By the way, these’ll all be from Nintendo. I can only discuss what I know.
Imposing a “day limit” on a scavenger hunt:
Anyone who knows me knows I love the Pikmin games. Not only is their premise ingenious, but two of the entries remain among the few I’ve 100% completed. They’re fun! And I come back to them every so often because of that. However, did you know I don’t like the original game? Yeah…
Surface-wise, Pikmin doesn’t seem like I should dislike it. It has everything I love: scavenger hunts? Check. Cute companions? Check. Endearing gameplay mechanics? Double-check. Unfortunately, it also has a 30-day cycle, meaning you have to collect all of Captain Olimar’s ship pieces within that, or it’s Game Over.
A day cap immediately sours me on the premise. Yes, I know a time limit increases the urgency of collecting Olimar’s ship parts. It also forces the player to think three steps ahead. But I don’t like how strict this gimmick is. I don’t work well under pressure, especially when there are consequences for failure. It’s why I hated writing exams throughout school, even ignoring time-and-a-half: what could I possibly churn out under a looming deadline?
The in-game “days” are also really short. Each one’s about a quarter of an hour, so your time’s precious. This not only forces you to prioritize, it requires you to be fast and efficient. Those are two concepts I’m not good at juggling simultaneously: either I’m fast, or efficient. I can’t be both.
It’s especially tough because the game isn’t terribly forgiving. If you waste a day, or lose too many Pikmin, you can’t reverse time. You have to either play catch-up, or you have to shut the game off and go to your last save, hoping you remember where you went wrong. It’s maddening! I’m already terrible at compartmentalizing my mistakes, and this game expects me to do that too?! Piss off!
I wouldn’t be so annoyed if every future entry didn’t improve on this one’s issues. Pikmin 2 not only axes the day limit, it gives you a second companion to help you multitask efficiently. Pikmin 3 finds a clever workaround to the day limit (put a pin in that for later), and it includes a third companion. And while Pikmin 4 retreads on the day limit, it condenses Olimar’s story, streamlines it to be more accessible and makes that an optional side-quest. Essentially, these feel like responses to the problem Pikmin imposes.
Okay, maybe this game isn’t for me. Let’s get into a more divisive title.
I was going to cover this eventually.
The Legend of Zleda: Majora’s Mask is considered one of the best Zelda games by fans of the franchise. It’s also incredibly-divisive. The reason is simple: the time mechanic. More specifically, rewinding and replaying the same three days constantly. This is the Zelda franchise’s answer to Groundhog Day, except with active participation. And I hate to be a downer, but I prefer passively engaging with this idea.
You know how Pikmin’s 30-day cycle forces you to prioritize objectives unforgivingly? This game’s more forgiving, since you can rewind time, but at the expense of losing your unsaved progress. Even with The Inverted Song of Time, or striking owl statues to temporarily save your progress, any items or objectives are lost when you use your Ocarina to restart the three-day cycle. This includes currency and items that haven’t been stashed at the bank, which is a slow and tedious system as is.
I wouldn’t be so annoyed if every future entry didn’t improve on this one’s issues. Pikmin 2 not only axes the day limit, it gives you a second companion to help you multitask efficiently. Pikmin 3 finds a clever workaround to the day limit (put a pin in that for later), and it includes a third companion. And while Pikmin 4 retreads on the day limit, it condenses Olimar’s story, streamlines it to be more accessible and makes that an optional side-quest. Essentially, these feel like responses to the problem Pikmin imposes.
Okay, maybe this game isn’t for me. Let’s get into a more divisive title.
Rewinding time again and again:
I was going to cover this eventually.
The Legend of Zleda: Majora’s Mask is considered one of the best Zelda games by fans of the franchise. It’s also incredibly-divisive. The reason is simple: the time mechanic. More specifically, rewinding and replaying the same three days constantly. This is the Zelda franchise’s answer to Groundhog Day, except with active participation. And I hate to be a downer, but I prefer passively engaging with this idea.
