What's the ideal game length of Assassin's Creed Shadows for you?

[CloseTalker]

Based on today's announcements, there's more excitement for the upcoming Japan-set Assassin's Creed Shadows than there has been for quite some time in this franchise. And any time Assassin's Creed comes up in conversation, you can probably hold your breath for the time it takes for the topics of game length, "padding", and "bloat" to come up.

Curiously, I've seen more and more love for Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which wasn't necessarily hated upon release, but definitely not widely revered due to it releasing so soon after Origins and being such a long game. But I see more and more people look at the Origins/Odyssey/Valhalla trilogy as a form of gaming comfort food, and appreciate that they can throw on a podcast, get lost in the world, and zone out while accomplishing menial tasks for a few hours. With Shadows being the next big proper AC game since Valhalla, it's likely that it will be similarly structured and have a similar amount of content. That could be wrong, we don't know for sure, but it's probably a safe bet.

That said, what's the perfect length for one of these to you?

 

[HeRinger]

20~30 hours is the sweet spot for me.

 

[Antoo]

50-60 hours probably. these are meant to be big expansive games that you sink a lot of time into. you want to get lost in the world for hours. i just hope they take a more interesting approach compared to valhalla when it comes to how the story is presented. that game essentially had like 14 mini arcs that were mostly disconnected from each other, which made the game lack any cohesive identity.

 

[Lucreto]

90 to 140 hours.

The longer the game, the better.

 

[Rosebud]

Anything is fine to me, but my favorite AC is Odyssey so would love a big game

 

[BrickArts295]

It's been like 4 years since Valhalla, this one is gonna be a big one for better or worse. I usually preferred the pre-rpg lengths but I don't mind the longer lengths, though I think Valhalla was bit too much.

 

[bitcloudrzr]

I finished the main story for Origins and Odyssey in about 32 hours each so hopefully around that. If they want to make completionist a 100 hour trek around the open world, then by all means do what you will.

 

[El_Dabrah]

I want an Odyssey / Valhalla length game that is fun like Odyssey and not a slog like Valhalla.

 

[Greywaren]

For an open world game, 50-60 is good to do the main story and most side stuff. If it's gonna be longer, I need VERY good variety.

 

[Red Kong XIX]

Origins was the perfect length.

Valhalla was way too long. Actively negatively impacted my opinion of it.

 

[M. Wallace]

100 or so

 

[Zebesian-X]

I don't want every Assassin's Creed game to be an Odyssey-level juggernaut

I DO want Shadows to be one though

 

[Keldroc]

Origins nailed it for this flavor of AC.

 

[Santar]

Gigantic! No one's saying you have to beat it in one go. Play for a s long as it's fun, then move on to something else and come back to it later.

 

[shimon]

Similar to Odyssey.

 

[Chumunga64]

Honestly I'm fine with big games. These large ubisoft games are big so you find something to do wherever you go

They're not intended to complete 100%

 

[J75]

15-20.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

I think Assassin's Creed is a series that narratively has made time skips a part of its identity. You got to have the feeling that you played two games back to back.

 

[ClearMetal]

As much as I loved Odyssey (I have spent 350+ hours in that game), the main story felt way too long. Valhalla doubly so because how lifeless that world was.

So I voted 30 hours for the main quest. That said, I would be absolutely fine with Odyssey levels of optional """bloat""".

I just hope the world feels lived in. It's a big reason why Odyssey worked and, as mentioned, where Valhalla failed. That and the stealth gameplay.

 

[scottbeowulf]

I like a short main quest at maybe 20-30 hours, but tons of side content if I want it at another 100hrs. But that depends on the setting. I couldn't get into Valhalla at all. But Origins had it's hooks in me for 100hrs.

 

[Potterson]

20-30 hours.

But we all know Shadows will be like Valhalla.

 

[hog]

I want it to be a big game, but they should give the player control over just how big it should be. A lot of the content in Valhalla should've been optional side quests rather than mandatory for story progression, and Origins/Odyssey where both dragged down by the slow levelling curve making a lot of the side content effectively mandatory. This is what really kills the pacing in these games. If you get to the point where you're burning out and just want to finish the main story, the game ought to let you.

 

[Nasu]

Similar to Odyssey would be perfect.

