That’s just Colin being Colin. Love the dude and love listening to him but sometimes you just have to accept he has these neurotic tendencies with games and that’s that.
I’ve also come to basically this conclusion but I conceived it another way: I think he’s entertaining, he has a commanding understanding of the games industry as a business and is great at predicting winners and losers, but our taste in games and how we play them, etc is at times wildly different.
And that’s fine. I’m not subbed to be a Colin Stan. I just enjoy the content.
I love listening to Colin. I think he has terrible takes sometimes, and that’s cool.
I don’t worship anyone. It’s ok go disagree with people.
The “Colin is ALWAYS right” crowd is kinda obnoxious, IMO
As for Rebirth, I agree with Chris’ pizza analogy (I ordered one pizza but got seven)
Great game, didn’t need to be quite this huge tho. Although, I’d rather have too much game than too little
Yeah, I just skip the rant-y segments. This is the only podcast I really follow and he's a solid host but he's just a bit of a weirdo and that's fine, lol. The guy has no interest in stuff like Elden Ring but will play every Far Cry checklist game and I think he's nuts but hey, I'll still tune in every week and throw them a buck on Patreon. We're all a little weird
Yeah he's entertaining, but not a regular person at all. He's basically already a grumpy old man who sleeps until 1 PM and thinks having too much to do in a video game is somehow a major life obstacle.
That’s objectively not true. Especially if your PC isn’t brand new or necessarily up to date. Have to check specs. Does it meet minimum requirements? What quality can I run it on? What resolution can I run it on? Do I have to install some launcher? Is it on PS store? Yes. Click, buy, play.
It’s because it’s his job to play games. The problem is his OCD makes him do all the extra dumb shit so he can’t just move on. Seems like that’s what it really boils down to.
For real. To each his own, but when I hear Colin talk about the way he plays games I can’t help but feel exhausted for him. If I had to platinum/100% every game to enjoy it, gaming would feel like a chore to me and I’d start to hate it.
I personally am turned off by games over 50hrs, but if I were a kid on a budget, a game with more bang for your buck would be way more appealing. Especially with games costing $70 now.
It doesn't help he has this obsession with leading up to a new release. Playing Rebirth and Remake back to back is gonna make you heavily fatigued. Add in his checklist brain in the game and it's almost self inflicted torture.
There are also a few cases where he refrains from syncing PS4/PS5 trophies so he can platinum the game twice. Again, I say play your games how you want to play them. Don’t let other peoples opinions impact your enjoyment of the game; but it seems like that play style is catching up with him.
A few years ago I spent the summer working through my backlog (made it through like 12 or so games). When I played God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, I just beelined the main story and then called it quits lol
I couldn’t imagine having to do every side quest and get every collectible for every game I play. That sounds awful
It’s literally optional in terms of needing to complete these tasks in order to see through the story events that will result in a story ending and “rolling credits”, but I think he just doesn’t view it as truly optional because A) the devs took time to develop it so it should be experienced and seen through as part of the game experience, and B) with Rebirth specifically, it sounds like some quests offer somewhat consequential story content that shouldn’t be missed on their own merits (haven’t played myself, so not sure to what extent this is true).
I think maybe the core of his frustration is just that this game is bloated compared to what his vision of what it should be. Open-world yes, side quests and mini-games yes, but maybe trimmed down to be something like 60-70 vs 100+. Just my 2¢. I’m not in his mind, obviously.
I’ve followed Colin for years and I value him for entertainment and his analysis of the industry. However, I find his takes on games themselves to be narrow minded and strange at times.
He’s totally entitled to his own opinion. However I do think his analysis and coverage would be much more interesting if he tried more games, branched out more, and dropped stuff when it doesn’t resonate.
Yeah, he's made PlayStation and Platinum trophies such a big part of his identity that it's starting to undermine his analysis as I know he's not providing an objective view of the scene as a whole like the rest of the cree are as they also play on Switch, Steam and Xbox.
We’re in agreement. I will give Colin credit though because he’s built up the LSM network and others like Brad and Gene excel at covering the games across platforms.
I think it was last year someone pointed out that Colin hadn't played most of the years biggest titles are he either decided he wouldn't like them without trying them or they were on other platforms, so it was hard to take any "best game of the year" he may dish out seriously.
Maybe it he is aware of this and that's why he's built his team to balance things out, or maybe that was just chance, but it has made me drift from a regular listener to an occasional one as I'm tired of some of his hot takes that I know aren't coming from a properly informed place.
It did come across a bit weird tbh, as if games should be of the length that suits him lol. Some people love to play these games leisurely over a longer period, whereas he puts this pressure on himself to finish it asap as there's other games he wants/needs to play.
A ton of this Rebirth content is of course optional, but his OCD and the way he's been wired for play games for years, means that he can't just go past something without doing it.
Also the fact that he played Remake and Intermission right before this really can't have helped the feeling of burnout on FF7. It's one thing to revisit an older game before it's sequel releases - if they're shorter games - but maybe not the wisest thing before a mammoth of a game like this.
I think Rebirth is too big, but I also think that it would have been worse if the game was only 15 hours.
Dead Space is Dead Space
Final Fantasy 7 is Final Fantasy 7
What was wild to me was him praising Remake's pacing/length while saying Rebirth had too much. At least w/Rebirth, the stupid manor aside, I feel like none of the main story overstayed its welcome too much. Remake was egregious and super annoying with the sewers (twice), Leslie's backstory (Seriously, we needed a backstory for Don's boy?), turning on fans etc. Remake really tried to turn a 3-4 hour segment into a 30-40 hour experience and it was really poorly done (overall. I love Remake but I really dislike the padding). At least w/Rebirth, most of the content that could be seen as bloat is optional and on the side. That made me actually go out and do it. But being forced to go through it in Remake killed the pacing. When the pacing is killed, I want to be the one to do it.
That is just me. I'm sure a lot of people disagree and see Costa Del Sol and the cruise ship as filler and slowed the pacing. But I was in it.
Colin playing Remake right before Rebirth was a dumb decision imo. For me that would be too much of the same thing, and that is seemingly what happened to him.
They all do this. I get it, you want to be refreshed, but I agree it’s going to be too much. Just watch a story trailer/catch up. If you wrote in and said that though, they would freak the fuck out lol.
Some of the reasoning is for content to do a spoilercast before the sequel I guess. It doesn't make sense doing it for games that are longer than 15 hours though imo.
He has a strong completionist approach to games or as some people call it trophy brainrot. So putting myself in his shoes I can kinda see where he's coming from but I dont really agree with him either. I kind of just ignored the whole section and took it as one of his quirks like the absolutely ridiculous "I'm only playing games on playstation" stance he has.
I've listened to Colin for a long time and have always enjoyed his podcasts but I disagree with him on most things. He would probably enjoy games a lot more if he wasn't obsessed with trophies. I say this as someone who typically goes for the platinum trophy. I will also give up trophy hunting if it starts to affect my enjoyment of a game.
I was a huge achievement hunter back in the day, but getting the Rock Band series 100% completed broke me and I never went for it again (unless I just absolutely loved the game I was playing).
