“Hours to dollars” is not the end all be all of a good game. I have like 25 hours on the Outer Wilds and is one of my favorite games of all time. I also have hundreds of hours in Skyrim, and it’s also one of my favorite games of all time
Yeah and I have thousands of hours in League of Legends, but have probably enjoyed only about 10 minutes
I find hours to dollars to be more useful for cheaper indie games or games on sale, where I feel more comfortable taking a chance on the $5 game knowing I'll only "need" to spend 5 hours playing to justify the purchase to myself. I also don't really feel bad about not finishing games once I hit the golden ratio of hours to dollars.
AAA is $70 now...
For the same rehashed experiences 9ver and over again (mostly). There some good exceptions to that though, like Death Stranding and TotK
Tears is good, but feels pretty iterative with the same sorts of champions, start, general story arc, and map. It's a decent game, but I wouldn't really call it groundbreaking compared to some of Zelda's historic releases. I've played a ton of it and like it, though I do wish that the archipelagos and underground didn't feel so...empty...
No big cities in the sky or underground, where it was a slam dunk to add the avians or shark race to sprawling overwold or underworld metropolises, perhaps long lost. The assassin's guild still plays a bit role when they could have laid the foundation for gannon's army, having repurposed some of the robots from the last game.
Even though Zant is dead, I would have liked to see a return to twighlight in the underground. :3
and deluxe editions are 100$... (starfield)
40 hours for a 60€ game is pretty good if you enjoyed those hours.
There are a few exceptions like Elden Ring, and Witcher 3, but my library playtime is dominated by games I paid very little for. Factorio, Stardew, KSP1, etc. Currently playing Hollow Knight and having a blast (when I'm not being demolished by a boss).
You can add a couple hundred more hours if the games have a healthy modding community.
I haven't really even dipped my toes into modding even at the numbers I've hit, though all the games I've sunk the most into have healthy modding communities.
Maybe it's just that the modding aspect keeps the community strong which makes it easier to find videos, stramers, shared experiences, and to get help etc.
My Favourite Game of All Time is a mod, weirdly enough. Sonic Robo Blast 2, which is a mod of a source port of Doom.
I don't think I go a week without checking out the recent releases page to see what new mods dropped for the game. Just recently, a mod released which turns the game into an RPG heavily inspired by Phantasy Star Online (in particular, Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity)... the game's a gift that keeps on giving, I swear
If you like Hollow Knight, check out the Ori games if you haven't already. They're on sale on Steam right now for super cheap. I didn't enjoy them as much as Hollow Knight, but they're a lot of fun in my opinion. Very satisfying gameplay.
Maybe I'm old school and in my late 30s, but I like linear games, they have good stories and aren't too long. But it helps that I'm a patient gamer, so I don't buy AAA titles at ridiculous prices.
For example, I bought Mafia Definitive Edition when it came out (one of the rare times I've done that, but it wasn't $70) and I thought it was well worth the money, even if the story is a bit shorter than modern standards.
I'm all about quality over quatity. Give me a good story every day, don't force me to do side quests that have nothing to do with the main story (I'm looking at you, Assassin's Creed).
Add the "I spent 3 hours following a modding guide for stop to play after 1hour"
It's part of the experience.
Ive been playing the same game for 29 years..
Transport Tycoon, then the Delux version and now the free version OpenTTD - Open Transport Tycoon Delux
There's definitely exceptions. I paid $70 for the new Zelda tears of the kingdom. Just beat it at 175 hours and it was easily my goty.
Same, 100% the game and got 330+ hours out of it. Just absolutely love this game, can't wait for some dlc stuff
At this point, I maybe only buy and play 1 or 2 AAA games a year, this year being Tears of the Kingdom. Otherwise I pretty much only play Indies. They’ve reignited my love of gaming. In so many of them, you can feel the love and care put into them. Whereas so many AAA games have started to feel like something pumped out of an assembly line with little to no thought or care put into them.
Maybe I'm just jaded after playing games for 45 years, but the indie scene just doesn't interest me.
Vampire Survivors? Yeah, I played it when it was called "Robotron" in 1982.
So many people went nuts for Castle Crashers and it's just the same as any other side scrolling beat 'em up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Side-scrolling_beat_'em_ups
In some ways I am with you. I see a lotta indie games as just knock offs of older games, no new ideas. Somewhat generic. Admirable, for being independent groups, but not my bag most of the time.
The retro-styled "boomer shooter" genre that has popped up in the indie scene, though, fills a hole considering AAA devs aren't doing anything there, and the mainstream FPS genre currently, IMO, has gotten kinda shitty with everything being some variation of BR, which I was already tired of from playing the mods the style originated from before it was a mainstream thing.
There are also those indie games out there that truly innovate and make something unique and new. I'm all for those.
I've spent more time in indie games like Terraria, 20XX, 30XX, Deep Rock Galactic, and NecroDancer than I ever have with most AAA titles. (Animal Crossing Wild World is probably the exception, but I played that a LOT as a kid)
Though that's not too say I don't enjoy AAA titles. I'm having a blast with Tears of the Kingdom, I've been revisiting an old Phantasy Star Online game, and my entire friend group has recently gotten into Dragon Marked for Death (though that last one might be just AA)
Last AAA game i think I played was Elden Ring which was great; most of the rest I can't stand. I hate the 2 hours of cutscene/intro nonsense that most seem to have. I hate MTX, even if you don't need to use them in theory; the fact that they are there means the game design will be pushed in a direction to get you to buy them. Also hate season passes or battle passes. (Sure a full DLC is fine, not like adding bits and pieces here and there and everywhere)
Thank god for steam and indie games that I can dump hours into (and Minecraft, and Vintage Story). Heh i noticed my Slay the Spire passed 900 hours (a bunch of that would be the game sitting there while i did other things, but still).
This is true but there are some exceptions like Fromsoftware games, Monster Hunter.
Steam deck for indie games and old games; Switch for AAAs.
It's sad because most AAA game studios are just focused on making an on-rails story game or a competitive realistic shooter. Nowadays they've added "open-world" to the archetype.
Just imagine the fun games we could have if they devoted time to just creating a fun game like Indie Developers seem to focus on.
I beat CyberPunk 2077 in under 40 hours even doing many open world events and doing ~5 side-quests for every main story quest. I remember getting to the last quest and being like... "That's it? It's already over? That was ridiculously short!" and I've never touched the game since...
Meanwhile, with 800hours in Terraria and probably 8k+ in Path of Exile over the years.
Battlebit vs Battlefield
Enter the gungeon. Got it on multiple platforms and got some 1000+ hours out of it. Still fun to play after all that.
Same here, and it's wild how Steam can't seem to recommend shit that fits the narrative my library tells. :/
At this point, I maybe only buy and play 1 or 2 AAA games a year, this year being Tears of the Kingdom. Otherwise I pretty much only play Indies. They’ve reignited my love of gaming. In so many of them, you can feel the love and care put into them. Whereas so many AAA games have started to feel like something pumped out of an assembly line with little to no thought or care put into them.
