. Maybe it’s the name? Maybe it’s the focus on action over adventure? The point is that I don’t know and I haven’t known for too long now! I’ll be posting my findings at the end of the month, but for now it’s time to fire it up and find out!
Gaming in 2015 looks like it’s going to be even better than it was last year, so wish me luck in staying on task!
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Got any games you think you’d like to revisit? Do you think you’ll get around to them this year? How would you suggest taking on this ind of list anyway?
Good luck! I think the challenges help keep you focused on trying to make your backlogs less intimidating! If I didn’t have so many games to play after Inquisition, I definitely want to revisit the Dragon Age series from the beginning. I never got to play the other origin stories and I really want to rectify that someday. :)
Thanks, good finishing off Inquisition! What game are you going to play next?
That’s the million dollar question right?! :) Honestly, I don’t really know. I got some really great games for Christmas from friends and now it’ll be so hard to choose after I finish Inquisition!
I’ve been thinking about going back through the Mass Effect trilogy for a while now, the reason I haven’t is simply because I find the series very time consuming. I’m one of those people who has to complete every little side quest and explore every planet in each game, so if I were to replay them it would take me forever. :(
I think that’s part of the reason why a lot of people don’t go back to old games, they’d rather spend the time they do have trying something new, which I agree with you is an unfortunate situation as many games deserve to be revisited.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading the post & good luck with the challenge!
Thanks Josh! As for going through the Mass Effect trilogy again, I think the only advice I can offer there is to do it a way that’s different from your first playthrough, that way it’ll still feel kind of fresh! (For example, in Mass Effect 2, a Vanguard plays totally differently from an Infiltrator. I wish they had retained that in ME3.)
I want to revisit some Metroid games. The fact Nintendo has not released a new game on the franchise for almost five years makes me miss Samus’ adventures…
I’m kind of doing that right now! I’m most of the way through my first run of Super Metroid! Part of me wishes I had experienced it earlier, but I can’t deny how cool it is that I’m getting to play this classic with fresh eyes!
Totally agree though, new Metroid is needed. :D
I envy you. Playing Super Metroid for the first time is an amazing experience.
Very cool idea and good luck! Having followed simpleek along on her gaming challenges, the month-long deadline seems to be a good way to complete games.
The only game I think I’d like to revisit at some point is GTA V. We originally got it for the PS3, and now we have the shiny, new PS4 version. Roaming around Los Santos again sounds like a good way to pass some time.
Meanwhile, what I’d really like to do this year is start and finish Metroid Prime 2, at least. But it’s going to be a big year for games, so there’s a good possibility that MP2 (and frankly, me finishing Metroid Prime itself) might end up on the backburner.
Yeah, that’s the gamer’s struggle in a nutshell isn’t it? Not enough time to enjoy both new and old, and new is new so it understandably gets preference. :D
I’d like to hear your thoughts on Deadlocked. I don’t really even know what the game is, but I have avoided it because it seems different from the other Ratchet games. And different is scary.
And I really want to revisit Zelda: Skyward Sword. I absolutely loved that game, and considering I’ve been working on my Ghirahim costume for this year’s comicon, I got in a huge mood to replay it. The problem is, some weird things have been going on in my life right now, and I don’t want that to spoil the game for me. So I have been wondering, do I save it for next year, perhaps, with the hopes things will be better and there will be less to ruin the experience, or do I just go for it and hope a good game is enough to lighten my mood. Life is filled with hard decisions….