The future of games - why less is more

...or why more is less. We've had stories. We've gotten good at them. We've experienced heavily polished, linear games like Call of Duty. Now, with more powerful consoles and PCs than ever before, we should shift our focus onto shorter, more fulfilling experiences. This video explains why.
In short, I think that shorter, more interactive games are the future. Imagine a game like a large Hitman level, with completely different outcomes depending on your actions.
As everybody keeps mentioning, the Stanley Parable is a great example of what I'm talking about. Even with that it's scary just how much time and effort they must have put into that one level, even though there are under 20 endings.
I mention Hitman a lot in this video since it's closest to what I see future games being like. The latest game is deliberately very hard, with the only viable options being scripted events. Older games did a better job of realising an open-ended world with enough lee-way to allow you to play it the way you want to. It will be interesting to see what the future holds, starting with the next Hitman and Deus Ex games.
Check out my channels:
● 3kliksphilip: / 3kliksphilip
● 2kliksphilip: / 2kliksphilip
● kliksphilip: / kliksphilip
Other information you might like:
● Website: 3kliksphilip.com
● Twitter: / 3kliksphilip
● PC Specs: Intel 3770K, 16 GB RAM, Geforce 670 2 GB.

[@BRxRanger]

wow. well done on calling the future of hitman.

[@NoName-oj5km]

+2kliksphilip and you are still answering on an nearly one year old video wow

[@giant6025]

What else did you expect from the holy Phillip? Only his divine lordship Gaben is also known for wonders.

[@AgentSmith911]

yet people really dislike the last Hitman game...

[@alexmoriarty7265]

Hoss Cartwright people disliked the business model not the game itself

[@DunkeysLongLostSon]

Yeah, the game is actually one of the best in the series.

[@GlitchyShadow13]

I'd recommend The Stanley Parable, it has 18 different endings and everything you do impacts the story.

[@ShozzyD]

GlitchyShadow13 great game :P

[@CraftosaurZeUbermensch]

GlitchyShadow13 plz stop being omnipresent

[@Megabobster]

GlitchyShadow13 The original mod is great, and while I haven't played the "full" game (or the demo, which is an entirely separate game), I've only heard good things. 2 of 3 games in an excellent franchise being free is pretty awesome.

[@Menegoroth1]

GlitchyShadow13 The Staneley Parable sadly is one of my "I will play it, sometime"-games :(

[@BinaryCounter]

Menegoroth1 JUST DO IT! (Meme intended) It is awesome! The developers thought of everything, there's over 20 endings and even secret endings ( eg. when you try to cheat or manage to trap yourself)

[@frimby]

What this video has taught me is that tasers can disable security cameras in human revolution

[@felixdesrochers9940]

the new hitman game looks made for you

[@aphoticlight]

that is way too fucking true. i replayed the ps4 demo so many fucking times, trying to do challenges like eliminate everyone, even all civilians, etc. it's amazing

[@Terraluvar66]

please help me yeah me too I played a shit ton on Paris until I actually bought the game

[@Maddogs1]

"But I don't just want a lazy sandbox with cut and paste enemies and environments" Hello... ...Games

[@katze8955]

o o f I want a game where I can do littraly everything possible, including arming a nuke in a military base and causing ww3.

[@Miguel-yh7le]

Katze The only thing that can get close to that is AI dungeon

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

Incredibly observant, I love these videos. You seem to manage to put into words things that I'm unaware that I've been thinking about, if that makes sense. It's like your organising my thoughts and putting them into an entertaining video haha.

[@LiarraSniffles_X3]

Payday 2 is a decent example of what you are talking about. I COULD just shoot everyone on every level and be done in an afternoon, or I could spend hours and hours retrying the same level over and over while refining my stealth, trying out new unlocked items and skills, learning how best to use the ai to my advantage and other such stuff. On a similar note, there is a level in metro 2033 where you are dumped in the middle of an unaware bandit camp, and are told to fight your way to your ally before he is executed. The game doesn't tell you that you can sneak your way through the level, and that there are certain events that will happen every time if you pay attention, but I'll warrant that most people used stealth over guns blazing, and I myself have replayed that level more than the rest of the game combined.

[@jameswood7207]

Liarra Sniffles I love Payday 2 for that very reason but it is a bit limited. You either stealth it, or go loud. You still get given objectives depending on what you choose whereas Hitman for example gives you a more vague objective and you make your own 'sub' objectives to beat it.

