Why fun movement matters in game design. Good twitter thread on the topic.

[entremet]

The TC really articulates one of the more overlooked aspects of game design.

Since Mario is getting a lot attention of late due the direct and the collection, Mario 64 is key example of this. Mario is just fun to move around in space.

 

[Renna Hazel]

I agree with this 100 percent. I find the more realistic games try to be, the less fun they are to control. Mario is just fun to run around and do nothing in, and I love that. The feel of a game matters so much, but it doesn't always get the attention it should.

 

[Vex]

Ive been saying this for YEARS. It is annoying to have to get on a slow ass horse or walk everywhere past the first 4 hours. Then you start fast traveling to skip. Then you just get annoyed at having to travel at all... *Cough cough WITCHER cough cough choke coughs up blood*

 

[entremet]

I agree with this 100 percent. I find the more realistic games try to be, the less fun they are to control. Mario is just fun to run around and do nothing in, and I love that. The feel of a game matters so much, but it doesn't always get the attention it should.

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I also think this works in many genres. Call of Duty's focus on fast and fun movement has also helped it become the FPS juggernaut it is.

 

[Aurc]

It's true. Spider-Man, A Hat in Time, Doom Eternal, Titanfall 2... just a random selection of games this gen in which simply navigating the play space is highly entertaining.

Standing in contrast to that, you have games like Horizon Zero Dawn, where although they're quite evidently solid, well-made games, moving around the world just feels... basic. Rudimentary. You're either running from place to place, or riding a machine that controls no differently from the horse we've already ridden across several games. Really hope Forbidden West can improve on that front, actually.

 

[Deleted member 34873]

I never thought about it but I think there's something to it. Movement, weight to animation, etc. is all so important.

 

[Vex]

I agree with this 100 percent. I find the more realistic games try to be, the less fun they are to control. Mario is just fun to run around and do nothing in, and I love that. The feel of a game matters so much, but it doesn't always get the attention it should.

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Mario odyssey is a great example of fun movment. Dude can roll into a ball and go fast. He has got his long jump like in M64. He can effortlessly chain all that stuff together. It feels good and you are rewarded with faster movement.

 

[DanteMenethil]

One reason why wow is fun is that jumping feels good in that game. That feel when you jump at the last moment of a speed boost buff to keep your momentum longer.

 

[mopinks]

Mario is king for a reason

 

[BeeDog]

This is exactly the reason I've been loving the general feel of Ghost of Tsushima and TLoU II. GoT sacrifices a lot of minor polish in its animations and transitions/blending, but you never actively fight the controls and Jin does what you command him to. TLoU II is of course a bit more elaborate and heavier, but the excellent motion blending strings together fancy animations while still retaining the sense of input.

But of course, well-controlling 'simpler' games are even better, e.g. Dead Cells and the like.

 

[Cecil]

This is very true. I ditched Oxenfree for this very reason. It had a very interesting narrative, but it felt like an endless chore to walk, walk and walk around with such a slow pace, back and forth.

 

[RestEerie]

this is the reason why the only open world games that i can ever complete are those based on characters with super powers (infamous, prototype, spider-man).

Open world games with characters walking at regular speed (even with the ability to carjack or ride horses) just feels too 'boring' for me.

 

[RochHoch]

Yup. If Mario Odyssey wasn't such a joy just to move around in I wouldn't have been nearly as motivated to grab all those moons.

 

[xir]

This is my I think Brothers is so good. Your thumbs aren't having fun.
Also why octodad and I am bread are brilliant for going hard I. The reverse

 

[Pyro]

It's the most basic aspect of good "game feel". Shame that you'd think it's obvious but it really does need to be said.

 

[leng jai]

60fps+ helps massively here.

 

[Rosebud]

Movement ruined Until Dawn for me, they are people not turtles.

 

[Vex]

Sunset overdrive is another game im thinking of. Although i wish they went even FASTER, the ability to grind on ANYTHING is outstanding!

 

[Aurc]

This is exactly the reason I've been loving the general feel of Ghost of Tsushima and TLoU II. GoT sacrifices a lot of minor polish in its animations and transitions/blending, but you never actively fight the controls and Jin does what you command him to. TLoU II is of course a bit more elaborate and heavier, but the excellent motion blending strings together fancy animations while still retaining the sense of input.

But of course, well-controlling 'simpler' games are even better, e.g. Dead Cells and the like.

