Hello Bombers :) I recently won a twitter competition the get the game early and host some strange party. Anyway i just wanted to let you know that the game is like 4 and half hours long. I know Konami recently said this doesn't include cut scenes but the longest cut scene in the game doesn't exceed 10 min so its still under 5 hours. The game is pretty good though! Quite a few costumes and unlockable weapons thrown in but man... Really dissapointed.

Ouch. Is there even any reasons to replay missions like Ranks or Leaderboards?

Hmm, still, the gameplay is supposedly good enough that chances are you're going to want to replay this game a lot. Also, isn't there a load of VR missions in there? Oh, and unlockable weapons?? That's a nice surprise; I've long assumed that Raiden would purely use his ninja sword across it all.

Points to buy upgrades. And there is the medal system from previous metal gears (complete in under 6 hours sort of thing). I'm played it on normal so im going to start on hard to see if there is anything else to get. The boss fights are some of the best character action game boss fights i've ever played so going back to them is sort of fun.

I really don't like the VR missions in this game :/ They are pretty much all time based instead of like devil may cry challenges

Edit; But i haven't unlocked them all. There are terminals throughout the game just on the floor that unlock them.

Interesting. I'll get this game when its cheap. Next week is all about DmC's Bloody palace for me.

It does seem short, and I've seen the 4-5 hour times pop up all over the place, but I've also heard of people taking as long as 8 hours. Either way five hours for a short, sharp action game from Platinum almost seems like the right length. Vanquish was short, but that didn't change how much I adored the game.

Yeah that's kind of what I've thought. So this just reassures me in buying for like 20 bucks at some point. Eventhough that demo made it seem pretty cool....

Perfect. I love short games.

Eh, you can beat Bayonetta in under 3 hours, and even have to in order to unlock a certain accessory. That doesn't change the fact that I'm still playing it, or change the fact that no one's made a better character action game since. I'm gonna give Platinum a shot every time.

Yeah, perfect rental length.

hmmmm

I definitely don't mind these shorter games if they are appropriately paced. However, hard to spend full price unless they do some excellent things. But it can vary. If its enjoyable enough I will replay it plenty.

My second favorite game was only like 5 hours though so it can work (Max Payne 2). I've probably played it like 10 times.

THIS IS FALSE! The game timer is not representative of the actual amount of time played. It is much longer than 4.5 hours.

It is definitely a good and all of the 5 hours were enjoyable. Just not £40/$60 worth :/ I also had some really weird camera issues during boss fights where the game would point me away during parts where i need to cut specific points :/ But the game isn't out yet so i hope that is fixed.

When I play games I don't time myself and how much fun I had down to the second. Screw this time obsession shit. I'll pick it up at a later date.

From Inaba's Twitter:

Tack on some padding and it'd be just as long as any modern shooter.

This, as well as most character action games tend to be very short, and PlatinumGames games are always about multiple playthroughs. Bayonetta is not meant to be played just once. Multiple difficulties, tons of unlocks, hidden stuff lying all over, getting better at the combat system...

Also, pretty much every Metal Gear game is under five hours without the cutscenes.

The length doesn't matter, it is the journey that does

A thousand times this. People need to be aware of the how the PG timer stuff works. Vanquish was not as short as reviews at the time said. It wasn't the longest game in the world but it had tons of re playability and the game itself executed action flawlessly with no fluff. I much rather play a game like that than other games that just get tedious to make it lengthy, especially since I just played Deus Ex and Skyward Sword in the last month.

wow, thats less than the cutscenes from the other MGS games. im gonna play it anyway, though.

Looks like I wont be picking this up at full price. While I'm confident that there's some re-playability in there, much like Vanquish, I just can't see myself justifying a purchase at 60.

well that is sad to hear. i was expected a long game like the other metal gear games.

i get kind of disappointed when games aren't long. i just beat forza horizon expected there to be more races than what there was.

True but there is also ample reason to play Bayonetta over and over again to perfect levels and get Pure Platinum rankings and post leader board scores. If there isn't anything like that that usually kills games like this replay-ability for me. I played DmC through seven times and have 85 hours logged in it but thats because it was a ton of fun to go for score runs and get all SSS ranks.

