Do You Replay Games To Prepare For Their Sequel?

[Grunty]

So era, I was wondering how many of you replay older games to prepare for the next entry in the franchise? With Metroid Dread coming this October, I'm planning to replay the previous games (Zero Mission, Samus Returns, Super Metroid, Fusion) just as a refresh to prepare for Dread. It's not something I'll always do, but it really depends on the game. For Horizon: Forbidden West and BoTW 2 for example, I've no interest in replaying either because it's just too much of a chore imo to go through open-world games a second time regardless of how much I enjoyed them.

So are there any upcoming games where you plan on playing through the older games before starting the new one or any examples of where you have in the past?

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Virtually never. I don't have enough time for that.

 

[Khanimus]

Not like a full playthrough, but I'll maybe give myself an hour or so to get back into the mode so I can better judge how the new one has evolved.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Sometimes, less now than in the past due to time constraints

 

[shinobi602]

Usually.

Did it with TLOU2, Uncharted, Gears, Halo, etc.

Planning on going through Horizon Zero Dawn again before FW comes out.

 

[Dringus]

Nah, summaries all over the internet to refresh my memory.

 

[Pankratous]

Ain't nobody got time for that.

I re-read the plot on Wikipedia or a YouTube summary video though.

 

[Deleted member 81119]

I always say I'm going to, but there are too many games and I just don't have time. Case in point VII Remake. Was planning to replay it before cracking on with Intermission, but there's so many games coming out, I can't commit to another 40 hours on a game I've already played.

One day I'll have cleared my backlog, and got all my FF trophies though.One day.

 

[Aaron D.]

Depends on the game/genre, but I do often.

Just fired up Slime Rancher last night for the first time in forever due to the sequel being announced a few days ago.

 

[est1992]

Depends how long it is. Best believe I'll blitz through both Spider-Man games before the sequel hits though.

 

[Addleburg]

Virtually never. I don't have enough time for that.

Click to shrink...

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Unless I was planning to replay a game anyway, I'm not replaying it in preparation for its sequel. Too big a backlog to be doing that.

 

[CesareNorrez]

Not for any other reason than I already want to replay the game, and the imminent release of sequel is a good enough reason to revisit them. It helps when the earlier games are rereleased on the latest hardware. For instance I replayed the No More Heroes games when they were rereleased last fall for Switch, and the upcoming NMH3 was part of the reason why. I'm replaying through Travis Strikes Again right now because I didn't replay it last year, and with the recent Treehouse for NMH3 I am highly compelled to play it.

 

[Good4Squat]

I usually start to, but then lose interest. Also, I sometimes fear being burned out on the world/gameplay before the sequel even comes out.

 

[Seijuro]

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Click to shrink...

What I wanted to write. When I have time to game I rather play something new. I stopped doing replays decades ago.

 

[Strike]

Virtually never. I don't have enough time for that.

Click to shrink...

Yup.

 

[Deleted member 37928]

Nope, never.

1. It's very time consuming. It's not like watching a movie where you can get updated after just a couple of hours. Doing the same thing with a series of games might take you weeks before you're finished.
2. There is a risk that you will burn yourself out before you even start the new game. The feeling of getting into a game you know you're going to like without having played the series for a long time is a truly wonderful feeling.
3. The odds that I have all those games just ready to be played is low as I don't collect games and I don't buy a lot of AAA stuff digital.
4. Preparing often means getting up to date on where the story left off and what happened on the way and that's easy to do with Youtube vids.

 

[Surakian]

Depends on how long it's been since I've played or watched scenes from the game.

 

[FinFunnels]

I never replay a game just because a sequel is coming out. If I replay a game, it's either because it's a game that was meant to be replayed, or it's because I remember liking the game and it's been around 10 years or more since I last played it.

 

[nihilence]

If it's a romp for a few session. But I wouldn't want to replay 200 hour rpg for prep.

 

[Goldenroad]

Not very often, but if there is some story continuity and the previous game wasn't released too recently, I might. The last time I did this was replaying the Last of Us before TLOU 2 came out, and I could see myself replaying God of War 2018 before Ragnarok comes out (if I can even get a PS5 by then), but it's just one of those situations where if I have a bunch of other games to play at that same time, they will probably take priority vs going back and playing God of War again.

 

[ClamBuster]

nah... i'd rather play another game

 

[PumpkinPieAddict]

I used to all the time. As I've gotten older I don't have the hours free. But depending on the length between release dates and how much I value the story I'll set aside time to do it.

Example I played Last of Us Remastered before Last of Us 2. Replayed the entire KH series over a few months before KH3. Entire MGS Saga before MGSV.

