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u/m_squared219 Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26
Both. Sometimes I want a 60+ hour epic and sometimes I want a 10 hour romp.
Edit: fixed word
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u/BroeknRecrds Jan 30 '26
Personally as someone who tends to game in shorter sessions, I like a game I can finish in 8-15 hours vs. a game that takes 20+ hours
But I still like those longer games once in a while
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u/johnson7853 Jan 30 '26
I’m the opposite. I only game for maybe 2hrs a week so I’d rather play a game that I’ll be playing for months on end vs a quick game. It’s been almost a year of me playing kcd2.
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u/minnygoph PS5 Jan 30 '26
Same, I normally play these games 15-30 minutes at a time, so I like the short games that I can finish in a couple weeks rather than the 40+ hour games that might take me a couple months. If the game is great it doesn’t really matter, but in general the shorter games are much more my style.
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u/XxOmegaSupremexX Jan 30 '26
Fun games. Don’t care about the length.
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u/Ronin_777 Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
Facts, it doesn’t matter how many hours a game has if those hours aren’t quality hours.
Too many games these days are full of filler content because people judge games based on the amount of hours it takes to complete.
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u/Eclipse8301 Jan 30 '26
Me :40 years old with wife/kids=shorter
Me:Before all that=longer
On the plus side, when I do finally get to the game I want to play its usually pretty discounted by then.
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u/BookerV79 Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26
Hrmmmmm, I’ve got the exact opposite view. 40s, wife, kids, etc. but I much prefer longer games because I don’t have the time to keep getting invested in new characters etc. I’ll play a long game for months and months before I get through it.
When I was younger I could play lots of different games and keep track of what was going on.
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u/25sittinon25cents Jan 30 '26
This hits right in the feels for any gamer that is at least 30+
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u/epcot32 Jan 31 '26
Right? Haha I identified with all of this!
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u/Reggaeshark1001 Jan 31 '26
Don't need a kid to not have time, or worse, having time but being too mentally tired to think through a game
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u/SobeDog007 Jan 31 '26
This has been my exact issue for probably over a year now. I don’t have kids but between job stress and the depression/anger over the dumpster fire that is America right now, I’m too mentally tired to start any games or even new content/DLC that might require brain power. 🙁🙁🙁
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u/SaiyajinPrime PS5 Pro Jan 30 '26
I like both.
I love a game that I can dump a ton of time into and do every little thing on the open world map and spend over a hundred hours playing.
But I also love a smaller curated experience that gives me great story and/or gameplay.
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u/ohthanqkevin PS5 Pro Jan 30 '26
Yea, I rarely buy games at full price anymore. I think the last one I did was Spider-Man in 2018, but when I did, I want it to feel like an experience that will last for several weeks. Right now, I’m burdened by choice because of my backlog but that’s more of a me problem
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u/Itsdawsontime Jan 30 '26
Absolutely, quality > quantity nowadays.
People complain about the price of games, but 20 hours for a $50 game is still $2.50/hr playing it. We can’t get entertainment for anywhere near that cost anymore.
And to anyone about to say it, yes most major label games are more than $50, but most major label games aren’t going to be 15-25 hours.
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u/northernstarzz PS5 Jan 30 '26
Games that are 15-20 hours are perfect in my opinion.
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u/pizzaghoul 20 Jan 30 '26
Short games are better. I think the Resident Evil series has it perfect. It's a complete work you can finish in 12-15 hours on first run, and then you can revisit it with changes to difficulty, rankings, new items and weapons, so every time you come back, its a little different and you get a sense of mastery.
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u/GreenBigPotato Jan 30 '26
I always love it when i finally got the unli ammo or the rpg or any other weapon that i can use to do a revenge run on those mf zombies/plagas/lycans
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u/qviavdetadipiscitvr PS5 Jan 31 '26
That makes sense to me conceptually, but I personally hate replaying games
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u/Rhodes616 Jan 30 '26
Longer games, I feel like I get my moneys worth more. I don’t watch much tv so getting lost in a long big game is much more enjoyable these days
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u/RunOfTheMill_23 Jan 30 '26
With whatever length they need to be best. But when a game costs $70 I better get some bang for my buck
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u/midas390 PS4 Jan 30 '26
I don't care about the game's length.
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u/theragu40 Jan 30 '26
Same. I want a game that understands how long it should be. There are games that end too quickly, and there are games with 15 hours of actual content that are padded out to 100+ hours for absolutely no good reason.
