Massively Effective Replaying

Bioware games supposedly have a lot of replayability, but I’d never be able to access it without a traumatic head injury and the concomitant memory loss.

Tycho of Penny Arcade

See, I know exactly where Tycho is coming from here. Just like him I swore to replay Mass Effect before the sequel comes out (it unlocks on Steam in… 2 days), but I never got any far. Mass Effect is one of those games that has massive introduction with a lot of conversations and very little action. Replaying is like reading yesterdays newspaper – it’s interesting the first time, but once you’ve done it the charm is gone.

I have a lot of books in my bookcase and I reread most of them eventually, but always when my memory of them has reached the bare minimum. Because that’s when they are the most entertaining: when you don’t remember what happens on the next page.

It’s entirely different for Fallout 3. Where Mass Effect is a linear story progressed by conversations and actions, Fallout 3 is a sandbox where progress is achieved by exploration. And because Fallout 3 has such a huge area I could finish the game and then start a new one immediately afterwards, without having the memory of the previous game ruin the experience too much for me.