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[Bragr]

Days Gone, Assassins Creed Origins, Odyssey & Valhalla, The Last of Us Part II, God of War Ragnarok, A Plague Tale Requiem, Elden Ring, Breath of the Wild, The Witcher 3, etc... etc...

Brilliant games, but games in the PS4/Xbox One generation grew considerably longer than the generation before. 15 years ago it was normal that a campaign was 5-7 hours. Then it became something like 8 to 12 hours, and now it's 15 to 20 hours or more.

Why are triple-A single-player games trending towards length to this extent? what's the point? what has changed? has this something to do with directors also assuming writing jobs? is it because of player retention?

If Mass Effect 2, Bioshock, or Portal 2 was released today, they would be 3 times longer.

I miss the more elegant single-player campaigns of the past and I can't wrap my head around why it's gotten this extreme.

 

[remember_spinal]

Because people throw hissy fits when games can’t be played for more than 100 hours anymore.

I think its a knock on effect to all the F2P garbage out now. People play the same games all day, all year.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I haven't finished Elden Ring yet because 60 hours is too many for me these days. I’m at the Volcano manor and I don’t want to commit 40 more.

I will finish it, just not this year unless a fire gets lit under me.

 

[adamsapple]

Games are made with bloat and barren content so it can be fleshed out as post release DLC to sell folks.

 

[Barrico82]

Why would i Pay for 70 $ For a 5-7 hours games ?

 

[FunkMiller]

It would be nice if someone were to develop a curated, concise and streamlined gaming experience for less money.

This is not likely though, because how on earth can you con people into buying DLC and other shit, if you're admitting your game is like that?

 

[Banjo64]

Because people throw hissy fits when games can’t be played for more than 100 hours anymore.

On the contrary, I think people are fed up of bloat.

The Witcher 3, Skyrim, Elden Ring, Breath of the Wild taking over 50 hours to complete? Nearly everyone wants that. The rest? Nope. Not really.

I think most studios/devs doing this are out of touch/full of themselves/trying to justify their own work.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I miss the days when games were this short so I would replay them. These days I barely replay anything. I think the only time I’ve done it recently was with Doom Eternal.

My attention span is horrible so games that are longer than 15 hours I don’t usually finish. Valhalla is awful for this, 60 hours of mostly filler bullshit. Couldn’t stomach more than just a few hours.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Because people throw hissy fits when games can’t be played for more than 100 hours anymore.

This, which is also why people like me with families are just not playing. I had PS5 Ragnarok Edition today in the cart but for what - to spend 1 hour every day for the next month playing one game? Where I can also dedicate that time to reading and piano? Nah, fuck this shit, I'm out.

 

[BattleScar]

Because of Skyrim.

 

[feynoob]

Because of Skyrim.

you welcome.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Why would i Pay for 70 $ For a 5-7 hours games ?

Because you don't want to spend the next few weeks playing the same game where in the 3rd hour you get all the mechanics and nothing changes till the end at Hour 50? You really don't value your time, do you?

 

[feynoob]

Why would i Pay for 70 $ For a 5-7 hours games ?

No one should pay that much for a short game.

Because you don't want to spend the next few weeks playing the same game where in the 3rd hour you get all the mechanics and nothing changes till the end at Hour 50? You really don't value your time, do you?

What time? If you play video games, you really dont value your time.

 

[_Ex_]

Why would i Pay for 70 $ For a 5-7 hours games ?

Perhaps if the games were designed to be that short, they would have smaller budgets to match, and a smaller price point as a result.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

JRPGs got worse though.

Just look at FF7R, some 30 hours of bloat and padding for a segment that lasted around 5 hours in the original.

The original FF7 took around some 30+ hours to beat without taking your time and doing side stuff, but every single hour was worth it.

 

[nemiroff]

I don't see the problem. Play until you feel it's enough, and if you didnt make it till the end, watch a summary/the ending on youtube. I spent 320 hours in Elden Ring btw, loved every second.

 

[Barrico82]

Because you don't want to spend the next few weeks playing the same game where in the 3rd hour you get all the mechanics and nothing changes till the end at Hour 50? You really don't value your time, do you?

