Why a Short RPG Can Still Be a Great RPG

Share.

Sometimes less is more.

By Andy Corrigan

Whatever your preferred flavour, we’ve all had stints where RPGs have taken over our lives a little more than they should have. When an Elder Scrolls game led to play sessions that lasted until controller batteries could function no longer or dry, tired eyes could only struggle to accept the unwelcome, hazy glow of early morning seeping through the curtains.
Chances are that when you settle down to get stuck into the latest RPG, you’ve already mentally prepared yourself for these situations; steeled yourself to lose countless hours in coming weeks and months. Traditionally, of course, a huge investment of time is a requisite for the genre; many popular role players require upwards of thirty hours of your precious time at a bare minimum. Want to see everything? Put aside as many as a hundred. Hell, sometimes even more.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is going to be truly epic for those with the time.

We see situations where an RPG’s size and length is used as a marketing tool, as much a bragging right for developers as quality or design. The talented folks at CD Projekt, for example, have already declared The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a hundred hour game and one that’s “20% bigger than Skyrim.” That is undoubtedly an impressive claim, a marvellous achievement on their part and I really can’t wait to get elbow deep into it, yet there is a tiny part of me that’s daunted by the prospect of any game that’s even proposing to be bigger than Skyrim.

“
There is a tiny part of me that’s daunted by the prospect of any game that’s even proposing to be bigger than Skyrim.

Don’t get me wrong, I love epic-scale RPGs as much as the next person. I wouldn’t trade the ninety glorious hours idled away in Persona 4 Golden nor the months spent surviving the Capital Wasteland for anything else, but sometimes that amount of time spent in these worlds – although always fun at the time – can be, well… a little tiring. As a quick and dirty example, I just played through over one hundred combined hours of Final Fantasy X & X-2 and while I truly relished my time with both games, by the end of each I felt almost as drained as I did elated.
Interestingly, however, there does appear to be an emerging trend of shorter, yet arguably tighter RPGs hitting the market, which shows there are benefits to be reaped from taking on a bite-sized approach to the genre.
Indie darlings, such as Zeboyd Games’ Cthulhu Saves the World, Supergiant’s Bastion, plus recent big publisher efforts like South Park: The Stick of Truth and Child of Light, are all great examples of RPG adventures that have received widespread acclaim in spite of their slender nature.

Child of Light in particular epitomises those benefits deftly. It’s a lovely game that incorporates all the key beats that I’ve come to expect from any RPG; a spellbinding world with interesting characters, nifty abilities to unlock and a deep approach to combat strategy. My overall playtime, though, came in around the fifteen hour mark, a figure that even at its budget price could look measly in comparison to some of its genre stable-mates.

“
Child of Light’s length means only that Princess Aurora’s adventure, excellently paced as it is, ends at a juncture that feels right.

Rather than Child of Light’s length leading to disappointment, however, it’s actually one of its most prevailing qualities.
After all, it means the opportunity is never really there for its quick-fire mechanics or twee characterisations to outstay their welcomes. No scenario drags out unnecessarily, nor does any side-quest give the impression it was included simply to pad out the story; a case that certainly could be levelled against many of the other, larger entries in its genre. This in turn provides a clearer focus on the central themes, which are, ultimately, a huge part of Child of Light’s impressive makeup.
Put simply, rather than being detrimental to its cause, Child of Light’s length means only that Princess Aurora’s adventure, excellently paced as it is, ends at a juncture that feels right.
By the time I reached that heart-warming conclusion it proved every bit to be the complete experience, providing me just as much post-game satisfaction as any other solid RPG in recent memory. The only difference is that it gets to the point much quicker; not lasting a second longer than it needs to, doing so smartly and in a manner that complements both story and design. There is definitely a place for this methodology within the genre.

So, I remain as excited as anyone else to see how the likes of Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Witcher 3 turn out, but I’m also really glad that these smaller role-playing experiences are starting to make their mark too. I’ve found it refreshing to realise that not every new RPG needs to be a humongous drain of my time and yes, of course, while not every RPG needs to be a concise affair either, we’re starting to see that when they are, well… that can be quite alright too.

Andy Corrigan is a freelance games journalist based in Australia. You can follow him on IGN here and Twitter here. And hell, why not join the IGN Australia Facebook community too?