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Rockstar games are, unfortunately, on the extreme end of animation priority, and I'd say they're some of the worst to play from a pure enjoyment and "feel" standpoint. TLoU2 is a great middle ground between fancy animation work and responsive controls.

 

[Vex]

Pso2.

Depending on your class, you have a very flashy movement ability. For example, the ranger class can ride on their weapons like the rocket bikes from jet moto. The braver (katana class) can slash through the air. The force/summoner class can engulf themselves in fire or electricity and fly through levels... And so on. It makes grinding new characters so easy and entertaining!

 

[Linus815]

movement is most definitely not an overlooked aspect of game design. Theres a lot of attention and care put into it.

games arent all designed with the same goal, believe it or not some games have purposefully slower, more detailed animations, particularly games that are attempting to emulate realism.

and some people may actually like that too. Certainly its fast and smooth to move around in AC odyssesy, but having such janky animations that constantly cut off because they are cancelable instantly during combat is quite distracting and makes me wish there was a better balance. Similiarly being able to pick up loot while riding on your horse is just weird, sure its fast but it makes me feel like im playing an MMO not a story driven campaign.

 

[Arklite]

I get the feeling, but there's plenty of room for games with realistic animations, weighty movement, and instant response movement as well. Games such as Killzone, Resident Evil, or GTA put a focus on weight or realism. People have their preferences but I wouldn't say fast responsiveness at the cost of everythng else is the end goal of all games.

 

[Why would you do that?]

I agree with this in general.

However, sometimes a game can sacrifice fun movement in order to enhance other aspects of the game. A great example is Resident Evil, a game where you're deliberately made to walk and shoot slowly in order to increase tension.

I recall reading an interview about how, during its development, the developers were perplexed at the demands to deliberately make the movement not "fun", until it all came together at the end.

 

[francium87]

Honestly, if I can't jump in a third person openish world game, I mentally check out.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 is a great example of this. The goals are simple as hell. Most boil down to find and touch a glowing collectible, but it works and is good because it's fun as hell to move around the levels.

 

[Pascal]

Breath of the Wild gets this right as well. Just moving around that world feels great and urges you to keep exploring.

And yeah, it feels great to jump around in Spiritfarer. When you set up the buildings on your ship it's almost like you're building your own little platforming level.

 

[Vex]

Certainly its fast and smooth to move around in AC odyssesy,

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Actually, I would argue this game is a prime example of bad movement for travel. It's one of the reasons I dropped the game: Everything is slow. Sailing, horseback riding (especially through villiages/cities where they slow you down for no reason), walking/running. It's all slow. But that's not even my beef. Traveling isnt FUN is my actual beef with the game.

Sticking with your example, let's look at a game that does movement a bit better while still remaining grounded like AC games: BOTW. In that game you are given a glider. So no, you arent just jumping down off of roofs into "hay" (which really doesn't make sense anyway), you can use the glider to travel forward and farther as well. I used botw since they both share climbing and typical traversal options (horseback), but botw wins out here with out coming off too crazy.

AC:O could have benefited from having a similar traversal option.

 

[Iztok]

I used to tell my friends this about WoW, how the animations, the satisfying jumping and general feel of movement made it that much better than comeptitive MMOs with arguably better graphics, but janky movement and animations.

I was right then, I'm still right now.

 

[Kurtikeya]

The Celeste devs stated the same when asked about their creative process. The moment-to-moment movement needs to feel good, even if there's no obstacle, level, or goal to test it out on. Obviously those are important, but just loafing around and having that be its own reward makes a difference.

 

[Holundrian]

Someone get this memo to the walking dead/heavy rain style of games. As much as I love some of the stories (like I really liked life is strange 2, Until Dawn, Wolf among Us), none of them feel great to move around.

 

[Giga Man]

I appreciate this and agree 100%. As someone who grew up with platformers, feel-good movement is the biggest key to my enjoyment. Bonus points if you have a jump button where jumping is completely unnecessary.

Just by looking at Spiritfarer, I can tell it must be a lot of fun to jump around in. I really want to try it someday.

 

[Party]

Probably not one that is gonna get brought up, but I really like Captain America's movement in Avengers. It's very simple, he has a wall run, a double jump and can hop up some walls. It all works extremely fluidly however and just makes for some very arcade-y style parkour in the urban environments. Imagine Assassin's Creed but more focused on the movement being fun and agile and fast than about slow climbing animations.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

That's true.

Gravity Rush, Spider Man, Doom (especially Eternal), Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, Titanfall 2, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night (heck most IGA games are this), Dead Cells, MGS5 etc etc wouldn't have been great if not for the movement.

