Black Republican
Member
Twilight Princess
Good fucking lord what a slow and crappy ass first 3-4 hours, terrible first dungeon too
Good fucking lord what a slow and crappy ass first 3-4 hours, terrible first dungeon too
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"Just get on with it!": Games that drag at the start
- Thread starter oconnomiyaki
- Start date
Barry Burton
Member
Skyward Sword and Assassin's Creed III are two of the worst offenders of this.
I thought both vehicle sections were about 20-30% longer than they should have been. They were the only sections of Half-Life 2 where I felt pacing was an issue. I was absolutely sick of the sight of that riverboat section by the time it finished.
It's been said, but the beginning of Assassins Creed 3 is horrendous. Just hours and hours of tedious, boring nonsense.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Absolutely this.
Actually, I do have to highlight this sort of thing; it's on a bit of a tangent since it's not really unique to the start of games: Situations where there is a clear optimal play style which is also boring, but you feel that you're 'not playing well' if you don't do it.
It's sort of a bit of a self-imposed OCD thing, since you're not required to do it, yet there's an underlying feeling that you really ought to. It's most frequently a problem in RPGs, given that you're always aware that time is an effectively infinite resource for that one.
Examples:
Pokémon: Not sure how true it is in later games, but in FireRed/LeafGreen in *most* situations it's entirely possible to return to the Pokemon Center and heal up after every. single. fight. All it consumes is time.
Final Fantasy X: Rotating in every single character in a fight gives the best XP gain, but pretty much doubles or triples the duration of each and every battle.
Medkits in FPSes: I have a longer explanation for why I think medkits in FPSes trying for an 'oldschool feel' are often not well-planned.
Hours Left
Member
Some of my very favorite games (mainly RPGs) have slow starts, but I love them for the most part.
It really helps make the world feel deeper and more realized.
It really helps make the world feel deeper and more realized.
That *is* explained in the manual in many cases, you know. They're really covering all the bases.
Hoya Destroyer
Member
The whole Citadel part in ME1.
The dungeon at the start of Baldurs Gate 2.
The dungeon at the start of Baldurs Gate 2.
I like games with a slow burn
makes the anticipation of the incoming shitstorm all that more exciting
I would argue that Half Life 2 is the greatest game of all time, by a long stretch. And you dont even get a pistol until almost an hour in the game, somewhere during the "Route Kanal" chapter.
I find myself much more immersed in a games world when im not being distracted by dudes trying to kill me right away.
One games campaign that gets hated on around here is Battlefield 3. But i liked MOST of the campaign, not only awesome set pieces but theres no shooting right away. Your meeting up with a squad leader and then moving through the streets and into apartments using breaching techniques... all the meanwhile you hear shots being fired off in the background, yet theres an eery silence and the anticipation for your first gunfight is intense. I enjoyed that way better than any of the COD games ive played this gen
makes the anticipation of the incoming shitstorm all that more exciting
I would argue that Half Life 2 is the greatest game of all time, by a long stretch. And you dont even get a pistol until almost an hour in the game, somewhere during the "Route Kanal" chapter.
I find myself much more immersed in a games world when im not being distracted by dudes trying to kill me right away.
One games campaign that gets hated on around here is Battlefield 3. But i liked MOST of the campaign, not only awesome set pieces but theres no shooting right away. Your meeting up with a squad leader and then moving through the streets and into apartments using breaching techniques... all the meanwhile you hear shots being fired off in the background, yet theres an eery silence and the anticipation for your first gunfight is intense. I enjoyed that way better than any of the COD games ive played this gen
So when people say Zelda they are referring to the time it takes to get to the fitst dungeon? For me there's more to Zelda than dashing from dungeon to dungeon so I guess I see the introduction taking up less time.
Now I agree TP had a few annoying tasks, like catching the fish.
Now I agree TP had a few annoying tasks, like catching the fish.
QuicheFontaine
Member
I think reviewers should include "time to first button press" in reviews.
I mean, it depends on the genre (most point and click adventure games have a long intro video, and I wouldn't complain about that) but it would at least be useful information to have. Unfortunately some games would be able to get around this (I'm looking at you MGS4) by having a super-short section where you control the character, followed by another long cutscene.
