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Wouldn't it be nice to be able to replay sections of games, rather than the whole thing?

Humdinger

Member
I was thinking about the way I read and re-read books. I highlight them on the first pass, so that if I come back to re-read them later, I don't have to read the whole book again, a task which could take 20 hours. I just re-read the highlighted sections, which takes about an hour. I can also freely skip chapters, skip ahead to a certain topics, etc. I don't have to re-read the whole book from scratch.

I have similar options with movies. If I want to revisit a movie, I don't have to watch the whole thing again. I can fast forward to my favorite parts. Same thing with music. If there is a part in a long composition that I like, and the song goes for half an hour, I don't have to listen to the whole thing. I can fast forward to the part I like.

I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice, to be able to do the same thing with games? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to replay the best parts, certain sections, or particular quests, rather than having to replay the entire game?"

Some games do offer a semblance of that option, in the form of "chapter select." I'm thinking of Uncharted, for instance, but there are other games that do this. However, those are the exceptions. Usually, your only option is to start a new game from scratch, and then to play the entire game all over again.

The problem with that, at least for me, is that games are very time-consuming. It would be a great time-saver to be able to play only select bits of the game -- a favorite section or quest, for instance -- rather than having to start from scratch and replay the whole game.

I'm sure there are reasons why this is not realistic and/or not worth the costs of implementing. I understand. I'm just engaging in some wishful thinking, I suppose.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
Most games do that, no?

Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War, maybe all FPS?, maybe all TPS?, etc etc etc.

The exceptions are JRPGs but I understand the reason and you do your own chapter select with multiple saves.
 
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Some games do offer that option, in the form of "chapter select" (I'm thinking of Uncharted, but there are other examples), but that is relatively rare.
I agree with this, and generally I like this option when it exists (e.g., Resident Evil 5).

Usually, your only option is to start a new game from scratch, and then to play the entire game all over again.
This is false, though. This is not your only option. Many games have multiple save slots, and you can use different save slots to save at different points in the game.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Absolutely. Most games should include a chapter select. I can’t think of many examples, outside of the “souls” genre, that shouldn’t include it.
Alone in the Dark: Inferno. That game outright let you skip whole sections, even if you never played it, lol.

There's a few others but that AITD had some really cool features. It's also a charming game in it's own right. Way too ambitious but is entertaining when it works. Guaranteed laughs too. Still kicking myself for selling my copy, they are relatively expensive these days. edit- actually, used copies aren't too bad, $20. I could have sworn when I checked a few months back they were going for $60+ on ebay.
 
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McCheese

Member
Neat idea.

Would be good for RPGs to create an auto-save before each big story beat, would be even better if it somehow let you "travel" back to them but keep your current stats and items. I'd love to replay sections of FF7 Remake but can't spend 40 hours or whatever it was to reach them in New Game+
 
Alone in the Dark: Inferno. That game outright let you skip whole sections, even if you never played it, lol.

There's a few others but that AITD had some really cool features. It's also a charming game in it's own right. Way too ambitious but is entertaining when it works. Guaranteed laughs too. Still kicking myself for selling my copy, they are relatively expensive these days.
I believe the Alone in the Dark reboot for the 360/PS3 also included a chapter select that was available before you even played the levels. That’s some good shit. I don’t mind only having it after you’ve completed them though. Like Halo, Gears, The Last of Us, etc. Unless dropping into the middle of the game would upset the balance, there’s no reason not to include it.

Heck, you could even do it with souls games if it was available after you beat the game, and you just used your endgame stats.
 

Humdinger

Member
Most games do that, no?

Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War, maybe all FPS?, maybe all TPS?, etc etc etc.

The exceptions are JRPGs but I understand the reason and you do your own chapter select with multiple saves.

Most? No, I don't think so -- at least not among the games I play. I can think of only a few in my collection that do it (e.g., the Naughty Dog games). Perhaps there are more than I realize, though. I hadn't considered FPS games, since I don't play them anymore. I play mostly RPGs and action-adventures, as well as some indies. In my experience, only a minority of them have chapter select options.

This is false, though. This is not your only option. Many games have multiple save slots, and you can use different save slots to save at different points in the game.

