Time Travel in Video Games

[Jiro]

Apparently Japan does it great. I don't know though. Time Travel is a bit of a wishy-washy mechanic, and it's not always pulled off well. Can you think of any really good examples apart from say, Chrono Trigger? Let's open it up to all games, not just the Japanese.

[Agent Proto]

Do any of the Doctor Who games count? That's probably the only thing that comes to mind.

More games need to have time travel as a theme.

[WildRaubtier]

I don't think Chrono Trigger pulled off time travel that well, but maybe I'm just a stickler for adherence to the predestination paradox.

Braid was pretty fun, using the flow of time as an actual mechanic.

[Lonely Paper Star]

I've only watched a play-through of To The Moon on YouTube, but I think it pulls off time travel pretty well. I really got into the story. And the music was pretty. ;.;

[krissy]

ff13-2


i'm serious

[Ouch!]

More games need to have time travel as a theme.

I cannot disagree with the statement enough; time travel, as a plot device, is too often poorly done leading to ridiculous deus ex machinas or extreme suspensions of logical thought. I'd rather fewer games engaged in time travel but did it well than have it be widespread and more often than not awful.

[krissy]

radiant historia

[Wolf Kanno]

More games need to have time travel as a theme.

I cannot disagree with the statement enough; time travel, as a plot device, is too often poorly done leading to ridiculous deus ex machinas or extreme suspensions of logical thought. I'd rather fewer games engaged in time travel but did it well than have it be widespread and more often than not awful.

This

[Pike]

Sonic CD pulled it off so freaking well you guys don't even know

[NeoCracker]

More games need to have time travel as a theme.

I cannot disagree with the statement enough; time travel, as a plot device, is too often poorly done leading to ridiculous deus ex machinas or extreme suspensions of logical thought. I'd rather fewer games engaged in time travel but did it well than have it be widespread and more often than not awful.

This

Indubitably.

Trigger, Earthbound, and Radiant Historia are some of the few that pull it off well.

I would also add in Dark Cloud, which works mostly due to their almost non-caring attitude about how their time travel actually works.

[Agent Proto]

Ghost Trick is a pretty recent game that has some elements of time travel in it. You have to go back in time to prevent a character's death. You also seem to do this several times.

[krissy]

but i mean that's just rewinding 5 minutes into the past
that same mechanic is in prince of persia for the ps2 but i wouldn't say it's a time travelling game
i love ghost trick
but the time thing is a reset option for the stage mostly

[Skyblade]

but i mean that's just rewinding 5 minutes into the past
that same mechanic is in prince of persia for the ps2 but i wouldn't say it's a time travelling game
i love ghost trick
but the time thing is a reset option for the stage mostly

Yes, and no. There are a couple of puzzles where understanding the timing of events, how they play out, and in what order, is key. It's far more than just a reset, it's actually necessary to understand the timeline progression to succeed.

It's smaller scale time travel, but well done.

[Slothy]

Time travel played a big role in the later Legacy of Kain games (from Soul Reaver 2 on). I remember liking them at the time (except Blood Omen 2), but I'm not sure how well the time travel story holds up now in terms of plot holes. It also didn't play a major role in the gameplay so I wouldn't really call them time travel games. It's kind of hard to think of any really good examples of games with time travel plots or gameplay mechanics. The better ones in the latter case tend to use them in a very limited short term capacity. I'd agree that Braid is probably the best I can think of in terms of gameplay right now.

[Pike]

Braid pulled it off very nicely, yes.