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Oct 27, 2017
9,420
The last Zelda game was long as shit. But it was good enough to keep you occupied with it and engaged through the whole experience. Most of these other game don't provide enough engagement to keep you coming back till the end. Most games start to flounder around the 20 mark.
 

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,512
Frankly, frequent topics involving grown adults coming to the realization that they are now older, have more responsibilities, and overall less free time than they did in their twenties complaining that games no longer are designed like they were ten years ago instead of coming to terms with that. Doesn't exactly read to me as a problem with the gaming industry's current output. Especially since the focus is always on AAA open world games specifically, when there's more variety than ever in gaming.

And the thread of using vacation days on games is filled with "lol no, who uses free days on games?"
 

Brix

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,680
Frankly, frequent topics involving grown adults coming to the realization that they are now older, have more responsibilities, and overall less free time than they did in their twenties complaining that games no longer are designed like they were ten years ago instead of coming to terms with that. Doesn't exactly read to me as a problem with the gaming industry's current output. Especially since the focus is always on AAA open world games specifically, when there's more variety than ever in gaming.
Couldn't have said it better myself. One of your best quotes. ♥️
 
Oct 28, 2017
16,773
The last Zelda game was long as shit. But it was good enough to keep you occupied with it and engaged through the whole experience. Most of these other game don't provide enough engagement to keep you coming back till the end. Most games start to flounder around the 20 mark.
This is true. Games like Breath of the Wild and RDR2? Justified their lengths. Consistently engaging with new things to discover. Amazing worlds to explore. But most games aren't like that.
 

Mansa Mufasa

Member
Jun 17, 2019
1,349
Toronto
This gen has seen an explosion of open world games all which feature tons of side quests and RPG like mechanics.

Game length also seems to have quadrupled. RDR2, Death Stranding, Witcher 3, all Ubisoft games - they all seem to take forever to complete. 60+ hour experiences are now the norm. Who actually has time for this?

I'm playing Death Stranding, trying to focus on the main quests only. I'm on mission 8 yet it's taken me hours to get to this stage. IGN Wiki suggests there are 70 missions in total. 70 missions where you're essentially going to deliver packages from point A to point B. Those BT encounters also drastically slow you down. Holy hell this game is so repetitive.

I miss the linear or semi linear experiences that were common in the PS3/360 gen.

Why can't developers focus on providing meaningful experiences rather than unnecessarily padding their game with bullshit? Most of what I've been doing in Death Stranding seems like filler content to me. The only reason I am playing is because of the story. At this point, there is a strong temptation to quit the game and simply watch all the cutscenes on Youtube.

Right there with you and I was so resentful last gen of people using the word "linear" as a form of criticism against narrative-driven games. Not everything needs to be an open world/sandbox.
 
Apr 28, 2020
306
Totally agree with you. I beat RDR2 and almost had to force myself to finish that game. Story became predictable near the end. I can't even remember all the little details in that game.
The games that have stuck with me more this generation are: Return of the Obra Dinn, Outer Wilds, and Fall Guys.
 
Oct 27, 2017
5,852
Mount Airy, MD
I dunno, I just love playing games. If I like something, it rarely feels like it's overstaying its welcome.

And if a $60 game gets me 100+ hours, I'm way happier about that than when it gets me 10.
 

retrosega

Member
Jun 14, 2019
1,283
Yeah I agree with this. There are too many games that require 100+ hours of commitment and it's impossible to do them all justice.

At the moment I'm into Destiny 2, The Divsion and Warzone and am trying to start Fallout 4 too, as I've never played that either. GTAV Online has taken a back seat for me this year too, as I don't have the time to sink into it anymore.

All this and trying to play catch up on a massive backlog is like a full time job. :)
 

sredgrin

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,276
Games aren't designed for kids with no jobs lol. They are designed for people that only buy a handful of games. The issue is we've got like 100 percenters and Platinum trophy hunters, and FOMOers acting like they are the norm. I'm sure at the end of December there's gonna be some thread about someone that bought a month or two of Uplay + to mainline Watch Dogs, Asscreed, and Immortals for 15 dollars and complaining about this very same topic.
 

werezompire

Zeboyd Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
11,324
Play more indie games.

We make JRPGs with fast pacing that are much shorter than the average. Cthulhu Saves Christmas came out on Switch yesterday and it can be completed in a few hours.

I really liked Lithium City and that can be completed in 2-3 hours (although the developer is working on some free new content). It's a stylish action/puzzle game a la Hotline Miami.

Another indie game that came out this year that I really like is World of Horror. It's kind of like a roguelike meets a Choose Your Own Adventure. 2-bit color, Junji Ito inspired horror, and a single playthrough can be completed in under an hour (but tons of replay value).
 

