3d ago

Are AAA Games too bloated?

Games in the AAA space tend to be "forever games." Almost demanding all of your free time to enjoy it. Even single-player ones, like Elden Ring and the new God of War(s), they have a story, but they want you to be in their worlds for as long as possible.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good story, but can we get shorter games? Like, concise experiences that are free of bloat?

I find myself ignoring AAA announcements because I "know" they will be games that take forever.

You're viewing a single thread.

13 comments

I am of the mind that the most important part of a game, is the game. Having fun playing a game. A good game does not need a story. It doesn't need to do everything. It doesn't need to have something new happening or being given to you every 10 seconds.
Look at all the top most played games/games with consistently high player counts. They're almost all some kind of competitive game that doesn't change too much no matter how long you play. They don't have hundreds of hours of content, dialogue, voice acting, etc. They're just fun.
- I agree, a game can just be a "game". It doesn't need a story to be fun. My issue with the current trend isn't that games "need" a story, it's the bloat added to fun games to keep you in them artificially.
  From battle passes and special currencies for multiplayer games to thousands of tiny, pointless collectables in single-player games that are there just to keep you busy.
  Hell, Tetris is the most played game in the world (or close to it), and it has no story and no bloat.
  
  I play a few free to play games that I'm ok with battle passes and stuff in to help keep the game going. Also gives me something new to get or do every now and then.
  But for the most part I agree the bloat of AAA games are just horrible and try to make the game do everything.
  For story a lot of my fav games the past few years have been smaller games with stories that take about 6 to 12 hours to finish, like Stray. A good story that does not drag on for padding and does not over stay it's welcome.
  
  Stray was a good one! There's a tiny one called The Last Day of June on PlayStation Plus (I think it's still there) that I liked too. It's at most 4 hours, but the story guides it, if you like that kind of game.
  
  On sale for $6 on steam right now. Might have to check that one out.
  https://store.steampowered.com/app/635320/Last_Day_of_June/
  
  Like Stray, I loved the Uncharted games. The story was well paced and the gameplay fun and each one could be finished in a weekend or less. Too many games expect hundreds of hours of time committed and they just burn me out. I'd like more games like this.
  It's a shame that earlier handed in the series aren't ported to the PC.
- Yup, look at things like Tetris. No story, no dialogue, no cut-scenes. Just a solid Core Gameplay Loop. Sure, I like a lot of the additional stuff, but if you make the Core Gameplay Loop fun, everything else is just window-dressing

13 comments