A modern RPG should be how long?

[goatdan]

I've been playing through a bunch of RPGs lately for no reason other than I just ran across a bunch at the same time. Amongst them I have had some whose time to complete varies rather wildly. Fable, which I have been told can be completed in eight hours is on the short side, while it seems that Lunar Legend with over 14 hours of gameplay put in already (and no end in sight, although I've probably spent more time than necessary finding battles to fight in... could've been here in 10-12 hours) is a completely different thing.

So my question is what's a good amount of time for an RPG to be from start to completion? Are you happy with an 8 hour game that you know you'll replay over and over, or would you rather have a 30+ hour quest that keeps you entertained the entire time? Or does it even matter to you?

In my opinion, about 10-15 hours is about what I like. I've found that after that amount of time, I tend to abandon RPGs for a while and come back at a later point. I did this with Star Wars: KOTOR and have to a lesser extent tried doing this with Lunar Legend, although I'm forcing myself to continue.

[Cmtz]

Just as long as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII and Earthbound.

[davepesc]

As long as they need to be.

Seriously, I put 120 hours into Disgaea (2 playthroughs) without even noticing how long I'd been playing.

Xenosaga 2, six hours in and I couldn't force myself to put the disc in my PS2.

If a game is keeping me entertained, I want it to keep going on, but as long as I'm satisfied, short games (Lunar) can be every bit as great as "4 full days of your life" games (Xenogears).

[tylerwillis]

20-30 hours is LONG for an RPG? What are you smoking, Dan? :)

My scale:
5-10 = Needs work. Desperately.
10-20 = Short and probably without a good plot.
20-40 = A good, decent adventure.
40-60 = I've grown attached to the characters. Or else.
60-100 = Final Fantasy.

[calthaer]

Depends greatly on whether or not the game has the abysmal train-track of plot linearity, whether or not it has a lot of meaningless "filler" (read: levelling up and doing stupid repetetive tasks to the point of boredom), and whether or not they make you watch a bunch of cutscenes where they ask whether or not you think love can bloom on a battlefield or whatever other engrish nonsense they want to throw at you.

[Jibbajaba]

20-30 hours is LONG for an RPG? What are you smoking, Dan? :)

My scale:
5-10 = Needs work. Desperately.
10-20 = Short and probably without a good plot.
20-40 = A good, decent adventure.
40-60 = I've grown attached to the characters. Or else.
60-100 = Final Fantasy.

I agree with this guy.

Chris

[sirhansirhan]

I think "As long as it needs to be" should have been an answer. It depends on the game.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I prefer longer RPG's. The longer they are, the more I can attach and relate myself to the characters, which gives me amazing game play. If an RPG is too short, I don't even feel like it is an RPG. With this genre of gaming, the whole concept (to me) is about actually being the character you are playing ('role' playing).

[classicb]

my vote probably means very little in RPG circles since I have a hard time staying with them. For that reason I don't really like games that take more than 8 hrs to finish. I find that the few RPGs that I've played when they start getting really long its not becuase of some great story but becuase I'm needing to level up to fight something or do something else teadious. I can understand the draw to some epic 30+ hour RPG and just wrapping yourself up into it for weeks which is why I always try to get into them but it never works out. :(

[hezeuschrist]

I'm also on the "as long as it needs to be" bandwagon.

If a game has a plot that REQUIRES 80 hours of gameplay to get through, excellent. If it's that captivating then that's great. But the shit I really can't stand is "We've got to go to this city to meet this guy... but there's a haunted forest in the way! Oh no! *filler filler filler*"

I don't want a game to be 60 hours long for the sake of putting that number on the back of the box. I want it to be captivating and enthralling for as long as it takes. Fable took me probably just over 10 hours, but I really enjoyed it. Any longer though, and it would have just been unnecessary.

I'm playing through FFIV Advance right now and in the span of 2 and a half hours, I've abandoned my kingdom, destroyed an innocent village, rescued my love interest from the depths of fever, witnessed the destruction of a kingdom, and already intereacted with 7 playable and interesting characters. It shouldn't take 10 hours to do something like that becuase there are 10 different "dungeons" in the way of plot turn.

I've found myself not giving a damn about a lot of them though, even though I still hunt them tirelessly.

[its_hey_ma]

Sadly, I have 178 hours in FFX-2. Mostly because I went up to grab a snack, got distracted, and left the game running for hours one day/night/next morning

[Sylentwulf]

I'm with tyler as well, this poll is a bit off on options.

100+ = Dragon warrior

Should be added to tyler's list. Here's mine:

5-10 = This is not a RPG. Most Action games are longer than this. This is one night of sports games.

10-20 = Zelda series, usually action adventures

20-40 = Shadow Hearts, arc the lad, Grandia etc... A good, decent adventure, average RPG without a big budget.

40-60 = Final Fantasy. Same as above, with MANY added sidequests, character plot fillers, etc...

60-100 = Atlus/Nippon Ichi SRPGS which can last forever, but at 100 hours you usually say "OK, I have a problem" and put down the controller

100+ - Dragon Warrior. Oh god, when is it going to end? Not that I'm OVERLY complaining.

[Nez]

Id say 30-40 hours. Thats when I feel its just right. Anylonger and I have to put it down for a few weeks. (I've been plying Baten Kaitos for 55 hours now and thats taken me almost 2 months to do).

I've played a few 40 hour plus RPGS but not many.

I dont think I've ever played an RPG shorter then 20 hours. My fastest rpg completion time was Panzer Dragoon Saga at a bit over 24hrs.

[Richter Belmount]

20 hours something comprehensive most people here have full time jobs or things to do , why not make a game that doesnt waste as much peoples time? why make the player go search for extra items and busy and deliver a great expierence.

[Tanis178]

i like it when i sit for an hour and the game feels like an episode of an adventure because every time i play it i'm expieriencing something different, whether it be a plot twist or new location, anyone who has played morrowind or kotor can attest to that.

i'm definately a "as long as it takes" believer to some extent, having a 80 hour game with 40 hours of tediousness, is like waiting through an extended commercial break to find out the ending of a good show :roll:

but at the same time i want a good story not a flashy comic book, i want to at least get my money's worth and not having beaten it in one weekend.