 

[Indelible]

I'am fine with it being as long as Odyssey if it has missions and characters that are interesting, something that was very lacking in Valhalla.

 

[Yuntu]

Wait there was an official announcement today?

 

[UnluckyKate]

If they want my money, I'm ready for it to be big as fuck

Wait there was an official announcement today?

Click to shrink...

Yes, official name and reveal the 15th.
Leak release date is november 15

 

[Vic20]

it could be a billion hours for all I care, it just needs to be good.

Valhalla' story structure should never come back, (the whole multiple story lines thing should be dropped)

 

[Yuntu]

If they want my money, I'm ready for it to be big as fuck



Yes, official name and reveal the 15th.
Leak release date is november 15

Click to shrink...

Completely missed that lol But good to know.

 

[PucePikmin]

I don't necessarily want all AC games to be this long, but specifically for the RPG-style entries, I think Origins was about the right length. Odyssey and Valhalla was where things started to feel overstuffed.

 

[defaltoption]

20~30 hours is the sweet spot for me.

Click to shrink...

Yup, tbh these games aren't engaging enough after that amount of time anyway. It becomes a checklist to clear a map at that point.

AC was best from 2 through 4 competition time wise

 

[NullPointer]

It depends, and is not a fixed range or value.

To use the current Booty-mangled-lingo, you only want as much bread as you have peanut butter.

If I'm 80 hours in and have lost track of the the plot or motivation I better be playing a Bethesda game.

 

[Z-Beat]

20 hour MSQ, 35 Completion

After going through nearly every single mainline AC I really don't think they need to be longer than that. The modern open worlds aren't fun enough to traverse for me to want more. There's only so much excitement a horse or a non-pirate ship can bring

 

[Kazuhira]

AC2 or Black Flag were the sweet spot imo, if they want to add another 100hs of side content is fine.
Brotherhood and Revelations' main stories were short, like 8hrs, but they had an insane amount of side content for example.

 

[Deranged Hermit]

If the core gameplay loop is killer and it has a lot of variety, give me another Odyssey.

 

[The Unsent]

I don't really have a preference, it's how they use the content, but feel a bit shortchanged by sub 20 hour open world RPG games.

 

[Xando]

Odyssey was the best AC so that

 

[elenarie]

Origins 120 hours
Odyssey 160 hours
Valhalla 240 hours

Let's go over 300 this time! I'll be there day 1 and day 890!

 

[Rustyspider13]

Picked the second option. Ubisoft open world checklist design is made for me, prime example of gaming comfort food. I've never had a problem with them until Valhalla. Valhalla took my patience to the limit and I couldn't wait for it to be over. So anything that shaves of 20/30 hours off of it would be ideal.

 

[Roven]

Origins would be pretty much ideal but I doubt they'll dial back

 

[Dlanor A. Knox]

I want a huge world to explore, I want to get lost in it, like I did with Odyssey.

 

[JigglesBunny]

I'm only playing non-RPG Assassin's Creed games that can be beaten in 20 hours or less. No interest in anything else. They can keep that shit.

 

[alr1ght]

Where is the 12 to 15 hour option?

 

[N7_Kovalski]

30ish hours would be nice but I imagine it'll be 50-60 to beat/casual playthrough and 100+ for completionists.

 

[strangelove777]

Only on Era would it be under 20 winning.

 

[JigglesBunny]

It's no coincidence that the best Assassin's Creed game since Brotherhood is a VR game with wide-linear levels jumping between multiple eras that takes around 15 hours to complete.

 

[antitrop]

Fucking zero.

 

[Raskol]

Syndicate was the sweet spot for me, so more of that please.

 

[Y2Kev]

It needs to be 6000 hours. I only make $3 per year so that's a good value for me. I would like endlessly generated quests like "pick up trash" and "kill lizards" until the ps5 dies. That's value.

 

[W17LY]

20-25 main quest, 55-60 for 100% completion.

 

[CloseTalker]

Only on Era would it be under 20 winning.

Click to shrink...

I feel like I should have been more specific that this was just asking about length, and not game design haha. Like, in my hypothetical the shorter length games would still be with the current AC RPG-lite game design. I have a feeling people asking for shorter length want another game similar to what Mirage was, which wasn't really what I was asking.