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RNGesus

Banned
Aug 3, 2018
272
This is why my backlog is so massive. Most games have too much padding and I for some reason feel a need to try and complete them all.
 

lorddarkflare

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,259
Be more discerning of the games you play: Long games are fine if you play very few of them throughout the year.

Play smart: don't engage in the more filler-y aspects of the games you play.

While I DO agree that many modern games are inflated and have terrible pacing, that problem is different from the issue of long games in general.
 

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,114
Long is fine if it's well paced, but that's actually rare. The majority of longer games tend do tend to have pacing issues and filler: a million collectibles, samey sidequest stuff, random encounters etc.

Please look forward to Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry 5 then =p

I'll give you RE2 but I'd argue DMC games are long if you're doing it right and not just bumbling through the campaign once.
 

alr1ght

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,053
People think longer equals better. They're wrong.

Imagine if every movie was 6 hours long, because "value."
 

weebro

Banned
Nov 7, 2018
1,191
Those multiplayer GaaS games that want you to come back often for daily/weekly challenges can be a huge timesink. Its easy to lose time to them without realizing it because of the "one more match" mentality.
 

Chaos2Frozen

Member
Nov 3, 2017
28,052
I'll give you RE2 but I'd argue DMC games are long if you're doing it right and not just bumbling through the campaign once.

The old DMC games are like 10-12 hour campaigns.

At most, I don't expect DMC5 to exceed 20 hours even with 3 characters.

People complaining about campaign duration aren't as likely to consider multiple playthroughs anyway.
 

Asbsand

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,901
Denmark
I skipped so many big hits these last years. I don't want to play games that incentivise doing all the grindy shit. I really miss those 10/10 like games like Arkham Asylum where it's just 8-10 hours of solid and well produced main mission things and then a handful of side objectives to do. Or Mass Effect 2, god I miss those mid-sized games instead of every game going full-bloat because I guess publishers want that player attach rate stat.
 

R dott B

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,136
God of War is one of my favorite experiences this gen, but there's a good three or so hours that could have been cut from the latter half that would have resulted in a tighter experience overall.

My only issue with the game...Boy did it drag

Not every game needs to be long especially if it's filled with a bunch of backtracking.
 

CrypticSlayer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
647
With Gamepass I've started playing small sized games and there's plenty there. I play those while I wait for the few big games I want get cheaper. I try to avoid the forced grindy ones that I don't find interesting. There's just too many different types of games.
 
Oct 25, 2017
4,553
I learned a long time ago to set my own conditions for how I enjoy a game and that just because content is there and available does not mean I am obligated to see it to call it a finished game. I would much rather see 80% of a bunch of games and miss out on some side stuff than see 100% of a small handful of games and get stuck doing repetitive and shallow open world tasks.

Will be hoping that KH3 isn't some super bloated mess. Have a few smaller titles in January that I'm getting (NSMBU, Onimusha) so starting off 2019 by not playing through some bloated mess will be nice.
 

DirtyLarry

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,113
As a 43 soon to be 44 year old adult who still very much enjoys playing video games but likes to play as many games as possible, and even if I did not like to play different games and only played one at a time, I 110% agree with you OP.
So here is my proposal to developers.
Offer people the option to play a streamlined or full experience.
Just like you offer the ability to choose the difficulty level of games, offer us the option to play a more streamlined or robust gaming experience.
Because let's face it, it is not like all of these games that go on forever one has to experience all of the missions to get the idea for the story itself.
So if a game is over let's say 30-40 hours, offer the adult with other things to do option.
At the rate I am going I should finally beat RDR2 by 2021. Maybe then I can finally open my copy of Odyssey I got from Amazon for $30 on Black Friday. Right now I am not even thinking about opening it as I am still slowly but surely making my way through RDR2.
 

Fiel

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,265
Maybe you take a break yourself? And play at your own pace without worry about them, just takea note what you really want to play and snag them on deep sale.

Because you cant stop content threadmill from AAA developer , they need money to run and have investor to take care. And long game is tend to sell better so it is what it is.
 

