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Why does everyone here hate time limits?
Speed Racer
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I've noticed a weird trend on this forum. Any time a game has any sort of time limit, lots of people complain about it. As though having a time limit makes the game inherently worse.
Why is that, exactly? Why are people here cool with a game demanding that they do anything other than move through an area or a game quickly? Furthermore, how on earth do you folks manage to enjoy classic games like SMB 1-3 or the Genesis Sonics?
I mean, time limits are definitely not appropriate for every game, but in lots of cases they improve the game and make it more challenging. It's not good enough for you to clear an area, you have to do it with a certain amount of efficiency.
One game that people bitch about for having a time limit all the time is Majora's Mask. With the Inverted Song of Time, you have over two hours before your time's up. That's about the length of a normal play session, so I don't really understand what the problem is.
So uh, what do you think about time limits? Do you like 'em? Hate 'em? Why?
Why is that, exactly? Why are people here cool with a game demanding that they do anything other than move through an area or a game quickly? Furthermore, how on earth do you folks manage to enjoy classic games like SMB 1-3 or the Genesis Sonics?
I mean, time limits are definitely not appropriate for every game, but in lots of cases they improve the game and make it more challenging. It's not good enough for you to clear an area, you have to do it with a certain amount of efficiency.
One game that people bitch about for having a time limit all the time is Majora's Mask. With the Inverted Song of Time, you have over two hours before your time's up. That's about the length of a normal play session, so I don't really understand what the problem is.
So uh, what do you think about time limits? Do you like 'em? Hate 'em? Why?
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That only really applies for a game with adventuring though. I don't really mind time limits on much else.
But as I said, depends on the game. If I'm in a boss fight and I've got five minutes to kill him before something bad happens, fine I'm cool with that. But then lets say I'm playing a game where I just entered a new zone which I've never been to before, and I have five minutes to get through it all because its going to blow up (or whatever) then that's a bit annoying.
At the same time, I don't think I've played a game with a 'time limit' in it in ages. O.o
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This is pretty much my answer.
It's one thing when the time limit is just a part of the game's design. Old Mario and Sonic games, or an action/puzzle/etc type game that simply has a time limit as an intrinsic part of the design is fine (usually).
When it's an adventure game, or anything that would normally *NOT* have a timer, but suddenly thrusts one on you (I'm looking at you, several Final Fantasy games), it's just obnoxious, rather than feeling like an exciting moment (at least, in my experience).
Aww, I thought that spoiler would be about the other time limit in MGS3
Time limit wise? MM only had that in the sense of getting those warp points.
As for other games, it depends on the context of the game. My only beef with time limits is if the game doesn't at least give you an idea of what to do and how to go about doing it. We're past the days of trial and error.
Old games like Mario Bros and Sonic are different, there's not much to explore or do besides head right, so you just keep pressing forward and jumpin' on goombas and havin' a gay old time. The time limit isn't a big thing there most of the time
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In the beginning HL2, I'm not sure if the cops can actually catch you before you meet Alix. I would bet that they never show up even if I just stood around waiting for them. But I didn't stand around, because I was into the game, and I was bolting through the apartment building like they were footsteps behind me. No time limit needed.
Strangely, Majora's Mask never felt like a time limit to me, but more of a puzzle element.
I think I had more trouble with
The Boss I didn't really have that trouble with.
I just shot her in the face a lot with the Mosin
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Bad time limits: Games like Pikmin where you want to explore and do stuff but you can't because you're always going "There's no time for that now, I only have a little bit of time left! I can't waste a single second or all these hours will be wasted with a game over!" Majora's Mask doesn't count, partly for being awesome and partly because you could always reset the time so time was never permanently lost.
The worst time limits: The ones where I get rewarded for doing something really fast and my completionist takes over. Fucking Hell in Cave Story. Your stupid rewarding me with a new title screen made me play through that section way more than I should've.
Yes exactly!
I loved Pikmin, but this is always how I felt whenever I played it
Lousy stinkin' week long time limit, all I wanted to do was explore
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is this game worth renting for the singleplayer?
i tried the multuplayer demo on a normal TV but now have it hooked up to my monitor for HD goodness
That time limit has stopped me from playing Pikmin 1 because I'm the kind of person who will just panic and go "Oh god I messed up on one day I'm screwed and I'm going to waste all these hours oh god oh god. But wait! If I put the game away and never load up the file again, I'll never technically lose!" Then I'll put the game away and revel in my neutrality.
CoD4 and the time limits for example I don't mind so much, really does seem they were all built in from the start what with higher difficulties = less time, although whoever set the limit on Veteran Mile High Club needs a damn good... talking to.
Majora's Mask is the greatest Zelda, time-limit or no.
Also I love the time-limit sections in the Metroid games, although I wish they were even harder most of the time.
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Yeah, Stalker Quest time limits annoy the hell out of me. I'll kill the damn merchant, just give me more time!
Worth renting once, at least. The T-Eng makes the higher difficulties insanely hard.
Especially in RPGs. I like to run around and explore everything available before progressing the plot at all, so a time limit really stresses me out and makes me worry about what I'm missing/what cool sequence breaking could be going on/etc. To this day I have not played more than an hour of Majora's Mask or Fallout because it honestly is not fun for me, having to worry about time limits (I DO NOT CARE that you can use the ocarina song in Majora's Mask.)
