What are some good games with *zero* replayability?

I want to try and play some more games. That feels more fulfilling if you play games that you can finish and be done with.

So what are some good games that have zero (or close to zero perhaps) replayability? I’ll start with my own suggestions:

  • Return of the Obra Dinn: Amazing mystery/detective game. However once you’ve played it, you basically can’t play it again as you remember the solution already and the challenge of the game is trivialized.
  • Chants of Sennaar: Really great game about deciphering languages. However, once again, by playing the game once, you’ll remember the languages and the game has no challenge any more.
  • Outer Wilds: Mystery adventure game. There is some replayability as there are perhaps areas that you can still explore, but largely once you figure out the mystery and complete the game, there’s not much more to experience. Some people speedrun the game though.

All of the above games I value extremely highly even though I only played them ~8-10 hours.

Do you have any others?

Nibodhika,
  • Spec ops: The line. I think this was delisted from most stores though, so you might need to sail the high seas to get it. It might not be as impactful today as it was when it came out, but it’s a great game with a great twist.
  • Life is strange. It’s a story driven game, sure you can replay it and choose different things, but realistically you probably won’t since the main of the story is the same.
  • Batman games. Those were my go to for a while when I wanted something linear with an end.
deranger,

I patient gamered Spec Ops and beat it a couple weeks ago. I found it to be rather mediocre. The combat sucks ass and the graphics don’t help.

Couple cool sequences but I felt it was massively overhyped.

Silentiea,

I think it kinda falls into the same sort of category as citizen Kane. Important for what it did when it did it, but not really good by modern standards.

deranger,

If I played this in 2012 at release I think I’d feel just the same. What do you find is important about this game? I’m curious as I see it mentioned all over the place, but I really don’t see what’s the big deal. Releasing a game where you shoot US soldiers, in the middle of hyper patriotism in the US, seems edgy for the time but that’s about it. The moral choices were few and only had impact in terms of a bit of flavor. No serious consequences.

I did enjoy the music and especially like the detail of the characters getting progressively dirtier as the game went on.

Silentiea,

I haven’t played it, I’ve only experienced it through essays. I think it’s because it took a look at war and such from a pretty different perspective than other shooters had before, and examined the messier psychological aspects of it in a way that incorporated traditional shooter gameplay as hadn’t been done before?

BrianTheeBiscuiteer,

Focusing on the gameplay really misses the point. It was practically an interactive story, but they wanted it to be a shooter so you’d feel more responsible for the outcome rather than just watching things unfold. And while the “choices” in game made little difference, that pretty much reinforced the message that some situations are basically fukt and “pushing forward” doesn’t make it any better.

deranger,

Gameplay is 90% of time spent in the game, which is why it colored my experience so much. Regardless; what do you feel the game does well? Specific examples, please.

I read a ton of positive comments before playing it, and avoided spoilers for years. Turns out there’s much to spoil, IMO. There’s the white phosphorus scene, but you can’t even choose to not do that. It was very disappointing when I sat there and it railroaded me into using WP when my squad mate was telling me not to. I don’t feel it was a pioneer in any way, and feels quite dated even against games many years it’s senior. Bioshock came out five years earlier and has deeper social commentary, more engaging gameplay, and much better graphics.

If you have specific examples I’d love to hear them. It’s entirely possible I’m just not getting it, but I feel this game seemed epic for some console gaming teenagers in 2012 and it’s mostly nostalgia. I don’t feel the game did anything that special.