 

[Crayolan]

Definitely true, it's just most obvious in platformers. Mario 64 and Sunshine in particular really shine because of their fantastic movement moreso than their level design.

 

[Metalmucil]

This is why I dislike Rockstar games. I hate the movement.

 

[Tawpgun]

The one exception

Outer Wilds

man is it a pain to move/jump

 

[Skyfireblaze]

I agree too, just look at this and try the demo for yourself, just moving around makes this Sonic fan engine so fun to play:



Fun movement can carry alot of other things that didn't turn out too well.

 

[Nightside]

One of the reason why I loved mirror's edge so much.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Fantastic movement in games can make SUCH a huge difference in my overall enjoyment of a game.
I don't think Crackdown would have been HALF as well liked if collecting agility orbs and your jump getting stronger and stronger wasn't such a fun and satisfying mechanic.

Bad movement doesn't always ruin a game, but it sure does make the act of playing it more of a pain.

One of my main complaints with Mario Galaxy and 3D World was that Mario felt a bit slower compared to Mario 64/Sunshine. I'm in no way saying Galaxy is worse than Sunshine, but just in terms of Mario's movement it was different enough to effect my enjoyment.
Same with Mario 64 DS, Mario was the only character I ever wanted to play as because he felt right, the perfect speed and maneuverability. Everyone else was slower which just didn't feel right to me.
Im very happy to hear that 3D World for Switch is getting a faster run speed, that alone is going to make a big difference to me.

And Open World games especially the traversal can make all the difference. Having something fun and unique like parkour in Assassin's Creed, Spider-Man's swinging, or grapple/gliding around as Batman is super fun, but most open world games with just driving or riding from point A to B, and I usually end up finding them boring.

 

[GamerJM]

The best game ever made also has movement mechanics that far exceed basically everything else in the medium imo (Melee) so yeah I don't disagree with this.

 

[dstarMDA]

The one exception

Outer Wilds

man is it a pain to move/jump

Click to shrink...

Tbh I quit the game because of it so to me it only reinforces the thread's premise.

 

[jett]

A lot of games overlook the simple pleasures of having basic controls that just feel good to play with.

Ori 2 is probably my favorite this year in this regard. Zipping around the world just feels so great, as does the combat (despite not being anything particularly in-depth) thanks to truly fantastic animation.

Ive been saying this for YEARS. It is annoying to have to get on a slow ass horse or walk everywhere past the first 4 hours. Then you start fast traveling to skip. Then you just get annoyed at having to travel at all... *Cough cough WITCHER cough cough choke coughs up blood*

Click to shrink...

The problem with the Witcha is that just moving around feels like absolute dogshit.

 

[Deleted member 13370]

edit

 

[Jakisthe]

At the same time thought, a game simply having "more movement options" or the potential for more "speed" does not then automatically make it better than a comparable game with less. People get real weird about this with the Galaxy games, for instance, and it just reads so parochial and shallow; a spurious argument too easily made by just counting movelists.

"Good" movement does not simply mean "faster" or "more varied" movement.

 

[PillFencer]

What a dumb take. Not every game needs fun movement or even to be 'fun', that could actually ruin a lot of otherwise great games. His knowledge of gaming must be very limited. It may not be for you, but don't blame game A for not being B, let it try everything it wants and can do to create the experience that it set out to, there are no rules you can't break in art.

 

[eXistor]

One of the main reasons why I don't hold Witcher 3 on such a high pedestal; it's just not fun to play, it doesn't feel very good.
Good animations, responsiveness and good sound design go a long way (see MGS games, but V in particular).

/edit: obviously not every game needs it and this should go without saying, but I guess not.

 

[Sordid Plebeian]

This is the biggest hurdle for a game like Halo

 

[Galkinator]

I can't say if it's a game breaking thing to not have fun movement (although that's a weird thing to say because fun is completely subjective) but it definitely helps.
I don't finish many open world games, but a recent example would be Ghost of Tsushima.
Was a fantastic game and the controls in general were really responsive and tight, movement felt great and the horse riding was probably the best I've tried in a game. Ended up getting my first platinum as well which I didn't plan on doing initially.

 

[NPTinker]

It's very important to me
I don't really want to play a game with slow ass and heavy character at all, it just feels sluggish

 

[Spinluck]

Yup, this is known.

I've been known to make exceptions for games that make up for it enough and interest me.

But my favorite games ever bull of movement, traversal, and responsiveness well.