What games are you playing/looking forward to?

[diabloblanco18]

Same here. I've spent well over 50 hours on each of the Final Fantasy games (that I've played), and I'm pretty sure Oblivion ate up more of my time than any of those. The KotOR games and Mass Effect were obviously shorter, but I probably got 30 hours on each without doing every single sidequest.

I agree on most FPS games, though. Multiplayer is often the only way they're worth the pricetag. The problem there, however, is not that they aren't long enough. If memory serves, Doom 3 was very long for an FPS, but it was boring and repetitive as hell. There wasn't enough content to sustain the game past 10 hours or so, and it's the same way with almost any FPS.

[zakalwe7]

[quote]The main quest in [i]Oblivion[/i] mixed in with quite a few side-quests took me about 12 hours. Doing every single side quest might take it to 50, I suppose. Some day I'm going to replay it and see how long it takes.[/quote]

12 hours!

I had somewhere between 150 and 200 hours in my first play through of Oblivion.

[Werthead]

IIRC, on [i]Oblivion[/i] I did the main quest and few side-quests in about 12-15 hours. Those were the one where you go through the painting, the boat-inn that gets stolen, a couple of dungeons and the town where everyone is invisible. And that annoying one in the capital city where you end up exposing that shopkeeper for fencing stolen goods. And of course pissing off Umbra and inadvertantly getting her to lay waste to most of the region surrounding the capital. That is still awesome. After I completed the main quest I went and did the arena stuff, which took a couple more hours (due to the auto-levelling, it was piss easy).

Of course, that leaves a hundred or more side-quests and all of the guild quests not done. I may go back and give it another whirl. I screwed up my last game by installing tons of mods and they didn't seem compatible with one another, so next time I might just not bother and go through it normally.

However, I flat-out refuse to believe that any RPG released in the last decade can compete in size with BG2. I played that game for a minimum of 4 hours a day at least 4-5 days a week for about two months non-stop and still didn't find, let alone complete, every side-quest.

[Durckad]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1581939' date='Nov 7 2008, 20.09']Of course, even a short RPG these days (like [i]Mass Effect[/i] or [i]Jade Empire[/i]) still generally lasts a lot longer than the average FPS (which seems to be clocking in these days at a disgracefully low 8-10 hours).[/quote]
I've played through Mass Effect twice and each time I've gotten about 35 hours out of it. Next time I play (need to get those achievements!) I'll probably skip most of the more annoying sidequests and just do the main plot.

[quote]However, I flat-out refuse to believe that any RPG released in the last decade can compete in size with BG2. I played that game for a minimum of 4 hours a day at least 4-5 days a week for about two months non-stop and still didn't find, let alone complete, every side-quest.[/quote]
That's because BG2 is the greatest RPG ever made and I doubt it will be dethroned anytime soon. ;)

[zakalwe7]

[quote]However, I flat-out refuse to believe that any RPG released in the last decade can compete in size with BG2. I played that game for a minimum of 4 hours a day at least 4-5 days a week for about two months non-stop and still didn't find, let alone complete, every side-quest.[/quote]

I don't know. I've probably stuck more time per play-through into Morrowind and Oblivion. The last of my 5 BG2 playthroughs included alot of player-made quest mods and I probably took about 60-80 hours on that. I think that for me, it's probably about play-style - with Morrowind and Oblivion I treated them as very immersive (geeky i know), resting up in towns, doing alot of non-quest related exploring and making sure i got my beauty sleep and food.

[Not another Stark]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1582238' date='Nov 8 2008, 14.42']However, I flat-out refuse to believe that any RPG released in the last decade can compete in size with BG2. I played that game for a minimum of 4 hours a day at least 4-5 days a week for about two months non-stop and still didn't find, let alone complete, every side-quest.[/quote]
Morrowind and the 2 expansions could do it, I think. I've spent more than 300 hours easily.
Then, I do it thoroughly, which means that I do every effing dungeon and cave in the game, and 3/4 of them aren't quest-related but just somewhere there in the wild, where you wouldn't go if you'd just do the quests of the game.

For Oblivion, doing all the quests and a couple side-dungeons took me close to 150 hours. Then, there are the numerous non-quest-related dungeons, which probably take a few more dozens of hours of hacking and slashing. A quite shorter game than Morrowind, though still a big one.


As far as I'm concerned, any RPG whose content is wholly over in less than 20 playing hours is a joke, a scam, and only deserves to be acquired through P2P.

[Werthead]

[quote name='Not another Stark' post='1582668' date='Nov 9 2008, 00.14']As far as I'm concerned, any RPG whose content is wholly over in less than 20 playing hours is a joke, a scam, and only deserves to be acquired through P2P.[/quote]

This is hyperbole. Even at 20 hours - still twice the length of most modern FPS - a game of that size still gives you roughly 10 times as much entertainment as a DVD for less than 1/3 extra the price, considerably less if it's an older game you can get on budget.

