On Time Travel

Mordwyl

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The Journeyman Project series thrived on this element, especially in the second game where you're put under house arrest because future you did a crime.
 

Dash-X

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Sonic CD's time travel actually allowed you to change the future (but, oddly, not the present) of any given area by going into the past, and destroying some device. Areas in the altered future were a bit easier to navigate and look at (due to a lack of brown over everything)...
 

The_ModeRazor

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Jul 29, 2009
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Assassin's Creed.
When you killed Robert de Shotgun, you could see a picture of Lucy with blood on her clothes. Guess what happens in the next game?
 

tamerman

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tuely this chriss-E is a master-debater.

What i wouldn?t mind would be a game (FPS?) that records your actions as you do them, then later on you go back in time and watch yourself from the opposite ends of security cameras or some such, and assist your unknowing past self by opening doors, closing doors, sniping tough enemies you never knew were sneaking up on you, and other such things to make sure you stay alive long enough to fulfill the role you are doing now.

it would probably be necessary to make sure that while assisting yourself you never come into direct contact or allow him to know you exist. Mostly due to the fact that the game cant see the future, and may depict your future self as a polite man who wishes to help his former self, when really you wind up jumping all around the room and shooting holes in the walls.


also: majoras mask is awesome
 

JediMB

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Premonition said:
Edit: Also, Final Fantasy 8 deserves a mention for being so bat-shit insanely stupid.
Not as much stupid as... convoluted... and not in a good way.
 

Ken Sapp

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Apr 1, 2010
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Sir John The Net Knight said:
My favorite game that uses time travel mechanics is Chrono Trigger. Which Yahtzee claimed to like but will probably still berate me for choosing because it's a JRPG and god forbid anyone like those games. [bold]But time travel mechanics in that game are limited to plot and have little to no bearing on actual gameplay.[/bold] (No, I don't care to argue the legitimacy of JRPG mechanics as gameplay, TYVM.)

Also Yahtzee will probably weep with yellow anger when he hears I'm going to buy Singularity, which I already decided before I saw his video. Or maybe he won't weep since it's a person thinking with their own mind, rather than letting games journalists do it for them. Which is something he advocated for, wasn't it?
Actually they did have one effect on gameplay that I recall(roo many years since I last played), The special boxes that required a certain pendant to open would have different items in them depending upon which time period you opened them in. The later the time period the better the item and if you opened them in an earlier time period they would not be available in the future time periods.
 

zjspeed

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Jan 19, 2010
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Space Quest IV

Roger embarks on a time-travel adventure through Space Quest games both past and future. An infomorph of reborn Sludge Vohaul from Space Quest XII: Vohaul's Revenge II chases Roger through time in an attempt to finally kill him. Roger also visits Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros and Space Quest I; in the latter, the graphics and music revert to the style of the original game and Roger is threatened by a group of monochromatic bikers who consider Roger's 256 colors pretentious. No gameplay takes place in Space Quest IV.
 

Mr Scott

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Apr 15, 2008
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Weeelll... MGS3 was technically a time travel game, insofar as any time you happen to die the Game Over screen caption changes to: Time Paradox; this also happens if you kill any characters critical to the rest of the series:
Ocelot is Revolver Ocelot!
 

Dfskelleton

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Chris E. is probably going to end up referenced in some upcoming Yahtzee video. What a pathetic excuse for a letter trying to prove a point. I actually laughed out loud.
I've always been confused by time travel, and I might pick up Singularity if I can find it cheap.
 

k-ossuburb

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Jul 31, 2009
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Jak And Daxter 2 and any of the Timesplitters games.

Jak and Daxter for that pretty cool "twist" at the end where
it turns out you're in the past, not the future. It was easy to guess but at least the effort was made
and also because it's actually just fun, it had its faults but it's still enjoyable once-in-a-while.

Same goes for Timesplitters (any of them) I haven't played them all but they were also not only funny in places but a load of good fun to play.