Didn't feel that while i was pouring more than 100 hours in Elden ring, or MGSV loved even after getting all the mechanics, still the trying of new things with new enemies, is much better experience than the short MGS IV

Spending few weeks with the same game is better than finishing the game in one sit !

I value my money and my time, but a game below 15 hours, not worth my money this is for free or part of a service or below 10 $

I think i speak for the most people, here in the forums I always hear these complaints but in reality, short games dont review well and dont sell well

 

[Syphon Filter]

I disagree, I think games were longer around that time.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

I can get behind this, thankfully Evil West seems to be on the shorter side length wise

 

[Abriael_GN]

Either you have strangely distorted memories of 10-15 years ago, or you were extremely selective with your games.

 

[ckaneo]

I like longer games.

 

[baphomet]

Making a game more than 15 hours is a sure fire way to get me not to buy it.

 

[Roberts]

Mass Effect 2 and 3 were longer than Plague Tale: Requiem.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I wish games were shorter.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Forum posters and youtubers ragging about games lenght per dollar to evaluate value.

 

[Raonak]

Because people started complaining about 8h games that cost full price.

I like me a shorter experience, but also don't mind the 20-30h experience ala TLOU2 and GOWR

 

[MidGenRefresh]

If Mass Effect 2, Bioshock, or Portal 2 was released today, they would be 3 times longer.

I just finished another playthrough of Mass Effect 1 and it took me nearly 30 hours.

I'd love that game to be 90 hours. Masterful world building and story telling.

 

[TheGodfather07]

20-30 hours isnt too bad. its the ones that go above 50 that are an issue for me. they are just too long.

 

[Fbh]

Because size and length ( ) became the main factor by which people gauge the "value" of a game, and publishers took notice.

 

[AJUMP23]

Time and value proposition.

 

[Killer8]

The common feature of the majority of the games you listed is open world. It's extremely easy to extend game length by forcing the player to travel everywhere in order to keep the story going. Not to mention how easy it is to artificially pad the length with side quests and distractions you can find along the way.

Some companies like Ubisoft also want to incentivize players sticking with their game long term, so that they can sell them things like season passes and microtransactions along the journey.

In saying all this: I fucking hate it and wish developers would go back to making more linear 10 hour games.

 

[remember_spinal]

Because people started complaining about 8h games that cost full price.

I like me a shorter experience, but also don't mind the 20-30h experience ala TLOU2 and GOWR

This is part of the reason why I’ll always prefer sony games to ubisoft games, because while yes…games like horizon and tsushima have some bloat they don’t have 70+ hours of main storyline bloat.

You can finish horizon and ghost (and most of the sony games) in under 30 hours, and if you want to do side content they can be played for up to 50-70 for one playthrough.

That makes a lot of difference to me as a game has to be one of teh best games ever to get me to commit 50+ Hours to completing it at minimum.

 

[Gamerdude123]

To include micro transactions. The more time people spend in a game the more likely they are to pay.

 

[Kimahri]

I hate it. And I hate the mentality that has brought this on. Whiny people who think length equals quality, and bitch about price as if anything under 10, no wait, 20 hours is somehow not worth 60 or 70 or whatever it is now. I mean, look at the Evil West thread. It's a 12 hour game or so, and brilliantly fun, but apparently not worth full price (which it isn't even to begin with) because that's not long enough. Gears of War was only 5-6 hours, and it was worth every penny. Halo was 10, God of War was 10. It was bloody well worth it.

I can make time to play long games, and I do, but I want to play many games, I'm not content playing one single game for weeks or months at a time. It does not matter how good the games is, I will get bored and fed up and I'll leave. There are many games I would love to play if they were cut down in length. Any shooter game should be 10 hours tops, big open world games should be finishable in 20-30 hours and if you're anal about doing meaningless shit, sure, bring in enough extra fetch quests to play for a year. If a game is too long, I'll get bored, fed up and I'll quit.

And that's what most people do no matter the length. Most people don't finish the games they play. So what's the sollution? Make them longer of course. Brilliant!

Isn't it better to get to the finish line thinking how awesome was that, and want more, than to quit somewhere down the middle and never look back cause you're done?

