Deja Vu: The Top 8 Games Worth Another Playthrough

Disclaimer: This list does not include any strategy games and simulations like Civilization, Total War or SimCity 2000. These games are, without saying, extremely replayable and need not be mentioned.  

Baldur's Gate II

Baldur's Gate II is Bioware's sequel to Baldur's Gate, the role-playing game for the PC that gave the aforementioned company its reputation for great game design. 

In the fantasy realm of Faerun, populated by dungeons, dragons and otherworldly creatures, the Protagonist seeks to discover his destiny with an interesting party of characters ranging from hearty warriors like the lovable Minsc, and powerful wizards like the evil Edwin Odeisseiron.

A replay through Baldur's Gate II allows you to experience the interactions of different characters in your party and the dynamics of different tactics and strategies during battles. While the game's story is predetermined, there are many choices available to you, like the romances, decisions that influence quest outcomes, and several other choices to be made here and there. There is more than enough content to allow you a second or third playthrough. 

Here's a game that's challenging and fun the first time through, and no less enjoyable in subsequent playthroughs. One of the best ways to have fun playing through Half Life 2 a second time is to attempt a 'speed run' through the game without stopping for anything. In this regard, the chase sequences are especially enjoyable. 

One of the really good features about Half Life 2 was how the game was divided into chapters that could be loaded from the main menu after you played through them the first time around. You could skip boring parts like Ravenholm and the Antlions and simply opt to replay the fun parts like the boat chase or any of the intense battles. I often find myself starting the game up every now and then to reexperience these tense sequences.

Diablo II

Diablo II has plenty of replay value both online and offline, due to its classes and their wide array of accompanying skills. Each of the game's five character classes (seven with the expansion pack) has its own distinct play-styles, based on the combination of skills that you can select for your character. Blessed with a randomized loot system, there is never any telling how your character would eventually turn out. There's a lot of fun to be had from simply designing character builds, with skills and stats predetermined on paper, before proceeding to play your character. 

Diablo II is even more enjoyable in multiplayer mode, as you can trade items with friends and build your characters around specific sets of equipment in addition to everything else. While the plot in the game is strictly linear, the experience you could have with a new character promises to be different from previous runs. 

While strictly linear, Modern Warfare is a game built of such intense moments that it manages to get your adrenaline surging regardless of how many times you've played it before. Simply put, replaying it is like sitting through repeated viewings of Band of Brothers, Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan: It just doesn't get old!

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

There's nothing quite as enjoyable as playing two characters at the same time. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is a game that puts you in control of the sword and whip wielding Jonathan and the spellcasting Charlotte. Swapping between the two depending on situations and playing primarily with one of these characters can give you a great experience each time you play PoR to try to get the best ending for the game. 

Yet even though the replay value of the game already exceeds that of many others, the game's developers, Konami, also saw fit to add alternate play modes that allow you to play through the game's special unlocked "Prologue" as the sisters Loretta and Stella Lecarde, or as the vampire hunters, Richter Belmont and Maria Renard. 

It's always a challenge to hit the 100% (and beyond) discovery mark in any of the Castlevania games, and Portrait of Ruin is no different. With countless secret areas and items to find, this is a game that will take up dozens of hours before you're through with it. 

Fallout

Fallout is a game cited by countless gamers as being one of the best RPGs to ever grace the liquid crystal display. With a slew of character development options available to the player from the beginning of the game, and many more as the player progressed through the post-apocalyptic Californian wasteland, Fallout also forced hard choices upon the player in the form of quests and the solutions to those quests, which were never strictly predetermined. 

A character skilled in the use of guns could simply shoot his or her way through a bandit camp to rescue a hostage, while another with more finesse and stealth could opt to sneak her out at night while the raiders were fast asleep. A character skilled in the ways of speech and educated in books could alternatively negotiate with the raiders for a fair exchange. Such were the game's options, and it was even possible to play through the entirety of Fallout without killing a single enemy. Fallout is, unarguably, the only RPG that allows you to play a pacifist all the way through. 

One of Fallout's greatest strengths is its nonlinearity. Certainly, NPCs are always in the same places each time you play through the game, but the choices you make impact their stories and the overall outcome of the game through a series of slides after the game ends. If you're unsatisfied with how things turn out, you can always give it a second time through. 

Max Payne 2

Max Payne 2 is a pulp fiction video game experience and its exceptional narrative allows it to stand out from the sea of action games. With spectacular rag doll physics that offer you the experience of watching men die in different ways, Max Payne 2 was a game ahead of its time. It's not uncommon to have these features in games these days, but MP2 really managed to pull it off nicely. It's a game offers you the ability to dole out hard justice by the bullet, racking up a body count of bad guys that would make John Woo blush. 

With a superb narrative populated by endearing characters, Max Payne 2 has a human side to it that many other action games do not. It was a short game, to be sure, but it was long enough to have a lasting impact. Replaying the game casually feels like no kind of chore. 

Final Fantasy VII is often cited as being one of the most replayable games in recent memory. I therefore asked Snail, our resident Final Fantasy enthusiast, on her thoughts of the game's replay value:

---

What's your pick?