Best Uses Of Time Travel In Video Games
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When it comes to video games, time travel is a common theme. But unlike TV, the time travel doesn’t just add to the plot. In the best games, it adds a memorable mechanic that tells a story on its own. Here are some of the best games that incorporate time travel.
5. The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
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While many think immediately of Ocarina of Time as the fundamental Zelda time travel game, its sequel, Majora’s Mask, actually makes far better use of the mechanic. In Ocarina, time travel is merely a portal between two eras, and while objects in the past alter objects in the future timeline, it doesn’t have much effect on the game’s mechanics.
However, Majora’s Mask tasks Link with preventing the apocalypse. The game is set on a 72-hour cycle with the timer constantly shown. Players can use the Song of Time to reset to the beginning of the period but a lot of the progress will be undone as well. This forced the player to memorize the cycles of each NPC, providing a unique level of characterization. While the main story can be fulfilled by simply completing the dungeons and progressing to the final boss, the true fulfillment of the game comes from the side quests. Players have to be in certain places at certain times to complete side quests and earn masks, which oftentimes are a reflection of the characters themselves.
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4. The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons
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Next on the list is an underrated GBA game, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. In this game, time travel is used as a way of solving puzzles. There are places you can access in the past only by standing in a special spot in the present and playing the Harp of Ages. This also works in reverse. This effectively doubles the map. In Ocarina, there are certainly differences between the past and future, but the map is largely the same with some cosmetic differences. In Oracle of Seasons, the timeframe is 400 years, giving the continents enough time to shift. This is shown when a player uses the harp to traverse between ages and ends up stuck on water and shifted back to where they were before.
3. Life Is Strange
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While the previous examples came from Nintendo, others have joined in the time travel shenanigans too. Square Enix has a unique franchise called Life is Strange. In the first game, Max, the player character, can rewind time by a few seconds, giving her a bit of a do-over. This game plays more like an interactive novel, but the rewind feature allows players to shape the narrative by making choices and seeing some immediate consequences.
2. Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time
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In a similar vein, the Prince in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time uses a weapon called the Dagger of Time to rewind or slow down time. Unlike the previous example, this game is a platforming adventure, allowing the Prince to defeat enemies and traverse hazardous environments.
1. Chrono Trigger
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Another Square example, Chrono Trigger, is what many still consider the epitome of time travel RPGs. While this game doesn't avoid all potential time paradoxes, it provides multiple eras to explore. The game starts with Chrono and his friend Lucca in 1000 AD, which is a contemporary fantasy setting. The first gate they discover takes them to 600 AD which is comparable to the Middle Ages. As the story progresses they discover friends who join their party and more gates taking them to the past in 65 Million BC, 12000 BC and the future in 2300 AD, 1999 AD - the time of Lavos- and the End of Time.
The group learns of a monster that will destroy the world in 1999 and find gates letting them traverse several different eras to save the world from certain destruction. Like other games in this list, items in the past affect items in the present. One common example is that a treasure chest opened in the future can be opened in the past as well, but a treasure chest opened in the past will remain empty in the future. Time travel is used expertly in the story as well, opening up several side quests for the player and increasing the map sixfold.
Time travel is a tricky subject, and many games do it rather poorly, but the above examples manage to deliver memorable time-based adventures without swallowing up the entire narrative in nonsensical time paradoxes.
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Source(s): Prince of Persia Wiki, Chrono Wiki
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