I mean, it depends on the genre (most point and click adventure games have a long intro video, and I wouldn't complain about that) but it would at least be useful information to have. Unfortunately some games would be able to get around this (I'm looking at you MGS4) by having a super-short section where you control the character, followed by another long cutscene.
I agree with this. Recently played through Persona 4 and Ni No Kuni and it takes about 20 hours in both of them before it starts getting interesting. At least in Persona's case there's a good 50 hours after that, 20 hours is half of Ni No Kuni though.
I think when people talk about the intro to AC3 they're including the Connor's Childhood stuff.
Ken Masters
Banned
Kingdom hearts 3d
Ass creed 2
Ass creed 2
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
The first Alice game. While you are actually playing the levels, they just are way WAY WAY too fucking long.
The Mana Legend
Banned
I made it to chapter 5 and couldn't take it anymore. It's supposed to get better, but good GOD the gameplay is fucking terrible. I might rush through it on easy one day just to see what the story is all about.
T.M. MacReady
NO ONE DENIES MEMBER
I did the same. Except I just youtubed the interesting story bits and spared myself the terrible shooting gallery
NotDreamcast
Member
Persona 4 - I replayed it recently even when skipping through the text relatively fast, the intro is still like 2 hours long
Pokemon - The first few games weren't too bad in this regard but in DPPt and BW(2) it gets agonizing. It'd be nice if the Pokemon catching tutorials were optional,
Twilight Princess & Skyward Sword - When I first played these games, I actually enjoyed the long intros and everything being set up. But upon subsequent playthroughs, they're just painful. Maybe I'm slow, but everytime I've played TP it takes me roughly 2 hours to get to the Forest Temple. I think I recall SS having an even longer intro which is one of the main reasons I haven't replayed it yet.
Pokemon - The first few games weren't too bad in this regard but in DPPt and BW(2) it gets agonizing. It'd be nice if the Pokemon catching tutorials were optional,
Twilight Princess & Skyward Sword - When I first played these games, I actually enjoyed the long intros and everything being set up. But upon subsequent playthroughs, they're just painful. Maybe I'm slow, but everytime I've played TP it takes me roughly 2 hours to get to the Forest Temple. I think I recall SS having an even longer intro which is one of the main reasons I haven't replayed it yet.
Please don't tell me that you gave up on it? It is one of the greatest games ever. You really don't want to miss it.
DJ_Lae
Member
Suikoden III is the one that always comes to mind when I think of games that never really get anywhere at the start. I remember buying it right after release, playing 10-15 hours of the most plodding, inane shit ever, and then promptly selling it. The only positive memory I actually have of Suikoden III is that I sold it for $95 to some crazy person on Ebay, maybe a couple of weeks before the reprint was announced and it came back out in stores for $30.
Final Fantasy XIII is another. I think I played about 15-20 hours of that, waiting for the tutorial to end, waiting for it to get good, just plowing through the game in the hopes that something would come of it (it didn').
And Skyward Sword is the most recent. I did the intro, one dungeon, and made it partway through to the next dungeon before the handholding and Fi drove me mad and I had to shut it off. I know how to play a goddamn Zelda game, Nintendo, I don't forget what certain items are when I come back to the game after turning my Wii off, and I'm not mentally incapable of understanding things that aren't repeated two or more times in painfully slow dialog boxes.
I find a lot of JRPGs do this in general - the slow plodding drawn out intro combined with a tutorial that lasts far longer than it should. I'm playing Ni No Kuni at the moment and I'm still being treated like a moron, with Drippy informing me (usually two or more times) exactly when it's the right moment to switch back to the real world or that someone needs a piece of heart, and oh hey, it's enthusiasm. Half the time it feels like I play a JRPG and it handholds me for so long that by the time I get any freedom whatsoever the game is over.
And now that I start thinking about that I wonder why I even play and enjoy JRPGs at all.
Final Fantasy XIII is another. I think I played about 15-20 hours of that, waiting for the tutorial to end, waiting for it to get good, just plowing through the game in the hopes that something would come of it (it didn').