But for whatever reason haven't touched Spider-Man remastered before Miles (or after). Feels a bit too recent for me.

 

[ciddative]

I played God of War 1-3 blind in a week before the launch of the PS4 version.

I probably also played through the prior Mass Effect and Witcher games before a new one came out.

But it's rare, some games require/deserve it more than others

 

[Remeran]

Honestly, yes. But I consider it a bad habit. I can most likely find a pretty good synopsis online but for some reason I want to make sure I remember everything!

 

[Elfgore]

The only two I've done recently were The Last of Us and Spider-Man. Those were honestly only done because I was playing the remaster versions of them on PS4 and PS5 respectively after playing them originally on the weaker console. Otherwise, I would have skipped it.

Ironically, playing Spider-Man Remaster was probably a bad move before Miles Morales, because I feel like I kinda didn't give that game as much time as I should because I was so tired of the formula at that point.

 

[The Last One]

I'm currently replaying the Metroid series. The answer is yes.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

No, the story will come back to me.

 

[Eamon]

I will with Halo, because I lost any comprehension of what 343 is doing with their trilogy a long time ago. A refresher may help

 

[Nikus]

Depends on the series. Like, I won't do that for Yakuza, the games are too long and there are too many of them. I'll watch a Youtube movie/recap or something.
Stuff like Halo, Gears of War, Tomb Raider, yeah sure.

For Metroid, I don't wait for sequels, I've been playing all the 2D episodes regularly for twenty years. That said, I'll replay them all in the right order this year, right before Dread comes out :)

 

[Goldenh]

Depends, but most of the time it's the announcement of the sequel that makes me want to return to the world rather than playing for the sequel.

 

[Sky87]

Yes, but not right before the sequel comes out because of burn-out risk. Currently almost done with my Horizon replay on PC.

 

[ConfusedOwl]

I replay games all the time even when sequels aren't coming out so yes, I have no problem doing that if the release date is far enough away that I don't risk burnout.

 

[Oneiros]

No, that would feel like a slog to me. Even playing series' collections, I'm usually burned out by the third game.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

If the games are short then I consider it. Planning on firing up some 2D Metroid, I don't think I'll play all of them though. At least Fusion, as it's my favorite in the series.

 

[Renna Hazel]

No, I fear I'd get burned out on the gameplay genre right before the sequel comes out. I do replay games often but I make an effort not to replay a game very close to it's sequel releasing. I want the sequel to feel as fresh as possible.

 

[StarPhlox]

After yesterday's direct I decided to do another playthrough Zelda II and Super Metroid since those are awesome games and easy to access with the NSO. May play some more Zeldas ahead of Skyward Sword (Link's Awakening or ALTTP) and will probably revisit BOTW well in advance of the sequel :)

 

[Chopchop]

It's something I've thought of doing multiple times, but I don't think I've ever actually gone through with it before.

I generally don't have the time and energy for it.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Yup. Depending on how many games I have to get through, I'll do it right before the game comes out so I can have the sense of continuity.

 

[Ramako]

My backlog is too big to spend time replaying games, but I'll often leave the DLC untouched and play that in prep for the next game.

 

[black070]

Nah, don't have time for that.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Depends on the game, but sometimes.

 

[shaneo632]

Nope I prefer to play games I've not played before.

 

[defaltoption]

More often then not, always when jumping into a new franchise I haven't played, most of the time if really enjoy the IP, and never if I played it in the last year or so.

Exceptions here and there of course.

 

[apieceofstrange]

I don't even have the time to finish most games I start, yet alone replay them. Could likely count the number of games I've replayed since the PS3/360 era on 1 hand. It's tough to comprehend people having the free time to replay massive open world games or RPGs that are 40+ hours in length. Must be nice!

 

[Anddo]

Depends on the game.
But lately no, my backlog has become too big.

 

[Bear Cub in Sky]

I try to, but I've only been successful with the Tomb Raider reboot.

 

[Shadow2222]

I used to with my favorite series like MGS, Uncharted, etc. I will still do it with games like TLOU and such when a sequel releases

 

[Quellyford]

I only play through two game series in preparation for any sequels: Gears of War and Halo

 

[CannonFodder52]

If it's something I really care about, then yeah.
I did it with No More Heroes and Deadly Premonition recently.
I plan to play through Psychonauts before its sequel as well.

 

[LuckyLinus]

I only remember doing this with the Mass Effect trilogy before Andromeda came out.

I loved the replay but couldnt bring myself to finish Andromeda, terribly mediocre game in comparison.