When you frequent gaming circles on social media, there are certain topics that poke the "discourse bear." You've probably been exposed to the carousel of phrases that inspire developers, journalists, influencers, and fans to chime in every few months with Thoughts (review scores, easy mode, yellow paint ). Usually I find these pow wows safe to ignore as folks repeat the same reasonable points at each other, but I admit there's one recurring topic that always rubs me the wrong way: game length, and how much we're supposed to (not) care about it.
The topic goes back further than social media, but the first time I remember everyone having an opinion on price and length was Gone Home in 2013—a time when indie games had started to command a lot of respect in the industry, but before we'd gotten used to the idea of paying $20+ for story-heavy games that only last a couple of hours. A few years later, The Order 1886 sparked a few headlines defending its six-hour campaign at $60. Last year, our review of Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart caught some heat for highlighting its short runtime and premium price as a negative.
Holding game devs to a strict dollar/hour ratio is obviously not a sensible idea. That's a recipe for mediocre videogames, and arguably the line of thinking that's led to a generation of padded-out open world games that would've benefited from smaller maps and fewer crafting systems. It's understandable that the most plugged-in videogame enjoyers emphasize artistry an.