Time is one of those inescapable things that make us wonder "what if I could have done that differently?". Well, plenty of video games answer that question, and in many, many different ways. Time is always something peop♊le have wanted some kind of control over, and video games let u🐻s live out that fantasy.

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Few of these games actually use tim🍬e in the same way. Some make it a direct part of the gameplay, others have you racing against time and some have it more as a puzzle you have to balance, but they all us🍰e it as an effective means in their own way.

10 ꧙ TimeSp💦litters

Originally released in 2000, the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:TimeSplitters series is well-known now for its unique use of its time theme and first-person gameplay. Rather than using time as ♛a core gameplay mech🍒anic, it is instead used as the basis for you to travel across vast periods of time, from 1935 and 2035.

The game could be played in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:two-player co-op as well, tasking players with retrieving special objects before being swarmed by the eponymous Timesplitters. It was a great use ⭕of a concept that lent to a wonderful diversity in levels.

9 Cr🔯is Talesꦍ

Cris Tales cover art

More recently is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Cris Tales, ♛a hand-drawn RPG with time a central part of the whole game. The screen is split into three sections from left to right: the past, the present, and the future. You can jump between them at will, changing things in each timeline to affect the others. It also offers immediate feedback on your choices to see how they affected the world.

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This time control also applies to the combat. You could attack an enemy in the future when they are old and weak, or you could travel to the past to defeat an enemy before they've grown strong enough. You can even begin a move in the past so that it takes instant effect in the present.

8 Bayonetta

The beloved character action series from Platinum Games, one of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Bayonetta's trademark features has been Witch Time. Whenever Bayonetta pulls off a successful dodge, she activates Witch Time where enemies are slowed and take more dama♏ge. This is further expanded with accessories givin🐼g you total control of Witch Time.

Bayonetta's time control is a central element of the somewhat convoluted plot as well but adds whimsy to the self-aware nature of it all. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Creator Hideki Kamiya has been a fan o༒f time-based elements for aඣ while in games like Okami and Viewtiful Joe, so it only makes sense that Bayonetta has them shine.

7 Braid

Originally an Xbox arcade game, Braid has gone on to win plenti🎉ful awards for its incredible use of time as a gameplay mechanic. But rather than being just a thematic tool or one solely used to your advantage, time is something you need to contend with yourself in Braid.

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Each level has time used differently. At first, you can use it yourself in case of mistakes. But as time goes on, certain objects become immune to time manipulation, or even time itself flows differently without you even controlling it, making time itself the puzzle. It's a smart use, making time both a tool and a limitation.

6 Deathloop

From the wonderfully creative minds of Arkane comes 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Deathloop. They've had previous games with time control in it such as Dishonored, but none has taken center stage as they do here. In Deathloop, there are four times of day and four areas, each set up differently based on time.

It's really all just one big puzzle that has to be figured out. But the real trick is in using the information you've gained to refine each run until you finally fit all the pieces together. It's a smart use of a time-loop, to master an area as if you knew it all from the beginning. Of course, random encounters can always ruin a well-laid plan.

5 Minit

Minit With A Bunch Of Other Characters

Another wonderful indie game with time as a central mechanic is Minit. And as the name seems to suggest, the game does indeed revolve around a minute. Everything, in fact. You have 60 seconds to do anything and everything you can before you reset. Central, though, is that only you reset.

Any progress you make is saved, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:from collectibles to quests to shortcuts, with you waking up at home after one minute. You then use that progress to push you further towards your goal. It's a simple little puzzle game, but one that uses restrictions as the core mechanic for progression.

4 ಌ Chrono Trigger ౠ

Lauded frequently as one of the greatest games of all time, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Chrono Trigger was a big undertaking for Square at the time, utilizing what they saw as their best members to work on it. The game featured the active time battle syste💫m of Final Fantasy while incorporating time-based mechanics too.

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Primarily, the game took place across multiple eras which could be traveled to at will, and the order in which you did things as well as how and how fast, would determine which of the many endings you 🌜got,🌄 too. Time is central to every part of Chrono Trigger and uses it to great effect.

3 Superhot

Superhot - killing AI with Superhot on screen

Perhaps one of the most unique uses of time control in recent years is in Superhot. Rather than directly controlling time itself or using it as a restriction, time in Superhot is instead a given. Time moves as fast as you do. Don't move, and time won't either. Start running and you'll have a face full of bullets.

This lets you set up wonderful scenarios as you destroy your highly-polygonal enemies and watch them fall to pieces, and probably🅘 why the game is a natural fit for VR too. Seeing time move as you yourself actually move would be a wonderful if not a somewhat daunting experience.

2 Life 🍰Is Strange

Life Is Strange Remastered Collection Key Art showing Max and Chloe

Part of the initial episodic format of video games, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Life Is Strange was never expected to resonate with players as well as it did, all the while inc𝓡orporating time-based gameplay that felt genuinely fun and thematically appropriate. And in a game all about choices, it ꦜsomehow still worked.

Life Is Strange has you rewind time whenever you want by a limited amount. Maybe you've learned new info from a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:mistake in a conversation and want to go back and say it right this time, or a small event occurred that you know you can prevent. Most choices only have a small immediate effect, h𓄧owever, meaning you still have to commit to see the full consequences.

1 Majora's Mask

Ocarina of Time

Released as a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time (another time-based game, coincidentally), 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask uses time in a major way. Whereas Ocarina of Time had an explicit divide between its two times (Young Link and Adult Link), Majora's Mask progresses in real-time, going through the three days until the moon crashes.

Different events occur on each day, with even more events based on actions in the prior days. However, almost everything resets at the end of the three days, unless you revert time yourself. It's a difficult task to balance all the quests in Clock Town, all the masks, and general progress at the same time, but it's an incredibly inventive use of real-time gameplay that forces you to pay attention to your surroundings.

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