So as the title so sneakily implies this is about doing things twice, or more in this instance. It is actually about my disdain for games that require multiple play-throughs to complete. All of this started when i was playing one game i recently acquired and found it to be rather unbalanced in that i was spending all currency on health packs. This imbalance made me question it outloud to which i got a reply: “it gets better the second time through” or words to that effect.
Better the second time through? You can’t be serious?
So before i divulge myself in ranting about this gaming phenomenon of playing through multiple times i want to take time to discuss in brief some games i have enjoyed as a result of Santa bringing me the presents i wanted (because i am a good boy).
The first game i played after Christmas got the privilege of christening my new 32inch flat screen, this game was Fable 3. I quite enjoyed Fable 3 as it improved everything i could nit-pick about Fable 2, and i mean every annoyance or long winded solution, they really got things right with this game. There have been developments that have actually been somewhat annoying but all are forgiveable. So i played through this in only a few short days missing a fair amount of content which didn’t seem to impact my experience much at the time. *Spoilers* Having been crowned king and making many decisions trying to influence a ‘good’ outcome i ended up with a land where almost 2/3rds of the population died. Whoops. Wandering around the towns the next day, very few people were on the streets and i felt bad…Really bad. I had just committed genocide in the effort to make the land a better place. So i left the game alone, which wasn’t good, Fable 2 in the past had made me want to keep playing long after finishing it, but every time i tried with Fable 3 i felt guilty and put the controller down.
To distract myself i had a solution: Enslaved. The latest instalment from Ninja Theory, whose talk at the university had encouraged me to put it on my Christmas list to Santa. The game was somewhat shortlived but i enjoyed every moment of its beautiful simplicity and beautiful beauty. This wasn’t enough though i got greedy and wanted more gaming fun before the semester starts and so i went out and got Bayonetta… The game which “gets better the second time through.”
Playing the first few levels was brilliant fun. Some quicktime events annoyed me a bit, however they are just a pet peeve of mine. The story was fast paced, kept many elements hidden until needed and left no remorse for not explaining itself in full, which in my opinion is the hallmark of good narrative. There came a pattern though, now i don’t profess to be a great gamer myself but i see my self as capable. I kept running out of health, fast, spending an ever increasing amount on health packs (green lollipops). With all these great items available in the shops such as accessories, weapons and moves i felt i was missing out on a large portion of the game. The point that tipped me over the edge was the grievous mistake of adding in a move that activates when dodge is tapped twice. I had spent the entirety of the game spamming buttons for combos and dodging out the way but now was forced rather brutally to adapt to only pressing the dodge when absolutely necessary and at that only tap it once. This ruined gameplay for me.
So now the game presents rather an unfair challenge, i am always low on health, missing many many possible upgrades and forced to change my play style i had developed. The solution? Put up with it and enjoy it the second time round with more to spend on items and upgrades.
I refuse outright to believe that a game has been developed that drags the player through hell and back just so they can enjoy it more the next time round. Sadistic isn’t the word for it. Any game can have the option for a second play through i don’t think its a particularly bad thing but having it more enjoyable than the first just doesn’t make sense.
The games i most enjoy are those i can play through and do as much or as little to experiencing the content as i chose the first time through. To elaborate, games such as the Zelda franchise has many hidden upgrades and treasure to be found if you explore, it is not critical to the main story play through and can be ignored to no great detriment on the game experience but rewards those who do find it. Choice is available to those wishing to speed through the game or take it slow and explore all areas. Games that allow access to ALL content the first time round are those which i praise to have been designed well. If i want to play through a game a second time i should have that as a choice, not as a requirement to enjoy the game to its potential.
So rant over, back to Fable 3. I did actually enjoy this enough to play through a second time. With hindsight the game does improve, but it felt slightly lack-luster knowing the outcomes of events and being able to foresee upcoming choices. To produce the outcome i wanted from the last game *spoliers* i saved up all the necessary gold to save the entire population and still make the same set of choices as before.
Despite having the money to afford to save the orphanage, i still turned it into a brothel. Not because it was the choice i made last time but because to upgrade my weapon required me to sleep with 20 women… and they say GTA is bad.
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