Do you prefer longer or shorter games?

I go back and forth on this question. There's no right or wrong answer, and my answer usually changes with my mood.

Recently, I've been playing through a lot of the shorter titles in the Genesis library, some of which can be beaten in anywhere between 20-30 minutes. I've been having a blast with them. I like the pick-up-and-play style that a lot of them have. I love the quick 16-bit rush they give, and they don't overstay their welcome. Short, sweet, and easy to complete.

However, I will always deeply love RPGs - the kind you can really sink into, meeting and interacting with characters, customizing, exploring, questing, generally just inhabiting another world unlike our own for hours on end. If I'm in the mood for them, they can really suck up a lot of time, but the length of some of these games has put me off from diving into them. However, the payoff upon winning is much greater, as you've spent hours improving your characters and watching them grow and change. The stories from certain RPGs have stuck with me just as much as much as movies or books, even more so due to their interactive nature.

I guess we just go through phases, and I'm in a phase where I don't really have the time or inclination to jump into a massive RPG right now. But enough about me. How about you guys? Do you have a preference? What are your thoughts on this?

I prefer longer games. I'm not really a fan of rpg's but I like playing the season mode of sports games. A good sports game can actually be both -- you can play a single exhibition game if you want a quick game or dig in and play an entire season. Most sports games let you change the length of periods so that even exhibition games can be longer or shorter. Some even let you play multiple seasons, with off-season management options.

I love Sega's arcade games, especially the Saturn-era games. Though some would consider these games short, they have a ton of replay if you try to master them.

Some of my other favorite "long" games have been: Herzog Zwei (Genesis), Dune (Genesis), Syndicate (Jaguar), Space Hulk (Saturn), X-Com (Playstation), Hidden & Dangerous (Dreamcast).

It's funny you mention this, because I've been going through the same thing. I have grown to learn more about myself and my gaming tastes as time goes by and just recently regained interest in Genesis gaming (which of course, is my favorite 16-bit system) thanks to my softmodded PSP and GP2X Wiz (which ironically, has a more up to date version of PicoDrive than the former!).

I don't have a good track record with RPGs. I often quit them cold turkey and there have been very few that I've ever finished, much less replayed multiple times besides Super Mario RPG (about 2-3 times) and Crusader of Centy (about a dozen). I've finished Final Fantasies and they certainly had a lot of charm in my opinion but never merited a serious replay. Long games also make me feel anxiety because there is too much that I have to remember to do in order to see everything or stay track of where I am, because one playthrough is so difficult for me that I can't imagine a second one with that kind of length. So in a sense I have a phobia of long winded games, especially JRPGs in general. My experience with action-RPGs is slightly better than turn-based but not much.

But yes, I am loving doing quick memorized playthroughs of games like Mickey Mania, Shinobi 3, Chiki Chiki Boys, and numerous others. Getting to go back and ace these games has been pretty exciting. Games like Klonoa on PS1 are among my all-time favorites on the fifth gen, moreso than many epic PS1 RPGs. On the other hand, I did start a game of Landstalker and while it is definately a great game for its time, has left me a bit skeptical of working to finish it due to my partiality to RPGs. A lot of the merits you mention in the genre are right on, but recently I've spent up to 75+ hours on stuff like FFX and have lost interest because I just wanted the damn game to end. I didn't even bother with the remaining side quests, but I honestly at this point don't give a shit about going cold turkey on it either. I was trying to work past my aversion to RPGs by putting everything I had into it, and still ended up broke. :mad:

I tend to prefer shorter games. Like anything, there are exceptions, but unless I really enjoy the gameplay, games approaching 20+ hours will tend to lose me. On the other end of the spectrum there are games I've sunk hundreds of hours into not because they're long but because I've played them again and again.

Both, really. If it's a longer game (i.e. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas or Ratchet and Clank) then I usually stop playing for a few days after playing it a lot to catch a break. That way the game won't be as boring. Shorter games however if they can save I usually just knock them out as fast as possible and then come back to them after a few months or a year. Unfortunately, numerous short games especially on Sega Genesis/NES/Master System are incredibly difficult. I can probably get as far as Level 3 on Altered Beast without resorting to continuing, and Rocket Knight Adventures I haven't bothered to get further than level 2 - keep dying at the boss. If it's something like Rayman or Dota 2, then it's going to probably piss me off.

