Summary
There’s nothing worse than playing a game and realizing that it’s starting to drag and has outstayed its welcome. Or on the other hand, getting to the end of a great game but wishing that it went on for longer, and you had more to play.
That’s why it’s so fantastic when a game feels like it hits the perfect balance of giving its concept and world enough time to breathe, while also ending at the perfect time and not making you look forward to playing something else. So, which games feel like they respect your time the most?
You could argue that every mainline game in thePikminseries built upon, and sometimes improved, what was established in the original, but one thing the first had perfect from the get-go was how long the main story lasted.
The 30 days Olimar has to explore the small but detailed areas of the world to rebuild his ship can make the game a little stressful at times, but having a clear time limit to work with makes progression feel tactile and gives you a clear goal to work towards.
Open world games in particular can tend to drag, with the temptation from developers to add tonnes of micro-goals, collectibles, and arbitrary side quests to fill up their world. This is whereTchiastands out. Its smaller map is filled with the perfect number of distractions to entertain you as you work through the game’s well-paced story.
This is further helped by the thoroughly enjoyablepossession mechanic, which transforms traversal around the islands into one of the best parts of playing through the story, with the staggering variety of options keeping the movement perpetually refreshing.
As the game’s title suggests, A Short Hike isn’t going to be the longest game you’ve ever played. However, the enjoyment you get out of the hour or two this game will take ensures that it will be a time you’ll remember.
The simple joy of exploring A Short Hike’s stylized world and charming characters won’t waste your time, and will instead keep you smiling until, before you know it, you’ve reached the credits. The length of this game makes it a favourite for replaying whenever you need a quick mood boost.
Before it was announced, no one expected the follow-up to the controversialBayonetta 3to be a storybook-style prequel that scraps the series' signature gameplay for a slower-paced Metroidvania-esque adventure, but that’s exactly what Cereza and the Lost Demon is.
Perhaps even more surprising is just how well it works, with the exploration of the stunning watercolour aesthetic world being a refreshing change of pace unlike anything else. While this is nothing like any otherBayonettaadventure, the engaging story and gameplay kept the 15 or so hour adventure feeling fast-paced.
5The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Average Play Time: 40–60 Hours
Just about everyone who got their hands on theSwitch’s debut title,Breath of the Wildknows just how fun it is to explore this iteration of Hyrule, but what can really be appreciated after playing it’s follow-up,Tears of the Kingdom, is just how good the pacing of the original is.
While Tears of the Kingdom is just as fun as its predecessor, with much of the content from the original retained or remixed, it means you’ll spend a lot more time exploring the same areas if you want to see everything. By comparison, you may explore just about every corner of Breath of the Wild without getting tired of everything the map has to offer.
While at first glance,Tunicmight look just like a game taking heavy inspiration from 2DZelda, it takes this and turns it into an adventure that you won’t forget, and arguably surpasses what inspired it.
The core mechanic of learning new controls and discovering key lore about the intricately designed world by collecting pages of a fourth-wall breaking instruction booklet means you’re always second-guessing what you think you know, and it keeps you intrigued and curious from beginning to end.
You might not expect a short indie game focused almost entirely on climbing to be so awe-inspiring, but the few hours you spend working your way up the gargantuan mountain inJusantwill keep you thoroughly engaged.
The climbing gameplay is simple, but encourages you towork out the best methodto surpass every hurdle. Such simple gameplay could easily become repetitive, but the developers were clearly aware of this, keeping the short play time varied enough to avoid running into this problem.
Paradise Killerdefinitely won’t be for everyone, but for those that love exploration, mystery, and an inspired vaporwave aesthetic and soundtrack, it might be a perfect fit. You are almost immediately dropped into the relatively small but detailed island to interrogate the varied cast of characters, and explore, finding clues hidden around every corner.
The game provides plenty of tools to keep track of everything you learn, encouraging you to take your time with no fear of forgetting anything. With how small the island is,exploration is always rewarding, with something new to find in even the most obscure parts of the map.
Kid Icarus Uprising stands out as one of Nintendo’s stranger experiments. The game blends on-rails shooting with on-ground exploration, all narrated by anime-style characters loosely inspired by Greek mythology.
It truly shouldn’t work as well as it does, but split into 25 chapters, each progressing the game’s surprisingly interesting narrative, and a wide variety of weapon and power-up options, no two playthroughs of Uprising will be the same.
