- DB
Blog | Long Games Are Long
While that title may be stating the obvious and more than a little redundant, it's also true - a lot of modern games are very long indeed. This isn't a complaint really, but more a statement of fact, and one that is proving to be a bit of a hindrance to me right now.
The reason I say games being long isn't necessarily a complaint because it depends on what's filling that time. A lot of games do pad the running time out with pointless side activities, but even these can be enjoyable if the gameplay is good enough.
Others, like The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, have incredible stories arguably better than the central narrative, in addition to little secrets hidden away or collectables to accumulate. There are also games that are simply long because that's just how long it takes to tell its story.
The only real problem is that it means getting around to writing about these games will take forever, especially for some of the truly epic length games like the previously-mentioned Witcher 3. So the question is: what to do about this so I can play through them without struggling to write gaming-related posts for the site?
'Endless' games like Superflight, or single 'gimmick' games like Let Them Come can still easily be covered, as they don't really take too much time to experience everything the game has to offer. Likewise, shorter narrative games can still be played and reviewed because... well, they're shorter.
But even something like Spider-Man is a good example of what I'm talking about: I've been playing it for quite a while now and am still less than two-thirds complete. This is in part because I've been enjoying doing a lot of the side activities because of how much I'm enjoying the web-slinging.
This does mean that a review is probably still a couple of weeks away, aside from the little 'bits' mentioned in blogs. It does also mean that I'm kind of screwed when it comes to posting about games until Spider-Man is finished.
So, spoiler alert for December: I was planning on working my way through Dragon Age: Origins in December, with a separate post about each section thanks to the game being neatly divided into distinct areas, usually with their own mini-narratives that would make that an enjoyable thing to do.
The thing is, I also want to play through The Witcher 3 again, this time including the DLC content which I haven't played before. I also want to work through the Mass Effect games (yes, including Andromeda), and both the Assassin's Creed and Uncharted series too.
To make that possible without struggling to find other games to write about (I still have Dreamfall: The Longest Journey to finish too!), I'm going to adapt my Dragon Age plans for all longer games, writing shorter posts about smaller sections within those games.
It's a little late for Spider-Man to follow that format, but that's the plan for future titles. Most games are divided up into sections anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard to maintain that routine. I'll still make sure that I get through shorter games too, so it won't be a single title dominating for lengthy periods.
My backlog is more than long enough to guarantee it...