Hm, I hadn't considered that. True, that would be an option. It would require some bookkeeping. You'd have to keep track of which parts you wanted to revisit and which save slots accessed which parts of the game. It would also require that you knew in advance that you would later want to replay the game, and then to plan accordingly.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
Most? No, I don't think so -- at least not among the games I play. I can think of only a few in my collection that do it (e.g., the Naughty Dog games). Perhaps there are more than I realize, though. I hadn't considered FPS games, since I don't play them anymore. I play mostly RPGs and action-adventures, as well as some indies. In my experience, only a minority of them have chapter select options.
Yeap maybe I have a difference experience why I mostly play Sony exclusives and big games… most of them have chapter select.

Hm, I hadn't considered that. True, that would be an option. It would require some bookkeeping. You'd have to keep track of which parts you wanted to revisit and which save slots accessed which parts of the game. It would also require that you knew in advance that you would later want to replay the game, and then to plan accordingly.
Some games do that automatically… each save or checkpoint generates a new save file so you can reload old saves whatever you want.

When you go delete saves from a game and you find 50+ files you know they are doing that.
 
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Fare thee well

Neophyte
100%. I'd especially like to skip the annoying entry/greenhorn/tutorial parts of the game that are often the dullest and long-winded.

I started No Mans Sky again for fun after all the updates and it still has that horrible and painfully long tutorial start thats hours before you can really get to building a good base and infrastructure.
 

Fuz

Banned
God, those posts are disheartening.

Are you all really so trained by modern shitty modern games that you forgot we can (AND WE SHOULD) have the option to save multiple times whenever we want?
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Still is. (Mostly). I dont have to play through half of halo reach just to play the level tip of the spear if i dont want to.

Yep. Just going to throw in Halo:CE and Half Life 2 into the mix of games already mentioned.
 
The Master Chief Collection allows you to start campaign missions at certain checkpoints (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc) depending on the length of the mission itself. It's great.
 

Codes 208

Member
Level selection is also the main course of gameplay in nintendo games. I think the outlier is mainly sony due to their more cinematic approach to gaming. Which, works for what theyre doing i guess. I dont exactly need or miss a level select in a game like GoW4 or bloodborne for example

oh and rpg’s, but honestly thats a given. (Though i do sometimes enjoy having save states just to do stupid shit in a game like skyrim)
 
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kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
Humdinger Humdinger did you post some examples of games you have problems with? I didn't see it if you did.

God, those posts are disheartening.

Are you all really so trained by modern shitty modern games that you forgot we can (AND WE SHOULD) have the option to save multiple times whenever we want?
I don't know about that. I rarely ever feel like I want to control the save and almost never consume media the way OP suggests. When I play older games I'm usually annoyed with the save management systems. I don't even want to see the message that I shouldn't turn off the system while saving. Just let me play; you take care of the save files.
 

Allforce

Member
I know this turned me off to the Uncharted Collection when I booted it up. I assumed I could just hop on and play some of classic scenarios from Uncharted 2 and 3 and instead I had to start an entire new game for each title with no option for chapter select. I assumed there would have been one right off the bat since it was a re-release.
 

Neo_Geo

Banned
Yep. The perfect Far Cry 3 demo would be just the Weed burning mission. When I played that on a large monitor with a proper surround sound system, that was a pretty fucking epic experience.
 

Three

Member
Games where past player agency doesn't matter has level select.

Games where past player agency does matter has save files.

I'm not sure how chapter select would work for a game where progression is more than just levels. Maybe an automatic save log for each 'chapter'?
 

Naked Lunch

Member
Its a feature sorely missed in JRPGs or many retro games.
Even back to SNES stuff ive always had multiple save files right before my favorite sections if I ever wanted to check them out again. Problem with older games is you only had 3 save files max on average.

Emulators or flash carts that have save states, I save a ton - at favorite bosses - or new worlds.
 

Bakkus

Member
Umm, stage select? Also, like, every game which doesn't have that have multiple save slots (other than like Pokemon games and TWEWY to my knowledge), so for those games, just make a seperate save file right before your favorite part and never overwrite it.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I dont understand the post, most games once beaten allow you to do this already, effectively rendering this thread pointless.....
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Games where past player agency doesn't matter has level select.

Games where past player agency does matter has save files.

I'm not sure how chapter select would work for a game where progression is more than just levels. Maybe an automatic save log for each 'chapter'?
Well said. I was thinking the same thing and you summed it up.

If I was playing Fallout or Skyrim and liked to re-do quests for fun, how would that even work in a persistent open world game of leveling up? I re-do the quest but keep my level progression? The quest reappears in my quest log? All NPCs reset as if it's a new quest? Or everything stays complete but I get a free run to mess with the quest again for kicks?
 