[@LiarraSniffles_X3]

***** I know, payday 2 is by no means a perfect example of player choice, but the fact that it is there makes it much better. That and I've never played a hitman game.

[@GanDtech]

I dont even play that much GTA V because of csgo .. brah

[@migueeeelet]

Gandek I don't play GTA V cause I don't have money brah

[@migueeeelet]

I'd play GTA V if I could. My brother was playing it and while mashing buttons to find i dont remember what function, he got into first person, jumped off the car and slided his face across the ground >-< It was sooooo worth it

[@migueeeelet]

yeah, I'm also a huge fan of SA but seriously, GTA V is a huge hit both as a GTA and as a game. It's just awesomeee Needs Sweet tho.

[@mlgpro2241]

i didn't know grand theft auto was GTA brah

[@eyeonestudios6127]

Gandek I play GTA 5 PC for 5 hours a day brah

[@Wouter_wat]

Hi Philip. Is this also the reason that you like CSGO so much? It's a pretty simple game, but everytime you play it you can change your strategies and get better.

[@einaraglen]

I always played the demo for mafia 2 on ps3, me and my friends found a way to get out of the demo zone of hte map, great adventures were made on that demo disc...

[@izzyhope58]

Ooh. Now I want to try that lol

[@Mikewatters99]

If you want one game that is one level but can be completed many times try Stanley's parable

[@PyreReborn]

Or MGS5

[@TheAdski98]

Rhys Gunnell There's only technically 2 different endings for Ground Zeroes, and that's if you count saving Paz before Chico as an "Alternate" ending (Which it isn't).

[@AlternateEdit]

Adski Corsika you called me?

[@TheAdski98]

AlternateEdit Ahh good, you're here. On time, too.

[@piratebeng]

There is something about your videos that I never get sick of, been maybe 4 years now. Every time I see a new video, it makes me happy in the way no other youtuber can, more pls.

[@Kapin05]

That's odd. I myself sometimes mess around in Garry's Mod, building levels in Dust 2 with zombies and crates and defining a start and end, then saving and playing them over and over, finding new and exciting speed run routes. For example, mine has a fence cutting Mid and Short A and some planks overhead leading to the last area. You can get there right at the beginning using a pallet to climb the crates.

[@1amlevel]

Thumbnail says "Why MORE is LESS" While the title says "why less is more" Dislike and unsub

[@sanguniak]

OR.. learn to read maybe?

[@1amlevel]

sanguniak what? I can read, that's why I made this comment I have no idea what you're talking about xD

[@NikoxD93]

LE\/Ǝ˩ because it means the same thing

[@1amlevel]

***** I know, just an observation

[@Wasickiii]

LE\/Ǝ˩ Btw... look at the description :)

[@ninjafrozr8809]

Philip did you play Hitman 2(2018) ? It is the exact game that you're describing in this video. Very detailed levels some of them literally have 100 different ways to complete them and it doesn't feel forced.

[@HazzaripHD]

Red Dead Redemption was a amazing game to keep people playing, there was so much to do! Different achievements to unlock, different places to go, so many different random occurrences that would happen randomly as you travel around. On top there were things you could do put of pure boredom but do for hours, like go hunting or try and unlock all the outfits and play poker an such, and on top of that there's the main story and the multiplayer too! Would definitely recommend it. (Also just quickly... The title says "Less is more" but the thumbnail says "More is less" :s)

[@projectgamling7962]

Heh, and what about Alpha Protocol? Each choice there matters at least little, but it still has 6-8 hours of solid gameplay. + you can replay it at least twice more before it becomes too repetetive.

[@LecrazyMaffe]

I'm really enjoying these videos about game design, not the hardcoding part of how to do it, but the strategy behind it, please keep it up

[@Scroogs]

The new episodic Hitman is taking an approach you would appreciate, no?

[@shrekdreck2429]

I'd argue that achievements (if done right) can greatly boost a games length and not feal forced at all. Getting the Little Rocket Man achievment for HL2:EP2 (which requires carrying a physics enabled gnome through the entire game, cutscenes and all) was one of my most memorable moments of the entire franchise and is to this day my most proud achievment. I was almost sad to put my little anoying gnome buddy in that rocket at the end, sending him to space. You will always be in my heart, gnomey.

