What if this is Square-Enix's new direction with JRPGs, meaning less grinding and more focus on pacing and story!? What if FFXIII is only 25-30 hours!? D:

Studies are showing that people just aren't beating games like Okami, Twilight Princess, and FFXII. Shortening those games to 20 hours could be a way to pack it into a sleeker package, with a lot of the filler cut off, that was required with older games. You see a lot of complaints that "I can't play those types of games anymore." This could be a move by Square to make jRPGs a hardly-core gamer experience once more.

Is it good or bad? Well, I doubt it will decrease sales, and in all likelyhood, it could make your game get better reviews from most sources, especially those that feel the genre needs a change.

So, there really is no way the company would tout 20 hours without a reason. Is it just this game, or could a trend emerge?

Good point. Will HD RPGs be shorter than most RPGs though?

See, games like ToV don't exactly push the HD consoles very far (and I bet ToV could be done on the Wii with some good/big push) so production costs stay conservative AND they still look great regardless. ToV's art style help[s make up for the lack pf grpahics. For example if they decided to make a realistic RPG (like FF) with ToV's graphics I don't thoink it would look very good. I think Namco was actually really smart with staying conservative with the graphics, and focusing on the story and the rest of the stuff Tales games usually have. That means production costs don't go exploding when the game is on the 360 after all (Tales games sell a big part in Japan...and 360 saels aren't exactly booming over there as we've said many times before). I didn't realize this before and I'm sure it's highly true.

I guess it all depends on the dev and how much money they have, and of course which game it is. Niche HD RPGs should be cel-shaded IMO. Cuts the costs really well and the games still look great. Games for the Wii/DS/PSP shouldn't have these problems though.

Good point. Will HD RPGs be shorter than most RPGs though?

See, games like ToV don't exactly push the HD consoles very far (and I bet ToV could be done on the Wii with some good/big push) so production costs stay conservative AND they still look great regardless. ToV's art style help[s make up for the lack pf grpahics. For example if they decided to make a realistic RPG (like FF) with ToV's graphics I don't thoink it would look very good. I think Namco was actually really smart with staying conservative with the graphics, and focusing on the story and the rest of the stuff Tales games usually have. That means production costs don't go exploding when the game is on the 360 after all (Tales games sell a big part in Japan...and 360 saels aren't exactly booming over there as we've said many times before). I didn't realize this before and I'm sure it's highly true.

However, this isn't the first arpg to do this.

You'll find a fantastic game on the playstation 1 called Vagrant Story. The actual game length is about 15 hours long, but you'll find that it is one of the deepest and most epic rpgs ever created. The game is designed to be played through more than once, as you keep your weapons with each consecutive playthrough, and leveling them up is the best part of the game. Though the game also manages to have excellent story and character development with amazing gameplay, it's a 10/10, in my book, and one of the best rpgs ever made. Very few will ever see Grand Master Breaker status, as it can easily take 20+ playthroughs and some have been said to have played though the 15 hour game 100+ times. You can confirm that by a vist to the Vagrant Story forum on gamefaqs.

So, you can't ever judge a RPG of any type based singularly on a press release number. Wait for the reviews, or play the game yourself, to find out its quality. For all we know it could be the best game ever made, or it could suck terribly. Hearing that it only lasts 20 hours means nothing.

Really, I'm getting very sick of people saying the Vesperia looks "oh so bad." Have you read the review on hardcoregaming? It commends the graphics very much. Gamestops previews say they look "absolutely beautiful." Stop putting down the graphics.

So...I'm assuming you completely skipped over this part of my post?

"See, games like ToV don't exactly push the HD consoles very far (and I bet ToV could be done on the Wii with some good/big push) so production costs stay conservative AND they still look great regardless."

ToV doesn't push the the HD consoles very much. That is true. But am I putting down ToV's graphics? Not in the slightest.

Edit: ToV is the best looking game on the 360 as well...IMO >.> Just because of the art style and not the graphics.