There's a time for speed... But that isn't now.

One of my favorite things to do with older video games is to come back to them after years of playing and test myself with them. I could do 100% completion, see if I can do it without dying, or any number of modifiers and it makes the game new again. Yet, the best modifier (in my opinion) is and forever will be "Just how fast can I beat this game?"

I mean, sure not dying for an entire game seems pretty interesting, but it doesn't really give me anything to compare against. By doing a speedrun of a game, I can say "Hey, I've been able to do it this fast. Can you?" because it sets a definitive level of accomplishment for the game. Plus, I've done it with quite a few games over the years like:

Super Mario 64 - 2:06:36
Super Mario Sunshine - 2:37:12
Banjo Kazooie - 4:56:22

And then I know, I've done it with games like Halo 3, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Bayonetta, and Metroid Prime but I don't have those times offhand....

But this week I realized that there are two types of game that I just can't bring myself to do a speedrun of. There are those games that are built entirely off of timed events (like racing games or fighting games) and then there are games that it would just be considered a disgrace to rush through.

What would Final Fantasy be like if you never took the time to power level? What would Zelda games be like if you never did a single side-quest? What would Just Cause 2 be like if you chose not to explore anywhere? Its games like these that it just hurts to even try. On the 4th I wanted to spend my day speeding my way through Windwaker like a champ and see how fast I could do it, but it soon dawned on me that I was just missing out on all of the fun that the game had to offer. Sure I can teleport using cyclones to just about anywhere on the Great Sea, but isn't it more satisfying to just cruise along on the King of Red Lions and listen to the ocean theme play? Sure I could power my way through the plot of the game, but never entering any secret dungeons, never getting any Pieces of Heart, never taking the time to seek out Great Fairies ended up just not being fun. Sure I could say "I finished Windwaker in 10 hours and XX minutes" (that's about how long it would have taken me if I didn't just give up) but instead I'd rather dick around in my boat and see what the game has to offer. Hell, I might even do that ridiculously long trading side-quest from Windfall and have highly redundant armor even though I rarely take damage anyways.

But yeah, there will always be those games that I can never and will never attempt to speedrun. Heck, after about 40 hours of play time I think I've only done 3 plot missions in Skyrim. Because why plot when I can run around and crouch to pretend I'm not there and steal the clothes off of ordinary citizens without them knowing?

I'll leave the speed to Sonic, expansive RPGs are meant to be enjoyed.