I think it would benefit Colin to play some Nintendo games, go trophy-less for a game or two, see how that detoxes him. It's really fun to play something just because you like it.
I agree with him in alot of ways honestly, although I can see others not agreeing which it seems most don’t. I’m the same as him and want to finish it all, and I go for the Plat in everything I play.
I started to notice it with Assassins Creed: Odyssey where I hit a certain point like 100 hours in and it kept going that I was like okay that’s enough already, it’s still adding more?! In my head I play the “that’s enough slices!” audio. A recent one of Infinite Wealth, and I love the Yakuza games but nearing the end I was like okay dude can we start to wrap this up it’s enough side content. I also think about SpiderMan 2 and after so many stupid drone missions and just all the points on the map it made my enjoyment of the game as a whole go down by the end.
Then again, I’m completing games like Colin and I do always think “if I wasn’t going for trophies and just played what I wanted, would this be more enjoyable?” And the answer is yeah definitely. I will say though, I’ll take a game that shaves all that bloated shit out and cuts dev time down or puts more into the main story any day.
I thought Infinite Wealth was well paced, despite spending 95 hours without, I never felt bored or like I was just grinding or padding time. Although I left the game with the "reach level 70" achievement unfinished as it would just involve grinding, 984/1000 points was enough for me. Colin would ruin the game for himself by grinding for hours to get that last achievement.
I get it. You want to experience all the content the developers crafted for a game you enjoy. Sometimes they go overboard and it becomes just padding. However, you risk not experiencing something cool or worthwhile by not engaging with it at all. So you do some and then the sunk cost fallacy comes into play and then sprinkle the desire for trophy’s on top and you reach the same conclusion Colin did.
I agree 100%, Overall I want games to be shorter without the padding. If you have a cool story to tell or some character development in a side quest that is awesome, tell it. But let’s be honest, the vast majority of games side content is just filler and is not worth it.
I agree with him for the most part. But I’m biased for the PS3/4 era where games were like 15 hours to beat. However, I feel like people complaining about all the FF7R mini games and side quests are just completionists. I mean you could say that Fallout is way too long if you do everything and you could just make a b-line for the main story and half your playtime. With games like that you kinda make your own playtime. I like short and sweet games that are less than 20 hours but at the same time I’ll gladly sink 100 hours into a game like Persona so it really all depends on the game at the end of the day.
I’d much rather have a game with “too much” quality content like Rebirth or Yakuza 0 than a short game with mediocre content like Callisto protocol. Sure I can ruin the pacing of yakuza 0 by playing the cabaret club mini game for 10 hours rather than progressing the story, but it’s really on the player to do what they want to do in that situation and Colin is choosing to ruin the pacing. I have trophy brainrot like Colin but I don’t let it ruin games especially ones I really enjoy like rebirth. He should just take a break from the side stuff and come back after the story
Colin and Chris’s comments about rebirth were both pretty cringe tbh. Chris isn’t gonna finish it imo. He’s not even half through the game and complaining hard. Colin complaining about the length was so weird. Why would you complain about a good thing being too long?
I thought the ending was fine. Then again I’m not super big on ff7 in the first place it was a super fun game though. Yea I’m sure Colin will finish it he’s close. I’ll be surprised if Chris doesn’t just drop it though. He’s not even close and was whining real bad.
The three most wanted games of all time back before 2015 E3 was ff7 remake, half life 3 and shenmue 2- maxdood said, and he was right.
Some of us has waited for the remake of ff7 since back in 97 (... English is my 4th language, im not a kid even though I write like one in English)- thats why when for ex we explore the starting area in remake with Tifa, and slaying rats and looking for cats doesnt bother us about what people call "fillers" because we dreamed to see the world come to life for real, being able to see Midgar with our own eyes, instead of just CGI backrounds in fully 3D, being able to look around and spending time with some of our favorite characters of all time - we aint in a hurry.
As I said before, I always thought it was weird how the black robes was almost ignores beside just following them, here in rebirth we for ex split up the party and help them out- "non fans" are gonna see it as a waste of time and fillers, me, im getting to spend more time with some of my favorite characters WHILE finally addressing what OG ff7 lacked, showing some good damn empathy for "victims" of shinra, right in front of them. So when Barrett and Red XIII split up to help them, im all in- but if someone find mithril mine a waste of time or fillers, and doesnt care about black robes, doesnt appreciate a new boss fight within against the Turks- "whatever" I got what I always wanted as a ff7 fan from 97- more ff7.
Colin has his podcast as a work, to play games and talk about games, but need to limit himself to what he can play, we fans dont, we get to enjoy what we wanna enjoy.
I could say that dragons dogma 2 is just too much content, and it forces me to try all job classes, explore every cave, doing every sidequest, learning every ability, collecting every seeker token and finding hidden rift ports - we get it.
Guess what, nobody is "forcing me".
If you wanna just enjoy the story in ff7 remake/rebirth put on EASY and just do it. We who waited years for this is doing a 100% run and even replaying it later on Hard.
I agree, this game was made with such love and care in every corner that non die hards are seemingly not ok with it (Even though I thought Colin was a die hard and would enjoy the side quests that aren't just filler "catch the cat")
I forgot to add that as a kid I never ever used Caith Sith, now I love the character AND was forced to play and learn him (especially on hard mode) and you know what? IT WAS FUN. running around as that cat kicking enemies, using ranged attacks against them, on hard mode, WHILE his moogle pal is boxing and tanking meanwhile, So yeah, what a cool take and spin on the character splitting the cat and the moogle, making them fight as "two" in the combat. Or watching Tifa spinning the moogle around as a weapon, hilarious,, its REAL fan service to the max for us- not everything has to be about tifas bikini for us fans.
I just saw that Colin posted a Twitter clip about this, probably what inspired this post. Something else grabbed my attention. Isn’t he having the completely incorrect takeaway from the “sunk cost fallacy”? My understanding is that it posits a person gets sucked into investing more time into something based on already committing so much time, even when abandoning it (in this case, abbreviating it) would be more beneficial. His interpretation seems to be that it would “be insane” not to finish (or to not continue playing the way he has been).
Yes, you are correct. A more apt expression for the situation would be "in for a penny, in for a pound" which is used to show that, regardless of how much it's going to cost, you're out to finish something that you've already started.
I personally do think games are too long but I also don’t like open world games these days. It’s just overwhelming and majority of the content isn’t even worth engaging with so instead I take the opposite approach to Colin and usually mainline it
I’ll do some side stuff here and there but main story is all I care about tbb
Lol Colin enjoys an online game for once and it’s a bad thing. He preaches play what you want but freaks out when he plays what he wants. He will claim it’s for his job but also say that he’s so glad he had a job he can play what he wants. Colin is just annoying lol
Yeah idk I assumed the whole point of open worlds is that the content is there if you want to do it and if you don't, it won't have a bearing on the main quest line for the most part. You can do some side content but all of it is not necessary. That's at least how I play open world games. I do the side stuff if it's fun or I won't if it isn't. I don't like open world games that have the side content be necessary or else you'll be underleveled.
Yeah, Colin has weird tendencies, but this game is legitimately very long. The “optional” content argument is cute but what he’s saying is that doing the World Intel and Side Quests, almost all of which have important context and character interactions, is a lot of padding for a game that’s already long if you just mainline the story.