JayEchoRay,
@JayEchoRay@lemmy.world avatar

Spoilers

:::

spoilerMy interpretation and granted it is probably a bit shaking as I havent played in a long time is: I personally found spec ops interesting into the slow descent into darkness, how your team is professional in the beginning and over time they become savage, to the point of blood thristiness, their animations changes, their speech, mannerisms and their models get gradually worn down. You do actions but over time you think wait - am I really doing the right thing, like if you decide to help the cia guy, you find out you’ve been played and just destroyed the water supply for a whole area that is in desparate need of it, this come back to haunt you later on when an angry mob catches up to one of your team. I still remember feeling vindictive of hearing my teammate scream in panic and fear as I was rushing to get to him Then to get there and see him murdered and and an angry mob looking for blood, my first reaction was vengeance not orderly dispersal… The character and the remaining team mate gunned down civilians mercilessly because I felt outrage at them killing one of my own… and the crowd had just cause to be pissed as your rag tag band of misfits have been blowing up commiting warcrimes after to warcrimes justifiying it to some “greater cause” As you play the game even the loading screen are questioning you if you are enjoying yourself and nothing is stopping you from continuing to play. It is quite in your face to say that what you are doing is wrong, but if you keep playing and by finishing the game you are justifying the main characters actions, you are complicit in the acts of violence as you the player are determined to see the game to the end just as he is Their original mission was to just scout… and it somehow turned into this Dubai tour de violence because the main character believes that there was a radio call from someone he idolised If I recall there is that scene at the end that shows all the bullshit, the hanged men, the voice on the radio your character thinks they see and hear is in their head - they have severe ptsd, and have “main character hero syndrome” and none of the game would have happened if they just followed orders

:::

deranger,

You’ve got a solid recollection of the events. I think my expectations were set too high from what I read online. It was decent, but I was expecting S tier.

I did really enjoy how “degraded” the characters got as they went through everything like you mention. Very nice little touch.

JayEchoRay, (edited )
@JayEchoRay@lemmy.world avatar

spoilerIt was watching like a train wreck in slow motion, I ended up just going along for the ride to see how far this rabbit hole would go I really tried to be trigger disciplined in the beginning only firing after the point of a negotiation seemed impossible and before I knew it I caught up in this zoned out mentality - no decision is right, all that matter is the mission, just trying to survive and just devolved into killing on sight and in scenes that feel like it is out of some fever dream - still remember that “lights out” section as someone in some sort animalistic fight or flight zone blinking and someone just appears in front of you I guess it stuck with me how the main character kept making excuses and blaming someone else for all the problems and by the end of it and you see that scene with the chair looking out at Dubai and see that “I caused this” and with that call backs to the the choices and saw how it all was just some “cope” it kind of stuck with me

jballs,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

I loved the Batman Arkham games, but yeah, one and done is good.

Ragnarok314159,

Spec Ops: The Line can be bought on Steam.

cafuneandchill, (edited )

Out of all that I could’ve suggested, Ace Attorney series probably fits the bill the most

EDIT: Also, https://store.steampowered.com/app/1745510/Lunacid/! Finished it recently; what a beautiful experience it has been

EDIT2: Also, https://store.steampowered.com/app/1269640/Beacon_Pines/! For the love of all that is holy on this bitch of a planet, please play it

idunnololz,
@idunnololz@lemmy.world avatar

And if you try ace attorney and liked it then I would highly recommend Ghost Trick by the same creator.

cafuneandchill,

Yeah, I’ve yet to check it out

kratoz29,

I have yet to play it, do you think it is better to go with the DS version or the Switch version?

This is not a joke question, I tried TWEWY on the Switch and I didn’t like the controls.

kratoz29,

Ace Attorney series probably fits the bill the most

Hehe, and there is me who has finished the trilogy about 3 times now.

cafuneandchill,

Honestly, I also replay the trilogy from time to time lol

kratoz29,

lol that is fair, the only thing that I miss is being mind blown by the plot twist, but the OST and the charm makes it for it haha.

RobotZap10000,

Omori. Finished the game in 15 hours across 3 days. Bawled my eyes out for the next few weeks. 15/10 would recommend.

Gestrid,

Now play the other route.

Also, if you’re interested, there’s an official Omori orchestral concert on YouTube.

RobotZap10000,

I dunno buddy, the achievement said that I got the good ending. I found it sad enough already, but I have no regrets regarding this game.

