Having finished my backlog made me realize: I don’t want to go back and replay the games that I have

[Deleted member 17627]

Welp, the worst realization just happened to me.

I decided to go through my physical collection of 100+ games to see if there's anything I would like to replay since I finally completed my backlog; only to not be interested in playing through any of them.

RPGs? Too long and I could use that time investment to play a new one.
Platformers? After getting used to them, muscle memory sort of activates and everything becomes too easy.

For other genres, there also comes the issue that so many feel like they've aged so poorly in areas such as controls, design, and camera angles, that they're just difficult to go back to.

Rhythm and fighting games are still great because of their arcade-like nature, but besides them, it's been hard going back to replay other titles.

Just wanted to discuss this topic, with my OP serving as sort of a "you were right," to folks who warned me of this lol.

 

[Tohsaka]

I pretty much never replay anything either, and I don't play multiplayer games. I'd rather keep playing new games than replay older ones.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Who does that?

EDIT: Complete your backlog? Who does that?

 

[Fat4all]

instead of playing any of my backlog im gonna replay resident evil 4 for the 26th time

 

[5taquitos]

Wait so you didn't finish your backlog?

 

[Deleted member 17627]

Who does that?

EDIT: Complete your backlog? Who does that?

Click to shrink...

With the exception of Dragon Quest XI, CTR, Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil 2, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Soulcalibur VI, Smash Ultimate, and Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, 2018 to now has been very uninteresting to me in terms of releases; ultimately leading to me working on my backlog hahaha.

 

[Bradford]

I generally also don't replay games unless I am particularly intrigued by them. Too much to play anyway!

 

[Majora's Mask]

This is why I look forward to using Gamepass whenever I get a Xbox system. I realized a few months ago that I do not need to own every game that I play as I very rarely replay them.

So yeah. As for you OP, maybe sell the games that you really don't see yourself playing anytime soon? I try to be more conscious about the games that I get (especially when being physicall as they take space).

 

[Deleted member 1238]

I always think something similar, and then instead of starting a game in my backlog I end up playing Banjo Kazooie again. Oops.

I mean death stranding is like 80 hours.I can get one quick playthrough of banjo in. It will be like a day or two tops. Then I promise I'll play death stranding.... right after a few sessions of SSX3.

 

[Arttemis]

As someone who buys 2-4 games a year, I find myself only playing the games I love. I mean, there's a ton of PS+ games that are in my library that I guess you could count as a backlog, but they weren't games I actively sought out in the first place, so my drive to play them is minimal if not non-existent.

 

[Dennis8K]

...complete....backlog....I don't understand....

 

[BrickArts295]

You..completed.. your.. backlog?...

For me the oposite, I want to be rid of my backlog to go back replay some of my favorite games. I want to replay Witcher 3, Skyrim and the Persona games again but lord knows I could also play a dozen games from my backlog instead.

 

[Archduke Kong]

I did a similar thing with my backlog last year. I did the "52 games, 1 year" thread and didn't get through the entire 52 but I played through most of the backlog I have across several systems. I'm actually pretty happy with myself because I find I don't buy games unless I really want to play them, but I probably won't replay everything I have. I find that going through my backlog also made me appreciate quality a bit more, and I'm gravitating towards a more condensed game collection as a result (kind of like when I was a kid and only had whatever games I got for Christmas/bought with birthday money, except making a library of only the games I love). Like, I liked and even loved most of what I played last year, but as far as replaying, only a few games have persisted with me. It's weird. I think I just miss the days where I was in love with any and all video games I played, almost entirely because I owned them, and want to go back to something like that whenever I pick a game to play.

Having a smaller pool of games to play may help. If you're not constantly thinking "I need to play everything!", you can focus in on a handful of exceptional experiences instead of 100+ alright ones. Not as a simple as that, obviously, but that's what I'm trying to do going forward. Granted, this is coming from the guy who bought all three original Doom games yesterday without having the slightest clue if he'll love them or not because he loved the Doom 2016 reboot more than certain family members. Take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[lampshade]

I just spent a good three minutes thinking about completing my backlog before I buy another game...by the time that happens I'll miss out on so much Animal Crossing with my friends. silly me!