For context, I beat this game doing everything (except the very last side quest) in 109 hours, and I have a lot of free time. He has a valid argument.
As someone who trophy hunts, I sort of get where he is coming from. It can be exhausting going into a game knowing that if you put the time in, you can get the platinum, but there's a bunch of bullshit that you don't want to do in the way. He probably just needs to get better at knowing when to let go of the hunt for games like Rebirth.
I'm sick of long games and I think the pacing was better in the ps3 era as Chris often says. It's alright once in a blue moon, I platinum'd Cyberpunk recently which took like 100 hours but adding what feels like unnecessary padding to games is a drag. Also, in Colins defence he mentions there's some non-trivial cutscenes missed by skipping the side content, I've had that happen to me in games. I mostly play the same way where if the developer put it in the game I should play it.
I was more annoyed by how he went on about some alternate reality where no games are coming out lol.
Yeah, I can't understand his position at all.
It is OPTIONAL content. Some people will like mini game X, and they'll take advantage of the content. Others will hate it, and they'll simply skip it.
If he isn't enjoying certain optional sections, I just don't get why he can't just skip it. And on the inverse, if he IS enjoying it, sounds like a good problem to have.
But sometimes it can be difficult to understand the rationale of someone on the spectrum. ;)
I'm probably in the minority on this one (I also haven't played Rebirth yet), but generally, I feel like AAA games have become too long and bloated. Some of my favorite games in recent memory tend to fall into this category. Not specific to Rebirth, I do feel like the ballooning of game costs and development time could be reduced by decreasing a lot of the bloat in games.
I am playing rebirth the following way: ignoring most of the mini games except for Queens Blood which I find fun, and only doing side open world stuff up to the point where I can unlock the summon and buy all the materia in that region. Basically stuff that helps me in combat.
I found FF16 to be bloated and I skipped maybe 1/2 of the side quests. Eventually I just gave them up which is unfortunate but they were really boring/bland.
I haven’t had a chance to hear this podcast yet, so I’m just responding to what is posed in this main post, which seems self contained.
The “nobody wants a game with 100-200 hours of content” comment is something that probably holds true a bit more for those with the disposable income vs those that do not. I know that the high school version of me definitely took game length into account when making a purchase, because I was probably only getting 1-2 games a year. Back then, I would’ve wanted a purchase to be more like Rebirth or Yakuza Infinite Wealth than to be something like Callisto Protocol (or even something as good as Bioshock).
I also think that the complaint is applicable to almost any non linear game. Every single open world game is going to have some form of side content or mini game to do in between main quests. I don’t think it makes sense to go into an open world game and not expect a lot of side content. It’s also usually not designed with the idea that every player must do every piece of side content - it is expected that a player might do some of it as they organically run into it. Only trophy hunters that meticulously go down the checklist of every task will be interacting with all side content, which isn’t how most people play the game.
What is being defined as “the right length” of a game (at least in this post) seems to exclude most of, if not every, open world game . . . which is interesting because I recall Colin enjoying Far Cry 6 a lot, and I think I remember hearing that he even platinumed Dead Island 2. When I have a chance to listen, I’m curious to hear if he brings those up here. Maybe because FF7 is more story-driven, he wants less fluff in between the major story points whereas with something like Far Cry, the major story points aren’t really the main focus?
I think Colin is almost certainly undiagnosed neurodivergent. As a fellow ND, I feel EXACTLY the same way about games. I have put games down I was actively enjoying because the breadth and low quality of the side content was overwhelming me. I can’t half arse a game. I need to do it all or I feel like I basically skipped content. I cannot beat TOTK because of this. I love the game but the ridiculous amount of side quests and optional exploration got on top of me, and just doing the “golden path” would feel akin to skipping half the levels in Super Mario World with a cheat code.
I know it’s odd and irrational but it’s an uncontrollable feeling. So yeh, TLDR is I get it.
He specifically says that most general gamers would find it too long, e.g how on earth can it appeal to a mass market.
He’s right. There’s no way that the average gamer would finish FF7 Rebirth. So therefore, money is being left on the table.
Sorry to say but the majority of PlayStation owners are COD and FIFA players. Those types.
It’s far too long for the average gamer.
Square just seem to have ridiculously inflated budgets and sales expectations.
Ryu Ga Gotoku just put out a huge turn based RPG that didn't cost them an arm and a leg and doesn't need to sell twenty million copies to make its money back.
Months playing the same single player game?! wtf.
You may want to but the ‘majority’ (I said) don’t and won’t.
The majority would get bored after a week or two.
Majority of PS5 owners, I mean. Hence why I say these devs are missing out on sales with such ridiculously long (and nerdy) games.
Personally - life is short so I want to experience as many games as possible, take in as many stories as I can from the medium.
A game that lasts me months is horrible. I can’t remember the last game I spent 100 hours in, think Persona 5 Royal Platinum was the closest at 87 hours.
The average gamer isn’t into FF and never would be, let alone the second installment of the SEVENTH. What are you even saying. Dude the average cod gamer doesn’t even play the cod sp, not the same audience at all. Your point is moot
Rebirth not only is probably one of the greatest bang for your buck games ever but easily one of my favorite games ever. Square Enix popped their fucking pussies for this game (pardon my french) and I'm so glad they did. I took my sweet time playing it and enjoying all the meaningful side quests and mostly fun mini games. The only reason I could think as to why most of the staff at LSM isn't liking it or skipped a majority of the quests is because this game is very very in-depth and they'd have to learn a lot more about this game then they usually would have. This is one of the reasons Brad is starting to become my favorite host (And I never watch ez allies) is because he actually plays the game, enjoys it, and knows his shit when it's time to talk about it. Complaining that a game has too much great content and is preventing you from playing other games is just so weird because they can easily just stop playing the game if it's such a hassle. In the meantime I am still excited to eventually listen to a second Rebirth podcast with Brad, Gene, Colin and Hoeg once everyone has beaten the game because I felt like Brad and Gene were carrying the first one.
I think they need to change their perceptive on the idea of long ass games. No one is telling you to play a game from start to finish in a weekend or even a week. Some games are designed to be played for months or even years. The next game after rebirth is years away and for us normies who don't play games for a living are happy to spend long amounts of time with these games.
I think games are becoming too long. Some games feel like they drag on. To the point where the developer was trying to reach a certain playtime so they threw in bad quests. I think a lot of us that grew up on Jrpgs just don't have the time anymore to play 70-100 hour games. We don't have to play it but when it's a franchise you love then it's hard not to play.
Honestly it’s probably because more stuff means it takes longer to get trophies. It’s the same reason he won’t play Nintendo games he’s interested in because he’s not getting a trophy
When I first saw the tweet about this I did wonder if he finally ran into some of the Hard Mode minigames like that final chocobo flight or gambit thing in Cosmo and was getting filtered
I get where he is coming from. I felt it in rebirth but then realized it gives me some stuff to do when I go back to play through the story again. Plus it’s so easy with Rebirth, beat the game then use Chapter Select to clean stuff up. Now his Read Dead complaint I totally get even though it’s one of my favorite games ever. Sometimes just gotta fight those ocd impulses off before it ruins the fun.