Vanquish is like 4 hours long, MGS4 minus cutscenes is 5 hours long or so; as long as the gameplay is superb then there's not really much of an issue here.

I don't mind short-ish games, as long as they are great games and are really enjoyable. Vanquish was only 6 hours long and that was an superb game, so I don't see why this won't be either.

That being said, I'll pick it up when the price drops. Not because of the length, just because I'm busy with other games at the moment.

Because length = quality. Rather a game be 4.5 hours and awesome than be 100 hours and dull.

Seems like you can beat in in 5 hours if you play it rough and fast, but playing it stealthily/on higher difficulties will yield longer playtimes.

Seems very similar to other "character action games" like DmC. It still seems deep enough to warrant a look.

Very good point. I almost forgot, Vanquish went under a pretty similar problem around it's launch. I remember specifically something about the game clock making play throughs seem longer/shorter. Either way, if its consistently good, then I dont see why the length would be of issue.

As long as all 5 hours are good , I'm good ! :D

People need to read this instead of coming into this thread disappointed.

Wow! They've really improved from MGS4's hour long cutscenes.

Thread is so troll bait its unreal. The game's length varies on which difficulty you play... its also designed to be played though many times.

...you can finish MGS4 in 5hrs if you wanted to...

But...is there New Game +!?!

That's what people seem to be missing here.

These games are designed around replayability. Assuming the combat system holds up (given this video, it looks like it will), you'll constantly want to come back to it.

I've never seen the issue with shorter games. I'd much rather play a dense game with a snappy pace, than struggle through another handful of hours of padding.

Have you never played a game from this genre? They are all in the 6-9 hours to clear though once to promote multi-playthroughs.

You also forgot to mention that the timer doesn't count restarts. The consensus on GAF is that the actual playtime is close to 8 hours just like pretty much every action game.

If it truly is only 4.5 hours then that's very disappointing. I don't think any developer is that crazy though.

And even if this game was only 4.5 hours, I'd trust that Platinum would have this game jammed packed with some awesome shit.

Also, the term "Character Action Game" is becoming a pet peeve of mine.

@oldirtybearon said:

Character action games are never long. Most levels in the new DmC can take less than 10 minutes to finish if you have a slight sense of what you're doing.

Also, the way the game records time is not indicative at all - it only takes your fastest time in consideration. The time of your playthrough should actually decrease the more you play it, since the game doesn't count totals.

@mrbalmer: Why would expect a MG game to have challenge rooms like Devil May Cry?

I'm pretty sure they used to be called hack 'n' slash games.

When did 'character action game' become a term, anyway? It's a totally ridiculous way to refer to them (moreso than HnS).

Why? I like character action. Hack 'n Slash makes the games sound just mashy and devoid of skill.

Around the time the Giant Bomb guys were looking for a term to call these games aside from the old stand by "beat 'em up" and for some reason the forums followed.

DmC was 10-12 hours the first time through. Repeated playthroughs yield faster and faster times as you get better at the game and skip a bunch of cutscenes. 8-10 hours is not short so much as average. I'm not sure what your point was considering I stated that Platinum Games is not stupid enough to push out a 4.5 hour game for $60.

Because it's virtually meaningless.

Hack n Slash is a less worthwhile term for these games if you ask me, considering the term originates in D & D and has been used as a label for anything from Diablo to Golden Axe. Character Action isn't a perfect term, but I like it a lot more for these games than Hack n Slash.

Wasn't someone throwing around a 16 hour number like a couple of weeks ago? Sure that was just a preview and what he thought was going to be the length of the game but boy was he off by a mile.

I agree. I don't think the genre ever had a good term. Lets just call them "that genre where Ninja Gaiden Black is and probably will always be the best game in it"

Every time I see someone say this it makes me happy! I hear people say it's DMC 3 all the time but it's Black for sure.

Yeah Hack n Slash to me is something like Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance. But you can also call that an action RPG.

Basically genre labels suck. I think Character Action is as good and clear as it gets.