 

[lightning16]

I'm not even close to finishing my backlog, but I've sorta had a second wind lately with my collection of games I've already played. Replayed a few recently and had a great time. Really looking forward to replaying a few games now that I haven't touched in a long time. I look forward to juggling them with my backlog for the foreseeable future.

 

[Deleted member 17627]

I did a similar thing with my backlog last year. I did the "52 games, 1 year" thread and didn't get through the entire 52 but I played through most of the backlog I have across several systems. I'm actually pretty happy with myself because I find I don't buy games unless I really want to play them, but I probably won't replay everything I have. I find that going through my backlog also made me appreciate quality a bit more, and I'm gravitating towards a more condensed game collection as a result (kind of like when I was a kid and only had whatever games I got for Christmas/bought with birthday money, except making a library of only the games I love). Like, I liked and even loved most of what I played last year, but as far as replaying, only a few games have persisted with me. It's weird. I think I just miss the days where I was in love with any and all video games I played, almost entirely because I owned them, and want to go back to something like that whenever I pick a game to play.

Having a smaller pool of games to play may help. If you're not constantly thinking "I need to play everything!", you can focus in on a handful of exceptional experiences instead of 100+ alright ones. Not as a simple as that, obviously, but that's what I'm trying to do going forward. Granted, this is coming from the guy who bought all three original Doom games yesterday without having the slightest clue if he'll love them or not because he loved the Doom 2016 reboot more than certain family members. Take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Click to shrink...

This. This is a good post.

 

[Sprat]

This is why I only keep key games from my life.

Most of my saturn & dreamcast games.

Tlou. The uncharted collection.

Ff7-9 mgs 1-4

I day them a lot but the majority of modern games don't interest me enough to play once never mind more than once.

 

[ShadowFox08]

I'm trying to complete as much of my backlog before buying too many new games this year. Like I'm at least trying to beat 1-2 games before buying a new one and resisting temptations of sales for games I normally wouldn't buy.

Anyway there's two things I've realized..

1. Some people buy a shit ton of games just because its on sale. Think of buying groceries en mass on sale IRL. You fall into it because its a good deal, but you may end up buying things that you don't need and would have never bought otherwise/didn't like in the first place.

2. When going through your backlog, you should just play whichever games you want to play/beat the most and go from there.. Don't bother deciding going back to the oldest game to play first because of guilt trip yourself of not wasting money over newer games that you may be more interested in playing because they are more fresh. Truth of the matter is that the longer you haven't played a game, the less likely you are motivated to play it vs a new game. Doesn't mean you can't become interested again once you play it.. But don't think too hard about it.

 

[MajorBritten]

Im cutting down on new purchases and in the process of going through my entire backlog and selling those games as soon as they're finished with the goal of having sold everything and sticking to a rule of only having 5-10 physical games at a time.

 

[Imitatio]

RPGs? Too long and I could use that time investment to play a new one.

Click to shrink...

E: Fail, I misunderstood your OP. Lol.
Thought you were still talking about your backlog games. (Too early over here in Germany, zzzz...)
Still helped me with my self-reflection on my own backlog issue, haha!
________________


Old Post:
I know this too well, but reading it from someone else just made me realize how dumb this logic actually is. (So, thank you for kickstarting my self-reflection.)

"I've got this unplayed game I already bought, but I won't play it, I'd rather buy another yet unplayed game to play that instead."

 

[TaySan]

I play games i want to play. I don't treat finishing my backlog likes it's a job i go at my own pace.

