As the title suggests: I’ve had it with open worlds with dozens of things to do and checklists to complete. What are your favorite, delightfully simple, linear games?

This question is sparked by the discussion in the Final Fantasy thread, were I disclosed that I actually kind of like XIII because of its linearity. Other linear favorites of mine include: Half-Life series, Portal series, Uncharted series, some COD campaigns, Undertale, Journey, Super Mario 3D World, Plague Tale, Spec Ops: The Line

A shout out to A Way Out in the co-op catergory!

  •  Chloyster [she/her]   ( @chloyster@beehaw.org ) 
    7•3 hours ago

    I suppose I have to ask how linear. Like can it be mostly linear while having the chance to explore off the beaten path very briefly? Or like straight up hallway simulator.

    Ive been using a site actually to rate games I’ve played so I’ll start listing some of my 5 and 4.5 star games that I would personally consider linear.

    5 star games

    • Astrobot
    • Silent hill 2 (enhanced edition mod for PC, remake I’m still working through but it’s good)
    • Rayman origins
    • Mario and Luigi superstar saga (borderline linear)
    • Kingdom hearts 2 (you can pick the order of worlds at times and have the option to backtrack but not necessary
    • Mother 3
    • Re4 (og and remake both 10/10 to me)

    4.5 star games

    • Chants of sennaar
    • Kirby super Star ultra
    • Halo 2
    • Rayman legends
    • WolfenStein the new order
    • Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
    • Dead Space
    • The last of us
    • the last of us 2 (has one shortish open area section)
    • Alan wake 2 (has some open exploration areas at points)
    • Celeste
    • The case of the golden idol

    I could go on, and some are borderline linear, but these are my faves that mostly involve going from one moment to the next

    Edit: the site I’ve been using. Feel free to check out my list of played games ordered by rating if you want more. I have a lot on there: https://backloggd.com/u/chloyster/games/user-rating/type:played?page=1

      •  Chloyster [she/her]   ( @chloyster@beehaw.org ) 
        3•3 hours ago

        Earthbound / mother 2 is also 5 stars for me and can definitely be played before hand. There is overlap in the antagonist and references but otherwise mother 3 takes place an incomprehensible amount of time in the future. I didn’t include earthbound since its a tiny bit more backtracky and explory but tbh it’s about as linear as m&l superstar saga so I’d def recommend it if you want to play!