[i]Planescape: Torment[/i] and [i]Jade Empire[/i] would both fall into this bracket, and both are excellent games more than worth buying ([i]Torment[/i] especially).

[Galactus]

[quote]I don't know. I've probably stuck more time per play-through into Morrowind and Oblivion. The last of my 5 BG2 playthroughs included alot of player-made quest mods and I probably took about 60-80 hours on that. I think that for me, it's probably about play-style - with Morrowind and Oblivion I treated them as very immersive (geeky i know), resting up in towns, doing alot of non-quest related exploring and making sure i got my beauty sleep and food.[/quote]

Heh, I actually agree with Yahtzee that Oblivion wouldn't know immersion if it came up and bit it in the ass :P

Oblivion and Morrowind certainly can take longer time than BG2, mosly because there is much more "dead space" in it. (BG1 of course, had TONS of dead space)

EDIT: SHould be noted that BG2 can be completed in, I think, 2-3 hours, if you really want too :P

[Durckad]

[quote name='Galactus' post='1582792' date='Nov 8 2008, 21.36']EDIT: SHould be noted that BG2 can be completed in, I think, 2-3 hours, if you really want too :P[/quote]
Impossible! ;)

[zakalwe7]

[quote]EDIT: SHould be noted that BG2 can be completed in, I think, 2-3 hours, if you really want too :P[/quote]

Watched a speed run of it one time in around 47 minutes - quite incredible - [url="http://video.aol.com/video-detail/bg2-speed-run-part4/1717370348"]http://video.aol.com/video-detail/bg2-spee...art4/1717370348[/url]

Also watched a Fallout 1 speedrun done in less than 10 minutes last night [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WzSOKi_t5fg"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WzSOKi_t5fg[/url]

Here is Oblivion in 11.19 [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfmdl9-tnSU"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfmdl9-tnSU[/url]
(real utilisation of a bug that one) and Morrowind in 7.30 [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=m1IRxTN-_kU&feature=related"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=m1IRxTN-_kU&...feature=related[/url]

The speedrun scene is quite amusing. Alot of disagreement in how far bugs should be utilised

[quote]Heh, I actually agree with Yahtzee that Oblivion wouldn't know immersion if it came up and bit it in the ass :P[/quote]

Fair enough - depends on your definition of immersion and approach to it i suppose. I think with alot of the mods it becomes more so though - food, rest, travel options, portable bedroll, etc

[Werthead]

The mods only do so much to the game. If you utterly loathed [i]Oblivion[/i] I don't think all the mods in the world are going to sway your mind. If you just hated certain things, such as the level scaling, the interface, having to load every time you go into a city etc, then mods can certainly fix those things and make the game a bit more fun.

I'd say the mods are the biggest reason to get [i]Fallout 3 [/i]on PC, although Bethesda didn't ship the modding tools with the game so it's going to be a bit longer before we see mods come out for the game.

Does the PC version of FO3 still have the shitty interface problems that [i]Oblivion[/i] had, such as the massive inventory screen and unnecessarily huge fonts?

[Not another Stark]

Torment wasn't as long as BG or Morrowind, but it still wasn't that short either. Probably took me more than 20 hours to complete. Then, it basically just happened to have the best story ever seen in a video game and tons of dialogue. Of course, if you just click and never read any dialogue, it'll be over far sooner than 20 hours ;)
FPS solo campaignes are probably damn short, but then I don't even bother with them anymore :P

Oblivion took a lot of harsh criticism, but the quests overall, were as good as Morrowind - well, most side-quests and the guild questlines were usualle better than Morrowind, and the main quest was more so-so. Of course, the levelling silliness and the interface were annoying, and alas there weren't that much difference between various areas of Cyrodiil as you had in Vvardenfall - even more once you add Solstheim.

[Zelgrath]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1582942' date='Nov 9 2008, 06.42']Does the PC version of FO3 still have the shitty interface problems that [i]Oblivion[/i] had, such as the massive inventory screen and unnecessarily huge fonts?[/quote]

Yes it does. But there are already mods to make this better on the PC. [url="http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=43"]For example [/url]. See the screenshots for comparison

[Serious Callers Only]

I think that the latest generation of rpg insistence on complete voice-acting killed any possibility to have a large Torment like game. I already read text far faster than any voice can keep up with, and if certain analphabet 16bit console reared types were screaming like little girls when they find a blob of text that needs a narrator or is minimally non standard imagine their ennui at waiting for the voice to complete the phase, or the immersion kill of click to interrupt the voice mid-sentence.

