No RPG needs to be longer than 40 hours

I’m not one to police how long a video game should be. Every game is different and begs design considerations that dictate runtime. It makes sense for Star Fox’s campaign to be quick but highly replayable, while 007 First Light needs most of its 20 hours to build its James Bond origin story.

I will, however, die on one specific hill when it comes to the topic: No RPG needs to be longer than 40 hours, tops!

Look, I know that sounds like sacrilege to genre enthusiasts. (It is our Spicy Takes Cookout weekend here on Polygon, in my defense.) But the reality is that I’ve played very few ultra-long RPGs in my lifetime that paid off their enormous runtimes. I’ve even dropped games I’ve loved 50 hours in because I’m just too exhausted by late-game grinding to see their stories to their conclusion. In an age where there are more great games — and way more RPGs! — than ever to play,

I’m calling on the video game industry to come together and solve a crisis that has been plaguing my backlog for decades.

Before I make my case, I’ll throw the defenders a bone. I understand the appeal of a long RPG, especially in an age where video game prices are hitting the $80 mark. A lot of people may only be able to afford two, maybe three, games a year. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, the idea of a very long game that will take months to complete is alluring.

Some RPGs even earn that length admirably; I put around 90 hours into Persona 5 and barely felt like there was a wasted moment. A 40-hour runtime is not a one-size-fits-all prescription, but I would challenge you to find a game that would be made worse by some editing.

My case against absurdly long RPGs is twofold. On one hand, it’s a simple matter of storytelling economics. I’m a firm believer in concise writing that takes a “less is more” approach, and that’s a tough task when you’re trying to fill 60 hours, minimum. I’ve gotten invested in games like Bravely Default, only for the strong starting momentum that captured me grind to a halt in long-winded conversations that don’t do much to advance a story or develop characters. (Bravely Default is especially egregious thanks to an infamous final act twist that has you replaying a slice of the game a few times for little payoff.) Both Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth are guilty of that sin; I’d argue that neither sequel is as memorable as their respective predecessors despite delivering supersized stories that go for broke.

Image: DokiDoki Groove Works/Square Enix via Polygon

For other RPGs, it’s not so much the story that suffers from being stretched thin; it’s the gameplay systems. Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler series has a lot going for it thanks to a deep job system that gives players plenty of room to experiment in combat. That hook wears thin when I’m 400 random battles deep and repeating my same tightly-optimized moves on a batch of enemies I’ve faced countless times. Sometimes an RPG can feel like a puzzle as you try to assemble the perfect party. If you find that synergy too early, you may be left going through the motions for the next 40 hours once the game has shown you everything it has.

I’ve often heard RPG fans go to bat for games like this by noting that the length is the point. An 80-hour runtime, for instance, gives you space to develop builds over time and get into hyper-specific min-maxing. It’s hard to imagine Elden Ring working as well as it does without its enormity. That’s a fair case, but have you considered that 40 hours is still a really goddamn long time? I mean, come on! That’s almost how long it would take you to watch Stranger Things from front to back, and binging that show feels like an eternity!

Image: Square Enix

Some of my favorite RPGs of the past few years have found success by tightening up rather than going long for the hell of it. This year’s wonderful Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined streamlines one of the genre’s most time-demanding games, and it doesn’t really lose much in doing so. Its breezy pacing and quick turn-based battles keep the story moving, creating a lovely little RPG that you can complete in 40 hours or less. I’ll similarly go to bat for the excellent Granblue Fantasy Relink, which packs all the spectacle of Final Fantasy 16 into a slick 15 hours that doesn’t waste a second. (It’s so concise that I’m more than excited to dive back into its upcoming Endless Ragnarok expansion instead of dreading it.) Avowed kept my attention for its entire runtime, even enticing me to finish most of its sidequests while still setting me free in around 40 hours. That’s the dream, folks.

Look, I’m not saying that an RPG can’t run longer. I just don’t want to feel like I’m wasting time with a game that only gets good after 40 hours, or one that devolves into dull busy work at that point. As Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock once said on a live album, “Life is too fucking short to play or hear ‘Freebird,’” a sentiment that conveniently also applies to Xenoblade.