Whenever I beat a game I typically don't touch the game for a few years, probably so that I can clear my head from the game and act like I'm brand new or something. This doesn't work for most Nintendo games (i.e. Ocarina of Time or Paper Mario) since I know them by heart pretty much - mainly Forest Temple on Ocarina of Time which is really easy for me nowadays, except until I get to the boss and he gets pretty irritating.

Both as well.

Sometimes I want to pick up a game and only have it last a couple hours at most, start to finish.
Other times I want it something I can pick up and play for only a few minutes at a time. I won't beat it in that time mind you, I'll just play through it. Racing games, fighting games, action games, etc.

And sometimes I want a game I can sink my teeth into for hours on end over a few days or even weeks.

Right now I'm certainly on the shorter game binge. I just had to go find a new job and it's leaving me without much energy to do a whole lot at the end of the day. So I've just been hitting up a few quick games here and there and that's it.

A long game. Here's why; if a game is too long and I don't want to play to the end.. I turn it off. It makes the game short. I got my fix. See, then it becomes optional. If I want a full play through, now I have the bonus of the game being long. This applies to any genre. Short games suck by default. Nothing ever good comes from a (real) short game. You're left with this less than satisfied feeling.

short games. i got a job, i aint got no time for your 80 hour grinding shit.

give me a few hours over a week to beat your game and i'm satisified.

Short by a mile. A good short game is infinitely replayable.

Long games are fine for me, as long as there is a save feature. From what I understand this was quite expensive to do back in the day, which is why games that really should have a save feature, don't. Fantastic Dizzy is a good example.

Fantastic Dizzy isnt actually that long, it's just figuring out where everything goes.

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Originally Posted by Gogogadget

Fantastic Dizzy isnt actually that long, it's just figuring out where everything goes.

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I clean run probably still takes about 2hours to complete, if you're clueless probably longer than that. A similar game released today would definitely have save points. If someone ever felt like a cool hacking project they could go back through some of the top games on the Genesis and add save features to all of them, for playing on flash carts.

Long as the game's good, I'm not concerned about length, though, it's cool when they add a good battle/multiplayer mode like Anarchy Reigns did.

I complain when games aren't short enough. :p

You can have more bang for your buck even in a quality shorter length game. Less potential filler, I say.

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Originally Posted by Thierry Henry

I complain when games aren't short enough. :p

You can have more bang for your buck even in a quality shorter length game. Less potential filler, I say.

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That's true for everything. Books, movies, and video games -- they're all better when they're condensed into their core essence, lose the fat, and don't overstay their welcome. I'm not gonna live long enough to waste my time.

There are plenty of longer games that I enjoy, but it takes a lot more motivation for me to start playing them. I generally prefer shorter games. But, there's definitely been some games that I'd wished to be longer, even if they weren't really short.

The ideal for me is a game that you can play for a long time in total, but is conducive to short plays as well.

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Originally Posted by Thierry Henry

You can have more bang for your buck even in a quality shorter length game. Less potential filler, I say.

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This, and a "short game" doesn't necessarily mean it won't consume great deals of time. People tend to think RPGs are "long games," but it's typically filler via uninteresting grinding and lots of backtracking. Meanwhile, a game like Super Meat Boy is "short," but I spent RPG level times on my way to becoming a golden god. Challenging games like shooters can be technically beaten in the span of half an hour, but I don't many can pick up Ikaruga et al cold and beat it first play.

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Originally Posted by j_factor

The ideal for me is a game that you can play for a long time in total, but is conducive to short plays as well.

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So basically Pirates! :p

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Originally Posted by midnightrider

So basically Pirates! :p

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I had a summer fling with Pirates! Gold this summer. :love:It spent a good couple of weeks in my Genesis and I was pretty obsessed with it. An absolutely brilliant game, and yes, incredibly high replay value. It's one of the few open-world Genesis games that let's you create your own story - different countries and time periods, completing different quests, marrying different women, growing old and moving on.

I like my games, like I like my women... short and easy.