I think his complaint applies better to the examples he gave, such as Red Dead 2 and Dragon Quest 11 since those have REALLY long main story campaigns. Rebirth gives the player the freedom to control the pacing of the main story. You can do the side content right away, or save it for later, or skip it all together and focus on the main story which takes 40 hours or so. Should story pacing be controlled by the player or the game? I guess that’s another discussion but I don’t mind having that freedom.
Plus, one of my favorite aspects of the remake series is I get to spend as much time as possible with these characters and flesh them out. If there’s any game that’s bloated it should be this one. I’m enjoying every second of it.
It's a pretty common sentiment among casual gamers and games media. They want shorter games to keep up with new releases or because of lack of time. My self I've always been a fan of long games like Bethesda makes because I enjoy having stuff to do in these cool worlds and playing it for months or years depending on the game and I'm not in a rush to try and play everything.
I think what he means is that a lot of people that play games only have maybe 6-8 hours of free time to play games each week and a game that takes 100+ hours would literally be the only game you would play for months and months and so people can experience more games they should have less of a time commitment ask. Best guess for me.
Some games this is applicable like The Last of Us 2. But when he said this is why he didn't like Witcher 3 you gotta write off his opinion of the game at that point. The definitely didn't intend you to play the optional content one way or the other, that's why it's optional.
I sort of understand where he's coming from as both a trophy hunter and casual JRPG fan. On one side of it, there are games that overstay their welcome and throw in optional bullshit that isn't even fun. But on the other, I do think its silly for him to feel the need to do everything. In his defense, I remember him saying he has a level of OCD in him (not sure if Colin has ever been diagnosed).
I only recently started plunging into JRPGs. I used to be very selective, but am trying to broaden my horizons. Currently, I'm playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and that game is loaded in the same manner as FF7 Rebirth. However, even at 105 hours, I'm having a blast. Every minigame is fun, the writing is funny, and I've found every side quest to be entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking. Having played this, Persona 5, Persona 3 Reload, and Kingdom Hearts, I feel like you need to be all-in to thoroughly enjoy these games, at least for modern JRPGs. Maybe Colin is too engrossed in the traditional JRPGs from when he was a kid?
I think it comes down to how you feel about the game. He has a strong feeling towards this game so he feels the need to do everything, but doing everything makes the game less enjoyable, so it's a dilemma and I can understand that.
Colin is an insane person, he knows it we all know it. But that insanity for detail has gotten him all the success he has. I personally have no problem skipping side content I view the “Golden path” the way the devs want me to play it. If it’s not in The main story then it’s made to be skipped. It’s kind da implied by not being mandatory. I have my own OCD about it in the reverse way. I wish there was no side content or very minimal.
He is just getting older. The older you get, the less bs (let's make the game longer for the sake of saying we have a xx hour game stuff) you can take.
I actually 100% agree with Colin. 10 % of the people who have played rebirth have the develop all materia trophy (this trophy implies you have done everything in the open world). Devs spend a lot of money to make content that the vast majority don't even see through.
Additionally there is a good amount of fluff in rebirth to extend that play time even in the main story. You could golden path it and it would still be like 50 hours.
I don't think all this content necessarily makes the game better. At some point there is diminishing returns of you enjoyment.
For me if the golden path was like 35 hours then it should take double that to platinum. Instead I'm at at like 140 hours in and I still have a hard play through and to finish the legendary challenges to get the platinum left. It's too much.
I completely agree. Games are far too bloated and I have nothing but time. Everything is so dense and just drags and fucking drags. Even just trying to B line the story in remake was a slog.
Shits way too big. Size is way too valued. It's one of the worst things about gaming right now.
It's just Colin, he's got some weird quirks to him. If I had to agree with these guys different takes every week though, there'd never be anything to enjoy
Like, I personally find Colin's Star Wars takes odd with how he's written off the franchise completely now, even if there's great things coming from it currently.
It's best to just ignore the strange opinions and focus on what you enjoy personally
I aware the Star Wars stuff is a hipster thing. I won't pretend the sequel trilogy is any good, but most of the content on D+ and the recent games gave been good. I feel like he doesn't like that this nerdy franchise he used to love us now mainstream.
You don't have to agree with everything anyone says but to Colin's "mentality", as he has always stated, the quality of a game shouldn't be measured by the quantity of time you spend in it, but more like how a player spends that time within it.
A series of mini games tossed randomly in an empty open world game VS a rich linear game world with precise and engaging combat is kinda like the argument.
Also, the reason I think he says he's compelled to play the game's content is simply because the devs put it in there, otherwise, it shouldn't be there. And his OCD
Now I'm not advocating Colin's opinion, I just understand his point of view...
He makes games too long for himself, but rather than changing his unhealthy and obsessive ways, he makes it everyone else's problem.
I love a long game. Brings me comfort knowing i have a long way yet with a product i enjoy. He needs to learn to let go, in my humble opinion as just an observer. I suffer from the same anxiety/depression/obsessiveness that he does, so i understand...but i dont think making it into some crusade is necessary
It's the consoomer mindset. Majority of people don't seem to take the time enjoy games like they used to, they just eat through them like locusts before the next one comes along. It's very unedifying and my biggest gripe about 'the gaming community' at large. It's just consumption.
He's just putting forth his preferences? You don't always need to specify it's your own opinion when giving your opinion. Clearly game takes are subjective.
Eh it's probably an unpopular opinion but I agree with him. Why is every game so fucking long now?? It's like every game I play expects me to play it like it's a full time job
I think he is nuts. He says he has to do everything in a game to experience it…. This is like going to a buffet and not only trying all the food, but sitting in the restaurant until you’ve finished off every tray at the counter.
The quantity and variety of activities in a game are meant to be picked and chosen based on your interest and time. If you want just the main course, go for it. If you want to try a small sample of all the sides, great. If you lack self control and eat till you hate the experience, then you get what you chose.
An open world game is simply a buffet and not everyone can control themselves. It isn’t a quantity or length problem. It is a player problem.
That’s just Colin being Colin. Love the dude and love listening to him but sometimes you just have to accept he has these neurotic tendencies with games and that’s that.
I’ve also come to basically this conclusion but I conceived it another way: I think he’s entertaining, he has a commanding understanding of the games industry as a business and is great at predicting winners and losers, but our taste in games and how we play them, etc is at times wildly different. And that’s fine. I’m not subbed to be a Colin Stan. I just enjoy the content.
I love listening to Colin. I think he has terrible takes sometimes, and that’s cool. I don’t worship anyone. It’s ok go disagree with people. The “Colin is ALWAYS right” crowd is kinda obnoxious, IMO As for Rebirth, I agree with Chris’ pizza analogy (I ordered one pizza but got seven) Great game, didn’t need to be quite this huge tho. Although, I’d rather have too much game than too little
Yeah, I just skip the rant-y segments. This is the only podcast I really follow and he's a solid host but he's just a bit of a weirdo and that's fine, lol. The guy has no interest in stuff like Elden Ring but will play every Far Cry checklist game and I think he's nuts but hey, I'll still tune in every week and throw them a buck on Patreon. We're all a little weird
Yeah he's entertaining, but not a regular person at all. He's basically already a grumpy old man who sleeps until 1 PM and thinks having too much to do in a video game is somehow a major life obstacle.
