Fable 2: To Be Short - about 12 hours long for main game!

[ArtznCraphs]

Riachu said:

ArtznCraphs said:
WRPGs are not about a race to the finish line, the ending. Even one's with focused main quests have side quests that have direct tie ins and effects to the main quest.

Plus the best WRPGs have quite challenging battles, requiring alot of time consuming micromanagement and often reloads.

But the shorter game times are symptomatic of the current dumbing down of RPGs. Games like Mass Effect, recent Final Fantasies, etc. are cakewalks compared to the RPGs of a decade ago

The only reason the recent RPGs are cakewalks compared to the RPGs a decade ago is because the games overall were shorter than they are today. For example, the classic style Castlevania games would have only taken 20 minutes to beat if they were easy. Developers purposely made the games harder to hide system limitations. When the CD/DVD format became widely used for video games, the games became longer and they made the games a little easier as a result.

 

They made the games harder to provide satisfying strategic combat.  You had to know the game rules inside out, how each stat affected to your choices , how to think ahead and plan, spell effects and the counters to those effects, where to position your characters depending on their strengths and weaknesses and the abilities of your enemies.  If not then you're party would get raped.

Now you're typical rpg is designed for the mindless button pushers who want to coast through an interactive movie/anime.