You know how Pikmin’s 30-day cycle forces you to prioritize objectives unforgivingly? This game’s more forgiving, since you can rewind time, but at the expense of losing your unsaved progress. Even with The Inverted Song of Time, or striking owl statues to temporarily save your progress, any items or objectives are lost when you use your Ocarina to restart the three-day cycle. This includes currency and items that haven’t been stashed at the bank, which is a slow and tedious system as is.
My biggest concern is that I’m constantly reminded of the three-day cycle. Unlike Pikmin, where you can ignore the clock, this game has its clock where you can see it. As someone who already hates timers, this is trauma heaped upon trauma. It’s anxiety-inducing. I’m already not great at Zelda games without this additional stress!
The worst part is how the days and nights don’t overlap. When your daylight hours are up, but you’re in the middle of an objective, guess what? You have to start over. Same goes for night to day. That’s incredibly mean. Did no one at Nintendo think about that?!
I know this game has a huge following that’ll chastise me. “Think about the immersion! Think about the side-quests! What about Kafei and Anju, arguably the best romance in any Zelda game?” Sorry, but meaningful side-quests and immersion don’t compensate for the three-day cycle. Plus, Okami masters both concepts without time limits.
Okay, enough negativity. Let’s discuss something positive.
Remember how I said to put a pin in Pikmin 3? Well, remove it. Because Pikmin 3’s the only game I’ve played that does time gimmicks correctly. Yeah, the franchise where every entry after the first is infinitely more enjoyable remedies my concerns. Who’d have thought?
The worst part is how the days and nights don’t overlap. When your daylight hours are up, but you’re in the middle of an objective, guess what? You have to start over. Same goes for night to day. That’s incredibly mean. Did no one at Nintendo think about that?!
I know this game has a huge following that’ll chastise me. “Think about the immersion! Think about the side-quests! What about Kafei and Anju, arguably the best romance in any Zelda game?” Sorry, but meaningful side-quests and immersion don’t compensate for the three-day cycle. Plus, Okami masters both concepts without time limits.
Okay, enough negativity. Let’s discuss something positive.
Artificially extending the time limit:
Remember how I said to put a pin in Pikmin 3? Well, remove it. Because Pikmin 3’s the only game I’ve played that does time gimmicks correctly. Yeah, the franchise where every entry after the first is infinitely more enjoyable remedies my concerns. Who’d have thought?
On paper, this should be another annoying time gimmick, as your daily rations are limited. But here’s the difference: you can extend your rations by collecting fruit. This not only incentivizes exploring every nook and cranny, thereby making Pikmin 3 one of the few games I’ve 100% completed, it also makes collecting these fruits exciting. How much juice would a watermelon make versus an avocado? I don’t like avocados, but I’m curious!
Another feature that works here is replaying days. The game caps off at 100 days, but you can always go back and replay a day if you’re unsatisfied. This not only allows for trial and error, but you get infinite redoes. I love this idea! It not only puts the ball in my court, it makes time limits work without the stress. Why didn’t Nintendo think of this before?
Whenever time limits are brought up, Pikmin 3’s my go-to for doing them right. It has its cake and eats it too, appeasing those who like time limits without punishing those who don’t. It’s a perfect compromise, one more games should implement. But I’m not a video game designer…
Those are my thoughts on time limits. I think I need to detox now.
Another feature that works here is replaying days. The game caps off at 100 days, but you can always go back and replay a day if you’re unsatisfied. This not only allows for trial and error, but you get infinite redoes. I love this idea! It not only puts the ball in my court, it makes time limits work without the stress. Why didn’t Nintendo think of this before?
Whenever time limits are brought up, Pikmin 3’s my go-to for doing them right. It has its cake and eats it too, appeasing those who like time limits without punishing those who don’t. It’s a perfect compromise, one more games should implement. But I’m not a video game designer…
Those are my thoughts on time limits. I think I need to detox now.
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