SliChillax

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,144
Tirana, Albania
Death Stranding in PC with cheats is the best thing ever. No weight limit, infinite stamina and you can even teleport anywhere on the map to skip walking the same old boring walking sections.
 

K Samedi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,989
I can game around 10 to 14 hours a week at max and that is on Switch so I gravitate towards games that are easy to pick up and don't have a heavy story and a huge list of side quests. I'm still tempted sometimes to buy a meaty huge game like I did with Divinity Original Sin 2 but it took me months to finish it. It's easy to get bored with a game if it's taking you months so I am getting pretty picky with my games lately.
 

Surakian

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
10,822
I feel the same way. The game has to be something really special to make me sit and pour 60+ hours into it.

I regret buying AC Origins and Odyssey (even though I like these games) because I just don't have the time or mindset to spend eternity in these giant sandboxes.
 

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,304
nowadays? this has always been the case
Years of studies stating that game publishers specifically target 18-30 year olds in the AAA space, (aka people who have the right mix of responsibilities/income/free time), exist lmao

Right there with you and I was so resentful last gen of people using the word "linear" as a form of criticism against narrative-driven games. Not everything needs to be an open world/sandbox.
No not everything needs to be an open world/sandbox but when it comes to certain genres like shooter games and action games in general encounter design based around the player making frequent moment to moment decisions has done wonders when it came to inserting life into relatively stagnant genres.

Any one encounter in TLOU2 is far more engaging than any single encounter in the uncharted games or even the first TLOU game because of the breadth of options the player has at their disposal on top of the expanded layout of sandbox. Just to name an example.
 

Yippiekai

The Fallen
May 28, 2018
1,475
Toulouse, France
Yeaaaaah, about that... That's a no.
I won't ever be behind movement that want less to do in games. Especially if the examples given here are RDR2, GTAV or Death Stranding as the bad ones and RE3 Remake as the good ones.

There are enough "short" games that release regularly. Big AAA open world with hundreds of hours of content are the minority, not the norm.
And most people seem to have problems more with the amount of time where they can't play than the games themselves.
 

calibos

Member
Dec 13, 2017
1,993
Frankly, frequent topics involving grown adults coming to the realization that they are now older, have more responsibilities, and overall less free time than they did in their twenties complaining that games no longer are designed like they were ten years ago instead of coming to terms with that. Doesn't exactly read to me as a problem with the gaming industry's current output. Especially since the focus is always on AAA open world games specifically, when there's more variety than ever in gaming.

Amen.

I am 46, have a job in CG for advertising and a wife and 6 year old that I spend as much time as possible with. I absolutely love open world games, I just don't have as much "teenager time" to spend running around in them. What's appealing to me these days is going back to them and sinking in for a couple weeks and then jumping out. I have done that with Red Dead 2 and am about 50% through it right now. What's even better is that I will be revisiting and experiencing these games on next gen in a few weeks.

The Industry is just making more games now that couldn't be made in the past and I only expect the worlds to get bigger and more open as time goes on. I'll just keep adapting my style and time around those games. There are still plenty of singleplayer experiences that are shorter too.
 

the7samurai

Member
Oct 30, 2017
443
I agree with this quite a bit. Just played through Ghostbusters The Videogame. Now obviously this isn't a goty or anything and it is old but it was fairly short and knew what it was.

Sometimes when I'm playing a game I look up how long the game typically takes because I feel like things should maybe be wrapping up. The big exception to this was BotW which I just wished there was more of after a couple hundred hours.

But there's also different tastes and preferences to account for and the games your looking for exist I think.
 

oni-link

tag reference no one gets
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,015
UK
To address 2 points that have come up a lot:

1) It's a free time issue, and it's not long games, but your lack of free time that is the problem

This is a weird one because while you can beat 100 hour games by playing an hour a night, people might want to use their gaming time to experience more stories, worlds, mechanics and adventures, as opposed to spending it all in one game doing endless side tasks. If games were shorter, they'd fit more games into their free time. If you have 100 hours free, some people would rather play 5 games that take them 20 hours a pop, than one game that takes them 100

2) Just quit when you're bored and don't finish them

This suits some people, but most single player games have a story with an end, and that's often a part of why people play games. If you always bail on every game at the 20-50% mark, that can feel like watching the first half of every film you start. It's not ideal and not something that will suit everyone

To conclude, I don't mind long games personally, I just make sure I'm always playing shorter games alongside them, but there are a lot of reasons why 100 hour games are less than ideal for some people, and their criticisms are valid. More so when games have become much, much longer on average over the last decade. To a lot of people that will be great, but it's obviously going to cause problems for others
 

