I'm glad someone else validated this, I wanted to say Portal 2 but it's been so long since playing it that I wasn't sure if I had streamlined it in my head.
I played it in 2ish sittings and couldn't get enough, the forward momentum of making your way through the guts of old Aperture and working your way to getting after Wheatley was a really great arc.
But yes, P2 did indeed have great pacing. But I do remember remember some of the middle section dragging a bit at parts. I would say P1 actually had slightly better pacing, but again, it was much shorter which helps
Super Metroid is the textbook of pacing. New areas, new powers, new enemies, fun bosses all throughout the entire game. All while gently nudging you in the right direction so you never feel lost, but doesn't feel at all like a straight line.
Portal 2 gets my vote, I think it's the single best paced game ever made. It's way longer than the first game but manages to be perfectly paced. Right before a mechanic gets less interesting, a new one is introduced and incorporated into the ones you already know. The way the story is paced is perfect as well, nothing outstayed it's welcome and plot point are resolved perfectly.
Don't get me wrong, Portal is an amazing game, I just think 2 completely outdid it.
I'm sure I'll get a bit of disagreement here, but I always felt that the monster hunter games (specifically MH4U) had some good pacing in terms of difficulty ramp in its story missions.
I know many people think of campaign pacing, but in terms of pacing within a match, I really like Street Fighter 5 at the moment. To me pacing feels much better than many competitive games I have played in the past few years. There are much less hard knockdowns, so it does lessen the stop and go nature that occurs from that. Combos and block strings are also shorter than many other games, so it doesn't feel like a "one-player" game when someone lands a hit, which means many decisions have to be made in a short time span. Damage is pretty high and stun build up is a huge threat, which makes each moment to moment part of a match really crucial (especially with crush counters) and one decision can swing the match momentum. Since chip kills are relegated to supers, it makes it so the players are down but never out, there have been many low life comebacks in the game because some people can't clutch the end. The existence of something like white health is also very interesting, because it means that there is incentive to still pressure against an opponents block even with your normals (also stun does not depreciate while blocking), and also incentivizes the defender to use their defensive options to escape their situation. Since super meter and v-meter (guaranteed to build at least once per round) build rather quickly in the span of the match the resources available to a character change matchups as a match proceeds, so it makes it very dynamic.
mgsv no question story flow is great, side ops are integrated into the game flawlessly alongside the main missions for a nice, delicate balance of story-gameplay
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. MGSV is probably my go-to example for terrible pacing. This is how Chapter 1's story goes:
Prologue and Mission 1: Venom wakes up, crawls around a hospital for an hour, gets started up in Afghanistan, learns to be a soldier, Mother Base stuff, rescues Miller
Missions 2-26: FUCKING NOTHING HAPPENS
Mission 27-31: Mother Base epidemic, spend an hour sorting Kikongo guys in a menu, rescue Code Talker, unlock forty hours of tapes about resonating chambers, Huey finally gives up Skull Face, Skull Face outlines his entire plan,
Skull Face dies three minutes later
, fight a robot roll credits
It's abysmal. There is such a huge stretch of nothingness and then everything of consequence is crammed in to the last four missions. The game dumps hours of cassette tapes on you that it expects you to listen to at the same time it's telling you that it's finally time to go and get Skully. Then the game has the nerve to hold back stuff for Chapter 2 that would have meant so much more in Chapter 1. Why contrive another Mother Base outbreak when the main threat of the game is already over when you could have done it back in Chapter 1 and really made us psyched up to go and kill Skull Face? Trash.
The game was purely focused on play, not realism, story, or atmosphere. The way that the game unfolds is a result of careful map design, which perfectly balanced the slow-paced puzzle and maze aspect of the game with high-speed action and combat. It makes each level an absolute joy to play even for the hundredth time.
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. MGSV is probably my go-to example for terrible pacing. This is how Chapter 1's story goes:
Prologue and Mission 1: Venom wakes up, crawls around a hospital for an hour, gets started up in Afghanistan, learns to be a soldier, Mother Base stuff, rescues Miller
Missions 2-26: FUCKING NOTHING HAPPENS
Mission 27-31: Mother Base epidemic, spend an hour sorting Kikongo guys in a menu, rescue Code Talker, unlock forty hours of tapes about resonating chambers, Huey finally gives up Skull Face, Skull Face outlines his entire plan, Skull Face dies three minutes later, fight a robot roll credits
It's abysmal. There is such a huge stretch of nothingness and then everything of consequence is crammed in to the last four missions. The game dumps hours of cassette tapes on you that it expects you to listen to at the same time it's telling you that it's finally time to go and get Skully. Then the game has the nerve to hold back stuff for Chapter 2 that would have meant so much more in Chapter 1. Why contrive another Mother Base outbreak when the main threat of the game is already over when you could have done it back in Chapter 1 and really made us psyched up to go and kill Skull Face? Trash.
