Why Time Loops Work Best in Video Games - Extra Credits

Time loops can be seen in TV, Movies like Groundhog Day, and video games like Majora’s Mask but what we really want to know is who did it best? Or rather, what's the best way to experience it.

--- Jacob Geller ---

--- Jenna Stoeber / Polygon ---

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♪ Outro Music: "Sunny Day Drive" by: Just Coffee

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[Richforce]

Outer Wilds is all about using a loop to learn what you need to not only break the loop but fulfill it's purpose. You can win in the very first loop but only if you know exactly what to do, your character doesn't grow in ability with each loop but the player grows in knowledge.

[Jaynat_SF]

2:57 Outer Wilds can be won on the first loop, there's even an achievement for doing such a thing, though it's unreasonable to assume anyone would actually do so without any prior knowledge of the game's puzzles.

[hansolochewbacca]

With the Nathan Drake example I'm reminded of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time where the narrator says "Wait! That didn't happen..." (or something similar) whenever the player character died.

[NamelessFacelessWhoa]

You can beat Outer Wilds on the first time loop. The game’s all about player knowledge though, so you’re not gonna do it unless you’ve played the game before.

Also if you haven’t played Outer Wilds, play it. Don’t spoil yourself or look anything up, just play it. It completely refreshed my love for video games.

[nodog]

Outerwilds can be beaten in 1 loop! Its a truly amazing and underrated game.

[Seadragon]

There have been a lot of games recently with the idea of time loops as a part of the lore... even as a fighting game guy, time loops have come into the genre. The first Blazblue game, Calamity Trigger, was basically one giant 100 year time loop that only ended with the true ending and the rest of the series has the major villains of the story trying to end the source of the time loops.

[dissonanceparadiddle]

I think Majora's mask finally through incredible work by speed runners and glitch hunters can be beat on the first cycle now

[xyryyn]

I would add Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (the second in the series) as a great timeloop!

I'm actually prepping a D&D game that will become a time loop once the PCs hit a certain point, letting them try to find the way to escape the loop and cause the least amount of damage.

[wovenchimera]

Wish this had come out a month ago, lol. A Groundhog Day release would've been an excellent tie-in theme.

[PikaLink]

2:27 That's what I loved about the narration from the Prince in Prince of Persia on PS2. If you died he would go "no no no, that's not what happened" and rewind time to right before death.

[DanCreaMundos]

Even roguelikes have quite a few points taken from time loop games.

[wanderfrog]

I was expecting Ghost Trick to be mentioned at some point. It's a really cool game on the ds that uses time loops as both a game mechanic and a way to push the plot further

[michaelhuebsch]

Love me some Outer Wilds. That can actually be done all in one loop. Speed run is like 10 minutes.

[rolfs]

2:27 Dragon Age 2 fully embraces that, as it's framed as Varric telling Hawke's story to Cassandra. So whenever you die, Varric goes "no, that didn't happen" and start back where you left off.

[nateunderwood]

I think that part of why we love time loops so much is that we think in time loops. Think about your favorite movies or books, and the characters within them. You don’t think of them as they are now, (mostly) you instead think of them as a journey that you can go back and revisit any time you want. Also time manipulation is just fun. Love the channel and videos BTW, push extra credits to the future!

[ekimmak]

2:30 See, that's Metroid for me. For me, Samus being an unbeatable badass is canon, and all my failures are just failing to live up to how awesome she is.

[kaeseblock]

Bravely Default - One of the best "time-loop" games I've ever played with a really ineresting twist. I was really surprised when the game startet to communicate with me through the title screen.

[GuatemalanJedi]

A lot of the points at the start of this video are the reason I always argue that Edge of Tomorrow (AKA Live. Die. Repeat.) is the best film version of a video game ever made. It's not based on a game IP, but the timeloop narrative gives a better representtion of the player experience than any other film so far. (I could go on about this for far too long :P)

[ilariatono]

I would also mention The Stanley Parable as a very clever loop-based game. The sarcastic (and, I agree, often nihilistic) narration triggers the player over and over in the never-ending sequence of endings grounded in the saving mechanic, in a way similar to what Undertale does

[FaytVanguard]

The Skyrim mod The Forgotten City.... is likely one of favorite encounters with a Time Loop. (That can get out of in three different ways.)