And Skyward Sword is the most recent. I did the intro, one dungeon, and made it partway through to the next dungeon before the handholding and Fi drove me mad and I had to shut it off. I know how to play a goddamn Zelda game, Nintendo, I don't forget what certain items are when I come back to the game after turning my Wii off, and I'm not mentally incapable of understanding things that aren't repeated two or more times in painfully slow dialog boxes.
I find a lot of JRPGs do this in general - the slow plodding drawn out intro combined with a tutorial that lasts far longer than it should. I'm playing Ni No Kuni at the moment and I'm still being treated like a moron, with Drippy informing me (usually two or more times) exactly when it's the right moment to switch back to the real world or that someone needs a piece of heart, and oh hey, it's enthusiasm. Half the time it feels like I play a JRPG and it handholds me for so long that by the time I get any freedom whatsoever the game is over.
And now that I start thinking about that I wonder why I even play and enjoy JRPGs at all.
It literally takes about 27 minutes clicking as fast as you can through the dialog before you get out of the introduction. Really awful way to start...
brotherbean
Member
Not so much meandering but definitely "get on with it": the intro tutorial driving test in the first Driver on PSX. So, so, sooo bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWMuLR_28i0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWMuLR_28i0
My beloved Assassin's Creed 2 takes far too long to get Desmond into that Animus and us players to late-1400s Firenze.
FFVIII felt like that the first time I played it, but subsequent playthroughs fell less slow, probably because I enjoy picking up abilities and playing the card game a bit before getting to the meat of the game.
Edit: Also, this generation -- and I know that this isn't what the post is about -- is getting ridiculous with the amount of waiting and the number of button presses you have to endure in between turning your console on and actually playing the game. All those pointless splash screens, all those extraneous "Press Start" messages, all that loading. I really miss the era of going from "I think I'll play some Super Mario Bros." to having Mario there on World 1-1 in less than 15 seconds.
FFVIII felt like that the first time I played it, but subsequent playthroughs fell less slow, probably because I enjoy picking up abilities and playing the card game a bit before getting to the meat of the game.
Edit: Also, this generation -- and I know that this isn't what the post is about -- is getting ridiculous with the amount of waiting and the number of button presses you have to endure in between turning your console on and actually playing the game. All those pointless splash screens, all those extraneous "Press Start" messages, all that loading. I really miss the era of going from "I think I'll play some Super Mario Bros." to having Mario there on World 1-1 in less than 15 seconds.
Krauser Kat
Member
Xenogears. HOLY SHIT i wanted to replay this game so bad. That beginning is so long.
Keep a first-available-save-point file for future playthroughs. I do this with FFVIII, with a save file with about ten or so battles under my belt, just so I can start with Quetzalcoatl already having the Card ability and 100 of the basic magic already drawn. Makes it so much easier to get right into things.
OoT was a chore to replay because of long unskippable cutscenes. TP was a chore to replay because the first few hours are literally doing chores.
I'm actually surprised Fallout 3 didn't get more crap for that. At least I don't remember people seeing that as negative. They stood out to me when I played it. However since I love Zelda games it didn't bother me but I certainly thought others would have taken issue with it. Like Zelda though once you get passed it, it doesn't matter anymore. So that could be why I didn't hear more complaining.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Twilight Princess thread? It's the one always mentioned. I like the game a lot, but yeah, it really drags on in the beginning. Skyward Sword does too, I guess, but I enjoyed that opening more. Skyloft is just such a nice place to be, and I like the stuff between Link and Zelda there.
My work is already done here. Those are the two worst offenders I can think of. There are a bunch of games that are tedious on replays, like Tales of Symphonia, and Pokemon games, but they're not too bad, if at all, the first time.
Gintoki313
Banned
Has anyone said Tales of Graces F yet? That game has went into my history as having the slowest start ever.
You have to start off as a kid for like 5 hours in the game with barely any good skills, and somewhat annoying kids. I tried to let my friend play this game but he didn't even want to play the rest because he hated the start. Now that is a bad first impression if I say so myself.
You have to start off as a kid for like 5 hours in the game with barely any good skills, and somewhat annoying kids. I tried to let my friend play this game but he didn't even want to play the rest because he hated the start. Now that is a bad first impression if I say so myself.