Young Liar

Member
Nov 30, 2017
3,411
here's a list of good to absolutely fantastic games that you can beat in under 15 hours and come in a variety of genres, with budgets ranging from small indie projects to big blockbuster titles, all of which have come out in the past 10 years

signs of the sojourner
titanfall 2
doom 2016
wide ocean big jacket
sayonara wild hearts
control
a short hike
eliza
a plague tale innocence
resident evil 2 remake
paratopic
donut county
life is strange
heaven will be mine
florence
celeste
iconoclasts
dujanah
dishonored: death of the outsider
observer
uncharted: the lost legacy
hellblade: senua's sacrifice
tacoma
rakuen
what remains of edith finch
night in the woods
detention
furi
inside
anatomy
oxenfree
the beginner's guide
soma
her story
hotline miami
off-peak
80 days
transistor
jazzpunk
device 6
gone home
guacemelee
metal gear rising revengeance
kentucky route zero
journey

pick any single one of these titles, and you will either have fun or have a tight, meaningful experience, probably even both.

there are just too many "games" for a blanket statement like this thread title to ever be true.
 

ngower

Member
Nov 20, 2017
4,012
This was the beauty of BOTW for me: you can explore every nook and cranny or beat the game in two hours

I'm definitely on board with OP
 
Oct 28, 2017
16,773
here's a list of good to absolutely fantastic games that you can beat in under 15 hours and come in a variety of genres, with budgets ranging from small indie projects to big blockbuster titles, all of which have come out in the past 10 years

signs of the sojourner
titanfall 2
doom 2016
wide ocean big jacket
sayonara wild hearts
control
a short hike
eliza
a plague tale innocence
resident evil 2 remake
paratopic
donut county
life is strange
heaven will be mine
florence
celeste
iconoclasts
dujanah
dishonored: death of the outsider
observer
uncharted: the lost legacy
hellblade: senua's sacrifice
tacoma
rakuen
what remains of edith finch
night in the woods
detention
furi
inside
anatomy
oxenfree
the beginner's guide
soma
her story
hotline miami
off-peak
80 days
transistor
jazzpunk
device 6
gone home
guacemelee
metal gear rising revengeance
kentucky route zero
journey

pick any single one of these titles, and you will either have fun or have a tight, meaningful experience, probably even both.

there are just too many "games" for a blanket statement like this thread title to ever be true.
The vast majority of titles you list are indies. As has been pointed out many times, people are criticising the modern AAA industry. We all know if you look at the indie space there's plenty there. But it doesn't mean the issue with modern AAA titles isn't there.
 

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,304
The vast majority of titles you list are indies. As has been pointed out many times, people are criticising the modern AAA industry. We all know if you look at the indie space there's plenty there. But it doesn't mean the issue with modern AAA titles isn't there.
There's plenty there in the AAA space too if you have goals other than reliving gaming as it was 10 years ago. Mainstream interests change, from the goals of designers to the wants of players. That's not a problem.
 

Deleted member 16657

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,198
Basically have given up on AAA games. Indie games are where it's at for me nowadays. So many interesting ideas and they don't have any reason to bloat the game with unnecessary features.
 

Yamajian

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,146
I think this has everything to do with how padded all of these games are, not the actual length itself.

Dark Souls 3 took me 50+ hours to get through, but I loved every second of it because I never felt like I was going through filler content. No Mans Sky on the other hand gets boring after the first few hours because it feels like a chore to play. The gameplay just isn't interesting enough.
 

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,132
UK
This gen has seen an explosion of open world games all which feature tons of side quests and RPG like mechanics.

Game length also seems to have quadrupled. RDR2, Death Stranding, Witcher 3, all Ubisoft games - they all seem to take forever to complete. 60+ hour experiences are now the norm. Who actually has time for this?

I'm playing Death Stranding, trying to focus on the main quests only. I'm on mission 8 yet it's taken me hours to get to this stage. IGN Wiki suggests there are 70 missions in total. 70 missions where you're essentially going to deliver packages from point A to point B. Those BT encounters also drastically slow you down. Holy hell this game is so repetitive.

I miss the linear or semi linear experiences that were common in the PS3/360 gen.

Why can't developers focus on providing meaningful experiences rather than unnecessarily padding their game with bullshit? Most of what I've been doing in Death Stranding seems like filler content to me. The only reason I am playing is because of the story. At this point there is a strong temptation to quit the game and simply watch all the cutscenes on Youtube.
I avoid open world games for these reasons, because I don't have the time in my life to dedicate to them. Which frees me up to lots of shorter games that I'm finding to be very satisfying, daring, and memorable 😀
 

Domino

Member
Oct 25, 2017
511
This generation pushed me over the edge on open world games. I cannot stand them anymore.
 

