Games that start slow but get better...

[TWOxACROSS]

I'm planning on doing a thing, but I need some suggestions.

What are some games with good stories and gameplay, but take a bit to build up into its narrative and let the player play the game?

One of my prime examples is Kingdom Hearts II, but I'm trying to shy away from Square games at the moment. I also figured Twilight Princess. What have you all got?

On the flipside, what are some games that have great storytelling and plop you into the gameplay and narrative in an engaging way?

 

[V's patron]

Bioshock comes to mind (either rapture or Columbia)

 

[TWOxACROSS]

Bioshock comes to mind (either rapture or Columbia)

Real slow burn? You don't think they sorta plop you right into the middle of things?

 

[WolfOD64]

Twilight Princess is a really good example of a game with a slow intro sequence. Sure, it's there for Link to build a bond with most of the villagers and locations he'll later see draped in the eerie bleakness of the Twilight, but it's still an exercise in tedium the first way through. For me, I just tear quickly through the opening because I know where everything is, but that's only because it's my favorite Zelda game, and I've played it a dozen times over.

A game that takes really, really long to get into is Dragon's Dogma. The first few hours of slogging through dungeons and getting your under-leveled ass handed to you by tougher enemies while searching for better equipment really dampened my first experience....but as soon as you choose a Prestige class, WHEW LAD, does the game pick up in pace.

Then the game becomes the world's closest thing to a Berserk simulator that gamers will ever get to experience.

 

[V's patron]

Real slow burn? You don't think they sorta plop you right into the middle of things?

Thats more when you are in Rapture because when Jack comes to Rapture, its already gone to hell.

Columbia you start when it goes downhill.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

Thats more when you are in Rapture because when Jack comes to Rapture, its already gone to hell.

Columbia you start when it goes downhill.

Good point.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

@Z218 Actually, can we expand on that a little?

Are you saying that in Rapture, since everything has gone to hell, we're being thrown right into the thick of it and we get into the gameplay a lot faster? While conversely, in Columbia, everyone is just going about their days and we, as Booker, aren't really playing the game, but just sorta going through the streets until things start to hit the fan?

 

[V's patron]

@TWOxACROSS
Yeah sure.

In Bioshock Infinite you have a lot more time to soak things in and its a good while before you actually enter combat where the original Bioshock it moves into the action faster.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

@TWOxACROSS
Yeah sure.

In Bioshock Infinite you have a lot more time to soak things in and its a good while before you actually enter combat where the original Bioshock it moves into the action faster.

Would you say one does a better job at helping you get into the game more?

 

[Judge]

Would have to say that game for me is the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt. For me it starts off slow, but it picks up and gets much better as you get past the first area of the game.

Not a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts games, but KH2 if I recall was quite slow and unstatisfying to start with.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

Would have to say that game for me is the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt. For me it starts off slow, but it picks up and gets much better as you get past the first area of the game.

Not a huge fan of the Kingdom Hearts games, but KH2 if I recall was quite slow and unstatisfying to start with.

Yeah, KHII has a slow start, exemplifying a sort of "lazy afternoons with friends" kind of vibe, but it's not all that exciting.

I grabbed Witcher 3 on sale recently. Haven't played it just yet though. I hear it's really good, but I can totally see it having a slow start.

 

[V's patron]

Would you say one does a better job at helping you get into the game more?

I played infinite first and then the first but both fit what they were trying to do.

 

[LordOfDarkness]

Primal

Probably my most favourite game of all time. However, as great as it is, it certainly has a slow start. We're introduced to the characters and the story itself, but any action doesn't kick in until later on in the first realm you enter. You start off with absolutely no powers/abilities, or weapons. The only thing that you can do is adventure along the linear path of the game until you get to be able to kick ass (and even then the weapon is simply a basic dagger with nothing extraordinary about it).

 

[berto]

Final Fantasy XIII.

 

[Innsmouth]

Silent Hill 2.

 

[Meg]

Tales of Xillia. The story doesn't really get good until halfway through, but once it gets good, it gets really really good.

 

[V's patron]

AC3 is definitely a slowburn but its only detrimental when the switch between Connor and Haytham happens.

Jak 2/3 gets you in the action pretty fast than jak 1 did but Jak 2/3 were more story oriented than Jak 1 to me.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

Silent Hill 2.

Oh iiiiiinteresting.

I never actually got to play Silent Hill 2, did it start out with James in Silent Hill already, or did it take him a bit?

 

[WolfOD64]

Oh iiiiiinteresting.

I never actually got to play Silent Hill 2, did it start out with James in Silent Hill already, or did it take him a bit?

The game's overall pace is a bit uneven, but that's only to baste your expectations for the mind trip you go on later. If you do end up playing the game, make sure to pick up the Director's Cut on PC or the original Xbox. It has content missing from the Playstation 2 version of the game, as well as the uncensored ending.

 

[TWOxACROSS]

Yeah, and don't look at the HD Collection. Ever.