 

[SHA]

They want you to stick longer with it , to them it's an indication the game still alive, it's also a sign of value and pushing new boundaries that haven't been reached before , it's in their nature to always have the desire to reach new heights , if you think they weren't evolving then you're wrong , they kept evolving since the early days , nowadays dlcs make sense for those who want more and also for those who wanna rush through the ending without touching them , it's just common sense to have dlcs.

 

[Wildebeest]

Adderall is a hell of a drug.

 

[Three]

Days Gone, Assassins Creed Origins, Odyssey & Valhalla, The Last of Us Part II, God of War Ragnarok, A Plague Tale Requiem, Elden Ring, Breath of the Wild, The Witcher 3, etc... etc...

Brilliant games, but games in the PS4/Xbox One generation grew considerably longer than the generation before. 15 years ago it was normal that a campaign was 5-7 hours. Then it became something like 8 to 12 hours, and now it's 15 to 20 hours or more.

Why are triple-A single-player games trending towards length to this extent? what's the point? what has changed? has this something to do with directors also assuming writing jobs? is it because of player retention?

If Mass Effect 2, Bioshock, or Portal 2 was released today, they would be 3 times longer.

I miss the more elegant single-player campaigns of the past and I can't wrap my head around why it's gotten this extreme.

Have 84 pages and 4,150 posts of fun OP:

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/read...n-over-the-order-1886-campaign-length.993086/

 

[ReBurn]

Why would i Pay for 70 $ For a 5-7 hours games ?

Someone doesn't remember the 16-bit days...

 

[fermcr]

Because developers have the mistaken perception that MORE automatically means BETTER.

 

[Alexios]

There were plenty large sprawling games back then (and even older, I mean, Skyrim referenced here is already over 10 years old and part of a franchise dating to the early 90s with more or less the same if not larger breadth or content) and there are also plenty more shorter games now.

You also have some huge size differences in your own post, A Plague Tale and God of War are hardly in the same league as The Witcher 3 and are about half as long as renowned action adventures of yesteryear like say, Twilight Princess. Maybe you chose short games then and long now?

 

[Happosai]

JRPGs got worse though.

Just look at FF7R, some 30 hours of bloat and padding for a segment that lasted around 5 hours in the original.

The original FF7 took around some 30+ hours to beat without taking your time and doing side stuff, but every single hour was worth it.

Gotta admit it, you got that right. I was tempted to not buy Harvestella initially because of how long Trials of Mana ended up being. It'd be nice to knock one out in 10-15 hours tops.

 

[Certinty]

This is exactly why I enjoyed the heck out of Modern Warfare II and Gotham Knights. I could easily play and complete both in just a few sittings. Now I’m growing up I don’t have much time to play so it’s nice to have games like this over those which would take months to finish for me.

 

[Three]

Because developers have the mistaken perception that MORE automatically means BETTER.

It's not the developers but the people buying the games. The developers are only making what sells.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

I blame y’all for complaining about games being to short. I hate the value per dollar mindset… GOW could have been 5 hours shorter , a plagues tale same, elden ring is perfect but even it could be shaved some.

 

[HL3.exe]

'Bang for your buck' mentality. I sorta hate it. It made AAA feel bloated and unfocused.

I personally loved the short, dense and open-ended era of games, but I don't see it returning for the above mentioned reason.

 

[Art The Clown]

I like a 8-10 hour game mostly but games like Xenoblade are welcome when they’re done right

 

[SmokedMeat]

It would be nice if someone were to develop a curated, concise and streamlined gaming experience for less money.

Book of Demons is a love letter to Diablo, and lets you decide how long you want your adventure to be when you sit to play. Only have twenty minutes? It’ll tailor the stage to that for you.

 

[Danjin44]

When a game's length gets reveal, I see lot of posts about how the game is not worth full price because its not long enough, that should be explain why we are getting much more bloated games.

For me personally I value satisfaction more than number hours I spend with the game. The game can be 8 hour long or 300 hours long, as long as I get satisfying experience then I'm happy.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Snip

 

[TonyK]

Totally agree. 20 years ago only RPGs last 40 hours, meanwhile 10 or less hours games were common. Now days, RPGs last 100 hours and any single player campaign in a action adventure game must last 20 hours at least. Problem, however, is not duration, is quality of content. They produce content for 10 hours and then they make it artificially last 30 hours more.