Tried to reread 999. Ruined the game for me.

[Funyarinpa]

With Zero Escape 3 set to be out by the end of the month (holy fucking shit, to think we'd come here from the "indefinite hiatus" days), I decided to reread 999. 

999 was my very first VN, which I played thanks to the insistent recommendation of an acquaintance I had on a local Nintendo fan website. It became my favorite game of all time (before we get into semantics- 999 has puzzle sections and thus is a video game-VN hybrid). I'd pirated and emulated it, though- I couldn't find any website selling the game locally. I played Virtue's Last Reward shortly afterwards (a lucky sale), which then went on to become what was my favorite game and VN of all time, and still confidently holds that title today.

Given all this stuff, seeing as I'd finally acquired a legal copy of 999 last October, I decided it was prime time for a replay. I was stoked as hell.

Then, I started actually playing the game.

...And it falls short in many respects than I remember, perhaps because the mystery and tension is gone this time around.

The atmosphere doesn't feel engaging, and somewhat stifled by the DS' screen size and resolution. The endings feel like they come way too early, and it doesn't feel like there's enough mysteries about the game (or enough clues and developments to flesh out the game's branching storyline). Character interactions are quite nice, and while the OST is as good as I recall it being it is just shat on by the 3DS' sound capability (I'm playing with earphones). 

And it kind of makes me unsure about all of my praise for this series in the last 2.5 years, which I loved (or thought I did) to the point where it became something I thought about practically hourly. For the last few years I somewhat judged my enjoyment of fiction relative to this series. I completely immersed myself in it, and this game's the reason I found Fuwanovel: 999 led me to find Ever17 on VNDB, from where I ended up getting my filthy hands on the Ever17 torrent page on Fuwa (riposa in pace). So I can certainly say that this game's changed my life, and now that I replayed it, I am not enjoying it anywhere as I did on my first time around. However, I'm not going to change what I think of the game generally much or alter how the game stands in my favorites (currently #2), as I think a lot of the suspense and mystery is dependent on it being your first time through. Still sucks hard.

Aaaanyway, has any of you experienced a similar thing where you replayed a game only to find that you didn't like it anywhere as much as your first playthrough?

[Kawasumi]

yeah, its really harsh to know, thats why I mostly never replay anything, I like to keep the good memories thats tied to that one specific visual novel.

Like, I love yume miru kusuri a shit ton and im most likely not gonna play it again. You know why? exactly because of what you just described lol.

[Zakamutt]

I still haven't re-read Katawa Shoujo bar Hanako's route; perhaps it's for the better . I do wonder how E17 would hold up on a second read - I'd only do it in Fapanese, so that might fundamentally change it to begin with lol.

[Zidan209]

I might rethink my plans to re-reading some of the VNs i have played because of you 

[Scorp]

1 hour ago, Funyarinpa said:

Aaaanyway, has any of you experienced a similar thing where you replayed a game only to find that you didn't like it anywhere as much as your first playthrough?

I spoke with you, after I replayed VLR, remember how much stupidness were there? So never try to replay it, it is even worse (imo).

By me any story game would be ruined if you reread it - as you will know the grand finale and all what is between you and epic would be considered as "dragging too slow". 

[Arcadeotic]

As someone who usually rereads old VNs rather than starting new ones, I can confirm that the magic does indeed disappear after the initial playthrough, but that isn't always the case.

Sadly, for VNs centered around mystery and places major importance on the story more so than anything else, the second playthrough more or less will end in a disappointment.

This isn't always the case, however. Sometimes, playing an nostalgic classic, which you adored at one point,like Corpse Party for me, will retain some if not all of its old charm. But sometimes looking through the nostalgia-goggles just isn't enough, like in this case you experienced.

It's quite sad when an old favorite doesn't hold up any longer, but alas, nothing can be done.

I myself haven't read 999, but I'd assume it more or less feels like reading it with explicit and horribly detailed spoilers when reading it again.

[Nosebleed]

It's kind of the problem with stories that rely heavily on big plot twists. I do think there's cases where you can reread something and still enjoy it, but for the most part I never bother rereading anything because it never feels the same again.

[Vorathiel]

Few days ago I was staying at night at work and had nothing to listen. So I started on youtube Katawa Shoujo read by some random guy... and I liked. I didn't listen to whole thing, I didn't have 20 hours, but common route and start of Emi route were really great. I must say that I enjoyed it probably even better than first time(it was my first VN, 1.5 year ago), cause I had a chance to compare Katawa to 'typical japanesse' VN, I've read since them. And Katawa really momentarily really shines at their background.

No not every reread experience is bad.
I also have rather poor memory and tend to forget many plot points in books/shows/movies, so sometimes even twists are surprising even when uncovered the second time.

Can't wait for MuvLuv.

[Guest]

I like re-reading Katawa Shoujo from time to time. It's a nice story. As others said, maybe it's because the plot twists aren't surprising anymore.

[Turnip Sensei]

Yeah, there's some games that no matter how much you loved them they still feel really awkward to play again. All stories are not fit for rereading.

Personally, I like to read everything I really liked and found really good at least twice. It's bit hard to do with visual novels since they are so long, but not impossible.
I don't feel like knowing the conclusion would make good story any worse, there are lot more to stories than just the twists. Good writing is enjoyable to read even if you have already experience it, and I like finding subtle details that I missed the first time through. Some stories even get better on the second go, when you are not focusing on anticipating what's coming up next, but just enjoying what it is.

It also depends on how tastes change over the time. There are some visual novels I know I couldn't stand if I were to re-read them, but there's also ones I would probably appreciate more if I read them now. Fate/stay night for one, turned out to be a story I enjoyed better after getting more experienced with VNs and being able to see it on more than just the surface level.  

[Scorp]

Good writing? In translated VN? Really?

[Zakamutt]

^ 999 was given an excellent loc edit... so yes, really.

[john 'mr. customer' smith]

I mostly love stories for the atmosphere they can create, and my favourite example of that is still Planetarian. while it's obviously true that I'll never be able to experience it like the first time again, it's still highly enjoyable and will likely remain so for a long time to come

[Darklord Rooke]

7 hours ago, Funyarinpa said:

Aaaanyway, has any of you experienced a similar thing where you replayed a game only to find that you didn't like it anywhere as much as your first playthrough?

I've both reread books that I still think are fabulous, and reread stories which are really, REALLY bad. Especially because when we're young we tend to get off on ideas, so the story which got me hooked on reading and writing about 15 years ago was a piece of fanfiction. It was a cross between Highlander and Buffy. At the time I thought it was so fab I printed it out and kept them in binder folders, but upon rereading ... terribly written. Just really terrible.

But it's what got me into writing, and reading. You know, immortals and vampires and military weapons combined with male teenagery ...