Driggonny

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,170
I have almost no money for games and I agree with OP. My dream games are games in which all content, main and side, feels meaningful to do. But almost no modern AAA games are designed that way. There has to be oodles and oodles or "stuff" to do. I'd rather replay the same good content and have unlocks or something than play bad "unique" content.
 

hephaestus

Member
Oct 28, 2017
673
nope, I hope anthem and the division 2 are so long that those are the only two games I buy next year.
 

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,599
You should play some indies, there are great experiences with 1-3 hours.

People complain a lot when a short/linear AAA game is released for $60 so I don't think it will change.
 

Gilver

Banned
Nov 14, 2018
3,725
Costa Rica
There is no need to play all the "important" AAA games if you feel like you will enjoy them less. The only AAA game I played from 2018 is GOW and I enjoyed it without issue. You need to play older games, you are not working at IGN for this to be an issue with how you play games. There are probably alot of amazing short games in your backlog, dont let them be forgotten becuase you want to be part of the current discussion.
 
Oct 25, 2017
13,022
Quality over Quantity these days for me, so it doesn't matter.

Also I buy less and less "AAA" games, it's pretty great when you notice you don't have to play every big release.

Now I focus on less games that I will know I will love, and god damn some of these games are long. I'm still playing DQXI after 100+ hours.
 
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Chaos2Frozen

Member
Nov 3, 2017
28,052
In my opinion, the problem about long RPGs is not that they're long, but that you need to do all kinds of studying and planning when you play them.

Which is fine when they first come out and everyone is around learning and teaching each other, but it gets harder the further from release date.

Also people that goes in with the 'clearing backlog' mentality tends to want to just get things over and done with to scratch one of a list so those types of games might be frustrating.
 

Boy

Member
Apr 24, 2018
4,565
It's not like you're obligated to do everything in a game. Just play the main missions and forget the extra side stuff if the game is too long.
 
Oct 25, 2017
13,022
In my opinion, the problem about long RPGs is not that they're long, but that you need to do all kinds of studying and planning when you play them.

Which is fine when they first come out and everyone is around learning and teaching each other, but it gets harder the further from release date.

Also people that goes in with the 'clearing backlog' mentality tends to want to just get things over and done with to scratch one of a list so those types of games might be frustrating.

One of the best parts of "good" long games is how invested you get into them(studying/planning), I recently played the Trails in the Sky Trilogy(200 hours) and now I'm in the post-game of DQXI(114 hours so far) and it's super rewarding.

On the side I have multiplayers games like Smash and DBFZ which I will dump hundreds of hours into at least.

With that said, I have finished like 30 games this year so everything aside of those huge games have been short, it's all about what you want to finish, I'm someone that loves to finish games from my backlog but if a game is good I'll give it my time.
 

Trickster

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,533
Can't you just not do all the boring and shitty side content and focus on the main story? Saying a full playthrough of a game is close to a 100 hours is pretty much never gonna be true unless you're including a ton of side content in that number.
 

ZeroX

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,266
Speed Force
Agreed. The idea that the players are 'demanding' longer games is silly too. The majority of people aren't finishing these games. God of War has a 54% completion rate and that's incredibly high. Spidey is up there too but others are much lower. RDR2's epilogue hasn't even been finished by 20% of players. AC Odyssey is at 23%. Far Cry 5 at 35%.

I hope this trend continues. God of War and RDR2 are amazing.
It's not that they're not amazing, but God of War's pacing would have improved if it cut the return visits to the mountain and Hel. Maybe two hours of the game gone but that's the fat. Spider-Man and God of War both could've had less busywork collectibles (ugh Odin's Ravens) and more substantial side content. Red Dead could have had mechanical improvements so less time was wasted. Length doesn't equal amazement.
 

Rygar 8Bit

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,891
Site-15
Nothing stopping you from steam rolling and only doing the main story is most of those types of games. Cuts the play time way down.
 

KiLAM

Member
Jan 25, 2018
1,610
I agree. Am so done with these type of games. With a few exceptions I probably won't even buy a game if it is open world. I am so fed up of them and that's why playing more and more indies. Gotta agree 2019 looks great though. RE2, DMC5 and Sekiro within a few months. I hope this is not a one time coincidence and we get more games like these.
 

danhz

Member
Apr 20, 2018
3,242
Around 50h is the perfect time to me, u have enough for making a good main quest, a few sidequests and end game.
 