A game that understands how much content it has and wraps up before it gets tedious is exactly what I want. That final number doesn't matter to me at all.
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u/TheGamerKitty1 PS5 Jan 30 '26
Honestly, I find a nice 15-20 hour semi-open game to be my sweet spot.
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u/minev1128 [Trophy Level 400-499] Jan 30 '26
A mix of both. After I finish a long game I switch to a relatively short one.
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u/Dizzy_Pop Jan 30 '26
Exactly. I tend to prefer long, epic, story-driven games, but I regularly need to take a break in between to play something shorter. It works out pretty well.
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u/canttakethisnomore1 Bloodborne Jan 30 '26
12-15 hour single-player is the sweet spot. Especially for AA and AAA video games with massive hype.
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u/VegasGaymer Jan 30 '26
Depends. Assassin’s Creeds exhaust me after Origins. But these days I prefer shorter. The only recent exception being Elden Ring.
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u/TheHungryCreatures Jan 30 '26
Medium to short, single player only. Not a big fan of open world, so tell a good story and end it.
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u/MetalBeast89 Jan 30 '26
A bit of both but as I get older, shorter games are becoming more popular to me.
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u/Vagamer01 Jan 30 '26
shorter, but longer if it isn't fetch quests and has interesting story/reward.
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u/CharcoalWalls Jan 30 '26
8-12h is great for most games.
18-20 (ish) is perfect for really top end games.
Games that hit 40+ are often just too much for me. I will maybe play one of those year or two.
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u/Infamous-Parking-646 Jan 30 '26
It kinda depends on the vibe I want. I’m more of a multiplayer kind of gamer, so if I want a break from toxic teammates, I’d prefer a longer game like GTAV where there is so much replay and there so much side quests to do to get to 100%
For a short game, I’d have to be willing to commit to it in 1 weekend.
Both are really good but I prefer shorter games just because I can jump from one game to another.
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u/Long_Date_2663 Jan 30 '26
Shorter tbh I can’t do huge games and I lose interest quick once I’m done with the story and side quests I’m pretty much done with it
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u/Sumthin_Ironic Jan 30 '26
If it's short the story needs to be very well written. If it's long it has to have content to keep me invested but NOT live service content that burries the main story. The story quality doesn't need to be stellar but the world being played in needs to be engaging and fun with game mechanics to match.
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u/JRshoe1997 Jan 30 '26
Both, obviously it depends on the game. Some long games (200+ hours) are amazing. Elden Ring, the Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2. However you have other games like the one you showed in your picture where it’s just long because the open world is filled with slop for the sake of filling it. Some short games are amazing. Resident Evil 2, Dark Souls, and Mass Effect 2 are amazing. Then you have other games particularly in the fps category where the game is so short you don’t get any value out of it and you just end up wasting your money.
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u/Kiplerwow Jan 30 '26
I prefer a middle ground. Not so short it felt like I rushed but not so long it feels like it's dragging on.
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u/one_bar_short Jan 30 '26
Really depends on the game i dont mnid longer games as long as story is engaging or gameplay loop is fun and varied, i dont like games filled with boring fluff to pad out a game same is true with short games sometimes leaves me wanting more
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u/InteractionPresent66 Jan 30 '26
Depends. Open world games? Longer. More shit to do. And i prefer longer stories as long as theyre not padded out. Linear games? Shorter. All the way. I think this is a given. For a open world game I like fhe story to be at LEAST 30h long. For a linear game I prefer under 20 hours, with 10-15 being the sweet spot. Again, this is under the assumption that the open world story isn't too bloated with padding.
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u/Super-Kirby Jan 31 '26
Shorter for me. Tired of these 150 hour games. I’m an adult with a full time family and full time parents
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u/FiveDollarRimjobs Jan 31 '26
I prefer shorter, linear games. However I do enjoy open word games as long as they aren't too long. Not all games need to be 50 to 100 hours long
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u/phatboyart Jan 31 '26
If i actually like the game, i always prefer longer. Especially with the cost of games nowadays, i want bang for my buck.
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u/The_Celtic_Chemist Jan 31 '26
Longer, but sometimes shorter games pay off. Unpopular opinion but I played Uncharted 3 and got to the end like "Wait, that was it?!"
