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BEST Paced Games?

Pursuit Force : Extreme Justice on the PSP.
Everytime a sequence is about to get a little long, another one arrives. Only the scenes on foot could be a tiny bit shorter maybe, bit when I start playing this game, it's sooo hard to stop.

Also, some might not agree, but MGS3. The pacing in this game is incredible. There isn't any scene that couldn't be in the game, and every scene is thought and interesting. Although the game doesn't become a classic until the ladder sequence.
 
Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner

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This game man!!! couldn't take a break from beginning to end
 
I thought about a really good paced game IMO as Nuclear Throne ! Each time new things appeared that we didn't notice previously. Every areas, every enemies are awesome and so different !
But now i realize that maybe roguelite games can't compete on that category... What's your opinion ?
 
-tetsuo- said:
What? The beginning sucks.
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I thought it was awesome. The train scene starts with a bang, then the way it back tracks and splices to fill in the pieces up to that point is great. I also liked that it slowed you in with the Turkey heist before really picking up the tempo. Almost like the calm before the storm and start of the epic adventure.
 
Chrono Trigger is the case study of perfect pacing. It's the epitome of not overstaying it's welcome, and it's the only RPG I've ever finished and then immediately started a new game on. It's just that good.
 
Arc the lad 1 is probably one of the best Srpg in terms of pacing, it takes roughly 10 hours to complete the game and not much longer to do everything. There's absolutely no filler in the game at all the story moves at it's own pace without really slowing down at all.
 
TLoU hits it for me because it knows how to expertly deal with giving the player a breather after particularly climactic events. The only knock on it is how long
Pittsburgh
is, even if it is fairly varied from start to finish.

theecakee said:
Aside from that boat section, that was pretty long and boring I thought.
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Play the boat section again. It's way shorter than you remember. A lot of the sections in that game are. It just feels like it was longer when you first played because it was all new and fresh.
 
Bloodborne's gameplay Pacing is extremely solid as well as Treasure classics like gunstar heroes, Ikaruga, and Sin and Punishment Star Successor.
 
SolVanderlyn said:
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.
Click to expand...

First post nailed it.

Resident Evil 4 is truly the game of the generations, it's almost 3 generations old now and still one of the best gaming experience through and through.
 
The two best in recent memory are Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil 4. Both have sublime pacing with peaks and valleys that make for incredibly engaging and memorable experiences.
 
Good arcade games tend to have the best pacing. So Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Alien vs. Predator, Ketsui, Mushihimesama - stuff like that is engaging 100% of the time.
 
Thomas was Alone has perfect pace, always adding tricks, slowly and steadily getting harder, never unfair, accompanied by the unfolding of the story.

Journey also is masterclass.

Also great titles from mobile
Cut the Rope
Lara Croft Go
Where is my Water
 
KneehighPark said:
A lot of people tend to dismiss this series as a whole, but Modern Warfare 2's campaign is a masterclass of pacing and design. The tension and action is constantly going up and down, spacing apart loud explosions and firefights with slower, more stealthy sections.

Plot issues aside its one of my favorite shooter campaigns in the last decade.
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I think COD4 and Black Ops 1 both have much better pacing, MW2's entire second act was a shitty slog for me.
 
Crayolan said:
Shadow of the Colossus?

Entire game is quiet time to yourself searching for the colossus>Boss fight>repeat, with each boss fight raising the intensity over the last.
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Both this and ICO for me...to avoid making this only a thread to talk about RE4 (which is my #1 pick tied with Ninja Gaiden: Black)

Others getting my vote:
RE Remake
Portal 1/2
Super Metroid
Metroid: Zero Mission
Super Mario Bros. 3/World
Super Mario Galaxy 1/2
Zelda 1/3: ALTTP
Devil May Cry 1/3
Castlevania: SOTN
Bloodborne
Demons Souls
Dark Souls 1/3
Uncharted 2
The Last of Us
Metal Gear Solid 1
Bayonetta I/II
Raiden: Revengeance
Vanquish
Ninja Gaiden 1/2
Prince Persia 1/3
Journey/Flower
Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider
ICO/SOTC
 
-tetsuo- said:
What? The beginning sucks.
Click to expand...

The beginning doesn't suck, so much as it is in medias res and you revisit it again later in the game. Having to climb that train a second time is less impressive. The game should have resumed in a way that implied you got out of the train again, and just picked up the gameplay in the shooting snowy part where you are surviving the hunt for Drake.
 
Ocarina of Time. Not that long of a game if you just go through the main quest, but feels epic in scope. Gives the player enough agency to take a breather and explore for secrets when you need to, but the pacing never gets bogged down with stupid side stuff.
 
Ok, let's see here...

I'm gonna agree with plenty of other people on Portal 1 (that game is pretty much perfect), say Last of Us (even though Summer is so disproportionatly long), and also MGS3. While some people might disagree because of all of the cutscenes, I feel that story-wise, there's pretty much always something happening to keep you engaged.

Edit: After reading some more responses, I agree on Journey, too.
 
higgsboson1997 said:
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

It removes the tedium that I found in many other Zelda games.
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Oh yeah, this is a good one. The beginning is still a tad slow, but if you just gun it it's over in minutes. And then the main game is just immaculately paced. Plus, 60 fps in stereoscopic 3D feels amazing.
 
Instead of throwing out the usual common game, I'm going to give a nod to Resistance 3. I thought that game had impeccable pacing (and level design).

EDIT: I hear its VERY similar to Half Life 2 so perhaps thats a reason why.
 
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