Games with the Best Pacing
- Thread starter zaxil456
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Super Mario Bros. 3. Every 2D Mario to follow has levels that are too long and too focused on the optional collect-a-thon elements.
Ocarina of Time. The ultimate "no BS" game, where every required step in the journey feels right and the game gives you *just* the right amount of agency to play around without the pacing grinding to a halt.
Paper Mario. Just exquisitely good, with every level being just the right size.
Final Fantasy VI. Immaculate until some of the late-game dungeons which started to drive me a little crazy. Loved all the twists and turns especially in the first third of the game.
Gorogoa
Gris
Anodyne
Bonus: Games with BAD pacing
Gravity Rush
Dragon Quest XI
Okami
CrossCode
Bravely Default II
Ocarina of Time. The ultimate "no BS" game, where every required step in the journey feels right and the game gives you *just* the right amount of agency to play around without the pacing grinding to a halt.
Paper Mario. Just exquisitely good, with every level being just the right size.
Final Fantasy VI. Immaculate until some of the late-game dungeons which started to drive me a little crazy. Loved all the twists and turns especially in the first third of the game.
Gorogoa
Gris
Anodyne
Bonus: Games with BAD pacing
Gravity Rush
Dragon Quest XI
Okami
CrossCode
Bravely Default II
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Except the island chapter is pretty weak. The whole thing goes on way longer than necessary in samey environments and IIRC there's little variation aside from shooting (no puzzles or exploration). I thought it would have worked much better having a shorter run-up to Saddler maybe with fewer more challenging enemies, rather than hordes of grunts to shoot your way through as though it were the Resi 6 prototype.
Yeah, I agree. I love the first game but I always felt it was a little flabby in the middle and drags on more than it needed to. After playing Uncharted 4 I thought that suffered from the same issue, although Lost Legacy had absolutely fantastic pacing and hardly any fat on its bones, so maybe it's a problem with Druckmann's games specifically?
of the last games I've played, RE2: Remake felt amazingly well paced. Played multiple runs in a row because of how well the game flows.
Metroid Dread also had excellent pace, I guess unless you're bothered by the EMMI sections. They were fine for me.
Metroid Dread also had excellent pace, I guess unless you're bothered by the EMMI sections. They were fine for me.
MGS 1-3 (especially 1) and 2D Metroid (especially Dread) are what jump to mind for me. Something about the contiguous worlds and pseudo-real time, along with the constant stream of interesting developments (generally narrative reveals in MGS and power ups in Metroid) and relatively short lengths, make them really hard to stop playing.
come to think of it, almost literally every game goes on for hours too long. even many of the games mentioned in here, like uncharted 2, are too long in my opinion.
the only well-paced game i could think of right now is gone home. oh and the portal games. can't think of any others
the only well-paced game i could think of right now is gone home. oh and the portal games. can't think of any others
RE4, Journey, & Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time come to mind immediately. Also, games like Skyrim and Breath of the Wild where you set your own pacing.
Pacing is probably Metroid Dread's strongest aspect. Well, either that or its boss fights.
I've always wished the game would've ended at the castle.
This also represents my feelings on RE4. There are some good parts to it (like the introduction to Regenerators and the Experiment/Krauser boss fights), but it has so many rooms I do not at all enjoy playing through (first few outdoor areas on the island, the section with Mike, the tractor, etc.). By comparison, the only room in the entire rest of the game I don't like is the infamous Water Room.
I've always wished the game would've ended at the castle.
Journey is probably the best-paced game I've ever played, but that feels a little like cheating because it's like 90-120 minutes so you're always moving onwards to new environments, different obstacles and getting closer to that mountaintop. I also remember finding Titanfall 2's campaign impeccably paced, although it has been ~5 years since I have played it and details are a little hazy.
I do agree though that most games would probably benefit from cutting like a tenth of their playtime. Something like Alien Isolation - fantastic gameplay and an excellent game overall, but unfortunately it was about 8 hours of really good content stretched into 18 hours!
Halo Infinite's campaign felt well paced to me. But then, it does give the player a lot of control over how to follow the core path. You can mess around for as long as you want between the middle story missions.
It's a similar thing with Death Stranding.
It's a similar thing with Death Stranding.
I don't get people's issues with TLOU2's pacing. It felt great to me.
Yup. First game I thought of. It's why the game is so replayable for me (ya know, for a JRPG).
Has Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy been mention? The only 3D platformer I can think of that has top tier pacing.