[@pentament9774]

If you're still looking for a small game with a lot of endings, I highly recommend The Stanley Parable. It's real entertaining.

[@RAiNfORAiNbOW]

Phillip Puffle That game is the most overrated piece of shit ever

[@SolidRaiden2655]

@@RAiNfORAiNbOW How?

[@gaalla]

I absolutely loved MGS Ground Zeroes. The more times I play it the more respect how expertly crafted all the gameplay timings / placements are. I played it dozens of hours. Unfortunately it was slammed for being "a demo". I too would like to see more shorter polished experiences. I played the RE5 360 and Tony Hawks PS1 demos to death

[@runetitan-lx4ih]

this video made me download hitman sniper challenge again and find a new way to do it.

[@BrainBurnStudios]

That's exactly why I played Dark Souls over and over again so many times!

[@tortillatime401]

After 60 hours played, I have just found out that you could stun cameras in DE:HR Thanks

[@SohcSTi]

This video reminded me how many hours I put into the demo's for Doom and Wolfenstein back in the Win95 days. My dad used to go to a computer "meet/class" of some sort (I don't remember what it actually was) and would bring me home Freeware and Shareware disks. I would play these demos and short games religiously on weekends and after school. This was a time before the internet was a luxury, rather than a necessity. Now you can find games everywhere and it's much harder to pick one up and play if you've never heard of it. It was easy when all you had was a disk with a handful of games on it. You played them all because that's all there was.

[@TomahawxX]

you should have mentioned Trackmania. Simple concept, no story, no collision or car damage, just compete with your best time. It makes you drive the same track - some of them consist of like one curve - for hours, searching for exploits, shortcuts, or just be one second fast than before.

[@DoomSkullYT]

ok I know this is from many years ago, but I hope you will see this. You talked about speed running Dishonored, my favourite game, and coincidentally I was thinking about doing so, just last night. I think speed running the entire game would be the ultimate challenge, rather than just individual levels. Why? Because a level is easy to master, but an entire game? How would you even approach doing a speed run of Dishonored? Would you allow yourself to kill, be seen, or use your magical abilities? Would you complete side missions? There are so many ways to go about it, and it can create different classes of the speed run challenge. Personally I would opt in to not kill, not be seen by enemies, and to use my magical abilities, whilst completing most, or all of the side quests as I would see fit to allow me to easier get the other parts of the challenge completed. Also I always play on the hardest difficulty in the game, so that too I suppose. This would be the ultimate challenge among Dishonored speed runners, especially if not using magical abilities, and honestly if I see anyone do so in under 6 hours, I will be very impressed.

[@JooT471]

Ok

[@CrazyRiverOtter]

I feel really anxious when I realize how hard making my own game lengthy will be, but I realize that if I make it short but add a lot of branching paths/special moves it'll be really fun to come back to again and again to see if you get better. That's actually what I liked about Ratchet and Clank on PS4. It didn't do the original PS2 game justice, but it was a blast to keep replaying in challenge mode and tearing the game apart.

[@ThaRixer]

You should try speedrunning phillip. I've been doing it for nearly 3 years, It's awesome, id watch any run by you for sure :)

[@nuttyest]

Philip you have a very similiar view on games as I do. Sometimes it's like you know what I've been doing. My demo secret is Battlefield 1942 Secret Weapons of WW2 - Hellendoorn map (one of the best balanced maps). I played it for years(not kidding, about 3) and there was a community there in the demo, clans complete with clanwars :). I found many friends there who I keep in touch with, still. But I dont think that we should abandon the "storytelling" games that you talked about and are heavily scripted. They are like movies, that you take part in and you form an emotional bond with characters- i'm still in love with Elizabeth from bioshock infinite. But I do agree that there are different paths available (see what i did there). What we actually want, boils down to sandbox games with destructible environments where you have a freedom to solve "missions" your preffered way like RF Guerilla - an interesting challenge of "what would be the crazyest way to do this".

[@kovacszsolt6005]

Halo: Combat Evolved - Silent Cartographer level I had the demo as a kid, I know the level inside out, can complete it without a single shot or grenade on Legendary. Good old demo-kid days...

[@IlyanaFan]

This sounds like a good explanation as to why Dust 2 is so popular. It's a familiar experience, yet still provides a good challenge.

[@QuackersForMath]

Have a look at "The Stanley Parable"; not very long till an ending, but very deep in both game-play and philosophical implication.