 

[psynergyadept]

I don't think I'll ever finish my backlog but I've been pretty happy with my progress as of late; beat both new games in Trails of Cold Steel III and Pokemon Sword but also was able to finish up a few games; Tales of Vesperia, YS VIII, and Xenoblade 2, and currently working on Octopath Traveler, I'm acutally thankful for this time in the gen; games are starting to slow in preperation for next gen so not much to buy.

though,,,I did but the Mega Man Zero Collection and the Vanquich/Bayonetta recently so the backlog increases...

 

[Twister]

1000% the opposite for me. I'd rather play Sonic Adventure 2 for the 2000th time than start something new. I've always been that way. I'll put thousands of hours into one game and try to start new things I buy and I just get bored with the new thing after an hour and want to go replay Super Mario Sunshine or something. It's why I've decided not to buy any games I don't plan on playing immediately

 

[Bloodforge]

Yeah I pretty much never replay a single player game I have played through before. I have tried but end up getting bored a few hours in.

 

[cyappu]

I sell pretty much every game after I finish it unless I know 100% that I will play it again in the near future or of there's a chance a friend might want to borrow it.

Has it caused me to buy some games more than once? Yes, but only a few, and that price is more than offset by all the money I've gotten back from selling the other games that I never buy or play again.

I've owned hundreds of games of the years, but currently my collection of physical games that I keep in my home is around 5.

 

[Thagirion]

Who does that?

EDIT: Complete your backlog? Who does that?

Click to shrink...

I completed my backlog two years ago and now I play what comes around free or a release within 2 months of release, and now I ride a motorcycle and 3-4 games a year + random games

 

[Blade Wolf]

Depends on the platform, I can never go back to my backlog on consoles because of clunky control & crappy performance but on PC it's the exact opposite for me, with the right mouse setting & keyboard bindings you can ''fix'' the control for many old games. There's also mods that can straight up improve certain aspects of gameplay such as weapon animations without altering the core experience at all.

Take Fallout New Vegas for example, a fantastic game but the gameplay certainly doesn't hold up today.
Luckily there's tons of animation mods that can improve the gunplay without changing the guns or the balancing.



You can make old games play just as well as new games, all you gotta do is put a little effort into it.

 

[HiLife]

Gamepass and GameFly have been a godsend. I learned that single player games typically aren't worth purchasing for me. Maybe some like Santa Monica games, or Naughty Dog, or From Software (this is the one that has the most replay value to me). But I'll ultimately never ever come back to anything else. Multiplayer games get all my money and attention.

 

[Confo]

I feel the same, even when my backlog is unnecessarily extensive. I'm on the point where it's stressful to just repeat an experience I consider I had completed properly.

Happens with movies, books, comics, manga, too. I rather do something completely new.

 

[D.Lo]

My backlog would be over 1000 games.

And yet I still replay some instead of backlog items sometimes lol.

 

[JustJavi]

I've cleared 9 games from my backlog since the 1st of January. I got another 300 to go plus whatever I add to my Switch collection this year.

 

[eraFROMAN]

Finished my back log 2 years ago, now I find myself getting through games just so I can return to my favorites. It's a different kind of problem, but I'll end up waiting to buy a game if I'm still doing a run of an old favorite.

 

[night814]

When you complete your backlog just get more games :)

 

[Aprikurt]

See I'm using the time before Animal Crossing/Doom to go through my 60+ unfinished Switch games, and I'm really enjoying them.

I've managed to beat Ace Attorney Trilogy and Cuphead, and now I'm onto Celeste.

 

[ItchyTasty]

I'm the opposite lol. I have maybe 20 games in my backlog that I intend to finish, but right now I rather replay some of my favorites.

Some of them are real time sinks as well.

 

[JakeDF2]

since I finally completed my backlog

Click to shrink...

Is it possible to learn such power?

seriously though i don't even have all consoles and i don't game on PCs but my backlog is so impossibly large

 

[ShimmyShakes]

Some people buy a shit ton of games just because its on sale. Think of buying groceries en mass on sale IRL. You fall into it because its a good deal, but you may end up buying things that you don't need and would have never bought otherwise/didn't like in the first place.

