History Main / Takeyourtime

* In ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' Earth is being invaded by hordes of demons, and while it's already pretty bad, it won't get any worse if the Slayer slacks on his job. Especially egregious in the finalle, where the titanic demon called [[FinallBoss Icon of Sin]] enters the city and... just kinda roams around, and despite the [[MostAnnoyingSound '''multiple''' reminders]] that "the longer the Icon if Sin remains on Earth, the stronger it becomes", this is not the case, and you can get to it at your convinience and still have the same (admittedly hard) fight.
** In a short but literal example, one of the cutscene has the Slayer walk through the human-held base in a leisury pace, ignoring both the personnel scattering in fear before him and the panicked screams through intercom. He gets to slauthering demons shortly thereafter anyway.
** In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', there are no more rooms of infinite-respawning enemies, so in a lot of places it is to your advantage to take it slow even though your commander is yelling in your ear to "Hurry! Hurry! We're Oscar Mike!" The only notable exception occurs in "Whiskey Hotel". If you take too long to [[spoiler:get to the roof of the White House]], the bombers WILL destroy it.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'': [[spoiler:if you gain Joyce's trust, she urges you to solve the case quickly since the Krenel mercenaries will inevitably do something rash to avenge their murdered comrade. [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption This happens regardless of how much time you take]] since the Tribunal is triggered once you decide to confront Ruby, complete with PointOfNoReturn prompt.]]

* ''Idol Manager'' overall zig-zags this in story mode:

Compare with OffstageWaitingRoom and SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer. May overlap with TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot. May be caused by OrcusOnHisThrone.

Since this trope is widely recognized, this is occasionally subverted in more recent games by a mission being [[TimedMission time-sensitive]] even if there's no explicit onscreen timer. Players who assume this trope is in effect when told to [[ContinueYourMissionDammit hurry up]] may be shocked to find that the game really ''does'' mean it this time. Periodic reminders that time is running out should be taken as warnings that, unlike with MagicCountdown, you can actually fail if you dawdle too much. If there's an InUniverseGameClock, even an offhand mention of something that won't happen for several days may be a good thing for players to worry about.

Compare with OffstageWaitingRoom and SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer. May overlap with TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot. May be caused by OrcusOnHisThrone.

** Taris also never gets destroyed, but it's justifiable considering that usually, the sith are looking for Bastila and won't glass the planet ''just'' yet, as the orbital strike would inevitably lead to NeverFoundTheBody.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': A later sequence in the game tells you about the coming Day of Darkness, when the sun will be swallowed and there's nothing you can do about it. Since you're the Goddess of the Sun, this would be a Very Bad Thing [[spoiler:but of course, no matter how much you dawdle, the sun is only swallowed the ''moment the final boss stares you down'', leaving you powerless]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', a later sequence in the game tells you about the coming Day of Darkness, when the sun will be swallowed and there's nothing you can do about it. Since you're the Goddess of the Sun, this would be a Very Bad Thing [[spoiler:but of course, no matter how much you dawdle, the sun is only swallowed the ''moment the final boss stares you down'', leaving you powerless]].
** However, in an earlier chapter, if you dawdle too long, Oni Island WILL disappear.

* In both ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' games, but especially in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle''. You (Travis) have urgent revenge to get against Jasper Batt Jr., which you are letting drive and consume you. You also want to beat him as quickly as possible, as there's 49 other assassins gunning for him, including the number 2 ranked assassin who could take him on at any time. You still have plenty of time to work a few odd jobs for cash for clothes, including one which requires your going into space, plus time to: watch porn, [[spoiler: babysit your comatose twin brother]], let several days pass, and still [[spoiler: make it to fight the second ranked Alice just before she was ready to take on the number one.]] Fortunately, Batt at least is patient, as he's been wanting to fight you or engineer your downfall for ''three years'', and wants you at your best before hand.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' averts this. In-game time passes consistently and is very important, as certain events will only take place at certain times (i.e. the Curiosity Shop only being open at night) and the moon will crash into the world if you take too long.. The game manages to get away with this by allowing you to go back in time to complete events you missed. Likewise, once the Four Giants hold the moon in place and you go inside it, you can take as long as you want since the giants' strength never gives out.

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** {{Lampshade h|anging}}ung (along with quite a few other things) by Midna in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''. Of course, it doesn't matter to her if you delay, because she just wants the {{MacGuffin}}s, and would actually be happy enough to see your world end ([[spoiler:at first]]). You can even dawdle around after [[spoiler:Midna gets hit with Lanayru's light]], but there's little reason to, as you can't leave the map in a direction that doesn't take you to Castle Town, or she'll plead with you to hurry to Zelda and you'll automatically turn around.

** One notable aversion with Kurt's personal quests. [[spoiler:If De Sardet does not assist him getting to the bottom of Reiner's death and ending the torture camp before finding out the truth of their origin, he '''will''' betray them and either force De Sardet to kill him, or kill himself]].

