Do all RPGs really need to be so long?

Although everyone expects RPGs to be dozens of hours long, one gamer wants to know, after playing short titles such as Undertale and South Park: The Stick of Truth, if they can be better paced if they just trim all the fat.

[FallenAngel1984]

It's very expected of the genre

[syotos77]

Well most rpg story games are single player. So if these companies expect me to buy their game for 60 dollars, I expect to get 60 dollars worth of entertainment. I wouldn't be happy paying 60 dollars for an rpg that only lasted 10-20 hours with little to no replay value.

[aquaticDonut]

And what about when they're only $10, like the one used in the thumbnail?

[syotos77]

@donutboy honestly I don't really want a short experience when I play an rpg so I typically go for the larger titles, but things like bastion and Transistor weren't too long but we're definitely worth the play through, so there are exceptions, but I've heard people say there is too much to do in games like the witcher or dragon age or fallout and it just always seemed silly. The main point I was trying to make is that it's important to me to feel like I got my money's worth.

[Bdub2000]

I wouldn't enjoy a role playing game that wasn't very long. The whole idea is to take your time and build your character to a role you want to play, and spend hours using that character to complete missions.

[CarlosX360]

Yes, and my answer to the question of this posting: Yes. The whole point of RPG's is to start from zero, and climb up to a climax of sorts. FF7 does this brilliantly by converging story and how "experienced" your player is (Cloud at Level 30-ish for example).

[Sunny_D]

RPG's are literally the only game genre that makes me feel that I get my money's worth and then some when I buy them. I put hundreds of hours into them and come out satisfied even if they aren't the best in the genre.

[Thefreeman012]

Well no but it needs replay value and substance story/ plot wise

[GryestOfBluSkies]

the length of these games is why i now (usually) pass on them. RPG used to be my favorite genre, but i also used to have a lot more time to dedicate to playing them

[xerokai]

So since you no longer have time to play full length RPGs should the remaining player base be denied a lengthy RPG experience? I'm not criticising perse. I also no longer have time to invest in a full RPG but I wouldn't expect game play to be changed to follow my availability. I just play more ARPGs or strategy titles.

[Sunny_D]

This is true. I have had Witcher 3 for months now and I'm still early into the game due to my busy schedule. But, I am willing to keep playing it. I just play other games with RPG's as well.

[Articuno76]

A lot of them have way too much fluff, both in terms of grind and meandering narrative. It's funny because older JRPGs tend to be blisteringly paced in comparison to modern ones: more happens the opening 15 hours of FFVII than the first 30 in newer games. And all of Chrono Trigger's excellently paced story is over and done with before the 30 hour mark.

It's better to tell an average story with excellent pacing than it is to tell an excellent story with average pacing.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I would argue that what goes on during the bits between the story paces is what defines whether or not an excellent story with average pacing is a better choice than an average story with excellent pacing.

To be fair, a lot of games recently haven't had that much in terms of meaningful between-story content, but there are some stand-out examples that use smaller side-story narrative to fill the gap, rather than merely meaningless fluff.

I think with games like Witcher III and Xenoblade X, we're getting closer to devs realizing what makes good content for between story missions.

Unless something goes horribly wrong in the next few years and we get a string of stupid mistakes from both old hats and new faces, I think we can at least hope that it will be a gentle up slope in quality from here on out...

[Articuno76]

"I would argue that what goes on during the bits between the story paces is what defines whether or not an excellent story with average pacing is a better choice than an average story with excellent pacing."

Yeah, I was making the assumption that "all other things be equal". But in reality it's rarely quite that black and white.

[Khaotic]

I like long rpgs as long as they keep me engaged. Its a good value to have one i can put 100+ hours into since i dont buy alot of games.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed, as long as your engaged. I just don't feel value is in hours as one can play a RPG that is lots of hours that is with a lot of filler or bad or your not engaged as much etc.

[magiciandude]

There isn't enough lengthy games these days. If you don't like lengthy games, then nearly every other genre has nothing but the right kind games for you.

[Duke19]

If its long because it is introducing something new? Cool
If its long because it is just having you repeat the same gameplay over and over? Not Cool

[Cy]

RPG's should be between 30-50 hours IMO, especially western RPG's where you have to make choices that affect the story. Any longer and the game just becomes tedious busy work (especially because most incredibly long games are only incredibly long because the developers cram as much pointless content as they can into it) and who the hell wants to restart an RPG they sunk 70+ hours into just to make a new character and try out different choices? It's counterintuitive.

[fitfox]

The fundamental premise of an RPG lends itself well to a long playtime, you want to settle in and soak up the world.

[PlatinumGX]

Why is Undertale in an article about RPGs?

[aquaticDonut]

Probably because it's an RPG.

[sullynathan]

Are we still calling Fallout 4 an rpg?

Anyways, rpg's don't have to be so long. Just pace yourself properly and skip fluff in game.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I mean long as in 100 plus hours? No, not really. 40 hours is short for RPG standards and I feel that is enough to get a good sense of progression.

Basically long enough to see the benefits of your progression and power RISE! (evil laugh)

[SpinalRemains138]

Yes.

I always want my money's worth.

[gerbwmu]

Child of Light was shorter....also cheaper. RPG's can be short but a lot of the idea is building your characters and finishing an epic journey so people buying the game expect extended play.

[-Gespenst-]

The worst thing about RPGs is the grinding and the farming. There are a lot of RPGs that boast huge playtimes, but usually grinding and farming make up a huge percentage of that. It's often a trick to make you think you're getting your money's worth.