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If you're going to have a time limit, I think it should at least be balanced for the mid-skill player to still sweat it out at the end. It shouldn't be so frustratingly hard that I have to replay the level 10 times (unless that's what the game is advertised as, then bring it on). But come the fuck on, I'm not a three year old. Some of these games you can't lose.
Time limits that are included for no fucking reason? Go to hell.
If the thing I'm on is going to blow the fuck up as a result of something I did? I'm ok with that. If I have to rush because otherwise, well, I simply lose the game? Fuck your game, I'll go play one that at the very least has a legitimate reason for rushing me.
I guess it comes down to justifying the timer for me. If you don't I'm not going to like your game. For example chess? I'm a fan. Speed chess with a 1/2 minute limit or you lose provision? Go fuck yourself.
Majora's Mask I didn't have a problem with; it's one of my favorite Zeldas. Older platformers like your SMBs and Sonics used them in order to calculate points, but since those games had a fast arcade-y pace and were comprised of several small intervals, it wasn't a problem - at least, it wasn't an uncommon mechanic back then. But if you think about it, there wasn't any tangible purpose to them, which is why they generally aren't used in newer, more complex games. SMG with time limits would have been a massive nightmare.
Time limits are one of the most oppressive game mechanics there are. You wrest control out of player's hands in order to force them to accomplish something quickly. They can work well when used for a specific purpose with an emotional weight, such as in Majora's Mask or the Metroids, but using them as an artificial way of creating difficulty is a terrible idea; a relic of ancient, obsolete game design. Much like lives, only a great deal more devastating to the experience.
A time limit has no place in a game like Pixeljunk Eden. If you're able to turn it off, fine, but how does it add to the game in any conceivable way? Add a time trial mode if you're that set on wanting to challenge people in such a fashion, but don't enforce a time limit in a game that's supposed to be relaxing. Fail beyond measure, outlander.
Wow some one brought it up before me, Dragon quarter was a fantastic game. Part Breath of Fire, part resident evil with a time limit.
Probly the only time I've ever been anoyed by time limit was in VP2. There's one dungeon you have to blitz before a key charactor dies, I'll always wonder what goodies I missed out on running through it probly just some potions but who knows.
Other than that, I don't mind time limits when they make sense, like others have already pointed out.
On the flip side I hate it when a game tries to hurry you when there is no danger at all. Like, "OMG the bomb is going to blow up, we need to get out of here now!" Then 10 minutes later you finally stroll out of the building after casually searching the area. Moments like those I wish there actually was a time limit.
Go die in a fire, Resident Evil 4. Just go already.
I really enjoy exploring games at my leisure, and I find time-limits extremely limiting and frustrating in most implementations. Games like Sonic are a good example. Being underwater isn't only stressful, it really isn't any fun; You're slow, unwieldy, limited by an air supply (time), and you lose lives by trying new things, or looking for shortcuts. It's just an irritant that need not exist, because it's not constructive. Generally, your first run-throughs in underwater portions are confusing, overwhelming, and you aren't given any time to take in your surroundings. Because of this, all the time limit becomes is another opportunity to fail. It's very inclusion penalizes the player.
Katamari Damacy, however, does time limits right. Each level becomes an exciting opportunity to improve, and your success is measured by how much awesome you can be in that time limit - it's given meaning through interesting game and level design. At the end of levels, you're rewarded by a larger star, or a cool prize, just for having fun doing more than you had to. The time limit transcends needless complexity and really becomes an interesting, constructive, fun use of time, and it rewards players for thinking constructively and exploring different areas, instead of punishing them for it. There's no real penalization for failure, either - the levels are so short and interesting it's fun to do them again, or approach them differently, and it's not like your past experience was a waste of time, either; you're equipped with a greater understanding of the level, and unlike Sonic, it wasn't at the cost of a life. Just ten minutes you probably really enjoyed.
So yeah, that's my take on time limits. I like them when they're fun, and I dislike them when they're just a needless complexity. Catching time bubbles in pixeljunk: Eden was the most recent offender, I think. If time was maybe connected to creating more vines, I think it would be a lot more fun, but having them exist as separate bubbles means you have to go out of your way to get them, and it feels like a chore than anything else. I'll be having fun catching pollen, and then I realize I'm running out of time, so I have to stop what I want to do and take care of something I wish didn't exist for the sake of self-preservation.
I think this sentence perfectly embodies what most of us are feeling.
Pixeljunk Eden is hardly even a game without the time limit. The whole point is to effectively balance your exploration and pollen collecting against collecting crystals to keep the meter up.
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Points of Metroid Fusion spring to mind.
This immediately reminded me of Final Fantasy V. Goddamn burning castle. And there was cool shit in chests if you ran around and explored too. It was like my personal level of Hell.
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I really don't like games that pretend to give you a limited time to do somthing but really there is no rush.
The opening level in Bioshock for example. You find yourself trapped in a room with a bunch of crazy splicers smashing a window of bulletproof glass. The idea is to get you to leave via the new exit, but after the first time you realize that they never actually break the glass, meaning they're not a threat at all. I find that disapointing, because it devalues your enemies. It's no longer an accomplishment to accomplish your goals in time, it's inevitable.
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