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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?

Deestan ,

Antichamber - clever first person puzzle game. I played it exactly once and I loved it.

SorteKanin OP ,
@SorteKanin@feddit.dk avatar

Good suggestion, I played it many years ago as well :)

Gork ,

I’d place Superliminal in this category as well.

Cethin ,

Superliminal was cool, but I just didn’t enjoy it. It was fun for a bit, but I feel like the mechanic overstayed it’s welcome for how simple it is. There’s not very many unique ways to use it. That’s probably why Valve abandoned the idea too.

Still, it’s interesting and worth a shot. Plenty of people love it.

smeg ,

You can replay it to find all the extra secrets though

the16bitgamer ,
@the16bitgamer@lemmy.world avatar

I replayed it after many years. It was fantastic, now I need to wait another many years to forget the solution.

agent_flounder ,
@agent_flounder@lemmy.world avatar

The older you get the more often you’ll be able to play!

Broken_Monitor ,

This goes for most of these first person puzzle games. Once you solve the puzzle its not very fun to do it again.

Portal 1 and 2, the Witness, Talos Principle 1 and 2, Manifold Garden - all worth a play through. Next on my list to try is Viewfinder.

SorteKanin OP ,
@SorteKanin@feddit.dk avatar

I kind of got bored of manifold garden. I guess it was the lack of any story. I just had no motivation to continue.

jqubed ,
@jqubed@lemmy.world avatar

I play through both Portal games every few years; maybe every 5 or 6. I think I’m due again soon.

Donjuanme ,

I feel portal could be replayed if you focused too hard on the puzzles the first time through, there were quite a few secrets worth exploring in that world, though none too deep unfortunately

sxt ,

I feel like portal 2 can get by on a playthrough every so many years based on the writing/VA making it enjoyable even if you half remember the puzzles.

Donjuanme ,

Copying my comment from elsewhere in this thread

I was going to write anti chamber, because I never want to play it again, but %'s 30-90 of the way through the game I was itching to start over. It had me so hooked, but then the ending just took the wind out of the sails so hard. Heck maybe 10-98% of the game had me itching to replay it.

Zozano ,

Awesome game. I was high on cannabis when I played it, and managed to beat it in one sitting about 10 years ago. I want to play it while high on shrooms, that would be even crazier.

Morefan ,

Penumbra Overture, never finished it but was fun exploring and figuring out stuff.

HATEFISH ,

Black plague is even better, best Frictional game to date imo.

Morefan ,

I’ll wait for a sale but looks cool.

mvict ,

That dragon, Cancer

After playing it once, I can’t go through it a second time.

myfavouritename ,

Wow. Yeah, absolutely. I had forgotten about that game until you mentioned it. Thank you for reminding me. It’s entirely unique and deserves to be remembered. But yeah, I don’t think I have it in me to replay it.

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 ending 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.

sunbunman ,

Would you count NG+ as replayability? I know for Nier Automata and Armored Core 6, it’s basically part of the story and you haven’t finished until you’ve unlocked all of the main paths. There is enough new stuff each playthrough for it to be unique though.

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

as much I love the genre, but most single player 3D action/adventure platformer games that are based around a story OR fully arcade-y.

both aspect looses their point if you 100% the game.

Like, I just finished New Super Lucky’s Tale, and though it was an excellent 3d platformer, I don’t think I’ll start a new game.

but not only 3D games. Like Shovel Knight also falls into this category. Amazing and exciting game, but other than a harder difficulty (as New Game+), it doesn’t really have too much of a replayability.

Denjin ,

Factorio.

Just kidding, someone please help me

polle ,

I recently started factorio, damn iam HOOKED

Ragnarok314159 ,

Subnautica.

I found it to be one of the best games I have ever played with a fantastic story that really pulled me in. If you do decide to play it, look up nothing. As in don’t even google it because it’s a slightly older game and people spoil the entire thing.