Ys I, II, IV, Oath in Felghana, and Origin... super fast and to the point, you're always going to new areas, engaging in cool boss fights, never really dragged down with drawn-out town sequences or long cutscenes... the total opposite of a modern day Falcom game (which I still love, but good pacing, they are definitely lacking in).
I don't think I could disagree more.
Every RE game falls apart at the end. The last section is always a weird mashup of action. RE4 is victim to this, but far less so.
RE4 is actually my answer.
I've always disliked complaints about pacing in recent years. There are legit complaints obviously, but it feels like it gets trotted out with narrative games especially, usually comes down to people expecting the game to end sooner than it did, so when a game does something different, like add an epilogue with a handful of hours after a climax people get upset because they thought they were "finishing" the game earlier.
You don't get that in other media, you always know how much is left in a book, you can easily see the runtime of a movie when watching at home. Games are basically black boxes for completion time unless you are looking it up before hand and are tracking how many hours you've played so far.
You don't get that in other media, you always know how much is left in a book, you can easily see the runtime of a movie when watching at home. Games are basically black boxes for completion time unless you are looking it up before hand and are tracking how many hours you've played so far.
Surprised at Uncharted 2 mentions.
The Tenzin & Monastery section drags on way too long and the game could have (and should have) cut at least three chapters off its length. I love Uncharted 2 but I never understand the "perfect pacing" comments.
My choices would be Portal, South Park: Stick of Truth or Miles Morales.
The Tenzin & Monastery section drags on way too long and the game could have (and should have) cut at least three chapters off its length. I love Uncharted 2 but I never understand the "perfect pacing" comments.
My choices would be Portal, South Park: Stick of Truth or Miles Morales.
Nothing beats RE4 but recently the best example of pacing is TLoU2 to me. Sure the game is overall too long but I thought the way they balanced the length of downtime, encounters and cutscenes was incredibly well done and made the game feel a lot shorter than it actually is.
For TLOU2, I feel like the gameplay pacing is A+, but the story pacing is a bit uneven. The flashbacks didn't help, they felt a bit too long at times IMO. Other than that, it's a 10/10 game for me.
I finished a Plague Tale Innocence recently and thought the pacing was quite good (and overall it's a great game).
Conversely, I think FFVII Remake was one of the worst. "Hey here's a big exciting plot event, now do two chapters retreading this corridor!". Padding 7 hours of game out to 30 is hard.
I finished a Plague Tale Innocence recently and thought the pacing was quite good (and overall it's a great game).
Conversely, I think FFVII Remake was one of the worst. "Hey here's a big exciting plot event, now do two chapters retreading this corridor!". Padding 7 hours of game out to 30 is hard.
Though these are shorter, more cinematic games the pacing still astounds me to this day, INSIDE and Edith Finch. They really don't feel like short games at all despite the average time to complete. When something has excellent pacing it feels like it accomplishes everything it sets out to regardless of the length.
After playing RE4 VR I'm not sure I'd agree it has great pacing, some of the mid to latter portions of the castle plus parts of the island could definitely stand to be trimmed down, though the village and everything leading up the castle is perfection.
After playing RE4 VR I'm not sure I'd agree it has great pacing, some of the mid to latter portions of the castle plus parts of the island could definitely stand to be trimmed down, though the village and everything leading up the castle is perfection.
Transistor.
Not too short, not too long. None of the districts overstay their welcome. Dialogue is snappy and meaningful (as per usual with Supergiant). New Functions are introduced at a steady pace to keep your options refreshingly open. Enemy encounters are a perfectly balanced act between planning your Turn() and watching it play out in front of you in real time. Transistor has plenty of good qualities and its pacing is definitely one of them.
Not too short, not too long. None of the districts overstay their welcome. Dialogue is snappy and meaningful (as per usual with Supergiant). New Functions are introduced at a steady pace to keep your options refreshingly open. Enemy encounters are a perfectly balanced act between planning your Turn() and watching it play out in front of you in real time. Transistor has plenty of good qualities and its pacing is definitely one of them.
For me that's a great thing since I prefer shorter games. I still need to play it though as I got that on a sale over a year ago.
Portal is easily at the top for me, it's impeccable, followed by The Last of Us. Nothing extra is needed, nothing is missing.
Ironically, I have pacing issues with both of their sequels. Portal 2 drags in the back half of the game, though it is a lot of fun. TLoUII is an odd one, in that I think the back half of the game is excellently paced (along the lines of The Last of Us, Uncharted 2, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy), but the front half of the game is a lot more sluggish (more Uncharted 3 and 4). That being said, I can understand why players get burned out in the back half of the game, but for me it's much better paced than the first half -- the first half has a lot of manual traversal from A->B->C, and isn't always forwarding the plot or character arcs, whereas the back half of the game is better at time skipping to the next important story beat. Fantastic game, though.
