When it comes to video games, gameplay, graphics, and storyline are three critical factors. However, there's one more important thing a game must get right, and that is its overall length. After all, it can be offputting if a game overstays its welcome or is too short.
While most developers solve these pacing issues through interesting new mechanics, it doesn't always work. For example, some developers might try to throw in role-playing features in their non-RPG games to make it lengthier. But what it ends up doing is making them boring. Let's take a look at some of these AAA console titles that are good but probably would've been much better if they were a bit shorter.
10 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
There was speculation that the fifth installment of Metal Gear Solid would be Kojima's last game. As expected, the hype was off the roof, as this was supposed to be the most comprehensive MGS experience ever. After the first gameplay trailer dropped, one thing was sure that this would be a massive game.
But nobody in their right minds had expected it to be as huge as it was. Metal Gear Solid V takes a solid 45 hours to play through the main story, which doesn't include the side quests. It's a good length, but the whole base building, unsatisfying ending, and the repetitive missions make it unbearable. Moreover, there are no interesting codec calls either. This game truly didn't feel a whole lot like its predecessors.
9 Mafia 3
Most Mafia games have been short and sweet, which is kind of a staple for the series. Mafia: Definitive Edition is around 10 hours. Mafia 2 is about 12 hours. However, Mafia 3 takes as much as 25 hours to complete.
The sole reason for that is the repetitive and lackluster pacing of the game. The first few hours of Mafia 3 are truly good, but they don't hold players in. After the interesting part of Mafia 3 is over, it goes into this dilemma of what it wants to be. Instead of being a story-driven experience like other Mafia titles, it tangents off hampering its great setting and story.
8 Assassin's Creed Odyssey
The moment Ubisoft made Assassin's Creed games role-playing titles was the instant they became so lengthy. The AC games went from being 15 hours long to over 100 hours long, breaking the whole immersion into bits. No longer is the story coherent, and the greatest example of this is Odyssey.
While the game is good, it's filled with random side quests and tons of filler content. There are tiringly boring dialogues and a pointless response system that weakens the whole story. The only plausible fix to this is removing the filler content and making the story shorter precise, and to the point.
7 Dragon Age: Inquisition
Most Bioware AAA titles are lengthy. For example, look at the Mass Effect series, which all range between 15-25 hours. Moreover, Dragon Age 2 that came before Inquisition was also close to 25-26 hours.
So it's almost shocking that the developer went ahead and created Dragon Age: Inquisition with close to 50 hours of the main campaign. For the players who want to complete everything in the game, it can take up to 150 hours which is insane. Inquisition isn't as good as Origins, but it was way better than Dragon Age 2. Sadly, its length can cause people to opt out in the middle.
6 Super Mario Sunshine
Mario's titles are usually sweet and short. At least they used to be. One example is Mario Bros 3, which takes the same gameplay formula and mixes it with unique worlds to create depth. From New Super Mario Bros. to Super Mario Odyssey, every game tries to add on by giving players a chance to explore unique environments while offering enough gameplay variety.
On the other hand, Sunshine wants players to use the same water gun, do the same things, and roam around in a similar-looking location for over 15 hours. This game can take up to 30 hours and could've been much, much shorter.
5 Fallout 4
Fallout 4 needs to be short for a whole different reason. But to see what's wrong with it, we have to first look at the original Fallout game. The first Fallout was a hardcore RPG title released in 1997. It had an interesting story, good gameplay, and so many role-playing elements. Fast forward to Fallout 4, and a lot of things were missing. For example, Bethesda changed the in-depth dialogue system to a passionless button push mechanism.
Along with that, there were many important aspects in the game that went missing. What was left was a game with the same length as Fallout 3 but nowhere near as interesting. Maybe if the pacing were better, it would've appealed to the long-time fans of the series.
4 Forza Motorsport 5
Oh, this is one good example of a game being unnecessarily long. Forza Motorsport series has been in a bit of a challenge in the last ten years. First, it's not the best racing sim out there, always outclassed by games like Assetto Corsa.
While at the same time, it's not the best Forza series either, as Horizon has surpassed it there as well. So when a game like Forza Motorsport 5 takes 50 hours to play through it, it becomes overkill. Luckily, Microsoft has realized this, and both the sixth and seventh parts of the series are close to 25 hours.
3 Final Fantasy 14
MMORPGs rely quite a lot on online content to keep the hype going. As such, it's almost downright impossible to ever fully finish them, and it's the same with Final Fantasy 14, the second MMORPG in the franchise.
According to howlongtobeat.com, Final Fantasy 14 takes 240 hours to finish. It is a punishment for those who wanted to start the series with FF14. Luckily the latest game is closer to the 30-hour mark, similar to most Final Fantasy titles.
2 Prey (2017)
Prey is the ultimate game, but boy is it long. Despite being too good, it overstays its welcome and ruins the story a bit. If only this game were close to the 7-hour mark of the original Prey game, it would've been much better.
Nobody minds the side quests and stuff, but honestly, the main story and pacing could've been much better in this one.
1 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Zelda games are some of the best games ever, especially due to their unique Zelda-like gameplay. But is there something like too much Zelda-like gameplay? Most Zelda games have ranged close to 25 hours or less.
However, Twilight Princess took the risk of being over 40 hours long. It's a good game, but it doesn't have gameplay like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to back its length up.