History Main / ItsShortSoItSucks

* Similarly, ''AsurasWrath'' recieved criticism for it's story being only 6 to seven hours. Migitated someone by the episodic formular it has.

** ''SonicColors'' took the Unleashed HD formula and took away the werehog, and the game was expectedly made much shorter. This reaction is mostly averted, though.

* Surprisingly averted by ''ChronoTrigger''. It's maybe half the length of modern ''FinalFantasy'' games (though its length was comparable to its contemporary [=FFs=]) similar [=RPGs=]. A combination of fun gameplay and excellent characters and story keep the game more then satisfying. The remakes pad the game out with {{Bonus Dungeon}}s. [[TropeCodifier Inventing]] NewGamePlus certainly helps, too.

** Averted with the series in general however, as the games are critical and commercial successes despite generally being 6-8 hours long.

* Averted by ''MaxPayne'' and its sequel. Most reviewers noted that the games were very short. They also noted that the games and their story were so good, that the brevity didn't matter.
** ''Max Payne 2'' actually spawned an article by a reviewer wondering about this very trope. His point was that, essentially, the only significant downfall that he could find with the game was its brevity. He couldn't decide if that was a detriment by itself.
** Aside from the story, the level design for both games encourages the players to play with its BulletTime mechanics (and RagdollPhysics in the sequel) which gives some replay value. In fact, plenty of gamers hit the quick load button as soon as they had killed of a group of enemies just to find the ''Coolest'' -- [[AwesomeButPractical or most effective]] -- way to win the awesome gunfight they'd just had.
* Also averted by ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters'', widely acclaimed for its LaResistance setting despite its short duration.

* ''VideoGame/HarryPotter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2''. AngryJoe's [[http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/07/harry-potter-angry-review/ review]] pointed out it can be finished in slightly 20 minutes more than [[Film/HarryPotter the movie it's based on]].

* ''KaneAndLynch: Dog Days'' can be easily completed in four hours. This has become [[TheAngryJoeShow Angry Joe's]] stock joke about game length now: a slow-motion version of him yelling "FOUR HOURS!"

** Its prequel ''ShadowOfTheColossus'' is just as short, roughly 7 hours.

* Inverted by [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16196_the-7-commandments-all-video-games-should-obey_p2.html this]] ''{{Cracked}}'' article -- one of their complaints is about developers (particularly of [[WideOpenSandbox open-world titles]]) artificially padding their games with {{filler}} in order to avert this trope. They specifically cite ''{{Portal}}'' as proof that games don't have to be over fifteen hours to be fun.

** The sequel has however come under this criticism by some, despite the single-player campaign being somewhere around 3 times the length of its predecessor, and including a co-op campaign which itself is almost twice the length of ''Portal''. With Valve saying that the SDK is on the way, plenty of user-created maps will be on the way to give ''Portal 2'' players more to do. [[UnpleasableFanbase Not that that will stop anyone from complaining, though...]]

** Averted in the shortest entry of the series, ''LinksAwakening'', where nobody really minded the short length of 5-8 hours. Too Long So It Sucks-itis?
*** Considering both the year it debuted and [[GameBoy the format]] it was released on, ''Link's Awakening'' is still a pretty impressive game in terms of length.
** ''MajorasMask'' also got this, because the main quest didn't take long; however, the side quests made for a much longer game.
** The third most common complaint about ''TheWindWaker'', after its [[CelShading graphical style]] and [[ScrappyMechanic the sailing.]]

* ''{{Braid}}'' has been subject to this, despite the fact that finding all the puzzle pieces in order to earn the game's ending can take ages if you're not using a [[GuideDangIt guide]].

* In a mixture of SeinfeldIsUnfunny and this trope, ''StarOcean1'' can be seen as this. The game has about ≤12 hours worth of unskippable material - for a JRPG? That's actually a rather short game for genres where games are often 20-50 hours, with some games like VideoGame/TalesOfGraces advertising 60-80 hours, and reports of people even putting as much as ''300 hours'' into games like ''{{Pokemon}} Ruby/Sapphire'' or ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''. No ''wonder'' it had this criticism - even when the game was new and was a huge experiment.

* ''StarWars: Republic Commando'' really, really suffered from this.

* ''BeyondGoodAndEvil'' also seemed to mostly avert this, getting very good reviews despite its length.

* In a mixture of SeinfeldIsUnfunny and this trope, ''StarOcean1'' can be seen as this. The game has about ≤12 hours worth of unskippable material - for a JRPG? That's actually a rather short game for genres where games are often 20-50 hours, with some games like TalesOfGraces advertising 60-80 hours, and reports of people even putting as much as ''300 hours'' into games like ''{{Pokemon}} Ruby/Sapphire'' or ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''. No ''wonder'' it had this criticism - even when the game was new and was a huge experiment.

Then the 1990s and 2000s came. Hours-long [[AdventureGame adventures]] and [=RPGs=] started to increase in popularity, and the average length of a game increased. Many games these days last 20 to 40 hours. No longer could an hourlong game be regarded as standard length; it was now passed off as a short, budget game to be avoided at all costs. The game's length must be directly proportional to its price. In other words, '''It's Short, So It Sucks.'''

* ''{{ICO}}''. 6 hours or so on a first playthrough -- maybe 8 or 10 if you just sit around [[SceneryPorn watching the scenery]] -- and it's finishable in 2 ½ hours on a replay. It's still regarded as a ''very'' fine example of the genre.

** The second game is also criticized for being too short, despite having many more "important" missions (recruitment and loyalty missions) and side missions (which were much more varied and interesting than the first, despite planet exploration being removed). The argument is that the loyalty/recruitment missions are padding to make up for the relatively few main plot missions. (Technically, it's likely possible to finish the game with just six recruitment missions and maybe six or seven other ones. The suicide mission is not going to go well, though.)

** ''CaveStory'' is a similar case, though it's not so much speedrunning rewards (save for the ones gotten from the [[BrutalBonusLevel Sacred Grounds]]) so much as every weapon being impossible to obtain in one playthrough; you could play one playthrough using the Machine Gun, another using the Spur, and so on.

* Series/DoctorWho: From 1963-89 the series was presented as a serial, with storylines sometimes taking a month or longer to unfold. When the series returned in 2005 it adopted a more US-style format consisting of standalone single episodes and a couple of two parters per season (though each season to date has had a background story arc of some sort). Some die-hard fans complained (and continue to complain) that they miss the more leisurely pace that four, six, or more weekly episodes afforded the viewer.

* Also averted by ''FreedomFighters'', widely acclaimed for its LaResistance setting despite its short duration.

* Anyone who says this about a LegoCrossoverGame has obviously never tried to get OneHundredPercentCompletion.

* ''FinalFantasyMysticQuest'', in addition to also being [[ItsEasySoItSucks "easy, so it sucks".]]

* In a mixture of SeinfeldIsUnfunny and this trope, ''StarOcean1'' can be seen as this. The game has about ≤12 hours worth of unskippable material - for a JRPG? That's actually a rather short game for genres where games are often 20-50 hours, with some games like TalesOfGraces advertising 60-80 hours, and reports of people even putting as much as ''300 hours'' into games like ''{{Pokemon}} Ruby/Sapphire'' or ''FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''. No ''wonder'' it had this criticism - even when the game was new and was a huge experiment.

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