Why are short games being criticized still?

In a sea of mediocre and padded games, a well-paced experience is welcomed

Welcome back! It’s another Tuesday, which means tonight there will be a new episode of the Spot Dodge Podcast exclusively on Destructoid. Topics: After the explosive shadow drop of HI-FI Rush, a trending topic across socials has been short video games. I thought this would be a great opening topic after the recent releases of High on Life, The Callisto Protocol, Evil West, along with HI-FI Rush. All of which have caught some flak for their lengths. Along with this topic, the Spot Dodge crew discusses Nintendo’s 2023 and the games they’re playing.

Over time the expectation of video game length has gotten way out of hand. To the point of excruciatingly long development cycles and video games that are poorly paced, bug-filled, and sometimes just blatantly unfinished. The question is, why are gamers still equating time with value in an industry full of so many soulless, overly-padded games? This question comes from someone whose favorite genre is JRPGs. Games that tend to take 60-100 hours to complete. The fact is, not all games need to be that long. Or anywhere near it.

The game-length criticism across the internet is also strange to me considering some of the most beloved titles of all time are under ten hours long. One thing is for sure, the years of AAA games like BioShock, Portal 2, and Metal Gear Rising being a mainstay in the industry are long gone. Because nowadays releasing a game under twenty hours is bound to come with some scrutiny. Let’s discuss it all in the latest episode of Spot Dodge!

Our lovely cast from around the web: Brett Medlock (me) and Mary Stowe from Destructoid, John Friscia from The Escapist, Greg Bargas from PC Invasion, and Brett Larsen, our extra special guest. Behind the scenes, Gamurs’ Eric Weichhart is live-editing this week’s show.

Spot Dodge is a weekly Nintendo-focused Podcast here at Destructoid where we dedicate an hour or two to go over the latest Nintendo news and discuss the games we’re playing. If you’re a fan of Nintendo Switch, RPGs, or having a good time, Spot Dodge will be a great addition to your podcast rotation. So be sure to subscribe!

Spot Dodge is streaming live every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET on Twitch channel. ICYMI: We now have a dedicated Spot Dodge YouTube channel! All future episodes will be live-streamed and uploaded there.

Afterward, the show will be available on-demand for audio listeners via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. The live video version will remain on both YouTube and Twitch (don’t forget to follow and subscribe). So many options!

Brett Medlock

Head of video at Destructoid