If you’re a completionist, have a dense backlog to work through, or you’re just prone to rushing, it’s easy to fall into the rhythm of racing towards the credits when playing games. While there is an irreplaceable sense of satisfaction in completing a game, it’s even better when you’ve had the best possible journey getting there.
There are plenty of games where you’re able to easily have a fantastic experience just playing the core storyline and not being particularly thorough. On the other hand, there are other games that are much better if you take your time and try and see everything the game has to offer without rushing.
Tunic is an unconventional take on a typical 2D Zelda clone, and it’s all the better for it. The fourth wall is repeatedly broken as your adorable fox protagonist collects pages from the game’s instruction manual, and as you do, you’ll use these pages to learn details about the world, new mechanics, and hidden pieces of lore.
This central aspect of the game’s design encourages exploration, experimenting with what you think could be possible, and this is frequently rewarded. If there’s a quick way to trivialize your experience with Tunic, it’s to use a guide, especially in the early game. Instead, ensure you’ve explored every corner of the map possible, since there’s nearly always something you’ve missed.
In Paradise Killer, you play as Lady Love Dies, freed from her exile, to investigate the murder at her former home of Paradise Island. With a vaporwave-inspired aesthetic, you’re given free rein to explore every corner of the island, interrogate the locals, and collect evidence until you’re ready to present your findings.
To reach the best outcome, you’ll want to investigate and explore the open world as thoroughly as possible, and the best way to do this is to take your time. No matter how random or inaccessible an area seems, you’ll nearly always find a clue or collectible, all contributing towards a more complete picture of the events that took place before your arrival.
In Later Alligator, you’re a detective hired by the perpetually paranoid Pat, who’s certain that a member of his massive family is planning to murder him, and he tasks you to track down each family member around the charmingly desaturated Alligator New York City, and work out the truth.
In spite of the tense premise and the limit on how much you may travel between different screens of the point-and-click adventure, meeting each of the family members and playing their minigames is surprisingly calming. While there’s a limit to how much you can play in one run of the game, you’ll get the best results if you make each move strategically and intentionally.
Rogue-lite games aren’t synonymous with taking your time, with the focus often being on optimizing your run to be as efficient as possible, but that’s whyBlue Prince feels like such a Black Sheepwithin the genre.
While you’ll play through countless runs before seeing everything the game has to offer, unless you’re going for a speed-running achievement, each run is surprisingly calm, and with no action-elements to the design, you’re encouraged to take your time and see everything Mount Holly Manor is hiding, and ideally note it all down using pen and paper.
Unlike most open-world adventures where you’re drowning in markers, sub-objectives, and various missions to complete, Sable decides to take a complete left turn from genre expectations and let you chart the path for Sable’s journey.
After a brief tutorial to teach you the controls, you’re set free in the stunning cell-shaded world to work out what profession Sable wants to study. To do this, you’ll have to find different leaders in each of these lifestyles and collect pins to create a mask for Sable to present upon returning to their hometown. It sounds simple, and you can make one mask quite quickly, but to get the most out of Sable, it’s best to shop around, discover multiple careers, and in doing so learn more about this mysterious world.
In spite of masquerading as a simulation-style game, Dave the Diver actually has quite a concise story that you can complete in only a few hours if you’re focused enough. However, to get the most out of the game, it’s best to dive fully into each of the mechanics introduced, so you can see everything it has to offer while focusing on the story as a secondary target.
A wholly story-centric playthrough of Dave the Diver will still be plenty of fun, but in doing so, you’re rushing what’s otherwise quite a chill experience. Taking a more relaxed approach is not only more in the spirit of the game but also sets up the DLC content a lot better.
Sludge Life is technically a first-person adventure game, but it ends up feeling like nothing else thanks to its incredibly hands-off approach to guiding you through its world.
With barely a tutorial to its name,you’re set looseto explore the grimey buildings the world is littered with, meet the eclectic residents, and tag as many surfaces as possible with your graffiti. Since Sludge Life is so lax with its structure, it’s best to follow their example and go with the flow as you find secret details, uncover the overarching plot, and cause chaos where possible.
In spite of the main story of each Yakuza game taking itself relatively seriously, the series is just as well-known for its massive range of kooky distractions to add levity to an otherwise dramatic story.
While these substories and minigames often don’t help out Kiryu much when it comes to actually completing the main story, they’re still a definig aspect of the Yakuza experience, and add depth to the game’s unique setting. This is true for pretty much every Yakuza game, but it’s best represented in the remake of the original, Yakuza Kiwami.
With a game that’s as unconventional as Death Stranding, with its core concept of a post-apocalyptic, baby-navigated delivery simulator, it’s no wonder that you’ll need some time to take it all in. At the beginning, you’ll have no choice but to take your time, stuck on foot, making all your deliveries slowly and methodically.
Even when things speed up with upgrades and vehicles, it’s still best not to make a beeline for the end of the story. Sam Porter Bridges is not only making deliveries but also adding infrastructure to the world, and this element of the game’s design, while slow-paced, makes for some of the most satisfying moments in the whole game.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has almost become a joke because of how many distractions litter its two maps, with competitions between players to see how long they can take to trigger the early-game wedding. If you’re keeping track of the political intrigue and inter-character conflicts,the core narrative of Kingdom Come: Deliveranceis incredibly engaging.
But between core-story missions, there is plenty for Henry to do to keep himself busy. Indulging in side content and just slowing down to appreciate the beautiful world is the perfect way to play the game, and it’s why playtime can range anywhere between 25 and 125 hours.
