As the title suggests: I’ve had it with open worlds with dozens of things to do and checklists to complete. What are your favorite, delightfully simple, linear games?

This question is sparked by the discussion in the Final Fantasy thread, were I disclosed that I actually kind of like XIII because of its linearity. Other linear favorites of mine include: Half-Life series, Portal series, Uncharted series, some COD campaigns, Undertale, Journey, Super Mario 3D World, Plague Tale, Spec Ops: The Line

A shout out to A Way Out in the co-op catergory!

    • DdCno1@beehaw.org
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      2 months ago

      I’m currently playing through this game. At one point, it totally hit me that the non-linear structure and even the way secrets are scattered throughout the world is very reminiscent of Super Mario 64.

      • dwindling7373
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        2 months ago

        You are not wrong… I guess in both instance they came from the desire never to break the immersion through any kind of loading.

        The weirder think to me is that it was made by the guys behing “Serious Sam”, that basically mastered the open field shooter genre, which is kinda like the opposite of this game?

        • DdCno1@beehaw.org
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          2 months ago

          Yes, exactly! Coming from one of the best-made mindless game series to essentially gaming high art is quite the transformation. There has always been a lot of talent at Kroteam, but I’m glad they have finally found their true calling.

          The small handful of nods to Serious Sam in The Talos Principle are quite amusing, by the way. I almost got a heart attack from suddenly hearing the sound of the headless kamikaze…