You will surely have realized that time travel is innate to almost any video game. What if not the ability to play a new life when our character dies?
A short journey in time (or not, it depends on the checkpoints ), in which we move to the past, to when we were still alive. Even in games with permanent death there is the possibility of starting the adventure again: any video game is a constant loop.
Still, there are video games in which time manipulation is a possibility in the hands of the player: slow it down, remix it. Or, of course, there is the possibility that time machines and space-time travelers are part of the argument . The fact is that video games and time have a very intimate relationship, and there are multiple cases that prove it: these 11 are some of the best video games with time travel.
Chrono Trigger (1995)
The classic time travel video game par excellence, a classic RPG with absolutely timeless designs by Akira Toriyama, programmed by the teams of 'Final Fantasy' and 'Dragon Quest', and in which the characters visit all kinds of periods historical, with dinosaurs, medieval knights, a post-apocalyptic future and others.
It was released for the Super Nintendo (and shortly after for Playstation) and some of its findings forever revolutionized the genre, such as multiple endings or the way to develop characters.
Day of the Tentacle (1993)
The sequel to 'Maniac Mansion' is one of the absolute classics of all LucasArts' graphic adventures, and for many fans, it ranks even higher than the mythical 'Monkey Island'.
The three quirky friends Bernard, Hoagie and Laverne face a sociopathic tentacle that wants to conquer the world, and they do it with the Cron-O-Latrines, time machines that scatter them throughout time, both two hundred years at a time. past as to an apocalyptic and tentacular future. As hideous and outdated as in its day.
Shadow of Memories (2002)
A unique graphic adventure for PS2 that begins with the death of the protagonist, who must return to the past to solve his own murder.
A traditional story of criminal fantasies, but peppered with puzzles and the search for energy units to keep the machine running, and that will entangle the protagonist in a fascinating story linked to the discovery of the Philosopher's Stone.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003)
The Playstation 2 game that opened the 'Prince of Persia' saga to the story line of time travel (and that would no longer be abandoned, in one way or another) is also one of the action and adventure titles that better it has implemented them in the mechanics.
Trying to fix a mess with the Sands of Time, and facing monsters generated by the disruption of the temporal stream, our hero can slow down, speed up and go back in time to avoid obstacles and defeat his enemies.
Braid (2008)
One of the games that spearheaded the indie revolution that we lived through throughout the past decade, and that takes temporary manipulation in the action in the style of 'Prince of Persia' to the extreme, and spreads it with certainly infernal puzzles.
Slowdown, rewind, parallel worlds that spring from diversifications of the passing of time, freezing, enemies sometimes immune to all this...
A mixture of reflection and action with an enigmatic ending and open to multiple interpretations that would have a tremendous impact on the video game industry, unleashing imitators, critics and a new way of understanding independent creation.
Steins; Gate (2009)
A novel visual with the theme of time travel so firmly embedded in its essence that we even had to write an article to analyze it in all its complexity.
His argument, however, starts from the most essential paradox of all: changing elements to influence the past and the future through a machine that sends messages to the past.
And in the middle of the plot, world conspiracies and secret organizations. A jewel whose density has already generated animes and other derivative products.
No Time to Explain (2011)
The creators of 'Hello Neighbor' initialed earlier, at the beginning of the decade, this little platform game of maddening difficulty, very much in the vein of the 2D action indies of the time, but with a twist about time travel and parallel realities that gave it an unpredictable and delusional touch.
Starting from that legendary phrase that any time traveler has uttered (starting with Doc in 'Back to the Future') of "There is no time for explanations", the player will be embarked on a series of phases in which he himself kidnaps himself and is sent to other times in order to save multiple realities. A mess, but hilarious (and very challenging).
Spider-Man: Edge of Time (2011)
It is not the best of the Spider-man video games that were made at the time (that honor perhaps corresponds to its precedent, the fabulous 'Shattered Dimensions', more focused on the theme of multiverses), but it is the one that brings out the best Time travel match, here creating a team-up between the current Trepamuros and its counterpart from the year 2099.
Without complicating life much with paradoxes (beyond the fact that changes in the present affect the future), the game is more of a time-jumping adventure, with heroes and villains moving between times like someone taking the subway.
The Silent Age (2015)
One of the most suggestive indies of recent times, it was born as a mobile game and then moved to desktop consoles, but maintaining its aesthetic sobriety and the firmness of its concept: a janitor discovers a way to jump back and forth in time Instantly, you'll have to use that skill to explore a facility by solving different puzzles.
Calm, leisurely, voluntarily stiff-paced, it contains some of the most challenging puzzles seen in recent video games, so be patient.
Life Is Strange (2015)
One of the most acclaimed independent games of recent times, divided into episodes that are lived almost like an interactive television series and that intertwine adolescent manners with an uncomplicated reflection, more focused on emotions than mathematics, on the theory of butterfly effect.
In other words, each decision made can have devastating and unpredictable effects. Our protagonist has the ability to rewind in time and change the decisions he has made, but the impact can be devastating. It enjoyed a sequel in 2018, with similar focus and mechanics, but a completely new story.
Quantum Break (2016)
It went partially unnoticed in its day, but this Remedy gem has some of the best applications of temporal manipulation in action codes, in the style of 'Prince of Persia' but hypermusculated.
Our protagonist can stop time, speed up his movements or review events that have taken place in the past.
With a mix of explosive action and puzzles, the game does not dive too deep into the topic of brain paradoxes, that is, we are far from a 'Braid', but as fun without complexes (and a lot of magic over time), it is highly recommended .
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