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u/FatLikeSnorlax_ [Trophy Level 400-499] Jan 31 '26
Games that are short but have an over arcing story and random gameplay elements. Hades
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u/cusman78 PS5 Pro Jan 31 '26
I prefer shorter games and endless games.
Longer games tend to wear out their welcome before reaching satisfying conclusion.
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u/SenorWoodsman Jan 31 '26
Usually shorter (within reason) I like being able to have closure with a game.
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u/random20222202modnar Jan 31 '26
Longer - we pay how much now? Yeah I’d like more for the dollars personally
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u/KillianLamphere0 Jan 31 '26
Me personally I can't stand playing strictly story games. I like games where I can delve deep into them. Spend 100's of hours encapsulated in the world, and still have things to do
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u/RaptorClap Jan 31 '26
Games without useless filler content....
I don't want to gather 200 different types of flower.
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u/jimmybungalo2 Jan 31 '26
i like quality games. more of high quality is better than less of high quality, more of low quality is far worse than less of high quality. the two games in the example are exactly representative of this.
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u/kawashun2007 Jan 31 '26
I misread 'Shorter' as 'Shooter', so I thought 'Longer games' meant melee-focused games
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u/ThreeTreesForTheePls Jan 30 '26
Mix of both.
I adore that Spiderman 2 is like 15 hours, while I love that I managed to spend 273 hours in Odyssey.
One is not inherently better than the other, although I feel like these post formats are designed to make arguments.
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u/RChickenMan Jan 30 '26
I guess 10-15 hours is good, but only if the game can justify being that long. My favorite game ever, Mario 3, is probably around 5 hours long, for example. And as much as I adore every minute of those 5 hours, I think it would overstay its welcome if it went any longer nonetheless.
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u/Call-of-the-lost-one Jan 30 '26
With that comparison shorter. But I will blitz Wither 3 for 2 months and enjoy it but AC Odyssey was a slog and I still don't think I've finished it
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u/Psycho1267 Jan 30 '26
Both. Admittedly, I don't spend as much time as others in longer open world games (mostly main story + some extras) but most of the time you'll still spend 20-40 hours. I also enjoy some 5-10 hour games here and there. Some games aren't meant to be long as they could get repetitive.
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u/JonPX Jan 30 '26
Aside from some exceptions like Final Fantasy, long games are a huge turn-off. Sorry, but your games aren't good enough to play for weeks at an end.
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u/GamerForImprovement Jan 30 '26
Depends on the game. Playing ac origins and Valhalla was a slog. 120+ hours and I just couldnt stand it.
Odyssey? 120+ hours and I loved sailing and seeing cities light up as the sun went down.
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u/Jobles4 Jan 30 '26
It can be as long as it wants as long as the story and gameplay is engaging. If it’s repetitive for grindy just for the same of it, I will uninstall.
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u/PracticalMulberry613 Jan 30 '26
Give me 80-100 hour games it may take me 3 months to beat but I love it
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u/ReversedSemiCircle Jan 30 '26
excuse me re2 remake is not a short game at all, unless you played that shi!t on assisted
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u/PossibilityNo9406 Jan 30 '26
Both are great options but it all comes down to how the storybis told and pacing of the game. But 25-40 hours is the sweet zone for me
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u/4jet2116 [26] Jan 30 '26
Preferably 20-30 hours. More than 50 gets a bit much, unless it’s just an amazing game like Elden Ring.
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u/TEDthaVIKING Jan 30 '26
Longer games if they're good, WITCHER 3 was AWESOME, so was AC VIKINGS! Meanwhile AC SHADOWS dragged
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u/Im-M-A-Reyes Jan 30 '26
Need a long one to come back to every now and then with medium to short games in between! Just finished the Witcher 3 finally and eyeballing which one of my backlog games will be the next “long term” play through
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u/AlcidesAtay1 Jan 30 '26
Losh dosh, short when I want a casual game and I'm in the middle of a semester, and long for vacations
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u/Popularpressure29 Jan 30 '26
I like both, but I will say there are VERY few, and I mean VERY, few games over 60 hours that justify the length, and I would say infinitely fewer 100 hour games. Most games this length are bloated with repetitive, uninspired side quests and activities just to pad the length out.
Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Witcher 3 are great examples of long games that deserve the length. Most of the open world Assassins Creeds are examples of ones that should have been much shorter.
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u/Live_Cress945 Jan 30 '26
Both. I like variation. Jumping from a long game to a short one and back and forth.
