80 Days felt surprisingly novel to me because of the way it’s narrative felt so “complete” on first 3 hour play-through, knowing that I was seeing only a small fraction of the game. I’m not sure I’d get the same joy out of replays, but the joy was really in having a standard storybook experience with solid writing combined with self-determination and time pressure.
It made the world seem so rich and full BECAUSE I knew I was only seeing a very small fraction of the possible content. If I played it again and got the same story, I suspect I’d be surprised and disappointed, which is why I can never play it again!
Edit: it may have felt so novel to me because I spend most video game time in tactical games, or puzzles, and this was somehow both of those things and neither of those things.
I've replayed 80 days a few times. As long as you choose different paths, the game will tell you a pretty different story (at least for those three times I replayed it). I even died before making it all the way around the world once.
It made the world seem so rich and full BECAUSE I knew I was only seeing a very small fraction of the possible content. If I played it again and got the same story, I suspect I’d be surprised and disappointed, which is why I can never play it again!
Edit: it may have felt so novel to me because I spend most video game time in tactical games, or puzzles, and this was somehow both of those things and neither of those things.