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[kiphalfton]

I always feel conflicted. I want to replay all the previous games in a series all the way through again, before the new game comes out... but I don't have enough time.

Dou you read a synopsis, watch some videos, etc.? Always feel like I'll miss something important by doing that...

Or do you just not care and play the newest entry anyways?

 

[Swipeyowifelike]

Depends on the type of game. If it a fairly quick play, I just play it. Long drawn out shit, hand me the cliffs notes or video equivalent.

 

[spawn]

I feel this should have a poll, but I play the newest entry anyways. Some parts of the story might come back to me

 

[Bridges]

I just go back and play all the games. Worry less about playing something when it comes out unless it's a big game that you really want to talk about while it's still in the zeitgeist. By the time you catch up, the game might well be a fraction of the price. I personally think you'd rob yourself of the real experience by just watching videos or something, but I'm sure a lot of people would disagree.

EDIT: Totally misread the OP, didn't realize you were talking about REplaying a series. In that case, I just ay the newest and hope I remember, but that doesn't always work for sure. In this case videos are more than warranted if that's your thing.

 

[Swift_Star]

Read on the game’s wiki.

 

[adamsapple]

If it's not a 50 hr game, I replay it.

If it's a long game but I really enjoyed it, I'll replay it.

If it's a long game that I liked but not *that* much, and I have interest in the sequel, I youtube recaps.

 

[bitbydeath]

Read on the game’s wiki.

Second this, I don’t have time to replay old games.

 

[Kilau]

I have a really good memory for useless information like this. Movies, books, video games I don’t forget any of the main story and will remember most if not all the side stuff.

I can’t remember the name of someone who’s hand I just shook 5 seconds prior but hey I can recall the plot of a movie or game I last touched 20 years ago in good detail.

So to answer the question, I don’t go back to refresh on stories.

 

[nominedomine]

Replay it? So you played them already? Just play the new game.

If I don't remember the story it's a good indication that it wasn't good anyway.

I have this exercise where I try to remember the characters of a game I played, pretty much every game where I can name a bunch of characters turn out to be the truly great ones that I'll remember fondly for a long time.

 

[Bragr]

I force people to play it for me and make them pay me for the privilege of working under me.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

VattiVidya

 

[Northeastmonk]

A lot of games have recaps if they rely on the previous entry so much. By the time a sequel comes out, it’s either hard wired in my brain, or I’m just ready for the game to continue.

 

[KàIRóS]

Heavily depends on what game series you're talking about

Like for example with the last Ratchet and Clank game, there's technically a continuity in the story but I genuinely couldn't care less about it so I just went blind (kind of) into Rift Apart, I enjoyed it and didn't necessarily felt like I needed to play the last 3/4 games prior to it.

BTW on this topic I'm just glad I'm completely caught up with the story in the Trails RPGs, I'm pretty sure that's the series with the biggest continuity right now in gaming with at least 1000+ hours worth of Lore and counting.

 

[YukiOnna]

I just replay it, doesn't really bother me since if I'm looking forward to a sequel it's because I'm already invested in the franchise.
I did this for KH before KH3 came out, and for Yakuza before 6.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Have a cute cartoon recap like in Psychonauts 2.

 

[Fbh]

Depends how much I liked the last game in the franchise, and also how long it is.

The vast majority of the time I'll just watch/read a recap.

But if it's a sequel to a game I really like and it's not some big 80 hours time investment then I might replay the previous game.

 

[TGO]

Well that's why BC is important.
but it does depend how fresh it is not your mind
Usually I replay them if I think I need a refresher.

 

[lughnasadh123]

I rarely replay games, so it's most likely a short recap video or whatever.

 

[Ryūtō]

Usually I'll watch analysis videos, long-form video essays or retrospectives on YT. TV tropes is good for getting bullet points as well. I'll occasionally dive into a wiki or two.

 

[EDMIX]

The best bet will always be to just replay the games, but if its a 100 hour long RPG and like 5 games deep or some shit.......yea just get them cliffnotes lol

I love replaying the old Yakuza, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, GTA's etc, it depends on the game. At my age, I no longer replay most RPGs and thats is really only down to a really, really small handful. FFX, FFIV, Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, 4 etc most of what I replay are much shorter and easy to play 1 or 2 titles a year before the release of a new game or something.

