Title mostly describes how I’m feeling now.
When I was younger, my main worry when deciding what game to buy and play next was that the game wouldn’t be able to keep me entertained until I can buy another game.
Now I have a backlog of almost 100 games that I own and haven’t played yet (although some come from bundles, not all are worth playing). My new concern when I’m playing a game is whether or not the time I put into the game is well spent.
I used to really like the idea of games where it would take me 100s of hours to get to 100% completion, but now I tend to almost avoid playing them entirely even if I know I don’t care about completion anymore.
I don’t think I’m alone in this, but what I’m really wondering is if this is a result of getting older? Or is it because the gaming space itself has changed?
If you’re enjoying yourself while you play, then the time was well spent. Like you said, try to remember that nobody is making you play every game you start to 100% completion, that’s an entirely self-imposed rule.
That said, for me personally, the length of a game is generally irrelevant to whether or not I will enjoy that game. If I enjoy a game, I enjoy that game. If it’s long, it’s long. If not, cool.
The big thing for me is that if I play narrative-focused games like immersive sims, I want to dive deep into those worlds, and that takes a certain amount of brain energy.
I stopped playing AAA games because there is so much filler. I would prefer if games went for 3-6 hours for playtime with a clean and tight plot.
I don’t read books that have a cool intro, 300 pages explaining how everything works, 1000 pages of characters just doing random stuff for random people, and then a return to actual plot in the last 100 pages.
I hope for a world where fun and optimization are prioritized over length and graphics
Tbh I think that in the world, games would be cheaper and micro-transactions would be seen in a better light. I think people don’t mind supporting a developer who makes an actually good title
Even when it’s a small developer, I’d still rather buy the whole game/expansion at once. It’s easier to find reviews that way, and less immersion-breaking. I don’t want to be reminded of real world-money while playing.
Yeah same. I was thinking about Vampire survivors so I think we’re on the same page. I should have said DLCs instead of micro transactions
I just play whatever I want. If it’s long but fun then I’d play it over a few months period. No big deal.
Yeah I don’t get the hate, if a game is great then you’d want it to be able to last
I think it just depends on whether you feel like the game is respecting your time or not.
A long game that’s eating up time with boring random encounters, fetch quests, grinding that you don’t enjoy, and so on? Ain’t got time for that, I’ll play something else.
But a long game where I’m enjoying near every minute and every aspect, like an RPG that’s been crafted absurdly well and isn’t filled with bloat and has fun combat in every encounter? I’m all in for that.
I think the issue is mainly that for obvious reasons there are FAR more of the former than the latter, even before accounting for personal taste.
For me it’s more that I forget where I was and what I was up to, as well as having to reacquaint myself with the controls. Shorter games don’t have that problem.
I think you’ve nailed it by outlining the worry of kids without an income of their own - if you can’t buy what you want whenever, game length is a plus, but when you’ve got disposable income, summer sales, the odd free game, and new good titles coming out all the time, brevity’s more valuable than each game being a forever-game.
forever-game
I have sworn off of these. Destiny 2 was a soul sucking time sink. My entire life had to revolve around it or else I would miss content in the game. That’s great for the people who enjoy that, but it’s just not for me anymore. Like OP, I really just want games with concise stories that end when they should.
Yes. Also, I don’t need a game to drive engagement. I don’t need (or want) some tangible reward for playing every day. I don’t want to compete with anyone - I mean I can enjoy pvp in some games, but I want success to be purely based on skill, not who has collected the most kills to buy specialized pvp gear without which someone can’t even compete.
If I have to grind to earn “fun,” I’m out. Some games can be fun to grind. I’ll play Diablo just to watch destruction fill my screen. But for example around the time WoW added daily quests, I realized I had to be done with the game. I loved Team Fortress and every few years I’d reinstall it and play some more, but now there are rewards and stuff that changes the balance of the game making it “impure.” If the game isn’t fun to play without earning rewards that unbalance the game in your favor, is not worth playing at all.
I’m “in the middle” of Horizon: Forbidden West. Then Jedi Survivor (or whichever the new one is) came out and other responsibilities ate into my time and now I don’t remember where I am, what I was doing, and I frankly barely remember how to even play.
I enjoy the games. There is so much to do and the worlds are so large. They are well written, the voice acting is great. But I just don’t have time to engage with it all. And heck I don’t have to experience every iota of content, but I have to grind all the systems to become capable of finishing the game and I just can’t.
other responsibilities ate into my time and now I don’t remember where I am, what I was doing, and I frankly barely remember how to even play.
