As much is it hurts me to say, I have yet to play Valve’s Portal, that puzzle FPS that everybody is talking about. In fact, I probably won’t play it for at least six months, possibly longer, though I won’t let that get in the way of my talking about it.
So the popular word is that Portal‘s a fantastic game, but it’s short. The discussion of it reminds me a lot of Rez, another short but sweet game, and makes me wonder if compacted, succinct experiences might be a worthwhile direction for the industry to work toward.
You see, games like Rez and Portal are in opposition to the intentional bloating of modern RPGs, which is often done as a justification of value. A lot of games these days seem to be judged by their length, which is problematic because a 60-hour story isn’t necessarily a good story, and the only thing worse than a bad story is a bad story that’s incredibly long.
Indeed, the main criticism of Portal seems to be that it’s too short, but I wonder if maybe that’s because we as critics and gamers aren’t used to intentionally short experiences. The desire to want more isn’t a bad feeling to leave players with. What’s worse is leaving players feeling tired, and ready to move on. The best films end too soon; the best songs are too short — so why, in games, if the experience ends and leaves us wanting more, do we mark that as a negative?
I say that Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Wii Ware are terrific opportunities for “short and sweet” games to thrive. Give me 4 hours of great game over 30 hours of “alright.” Give me something I want to re-play over something I’d rather not bother with (I don’t think I’ll ever feel the need to replay Twilight Princess; it just wasn’t enjoyable enough from end to end — and don’t get me started on Okami).
Hey, virtually nonexistent readership! Any other “short and sweet” games I should be aware of?
2 replies on “Portal is short and sweet, or so I’m told.”
Have you played Ikaruga? It’s available on the Gamecube, produced by Atari, imported from a Japanese arcade game. An intense shmup with a unique color-switching mechanic, the game lasts about 35 minutes to play beginning to end. That being said, you’ll probably want to play it much more then that on different difficulty levels and trying to improve your high-score. Also features 2p Co-op. It is also very aesthetically pleasing to look at, and imo. features a great soundtrack too.
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