Ironically, I have pacing issues with both of their sequels. Portal 2 drags in the back half of the game, though it is a lot of fun. TLoUII is an odd one, in that I think the back half of the game is excellently paced (along the lines of The Last of Us, Uncharted 2, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy), but the front half of the game is a lot more sluggish (more Uncharted 3 and 4). That being said, I can understand why players get burned out in the back half of the game, but for me it's much better paced than the first half -- the first half has a lot of manual traversal from A->B->C, and isn't always forwarding the plot or character arcs, whereas the back half of the game is better at time skipping to the next important story beat. Fantastic game, though.
Like many have said, Resident Evil 4 is the gold standard for pacing in an action adventure. Just always throwing new things at the player while also giving enough downtime to decompress and plan.
I'd also like to mention God of War 2, Uncharted 2, Half Life Alyx, just great games that kept me enthralled throughout the entire run, but not in an 'always on' type of way but a good balance of excitement and passiveness.
I'd also like to mention God of War 2, Uncharted 2, Half Life Alyx, just great games that kept me enthralled throughout the entire run, but not in an 'always on' type of way but a good balance of excitement and passiveness.
Titanfall 2
One of the most punchy and playful single player campaigns ever made, with absolutely zero filler and knows exactly when to give you the next mechanics to play with, keeping everything finely balanced over a short run time. Superb.
RE4 is a game I like but I really disagree with praise for its pacing. I feel like every single section after the castle ends up dragging on too long.
One of the most punchy and playful single player campaigns ever made, with absolutely zero filler and knows exactly when to give you the next mechanics to play with, keeping everything finely balanced over a short run time. Superb.
RE4 is a game I like but I really disagree with praise for its pacing. I feel like every single section after the castle ends up dragging on too long.
Half-Life 2
IMO, master class in pacing, probably the best ever IMO. Has a terrific balance of action and rest, exploration and action, rest and exploration, action. Even levels that are primarily action based have a good balance of action and "safe" puzzles, like Ravenholm. The early water level is bad, but I think some people mischaracterize that as bad pacing, it's not, it's just a level with an experimental mechanic that isn't as much fun as the mechanics in the rest of the game. The actual level itself is well paced, a good balance of action/exploration/rest/action followed by an extended rest when you beat it, but the boat mechanics are awkward and not fun compared to the rest of the game.
I think that Dishonored 1 and 2 are also very good.
I think Uncharted 2 is well paced, but gets more credit than it's due because Uncharted 3 is so poorly paced.
IMO, master class in pacing, probably the best ever IMO. Has a terrific balance of action and rest, exploration and action, rest and exploration, action. Even levels that are primarily action based have a good balance of action and "safe" puzzles, like Ravenholm. The early water level is bad, but I think some people mischaracterize that as bad pacing, it's not, it's just a level with an experimental mechanic that isn't as much fun as the mechanics in the rest of the game. The actual level itself is well paced, a good balance of action/exploration/rest/action followed by an extended rest when you beat it, but the boat mechanics are awkward and not fun compared to the rest of the game.
I think that Dishonored 1 and 2 are also very good.
I think Uncharted 2 is well paced, but gets more credit than it's due because Uncharted 3 is so poorly paced.
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I don't know. The back half of Uncharted 2 in the mountains is a slog. And some of the city is "see there? Go there!"
Sticking to relatively recent games.
Uncharted Lost Legacy. I've beaten in seven times, mostly due to how briskly it all moves. Will most definitely get in a 60FPS playthrough when the PS5 patch drops.
Both Miles and Rift Apart were also excellent.
SteamWorld Dig 2. The gameplay loop is perfectly paced positive reinforcement
Uncharted Lost Legacy. I've beaten in seven times, mostly due to how briskly it all moves. Will most definitely get in a 60FPS playthrough when the PS5 patch drops.
Both Miles and Rift Apart were also excellent.
SteamWorld Dig 2. The gameplay loop is perfectly paced positive reinforcement
off the top of my head:
Halo 3
Journey
MGS1
Portal 1
Super Mario Bros 1 & 2 (USA)
Sonic 2
Edit: how can I forget about Resident Evil 1
Halo 3
Journey
MGS1
Portal 1
Super Mario Bros 1 & 2 (USA)
Sonic 2
Edit: how can I forget about Resident Evil 1
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