Bookman

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,227
Im working full-time and have both series x and ps5 pre ordered but I don't really have time to play. I miss dead space , mass effect , uncharted 1-3 kind of games
 

Deleted member 43552

User requested account closure
Banned
May 17, 2018
409
Absolutely with you on this OP. I've been gravitating more and more to focused games where possible. I'll pick up some open world games that seem well put together (Ghost of Tsushima), but otherwise am wary of the sub-genre.
 

ANDS

Banned
Jun 25, 2019
566
There are only a handful of open world games whose main stories are too long if you ask me. Witcher 3 has a long story (but not a boring one) but you can easily get more hours if you try to do everything. I feel like the only recent game that felt long to me was AC:O (because I tried to do side quests as well) and Dragon Quest.
 

DirtySprite3

Banned
Sep 13, 2019
810
I feel like the internet minority who complained about linear set pieces in the PS3 gen caused everything to be open world. Like TLOU was so amazing and just because some people on forums complained about it being linear(even tho critics loved it) they made TLOU2 way more open ended and imo it suffered as a result of this. Not everyone has many hours to dedicate to gaming and you shouldn't have to have an abundance of free time to play AAA games. I don't like indies so this overall change in the industry has made me lose so much interest in gaming overall.
 

TheOther

Member
Jan 10, 2019
1,794
Texas
How long to beat isn't exactly accurate itself, at least for specific games.

It says 50 hours for BotW main story and I accidentally finished it in 22.

It also has the 3D Fallout games at roughly 25-30 hours. I think they're closer to 15-20 hours if you really skip all the BS.
 

Seijuro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,858
I love AC Odyssey and wanted to quickly play both DLC campaigns before getting Valhalla, among other games I wanted to finish before Next Gen hits. I've been playing solely the Odyssey DLC for over a month now. It's long af (definitely worth the money), but instead of hyping me up for Valhalla it seems it has the opposite effect. I'm a father and work fulltime, and gaming time is in short supply these days. I'm much rather drawn to Miles now than Valhalla because this game I can actually finish in a reasonable timeframe.
Games like Spider-Man or God of War show you can do fulfilling open world games that don't occupy your free time for months on end.
Frankly, frequent topics involving grown adults coming to the realization that they are now older, have more responsibilities, and overall less free time than they did in their twenties complaining that games no longer are designed like they were ten years ago instead of coming to terms with that.
Well put, there's some truth to that.
 

Fuhgeddit

#TeamThierry
Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,700
Absolutely, I want awesome linear experiences. How about making games with a focus on good combat?
 

Vonocourt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,621
How long to beat isn't exactly accurate itself, at least for specific games.

It says 50 hours for BotW main story and I accidentally finished it in 22.

It also has the 3D Fallout games at roughly 25-30 hours. I think they're closer to 15-20 hours if you really skip all the BS.
How Long to Beat is just a aggregate of user submitted times, you could sign up and add your twenty two hour playtime and it would be put into the pulled data and average for the main story would be adjusted accordingly.
 
May 17, 2019
2,649
Play more indie games.

We make JRPGs with fast pacing that are much shorter than the average. Cthulhu Saves Christmas came out on Switch yesterday and it can be completed in a few hours.

I really liked Lithium City and that can be completed in 2-3 hours (although the developer is working on some free new content). It's a stylish action/puzzle game a la Hotline Miami.

Another indie game that came out this year that I really like is World of Horror. It's kind of like a roguelike meets a Choose Your Own Adventure. 2-bit color, Junji Ito inspired horror, and a single playthrough can be completed in under an hour (but tons of replay value).

I love your studio's work! The amount of times I played Cthulhu Saves The World is ridiculous.
 

danmaku

Member
Nov 5, 2017
3,232
I feel like the internet minority who complained about linear set pieces in the PS3 gen caused everything to be open world. Like TLOU was so amazing and just because some people on forums complained about it being linear(even tho critics loved it) they made TLOU2 way more open ended and imo it suffered as a result of this. Not everyone has many hours to dedicate to gaming and you shouldn't have to have an abundance of free time to play AAA games. I don't like indies so this overall change in the industry has made me lose so much interest in gaming overall.

I think it's the opposite: the majority of gamers were tired of paying full price for games you could finish in a weekend. Hardcore gamers never had that problem because they were fine with spending a ton of money on games or they resold the games to get new releases. Last gen every Gamestop was brimming with used linear TPS/FPS that people bought and resold in a few days.
 

Huntersknoll

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,663
It has lead to to not play as many games and spend more time with the games I play. Took me awhile to realize I don't have the time for every game out there so I need to be careful with the ones I choose to play and sink time into
 

Strike

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,341
I've struggled with that this gen. I found that spacing them out between smaller games like indies helped break up the monotony for me.