[Balefont]

[quote name='Werthead' post='1581939' date='Nov 7 2008, 20.09']I've completed FF7 three times. Roaring through not doing any of the side-quests takes 22 hours. Doing all of the side-quests takes about 35. [b]To get to about 50 you'd need to spend ages traipsing around doing random battles for ages, or maybe do that crazily tedious chocoba-training thing to get Knights of the Round to kill Ruby and Emerald.[/b][/quote]

:blush:

Hey, I like to experience the [i]entire[/i] game. :P

I have FF XII to the end but I refuse to complete it without all the rare game and optional bosses n stuff. I have FF VIII almost at the end (third time playing it through) but I just switched to Kingdom Hearts II yesterday (I'm playing it for the second time without doing the final battle the first time cuz my game got erased and I was so pissed I had to stay away for a year). :smug:

I've noticed a pattern in my game play - I power everyone to the max, get all the extra stuff and then walk away right before the final battle. S'weird. Maybe I'm afraid of how pussified the final battle will be with everyone armed to the teeth and maxed out. :dunno:

[Shryke]

Eh, I wouldn't call most of the stuff that pads playtime in RPGs (especially JRPGs) "playing".

[Muttering Bill]

I've been playing Gears of War 2 almost non-stop since Friday. I'm on the last chapter now. Great game.

I also picked up Fallout 3 over the weekend. I spent about 3 hours on it, and just got out of the Vault and to the Megaton. I'm not really sure what the point is yet. It's seems pretty good though. Once I finish Gears 2 then I'll get more into it.

Alright, so I need a recommendation. I've got this $20 gift card lying around, so I figure I should grab a cheap game with it. I've got it narrowed down to either Oblivion or Mass Effect. So which is better?

I don't really know anything about Mass Effect. I'm a little hesitant about Oblivion - I played Morrowind, but never really got into it. So is Oblivion better? And what is the a difference between the GotYE and the regular one? GotYE cost twice as much, do you get any extras for it?

It'll probably come down to which one they have in stock when I get there. But I'm still curious.

[Maia]

Currently re-playing Gothic 2 with Night of the Raven expansion - already clocked 30 hours and I am just starting chapter 2! Granted, I did almost all side-quests and the first chapter in the Gothic games tends to be the biggest (and meatiest) by far, but still.
I have to say that the Gothics 1 and 2 really nailed the whole free-form exploration aspect. You do run around a lot, but the fact that one can encounter very strong monsters from the beginning and it is possible to locate them by sound and escape in time, sure spices the things up. One has to really prick one's ears when plowing through a thicket, so as not to die quickly. The whole system of deadly danger from the beginning, warning sounds, most animals growling thrice before attack and ability to outrun nearly everything really adds up to a very enjoyable sandbox aspect. And climbing. I really love climbing some tall cliff and looking across the landscape. Or shooting some tough monster from above.

Anyway - what I mean is, while nothing can match BG2 in length, games of decent length were still being made after it. And free-form exploration doesn't have to quickly devolve into tediousness, like in TES. I like TES, I even like Obl (with mods), but they always had this problem. Too many cookie-cutter locations and enemies that pursue you forever, unless you kill them or teleport away. And level-scaling... sigh.

BTW - is it possible to run away from things in Fallout3? Would really spoil it for me if you _have_ to eradicate whatever you aggroed or it will follow you to the ends of the world.

[potsherds]

[quote name='Muttering Bill' post='1583893' date='Nov 10 2008, 19.02']I've been playing Gears of War 2 almost non-stop since Friday. I'm on the last chapter now. Great game.

I also picked up Fallout 3 over the weekend. I spent about 3 hours on it, and just got out of the Vault and to the Megaton. I'm not really sure what the point is yet. It's seems pretty good though. Once I finish Gears 2 then I'll get more into it.

Alright, so I need a recommendation. I've got this $20 gift card lying around, so I figure I should grab a cheap game with it. I've got it narrowed down to either Oblivion or Mass Effect. So which is better?

I don't really know anything about Mass Effect. I'm a little hesitant about Oblivion - I played Morrowind, but never really got into it. So is Oblivion better? And what is the a difference between the GotYE and the regular one? GotYE cost twice as much, do you get any extras for it?

It'll probably come down to which one they have in stock when I get there. But I'm still curious.[/quote]
I'd say get Mass Effect, although I haven't played it. I *have* played Oblivion, and it's mediocre really, although I enjoyed it.

[The Imp's Advocate]

[quote name='Dackad' post='1582382' date='Nov 8 2008, 13.18']That's because BG2 is the greatest RPG ever made and I doubt it will be dethroned anytime soon. ;)[/quote]

Absolutely, totally agree. Orgasmic game. 'Nuf said :smoking: