In Praise of Short Games

[GTS]

It's good to have games that are so good that you can play for years Even better if they are free. I don't play Fortnite, but it's probably well-designed. I heard that the Minecraft generation loves it, because it has many elements of building within it.

I have a couple of games I've been playing for years, but I also constantly play through short, classic games. Even though I work full time, and run a YouTube channel, I have enough time to enjoy gaming. That's mainly from NOT watching sports, and not watching TV that much period. I basically sacrificed one form of entertainment for another.

[mbd36]

Now that I think of it, I'm surprised the Critic has never reviewed a version of Shadow of the Beast, though I don't expect him to like it much. The Genesis port gets a lot of guff for running faster than intended (a 60Hz vs 50Hz issue) but I found it completely playable and even addictive.

I'd expect the Critic to play it for five minutes and then give it an F while also praising the eerie atmosphere and music. To be fair, that's the general reaction. It's a game only for those who want a challenge.

[goldenband]

Now that I think of it, I'm surprised the Critic has never reviewed a version of Shadow of the Beast, though I don't expect him to like it much. The Genesis port gets a lot of guff for running faster than intended (a 60Hz vs 50Hz issue) but I found it completely playable and even addictive.

I'd expect the Critic to play it for five minutes and then give it an F while also praising the eerie atmosphere and music. To be fair, that's the general reaction. It's a game only for those who want a challenge.

I agree, though I personally didn't find the Genesis version that hard, probably because there are a couple of (inadvertent?) health potion loops that make the game significantly easier.

If there's such a thing as "Psygnosis hard" (by analogy to "Nintendo hard") I think Shadow of the Beast was a time they got it right. Shadow of the Beast II, on the other hand, is just unbalanced, especially at higher difficulties.

Same with Fatal Rewind -- I'm also surprised that the Critic hasn't reviewed that one. Normal difficulty is a very well-designed gauntlet of pain, but Hard and Hardest just overdo it.

[Alucard1191]

As I've aged, and wanted to do more and different hobbies I've also found a greater appreciation for short games. I love RPGs as well, so this is a difficult one. But I do think more poorly of a really long game. I've been having issues with completing Wizardry 8 for example, which is a 100+ hour game. But I'm just about done with Shining Force and about 80% done with Final Fantasy 3(6). I don't have a lot of game time, I work a lot of different jobs, I'm an amateur beekeeper, and I'm trying homebrewing for the first time as well. I can fit in a less than 90 minute block in a time or two a week. Games (like wizardry 8) that I do love, but take so much time, I just can't justify as much as I used to.

And don't even get me started on DLC and microtransactions. I mean, I get it as a business model, but I'm really not a fan overall