Posted it in the Random Video Game Crap thread actually.
Finally got a chance to watch this, and ...
Yep.
Yet another reason I won't pre-order/pay full price for a game anymore. This may be a great game, but it it's truly another 8-12 hour game (which seems to be the norm these days) I'll happily pay 30 bucks for it a few months after it comes out.
"Still descending, don't see it yet... my god, how did the bar ever get lowered so far?" - James Cameron
Not at 12 hours for an RPG, they aren't. Wasn't long ago you could assume 10-12 hours might get you off the first disc.
Final Fantasy VI clocked in at less than that if you just blew through it. FF7 also. Being an RPG, even if the main game somehow was that short (which I doubt since people have reported the first questline takes over 3 hours), there would be enough side quests to keep anyone busy for more time.
I think you're confusing speedruns with expected playtime. Best time I've googled up for a speedrun of FF6 was barely under 8 hours. You can beat both quests of original zelda in an hour and a half if you're fast as hell, but those aren't the expected playtimes.
Well, fortunately for you, it apparently isn't. Because "AAA" game devs have been delivering us shorter and shorter games with less and less content while charging more per game for over a decade.
Uh, no. Nobody said that. There's a difference between "length is now the most important factor" and "games are generally getting a lot shorter than they used to be." A game can still be good if it's short, but to tell me it's "raising the bar" is to piss on my leg and tell me it is raining.
Assuming this is sarcasm, yes, this is a legitimate gripe about the state of the industry.
Raising the bar in terms of game design and quality of licensed games. Game length isn't the only bar out there, no matter how much you seem to think it is.
Most of the Elder Scrolls series, to me. Haven't played Skyrim (mostly because of how much I failed to enjoy the other games in the series), but the rest of them were a chore to try to slog through.
Let's not act like 12 hours to clear Link to the Past is anywhere near a speed run. If that doesn't do it for you, then how about other games like the Portal series, any adventure game, any other game in the Zelda series. Or the Mario and Luigi RPG series, which Stick of Truth is largely similar (in gameplay) to.
I think you played a completely different Elder Scrolls than the rest of us. The long walks through the countryside, where you are just exploring the wilderness is the very best part of the game.
Not the only, but it is a sore spot. I can see where you're coming from, I'd rather pay 3 bucks for a small container of JIF peanut butter than 2 bucks for a pound of "Store brand" for obvious reasons. It's just distressing to hear that a very anticipated title might be skimping on the game content, especially when what we've seen of it is very cutscene heavy, though that's not necessarily indicative of the entire game.
Did you play any of Saint's Row (especially 2), any of the GTA games since 3, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 3 or New Vegas, Just Cause 2, LA Noire, the Mass Effect series or Borderlands 1/2?
I think the major disconnect here is, aside from Portal (where let's face it, Portal 1 was kinda short, but it was indie so it was forgivable) is that you're comparing to old school console games.
It sure wasn't the combat we were playing it for.
That depends on if by "under 20 hours" you mean 12 hours, or 18. That's a 50% difference there.
Oh fuck no... at least in Oblivion they made it so when you hit something with a weapon, you didn't need to fucking roll to see if you hit.
I don't see why it's silly. Would it be silly to grouse over a Spielberg tour-de-force starring a casting director's wet dream A-list that was only 40 minutes long?
Uhhhh, they've made some solid games but I wouldn't go that far. KotOR 2 was unfinished, Dungeon Siege 3 was bland as balls, NWN2 was okay at best, and Alpha Protocol ended up an underground hit after mixed-to-bad reviews.
Yes, because Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog was fantastic.