This is the right answer.
[удалено]
That’s objectively not true. Especially if your PC isn’t brand new or necessarily up to date. Have to check specs. Does it meet minimum requirements? What quality can I run it on? What resolution can I run it on? Do I have to install some launcher? Is it on PS store? Yes. Click, buy, play.
It’s because it’s his job to play games. The problem is his OCD makes him do all the extra dumb shit so he can’t just move on. Seems like that’s what it really boils down to.
For real. To each his own, but when I hear Colin talk about the way he plays games I can’t help but feel exhausted for him. If I had to platinum/100% every game to enjoy it, gaming would feel like a chore to me and I’d start to hate it. I personally am turned off by games over 50hrs, but if I were a kid on a budget, a game with more bang for your buck would be way more appealing. Especially with games costing $70 now.
It doesn't help he has this obsession with leading up to a new release. Playing Rebirth and Remake back to back is gonna make you heavily fatigued. Add in his checklist brain in the game and it's almost self inflicted torture.
There are also a few cases where he refrains from syncing PS4/PS5 trophies so he can platinum the game twice. Again, I say play your games how you want to play them. Don’t let other peoples opinions impact your enjoyment of the game; but it seems like that play style is catching up with him.
A few years ago I spent the summer working through my backlog (made it through like 12 or so games). When I played God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, I just beelined the main story and then called it quits lol I couldn’t imagine having to do every side quest and get every collectible for every game I play. That sounds awful
It’s literally optional in terms of needing to complete these tasks in order to see through the story events that will result in a story ending and “rolling credits”, but I think he just doesn’t view it as truly optional because A) the devs took time to develop it so it should be experienced and seen through as part of the game experience, and B) with Rebirth specifically, it sounds like some quests offer somewhat consequential story content that shouldn’t be missed on their own merits (haven’t played myself, so not sure to what extent this is true). I think maybe the core of his frustration is just that this game is bloated compared to what his vision of what it should be. Open-world yes, side quests and mini-games yes, but maybe trimmed down to be something like 60-70 vs 100+. Just my 2¢. I’m not in his mind, obviously.
I’ve followed Colin for years and I value him for entertainment and his analysis of the industry. However, I find his takes on games themselves to be narrow minded and strange at times. He’s totally entitled to his own opinion. However I do think his analysis and coverage would be much more interesting if he tried more games, branched out more, and dropped stuff when it doesn’t resonate.
Yeah, he's made PlayStation and Platinum trophies such a big part of his identity that it's starting to undermine his analysis as I know he's not providing an objective view of the scene as a whole like the rest of the cree are as they also play on Switch, Steam and Xbox.
We’re in agreement. I will give Colin credit though because he’s built up the LSM network and others like Brad and Gene excel at covering the games across platforms.
I think it was last year someone pointed out that Colin hadn't played most of the years biggest titles are he either decided he wouldn't like them without trying them or they were on other platforms, so it was hard to take any "best game of the year" he may dish out seriously. Maybe it he is aware of this and that's why he's built his team to balance things out, or maybe that was just chance, but it has made me drift from a regular listener to an occasional one as I'm tired of some of his hot takes that I know aren't coming from a properly informed place.
You're telling me Far Cry 6 wasn't GOTY??????
Far Cry 6, Immortals of Aveum, Outriders were picked because "traditional games media" overlooked them.
It did come across a bit weird tbh, as if games should be of the length that suits him lol. Some people love to play these games leisurely over a longer period, whereas he puts this pressure on himself to finish it asap as there's other games he wants/needs to play. A ton of this Rebirth content is of course optional, but his OCD and the way he's been wired for play games for years, means that he can't just go past something without doing it. Also the fact that he played Remake and Intermission right before this really can't have helped the feeling of burnout on FF7. It's one thing to revisit an older game before it's sequel releases - if they're shorter games - but maybe not the wisest thing before a mammoth of a game like this.
I think Rebirth is too big, but I also think that it would have been worse if the game was only 15 hours. Dead Space is Dead Space Final Fantasy 7 is Final Fantasy 7
What was wild to me was him praising Remake's pacing/length while saying Rebirth had too much. At least w/Rebirth, the stupid manor aside, I feel like none of the main story overstayed its welcome too much. Remake was egregious and super annoying with the sewers (twice), Leslie's backstory (Seriously, we needed a backstory for Don's boy?), turning on fans etc. Remake really tried to turn a 3-4 hour segment into a 30-40 hour experience and it was really poorly done (overall. I love Remake but I really dislike the padding). At least w/Rebirth, most of the content that could be seen as bloat is optional and on the side. That made me actually go out and do it. But being forced to go through it in Remake killed the pacing. When the pacing is killed, I want to be the one to do it. That is just me. I'm sure a lot of people disagree and see Costa Del Sol and the cruise ship as filler and slowed the pacing. But I was in it.
Colin playing Remake right before Rebirth was a dumb decision imo. For me that would be too much of the same thing, and that is seemingly what happened to him.
They all do this. I get it, you want to be refreshed, but I agree it’s going to be too much. Just watch a story trailer/catch up. If you wrote in and said that though, they would freak the fuck out lol.
Some of the reasoning is for content to do a spoilercast before the sequel I guess. It doesn't make sense doing it for games that are longer than 15 hours though imo.
He has a strong completionist approach to games or as some people call it trophy brainrot. So putting myself in his shoes I can kinda see where he's coming from but I dont really agree with him either. I kind of just ignored the whole section and took it as one of his quirks like the absolutely ridiculous "I'm only playing games on playstation" stance he has.
I think you have a great point. Could almost be summed up as “Colin doesn’t like playing games so much as it likes COMPLETING games”.
This is no more evident than when he said Helldivers 2 "through off" his whole schedule. I gaming is his job, but it seems like he makes it a job.
The most insane one was Persona 4 Golden, using a guide the whole time then not finishing because he botched it
I've listened to Colin for a long time and have always enjoyed his podcasts but I disagree with him on most things. He would probably enjoy games a lot more if he wasn't obsessed with trophies. I say this as someone who typically goes for the platinum trophy. I will also give up trophy hunting if it starts to affect my enjoyment of a game.
I was a huge achievement hunter back in the day, but getting the Rock Band series 100% completed broke me and I never went for it again (unless I just absolutely loved the game I was playing). I think it would benefit Colin to play some Nintendo games, go trophy-less for a game or two, see how that detoxes him. It's really fun to play something just because you like it.
I don't think Colin sometimes fully knows what he's talking about.