This is my biggest issue with long games. I feel like if it’s getting too long and I want to try something else, I can’t come back to it in the middle and pick up where I left off. I have to either consume the game in one chunk, or accept the fact that I’m never going to finish it… which makes me not even want to start it half the time.
As a dad of two young kids, I am 100% with you.
Best example for me: Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.
I loved the first game but I had significantly more spare time back then. I picked up TOTK on day 1 but I just couldn’t connect with it because it’s too big. The map is too big, there’s just too many options it overwhelms me now. I maybe can spend one or two hours a day playing and I really enjoy it now if the game just takes me by the hand and guides me. These massive open world games are not for me any more I’m afraid.
Yep, kids changed it for me too. Picked up RDR2 on sale and just can’t get into it. I have like an hour to play a game at a time, and I don’t want to spend 20 minutes riding a horse to a destination.
I always check howlongtobeat.com before investing in a game. 10-20 hours is perfect. 80+ sounds terrible to me.
Welcome to the Patient Gamers world. Now that I’m in my late 30s with responsibilities, I’ll take a short linear game (e.g. Mafia Definitive Edition) with a compelling story over long, repetitive games (e.g. Assassin’s Creed). Quality over quantity for me. Since I don’t have a lot of time, I want to spend some quality time with the game.
I don’t really see how what you’re describing relates to patient gaming – isn’t patient gaming moreso to do with waiting until games drop in price, then getting them patched up with all their DLC?
I have to say, it’s also a subculture of it. When I used to participate in r/patientgamers, a lot of people (myself included) realised that we didn’t care about the latest releases because of our responsibilities (and maturity), and many of us preferred short to long.
But it’s not homogeneous.
I don’t think I’m alone in this, but what I’m really wondering is if this is a result of getting older? Or is it because the gaming space itself has changed?
Both. When you’re older you don’t have as much time to play video games so you want that time to be more meaningful and for the games you play to be more concise. In addition, a lot of games have added “hundreds” of hours of content by large and relatively empty open worlds that are full of worthless autogenerated side quests and collectible trinkets, which is undoubtedly a worse gameplay experience.
To me, enjoyability is completely separate from game length. It’s more about enjoyment per hour of gameplay imo.
Whenever I see a game needs 50 hours to finish now, I just hard pass. Most games simply do not deserve 50 hours of life. Especially Ubisoft games which just patch out the length with fetch quests. Unnecessarily long games is a big problem and its partly caused by people with “bang for the buck” mindset. Do these people don’t have other things to do? Like going out? Watching movies?
The honest answer is no we don’t
I don’t. There’s nothing worse with finally getting immersed in a game then running out of stuff to do in 10 hours.
I don’t finish games and have a huge backlog, but I’m looking for the small handful with mechanics that work, and when I find one running out sucks.
Yeah, there’s a happy medium.
For example, Elden Ring is a great game, except for the fact that it just drags on for SOOO long. I’m convinced that both Faram Azula and Mountaintops of the Giant were meant to be completely separate from the main sequence, much like Haligtree or Moghwyn Dynasty is. Then they just shoved them onto the end to pad time.
Yeah but that was really the point of Elden Ring IMO. They were showing what they were capable of with a few hundred employees and they showed that amazingly. Also I don’t think that they just shoved them onto the ending considering the whole point of the ending is to burn the tree down and going to those endgame places to finish what you started. Haligtree and Moghwyn Dynasty are secret areas that you have to figure out how to get to. I think they did an amazing job with the lore and the length of the game.
Also, I 100% it on steam and only had 100 hours.
It is a very good game for sure. That doesn’t mean I can’t criticize its flaws of course. The balance in latter sections was just not that good.
That’s fair, I raged hard on some of the last bosses but got through it eventually. But yeah I agree with you, balance on latter sections isn’t great
I have a system.
For every hour of play a game offers, I’m willing to pay $1.
this is a really terrible system. there are a lot of fantastic games that are short and more than $2.
I’m not sure why this became popular. I’ll easily spend £8 to watch a 1.5 hour film so why would I limit myself on a game I could enjoy if it’s short. I just play games I think I’ll like. I’m not picking up a 100 hour multiplayer because it’s better value
Well, long games save you money. Plus I like living in a game.
The money-saving depends on your ability to not buy more games, though. This doesn’t seem to be actually doable for most people. For me it isn’t because I find I need variety in my games or else I lose interest in the medium altogether.
There can definitely be a magic in living in a good game, though.
I mean, I don’t know about you guys but I play one game at a time, so right now I’m spending no other money cos I’m in the middle of Zelda TotK.