I love RPGs, but exploration, discovery, and story should be what make the playtime long, not tedious, monotonous, soul-crushing labour. All that filler stuff just makes you sick of playing the game, and makes for bad memories. I love Final Fantasy X, I played it to 100% completion recently, but the thought of going back and farming spheres makes me shudder. You don't need that crap to appreciate the rest of the game, it's just filler that detracts from the experience and from your overall impression of the game. There's a sweet spot at which RPGs should end, but farming and grinding just drag them out until the mere thought of the game makes you feel ill. If I'm at a point in an RPG where I have to farm or grind, I have been known to put off playing the game much like I would a chore, which is really the opposite of how I should feel, because it's a videogame and it's supposed to be engaging / entertaining / fun.

[sullynathan]

you're playing the wrong rpgs then. Stay away from the "Bethesda rpgs" and the rpgs that try to follow this new open world trend.

[Khaotic]

Since when are open worlds new? Im not arguing that a rpg has to be open world to be great but open world has been around for quite a few years now

[sullynathan]

Why are you asking me that? When did I say open world is new?

[Khaotic]

"New open world trend"

[sullynathan]

so you aren't seeing the open world trend in which every game wants to be bigger, more open world, or follow in the footsteps of Skyrim?

[Khaotic]

I guess youre saying open world is a new trend but even then open world rpgs have been releasing every year for the last decade at least.
I dont think they are releasing because of Skyrim. Oblivion and fallout 3 were both open world before that as were quite a few others

[Khaotic]

Now maybe they are more prevalent now but open world sales games. I know some have "open world fatigue" but i for one love them. I love freedom to do what i want when i want. But thats me and respect youre opinion if its something you want to see less of

[sullynathan]

Oblivion and oblivion with guns are both Bethesda titles. Obviously I'm not talking about Bethesda titles, they've been making open world games since forever.

I'm talking about the recent trend/fad to turn existing series into open world games ( Witcher 3, Dragon Age Inquistion,MGSV, Final Fantasy XV ), to compare your game to other popular open world game, or to start making open world games (Final Fantasy XV,The Division,Kingdom Come Deliverance) over any other genre just because it is popular now.

[Khaotic]

Was the og Dragons age open world? I seriously cant remember, im getting old. I get your point though. I think devs like the creative freedom open worlds give them as well. The Witcher 3 was better for it imo as you felt like a witcher. Doing contracts on a whim, running into bandits etc. Mgsv should not have made that jump. Final Fantasy we will have to see. I havnt played one since 8

[sullynathan]

Yeah, you know, in TW1 you also felt like a witcher, doing contracts and meeting people but not in an open world.

No, Dragon Age never tried to be open world until after Skyrim released and EA saw that Skyrim sold 20 million copies and they thought they could do the same. Same for TW3.

I don't think any of these devs are making open world games because it gives them "more creative freedom", they can do that in a smaller world with far more variety in locations.
I feel like they do it because it is easy and there are already different templates and successful open world games out there that allows these new open world games to follow. There's the GTA formula, the TES formula, the Ass Creed formula and more. A lot of these new open world games follow one of them or a combo of them. It also helps to show that these devs don't know how to properly implement level design.

[tinparron]

I believe a good RPG is long by default. There seems to be a misconception that 'long' or 'many hours of gameplay' necessarily equals a long story. To me, the idea of a role playing game is to experience character building and explore your character's world. These two elements, if executed well by the developer, should give us plenty of gameplay time, alone. The story mode just needs to be thoughtful, compelling, and mesh well with the gameplay mechanics.

If I can freely explore the world I'm in, I'm surely going to spend hours doing that. If I can create my own character and evolve abilities differently with every new save-game I start, I'm going to play the game more than once. If the story is good, then the developer did their job correctly. However, I will easily spend at least 20 hours in a single superbly created world per player-character/toon without even factoring in the time I spend on the story quests.

To sum up, a good RPG's story doesn't necessarily have to be long, but the whole game will be long by default due to exploration and replay value.

[Miraak82]

Only rpgs I've really enjoyed in the past 7-8 years are Demon Souls ,BloodBorne and Skyrim . DS and BB hit the sweet spot in length of about 40-60 hours plus great replayabilty with great combat and pvp and skyrim is well .... just a fun mindless adventure ... Dragons yo ..400+ hours and i hardly ever got bored

[Segata]

Go play Ys 1-3 and The Last Story as they are very short but great RPGs

[aquaticDonut]

If the quality of the game warrants the price tag, then I don't care how long it is.

[TimelessDbz]

Idc if I get flagged for this but I can not stand open world RPGS. Witcher 3 put me to sleep with all that travel in between main missions. Skyrim was the same way. BloodBorne gets a pass because its semi open world and had co op.

FF13 and ff13-2 are my style of RPGS. Phantasy star universe story mode was fun too. Tales is a hit or miss but I like vesperia a whole lot

[Ck1x]

Yes!

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

yes/

[Fist4achin]

Just as long as the story is paced well and not fluffed up, I'm OK with a long game!

[maxleresistant]

God no.
First of all, look at the JRPG market, the JRPGs are the ones with the longest average length. And every year, the JRPG market shrinks a little more.

Second of all, data suggest that a lot of people don't finish games. I don't know for RPG, but it's probably even worst for those games.

As for a personnal opinion, I would prefer a 15h RPG where I truly enjoy every moment, and that I will actually want to play again because I had a blast, rather than a 50h RPG where I spend a lot of time grinding and do repetitive tasks.