Ultimately, a game should be judged by the overall adventure it presents. But that isn't always the case. You can't help but form an opinion about the game within the first few hours of playing it.
Some people even give up on a title and remove it if it doesn't gain traction quickly enough. This is understandable, but it means you risk missing out on a fantastic game. Here are some examples of great titles, even if they have weak openings:
Wolfenstein: The New Order
The early stages of Wolfenstein: The New Order are set at the height of World War II, with you fighting in the trenches against the Nazis. Since there have been so many FPS games set in World War II, this part of the game felt a little unoriginal.
Time passes quickly and things don't really start to pick up until we reach the 1960s. Still, the game is only okay until you start to gather resistance and learn that the characters, especially protagonist BJ Blazkowicz, have more depth than they initially appear.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 is widely regarded as one of the best games of its generation. But it's fair to say it's going to take some time to get going. Before you're free to explore the Wild West, you're stuck in a snowy mountain with a bunch of people you don't yet know, and you're tasked with very basic missions.
So the sequence can be a bit boring and has caused people to stop playing the game. Once you unlock your powers, you can start taking on more interesting missions and learn more about your character. Interestingly, on a second playthrough, the prologue is actually okay because the interactions between the characters are more engaging once you already know who they are.
Assassin's Creed 3
Assassin's Creed 3 has several hours of strange opening moments. Initially, you'll play as Haythem Kenway for a while as you learn the game's mechanics. This builds up nicely until we transition to the actual protagonist, his son Connor. He's just a kid, so now you have to watch him grow up. It feels too slow compared to Haythem missions.
The sequence wouldn't actually be that bad once the game started. However, once Haythem's sequence is over, you're ready to start playing, and it's linear and doesn't become too much of a tutorial. This will slow down the game significantly and will likely drive some people away.
pokemon sun and moon
Pokemon games aren't known for being quick-starting games. The early hours are always spent introducing general Pokémon concepts, battle mechanics, and ways to catch more Pokémon. Newer games like Sun and Moon have made things even worse by including a lot more cutscenes and dialogue.
Sometimes the many cutscenes at the beginning of the game can be interesting, but Pokémon is not a narrative-driven series. So the scene isn't that interesting. But once you get past all of this and the many tutorials, Sun and Moon becomes a fun Pokémon adventure.
Special Ops: The Line
At the beginning of Spec Ops: The Line, you felt like you were playing a fairly average third-person military shooter. So you can be forgiven if you quit at that point. But the longer you play, the more you start to discover that there is more to this game than it first appears. The shooting mechanics remain average, but the characters and story become more engaging.
The terrible events that unfold throughout the adventure gradually begin to affect the protagonist's mind. As a result, the game starts to mess with your brain a bit too. It actually works better because the game initially feels like a standard shooter. That means you won't see anything strange happening.
yakuza 3
All Yakuza (aka Like A Dragon) games are great, but Yakuza 3 didn't get off to a great start. You play as Kiryu, the series' protagonist and former Yakuza member. He abandoned his former life and now runs an orphanage.
Because of that, the first few hours of the game aren't action-packed, nor do they have many big story moments. Instead, you're just helping the orphans by completing fairly mundane tasks. It's clearly an attempt to establish what Kiryu's life is like in the present. However, it takes too long and the game doesn't start to get interesting until you leave the orphanage.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3's storytelling is generally cited as the best part of the game. Unfortunately, it doesn't really progress until you leave the prologue area known as White Orchard. While here you devote yourself to hunting monsters.
it's okay. But this section of the game isn't the reason why many people consider The Witcher 3 an iconic RPG. As you exit White Orchard, you'll meet some of the main characters and learn about their jobs in your quest to find Ciri. The story begins in earnest at this point.
heavy rain
Heavy Rain is a thrilling narrative adventure game centered around a gripping mystery. But it doesn't start out in a very convincing way. This is because before the story begins, all you have to do is control a suburban dad named Ethan who has to carry out his daily tasks.
Brushing your teeth, shaving, showering, getting dressed, and many other everyday tasks. Along the way, you learn the basic mechanics of the game, but they're not that interesting. It's a very boring game that's easy to give up on. The title isn't very interesting until the mystery is revealed.
Most Metal Gear Solid games have a strong and interesting prologue that sets up the rest of the story. However, The Phantom Pain's narrative is technically set in a separate game, MGS5: Ground Zeroes.
So The Phantom Pain begins with you waking up from a coma. Then, once you have the ability to actually move, your legs become less mobile and you keep falling. After that, you go through the rest of the intro, which is very linear and crawling in your hand. It's very slow and the gameplay doesn't reflect the quality of the rest of the game.
driver
The original Driver game on PS1 had one of the most infamous intros in gaming history. From the start, you will be presented with a list of tasks to accomplish: burnout, handbrake, turn, 180°, 360°, reverse 180°, speed, brake test, lap, etc. It won't tell you how to do any of this, but you'll have to do it all in 60 seconds.
There are instructions on how to do everything in a hidden menu, but most people won't find them. Instead, they fail multiple times and quit the game. Unfortunately, after this very disappointing sequence, the game actually gets really good.