Hydroxy

Member
No I disagree. Those are old outdated mechanics. New games should focus on microtransactions and games as a service. Players need to be provided a sense of pride and accomplishment which chapter select isn't going to achieve.
 

Ezquimacore

Banned
Zelda should do this with dungeons. A mode where you can select dungeons after you finish the story, even add some challenges.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Most linear games have this, don't they? In more open-ended games it would be more difficult to implement, because there's no predetermined progression through things. I guess you could have a menu from which you could access previously completed missions or something, but it would be really hard to do right.
 
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farmerboy

Member
Naughty Dog goes even further into individual encounters within the chapters.

I think it's a cool idea as it encourages replaying the game on your own terms.
 

Humdinger

Member
Humdinger Humdinger did you post some examples of games you have problems with? I didn't see it if you did.

I didn't have a particular game in mind, nothing that I was being blocked from replaying. I was just engaging in some wishful thinking.

If you'd like some examples, though, Horizon Zero Dawn and Skyrim come to mind. It would also apply to just about every WRPG I've ever played. They are usually so damn long, I don't have the time to start all over again. It would be nice to dip back into Morrowind, for example, and play an old, favorite questline or two, rather than have to start by killing rats in the basement.

I know this turned me off to the Uncharted Collection when I booted it up. I assumed I could just hop on and play some of classic scenarios from Uncharted 2 and 3 and instead I had to start an entire new game for each title with no option for chapter select. I assumed there would have been one right off the bat since it was a re-release.
Yeah, you have to play through the games before the chapter select options unlock.
 

Zannegan

Member
I was thinking about the way I read and re-read books. I highlight them on the first pass, so that if I come back to re-read them later, I don't have to read the whole book again, a task which could take 20 hours. I just re-read the highlighted sections, which takes about an hour. I can also freely skip chapters, skip ahead to a certain topics, etc. I don't have to re-read the whole book from scratch.
If you're talking textbooks or reference materials, this is always a good practice. If you're talking narrative works, you're a monster.

With respect to games, I'd like to be able to skip braindead tutorials, but other than that, why would I want to miss any of the fun? If the game's that much of a chore to replay, it's not worth replaying, IMO.
 

Allandor

Member
It always depends on the game.
E.g. it would be really complicated in a game like Witcher 3. I will never see all different paths, because little changes can have big consequences throughout the game.
For linear games, I would agree.
 

Humdinger

Member
If you're talking textbooks or reference materials, this is always a good practice. If you're talking narrative works, you're a monster.
Yeah, I read almost entirely non-fiction. I wouldn't do that with a novel. But I don't consider videogames equivalent to novels.
 

Humdinger

Member
It always depends on the game.
E.g. it would be really complicated in a game like Witcher 3. I will never see all different paths, because little changes can have big consequences throughout the game.
For linear games, I would agree.
Yeah, as I mentioned, I'm sure there are all sorts of technical problems that would prevent something like this. That's particularly true in RPGs. I'm just engaging in wishful thinking, not complaining that the option doesn't exist. I'm clarifying that because some people seem to be interpreting my comment as a sort of entitled, spoiled whining. They misunderstand where I'm coming from. I'm just saying "wouldn't it be nice," not "why don't developers..."
 

DelireMan7

Member
If you're talking narrative works, you're a monster.
I second this !

I used to do that as a kid with movie and music. But now it's an heresy. Especially with music. I also listen long piece of music and listen just a specific part just don't do work for me since usually all that came before built the progression to this moment and give its full power.

Same for me in gaming but I'll go with "Options are nice, I guess"
 

Spaceman292

Banned
God, those posts are disheartening.

Are you all really so trained by modern shitty modern games that you forgot we can (AND WE SHOULD) have the option to save multiple times whenever we want?
There are some modern games that have autosaves only and no chapter select.
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
It would also apply to just about every WRPG I've ever played. ... play an old, favorite questline or two, rather than have to start by killing rats in the basement.

Play a WRPG without killing rats in the basement first??? Heresy of the highest degree!
 

JoeBudden

Member
I love how the Uncharted and Last Of Us games have both a chapter select and an encounter select that takes you to every engagement in the game. That way you can quickly replay key fights whenever you want.

Death Stranding has a feature where you can replay boss fights and those WW2 dream sequences.

I agree on every game needing a feature like this. Just give more options to the player to play the game how they choose.
 
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