We’ve crossed halfway through the 31-Day Mage Challenge! The best part has been reading everyone’s wide range of interesting and personal responses to these questions, and that includes our readers. Thanks for dropping all those comments!
As we make our way out of this forest, we return to a specialty here at The Well-Red Mage: memories and nostalgia. So then…
“What is a Game You Have Played Through the Most?“
The Timely Mage
You probably know my answer to this already but it’s Final Fantasy VIII. I typically don’t replay games, especially long or tedious ones, but I so enjoyed it that I wanted to relive it all, discover every little secret, and completely exploit the game by getting the -ga spells before leaving on my first mission. However considering my limited options as a kid I’d say I also played through games like Sonic, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Altered Beast, and Ghouls ‘n Ghosts just as much if not more.
The Black Humor Mage
Although it’s a recent game, I definitely played Metal Gear Solid V the most. I bought it day-one for PS3 because I didn’t have a PS4 at the time. I put over 200 hours into that save file because I was trying to platinum it. When I got it for the PS4, I got it again. I’m trying to platinum it again, and so far I’ve put it 95 hours. That’s too much time, looking back at it.
The Rage Mage
Only a couple of has-been hacks like Penn and Teller would create a game like Desert Bus, which simulates a 45mph bus drive from Tucson to Las Vegas in real time (8 hours of continuous, un-pausable gameplay). Making it to Vegas “awards” you with a point, and you can then make a return trip back to Tucson and get another point after another 8 hours. Bear in mind that those are 16 hours of your life you’ll never see again, although if you’re playing Desert Bus, you probably don’t care. Charities have apparently picked up on enduring Desert Bus playthroughs to raise money for humanitarian stuff, which is ironic considering it’s killing the people who are playing it to raise money for people who aren’t, so they can live. Government conspiracy. As for hateful me, I marathoned it to see if I could work on my psychoses. I developed Capgras and Stockholm Syndromes, Apotemnophilia (I’m typing with only two fingers) and Dissociative Amnesia concerning my time playing Desert Bus.
The Green Screen Mage
Halo: Combat Evolved. I have beaten this game more time than I can count. My brother and I ran through this game on co-op when it came out so many times on all the modes to get all the extras and then another 30-40 times just cause. I have replayed this game at least once a year since I was little and I always replay through the series when a new one comes out. It’s also a good game to play when you’re frustrated and you just need to destroy.
The White Out Mage
Probably Kirby’s Adventure. I love that game! Kirby is so cute and there are all the secret doors to find!
The Well-Red Mage
So for me it’s a toss up between Mega Man X and Chrono Trigger. The former is short enough to complete in a few hours or less and I used to play it like once a month. Such a rockin’ game. But Chrono Trigger, sweet Chrono Trigger… I can see photographic memories of almost the entire game. I remember holing myself up in my bedroom one summer’s break in high school, covering my windows with blankets and sheets, and plowing through the game over and over and over in order to get every single ending. I’ve gotten the super hard Dream Project ending multiple times by beating Lavos with only Crono at the start of the game (a new game plus), which lets you meet caricatures of the developers and artists behind the game, personalities like Yasunori Mitsuda, Akira Toriyama, Nobuo Uematsu, and Hironobu Sakaguchi. I’ve replayed the game on SNES, emulator, PlayStation, and Wii Virtual Console. I’d like to think I know it like the back of my hand. So though I’ve sunk in hundreds of hours into single playthroughs in games like Final Fantasy XII or DC Universe Online, it’s definitely Chrono Trigger that I’ve played “through” the most. And I have no regrets.
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I’m jus gonna point out that you said ‘played thru’ & not ‘completed’ at all..
So my answer is, as always, FF7!!! (Over 45 restarts from Meteor crater, if memory serves… Which it does! As I have 4 memcards & 4 PS2 Memcards!!! Yay for backed-up saves!)
Honourables also go to FF8, 9, Tetris & GoldenEye. A lot of memories, a lot of time, a lot of Fun!!!/Joy!!!