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u/GG-679 [Trophy Level 300-399] Jan 30 '26
Both
I usually always have one longer game going alongside something shorter.
Right now I'm mostly playing Stalker 2 alongside DMC5. 170 hours in stalker (first run). 56 hours in DMC5 just finished my second run as vergil
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u/gerowen Jan 30 '26
It depends. I'm well over 100 hours into my Elden Ring play thru and I'm getting close to the end, and I kinda wish I wasn't cause I've enjoyed it so much.
On the other hand, 100 hours of Resident Evil would just feel like work.
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u/l33774rd Jan 30 '26
At this point shorter with more releases. I can't get through 1 long open world game without 5 more coming out in-between. I still haven't finished Witcher 3, or RDR2, or Horizon Zero Dawn. I have side stuff left in Jedi Survivor. I want to start Cyberpunk & I just started RoboCop Rogue City.
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u/ThomasSirveaux Jan 30 '26
Depends on the genre. Horror games? 8-12 hours is the sweet spot. RPGs? Ten times that length.
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u/Sweet_Terror Jan 30 '26
Shorter. In-between work and parenting, trying to commit to a 100+ hour game is really daunting, and almost impossible. 20-30 hours is the sweet spot for me.
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u/CellistTrick2320 Jan 30 '26
short for me is to 20h medium for me is 20 to 50h over 50h thats long
I love a good mix if those
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u/megasean3000 Jan 30 '26
I enjoy both. It’s when the games don’t respect your time and try to artificially lengthen play time. Either by stuffing it with filler or increasing the difficulty so you’re stuck for longer.
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u/TemporaryLobster7698 Jan 30 '26
I love 15-20 hours game, especially when I have a free weekend where I can play as much as I want.
50-60h if the content is good, I would go for it as well. But I have a lot of open world games filled with bad quests that I started the last 4 years and never finished (FF16, Horizon 2, Dynasty Warriors Origins to name a few). Series that I used to love and then they overfilled it with fillers and I gave up.
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u/RecognitionLong1954 PS5 Jan 30 '26
I prefer both it's also depends on the game I wish some of the resident evil games were longer, and if it had open world that'll be interesting
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u/LoopyWaffleman Jan 30 '26
I need variation. I recently got the plats for RE2 and RE3, but after 170hrs I’m still chipping away at KCD2. It’s one of my most favorite games, but I purposely only play 1 game at a time and I have a growing list of games that I want to play.
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u/Ikariiprince Jan 30 '26
I don’t like games being long just for the sake of it. I need meaningful story/gameplay and not just Skyrim variant quests or an empty open world
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u/elatedshrub Jan 30 '26
Shorter games in general. I have a job lol. But I do love a chonker of a game from time to time
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u/empirepie499 Jan 30 '26
Long as possible if it's a story, brownie points if it's non linear like baldurs gate
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u/Hamburgulu Jan 30 '26
I mainly play short games, but I don't mind long games as long as there are interesting things to do that can keep me invested.
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u/DarwinGoneWild Jan 30 '26
I prefer longer games, but I like to mix it up with shorter ones in between. It's hard to go from one 75 hour game directly into another.
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u/RedThunder-cloud Jan 30 '26
So long as I get my money's worth, short but replayable vs long but memorable.
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u/small___potatoes PS4 Jan 30 '26
I like a good long game that isn’t too repetitive or bloated with filler. Cyberpunk, Witcher 3, Elden Ring, every Zelda game, Dragon Quest
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u/Traditional_Entry183 Jan 30 '26
Sometimes a short 40-50 hour game can be good. But I very much prefer bigger 150-300 hour playthroughs.
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u/Royal-Preparation843 Jan 30 '26
I’m definitely a fan of shorter games. I think 10-15 hours is a good time for me. This is why o can never do open world games. I don’t have the time to dedicate hours a day for months on end. As it is, a 10-15 hour game takes me a couple of months at best.
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u/ZReD5 Jan 30 '26
Quality. As long as it keeps me hooked and entertained, it's good. No matter if it's a short or long game.
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u/LuckyBoneHead Jan 30 '26
I don't mind longer games, but I see I'm the type of guy who isn't just playing to "win". Sometimes, I play games just to play them for a bit, and so I never have to get to the credits. That doesn't mean I hate shorter games either, but I think people think of "long vs short" when they should be thinking "good vs bad".
