The discourse around game length has been running hot again for a couple of weeks, and so we thought we would take the opportunity with all of us on the podcast to once again dive into it. It seems the older that we get the more time games ask of us… and yet the less time we’re willing to give them.
What sucks, as we discuss in this video, is that often we otherwise like the idea of a game, but because it’s so drenched in content and asks so much of us, we end up giving up on something that, done in another context, we would have really enjoyed.
I agree that Stray was what it needed to be. We need more games like it. One awful critism I saw in an article was that if you kept playing over and over the mechanics wore out and so it wasn’t that great. The stupidity of him not realizing the game length took that into account was astounding. He cousins find a normal way to say it wasn’t great so he had to force something stupid. I’m still not sure whether he is as dumb or just wanted to stir the pot.
I think outside of dungeons being a bit shorter, Persona 5 was fine for length, but overall I agree.
RotK and Elder Scrolls as a concept need a bunch of playtime, a lot of content so to speak.
Many games don’t. It also moves away from the concept with side stuff. Like AC, my two favorite entries are Unity and 1. They’re the make focused on their concepts and I love it.
I also think there are some ways around bloat as well. Prey is a great example. You can easily replay, from start or new game plus. Making it easy to replay let’s you keep playing if you really want without bloating it. The Mooncrash DLC also meaningfully extends the game while letting you just play the base game if you’ve had your fill. It was also a 25-30 hour game.
A game being short is a plus for me, not a minus. I’ve looked at Dragon Quest a few times, looked at the hour count, and nope my way right out.
I also disagree about games being the only art form this is an issue in. You being up books, but there definitely book series that extend longer than need be.
Naruto and ONE PIECE as animes and live action TV like the Walking Dead way overextend themselves with content. They’re bloated as any game if not more. I really want Naruto remade without the bloat because I’m not watching it in it’s current form.
Games aren’t the only one, there’s simply more of a focus on it.
You do have a good point and I did overlook that. The popular end of books, as well as anime/TV do have a habit of going longer than they’re worth, I agree with you.