Current Events > People rag on short games, but the way I see it, they just respect your time.

(+) Yeah! (+)

If the dev has set up all the scenarios they needed to fully explore tactical breadth and setpieces, why does the game need to repeat those same ideas a thousand times? Let me put in a second playthrough if I want to play through the same ideas again.

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60 hour game or gtfo

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On the flip side, we need to move away from one-trick pony environments. Not completely, of course, but if you really want to pad length, instead of making your four elemental dungeons three hours long apiece, and then revisiting the same element again, how about expanding them from just those four elements to the four elements plus the twelve element combinations?

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I kind of agree. I think there's a point where a game can be "too short" to merit a $60 price tag, certainly, but more and more as I get older, I find myself more drawn to playing a game like Sekiro or a Soulsborne 3-4 times than I am to playing a huge open world game once.

I keep wanting to get sucked into one of these massive, sprawling worlds, because they can be really impressive, but I guess I sorta like a clear set of goals and relatively tight parameters.

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Blackstar110 posted...

I find myself more drawn to playing a game like Sekiro or a Soulsborne 3-4 times than I am to playing a huge open world game once.

Pretty sure those fall into big game category tho. They take most people 40+ hours first playthrough. I imagine TC means short like Halo to Last of Us type short.

I agree, but I still won't pay 60$ or something I won't get 40+ hours out of on first playthrough. I'll wait til that's at least halved.

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Respect your time? Lulz.

That's like saying a pickpocket respects your poverty, or a bad musician respects your deafness, or a dictator respects your poor voting record, or a cheating girlfriend respects your forgiving nature. DevsBro, we need you to CALM DOWN.

@DevsBro


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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Pretty sure those fall into big game category tho. They take most people 40+ hours first playthrough. I imagine TC means short like Halo to Last of Us type short.

I agree, but I still won't pay 60$ or something I won't get 40+ hours out of on first playthrough. I'll wait til that's at least halved.

I don't think FromSoft's games are 40 hour investments unless you're doing NG+, especially Sekiro, but even if they don't count, I'm still with ya. Give me a tight well-crafted campaign with excellent gameplay. Then I can decide if I want to engage in new game plus content, go for 100% completion, or move on with my life.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Pretty sure those fall into big game category tho. They take most people 40+ hours first playthrough. I imagine TC means short like Halo to Last of Us type short.

I just went from Suikoden 2 to Vanquish. Both great games, don't get me wrong, but that's exactly my point. Being short wasn't a demerit for Vanquish, since it had everything it needed in it already. Plus the unlockable difficulty and challenges add replay value if you still want more.

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I don't know, I really enjoyed The Park but it was *just* over 2 hours long so you couldn't qualify for a refund through Steam.

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Hexenherz posted...

I don't know, I really enjoyed The Park but it was *just* over 2 hours long so you couldn't qualify for a refund through Steam.

That's a good example of being TOO short, imo. Though, I guess it depends on the price. How much was it originally?

Right now it's under $10, and that's all good. I think a game that takes you two hours to play through once and has very little incentive to play through it again should probably come in at around $15. Maybe $20. A trip to the movies.

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Hexenherz posted...

I don't know, I really enjoyed The Park but it was *just* over 2 hours long so you couldn't qualify for a refund through Steam.

I mean, there are scummy exploits just like with anything.

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I don't remember how much it was on launch, probably $15, maybe $20 tops.

And I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a Secret World fan, otherwise it's just kind of boring >_>

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I love short games! It's like with written fiction, you have short stories and novellas and novels. Games usually tend to lean toward the novel-length side, but they can also lean toward the short-story-length side! Both lengths have unique qualities to tap. I just played Untitled Goose Game, and that was a perfect short game. Just long enough to make its point. Doesn't wear out its welcome.

But yeah, the price has to be right. $60 for a really short game isn't good.
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Literally the only problem with short games is the price at launch, and that problem goes away with time.
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DuranOfForcena posted...

if there are two games that are the same price, and one gives me 15 hours of content, and the other gives me 60+ hours of content, i'm gonna go with the one that gives me 60+ hours of content every time. a game respecting my wallet is more important to me than a game "respecting my time" (which is a pretty flimsy justification imo).

Even if it's 50+ hours of grinding?

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DuranOfForcena posted...

well i don't typically play games where the majority of the gameplay time is required grinding, so a game like that wouldn't be under consideration in the first place anyway

I haven't played a lot of 60+ hour games that weren't largely grindfests.

I mean MGSV took me 170 hours but there were a whole lot of side missions like Tank Unit 1, Tank Unit 2, Tank Unit 3, Tank Unit 4, Tank Unit 5...

Resonance of Fate took be 80 hours but there was a whole lot of "oh look it's this exactly same enemy group again."

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Theres definitely some games Ive played where toward the end it just feels like a chore. There definitely feels like some padding happening thats tacking on hours for no reason and I just want to see the ending.

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DuranOfForcena posted...

those are both weeb games. weeb games tend to be grindfests.

Well I also spent 180 hours swinging a sword wildly for three seconds and running away from enemies and spending ten minutes waiting on magicka recharge/cure spell in Oblivion so

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DuranOfForcena posted...

sounds like you didn't 5/5/1 minmax properly

I swear that game's leveling was the dumbest crap ever.

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guess we hate Resident Evil series now? except for 6 because it's quite longer than the others.

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DevsBro posted...

I mean MGSV took me 170 hours but there were a whole lot of side missions like Tank Unit 1, Tank Unit 2, Tank Unit 3, Tank Unit 4, Tank Unit 5...

Sounds like you did a whole lot of extra stuff that wasn't necessity at all. Extra content there for people who want it isn't a negative thing. I just beat it last year in like 50 hours and I was doing non necessity stuff as well. I didn't feel like I missed out on important stuff by not playing 170 hours.

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