Can games be too long?

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Kargathia

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Jul 16, 2009
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Developer resources (both in terms of money and imagination) are limited. As soon as those resources are spread too thinly over too much game time then it's too long.

Your mileage will vary on when that line is crossed.
 

Dizeazedkiller

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Feb 11, 2011
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Samwise137 said:
Absodamnlutely. But that length isn't set in stone. One game could be 12 hours long and be gripping but another could be a mere 3 and have no plot and I'd call it too long.
Portal 2 and 1? Just wanna make sure i'm not seeing references where their aren't any.

OT: And i think that a game's length doesn't matter, as long as its filled out with content. Its like a book. If its too long to read in one go you stop, if you need to take a break you stop, if the tension is just draining you you stop, but by the end of the whole experience you find that you've either enjoyed the whole thing or found the last few chapters agonizingly long and stretched out.

Bsically, how you perceive a games length depends on how enjoyable it is.
 

Grimbold

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Nov 19, 2009
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Games can not be too long.
If it is a good game and suitable to your interest, you will play it through and then think "Wow, I really got something for my money." If the game fails in keeping up your interest it is a bad game to you, so why bother playing?
When I realize a game is enlongated artificially with boring missions or recycled scenery, just to steal my time and to conceal that the developers ran out of ideas, time or money halfway, I usually stop playing and watch the storyparts and the ending on youtube.
 

Nexus4

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Final Fantasy XIII, I just wanted it to finally START!!

captcha: frosee respect

I though it was Fonzie respect, to begin with...
 

Samwise137

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Aug 3, 2010
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Dizeazedkiller said:
Samwise137 said:
Absodamnlutely. But that length isn't set in stone. One game could be 12 hours long and be gripping but another could be a mere 3 and have no plot and I'd call it too long.
Portal 2 and 1? Just wanna make sure i'm not seeing references where their aren't any.
Nope, no references just hypothetical examples.
 

GonzoGamer

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Beach_Sided said:
So can games be too long?
If it?s good enough, then no. San Andreas and Fallout 3 just kept going but I never complained because I was really digging them and those games kept evolving and drove me on.
I had the same experience with Mass Effect and I think the reason is that it was fun but after a while I got tired of doing the same thing. I tend to have the same experience with all Bioware games: it?s fun for a while but it doesn?t evolve much through the course of the game. Their games are mostly story driven and I don?t find their stories to be all that engrossing... Besides (for me at least) gameplay trumps story (or should) every time. If I want a good story, I?ll read a book.
 

Artina89

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It depends on the game, if you ask me. For example, with Persona 3:FES and Persona 4 you can easily plug in 70+ hours into the game and still enjoy it immensely, because the premise and the story is gripping and (in my opinion) there is no filler material and I enjoyed every last moment of playing the games. However, a good example of a game carrying on for too long is Final fantasy XIII. Last night I was visiting a friend and I stated playing his copy. About 7 hours later I felt I had made absolutely NO progress, I was getting fed up of the protagonists and I didn't find the story all that engaging. Give me Shin Megami Tensei over Square Enix any day.
 

Amondren

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Yeah some games should end before they outstay their welcome a good short game is better then a moderate long game.
 

Professor James

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Beach_Sided said:
I never got around to playing the original Mass Effect when it first came out. But I bought it recently and absolutely LOVED the first 10 hours or so.

However, I am now about 19 hours in and struggling to keep my interest.

It's not that the game is bad, far from it, but 19 hours is a long time and I'm worried that I'm losing interest in carrying on. There are other games that are starting to catch my eye.

So can games be too long?
Games can't be too long but they can have too much filler or uninteresting material.
 

Yopaz

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Jun 3, 2009
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If it's a good game I almost get a little sad when it ends. Especially if there wont be a sequel and I come to like the characters in it. Skies of Arcadia and Tales of Symphonia comes to mind. If those games had been going on for so long the story would see them retired and take years to complete I would be satisfied.
I find some games boring after the first few hours.
 

Baldry

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If the game can keep you captivated and interested then it will never feel long. I've played Oblivion for 200+ hours and still play it today.
 

Zac Smith

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Games can be as long as they want, the only stipulation I have is that, if the game is intended to be around 10 hours long, it keeps me engaged for those 10 hours. Not needlessly back tracking for collectables *cough cough* Alone In the Dark, or hunting for enemy spawners
 

sassafrasses

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There are games I've played that seemed like they were too short, while others seemed to last forever. So I guess it really depends on the person playing the game.

If it's a multiplayer, with the online option, I'll play the campaign til I beat that, and go to multiplayer or play the campaign on a harder level. I actually got sick of the Black Ops campaign and jumped right into multiplayer after about half way through the campaign. Probably wasnt even that long.

I got fed up with the one chapter of Mirrors Edge, because I couldnt seem to get past the one place, so I pretty much said "Screw this" and went to a different game. Still need to go back and beat the chapter. I even looked up the chapter online to see what I was doing wrong, which was nothing, and still having problems.

So really, it's all how you play the game and how you enjoy it. If you're bored with it, take a break and come back after a while and see if you still feel the same. I still play Soul Calibur IV, but I'm sick of story mode. It's too short. Yes, every character has a different story, but you're fighting the same characters for the most part, so you kinda have an idea of what they're going to do and how to beat them. If I want to play SCIV I tell my friends to get on and play with me. I find them more of a challenge.
 

SilentCom

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If a game isn't very fun and feels like it is dragging on, then it can feel too long. The real problem is that the game may not hold you in as well as it should. Another way of putting it is that it isn't that fun for how long it takes to do stuff.