Click to shrink...

This is 100% me. It used to actually stress me out, as I had an overwhelming backlog. I still have a massive collection of games I've never played, but I don't think about it anymore - I play what I want when I want. I still buy too many games on sale, but less than I used to.

But don't think too hard about it.

Click to shrink...

This is the secret. Don't worry about it.

I want to be rid of my backlog to go back replay some of my favorite games. I want to replay Witcher 3, Skyrim and the Persona games again but lord knows I could also play a dozen games from my backlog instead.

Click to shrink...

Just replay those sweet RPGs dude, no one cares if you get through your backlog or not. Play whatever you want, life is short.

 

[thewienke]

If you're old and nostalgic like me, it may take 5, 10, or even 20 years to want to go back and play an old game that you have. Sometimes you'll just want to play a couple hours or maybe even just a few minutes of it and that's okay.

 

[sirap]

Can't relate. I play the same damn game for 10 years.

 

[Pargon]

I have the opposite problem: going back to old games is usually far more appealing than playing through most newer games - so I never stick with them and rarely make meaningful progress in clearing my backlog.

 

[ShadowFox08]

This is 100% me. It used to actually stress me out, as I had an overwhelming backlog. I still have a massive collection of games I've never played, but I don't think about it anymore - I play what I want when I want. I still buy too many games on sale, but less than I used to.


This is the secret. Don't worry about it.


Just replay those sweet RPGs dude, no one cares if you get through your backlog or not. Play whatever you want, life is short.

Click to shrink...

yeah.. if you fall into the trap of thinking too much of trying to play an old game or a new one, you are more likely to not play anything at all.

 

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Just play what you want to play, it's not that hard.

 

[Deleted member 61326]

Just play what you want to play, it's not that hard.

Click to shrink...

I agree, but apparently it very much is for many.

 

[Baji Boxer]

I really like replaying my favorites, but I feel bad when looking at my Steam backlog. It's like admiting to myself that I basically flushed a lot of money down the toilet lol.

While a good game being 80% off is a great deal, it really doesn't matter if you never play it lol.

 

[Deleted member 23850]

Who cares? Just throw them away mentally and move on.

 

[Deleted member 35048]

I have only ever replayed Mass Effect 2 and Dark Souls 1. That's it.

 

[Deleted member 5086]

At this point, I've made peace with the fact that I'll never complete my backlog (especially my digital one). But I typically don't have the urge to replay games either. Even games I truly loved, with some rare exceptions. Like, I immediately replayed Pyre as soon as I finished it. Most of the time, though, I want to try a new experience.

 

[Deleted member 11626]

The only games I replay anymore are the Mass Effect games, The Witcher, and a Final Fantasy or two every couple of years. I like to buy my games digital and discounted, so playing them once never feels too expensive.

 

[dskzero]

I'm with you. I rarely replay games and only keep them because I like having a collection, but otherwise I don't really see myself ever replaying Death Stranding, for example.

Gamepass is such high value for me because of that. I used to replay games a lot, but nowadays I just don't have the time and I prefer new experiences.

 

[raketenrolf]

You don't look at your collection and think about what you want to replay. It's something that just comes up, like when you are suddenly in the mood for certain game.

Also, not every game is good enough to replay. It' a matter of personal taste of course. But this is why I only keep games I replay regularly and there aren't much of them out there. I play Mega Man X every year for example. As soon as I begin to hum the OST in my head, I will start it up and do a quick playthrough. That is only the case for X1 though and no other Mega Man game.

I am also dying to replay Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild but I want to finish some other games first.

Sell the games off that you aren't going to replay. If you aren't going to replay anything, sell them all, keep the ones that you had the most fun with. The one game you do want to actually replay someday, you can just rebuy later.

Keep the systems though if you have enough space.