10 Amazing Video Games You Should Only Play Once
2. Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 is the feel-bad game to end all feel-bad games - a cosmic-scale bummer you won't want to put yourself through more than once, nor should you.
And aptly, a single run through Konami's horror masterpiece is more than enough to leave a long-lasting, potentially even lifelong impression.
While many horror games lose their power on a second playthrough due to their reliance on previously-experienced jump-scares, Silent Hill 2 is no typical entry into the genre.
The game's thorny themes of guilt, depression, and so on have been relentlessly analysed by fans over the last 20 years, yet for the majority of people its oppressively heavy, downcast tone is so thick and invasive that it's difficult to ponder picking up the controller for another go.
It is a game that permanently marks anyone who plays it, and so there's really no need to dive back in. You'll be left thinking about James Sunderland's hellish odyssey and the game's wider message about humanity for years, even decades to come.