** You'll alwyas walk in ''just'' in-time for when Giovanni is discussing "grown-up things" with the boss of Silph Co. in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow]]'' and their various remakes)]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon Gold, Silve, and Crystal]]'' and their remakes, you may not really be able to go on to Blackthorn City while Team Rocket has taken over the Goldenrod Radio Tower, but you most definitely can run around all you like and Giovanni never comes out of hiding. The Kimono Girls also wait for you in the remakes to perform their ritual.
*** Technically, there is a reason you can take forever and never worry about Giovanni turning up, at least in the remakes if you complete the Celebi event. You actually travel back in time, beat Giovanni, and get told by him that even though he's been training since another kid beat him three years ago, the fact that you beat him means he still isn't ready to come back and take charge of Team Rocket again. Admittedly, this just means you have to take your time getting a Celebi, but since it's time travel, you have all the time in the world.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl''. You could start playing now and keep hanging around breeding for movesets and LevelGrinding until you've broken the buttons on your DS, but Cyrus's attempt to remake the world will hover forever at the brink of success.
*** Team Galactic's attacks on the three sacred lakes also counts. In ''Platinum'', this is even invoked: Lake Acuity can only be accessed by using Rock Climb, which ''forces you to detour'' to Snowpoint City and defeat the Gym so that you can use the move outside of battle. Your rival will just stall Commander Jupiter at the Lake until you get there.

* Used liberally in ''VideoGame/RuneFactory3'': There's a giant skeleton lizard monster attacking the univir village? You don't have to actually fight it for days. No one can cook anything for fear of attracting a lion-like beast? Eh, do whatever you want. [[spoiler: Your fiance has been kidnapped by a dragon?]] It can wait.

** You'll ''just'' walk in in time when Giovanni is discussing "grown-up things" with the boss of Silph Co. in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the first generation games (and their remakes)]].
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver''/''Crystal'' and their remakes, you may not really be able to go on to Blackthorn while Team Rocket has taken over Goldenrod, but you most definitely can run around all you like and Giovanni never comes out of hiding. The Kimono Girls also wait for you in the remakes to perform their ritual.
*** Technically, there is a reason you can take forever and never worry about Giovanni turning up, at least in the remakes if you complete the Celebi event. You travel back in time, beat Giovanni, and get told by him that even though he's been training since another kid beat him three years ago, the fact that you beat him means he still isn't ready to come back and take charge of Team Rocket again. Admittedly this just means you have to take your time getting a Celebi, but since it's time travel, you have all the time in the world.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', Archie and Maxie always wait for you to arrive before sending a crazy Pokémon on the world.

*** Team Galactic's attacks on the three sacred lakes also counts. In Platinum, at least, Lake Acuity can only be accessed by using Rock Climb, which ''forces you to detour'' to Snowpoint City and defeat the Gym so that you can use Rock Climb outside of battle. Your rival will just stall Commander Jupiter at the Lake until you get there.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', the plot moves along with you, but no matter how long you spend after reaching the Pokemon League, [[spoiler:N will never beat the Champion until the ''second'' you arrive.]] After that, you can dink around in the castle all you want. In fact, you can even be teleported out of it! Somehow. Why not postpone the FinalBattle to [[SkewedPriorities participate in a Pokémon Musical, or two, or twenty?]]

** Despite each Act having an urgent mission as its main goal, the game helpfully warns you about the PointOfNoReturn for the story and [=NPCs=] let it slide with only minor [[LampshadeHanging snark]] if you ask for more time to finish any other business. {{Justified|Trope}} in Act III by a GateGuardian that [[spoiler:only opens the Arena of the One when all potential [[TheChosenOne Chosen Ones]] are present]] and in Act IV because the villain's plot [[spoiler:relies on the PlayerCharacter being present.]]

** At the beginning of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', there are several instances where the dialogue makes you believe you need to leave quickly to avoid the Combine. One is the first meeting with Barney, another is in the apartments. You can stay as long as you want watching the citizen hold that door against the Combine. It'll never open. However, the last battle gives you a limited amount of time to defeat the BigBad before he wins by default.
** Perhaps the most obvious examples of this trope are when Combine soldiers were coming and you have to set up a perimeter with turrets. You can take as much time as you want doing this, and in fact [[spoiler:the first time around you can even pile up junk in front of entrances to keep the Combine out completely]], but the Combine only start coming once the last turret has been placed.
** ''Episode 1'' does this for the entire game. The citadel's core is on the verge of causing an explosion that will completely wipe out City 17. In the start of the game, Alyx keeps reminding you about the crisis, but you can go as slow as you want and the core will still be intact. Plot wise, Gordon and Alyx can take a bit more time on escaping after they delayed the core from going off, but when their plan stops working, Alyx once again urges Gordon to keep moving, but you can still go at a leisurely pace. The Citadel never explodes until after Gordon and Alyx board the train and leave City 17.
*** Similarly, Episode Two does this on several occasions. You are reminded several times that the Combine are hunting down Alyx and Gordon because they stole data from the Citadel that can be used against them. Even though you are urged to hurry to White Forest, you can practically hold down the walk button and the rebels' reaction to your arrival would still be the same. Likewise, after Alyx gets impaled by a Hunter, you are urged to be swift and retrieve an antlion larva extract to prevent Alyx from dying. No matter how fast or slow you go, by the time you come back with the MacGuffin, you'll always hear how Alyx's pulse has stopped and you're always in the nick of time to save her.