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!
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firewatch is a personal favorite.
I suppose I have to ask how linear. Like can it be mostly linear while having the chance to explore off the beaten path very briefly? Or like straight up hallway simulator.
Ive been using a site actually to rate games I’ve played so I’ll start listing some of my 5 and 4.5 star games that I would personally consider linear.
5 star games
- Astrobot
- Silent hill 2 (enhanced edition mod for PC, remake I’m still working through but it’s good)
- Rayman origins
- Mario and Luigi superstar saga (borderline linear)
- Kingdom hearts 2 (you can pick the order of worlds at times and have the option to backtrack but not necessary
- Mother 3
- Re4 (og and remake both 10/10 to me)
4.5 star games
- Chants of sennaar
- Kirby super Star ultra
- Halo 2
- Rayman legends
- WolfenStein the new order
- Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
- Dead Space
- The last of us
- the last of us 2 (has one shortish open area section)
- Alan wake 2 (has some open exploration areas at points)
- Celeste
- The case of the golden idol
I could go on, and some are borderline linear, but these are my faves that mostly involve going from one moment to the next
Edit: the site I’ve been using. Feel free to check out my list of played games ordered by rating if you want more. I have a lot on there: https://backloggd.com/u/chloyster/games/user-rating/type:played?page=1
Is it recommended to play the other Mother games before 3?
I’m waiting patiently on Astrobot to get within my feasible price range, I adored Playroom :).
Earthbound / mother 2 is also 5 stars for me and can definitely be played before hand. There is overlap in the antagonist and references but otherwise mother 3 takes place an incomprehensible amount of time in the future. I didn’t include earthbound since its a tiny bit more backtracky and explory but tbh it’s about as linear as m&l superstar saga so I’d def recommend it if you want to play!
Strongly recommend playing Earthbound before Mother 3. Mother 1 is entirely skippable, I’ve tried to play it multiple times and never could get through it.
The Last Campfire is delightful, and feels like being read a bedtime story. God, it’s good. I could listen to the narrator read the back of a shampoo bottle.
Planet of Lana is a drop dead gorgeous side scrolling puzzle platformer with a beautiful soundtrack and world building.
Beacon Pines isn’t technically linear, in that you can complete some stuff in an order of your choosing. But the overall experience is quite linear. Its an exquisite experience, I can’t recommend it enough.
If you enjoyed Undertale, play OneShot. No question. Its splendid.
Night in the Woods is a joy as well, it makes me nostalgic for a childhood I never had. Must-play.
Stray - you are a cat doing cat things in a broken future. Splendid experience.
Mirror’s Edge is a game I think everyone should experience at least once. It’s beautiful.
Celeste - it has the best tuned difficulty curve I’ve seen in any game, and it wants you to succeed. It also tells a really beautiful story. God the platforming is good. Its so good. By the end of it, you are doing things you never thought you’d dream of doing. You’ll feel like a speedrunner with all the little movement tricks you’re able to do.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a thought provoking masterpiece and a little spooky.
American Arcadia
Quantum Break
Hellblade
God of War series
Sniper Elite series
Talos Principle
I found out recently that Portal has some free mods, I’ve just started reloaded and its pretty good so far.
- Portal Reloaded
- Portal Stories Mel
- Thinking with Time Machine
I second Quantum Break. When I first started that game, I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but it was fantastic!
Talos Principle
Is not linear.
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.
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?
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…
Portal Pro I remember being great. So good that Portal 2 was a disappointment for me when it landed.
I needed to cheat (watch the YouTube solution video) on a few solutions, iirc, too; not because they’re badly designed, just because I couldn’t wrap my head around the solution.
It should be noted that a couple of the portal solutions need reasonably quick portal placement, so I don’t think it would be as good without KB+mouse. It took me a few tries to nail one of the techniques.
It doesn’t get more linear than “Limbo” and “INSIDE”.
Half-Life 2
Edit:
Adding MGS4 to the list. I’m pretty sure it was mostly linear. I don’t recall it having the backtracking that the others before it did
Also Metro 2033 and Metro 2033: Last Light
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
- Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
- James Bond: Everything or Nothing
Do you know how to get xinput to work with Sands of thyme? I bought the game on steam but it doesn’t recognize my 360 controller and mouse + keyboard is not ideal
Can’t say anything about that, as I played the game on GameCube.
Thanks anyway!
So, I’ll just go through my Steam favourites and list the ones that fit the bill.
I recently played I Am Your Beast and absolutely loved it. Not really a story focused game, but it’s it has some of it, the voice actors are better than you would expect and the gameplay is top notch.
Pretty much all Call of Juarez games (well, maybe not The Cartel), but start with Gunslinger. The others are old and clunky, but Gunslinger still holds up and is one of my favourite arcady shooters.
Mirror’s Edge is a classic, if you haven’t played it, you definitely should. You can skip the sequel, Catalyst. That one added open world and was mediocre at best anyway.
Speaking of classics, Dishonored is probably one of the best stealth games out there, in my opinion at least. I would consider the first one fairly linear, altho the game does expect you to explore the individual levels quite a bit.
Mafia 2 (I honestly recommend you play the classic edition, you get it when you buy the definitive. It just runs better and isn’t as buggy. The remaster barely improves anything anyway) and the remake of Mafia 1. Yes, they are open world, but only by technicality. The story is very linear and you barely need to interact with said open world. The games never expect you to explore or collect stuff and there’s fuckall to do on the map besides drive around anyway.
If you like Ace combat, Project Wingman would be right up your alley. I’m not sure if I would call it simple per se, but it’s linear, level based and great.
Tactical Breach Wizards is another recent favourite of mine. It’s slightly x-com-y altho more of a puzzle than a strategy game with some pretty decent humour.
Gunpoint is another indie puzzle game with great humour. It’s by the same guy as Tactical Breach Wizards.
Since you said you like Uncharted, I imagine you might enjoy the older Tomb Raider games, before the 2013 reboot when they went open world. Legend is my favourite of them altho I know it’s a bit clunky by modern standards.
Last but not least, SUPERHOT. You probably know it, but in case you don’t, play it. It’s short, it’s simple and it’s great.
The OG Mafia and the Metro 2033 series are excellent linear games. Night in the Woods is a really fun little quirky game that’s not too long.
If you like adventure games, I’d suggest Gemini Rue, Primordia, and Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis.
Perhaps Snatcher, if you’re open to something older and different. Same with the classic cinematic platformer, Another World.
Hi-fi Rush is really good if you’re into rhythm action, Call of Juarez is one I’m trying now and it feels nice to play
I am not into rhythm games at all and I liked Hi-Fi Rush. Just a fun game in general
The Last of Us Part I.
I generally dislike games on rails, but I loved this one.
I would count Sifu as being pretty linear and very good. Probably the best martial arts fantasy-ish game out there that’s single-player (for that but multiplayer take Absolver, the same devs’ first game)
I had a good fun with Bulletstorm. Kind of a game where you can put your brain on hold and enjoy the ride.
Katana Zero
Celeste
Cuphead
Opus MagnumPeople listed Mirrors Edge, and I would like to also recommend it. It might take some time to adjust to the controls but it’s fun! I replay it a lot. I’ve lost count but I’ve been replaying it since release.
Titanfall 2 was a fun campaign. Also cool movement mechanics.
One game that I think got average ish scores but I enjoyed was Pneuma: Breath of Life. Idk why but I thought the puzzles were kinda fun and it was pretty enough.
The Stanley Parable
Catherine
(Kinda visual novel ish) AI Somnium files was fun.
