ouch man, i love video games so much as a medium for storytelling and entertainment, but I do have this existential question over how long I should invest into games in the long run, especially as more get made as time goes on.
I am going to suggest my sort of short (I guess) favorite "mid" game. (imho, it stands together with the original F-Zero to me.)
Grab save states. No shame. It gets asshole puckering hard.
That's why I love roguelikes. You can have a satisfying play session in an hour or so, they tend to use a lot of RPG mechanics, and sometimes some meta story to follow between runs. It's the perfect balance of what makes RPGs and arcade games fun.
I've stopped finishing many games. As I've gotten older, I've realized that completion for completions sake is unrewarding, and the grinding of my youth was more about distracting myself from stress/anxiety.
I first finished FF7 last march and, honestly? I know 30 hours is still a lot but being ONLY that long instead of the 100+ hours that is Persona 5 was a BIG relief.
It's less about asking for short game recommendations and more of that.... everybody's favorite game and everybody's go-to recommendation is some long sprawling game.
So unless you go around specifically asking for something.... all casual conversation leads to long games lol
Mr 64 sir, please listen to me as a fellow 30 or 40 year old, you gotta get into arcade games. these things are like 40 minutes long and genuinely try to kill you from like minute 5. its simply optimal gaming
Yakuza 1 on the PS2 (with the retranslation patch) is quite possibly my favorite game in the franchise, absolutely the best way to get into the series, and is only about 15 hours long.
I recommend checking that game out instead of Yakuza 0 or Yakuza Kiwami (a remake of 1 with much worse pacing).
Steam Deck helped me get through loads of indies (Limbo, Inside, Gorgoa, Chants of Sennaar, Superhot, Cocoon, Jusant, Carrion). Handheld emulator also helping me get through old 16-bit backlog of stuff i never got to (Minish Cap, DKC 2)
You could try utopia must fall. It’s a missle command rogue like . Since it’s a missle command rogue like the world is doomed no matter what, it’s just about seeing how far you can survive.
I understand this, but when I talk to someone and ask them their favorite game or what game they recommend from 2024 or whatever, it's always FF7R or Metaphor or
We have an HP All-in-One that place things like Roblox fine, but even Mouthwashing on Steam was like "meh, you don't have any graphics card whatsoever"
Obviously I'm hesitant to spend money on things and then have them not play
Sadly I have the opposite problem. It's been =years= since I last found an RPG that made me feel satisfied. Haven't felt the need to, y'know, NEED a new game since long. The last one was Fell Seal - actually a SRPG, which is another dead genre on the list - and that was in 2018...
I see people wanting new games to be 100h+ for the base game. I spend like 1-3 hours a week tops playing games these days in my 30s. I miss when we had pretty solid 9-15h long games.
The time can go by with a game if you play JUST THAT ONE GAME AND NOTHING ELSE. I've finished a few 40-50hr JRPGs in 4-5 days by no-lifing that one game.
this is a huge part of why i've drifted towards indies. some of my favorite games in the last year or so were wavetale, 1000xResist, pseudoregalia. 5-10 hour games. Neva just came out and was lovely, and I replayed Gris by the same people, too (both 3-5ish hours).
For reals. How can a RPG be over 100 hours long just to beat the main story?!
They should just make the story 30 - 60 hours and cram it with optional dungeons and side content tbh
And its not like the story needs this kind of length. In the 30 - 40 hours it takes me to drop off the story barely anything happens beyond the starting incident. Its just poor pacing in my opinion
I watched a friend play P3 and 4 and played 5 for myself. My partner is trying to encourage me to play the P3 remake, but I just don't have the energy. 😭💔
May I interess you in the video game I made for steam and itch io , which is a more or less 1h30 game metaphorically about freeing yourself, without dialogs nor character?
Play some super short goodies like A Short Hike, UFO 50 (which is 50 unique games but each one is quite short), Mouthwashing, Exit 8, Crow Country, Hi-Fi Rush or Baba Is You!
Please ignore that this only adds several more hours overall to your backlog if you become interested in any of these games.
I love FFXIV but it actually took months out of my life to exit 2.0 and get into Heavensward
Which is also when the story goes from OK to HOLY SHIT THIS IS GOOD
Apparently they got rid of a lot of gameplay depth (per class) since Shadowbringers (?) but I don't know how true that is bc I've only REALLY played since last year
Meanwhile I look at a multiplayer game that is easy to pick up and play and now I have a hard time starting the next singleplayer game...As much as I want to.
Pseudoregalia and FlyKnight are two of my favorite short games on PC, both of them are about 5/6 hours long and can technically be completed in one sitting.
I’m legit done with open world collectathons. Basically every Ubisoft title and any RPG with “gear drops” I’m just not at all interested in anymore. Assassins Creed, Hogwarts Legacy, Avowed, Rise of the Ronin… I just don’t have it in me anymore.
JRPGs are my favorite genre from what i've played but their average commitment means there's so many staples i haven't played. i've accepted that Xeno & SMT are the only long series i'm going to commit to finishing up and i'm just gonna poke around at random games that interest me otherwise.
Comments
Dusk.
Grab save states. No shame. It gets asshole puckering hard.
Which is saying something in a series with a highly popular MMO
1+2 are like 15-20 hours combined
Time will not stop me.
So unless you go around specifically asking for something.... all casual conversation leads to long games lol
I recommend checking that game out instead of Yakuza 0 or Yakuza Kiwami (a remake of 1 with much worse pacing).
https://archive.org/details/yakuza-restored
Two really popular ones are Mouthwashing and Psychopomp, bith excellent
I just wanted to gighlight that there are options and the mainstream 700 hour game isn't the only option
I played it on a 5 year old cheap laptop that isn't made for gaming at all
Obviously I'm hesitant to spend money on things and then have them not play
I see people wanting new games to be 100h+ for the base game. I spend like 1-3 hours a week tops playing games these days in my 30s. I miss when we had pretty solid 9-15h long games.
but also I'm 25.
They should just make the story 30 - 60 hours and cram it with optional dungeons and side content tbh
I got P5R on Steam when it was available, and as much as I want to play it, the thought of playing through another 100+ hours is p a i n. 💔
If you only play it once
Please ignore that this only adds several more hours overall to your backlog if you become interested in any of these games.
Which is also when the story goes from OK to HOLY SHIT THIS IS GOOD
if you mean bad (evil) i'm ready to fight cause true ending prime dimension ludger is a being of true love
I've taken a break as I do most years because June comes Questiversary and that's all I talk about for a month