Bad game openings

[Truk_Kurt]

I was reading an article at the weekend and a discussion point that often gets brought up about best game openings. But it got me thinking, what are some game openings you have thought were particularly poor, even if it's from a great game.

One that springs to mind for me is Red Dead Redemption 2. I know many will disagree with that but I just found the first two chapters to be a bit of a slog, just lots of walking around listening to characters talk and not much action. It put me off so much that I actually stopped playing the game and it wasn't until I returned to the game over lockdown and pushed through those first two chapters that the pacing began to pick up in both story and action and I ended up loving the game by the end.

[oni-link]

Skyward Sword I remember taking about 2 hours before you get to the first dungeon

My view is that the opening hours of most games are among the worst hours of most games. The start of most single player games are full of cutscenes, exposition, tutorials and gameplay that has fewer options/mechanics in play compared with later on in the game

That's not to say those are bad things, but generally if you have a 10 hour game, the first hour or two will probably be some of the worst hours of that playthrough

Older games get more to the action/point so this doesn't apply as much to those, but for a lot of games from the last 15 years or so I think that's true

[Truk_Kurt]

Skyward Sword I remember taking about 2 hours before you get to the first dungeon

My view is that the opening hours of most games are among the worst hours of most games. The start of most single player games are full of cutscenes, exposition, tutorials and gameplay that has fewer options/mechanics in play compared with later on in the game

That's not to say those are bad things, but generally if you have a 10 hour game, the first hour or two will probably be some of the worst hours of that playthrough

Older games get more to the action/point so this doesn't apply as much to those, but for a lot of games from the last 15 years or so I think that's true

Yeah I would agree, I always mentally prepare myself to be somewhat disappointed by a games first hour or so and try to remember not to abandon a game if that time playing doesn't click with me.

[Rhaegyr]

Okami had a similar problem - took far too long to take the training wheels off.

Driver always sticks out to me - that 'tutorial' level was the most difficult part of the game!

[markfm007]

The Witcher 2 comes to mind. The game doesn't do much to ease you in, either in terms of gameplay or the story, so I had no idea what I was doing or what was going on. I remember fighting a guy on a tower, trying random actions and picking dialogue choices without context. There is a tutorial but you have to access it separately from the main menu, I think. This was years ago too, so it might've been my own cluelessness, hard to say. But either way it took me a while to settle into it as I had to put all the pieces together myself, and not in a good, mysterious sort of way.

[Alex79]

One that springs to mind for me is Red Dead Redemption 2. I know many will disagree with that but I just found the first two chapters to be a bit of a slog, just lots of walking around listening to characters talk and not much action. It put me off so much that I actually stopped playing the game and it wasn't until I returned to the game over lockdown and pushed through those first two chapters that the pacing began to pick up in both story and action and I ended up loving the game by the end.

Ha, I loved this opening! Reminded me of The Hateful Eight, which is my favourite Tarantino film.

[duskvstweak]

Kingdom Hearts 2 is a famous one. I know people who will keep a save file right after it so they can skip the opening on future replays.

[Rhaegyr]

Nier: Automata has to be up there too purely for the fact that it takes roughly an hour before you can save for the first time.

[Seph]

The Persona series is particularly bad for this. I know these games operate as visual novels too, but when I played 4 for the first time I think it was about three or four hours before I was allowed to control a character's movement. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but it was a frustrating experience. Let me at least do something in between extreme exposition drops.

[Alex79]

The Persona series is particularly bad for this. I know these games operate as visual novels too, but when I played 4 for the first time I think it was about three or four hours before I was allowed to control a character's movement. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but it was a frustrating experience. Let me at least do something in between extreme exposition drops.

Oh god yeah, the opening of P4G I played on Vita dragged on for soooooo long. Just wandering round that village, it was ages till the first battle.

[GKBracken]

All Pokemon games from the 3DS era right up to roughly Sword and Shield had an awful habit of railroading the first 5 hours of the game, with Gen 6 & 7 constantly ripping control from the user to show mechanics the player would've probably long since figured out. The Meowth cry from Gen 7 still gives me shudder as you're constantly forced to listen to it from unskippable cutscene to the next Clockwork Orange style.

[TheEmailer]

Witcher 2 is a great shout.

Metal Gear 5: Phantom Pain is just cutscences long corridors for ages. Then a stupid flying whale turns up. Takes ages to get to the (good) core gameplay loop.

[Alex79]

Metal Gear 5: Phantom Pain is just cutscences long corridors for ages. Then a stupid flying whale turns up. Takes ages to get to the (good) core gameplay loop.

I loved that opening! Pure Kojima over the top silliness

[Alex79]

One game that comes to DragonSweeper mind when discussing slow beginnings is Red Dead Redemption 2. While I know many will disagree, I found the first two chapters to be a bit of a slog. There was a lot of walking around, listening to characters talk, and not much action. This slow pacing put me off so much that I actually stopped playing.

I definitely do disagree, I loved it! Shades of The Hateful Eight with it's slow start, which is in my top five films of all time. You're missing out though here, Red Dead 2 is my favourite game ever and nothing else even comes close. Give it another shot!

EDIT: Just realised I made exactly the same point earlier in this very thread

[The_reviewist]

Witcher 2 is a great shout.

Metal Gear 5: Phantom Pain is just cutscences long corridors for ages. Then a stupid flying whale turns up. Takes ages to get to the (good) core gameplay loop.

I dunno. It's kind of bonkers that you only get to play it once, as even if you start a new game it jumps straight into the "core" section. You have to literally delete your savegame to start the game again, and replay that opening section. (Which I wanted to do, as I started the game years ago, only played a couple of hours and wanted to replay the start)

[TheEmailer]

Witcher 2 is a great shout.

Metal Gear 5: Phantom Pain is just cutscences long corridors for ages. Then a stupid flying whale turns up. Takes ages to get to the (good) core gameplay loop.

I dunno. It's kind of bonkers that you only get to play it once, as even if you start a new game it jumps straight into the "core" section. You have to literally delete your savegame to start the game again, and replay that opening section. (Which I wanted to do, as I started the game years ago, only played a couple of hours and wanted to replay the start)

I agree it's bonkers that you play it once. It's once too many imo

[Alex79]

Noooo I loved the opening to MGSV. Pure Kojima utter fucking mentalness. I am always here for that.

[SludgeWizard]

I've tried Okami several times but I find the opening to be so dull I've never made any real progress into the game. But here's to another try! (I recently picked it up, again, for Switch)

[Alex79]

Same here, I've got maybe 4 or 5 hours in at least three times and always abandoned it.