Not As Long As Me Right Now

Link from A Link to the PastZelda Informer has posted another great article for your reading pleasure. Not As Long As Me Right Now is a look at the claim that Zelda games have been continually decreasing in length and play time. The claim that is disputed, though the author does empathize, is that older games such as Ocarina of Time offer 100+ hours of gameplay, while newer games like Twilight Princess only last a measly 40 hours. The author agrees that yes, a first play through may have that difference, but he notes this interesting point:

It is not necessarily fair to say that overall game size is deteriorating. Length and hardness go hand in hand. Is it that modern games are quicker because we are now used to the Zelda formula? I mean Ocarina of Time took me 100s of hours the first time, but now only takes eight. Majora’s Mask was 100s but is now only 12. Is it difficulty that gives the illusion of length? Because, now that I am experienced at both Twilight Princess and Ocarina, I can tell you that a speed run of both games leaves Twilight Princess as six hours longer. Has length really been deteriorating?

I think that this is a great point. Not only are the author’s speed run times longer for Twilight Princess, but the world records for Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time are 3 hours and 56 minutes and 1 hour and 16 minutes respectively. True these are largely based on glitch execution, but then the Ocarina of Time 100% speed run world record is less than 7 hours, and there isn’t one for Twilight Princess! (at least nothing official) I think that says a lot about how difficult the newer games are in that aspect. Perhaps collection is the main factor, but that still doesn’t explain the 2.5+ hour difference between the Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess speed runs where no collection is necessary.

So what do you all think? Are the games getting shorter? Or is it just a matter of difficulty? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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