Both games were like a round of tequila slammers; a lot of fun, not really all that original and a little immature but only keep their charm if consumed in small doses.

Edit: just realized they don't really "count", but I've got nothing else, so that'll have to do.
 

Infernai

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Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance. All three involve time travel.
 

Dracosage

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I really enjoyed Sam and Max 204: Chariots of the Dogs. They basically used time travel to different places to get what they needed similar to the way you describe in Day of the Tentacle but with significantly more mariachi birthday singers from space. It even involves having your past selves (from season one) come to the present so you can get a key item that you had to use in the previous season [hilariously, past Sam walks around saying "I can't shoot my little buddy" and "I can't use these two things together(despite there not being a 'use two objects together' mechanic) as though he were being controlled by you from the past]. They also kind of use it again in the most recent season, only Sam and Max are watching a film of their ancestors solving the secret of the tomb of Sammun-Mak - only the tape comes in four reels and you can skip between them. Cue you having to look at a future tape and solve a puzzle to find out what great you idea you already gave to elves working for corporate master Santa and the like.
 

urathgodofsudani

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By far the best time travel game as well as the best adventure game I've ever played is Journeyman Project 3: legacy of time particularly for it's use of time travel to bring you to Atlantis, Shangri-la, and El Dorado both the day after and day before their destruction. The cultural studies that went into the cities as well as the historical facts given to you by your companion Arthur the artificial intelligence give it the most stylish take on time travel I know of.
 

Dora

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Jul 13, 2009
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I'm actually not much for time travel games. They either go out of their way trying to make their concepts sound legitimately scientific (and wind up wrong AND boring), or they take the Doctor Who route and say, "Well, time's just like that. Stuff can happen this way because we need it to."

I guess if you NEED to have time travel, I liked the way it was handled in Chrono Trigger. There were the big world-altering events that were pretty obvious (defeat the bad guy so you don't wind up with a dystopian future), but you had subtle parts as well. I remember in the starting village or nearby there was a very rich family and the father was extremely rude and selfish. But if you took the time to bring his ancestor something she needed, and give it to her freely despite how valuable it is, the next time you visit the future you find her descendant is now generous because she's taught her children about selflessness. Corny? Sure, a little. But it was simple and unobtrusive to the gameplay so that when you DID notice things like that happening, you went "Oh, neat!" and went on playing. Just a nice addition.
 

BlindChance

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Sep 8, 2009
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World of Warcraft did a lovely job with a time travel scenario in the most recent expansion. At one point, you have to fight off a horde of enemies to protect a beacon that is (if I remember correctly) basically healing a loop in the time continuum. But to give you an edge, a future version of yourself appears, traveling back in time to assist.

And he/she spends the whole time borderline insulting you, whispering such things to you as, "I can't believe that I used to wear that," "Look at you fight; no wonder I turned to drinking," and "Wow, I'd forgotten how inexperienced I used to be." (Also, one of my favorites: "Listen. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but there's going to be this party that you're invited to. Whatever you do, DO NOT DRINK THE PUNCH!") As he/she leaves, he/she notes, "Farewell. Keep us alive and get some better equipment!"

Of course, this means that later on... you get a quest to back in time and help out your past self. Who spends the whole time borderline insulting you, whispering such things to you as, "This equipment looks cool and all, but couldn't we have done a little better? Are you even raiding?" "I think I'm going to turn to drinking after this," and "Looks like I'm an underachiever."

Apparently in World of Warcraft, you're a real whiner.
 

moosek

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Nov 5, 2009
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I don't need Chris E's approval to enjoy Majora's Mask, but it's use of time travel isn't so much a gameplay mechanic as it is a story device. Also if you try to play Majora's Mask and watch Groundhog day at the same time, the universe will cave in around you.

My favorite time travel related game instance was when you were thrown into the future at the beginning of Half-Life 2. I really haven't seen a game do anything interesting or dynamic with time travel.