How long is looooooooooooooong?

[Akira]

What's a good length for a typical RPG for you? Does it depend on system or the type of story or gameplay?

Right now I am 60 hours into Infinite Space and the end is nowhere in sight. That's without much in the way of obsessive grinding, detours, and side missions either. Plus, there are SEVERAL branch points in the story where you have to choose to go one way or another, support one government or help the rebels - etc. The different routes affect difficulty and with two post game modes, it could take a typical player many months to see and do everything.

It seems to me that RPG's are on average getting longer but in an interesting way. Just completing the story seemed to take much more time in the SNES and PSX era, with games like FF6 and Xenogears easily eating up 60+ hours in one go around. With the last two generations, the greater emphasis on non-linearity, customization, and sandbox style play adds a different kind of length. White Knight Story and Demon's Souls, for example, are both beatable in under 30 hours, but both offer a lot to do beyond simply seeing the ending screen, the former with its online quests and the latter with its endlessly increasing difficulty and variety of classes.

Which do you prefer? A long epic story, or a shorter game with a variety of paths and customizable elements? What's a satisfying length for you (no dirty jokes, ladies)?

Me: I don't have a required number of hours, but anything under 20 feels short, but if it's a fun game with a good story, I'll get over it. Lord knows I would not prefer a long bad game over a good short one. Over 50 hours feels long, especially for a handheld, but is totally forgivable if the story lives up to it. I'm glad to say this is definitely the case with Infinite Space.

[AJR]

Depends on the game, but as long as there’s a fair amount of side content, I’d say 25-30 hours for the main game is ideal. I really hate it when games drag on for too long. I prefer to play shorter games in general.

[Hoshino_Kid]

I'm good with 40-100+++ hours of gameplay. I don't mind it being short as long as it's good and has high replayability.

[daschrier]

FF6 60 hours? How about 30.

Many games seem to be getting longer just for the sake of being long. I think 30-40 hours with maybe 10 hours of extra stuff is the sweet spot.

[Dincrest]

These days, I get a bit burnt out if an RPG is longer than 30 hours.  A big exception is most Megami Tensei games, which I can usually play for 70-100+ hours and not feel burnt out at all.  Exceptions include DemiKids (I was glad to be done with those) and oddly enough Persona 4 (I felt burnt out on P4 after 62 hours.) 

My preference is for a 10-15 hour playthrough with tons of replay value.  Maybe that's why I like visual novels as much as I do.  I don't have the kind of time and patience I used to when I was younger.

[Losfer]

I hate filler chaff in games.  Suikoden I was awesome, cause it was only 20 hours.  No fucking around.

Star Ocean IV?  Way too fucking long.  180 hours and still got shit to do?  God damn.

[jphussey]

Nothing is too short for me. Im with Neal--Id prefer about 20 hours.

[GrimReality]

In the 20-30 hour range is fine by me. Shorter is fine, too, as long as its done well. I used to not mind playing through long games, but life has managed to get in the way, and these beasts can take me 3-4 months to get through. Only being able to play an hour a night will do that, even with the supposed "short" games.
Still, like DC said, I will make exceptions for great games(DQ VIII 90+, FFXII 110, DC2 85+).
ME was perfect, because even after playing through a majority of the side quests, I finished the game around 36 hours.

[Gen Eric Gui]

It depends on what the game is trying to do.  If you have a game with lots of endings that's menat to be played several times, it should be short(Star Ocean 2, I'm looking at you.  80+ hour game with that many endings is NOT COOL), but if it's meant to just be a standalone experience it can be just about any length if it's done well.

[Sagacious-T]

It really depends. I love a RPG that wraps things up in 20-30 hours and feels like a solid experience. There is something really special about a 60+ hour RPG though. You can grow really attached to the characters by the time it's over. A 12-20 hour RPG with multiple ways to play it through and different endings is also great.

[kyuusei]

I like 30-40 hours, unless the game is REALLY good and doesn't drag, hence all my patience with Persona 3 and 4. Actually.. Persona 3 was the first long, epic RPG that I've beaten since.... well, FFX-2. I just haven't had the time for anything long, really.

Which would also explain why FFXII is still unopened. :P

[MeshGearFox]

It doesn't matter to me. I generally stop playing games at around the 20-30 hour mark. With most JRPGs that's more than enough to really see everything the game has to offer.

[Animage]

I prefer 30 hours and allowing me to hit 50 hours total for my grinding compulsion.

[ChevalierEagle]

If i'm constantly thinking how long the game is, and when i'm going to finish it, then the game is doing something wrong. I don't mind having an 80+ hour game, if those 80 hours are going to be solid fun then i'm all for it, a boring game can be short or long, is just that the longer it is the more you feel how poorly it drags.

[macirex]

Depend on the game... I really hate those that tries to make you do a lot of subquests in order to advance in the story.