Gestrid,

Yeah, it’s an amazing game. And, yeah, you most likely got the good ending. The other route has more lore and a lot of post game content, assuming you’re playing the Switch version. (The Steam version still has post game content, but they added more in the Switch version.)

TwilightVulpine,

I wish they would add the new content to PC too.

Persen,

Stray

postmateDumbass,

Tic tac toe has only a handful of replays.

HelixDab2,

Global Thermonuclear War has a lot of potential though.

Peddlephile,

To The Moon; Once you go through the experience of the story, there’s really no need to replay again.

jballs,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

But there are sequels to play! Also, playing To the Moon with someone who hasn’t played it before is just as good.

Radicaldog,

Nah, I replayed it and it is still great. (And I don’t replay many games!) Like rereading a good book.

reboot6675,

Am I the only one who just plays any given game once?

SorteKanin,
@SorteKanin@feddit.dk avatar

I mean there’s games like… Minecraft that I certainly have played many, many times for many hours with lots of different combinations of mods. That’s repayable to the max.

reboot6675,

Yes that’s a good point. I don’t have a lot of time to play so I try to stick with shorter games as you said in the post. Even if there is replayability I just drop it after I finish it the first time. For that reason I don’t play stuff like Minecraft and also rarely open worlds, I’ve played a few but try to stick to the main story

rothaine,

Super Mario Bros 3

Ragnarok314159,

After getting through the last castle, I never wanted to play it again.

rothaine,

Madness! I’ve played it so many times

KISSmyOS,

I only play games you can’t really finish.
My favorites are Crusader Kings 3, Kerbal Space Program, Rimworld, Dwarf Fortress and Euro Truck Simulator 2.
I struggle to define what “playing it once” would even mean in those games.

XeroxCool,

For me, it depends how much of the game is story-driven, how long a campaign takes, and how dynamic the gameplay is. I’ve never replayed an assassin’s creed game (from 3 thru Odyssey), but rank them highly. I consider racing/sim games “replayable” in the sense that I never finish the absurd number of championships but will binge them for a while as I buy more dream cars. Similar story for battle Royale/arena/non-story games like rocket league or fortnite. My most-replayed game series is Ace Combat (4-7), but that’s because the campaign is only about 5 hours typically and offers more variation in gameplay along with attainable medals. Puzzle games like Portal 1/2 or The Turing Test offer replayability to me because I never really remember all the tricks to the puzzles, but that’s like 5 years between replays to not spoil the entire story.

This is also driven by having less time available to game. I wish I could learn 2 games every week but a good gaming week has 10 hours of gameplay for me. It’s usually less than 5. So there’s a little more motivation to play something familiar so I can start having fun faster. Ironically, Elite: Dangerous is a comfort game despite the common complaint of its complexity. Some PS2 era games come to mind

zaphod,
@zaphod@lemmy.ca avatar

Sure, in the same way that some people only watch movies once, or read books once.

Speaking for myself, I’ve found only a small handful of games are worth my replay time, and most of them are Mass Effect…

bionicjoey,

Funny OP, you named the exact 3 games I was planning on naming here.

SorteKanin,
@SorteKanin@feddit.dk avatar

Great minds think alike 😜

RvTV95XBeo,

Honestly felt this way about BioShock Infinite - the gameplay was alright, but it was the story that made it good, but you only get to explore it for the first time once. I have zero plans to ever pick that one up again

Same for the latest Tomb Raider trilogy for me

Noblesavage,

Agreed. It was great game because the story, but I can barely remember anything about the gameplay aside from the interactions with Elizabeth. Sadly, my final moments were destroyed by a visual bug - right at the climax of the story near the end of the game Elizabeth’s hair inexplicably stopped rendering… She was as bald as Sinead O’Connor. It kinda killed the vibe.

FiniteBanjo,

Bioshock 1 had replayability for me, but the next 2 games were a bother. It’s especially annoying in Bioshock 2 when you’re expected to gather ADAM with the little girls for full completion, when the benefit of doing so doesn’t justify the time it takes.

