The Gamer's Quarter

Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

Are there any games that you like but which you wished were shorter and more focused?
God of War ][
Half-Life 2 !
GTA San Andreas
Manhunt would be better without 1/3 of the levels.

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

pikmin 2 was glorious but a grind
and dear lord okami is a too long game with some spectacular highlights
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Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

Oh heavens, there are way, way, FAR too many games I could list here!
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D-A-I-S · . Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 123

Cycle's post content comes pre-filleted.

I kind of wish Star Ocean 2 hadn't tried to be so non-linear - what pathetic narrative there is suffers considerably from allowing me to go off and gain a hundred levels just because I love grinding.

On the other end of the spectrum, Xenogears basically fits this question to a T while it also begs the mercy of more time in which to explain itself; whenever I fantasize the JRPG that delivers the critical core content consistently while making the backstory and flavor as optional as you want, Xenogears is the first game I want to send to the lab.

Daggerfall should've been an island (like the demo). I haven't played much of the next two TES games but I'm fairly sure I wish they were smaller, and certainly more focused.

Any GTA game on replay tends to be a bittersweet experience - I'm hoping that GTA4 implements some kind of mission playlist feature, where the bullshit is cut out and you just go from explosion to explosion.

Redeye · . Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 986 Location: filth

Baldur's Gate 2.

You're supposed to rescue your sister, not fuck around managing an opera house or a castle.

That shit should have been a free-form spinoff.

Morrowind was fine, mostly. I'm biased because I just liked to look at the architecture.

Oblivion needed time limits. The free form element is a huge plot hole, along with the fact that the town guards could have won the whole game by themselves in ten minutes.

"The God's wait on thine dawdliness".

Any game that says "Hurry" but doesn't enforce it.
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aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

I read the title as "fletching games".

Could you use the wiimote for that, I wonder?
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dhex · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:40 am Post subject:

iolo's crossbow store simulator?
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Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Half-Life² was just right.

To answer the question, most definitely killer7. It could have served to have faster pacing, mostly. Pretty much every single jRPG ever developed falls under this too. That and they'd require gameplay.
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dessgeega · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:00 pm Post subject:

i feel like nearly all of half-life 2's scenes go on too long, actually.
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digi · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:11 pm Post subject:

Xenosaga Episode 1 could have been salvaged to something satisfactory if not for the bazillion hours of cutscenes I think.

Oh and yes Final Fantasy X GOD just cut out 95% of that 'on the road' part.
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aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

kuzdu · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:40 pm Post subject:

Is Bioshock too easy an answer?

To tell the truth I think I would like most of the games I've played more if they were only 2/3 their length.

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Yeah, BioShock and Resident Evil 4 are definite contenders.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

Yeah, I'm enjoying SEPERATE WAYS more than normal RE4 because it's shorter and most of the bullshit is cut out. It's rad.
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boojiboy7 · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:13 pm Post subject:

dhex · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:08 am Post subject:

man you guys make me cry sometimes. ;(

most rpgs are probably far too long. well, i'm kinda torn on that. on the one hand, that's sort of the point, but a lot depends on the mechanics. something like dw7 struck me as sadistically long and convoluted, but the month or so it took me to get through planescape (not playing all the time, obviously, and having to go back due to a corrupted party save issue) seemed far shorter.
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daphaknee · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 5:06 pm Post subject:

most jrpgs oh god im leaving this thread dont get me started

Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

For starters developers need to stop doing final thirds set in completely different environments. ie Xen, the body of the many.

Redeye · . Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 986 Location: filth

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

You're like the only one who does!
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

I liked Xen, but I remember a lot of people complaining that it wasn't in the spirit of the rest of the game. The rest of the game constantly shifts and changes, though, especially when those soldiers turn up, so it's not really a valid complaint.

Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:09 pm Post subject:

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

He can shake his head 'no' and nod his head 'yes' though, or at least he does when I'm playing it.

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Halo. Definitely. I was so sick of The Flood and that last chunk used towards the end used over and over that I couldn't really go back to play it, multi or single, after I beat it.
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Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

The nice thig about Halo is that you could just play certain levels again and again easily and never have to go through the library again. More games need level selects like that.

ONLY A CLOWNBOAT WOULD LIKE THE LIBRARY

OH HI DRACKO

jk you're a cool guy
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

But Pit knows the Eggplant Wizard...
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Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Yeah, that's a good point.

He and Greedo should get together.

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

Based on your comments elsewhere, I think I know where Greedo gets his name.
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Worm · . Joined: 08 Jan 2008 Posts: 142

parkbench · . Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 145

I would like to second the hate for Xen and the body of The Many; they just felt uninspired. Tacked on, even. Maybe if halfway through the game you went to Xen, and then the whole focus of the gameplay shifted? IE, all you know is now wrong and the laws of Xen are much different than Earth. That would've been nice.

It didn't help that they were ugly as sin. HL-era textures just don't age well. One thing is a brick texture, but another is weird fleshy shit.

I enjoyed the body of The Many a lot though, if not for just the parts of the rickenbacker, or whatever ship it was, that were lodged inside of it. The final battles of both games didn't feel like proper codas (ie i beat them and thought, "that's it?"), and SS2's ending is totally a cop-out.

Something like that.
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