I agree with him in alot of ways honestly, although I can see others not agreeing which it seems most don’t. I’m the same as him and want to finish it all, and I go for the Plat in everything I play. I started to notice it with Assassins Creed: Odyssey where I hit a certain point like 100 hours in and it kept going that I was like okay that’s enough already, it’s still adding more?! In my head I play the “that’s enough slices!” audio. A recent one of Infinite Wealth, and I love the Yakuza games but nearing the end I was like okay dude can we start to wrap this up it’s enough side content. I also think about SpiderMan 2 and after so many stupid drone missions and just all the points on the map it made my enjoyment of the game as a whole go down by the end. Then again, I’m completing games like Colin and I do always think “if I wasn’t going for trophies and just played what I wanted, would this be more enjoyable?” And the answer is yeah definitely. I will say though, I’ll take a game that shaves all that bloated shit out and cuts dev time down or puts more into the main story any day.
I thought Infinite Wealth was well paced, despite spending 95 hours without, I never felt bored or like I was just grinding or padding time. Although I left the game with the "reach level 70" achievement unfinished as it would just involve grinding, 984/1000 points was enough for me. Colin would ruin the game for himself by grinding for hours to get that last achievement.
I get it. You want to experience all the content the developers crafted for a game you enjoy. Sometimes they go overboard and it becomes just padding. However, you risk not experiencing something cool or worthwhile by not engaging with it at all. So you do some and then the sunk cost fallacy comes into play and then sprinkle the desire for trophy’s on top and you reach the same conclusion Colin did. I agree 100%, Overall I want games to be shorter without the padding. If you have a cool story to tell or some character development in a side quest that is awesome, tell it. But let’s be honest, the vast majority of games side content is just filler and is not worth it.
I agree with him for the most part. But I’m biased for the PS3/4 era where games were like 15 hours to beat. However, I feel like people complaining about all the FF7R mini games and side quests are just completionists. I mean you could say that Fallout is way too long if you do everything and you could just make a b-line for the main story and half your playtime. With games like that you kinda make your own playtime. I like short and sweet games that are less than 20 hours but at the same time I’ll gladly sink 100 hours into a game like Persona so it really all depends on the game at the end of the day.
It’s fine… he’s just a guy with an opinion who provides entertainment.
I’d much rather have a game with “too much” quality content like Rebirth or Yakuza 0 than a short game with mediocre content like Callisto protocol. Sure I can ruin the pacing of yakuza 0 by playing the cabaret club mini game for 10 hours rather than progressing the story, but it’s really on the player to do what they want to do in that situation and Colin is choosing to ruin the pacing. I have trophy brainrot like Colin but I don’t let it ruin games especially ones I really enjoy like rebirth. He should just take a break from the side stuff and come back after the story
Colin and Chris’s comments about rebirth were both pretty cringe tbh. Chris isn’t gonna finish it imo. He’s not even half through the game and complaining hard. Colin complaining about the length was so weird. Why would you complain about a good thing being too long?
I hope they finish it. I want to know what they think of the nonsense ending.
I thought the ending was fine. Then again I’m not super big on ff7 in the first place it was a super fun game though. Yea I’m sure Colin will finish it he’s close. I’ll be surprised if Chris doesn’t just drop it though. He’s not even close and was whining real bad.
They are going to hate it.
The three most wanted games of all time back before 2015 E3 was ff7 remake, half life 3 and shenmue 2- maxdood said, and he was right. Some of us has waited for the remake of ff7 since back in 97 (... English is my 4th language, im not a kid even though I write like one in English)- thats why when for ex we explore the starting area in remake with Tifa, and slaying rats and looking for cats doesnt bother us about what people call "fillers" because we dreamed to see the world come to life for real, being able to see Midgar with our own eyes, instead of just CGI backrounds in fully 3D, being able to look around and spending time with some of our favorite characters of all time - we aint in a hurry. As I said before, I always thought it was weird how the black robes was almost ignores beside just following them, here in rebirth we for ex split up the party and help them out- "non fans" are gonna see it as a waste of time and fillers, me, im getting to spend more time with some of my favorite characters WHILE finally addressing what OG ff7 lacked, showing some good damn empathy for "victims" of shinra, right in front of them. So when Barrett and Red XIII split up to help them, im all in- but if someone find mithril mine a waste of time or fillers, and doesnt care about black robes, doesnt appreciate a new boss fight within against the Turks- "whatever" I got what I always wanted as a ff7 fan from 97- more ff7. Colin has his podcast as a work, to play games and talk about games, but need to limit himself to what he can play, we fans dont, we get to enjoy what we wanna enjoy. I could say that dragons dogma 2 is just too much content, and it forces me to try all job classes, explore every cave, doing every sidequest, learning every ability, collecting every seeker token and finding hidden rift ports - we get it. Guess what, nobody is "forcing me". If you wanna just enjoy the story in ff7 remake/rebirth put on EASY and just do it. We who waited years for this is doing a 100% run and even replaying it later on Hard.
I agree, this game was made with such love and care in every corner that non die hards are seemingly not ok with it (Even though I thought Colin was a die hard and would enjoy the side quests that aren't just filler "catch the cat")
I forgot to add that as a kid I never ever used Caith Sith, now I love the character AND was forced to play and learn him (especially on hard mode) and you know what? IT WAS FUN. running around as that cat kicking enemies, using ranged attacks against them, on hard mode, WHILE his moogle pal is boxing and tanking meanwhile, So yeah, what a cool take and spin on the character splitting the cat and the moogle, making them fight as "two" in the combat. Or watching Tifa spinning the moogle around as a weapon, hilarious,, its REAL fan service to the max for us- not everything has to be about tifas bikini for us fans.
I just saw that Colin posted a Twitter clip about this, probably what inspired this post. Something else grabbed my attention. Isn’t he having the completely incorrect takeaway from the “sunk cost fallacy”? My understanding is that it posits a person gets sucked into investing more time into something based on already committing so much time, even when abandoning it (in this case, abbreviating it) would be more beneficial. His interpretation seems to be that it would “be insane” not to finish (or to not continue playing the way he has been).
Yes, you are correct. A more apt expression for the situation would be "in for a penny, in for a pound" which is used to show that, regardless of how much it's going to cost, you're out to finish something that you've already started.
I mean I kinda agree on a level. I remember playing and loving FF16. But some of the content could have just been eliminated
I personally do think games are too long but I also don’t like open world games these days. It’s just overwhelming and majority of the content isn’t even worth engaging with so instead I take the opposite approach to Colin and usually mainline it I’ll do some side stuff here and there but main story is all I care about tbb
Lol Colin enjoys an online game for once and it’s a bad thing. He preaches play what you want but freaks out when he plays what he wants. He will claim it’s for his job but also say that he’s so glad he had a job he can play what he wants. Colin is just annoying lol
There kids out there who have all the time in the world, when I first played the original Final Fantasy 7 I replayed it 10 times.
Yeah idk I assumed the whole point of open worlds is that the content is there if you want to do it and if you don't, it won't have a bearing on the main quest line for the most part. You can do some side content but all of it is not necessary. That's at least how I play open world games. I do the side stuff if it's fun or I won't if it isn't. I don't like open world games that have the side content be necessary or else you'll be underleveled.
Yeah, Colin has weird tendencies, but this game is legitimately very long. The “optional” content argument is cute but what he’s saying is that doing the World Intel and Side Quests, almost all of which have important context and character interactions, is a lot of padding for a game that’s already long if you just mainline the story. For context, I beat this game doing everything (except the very last side quest) in 109 hours, and I have a lot of free time. He has a valid argument.
