Now, I have probably played a ton of games over and over from start to finish. I mean if a game has half decent replayability, you will not likely leave it at one playthrough. Its just value for money. However to play a game through up to five times and more, it takes something really special for me to nerd my life away to such an extent. Well, usually. I am sure I have played most Rare titles for the Nintendo 64 through multiple times, and yet few games at present will keep my attention for long. I am not sure if this is due to either me having roughly what qualifies as a life now, if modern games are just terrible, or that they are simply designed for the modern gamer with no patience or attention span to speak of. Either way, modern titles tend to max out at two playthroughs, and that's with the added incentive of whoring meaningless achievements. Have a pat on the back for playing our terrible game more than once. Has it really come to this?
For my choice however, I am going to pick The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. For a game with no plot variables or changing factors to hold my attention for so long is impressive to say the least. I mean even the story is not particularly inspiring, rather standard fare to be honest. Unassuming boy discovers higher calling. Boy finds out he is good at killing things. Boy meets girl. Girl gets girl-napped. Boy becomes man. Man discovers he is great at killing things. Man vanquishes evil and gets girl, all live happily ever after. Apart from evil guy who is forced to live a life of eternal beige. However despite this and the noticeable fact that the game is now 14 years old and has all the graphical prowess of an etch-a-sketch, I can still play through OOT as an adult and enjoy it as much as I did when I was a round-headed hyperactive goblin child. The combination of unique off the wall Japanese design and smooth uncomplicated gameplay keep me coming back to OOT. There's something about fighting evil as a kid with nothing but a glorified shiv, a slingshot, sticks and nuts that never gets repetitive. Yes, that's right, nuts. But lets smooth over that part. The quirky originality of the whole affair has a certain undeniable charm; drinking milk to restore health and memorizing songs on an ocarina is a breath of fresh air every time. Its either that or I am catering to my inner man child by indulging in this retro title time and time again. I choose to feign ignorance and go with the first option. Oh yes, the theme here was "a game you have played more than 5 times." I'm sure the sharper tools will have cottoned onto that one.
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