Like I might do a new game plus on God Of War 2018 before the new one comes out, but not the whole series or something, so...yea it depends on the game tbh

 

[Danjin44]

I just replay it, doesn't really bother me since if I'm looking forward to a sequel it's because I'm already invested in the franchise.
I did this for KH before KH3 came out, and for Yakuza before 6.

I just recently replayed Xenoblade 1&2 for preparation of Xenoblade 3 release.

 

[Hoppa]

Watch a recap on Youtube

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

I don't have to imagine. Halo 5 essentially did its own story separate to the 1-3 trilogy or even Halo 4. After that mediocre story with Halo 5 some 6 years later we got Halo Infinite where the story threw everything the fuck out the window and told a rather shit piecemeal irrelevant story. It's not very satisfying from a fan point of view to have zero continuity across your games or development of the universe. Follow on with a TV show that is a completely different universe and there's little investment from this fan. I don't give a shit about any of the stories being told, poorly being told at that. I have zero to chat about from the show or latest game that has arrived 6 years since the last mainline Halo game. None of us play it, none of us talk about it much anymore.

By comparison if Halo 5 and Infinite as well as the TV show flowed on logically to progress the wonderful loose ends dump of Halo 4 with its terminals divulging the story we'd really have something. Instead 343 used Hao 4 to "free" themselves from having to do anything with the "old" Halo universe. It has completely lost its way and suffers greatly for it.

Under the duty of care an established studio with decades of experience building an IP I could see a replay of games, reading of books and generally following everything would deliver an engaging and fruitful experience with the latest entry.

 

[I_D]

If it's a sequel I'm still interested in after five years of nothing, then I've already replayed the previous game enough times to have no issues remembering the storyline.
Or the sequel has nothing to do with the previous game(s), so it doesn't matter.


I'm having a hard time thinking of any exceptions to this, other than Shenmue 3, which was a whole lot more than five years.

 

[Robb]

I usually re-play the latest game in the series, but not all previous games.

 

[lh032]

nothing.
My brain still works.

 

[Gandih42]

Depends on the length of the old games and how well they hold up.

With KH3 i replayed 1 & 2 and played all the "spin-offs" in the collections (if they can even be called that) in preparation. As a result I got to KH3 a few months after release.

KH1 and 2 are endlessly replayable for me though, I so probably wouldn't do it for long games where I don't still love the gameplay. Then I'd watch or read up on the story.

 

[March Climber]

I let the game sit in the digital store for years until it costs as low as 4.99 USD, and then once that finally happens an announcement is usually made that the developer is either remaking it or making a sequel. I buy the 4.99 USD game and it goes to my backlog until I see actual footage of the sequel.

 

[Neolombax]

Youtube comes to mind. I like to watch/listen to someone summarize the story so far with footage of important events happening during the course of the story.

 

[Wohc]

Read the plot, most could fit on a beer coaster.

 

[ZywyPL]

Just play the hame, the memories will come back as you go through. If not, that neans there wasn't anything worth remembering bto begin with.

 

[EDMIX]

I just recently replayed Xenoblade 1&2 for preparation of Xenoblade 3 release.

depends on the RPG tbh.

I recall playing 1 like....damn fucking 10 years ago (I didn't realize how long ago that shit was), I recall beating it in like 45 hours or so (maybe a bit more)

if they can be once over for like 30 hours or so each, then its not so bad if someone only plays RPGs or something (or mostly)

 

[Danjin44]

depends on the RPG tbh.

I recall playing 1 like....damn fucking 10 years ago (I didn't realize how long ago that shit was), I recall beating it in like 45 hours or so (maybe a bit more)

if they can be once over for like 30 hours or so each, then its not so bad if someone only plays RPGs or something (or mostly)

For me if really loved the game then I replay it no matter how lengthy it is.

I also type of person who wants good excuse to replay some of the games I enjoyed.

