Fable 2 main quest will be around 12 hours long

Yes exactly. Heck the main quest in Oblivion is half this time. It's the side quest that keeps us hooked!

The main quest in Fable was 7-8 hours.

Are you serious? The main quest in oblivion is at least double this time?

Couldn't agree more. As long as this one is an improvement on the last, I'll be satisfied.

Then look at it this way. How long did it take you to complete something like MGS4? ..And then how long would it have taken if you skipped all the cut-scenes?

Remember, there are no cut-scenes here, everything is done in game. And of course, there's a large focus on side quests, like simply living at home, having a job and raising a family.

Snowblind, I often agree with you, but MGS isnt the proper benchmark. How many hours did Oblivion take? That was an open world rpg and it was long as could be. Though I am really excited for this game, the playtime is a disappointment.

Oblivion was artifically extended by the hugely repetitive and extremely boring oblivion gate missions, though.

I don't have a PS3. Didn't play MGS4. (Didn't WANT to play MGS4)

I'll pause for shock value.

That said, this is an action/adventure style game. If it's styled to be more like Zelda maybe it's easier to stomach such a short main game...

Markusdragon, yes maybe, but those missions sure were not 80 hours long or whatever.

Why? Fuck cutscenes. It's why I can't stand JRPGS. It's walk around for 10 minutes, then you get to watch 10 minutes of cutscenes. It isn't fun. You don't need cutscenes to tell a good story.

"You don't need cutscenes to tell a good story. "

Actually, you do. As any game that's tried otherwise just falls flat. Look at BioShock. Look at Half-Life. Look at Half-Life 2. Shallow stories, with good environments, and a fair bit immersion, and people mistake that for a good story, a good story that just flat out isn't present in the game.

@ Guy Number One: I respectfully disagree with your opinion. Bioshock had one of the most immersive and emotionally investing storylines I have played to date. Half-Life 2 had a helluva story, and that's why I'm still salivating at playing Episode three, just to see how everything fit together. same with Portal (though it's in the Half-Life universe), and that game was only two hours long, no cutscenes. Oblivion hardly had any cutscenes, only in the very beginning of the game and at the very end of the main mission. still one of the best stories and most immersive games around. And I spent more than 200 hours playing it. (hey, i graduated from college and didnt yet have a job)

Granted, there are great stories to be told in games with cutscenes, just look at MGS4 and GTAIV, but many of the scenes in games that I have played recently could definitely do without. Devil May Cry 4? Halo 3? Gears of War? Yeah, they have a story, they have a pretty... shallow story, and it's told mostly through cutscenes. You want to talk about storytelling falling flat, look at those three popular games, among other less popular ones! Don't tell me you think Halo 3's story is better than Half-Life 2's just because the former has cutscenes while the latter doesn't. That's rubbish and you know it.

The point is, if there is a good enough story, it will hopefully shine through no matter what the gameplay consists of, cutscene or not. But if there is a shitty, shallow, clichéd story, it doesn't matter how many cutscenes you throw in there to make a point, the story is going to be the same. Cutscenes don't make a story, it's just one way of telling it.

I had a hard time putting 5 hours into GTA4.

I'm on 45 hours in GTA4 and only like 48% complete

It took me just over 60 hours to finish Twilight Princess, and there was PLENTY of stuff I could have still done. And if 60 hours in a game doesn't make it worth the money, then I don't know what does.

I spent 60+ in GTAIV and still haven't gotten most of the side-job achievements.

A good 60 in GTA4 and 40-50 in Twilight.

I was pissed that Portal was short. Took me about 2 hours to beat the game. :|

there will always be people who masturbate to metal gear. it's a sick world

Because generally in an Adventure/RPG people have higher expectations about the amount of depth the game has say compared to an FPS which is assumed to be more action focused and thus shorter in length. Just my 2c.

Because Portal was only 1/5 of the total Orange Box AND because Fable 2 is an RPG. Fable 1 took me 9 hours to beat INCLUDING sidequests.

I think that the shortest good RPG i've ever played was Mass Effect(about 15-20 hours). But I did play it through 3 times so the length is actually closer to 40-50 hours.

With any luck fable 2 will have a more Bioware system of good/bad choices to make it more engaging than fable 1's choices(Do you kill your sister and take the sword or do you chuck the sword, THAT'S IT!?!?)

You beat MGS4 in three and a half hours?

What difficulty? I'm having trouble doing it under 6 on the harder ones.

I believe I think it was on medium when I beat it in 3 and a half hours.

yeah, RPGs are expected to be a little longer. Anything under 15 hours is a waste of money, imo. I was pissed when it took me 8 hours to complete Fable.

@Heh
It was good that Portal wasn't over 2 hours long, as Yahtzee rightfully said, it didn't overstay it's welcome.

And I'll make it my sole purpose to slaughter all of my friend's families. CAUSE I'M THE PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS!!!

BWAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!

Are you counting JRPG's, that are mainly that length due to dialogue? Look at something like Neverwinter Nights or Morrowind/Oblivion as a better guage.

They're about the same length, I see no reason to be complaining here, especially when there's so much focus on the side quests and other activities.

Yeah, I spent hardly any time on the story quests in Oblivion. Side questing is really what a lot of RPGs are all about in my opinion.

Mass effect was double that time in only main quest...

I spent 60 hours without doing much side stuff in Tales of Symphonia. Some games are focused more on story line than others. Story focused games often have the better story, but side quest focused games usually have a world that seems more alive.

hopefully it actually is an under promise...given his track record this might even qualify as "hype"

Or you could buy both?And don't base your opinion on that because side-quests aside, I think that Oblivion Main-Quest was even shorter.

If I win the lottery between now and October, I will certainly buy both. Unfortunately that is unlikely and I don't have that kind of cash to throw around. I did beat Oblivion but did lots of sidequests along the way and got all of the initial 1000 achiuevement points. It took me about 80 hours to do so.

This sounds more like Mass Effect which took me 19 hours to beat while trying to do the side quests. Hopefully the side quests in Fable won't be as black and white as they were in Mass Effect.

I KNOW that I will get my money's worth with Fallout 3 because I did with Oblivion and the post-apocalyptic theme is much more enticing to me than the fantasy theme in general.

$60 is "that kind of cash" nowadays?

dang yo

In case you haven't looked up from your monitor lately, we are kind of in a recession. I am also kind of trying to take care of a family while somehow maintaining a very spendy gaming habit. When you live paycheck to paycheck, $60 is "that kind of cash". I know most people on this site are teenagers or younger but you can't be that naive.

I don't mean to get all riled up, but $60 is a lot of money when you are having trouble putting food on the table. Games are definitely a luxury that I have to save up for in order to be able to buy them when they come out. I also look to get the most for my money. So when I hear that the main campaign of Fable 2 is only 12 hours and Fallout is touting a 100 hour game (including all content of course) the decision becomes fairly easy for me. I was definitely leaning towards Fallout 3 to begin with though since RPGs in fantasy settings are a dime a dozen (just like WW2 shooters). This info just put it over the edge.

Besides, with Fable 1 Molyneux touted all of the amazing aspects of Fable but actually turned in a slightly above average Action/RPG. I will just have to wait until I can rent this one to make an educated decision on it.

/End rant

What are basing that on, Fable 1? That games had ONE decent sidequest(Lady Gray) everything else was "go find three blue mushrooms to save my son" or "go kill a bunch of bandits/villagers."

Mass Effect let you talk your way through some sidequests, what will Fable 2 let you do, burp at people? :]