Story based games 5 hours long?

[JCgames]

Title kinds says it all but i want to know your favorite short story games. I love rpgs, and story based games in general, but i find most way to long, even if they are good.

So i activily seek out games that people tag with good game but too short. Honestly i wish more rpgs would take the episode style of story telling. Some adventure games are in this range, hidden object games often fall under this tune range.

Lets call it 3-8 hours, meaning 1-2 nights and your done. I ll add a few more when i check their names. But is anyone else into short and sweet story games?

 

[JCgames]

Atom Eve, a super hero visual novel, that is good for a couple replays. 3 hours and very enjoyable. A nice little choices mater story and some simple puzzle boss fights for combat. A perfect single evening game.

Serena, its just a demo tech demo for a game that just cameout called asylum. It takes place in tiny cabin, but the way the story plays out it quite interesting and it has alittle surprise. 2 hours, with no save so make sure you have the time.

Anna, closer to 6-8 for most endings, 8 total i think. A haunted sawmill adventure, that feels supernatural. What a weird and challenging adventure but quite good. A tip, there is a crash that can happen watching a candle burn, leave the room while its burning to avoid the ctd, saving semi often is worth it in this obe as there are so many choices.


So what are some short story based games you've enjoyed?

 

[Zloth]

The only one I've played in that range is The Invincible. It was OK. The story was all right, the atmosphere was really good, but the game part of the game wasn't much. Not quite a walking simulator, IMHO, but definitely pushing that definition.

Hmmm.... you could play The Witcher 3 and use a mod of some sort to change the title screen every couple of days. Then you could pretend it's episodic!

 

[Pifanjr]

Spec Ops: The Line isn't very long (between 6 and 7 hours) and while it's not a RPG, it does have an interesting story.

Portal is somewhere between 3 and 5 hours, depending on how good you are with puzzles. Also not really a story game, but still worth a mention in my opinion.

 

[mjs warlord]

Because of how expensive some games are i always ask mr google ... how long to complete ....
If something can be completed in less than 10 hours i dont even look at it and 5 hours is a definate no no.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Few I've played recently and some walking sims I havent played in a long time.

Ruiner apparently took me 7 hours to beat and was good fun. Its a Cyberpunk twin stick isometric action game with a really good soundtrack, recommend.

Vanquish is a classic and pretty short, holds up really well. Super fast paced 3rd person shooter, not much else like it Ive seen.

What Remains of Edith Finch and Town of Light were pretty good walking sims/exploration games. Also To the Moon and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Ethan Carter probably has more game to it than the others.

 

[JCgames]

I played vanishing of ethan carter it was pretty good.

Gone home was excelent. Its a unique naritive style. You explore your families home after you left years before and find answers about your sister. Very solid. Btw i hate the walking simulator name they are far more easter egg hunts, as you never just walk.

Because of how expensive some games are i always ask mr google ... how long to complete ....
If something can be completed in less than 10 hours i dont even look at it and 5 hours is a definate no no.

I have 340 games on steam and my average cost is about 3.50 (last time i added up my total purchases)

Gog, 150, average is under 2 dollars

Epic, over 200 free games, many AAA

Between free, sales, and humble, cost never needs to be a reason not to get most games if you dont mind waiting. Last steam sale for example had 10+ games on my wishlist under 4 dollars. It jumps to about 40 if i choose under 8. Short games almost always will be in the sub 10 dollar range at some point.

But if you want longer rpgs wasteland 2, goes on sale for 10 bucks, its excellent and dragon age inquisition and me andromeda go on sale for in a bundle for 10 bucks from time to time.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I played vanishing of ethan carter it was pretty good.

Gone home was excelent. Its a unique naritive style. You explore your families home after you left years before and find answers about your sister. Very solid. Btw i hate the walking simulator name they are far more easter egg hunts, as you never just walk.

I forgot about Gone Home, Beginners Guide, and also Firewatch. There must be others.

I guess I dropped off the genre after around 2018, I cant think of any newer ones Ive played right now.

 

[JCgames]

I forgot about Gone Home, Beginners Guide, and also Firewatch. There must be others.

I guess I dropped off the genre after around 2018, I cant think of any newer ones Ive played right now.

Firewatch is a game ive almost grabbed a few times.