I’m kind of same way with TV shows, recently 3rd season of Hibike! Euphonium got announced and that give me nice excuse to rewatch entire show again.

 

[DelireMan7]

I have been replaying more and more game in the recent years and I have a lot of fun doing that.

Last year I replayed the entire MGS saga to finally play Peacewalker and V. Don't regret it and will do again.

I like to start things from the beginning so I do that for a lot of stuff (movie, TV show, comics...).

 

[MidGenRefresh]

I would prefer a new story in the same universe.

 

[Elitro]

Rely on memory (which is terrible btw lol). Normally games do a good job on reminding players of the previous plot at the beginning. So normally what ends up happening is the player missing out on some references/easter eggs that require a really fresh memory but don't break the enjoyment of the game.

 

[Paasei]

Replay or rely on memory. The latter never really seems to fail me.

 

[jigglet]

I just assume Princess Peach is really fucking bad at checking her blind spots.

 

[EDMIX]

For me if really loved the game then I replay it no matter how lengthy it is.

I also type of person who wants good excuse to replay some of the games I enjoyed.

I’m kind of same way with TV shows, recently 3rd season of Hibike! Euphonium got announced and that give me nice excuse to rewatch entire show again.

True. I'd say many of my favorite titles I've replayed generation after generation even long RPGs.

I also didn't know that slice of life show got another season lol (damn I didn't even know it had 2, I recall the first season) I'll watch too as I'm almost done re-watching Azumanga Daioh and maybe I should actually watch a new slice of life anime I haven't seen lol

 

[MadPanda]

It seems like this is the norm now. I rely on memory. Developers should care about it, to refresh my memory or whatever, they shouldn't expect me to watch videos, replay games or read summary. Just like stranger things TV show introduce a recap of season 3 before season 4,games should do the same, even more so as you usually need more time to replay a game than re-watch a show.

 

[manzo]

As most of the video game stories are absolute trash, it's better just to play the next game. I know most love the game lore, I tend to skip cutscenes these days. If the game story was worth remembering, I will remember the main parts of it anyway.

 

[ZywyPL]

Quantum Break had this fantastic feature where when you continued the game there was this "previous in QB" montage, sort of like TV series the game did try to mimic have, which was a very brief summary of what happened up to the point you're about to continue from, I always wished more games would do that, makes coming back to a game after a break so much more seamless.

 

[kiphalfton]

Depends on the length of the old games and how well they hold up.

With KH3 i replayed 1 & 2 and played all the "spin-offs" in the collections (if they can even be called that) in preparation. As a result I got to KH3 a few months after release.

KH1 and 2 are endlessly replayable for me though, I so probably wouldn't do it for long games where I don't still love the gameplay. Then I'd watch or read up on the story.

Yeah KH and DMC are the games I'm thinking of off the top of my head. Since I haven't yet played KH3 or DMC5.

DMC isn't too big of an undertaking, but KH is a big commitment.

I only played the first two KH games, so I could just skip those in theory and focus only on DDD, BBS, and the Aqua game. Then watch recaps for KH1, KH2, cinematic stuff for 358/2 days and whatever the other game was that has cinematics only.

 

[Gandih42]

Yeah KH and DMC are the games I'm thinking of off the top of my head. Since I haven't yet played KH3 or DMC5.

DMC isn't too big of an undertaking, but KH is a big commitment.

I only played the first two KH games, so I could just skip those in theory and focus only on DDD, BBS, and the Aqua game. Then watch recaps for KH1, KH2, cinematic stuff for 358/2 days and whatever the other game was that has cinematics only.

Haha don't forget Chain of Memories! (probably the one that's the least worth it). Seriously though, I totally feel ya. Because I like KH1 and 2 so much, replaying those wasn't a problem. If you haven't played the re-releases with extra content, KH2 is especially worth a replay. But I think I totaled 150-200 hours in prep for KH3. Your plan is pretty good, BBS, DDD, and the 0.2 Prologue are probably the most important and relevant storywise, and I especially liked the gameplay of DDD.

I'm hoping to eventually get to the DMC series myself, though I haven't decided if I'll do them all or just do DMC5 and then figure it out.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

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