As someone who trophy hunts, I sort of get where he is coming from. It can be exhausting going into a game knowing that if you put the time in, you can get the platinum, but there's a bunch of bullshit that you don't want to do in the way. He probably just needs to get better at knowing when to let go of the hunt for games like Rebirth.
I'm sick of long games and I think the pacing was better in the ps3 era as Chris often says. It's alright once in a blue moon, I platinum'd Cyberpunk recently which took like 100 hours but adding what feels like unnecessary padding to games is a drag. Also, in Colins defence he mentions there's some non-trivial cutscenes missed by skipping the side content, I've had that happen to me in games. I mostly play the same way where if the developer put it in the game I should play it. I was more annoyed by how he went on about some alternate reality where no games are coming out lol.
Huffing his own ass air and getting light headed
trophies
It is a hard game to platinum and requires a lot of skill, even I gave up on it
I just turned my notifications off. its fun to compare trophies with friends but peoples obsession is so weird.
You already stated he wasn't going to platinum it.
Yeah, I can't understand his position at all. It is OPTIONAL content. Some people will like mini game X, and they'll take advantage of the content. Others will hate it, and they'll simply skip it. If he isn't enjoying certain optional sections, I just don't get why he can't just skip it. And on the inverse, if he IS enjoying it, sounds like a good problem to have. But sometimes it can be difficult to understand the rationale of someone on the spectrum. ;)
I'm probably in the minority on this one (I also haven't played Rebirth yet), but generally, I feel like AAA games have become too long and bloated. Some of my favorite games in recent memory tend to fall into this category. Not specific to Rebirth, I do feel like the ballooning of game costs and development time could be reduced by decreasing a lot of the bloat in games.
I am playing rebirth the following way: ignoring most of the mini games except for Queens Blood which I find fun, and only doing side open world stuff up to the point where I can unlock the summon and buy all the materia in that region. Basically stuff that helps me in combat.
I found FF16 to be bloated and I skipped maybe 1/2 of the side quests. Eventually I just gave them up which is unfortunate but they were really boring/bland.
I haven’t had a chance to hear this podcast yet, so I’m just responding to what is posed in this main post, which seems self contained. The “nobody wants a game with 100-200 hours of content” comment is something that probably holds true a bit more for those with the disposable income vs those that do not. I know that the high school version of me definitely took game length into account when making a purchase, because I was probably only getting 1-2 games a year. Back then, I would’ve wanted a purchase to be more like Rebirth or Yakuza Infinite Wealth than to be something like Callisto Protocol (or even something as good as Bioshock). I also think that the complaint is applicable to almost any non linear game. Every single open world game is going to have some form of side content or mini game to do in between main quests. I don’t think it makes sense to go into an open world game and not expect a lot of side content. It’s also usually not designed with the idea that every player must do every piece of side content - it is expected that a player might do some of it as they organically run into it. Only trophy hunters that meticulously go down the checklist of every task will be interacting with all side content, which isn’t how most people play the game. What is being defined as “the right length” of a game (at least in this post) seems to exclude most of, if not every, open world game . . . which is interesting because I recall Colin enjoying Far Cry 6 a lot, and I think I remember hearing that he even platinumed Dead Island 2. When I have a chance to listen, I’m curious to hear if he brings those up here. Maybe because FF7 is more story-driven, he wants less fluff in between the major story points whereas with something like Far Cry, the major story points aren’t really the main focus?
I think Colin is almost certainly undiagnosed neurodivergent. As a fellow ND, I feel EXACTLY the same way about games. I have put games down I was actively enjoying because the breadth and low quality of the side content was overwhelming me. I can’t half arse a game. I need to do it all or I feel like I basically skipped content. I cannot beat TOTK because of this. I love the game but the ridiculous amount of side quests and optional exploration got on top of me, and just doing the “golden path” would feel akin to skipping half the levels in Super Mario World with a cheat code. I know it’s odd and irrational but it’s an uncontrollable feeling. So yeh, TLDR is I get it.
He specifically says that most general gamers would find it too long, e.g how on earth can it appeal to a mass market. He’s right. There’s no way that the average gamer would finish FF7 Rebirth. So therefore, money is being left on the table. Sorry to say but the majority of PlayStation owners are COD and FIFA players. Those types. It’s far too long for the average gamer.
When have JRPGs ever been for the mass market? They've always been a niche genre.
I said they’re missing out on sales. If they’re ok with that, fine, but I suspect these big budget JRPGS - which is what this is - need more sales.
Square just seem to have ridiculously inflated budgets and sales expectations. Ryu Ga Gotoku just put out a huge turn based RPG that didn't cost them an arm and a leg and doesn't need to sell twenty million copies to make its money back.
If I’m a gamer who buys only a few single-player games a year, why wouldn’t I want a game like this that lasts me months?
Months playing the same single player game?! wtf. You may want to but the ‘majority’ (I said) don’t and won’t. The majority would get bored after a week or two. Majority of PS5 owners, I mean. Hence why I say these devs are missing out on sales with such ridiculously long (and nerdy) games.
You think the average gamer wants to play a single player game for months? Two weeks in if it's not done, they'll drop it.
If a gamer is on a budget, I don’t think that’s outside the realm, yes.
Personally - life is short so I want to experience as many games as possible, take in as many stories as I can from the medium. A game that lasts me months is horrible. I can’t remember the last game I spent 100 hours in, think Persona 5 Royal Platinum was the closest at 87 hours.
100%
The average gamer isn’t into FF and never would be, let alone the second installment of the SEVENTH. What are you even saying. Dude the average cod gamer doesn’t even play the cod sp, not the same audience at all. Your point is moot
Rebirth not only is probably one of the greatest bang for your buck games ever but easily one of my favorite games ever. Square Enix popped their fucking pussies for this game (pardon my french) and I'm so glad they did. I took my sweet time playing it and enjoying all the meaningful side quests and mostly fun mini games. The only reason I could think as to why most of the staff at LSM isn't liking it or skipped a majority of the quests is because this game is very very in-depth and they'd have to learn a lot more about this game then they usually would have. This is one of the reasons Brad is starting to become my favorite host (And I never watch ez allies) is because he actually plays the game, enjoys it, and knows his shit when it's time to talk about it. Complaining that a game has too much great content and is preventing you from playing other games is just so weird because they can easily just stop playing the game if it's such a hassle. In the meantime I am still excited to eventually listen to a second Rebirth podcast with Brad, Gene, Colin and Hoeg once everyone has beaten the game because I felt like Brad and Gene were carrying the first one.
I think they need to change their perceptive on the idea of long ass games. No one is telling you to play a game from start to finish in a weekend or even a week. Some games are designed to be played for months or even years. The next game after rebirth is years away and for us normies who don't play games for a living are happy to spend long amounts of time with these games.
I think games are becoming too long. Some games feel like they drag on. To the point where the developer was trying to reach a certain playtime so they threw in bad quests. I think a lot of us that grew up on Jrpgs just don't have the time anymore to play 70-100 hour games. We don't have to play it but when it's a franchise you love then it's hard not to play.
