The length of transportation in videogames

This is a thread to discuss games where the world's length seems insurmountable. What are the longest journey games you own? And would you replay them if given the chance?

For the games I have chosen: Ikari Warriors [NES] and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon [N64].

I think with Ikari Warriors that because it's an arcade port there is an idea that the game can be beaten in one sitting. There's a lot of stuff going on the screen that requires mindful consideration that counterbalances the tank treading speed but the absurd difficulty and never-ending screen scroll make this one of the most persevering digital journeys I own.

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon has that N64 layer of fog and you are always walking to where you can go, so it definitely beats out The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time when it comes to 'dead space' or 'too much expanse'. This game has captured a sparsity of environment design that to me is unparalleled (as it doesn't bother entertaining you every 5 minutes with something in your treks to different areas or fill the world with tons of players to make the space less overwhelming as a current gen game would). The village / towns you eventually arrive at are filled with people and it's very soulful dialogue presentation and acquiring a new character is a massive-feeling when they come with new moves and dialogue branches and whatnot.

Ikari Warriors is a game I don't think I will ever beat but I have no qualms going back to give it 'another try'. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon is a game I have beaten but quickly abandoned a reattempt 4 years ago. I definitely am tempted to return.

An interesting question.

I think Death Stranding still takes the cake for me with it's "final walk". Basically speaking, the entire game is about traversal as most know. You go from A to B using whatever means necessary to deliver packages in hopefully pristine condition. You prepare for your journey in whatever way you see fit (items you might need, vehicles etc.) and can find tools along the way, be it generated by the game or by the online enviroment.

Then, just before the 'final boss', you are at the absolute south-end of the map and the game asks you to return to the absolute north. Due to the enviromental hazards all the online functionality is 'broken' and there are more enemies. Suddenly you have to scavange and scrape to get the tools you need to make this long journey, and some routes might be zoned off due to heavy enemy infestations and no way to circumvent them with weapons (as you might not have any).

For reference this is Chapter 12.

A lot of players hated it since the trek can take up to 1 hour if you plan your route badly and go on foot, which most did. But it's an unforgetable experience.

How does that impact the replay experience for you, if you'd get the DX edition? It sounds like you cleared it on the first attempt or so. Is the game forgiving if you fail the mission? Checkpoints? Loss of supplies making you farm or buildup for the repeated venture?

Don't take me the wrong way, it's not super challenging or whatever, it just takes a while and is a good closure to the game that shows off the game's mechanics at its best imo. Upon replay you can probably do it in 10 minutes if you know what you're doing. Just put up a zipline network and laugh or use a motorcycle I'd reckon (can't recall if Ziplines were deactivated).

If you die there's checkpoints and you can just save in between if you want.

I'm almost at that part in my replay currently, I'll probably ditch all my gear and abstain from using machines and really make a trek out of it, perhaps use the mountain path (more dangerous) this time around.

So, is this about games that feel huge or actually are?

>Due to the enviromental hazards all the online functionality is 'broken' and there are more enemies.
Did you consider this good or bad. I think it's cool that the story and mechanics are linked like that. It actually makes sense that you can't use stuff due to online being down.

> online not working
It's a really cool moment, especially since it only happens once in the entire game which makes it stick out. I watched a video recently about the "Silent Cartographer" level in Halo and why it was so good, and one of the reasons was that it was the only one like it in the game - if the entire game had levels just like it, it wouldn't feel as special. Same regarding this part.

It also comes unexpected the first time, so most new players will probably be standing there with a ton of broken gear and suddenly realize they have to scavange. It's a really cool moment.

Birdman wrote:So, is this about games that feel huge or actually are?

Games that are huge and/or have large gaps in savepoints for maximum effect.