My most played game is probably Perfect Dark. I knew someone who considered it their favourite game and we would spend a lot of time playing it. After completing the game, we would try and complete the levels in faster times to achieve the cheats. We would repeat the game with the co-operative mode (as a shooter game with cooperative mode, it was interesting to play a game that allowed players to work together). We would compete against each other in the combat simulator and team up to complete the challenges. I actually managed to reach the Professional level on my multiplayer character, while my friend managed to get many of the cheats. I have also played Star Wars Bounty Hunter a lot. The simple gameplay, interesting level designs, short levels, interesting backstories of the bounties and slightly high difficulty made it a game easy to replay. I enjoy games with a complex story, but find I enjoy playing more simple games if I do not have much time.
For me it’s probably UFO: Enemy Unknown and the first Civilization back on the Amiga. Or the first Rome: Total War or the original Star Craft (with the Brood War expansion). I’ve also played through the first two Max Payne games (didn’t like the third game at all) quite a number of times as well. Other honourable mentions go to Half-Life, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and the first Portal.
I need to play the first Portal! Bad! Anyhow, I can agree with you on the first Star Craft. Played through that one a ton. I loved building insanely huge armies by starting as Protoss and then mindcontrolling other species’ drones and such.
For me it’s Ocarina of Time. I must have beaten it 20+ times in various remakes.
If it had to be one game, that’s one heck of a good choice to complete over and over again!
I have to say probably SMB3 like so many other greats have mentioned before me. I loved the inventory filled with P-wings you get when you beat it. They allowed you to explore everything. SMB World is another ones. The Mario games are wonderful for the replayability alone (is that a word? I’m making it a word. I studied English dammit!).
In RPG land, I’d have to say that FFVI is my most replayed game in that genre. It came out when I was 14, and me and my brother would actually take turns playing it (under our own games of course). A game that great you can’t just play through once or twice. FFIX is a close second. IX has the strange distinction of almost casting a memory charm on me as in I never quite remembered what was going to happen next so replaying it was always refreshing.
Replaying a favorite game is like rereading a favorite book!
Replayability? We’ll count that as a word. We use it as an element for grading video games. SMB3 is replayable gold, Nintendo in its prime!
Most definitely! That age of Nintendo was rife with replayable games.
I have played Final Fantasy VII to the end exactly 7 times. I played it on PS1, PS2, PSP, and Vita. If it hadn’t gone portable, it probably would be 3 times : P
Stop right there! 7 times for VII is the perfect number!
I’ve started it probably 20-30 times but never got through it all the way. It’s a big damn game 😛
Yeah it is! Did you ever see that “Did you know gaming” video about FFVII being planned for N64? It was something like it would’ve spanned 32 cartridges at the time because of its size! lol
I recall hearing that once but not seen the video : )
Great choices all around! I can see the appeal with most of these titles. Desert Bus is surprising, but hey, if the Rage Mage likes it, then it’s all right with me.
My choice is Super Mario World. I play this game at least once every year, usually first beating it in as few levels as possible, then claiming every exit for 100%. I find so much joy playing this particular Mario entry. It’s solidly designed, aesthetically pleasing, and just the right difficulty for me. Also, I love Yoshi and the cape. My runner up for most played game is Ocarina of Time. I know that game inside and out and have played it at least a dozen times!
Yeah… the Rage Mage only likes things that are soul-deadening. And Desert Bus is the definition of that. Super Mario World can’t be beat! Every time I play it I have trouble unlocking one secret route and it’s the one on that chocolate island in the south.
I assume it’s the level where each individual section changes based on how many coins you get and how much time is remaining? Haha.
It is! I play it maybe once every year or two and I always forget the magic number each time. I refuse to look it up so it takes me multiple playthroughs.
Colin McRae Rally, seeing at it’s the first game I played.
Our gaming experiences are so greatly different. I’m interested by your comments because you mention a lot of games I’ve never played. Thanks for sharing!
I would say Super Mario Bros. 3, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle and Grand Prix 2. I don’t know what to pick, but I think GP2 could be the one…
SMB3 is “the” classic!