shumway

Back when I was a youngin' we would rent pretty much at least 1 game a weekend and I would guess that I beat probably 70 - 75% of the games that we rented, at least on NES. Probably down to 35 - 50 % for SNES and Genesis.

Ralph Wiggum

I finished the game almost two months ago, and I stand by my comments: The Castle Town sections are garbage, the majority of the wolf time is tedious and unnecessary collecting, the tutorial was way too long, and the fetch quest before the sky temple was crap. I think people were overly-forgiving of the parts in between dungeons because most of the dungeons were so good and it said "Zelda" on the box.

Josh H

There was barely anything between the dugeons that was mandatory besides the light bug hunts before the first 3 and the statue crap before the sky temple.

The other ones I thought the Quests in between were interesting and pretty brief if you didn't do any sidequests.

I just loved the game and liked taking my time and exploring the world while not in dungeons. I was tired of the light bugs by the third time and the statue hunt was lame as was the tutorial in the beginning. But that's probably like 5 hours out of the 45 I put in it so far (beat it, have a ton of extra stuff unfinished I need to get back to).

Guess it just wasn't your cup of tea. But don't be all elitist and say those that loved it and didn't find it repetitive are Zelda apologists.

Ralph Wiggum

If you play through the game with a stopwatch, I guarantee you'll spend at least 25% of it in between dungeons. I'm being pretty damn conservative with that number. I didn't do sidequests, either.

You're responding to arguments I've never made: I think it is a great game, albeit a flawed game. Please go back and read what I actually wrote here or in the official thread. Again, I loved most of the dungeons and I didn't dislike any of them, but I think the connective tissue between them ranges from okay to junk with only a couple of exceptions.

outer-edge

3 hours for Lost Planet? How? It took me close to 1 1/2 hours on the second level ALONE. I did not stop for coins (didn't know they existed yet) and beat it first time through.

Except for a more abrupt final chapter, Gears of War felt just right to me, just right. Lost Planet so far has been plenty, although I have yet to beat it to get a final feel for the length. I do play multiplayer as well, which adds value, but I have had not complaints for single player.

Shortness does not usually bother me, as long as it is not ridiculously short and feels like a full experience. Ico is the perfect example. It is pretty short, but it is the full package. A game I enjoy, I will replay, so there is more value for my money. Some games do pad too often and can ruin the experience because of it.

Most games are like this for me. I enjoy a level or two, maybe an hour or two, and move on to another activity. Maybe this is another game, maybe something entirely different. I love gaming this way. I used to do moe marathon gaming even just a few years back and it is not as appealing anymore.

There are exceptions. Some times a game is just too good not to play for hours and hours, other times I am just in a gaming mood and go all out. I also tend to sit at my computer and play a RPG for longer stretches. A good RPG is absorbing and I can get sucked in.

The Zelda games are not RPGs (just needed to get that out of the way). But, I too feel many console RPGs have too much filler, which is why I tend to play computer RPGs more. A side quest on a computer RPG typically feels more like a mini-story whereas a console RPG side quest is random monsters and more levels. There's exceptions to both of course (Bioware on the console for example), and at times I WANT to play the latter (Dragon Quest VIII has been a blast), but in general I feel comptuer RPGs are meatier. Even the much-applauded Oblivion lost my attention on the 360 for a variety of reasons, although I would still say it was a solid game.

I actually would hardly call most dungeons "so good," yet I LOVED Twilight Princess. Part of it is the Zelda formula, I will admit that. But I just felt there was a lot of variety to the game and enjoyed the flow of it.

Josh H

Of course. I was just saying that the stuff in between dungeons is varied and enjoyable, with slight exceptions of the light bug hunting getting old doing it 3 times and the statue hunt before the sky temple.

I liked all the other stuff in between dungeons as you were doing a ton of different stuff and exploring the world which was a nice way to just unwind and wander around after a long day at work.

That's fine and that's just where we disagree as I liked 95% of the "connective tissue."

I just took exception to you saying some people are overlooking flaws etc. Some of us just enjoyed most of the game, including the stuff between dungeons.

Zelda games have never been just about dungeons and most have had nearly as much time spent in between dungeons as spent in them--and some even more spent outside of dungeons (like Majora's Mask and Wind Waker which only had 4 or 5 dungeons apiece).

LivingINClip

Actually, the worst offender of the "to be continued", epsodic gaming is the Shenmue series. A fantastic series that will never ever be finished. Damn shame, really.

Superboy

But that's assuming anyone even cared in the first place.

TimeandTide

I agree 100%

The last RPG I played all the way through was FFVIII. Loved it, but just don't have the time for lengthy games like that anymore. With work and family, I'm lucky if I can squeeze half of an hour of Ultimate Alliance before dinner. I WILL get Oblivion, but like FFVIII, I'll have the strategy guide by my side so a potential 100 hour experience will be a relatively more manageable 60 or 70. (Yes, I'm one of the ones who relies on walk-thrus when I get stuck...just not enough time to problem solve one stage or boss for hours at a time.)

Which is why I loved GoW and R6: Vegas. Fast-paced, just long enough, and the "puzzles"/bosses/levels didn't require wasted hours trying to figure out how to beat them. Even a six-hours-to-beat game takes me weeks to complete because I'm only enjoying it in hour-long stretches, usually.

Giantrobo

Although they did finish the series with "LOK: Defiance" a couple years ago I think the "Legacy of Kain" games were famously guilty of the "Almost there! Buy the next game to see what happens next" thing. It was still a great series though.

RichC2

LOK: Defiance concluded the Shenmue series?