I should post a list of some hidden object games too. I play a lot of them and VNs which tend to run short too. Typically you can get then for a couple bucks on sale. Also if you like FMV stuff there is a lot of pretty solid ones. Bundles for like 10 bucks, the complex is one ive been meaning to play.

Oxenfree is a nice short adventure, if you like xfiles, youll love it. Same with the blackwell series. Blackwell are short eppisode style adventures from wajet eye. the first one is pretty cool, its all dialogue puzzels, but the others are normal adventures. Shardlight is also a solid game from wajet eye too. They make great old school style adventure games.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Firewatch is a game ive almost grabbed a few times.

I should post a list of some hidden object games too. I play a lot of them and VNs which tend to run short too. Typically you can get then for a couple bucks on sale. Also if you like FMV stuff there is a lot of pretty solid ones. Bundles for like 10 bucks, the complex is one ive been meaning to play.

Oxenfree is a nice short adventure, if you like xfiles, youll love it. Same with the blackwell series. Blackwell are short eppisode style adventures from wajet eye. the first one is pretty cool, its all dialogue puzzels, but the others are normal adventures. Shardlight is also a solid game from wajet eye too. They make great old school style adventure games.

I liked Oxenfree as well, but Ive kind of gone away from playing those kinds of narrative games. Ive still played some like 1000X Resist but not as many as I used too.

It might come back around again, havent heard of Blackwell or those others but I'll look them up in case, thanks.

 

[JCgames]

Np wajet eye makes some really solid games, ifyou enjoy pixel adventures.

 

[Colif]

Because of how expensive some games are i always ask mr google ... how long to complete ....
If something can be completed in less than 10 hours i dont even look at it and 5 hours is a definate no no.

Journey can be completed in just over an hour but takes years to finish

But then its story is obscure and not really told directly. Needs to be interpreted.

 

[PointnClicker01]

Here‘s my list of the shorter games I know of. I guess most of them don‘t qualify as RPG, but they surely all have an interesting story to tell:

• Draugen: A beautifully made and very story driven / focused game. Took me about 5.5 hours to finish, though I think at a slower pace it may take around 6-7 hours to finish the game.
• Don‘t Escape - 4 Days to Survive: A short and captivating point‘n‘click adventure that took me 9 hours to complete. I love the fact that the game varies in their solutions to solve the game so if you want to replay the game in the future, you’ll probably face different obstacles than in your first run.
• Strange Antiquies: An indie game which I cannot properly categorise, but it has an intriguing story. You play as an antiquarian who only deals in occult objects with some kind of hidden powers. Your clients give you the background to what is happening in the town slowly over time and depending on your decisions you may get different outcomes to the story after each run. According to steam I finished the game after 8.6 hours - not sure if it counted in the time on the demo version so I‘d rather say just about 10 hours to play the game from start to finish.
• Agatha Cristie: ABC Murders: I guess this one only counts for the mystery lovers but I enjoyed this one as it was one of the better developed murder mysteries in the direction of a point and click game (though I don‘t think it really qualifies as a true point‘n‘click). I solved the case after 8.5 hours.
• Puzzle Agent 1 & 2: A classic Point‘n‘Click (and maybe less of a focus to the story), ideal for those who also like some puzzles in their story. Each game took me around 3-3.5h to finish.

 

[Frindis]

I can warmly recommend On A Winters Night Fours Travelers.

It's a pixel point-and-click game that is beautifully crafted when it comes to story, sound and graphics. It's got dark themes, but nothing people can't stomach. Takes around 2-3 hours to complete and it is free!

If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers on Steam

If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers is a narrative-driven point-and-click adventure with horror elements that explores the stories of four characters in a masked ball taking place aboard a train in the late 1920s.

store.steampowered.com

This one - Abzu, most of you probably played, but if not, I also recommend. You dive around in beautiful water and try to find your way while touching different memories you find scattered around the depths. It is a very chill game, that is more about the visuals than anything else. Takes around two hours to complete.

ABZU on Steam

From the art director of Journey®, ABZÛ is a beautiful underwater adventure that evokes the dream of diving. Immerse yourself in a vibrant hidden world bursting with color and life as you descend into the heart of the ocean. But beware as you swim deeper as dangers lurk in the depths.

store.steampowered.com