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.
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.
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!
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)
People 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.
Arcadium 1 is about as linear as it gets. Its kind of like that game Aero Fighter from the 90s, mixed with Space Invaders. Just shoot the aliens and dodge their shots. On the way, there are gems and power ups that can make your future forays more rewarding.
This is a mobile game – it’s available on iOS and Android.
lots of great suggestions in this thread, just wanted to shoutout this little indie i played and had a delightful time with: Flynn, Son of Crimson
it’s a little 2d adventure game with pretty linear progression, although there will probably be some backtracking if you want to 100%. but it’s level based and not open world at all. the movement and combat both feel pretty good, the story is very fluffy and feel good, and you have a giant dog as a pet, what more could you want?
it’s probably like a 15-20 hour game in total, if that. a great time if you want something short, fun, and uncomplicated
