Something occurred to me earlier today while I was reading IGN's Debbie Downer review of Mario Golf, which whinged about it not having any "replay value". Something didn't seem quite right about that as a concept, so I pondered exactly what the thought that was forming in my head was. And I think I've got it.
A lot of people seem to have lost the concept of playing something simply for the pure enjoyment of playing it. By that I mean it's sometimes quite tough to convince people to play something if they don't feel like they're going to "get something" out of it. And I don't mean something intangible like "a sense of satisfaction" or "the knowledge that they've done something that they enjoyed" — I mean literally being rewarded for doing something that should already, in itself, be its own reward.
Mario Golf does a good job of rewarding your progress through its Golf Adventure mode with level ups, money, the opportunity to buy new equipment and new courses to challenge. But once you've unlocked everything, the game is just… there. And, contrary to what the IGN review seemed to argue, this isn't a bad thing.
Sometimes it's really nice to boot up a game and know that it has no expectations for you beyond simply engaging with its mechanics and having fun. It doesn't expect you to "beat it", it doesn't place unreasonably long lists of objectives in front of you, it doesn't feature "retention strategies". It just is. It's a game that is there, comfortable in the knowledge that you'll pick it up, play it for a bit and then perhaps put it down for a while, only to return to it two, four, six months later when you fancy a quick round of golf or whatever it happens to offer.
That sort of experience isn't "a lack of replay value". That sort of experience is potentially infinite replay value — particularly when you take multiplayer into consideration. It's the way the oldest video games were designed — and it's one of many reasons that so many of them remain timeless classics to this day, while a lot of today's games feel inherently disposable.
If you ever find yourself thinking that you don't feel like playing a game because it's not showering you with experience points, levels, trophies and achievements on a regular basis… stop and take a step back for a moment. Ponder why you're engaging with this hobby. And remember that sometimes it's okay for things to just be fun and nothing else.
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