Witcher 3 had the perfect duration if you ask me. You really feel you're getting your money's worth with that game
It depends on the type of game. I'll just weigh in on three favorite 'types'.
Open World RPGs:
I would much rather get a game the size of The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine with a great main story, excellent side quests, etc. than something the size of Fallout 4 where it was huge... but most of it seemed pretty weak content wise. I also think that studios just trying to make worlds bigger and bigger are kind of missing the point. People are going to like the game because it is good, not because it is big in scope. I think this thread shows that by people saying they have replayed several games multiple times.
Games in this category have nailed it with different 'time to complete'. The Witcher 3, God of War (2018) and Fallout: New Vegas were games that I thought were paced perfectly. New Vegas did have some dead zones due to the rushed development at times, but besides that it was very good.
Cyberpunk I thought did a decent job of providing content, but the main story felt very rushed. It felt like it was written/designed to be two or three times longer than it actually was, but they chopped it down because they wanted it to be shorter. This is a game where the main story took like 20-25 hours when in reality it probably should have taken 40-60.
I don't need all of the side content where the quests are essentially just fetch quests over and over. I do not mind some of those to fill the game and world in. But when 75% of the content or whatever is shallow, it gets annoying quick.
CRPGs:
These games inherently seem to be long. Combat tends to take longer, you reload, moving around the map takes longer, etc. I really think Divinity: Original Sin 2 nailed it. I'm excited for Baldur's Gate 3. I think Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 had a pretty ideal amount of content.
I know a lot of people liked them - but I just didn't find the Pathfinder games that enjoyable... especially Wrath of the Righteous which seemed to have terrible pacing to the story and dragged on forever.
ARPGs:
Games in the Diablo and PoE universe... I really wish they would pay more attention to their primary campaigns. Diablo 3's story was just absolutely horrendous. I think it would be nice if you could get a linear 15-25 hour story out of these games that gets you invested into it. Then once you are done with it the game needs to hook you in with more repetitive activities, farming, loot systems, etc. that make the game fun for an extended period of time.
Open World RPGs:
I would much rather get a game the size of The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine with a great main story, excellent side quests, etc. than something the size of Fallout 4 where it was huge... but most of it seemed pretty weak content wise. I also think that studios just trying to make worlds bigger and bigger are kind of missing the point. People are going to like the game because it is good, not because it is big in scope. I think this thread shows that by people saying they have replayed several games multiple times.
Games in this category have nailed it with different 'time to complete'. The Witcher 3, God of War (2018) and Fallout: New Vegas were games that I thought were paced perfectly. New Vegas did have some dead zones due to the rushed development at times, but besides that it was very good.
Cyberpunk I thought did a decent job of providing content, but the main story felt very rushed. It felt like it was written/designed to be two or three times longer than it actually was, but they chopped it down because they wanted it to be shorter. This is a game where the main story took like 20-25 hours when in reality it probably should have taken 40-60.
I don't need all of the side content where the quests are essentially just fetch quests over and over. I do not mind some of those to fill the game and world in. But when 75% of the content or whatever is shallow, it gets annoying quick.
CRPGs:
These games inherently seem to be long. Combat tends to take longer, you reload, moving around the map takes longer, etc. I really think Divinity: Original Sin 2 nailed it. I'm excited for Baldur's Gate 3. I think Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 had a pretty ideal amount of content.
I know a lot of people liked them - but I just didn't find the Pathfinder games that enjoyable... especially Wrath of the Righteous which seemed to have terrible pacing to the story and dragged on forever.
ARPGs:
Games in the Diablo and PoE universe... I really wish they would pay more attention to their primary campaigns. Diablo 3's story was just absolutely horrendous. I think it would be nice if you could get a linear 15-25 hour story out of these games that gets you invested into it. Then once you are done with it the game needs to hook you in with more repetitive activities, farming, loot systems, etc. that make the game fun for an extended period of time.
1000 Hour’s, any number of extending the game. I enjoy
Cyberpunk 2077 so much. Maybe a map to venture more with my V.
Cyberpunk 2077 so much. Maybe a map to venture more with my V.