Tedrick02 ,

Great game, too little story line and too much grind to replay.

dustyData ,

It’s actually very granular on the grind difficulty. There’s a story only mode that removes the survival elements and leaves only the material gathering for crafting. There’s also a creative mode where you don’t even have to gather materials and can just build whatever and go wherever and see all the story bits with almost no challenge at all. You choose how you want to go at it.

toddestan ,

For me, it wasn’t just the story, but also just randomly going out and exploring, checking things out, and finding cool (and sometimes scary) things.

It’s one of those games that I’m hoping in like 10 years or something I’ll have forgotten enough of it that if I go play it again it’ll be mostly all new again.

Zstom6IP ,

the desolate hope. its a very unique robot themed game, but you only really need to play it once.

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.

ECB ,

Escape Simulator definitely fits the bill.

It’s great, but all about the discovery.

Cringe2793 ,

I feel like the yakuza series is fucking fantastic, but not that replayable. Usually it’s because I seek out all the substories and stuff on my first run, so it takes fucking ages to finish, but I’ve never got the urge to play it again after I’ve completed the stories.

msage ,

But I want to replay 0 so much… I’ve played through 4 but the story just doesn’t hit as much.

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.

captain_aggravated ,
@captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works avatar
  • Please Don’t Touch Anything. What genre does it even belong in? It would have been a flash game if made 10 years earlier. You’re left at a console with a single large red button, and told to wait for a minute and don’t touch anything. Depending on how you interact with this console, there are many different things it can do/behaviors it can have, and your goal is to find all the different endings. It was entertaining, I don’t need to own it anymore.
  • Shenzhen I/O and TIS-100. Both Zachtronics assembly-em-up games, which…I don’t think there’s absolutely zero replayability, because you might redo the level you just did or go back to an earlier one with a solution you just learned from a later level, but I don’t know finishing these games feels less like beating Bowser at the end of Super Mario and more like graduating from high school. I’m done with that phase of my life and I can now move on.
  • Antichamber. The video game equivalent of a Piet Mondrian painting. It’s an abstract and brain knitting non-euclidean first person puzzle game that uses its surreal mechanics as a metaphor for the journey of life itself, and halfway though you get a gun that shoots cubes and it turns back into a video game. A lot of the actual impact of the game comes from how it comments on the epiphany you just had, and that effect is spoiled somewhat by “Oh I remember this part.” I will note there is a speedrunning community for this game.
  • Firewatch. There are some games where you’ll watch a Let’s Play, decide you want to have a go, so you’ll buy and play the game. Not Firewatch; a Let’s Play gives you 96.4% of the experience. It’s a walking simulator that probably should have just been a short film. I’m not even convinced it is a “video game” because…how do you play it well or poorly? Like do we need a new term like “narrative software” or something?
FilterItOut ,

I liked firewatch, even though I usually dislike walking simulators. It really was a good mesh of dialogue and voice actors, unlike others where the dialogue just drags.

nawa ,

Interactivity really helps relate to the character you’re playing even if you’re not making any actual choices. And like you said, the dialogues are done pretty well to be enjoyable and not annoying. I liked Firewatch a lot.

captain_aggravated ,
@captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works avatar

So did I, which is why I listed it among good games that have no replay value. I enjoyed the thing that it is, I appreciated the visual style, it’s well performed…it’s one of the better walking simulators. The ending is controversial, which I take to mean it’s a work of art.

fireweed ,

Firewatch is more in the visual novel category. I did in fact give it a replay with completely different choices to see how it changed things, and was disappointed to find that all choices are merely for aesthetics and make zero difference in the plot. However it’s a well-made enough game (especially dialogue and voice acting) that it was still kinda fun to play again.

Donjuanme ,

I was going to write anti chamber, because I never want to play it again, but %'s 30-90 of the way through the game I was itching to start over. It had me so hooked, but then the ending just took the wind out of the sails so hard. Heck maybe 10-98% of the game had me itching to replay it.

captain_aggravated ,
@captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works avatar

When I think back on my time with AntiChamber, I don’t really think about the ending. I really think of the beginning up through getting the green gun. It starts leaning farther into the direction of Talos Principle or Portal at that point.

To me the game was about the experience of coming to terms with this strange new world you’ve found yourself in, and the THIS IS AN ALLEGORY wall tiles. It’s impressive how long the developer managed to keep that schtick up.

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.

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