Strike

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,361
I don't mind if there's plenty of content, but they could really cut back on the open world games.
 

345

Member
Oct 30, 2017
7,386
i don't mind RDR2 being so long because you're clearly meant to drink it in, but god of war just felt padded out to me with palette-swap bosses etc. definitely could've shaved a couple hours off.
 

E.T.

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,035
Red Dead 2 is a mess in regards to length. Could have cut down at least 30 hours. The Epilogue was much much better paced and as a result a tad more acceptable. SpiderMan was near perfect as you mentioned OP, shout out to DQXI as well.
 

Le Dude

Member
May 16, 2018
4,709
USA
Agreed. The idea that the players are 'demanding' longer games is silly too. The majority of people aren't finishing these games. God of War has a 54% completion rate and that's incredibly high. Spidey is up there too but others are much lower. RDR2's epilogue hasn't even been finished by 20% of players. AC Odyssey is at 23%. Far Cry 5 at 35%.


It's not that they're not amazing, but God of War's pacing would have improved if it cut the return visits to the mountain and Hel. Maybe two hours of the game gone but that's the fat. Spider-Man and God of War both could've had less busywork collectibles (ugh Odin's Ravens) and more substantial side content. Red Dead could have had mechanical improvements so less time was wasted. Length doesn't equal amazement.

That's some interesting data. What's the stats on games that are shorter and have less filler? That would help determine if the bloat is actually stopping more players from finishing the games.

EDIT: Also, Wind Waker HD really deserves credit in this regard. It really streamlined that bloated triforce quest and it made for an all-around better game. I wish more remakes/remasters would do things like that to improve the games, rather than focusing entirely on graphics/performance.
 

statham

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,449
FloRida
RDR2 is as long as you want it to be, the sidequests adds to the story, but the story itself is still wonderful and doesn't have to be 40+ hours. Its like watching a movie and extended cut, the extended cut adds more, but main cut is still great.

otherwise I agree with you, very few games do I want to be long, to me 8-10 hours is perfect. Titanfall2 was about 5+ hours and that was a great ride.
 

KrAzY

Member
Sep 2, 2018
1,922
Depends. If it has amazing characters and world, the longer the better for me.
If the characters and world are not, then it's gonna be a slog and I just want to pay attention to the main story and be done.
 

baconcow

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,814
New AAA games cost a lot here. I'll take my 50+ hour games instead of 4-10 hour experiences.
 

BIGLukas

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
1,322
USA
I like having long games, short games, and everything in between. Long AAA open world games, for me, are perfect for playing when listening to podcasts, watching TV shows, etc.
 

Thorn

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
24,446
Disagree.

I love how RDR2 just has more and more and more.

I love huge games.
 

Timu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,576
I agree, I'm more of a fan of 5-30 hour games than 80+ hour ones. I value quality and the experience more than games that are just long to be long. As for the value of the money, that's subjective, I don't judge games based on length but how good they are so that works out for me.
 
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Nintendo

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,383
No. I wish RDR2 was even longer. I wish Spider-Man had more fleshed out side content.

There are many shorter games for you if you don't like long games.
 

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
15-30 hours is my preferred game length, but I'm definitely not opposed to longer titles.
 

Master Chuuster

GamingBolt.com
Verified
Dec 14, 2017
2,651
If a game is good, it can be as long as it wants. I get your criticism about God of War, I do agree that it could have been better paced if it were a little shorter. Maybe even Red Dead 2, especially the first half of chapter 5- but if in a 90 hour experience, 5 hours of it are a slog and the other 85 are top notch, I really don't mind the length.

A good example this year is DQ11. Easily an 80 hour game, but so perfectly paced it didn't feel like 80 hours at all.
 

badnewsbeers

Member
Dec 10, 2017
430
Ontario, Canada
I understand that a person's time is valuable but what kind of world do we live in when people object to having long, great gameplay experiences?

I think you answered it. Key word is "great". RDR2 was great start to finish. God of War was mostly great, with some unnecessary filler. Same with Odyssey. If a game is a great experience I'll keep going. I just don't want it to purposely drag it out when there's not a good reason for it.