A discussion on game mechanics: pacing

I’ve heard from a few game developers that the first level is always supposed to the best level. It must be something that wow’s the audience, to have them keep playing the game.

I remember reading a very detailed analysis on this in a blog by a God of War developer, and as we all know, that game has quite possibly one of the best game opening levels in history. The first level has been debated as the most important level in a game but is it really as important as they say it is?

Personally, my ideal game is one that starts out rather good at the beginning, and ends up being an absolutely amazing experience with a roller coaster of emotions near the end. If you have all the best parts at the beginning, it leaves the player with little incentive to continue playing as it gets duller, more drab, and in many cases, repetitive.

You have a two edged sword here: you could just as easily mess up the game completely if not careful, and this is true in both cases.

Jet Set Radio has some of the best pacing seen in a game. The first few levels feel standard, but as you continue playing the game it surprises you with interesting takes on the earlier levels.

On the flip side, Final Fantasy IX’s first disc has possibly some of the best moments in the entire series, but after that the game seems to fall flat at an alarming rate.

Do you give the player all the abilities he/she needs to work with at the beginning, or do you give a good number of abilities at certain points in the game? Should we show the best moments in the game here, or there? I’m pretty sure pacing is one of the more tricky parts of the development process.

Recently, I played Yakuza and that game has some admirable pacing in terms of gameplay. The game starts out standard at first, but as you get deeper into it’s juicy treats, it starts to open up a wide vary of possibilities, making the game only better as time progresses. At the same time, that makes the game hard to get into when you go back to points earlier in the game, because you’ve experienced so much better it truly hurts to see the game again in early stages.

On the same token, games with extrordinary beginnings tend to fall flat as players delve deeper into them.

It seems the answer here is a good balance,which is something many games lack. With all the other things that go into game development, pacing seems to almost always feel irregular and inconsistent to me. This entry could come off as more of a mental note, but I really am curious how and why developers design certain games like this, whether it’s on purpose or not.