Story Length of Games

[MrMeowPuss]

With both console and handheld hardware getting better and better, I don't necessarily see games getting longer.

I understand that many people see a long single player story as a hassle and don't finish it which is why many games are shorter now, but with the improved hardware why not make games longer. I understand budget is a huge factor but the better the title and more people will buy it.

Does everyone think that games are fine at their current length, such as the 15 hour or less campaigns of games like Assassins Creed, COD and Sleeping Dogs, or the longer games should be longer like titles such as Ni No Kuni, The Witcher 3 or other similar titles.

 

[CrackFox]

Depends what you mean by longer. Story wise, games vary in my experience but I can still spend weeks on a game with things like sidequests, challenges and collecting things. Usually the story only makes up about 70% of most game on the PS and Xbox and if you only bought a game for the story mode, I can understand being a bit underwhelmed on most occassions. I don't think i've ever felt terribly robbed for playtime. The closest i've ever come to that is probably the Walking Dead games. Games like Pokemon on the 3DS take little more than 1-2 weeks of playing before beating the E4 but many people still play it today, exploring other areas like completing the dex and training their teams.

I think it also depends on what type of game it is. Games with a naritive are subject to the type of problems that tv shows or movies have, if it's too long it becomes boring, especially if it's just deliberate filler. Most games i've played with a narative like The Last of Us and GTA 5, I felt like they ended at the right time for the journey to be looked back at fondly and not just 'uh I got bored of those characters'.

I don't think games need to be longer for my liking, I only ask that there's a decent amount of stuff to do after the story ends. You don't find that much with 3DS games but Nintendo are considerably less..umm giving than the makers of other consoles who seem to care a bit more about value for money.

 

[Lysson]

I actually get really mad at games with short storylines if they charge a huge price as well. A game's length is very important to me as I tend to replay every few years so need a long story to forget about. My favourite games, Okami and Xenoblade Chronicles (especially this one) have a long and engaging storyline and I'd recommend them to all of my friends and it'd actually even pay more then I originally did.

I'm the type of person that wants my money's worth, I want a game to last as I don't buy games that often.

 

[Kelleo]

I like a good long story because I believe in the more the merrier! This is a reason I like Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn a lot. It's one of the longest games in the FE series, and probably THE longest if you don't count Awakening's extra stuff (the Paralogues and DLC).

 

[MrMeowPuss]

Depends what you mean by longer. Story wise, games vary in my experience but I can still spend weeks on a game with things like sidequests, challenges and collecting things. Usually the story only makes up about 70% of most game on the PS and Xbox and if you only bought a game for the story mode, I can understand being a bit underwhelmed on most occassions.

I tend to play games for the main story so that is why I prefer them to be longer, I can enjoy the side quests of some games depending on how entertaining they are.

Games like Pokemon on the 3DS take little more than 1-2 weeks of playing before beating the E4 but many people still play it today, exploring other areas like completing the dex and training their teams.

Pokemon are great games for that, if they were a bit more challenging it would add even more hours into the game but they're already great.

I think it also depends on what type of game it is. Games with a naritive are subject to the type of problems that tv shows or movies have, if it's too long it becomes boring, especially if it's just deliberate filler. Most games i've played with a narative like The Last of Us and GTA 5, I felt like they ended at the right time for the journey to be looked back at fondly and not just 'uh I got bored of those characters'.

I think it all comes down to the writing and how well they write and pace the story. Also different people may be content with one part being the ending and don't want to play on, while others may want to keep playing on and learn more about the characters. The Last of Us definitely ended at the right time but I felt GTA could have gone longer, especially since some of the heists went nowhere. I personally feel like developers try to replace story content with online although with the current gen of hardware, they should be able to give a long engaging story and still keep some online content.

I'm the type of person that wants my money's worth, I want a game to last as I don't buy games that often.

I definitely feel the same, I hate having to pay $80 for a game that only has a main story length of 10 hours. For me the minimum length for the main story is 15 hours, I won't bother buying the game if it's any less. I think if the average story length was 30 hours I would be pretty happy.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who wishes games where longer.

 

[cityvillain]

I like a game with lengthy story and huge amount of content. I wanna compare these two games.

BioShock Infinite was a beautiful game. The visuals were stunning, the gameplay was fun and I love the different vigors. The story is also excellent. But it only took me around 15 hours to actually finish the game. Personally, it has no replay value or whatsoever. Only if you want to complete the trophies or achievements which I'm not so crazy about.

then

Persona 4 Golden is a masterpiece. The graphics are beautiful and the gameplay is stellar. The game is so huge and there is just so many things to do in game. It took me around 90 hours to finish the whole game in my first playthrough. The game is mind blowing. I was lucky to get the true ending on my first playthrough and wanted to see the other endings. So there's the replay value.

My favorite games; games I adored varied in game time length. From merely 15 hours to 90 hours, I don't judge the game by its time but by how I enjoyed the time I was with it. I don't care how short or how long the game is going to be; as long as it's damn great. Don't give me 60 hours of gameplay if it has terrible story and gameplay.

 

[DoctorWhy]

I generally prefer for the main story of a game to be around 20 hours. However, my absolute minimum (unless there's a shit-ton of side quests and non-story content) is around 15 hours.

But of course it also needs to be a good game. And if it's a good enough game, I'm willing to go longer. However, games like Xenoblade Chronicles and their 100+ hours of the main game turn me off so bad. I'd never finish. Unless it's like...Pokemon, Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, etc. my cap is about 40 hours in the main story, even for the best of games.

On the short end, I'd say the worst offender that pops into my mind immediately is Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2. I expected a bigger, better game, than the first game which I had already enjoyed very much, and was worth the $30 (ish? Don't remember exactly) it cost. So I bought the Force Unleashed 2 when it was released. I got it Friday. I completed it on Saturday. Literally about 10 hours maybe? And it was $50 iirc.