Potatos_are_not_friends,

I played BioShock like 3-4 times! There’s just so many ways to go through a level with different character builds!

EmoDuck,

I replayed it a few years ago with a meele only playthrough. I had to use the pistol a few times but all in all it was more fun than the original play through.

There is a plasmid that lets you dash into an enemies face, which I combined with perks give your sky hook shock damage and an execute.

MarauderIIC,

Myst

Potatos_are_not_friends,

Does it hold up?

I never played Myst as a kid but when I tried it a few years ago, the puzzles seem really hard and abstract by today’s standards.

And I played a LOT of point and click games, and most I can solve without a walkthrough. But the 15 mins in Myst felt like I need to play it with a guide.

MarauderIIC,

I haven’t played it in a while but I did watch a playthrough recently and I don’t think there was any guessing necessary or anything.

farcaller,

I replayed it the other week after not touching it since the original release. Was fun. I managed to forget a bunch of puzzles, and the new graphics made it fun to just explore the Ages.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

Literally anything focused entirely on telling a story.

They’re only worth replaying if you forget the story.

SorteKanin,
@SorteKanin@feddit.dk avatar

Got any particular examples? :)

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

Phoenix Wright comes to mind since I’m just watching someone else play the games I don’t have because there’s not much player agency so watching it is as good as playing it 🤷🏻‍♂️

MBM, (edited )

Sometimes you can still replay them for the same reason you’d re-read a book (like to catch things you missed the first time around). It’s not as common and a different kind of replayability though

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

I would say something like ICO is the latter kind for me. It is focused on the gameplay, but the gameplay is the same exact thing from the first moment to the last and you can find all the secrets in the levels themselves pretty easy the first time through (since the rooms ain’t that big there’s not much room to hide things), the only reason to replay it multiple times is for the special weapons you can get; which are more like skins than actual weapons, except for the energy sword that OHKOs everything. But you only get that after like, 5 or 7 completions I think? It wasn’t worth it. By the time you get it, a normal person would be totally over playing the game lol

I think Dark Souls and Elden Ring and such would be the same for me, if not for the PvP multiplayer. Other games copying that style without any multiplayer at all, I have so far only played once and then never touched again. But I keep coming back to the ones with PvP to make new builds and fight other players. And because of how you obtain items, making an entirely new character means playing through the entire game, or at least a good deal of it. Currently building a dude to be ready for Shadow of the Erdtree and seeing just how low level I can beat Mogh at. So far it’s been 60. 😄

B0NK3RS,
@B0NK3RS@lemmy.world avatar

It’s quite an open question. Most games I play are “one and done” even though I think most people go back to them. Even with replayability it doesn’t mean that you have to and I’m happy to leave things be once the story is over.

Mafia trilogy sticks to the story and will take a decent amount of hours.

Inside is short but fun.

MarcomachtKuchen,

+1 for inside, I love this game

AstralPath,

Don’t forget about Limbo!

whotookkarl,
@whotookkarl@lemmy.world avatar

90s style adventure games like Sam and Max hit the road, day of the tentacle, monkey Island, Indiana Jones, etc. Lots of comedy you can’t hear again for the first time, and puzzles that can be memorable.

scummVM can be used to run those games and runs on basically everything, phones, tablets, desktop.

mortrek,

Yeah I played S&M and Full Throttle probably once every couple months when I was a kid… how else can you recite every scene from the entire game?

Construc_,
@Construc_@lemmy.world avatar

Outer Wilds. not only is it a fantastic game, but the entire premise and gameplay is centred around discovering the world. theres no progression, the story is all diagetic and not quest-bound or anything, and once you know the world you cant really discover it any more (unless you forget)

Caligvla,
@Caligvla@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Dredge comes to mind. It’s a nice game and all, but outside of the two endings (which are basically a choose left or right situation) you see pretty much everything there’s to see in a single playthrough.

Ragnarok314159,

I will play Dredge just to fish. When I get sucked into an absolutely stupid meeting and am required to be there, fishing makes it fun.

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