(Don't hate me for this lol)
This is a real big problem in things like JRPG's where 60-100 hour playtime minimum is the norm... but when you really break it down, especially in the longer side of that range, they greatly suffer from things like poor pacing and an abundance of filler I find.
Persona 5 will have the characters talk about the same thing 3 times without any extra information in it, Xenoblade frequently has what is essentially side quests in the main campaign, Final Fantasy VII's disc one (About half the game- the full game is 30 hours) is stretched into nearly 200 hours of playtime. I am fine with lengthy games if its filled with content worth playing
To be clear I had my fun with these games, but I don't appreciate what could be at times forced cheap busy work. Look at games like Killer7 which is a fraction of the runtime but is JUST the memorable moments that stick with you.
the Horror genre are especially important in this. Silent Hill 2 remake went on for too long and things went old. I got spooked maybe once or twice but after a while the patterns became too obvious. It's why 95% of horror games end around the 8 hour mark.
Anyways, it feels like games as a medium are afraid to trim the fat. I think it's because people think more hours spent playing that game means you get more bang for your buck but, how much does that matter when so much of it is filler? Why does it have to be a part of the main story? I am fine with games that have the potential to be very long, I have spent hundreds of hours on BOTW, I 100%'d Xenoblade 1 and Persona 5 (during the pandemic to be fair lol) but as I've grown older I've appreciated so much the shorter games that are tightly paced and don't draw out things in fear of complaints of its run time.
This is a real big problem in things like JRPG's where 60-100 hour playtime minimum is the norm... but when you really break it down, especially in the longer side of that range, they greatly suffer from things like poor pacing and an abundance of filler I find.
Persona 5 will have the characters talk about the same thing 3 times without any extra information in it, Xenoblade frequently has what is essentially side quests in the main campaign, Final Fantasy VII's disc one (About half the game- the full game is 30 hours) is stretched into nearly 200 hours of playtime. I am fine with lengthy games if its filled with content worth playing
To be clear I had my fun with these games, but I don't appreciate what could be at times forced cheap busy work. Look at games like Killer7 which is a fraction of the runtime but is JUST the memorable moments that stick with you.
the Horror genre are especially important in this. Silent Hill 2 remake went on for too long and things went old. I got spooked maybe once or twice but after a while the patterns became too obvious. It's why 95% of horror games end around the 8 hour mark.
Anyways, it feels like games as a medium are afraid to trim the fat. I think it's because people think more hours spent playing that game means you get more bang for your buck but, how much does that matter when so much of it is filler? Why does it have to be a part of the main story? I am fine with games that have the potential to be very long, I have spent hundreds of hours on BOTW, I 100%'d Xenoblade 1 and Persona 5 (during the pandemic to be fair lol) but as I've grown older I've appreciated so much the shorter games that are tightly paced and don't draw out things in fear of complaints of its run time.