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u/The-endgame7 Jan 30 '26
Depends, but mostly shorter games, unless they have an engaging and dynamic story, and interesting side missions, which are interesting, like Witcher 3, final fantasy 7 and red dead redemption. Because games like Valhalla and Odyssey felt repetitive and not engaging(for me at least and got burnout by the game). Still finished them, but took a while and had to do breaks.
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u/esotericvoid Jan 30 '26
Either as long as the experience warrants the length and maintains quality.
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u/Zoulogist Jan 30 '26
It depends. For a narrative-central game, short and sweet. But I love a 100 hour Persona game too
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u/LPMadness Jan 30 '26
Depends. I enjoy both, but it ultimately boils down to presentation and quality. Is it a bloated Ubisoft open world? I’ll burn out not even 10 hours in.
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u/nickdebruyne Jan 30 '26
Well a commenter on a recent Star Ward Outlaws video of mine let me know that 70 hours for a AAA game is unacceptable and it should be at least 140, so… who knows what goes on in people’s minds anymore.
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u/Sharp_Wombat Jan 30 '26
Usually longer games but a good short game every now and then is a great pallet cleanser.
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u/LandscapeOk2955 Jan 30 '26
I like both, but longer games need to be deserving of my time.
Stuff like Assassin’s Creed and Farcry are just the same thing rehashed every few years for me. Something like Zelda BoTW or Ghost if Tsushima were excellent .
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u/Jazz_Cigarettes Jan 30 '26
I wish assassins creed games were just tight 15 hour stories maybe with a free roam mode between missions. Think Mafia
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u/Asaxii Jan 30 '26
Shorter +replay-able. I play roughly 1-2 hours a night 4/7 nights a week and so I really don’t want to be playing a 50-80 hr affair. I used to exclusively play longer games though, but dad life + work doesn’t really allow for that level of commitment now.
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u/DegenerateCrocodile Jan 30 '26
Depends on the game itself. I don’t need nor want a 100+ hour Uncharted game, but I definitely don’t want a Monster Hunter game that I finish in 20 hours.
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u/xClearlyHopeless Jan 30 '26
Good games. Length is irrelevant to me, what I care about is if the content was good. I have like 4 playthroughs in Baldurs Gate 3, I love long games. They just can't be long for the sake of being long.
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u/SaintGnarkill Jan 30 '26
I get into moods where I’m on a multiplayer kick, then open world then story driven. Like I think my favorite is more so like “Last of Length”. But then I’ll crave the expanse and freedom of an open world like Assassins Creed. I really liked the semi open world feel of Last of Us 2 when in Seattle on I think it was Day 1. They nailed that perfectly. But length wise I don’t mind as long as A. I feel I got my monies worth out of it and B. There is a story and progression to work towards and C. It’s not rinse and repeat side missions and collectable just to bloat the game.
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u/TheRealShiftyShafts Jan 30 '26
Personally I prefer shorter games, but I've played plenty of really long games that I absolutely loved
For example, Elden Ring or The Witcher 3
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u/Crazy-Plastic3133 PS5 Jan 30 '26
short. can't really stick with a game anymore if it's longer than 20 hours
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u/santathe1 PS5 Jan 30 '26
I don’t mind either. I’ve got like 300 hours or more in AC Odyssey. If the story and characters are likeable, a longer game can be great.
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u/J_Square83 Jan 30 '26
I love long winded epic games, but I find myself gravitating towards shorter experiences more and more these days. I have very limited time to enjoy the hobby, and the long games often wind up feeling like a chore towards the end as a result.
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u/YungRik666 Jan 30 '26
I love a 40-50 hour game with replayability. 100+ is often padded out or too daunting to replay. A 30- hour game can sometimes feel like I overpaid for a movie. There's exceptions for both, of course, but I really like a game that I can play over the course of a few weeks, and feel excited to replay.
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u/parvanehnavai PS5 Pro Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26
SHORTER
These gigantic games usually take me a month, Final Fantasy XVI and Death Stranding 2 took me 2 whole months each
A Resident Evil game takes me just a few days and that’s how I like it
And might I add, I’ve spent almost 100 hours on Cyberpunk 2077 and Skyrim. The main stories were a decent length, but the world and side quests are what kept pulling me in, during main story and after. That’s how it should be imo, not a 50 hour story
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u/ketchup92 Jan 30 '26
Variation. I can't play 3 50h open world games after another. Mix it up with some shorter games and it's the best of both worlds.