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. MGSV is probably my go-to example for terrible pacing. This is how Chapter 1's story goes:
Prologue and Mission 1: Venom wakes up, crawls around a hospital for an hour, gets started up in Afghanistan, learns to be a soldier, Mother Base stuff, rescues Miller
Missions 2-26: FUCKING NOTHING HAPPENS
Mission 27-31: Mother Base epidemic, spend an hour sorting Kikongo guys in a menu, rescue Code Talker, unlock forty hours of tapes about resonating chambers, Huey finally gives up Skull Face, Skull Face outlines his entire plan,
Skull Face dies three minutes later
, fight a robot roll credits
It's abysmal. There is such a huge stretch of nothingness and then everything of consequence is crammed in to the last four missions. The game dumps hours of cassette tapes on you that it expects you to listen to at the same time it's telling you that it's finally time to go and get Skully. Then the game has the nerve to hold back stuff for Chapter 2 that would have meant so much more in Chapter 1. Why contrive another Mother Base outbreak when the main threat of the game is already over when you could have done it back in Chapter 1 and really made us psyched up to go and kill Skull Face? Trash.
Mainline Ratchet and Clank games have amazing pacing imo even his running animation with his tail going back and forth is sort of like a metronome. Those games are so much fun
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. MGSV is probably my go-to example for terrible pacing. This is how Chapter 1's story goes:
Prologue and Mission 1: Venom wakes up, crawls around a hospital for an hour, gets started up in Afghanistan, learns to be a soldier, Mother Base stuff, rescues Miller
Missions 2-26: FUCKING NOTHING HAPPENS
Mission 27-31: Mother Base epidemic, spend an hour sorting Kikongo guys in a menu, rescue Code Talker, unlock forty hours of tapes about resonating chambers, Huey finally gives up Skull Face, Skull Face outlines his entire plan,
Skull Face dies three minutes later
, fight a robot roll credits
It's abysmal. There is such a huge stretch of nothingness and then everything of consequence is crammed in to the last four missions. The game dumps hours of cassette tapes on you that it expects you to listen to at the same time it's telling you that it's finally time to go and get Skully. Then the game has the nerve to hold back stuff for Chapter 2 that would have meant so much more in Chapter 1. Why contrive another Mother Base outbreak when the main threat of the game is already over when you could have done it back in Chapter 1 and really made us psyched up to go and kill Skull Face? Trash.
Gears of War, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, Astroboy Omega Factor, Zelda A Link Between Worlds and Kid Icarus Uprising come to mind. No dull moments in these games.
I enjoyed Devil's Third B-movie cheesiness as well. Linear games generally have good pacing.
I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me but I feel like Mass Effect 2 and 3 are good examples of this (I love the first game but the beginning definitely takes a while to start off).
Both have crazy intros and an engaging story that strings you along with action, events, and characters to keep you interested. It personally makes them highly replayable.
Red Dead Redemption's story was well paced. Helped that you could obviously just run off and do whatever you wanted for large periods if you wanted to.
25 chapters to work with, but the game encourages you to stick around previous chapters for achievements/collectibles. It's also got a solid online multiplayer mode that let's you cool down after finishing 1-2 chapters. It's the only game in recent memory where I actually took my time to beat it.
I'd have mentioned several games already said in this topic, but in lieu of that, let me say Spec Ops: The Line. That game is about 4 hours long. Feels like a lot more, in the best way.
I'd also say Brothers, Journey, and Emily is Away. Brevity is the soul of etc.
LOL, definitely NOT. Each chapter is based on a gimmick that gets old after 5 tops, but it goes on for another 45-60 minutes. Awful, awful pacing.
Planescape Torment is probably the best paced long game I've played, though being u employed at the time and having a lot of time probably helped with that impression
Resident Evil 4. Might as well get this over with in the first post.
There's never a moment of dullness or drudgery, and the gameplay switches between light puzzle solving, shooting, boss battles, and other, one-off segments with such finesse that you're consistently engaged with the game. Moreover, it's constantly throwing new enemy types at you, so you're on your toes until the very end of the game.
That's pretty much the only game that comes to mind. Every other game I think about either feels too long or has some flaw that brings the whole things down. Though I have a bias for game that you can (and want to) finish in a single sitting.
The legend of zelda a link between worlds has a great rythm to it. The game gives you lots of options to play the game, specially if you already finished the game, because now you know which items are in each dungeon. If you want to upgrade you master sword, there's three dungeons that offers master ores. If you want to get the titan's mitts, you go to desert palace, but if you want to go there you need the sand rod, so finish the thieves' hideout first. Want the blue chainmail, there's the swamp palace to help you out.
I really liked how the game basically is molded around the way and order you play, so not only the first time you play the game can feel really good, following replays will also offer a lot of flexibility to the way you play.
Portal 2 for example is really good to play the first time, but i never feel that the puzzles have a lot of flexibility to solve them in different ways, so while the pacing of the game the first time is great, it can feel repetitive to replay right away.
I also love resident evil 4, but people always mention this game and just this game in threads like this, just as an automatic answer. I think everyone knows resident evil 4 is a great game and has good pacing, why mention just this game? The thread asks for the best paced games, not just the one you like the most
You are forced to play the game at the pace they want but it is brilliantly paced.
So much tension, then you have lulls in the blocks where you hear echos of children past. Gearing up again for that shot. Then your escape till you get to the chopper, it just ramps up continously.
