December 15th 2024.
Elden Ring is a highly praised game that has been making waves in the gaming world. If you've been playing games for a long time, you know how difficult it can be to find a good game to play. That's where I come in. My name is Lagger and I would like to share with you my secret weapon for finding amazing games: HowLongToBeat.
Now, before I go any further, I have to say that GameCentral is my go-to website for all things video games. However, there is one website that has had a bigger impact on my gaming life than any review source. That website is HowLongToBeat. It's a simple concept, really. You type in the name of a game and it tells you how long it takes to beat it. It even breaks it down into Main Story, Main + Extra, and Completist.
But that's not all. If you dig a little deeper, you can see how the completion times are calculated based on user submissions. While this information may not seem very useful at first, it does give you an idea of how many people the numbers are based on. Of course, if it's only a few people, the data may not be completely accurate. But in my experience, it's usually pretty spot on.
Now, you may be wondering why I use this website. Well, the answer is simple: to determine if a game is worth playing. You see, I have a rule that if a game takes more than 10 hours to beat the main story, I won't bother with it. And if it's over 30 hours, forget about it. I know this may seem like an arbitrary rule, but as a working dad, I have limited time for gaming. I already spend about 10 hours a week on it, which is average for someone in my position.
Some may argue that 10 hours a week is a lot, but as a parent, I can tell you it's not. It takes me half that time just to get to the interactive part of Persona 4 or to figure out how to play Dark Souls. And when it comes to games like Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom or Elden Ring, I can see from the website that I would barely be 15% into the game after 10 hours. That's assuming I'm making progress and not just wandering around aimlessly.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against open world games, but I don't like feeling rushed when playing them. And unfortunately, with my limited time, I just can't commit to them. It's a shame, but that's just the reality of my life. I have responsibilities and I have to manage my free time wisely.
However, I have to say that since I've started using this rule, I've been enjoying gaming a lot more than I did five or 10 years ago. I'm able to beat most games within a week or two, I'm playing a wider variety of games, and I have no backlog. And because I'm playing shorter games, I can buy more of them without breaking the bank. For the price of one AAA game, I can get three or four indie games.
You may think I'm just settling for less, but I can honestly say that I'm very happy with my gaming setup and self-imposed limitations. Of course, I can break these rules whenever I want, but I rarely do. The thing about 10-hour games is that there's no filler content, no long cutscenes, and all the budget goes towards the actual gameplay rather than just flashy graphics. And for me, that's a huge plus.
So, I encourage you to give it a try. Even if you have all the time in the world, limit yourself to only playing games that are 10 hours or less. I guarantee you'll end up enjoying yourself more than with the latest 60+ hour epic. And hey, if you don't like it, you can always go back to playing longer games. But for me, this has been a game-changer and I hope it can help you too.
Thank you for reading my feature and remember, these are just my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of GameCentral or Metro. If you have your own 500-600 word feature, feel free to submit it to us and it may be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us through email or use the Submit Stuff page. Happy gaming!
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
