How much of a game do you actually complete? And how long is too long?

Joe Danger dev reveals shockingly low completion rates, but how widespread is the problem and what's the solution?

Words: David Houghton on August 24, 2010

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bedelicious - August 24, 2010 12:52 p.m.

It depends, I usually get bored if the game is more than 20 hours (RPG) and more than 10 (other genres). But there are exceptions, Planescape: Torment I didn't want to end. Fallout 3 and Mass Effect 2 were pretty good. Bioshock and Devil May Cry 3 were perfect. It all goes down to content control though, having lots of bonus unlockable content and skippable side missions. If the game sucks though, even 2 hours are too much XD
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Bonesqaw - August 24, 2010 12:50 p.m.

Games should control their length, and not needlessly pad them with sequences just to add to the playtime (the cross-dressing segment in FFVII) And like he said, games should be well paced so the long time they take to complete(FF VI's first half), otherwise they end up poorly paced and become quickly boring (FFVII and VI's second half) I finish most games I play, unless I either don't enjoy them (FF VII) or simply am not enjoying them as much as I would other games. I've started five Final Fantasy games, yet haven't finished any of them, since things I wanted to play more (and could feel satisfied doing so) took my attention. Maybe after Kingdom Hearts I'll go back and finish FFVI (and eventually XII)
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IsaacFenix - August 24, 2010 12:46 p.m.

I agree with ArcaneGhost. I've noticed amongst gamers, or at least my friends, there are people who just don't give a damn about the narrative in a game. All these people want to do is blow stuff up, kill, steal, or otherwise be a Grade-A ass in games. It's as if a part of them dies if, God forbid, there is a cut-scene where someone doesn't suffer a horrible fate. They simply skip all the dialogue in games just to find themselves without a clue what to do. Personally, if a game story can keep me hooked for the entirety of the playthrough, I have no problem with it being 40+ hours. Dividing playtime into manageable chunks that keep me satisfied would be an acceptable trade-off for such an entrancing game.
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gilgamesh310 - August 24, 2010 12:46 p.m.

Jeez I didn't realise the statistic was that low for people who finish games. I always make a point to finish every game I buy or even rent. Games are just too expensive to spend a couple of hrs/minutes with and then just leave them in a corner to rot. I will never understand that kind of behaviour uunless the game is utter rubbish. I find that 90% of games around these days are just too short and a lot of other people I know think the same. I can understand a large sandbox game being boring however, far cry 2 bored the pants off me. It's the length of most linear games that really pisses me off. Most only take 6 hrs or less to complete. Resident evil 5 was only about half the length of the 4th and wasn't even as well paced so that alone proves that the length of a game is largely irrelevant to how it keeps a player engaged. In fact Resi 4 along with half life 2 is probably the best paced game ever made and both are over 12 hrs long. If people have time constraints because of family issues and such then that is their own problem, it's certainly nothing to do with games being too short.
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bradmillow0 - August 24, 2010 12:44 p.m.

I like long games, but if it is too long it really has to hook me. I also like short games, but if they are too short I feel like I just wasted my money, so I do prefer long games.
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ilymcr - August 24, 2010 12:42 p.m.

to be fair to FFXIII, if you invest x ammount of hours into it, it opens up and becomes amazing, the story even begins to make sense. So yeah I'm an advocate for long games.
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avantguardian - August 24, 2010 12:40 p.m.

story definitely has a lot to say about value relative to length...it's so much easier for people to plow through uncharted or gears and grasp the basic concepts of story and character development...even an avid RPGer like myself loses track of what is going on exactly in say, a FF or xenosaga if i don't devote not only overall hours, but more importantly, the consistency to stay on top of everything as it's unfurled...life just doesn't allow that sometimes...a good solution for those with smaller chunks of time would be to invest in more "longitudinal" games, such as the skate series, sports games, or puzzlers... also, mexico in RDR feels a bit padded for sure, but as joshin69 points out, blackwater, and especially the endgame for me, make it well worth it...
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db1331 - August 24, 2010 12:27 p.m.

I know I will probably get banned from GR for saying this, but I think Okami is another one of those great games that just went on too long. There were two separate times where I thought I had just beaten it, but then it kept going. I guess I was happy with it at the time, but looking back it was a little ridiculous. Still one of my all time favorites though, but it would have been every bit as enjoyable if it was about 10 hours shorter.
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Montag - August 24, 2010 12:27 p.m.

Length doesn't bother me at all. What I hate are unnecessary difficulty spikes/stupid boss fights. If you have ever played the original Soldier of Fortune you will know what I mean. Nice game all the way through, final boss suddenly has a completely bullet proof suit, which means about a 1000 rounds. WTF. Any any time during a game if it just feels stupid I stop. Don't mind difficult, I like friggin hard, just when it feels out of place does my head in
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AngryScotsman - August 24, 2010 12:27 p.m.

I want to feel that if I buy a game new on launch day for £40, that I'm getting what I paid for. That means either a longer game, more incentive to replay or an addictive online component. I don't want a game the length of a film that costs four times more! My mind works in a way that means I have to finish a game when I start it. If I get burned out, I step away for a while, but I will finish it. A 15 hour long game is a good time to strive for, below 10 hours is not acceptable for me, at least for an action game.
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ArcaneGhost - August 24, 2010 12:12 p.m.

This brings up an EXELLENT point. It's not just the older gamers with less time on their hands, though. It seems that more and more people just don't give a piss about playing a long game because of an ever growing lack of freakin' attention spans. I hate it when people stop playing a game midway through just because they're "bored" of it. I understand "burnt out on gameplay" -- you can always come back later. But if you play a game for 1 hour and call it boring, you don't deserve to play video games. That is all.
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joshin69 - August 24, 2010 12:06 p.m.

When it comes to Joe danger I'm 55% through and i keep going back for more stars every now and then which is great because there is always something left for me to do. As for RDR i agree that the Mexico area drags a little but once in blackwater that is all forgotten. I like my games long as long as they are good games.
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VanillaP - August 24, 2010 12:04 p.m.

To answer your question, 10hrs and 1 minute is too long. All games should be 10hrs long.
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Redeater - August 24, 2010 12:04 p.m.

FF13 should be put on trial for crimes against humanity.
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NEPAL - August 24, 2010 12:01 p.m.

If you don't have the time,play the game in small chunks. It will be like a TV show.
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kazimierz3000 - August 24, 2010 11:59 a.m.

This is a great article, I've struggled to beat Final Fantasy 10 several times yet I find myself getting bored around hour 20. I couldn't even play more than 2 hours or so of Final Fantasy 13 without getting bored of the linear gameplay, and at a busy 25 years old it's difficult to dedicate time to a game that only partially interests me.
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