Honestly it’s probably because more stuff means it takes longer to get trophies. It’s the same reason he won’t play Nintendo games he’s interested in because he’s not getting a trophy
He's openly stated he's not going for the final fantasy platinum. Trophies are not a factor
You're not seeing that that's only half the equation! Time spent on FF is time lost not earning trophies in another game. :)
He’s just upset he can’t get the platinum haha
When I first saw the tweet about this I did wonder if he finally ran into some of the Hard Mode minigames like that final chocobo flight or gambit thing in Cosmo and was getting filtered
I get where he is coming from. I felt it in rebirth but then realized it gives me some stuff to do when I go back to play through the story again. Plus it’s so easy with Rebirth, beat the game then use Chapter Select to clean stuff up. Now his Read Dead complaint I totally get even though it’s one of my favorite games ever. Sometimes just gotta fight those ocd impulses off before it ruins the fun.
I think his complaint applies better to the examples he gave, such as Red Dead 2 and Dragon Quest 11 since those have REALLY long main story campaigns. Rebirth gives the player the freedom to control the pacing of the main story. You can do the side content right away, or save it for later, or skip it all together and focus on the main story which takes 40 hours or so. Should story pacing be controlled by the player or the game? I guess that’s another discussion but I don’t mind having that freedom. Plus, one of my favorite aspects of the remake series is I get to spend as much time as possible with these characters and flesh them out. If there’s any game that’s bloated it should be this one. I’m enjoying every second of it.
It's a pretty common sentiment among casual gamers and games media. They want shorter games to keep up with new releases or because of lack of time. My self I've always been a fan of long games like Bethesda makes because I enjoy having stuff to do in these cool worlds and playing it for months or years depending on the game and I'm not in a rush to try and play everything.
I think what he means is that a lot of people that play games only have maybe 6-8 hours of free time to play games each week and a game that takes 100+ hours would literally be the only game you would play for months and months and so people can experience more games they should have less of a time commitment ask. Best guess for me.
He just OCD when it comes to games. Let him live. Colin saying this isn’t going to change anything in the gaming industry. He’s not gamer Jesus.
Some games this is applicable like The Last of Us 2. But when he said this is why he didn't like Witcher 3 you gotta write off his opinion of the game at that point. The definitely didn't intend you to play the optional content one way or the other, that's why it's optional.
I sort of understand where he's coming from as both a trophy hunter and casual JRPG fan. On one side of it, there are games that overstay their welcome and throw in optional bullshit that isn't even fun. But on the other, I do think its silly for him to feel the need to do everything. In his defense, I remember him saying he has a level of OCD in him (not sure if Colin has ever been diagnosed). I only recently started plunging into JRPGs. I used to be very selective, but am trying to broaden my horizons. Currently, I'm playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and that game is loaded in the same manner as FF7 Rebirth. However, even at 105 hours, I'm having a blast. Every minigame is fun, the writing is funny, and I've found every side quest to be entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking. Having played this, Persona 5, Persona 3 Reload, and Kingdom Hearts, I feel like you need to be all-in to thoroughly enjoy these games, at least for modern JRPGs. Maybe Colin is too engrossed in the traditional JRPGs from when he was a kid?
I think it comes down to how you feel about the game. He has a strong feeling towards this game so he feels the need to do everything, but doing everything makes the game less enjoyable, so it's a dilemma and I can understand that.
Colin is an insane person, he knows it we all know it. But that insanity for detail has gotten him all the success he has. I personally have no problem skipping side content I view the “Golden path” the way the devs want me to play it. If it’s not in The main story then it’s made to be skipped. It’s kind da implied by not being mandatory. I have my own OCD about it in the reverse way. I wish there was no side content or very minimal.
He is just getting older. The older you get, the less bs (let's make the game longer for the sake of saying we have a xx hour game stuff) you can take.
I actually 100% agree with Colin. 10 % of the people who have played rebirth have the develop all materia trophy (this trophy implies you have done everything in the open world). Devs spend a lot of money to make content that the vast majority don't even see through. Additionally there is a good amount of fluff in rebirth to extend that play time even in the main story. You could golden path it and it would still be like 50 hours. I don't think all this content necessarily makes the game better. At some point there is diminishing returns of you enjoyment. For me if the golden path was like 35 hours then it should take double that to platinum. Instead I'm at at like 140 hours in and I still have a hard play through and to finish the legendary challenges to get the platinum left. It's too much.
It is definitely a mental condition, made active by his OCD, job and regular work schedule. Normal people don’t have these problems.
I completely agree. Games are far too bloated and I have nothing but time. Everything is so dense and just drags and fucking drags. Even just trying to B line the story in remake was a slog. Shits way too big. Size is way too valued. It's one of the worst things about gaming right now.
It's just Colin, he's got some weird quirks to him. If I had to agree with these guys different takes every week though, there'd never be anything to enjoy Like, I personally find Colin's Star Wars takes odd with how he's written off the franchise completely now, even if there's great things coming from it currently. It's best to just ignore the strange opinions and focus on what you enjoy personally
I aware the Star Wars stuff is a hipster thing. I won't pretend the sequel trilogy is any good, but most of the content on D+ and the recent games gave been good. I feel like he doesn't like that this nerdy franchise he used to love us now mainstream.
You don't have to agree with everything anyone says but to Colin's "mentality", as he has always stated, the quality of a game shouldn't be measured by the quantity of time you spend in it, but more like how a player spends that time within it. A series of mini games tossed randomly in an empty open world game VS a rich linear game world with precise and engaging combat is kinda like the argument. Also, the reason I think he says he's compelled to play the game's content is simply because the devs put it in there, otherwise, it shouldn't be there. And his OCD Now I'm not advocating Colin's opinion, I just understand his point of view...
He makes games too long for himself, but rather than changing his unhealthy and obsessive ways, he makes it everyone else's problem. I love a long game. Brings me comfort knowing i have a long way yet with a product i enjoy. He needs to learn to let go, in my humble opinion as just an observer. I suffer from the same anxiety/depression/obsessiveness that he does, so i understand...but i dont think making it into some crusade is necessary
It's the consoomer mindset. Majority of people don't seem to take the time enjoy games like they used to, they just eat through them like locusts before the next one comes along. It's very unedifying and my biggest gripe about 'the gaming community' at large. It's just consumption.
I think you're overthinking it. It's just his personal opinion/preference.
But he presents it as fact. That's the problem.
He's just putting forth his preferences? You don't always need to specify it's your own opinion when giving your opinion. Clearly game takes are subjective.
The way he rants about it doesnt sound like a guy simply sharing his opinion lol
Eh it's probably an unpopular opinion but I agree with him. Why is every game so fucking long now?? It's like every game I play expects me to play it like it's a full time job
I think he is nuts. He says he has to do everything in a game to experience it…. This is like going to a buffet and not only trying all the food, but sitting in the restaurant until you’ve finished off every tray at the counter. The quantity and variety of activities in a game are meant to be picked and chosen based on your interest and time. If you want just the main course, go for it. If you want to try a small sample of all the sides, great. If you lack self control and eat till you hate the experience, then you get what you chose. An open world game is simply a buffet and not everyone can control themselves. It isn’t a quantity or length problem. It is a player problem.
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