I think my perception of value for games has changed immensely lately.

To use two examples: Final Fantasy XIII v Heavenly Sword. One I have spent 30 hours in so far (and counting); the other I spent about 10 hours in and completed.

My enjoyment of Final Fantasy XIII has been slightly above average. I enjoyed bits of it, but much of it has dragged and been rather tedious. I've probably thoroughly loved about 6-8 hours of it so far.

I played and enjoyed 10 hours of Heavenly Sword. I fell in love with the story; the combat; the visuals; everything about the game pretty much from the start. It was a very short but wonderful game.

Obviously all this stuff is subjective, but the point I'm trying to make is - value differs from person to person. And person(ally!), I'd rather have a shorter & more memorable experience (a la Portal; Journey; Heavenly Sword) than a long and weary time playing a game but making sure I got my money's worth.

Of course, it's not like this for everything. There's plenty of games I buy purely because I know they'll last me a long time.  Final Fantasy VII lasted me something like 60 hours and I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it.  WipEout HD Fury lasted me for 40 hours through the campaign + online and it was great.  I've just ordered Sims 3 Pets to keep me busy for the next few weeks.  There's nothing wrong with that. But I am looking forward to playing Unfinished Swan whether 2 hours or 20 hours as long as I feel like I've got a full amount of quality from it.

Just for the record I was genuinely asking a question originally. Ive stopped posting now to try and clear the thread. I meant no flamming. Sorry for the original comment. Genuinely.

The review scores are ranging from 6 to 10 atm, so not for everyone but definitely worth checking out.
I'll get it on the 17th (plus gets one week early), can't wait to try it.

I like shorter more compact experiences. I still have to finish Bastion. It's a great game too, but too drawn out for me. A tighter narrative would have been better.
The same goes for the other games you guys mentioned, Dust an Elysian tale, interesting demo, couldn't be bothered to play it for much longer, same for Mark of the ninja.

I thought we had another Journey on our hands (metawise), but the game currently sits at 81 on meta (still very respectable). Maybe there is such a thing as too short for the price.

I think Journey is a kind of game that all gamer like.

Unfinished Swan is a kind of game that either you like or you don't like.

The reviewers showed that... four 60 vs. four 100.

The game is great so far. It has that same sense of wonder and discovery as Journey. I'm only in chapter 2 after 2 hours as I kept replaying the first chapter to find all the balloons and learn the layout for the minimalist trophy.
Lovely game, no need to rush through this.

So why are we praising a game that has a 78 metacritic again?

Because sometimes you play a game and enjoy it more than the metacritic number signifies, and you want to go tell people on the internet about why you're enjoying it.  

Yes but this game isn't out yet and none of us has payed it.  Looks artistic and all but it only being 2 hours really hurts it in my opinion.  So as I asked before why are we praising a game that is a 78 metacritic?  It's artistic and all but it's not the quality of Journey either

It's out for ps+, and it is a quality game. As I already said I've spent almost 2 hours toying with it and am only 1 stage into chapter 2. Sure you can rush through just to get to the end. You'll be disappointed in Journey too if all you do is run to the end ignoring everything.

I'm not saying it's as good as Journey, definitely not. Journey was a 10/10 experience in my opinion. The unfinished swan is a different unique experience. So far well deserving of an 8. Metacritic isn't far off.