[@samymallem9836]

Man! I watched every single one of ur content and il couldn't agree more. It's like you're reading my head lol you're Genius! Keep it up ^^

[@saturatedneowax]

this is why I fucking love Getting Over It and Downwell

[@suhail-msk]

I love Hitman series. true gaming experience.

[@ChocolateMilkMonster]

One of the best part of a game in a long while for was the outposts in Farcry 3. I loved trying different ways of taking them out like only using stealth, only using a pistol or knife. They created such refreshing moments in the game that I haven't seen captured in another game in quite a long time. I still go back to Farcry 3 just to take over some outposts in whatever various wacky method i come up with.

[@sampson_]

The stanley parable is only one lv but has 15+ endings. It's my favorite game, but i don't see games like it becoming the standard; however, I do see shorter games that span the length of a move becoming more common.

[@alcoh0lik]

I really think that grow home is a great example of this. Made by the AAA publisher Ubisoft, and yet created by a team that consists of less than 20 people. The game doesn't have too big of a sand box, but still has an amazing amount of replay-ability. The game however does suffer from the achievements forcing you to play the game different ways that you would otherwise have been able to explore and discover :(

[@JoeRosarioBZ]

Ah Spyro, my childhood... thanks for the nostalgia trip Philip!

[@themaxruler]

You made a very good point. Persoanlly Ive gotten the most enjoyment out of Dishonored and Wolfenstein: The new order because they exhibit replay value yet in a different manner. Ive noticed too however as the story line progress I begin to just focus on completing the game. Perhaps its a result of the consumer-driven culture inwhich we live, but I sometimes feel 'guilty' for playing the same game over and over, as if I am missing out on the enjoyment of other games.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Seems it didn't turn out that way, at least for modern AAA games. Side-activity bloat was used to keep focus away from story missions. You were spot-on about hitman though. And of course, indie games are the doing the right thing.

[@NotessimoSwift]

I feel like games like Smash Brothers do this well, because everyone who plays is given the same moveset and rules, but new things get discovered all the time. Playing as Lucas in Sm4sh was interesting when I found that his Absorb Magnet did incredible knockback on an enemy who's point-blank, despite the fact that it's intent is absorbing projectiles. Trying to pull off this move on an enemy made me realize that it slowed my vertical momentum quite a bit, and let me change my direction mid-air, allowing me to fake-out enemies. Maybe I could trick enemies into missing me and they would let me fall point-blank into them. I now had a new move to master even though the clear intent of the move had been presented to me at the start. I personally want games that have these odd depths in their mechanics but aren't too difficult to figure out that you can do more with it, unlike how it took me years to even once hear that the Nether in Minecraft actually works as a vanilla teleporter. I feel like adding lore and character depth is just a matter of good writers and a lot of time poured into making everything so detailed. Working that kind of fluidity (and making it accessible to a non-hardcore audience) into mechanics is something I don't see enough of, and it's great when it does happen.

[@stijn2010d]

i guess it adds the same sort of feeling as a moba or fps shooter. where you play the same map over and over again to get better at it, with different approaches.

[@swimon]

Metal Gear Ground Zeroes was criticized for being too short. But there are so many ways to get to the ending. I liked it

[@ytuser0110]

The future is now.

[@Thatisdifficult]

Wall of text talking about short games with replay value below. Short games that can be beaten in a matter of hours: Resident Evil 2 Onimusha 2 Way of the Samurai 4 Cave Story Silent Hill 2 All of these games are somewhat short on average, but I always find myself playing the shit out of them. As far as I know, all of these games exhibit that breadth you were talking about to some degree. Regarding these games, most of the breadth can be found in the multiple endings present in each game (with the exception of Onimusha 2). Onimusha 2 is different in that I keep playing it over and over again because of all the characters I can play as, the weapons I can use, and the various methods I can use them. However, it can be argued that people can do this in any game. If you do something different, you get a different outcome (most of the time at least). I guess that's why these games appeal to me so much. TL;DR: Short game + different actions + different outcomes = AWESOME

[@Porokalja]

One aspect of "less is more" I'd like to add. It would be nice to see games with less detailed environments. Half-life 2 and its episodes look and feel very good, and I think that's because they are not always full of little details and effects like games nowadays seem to be. In full HD resolution it's better to have less things on screen to quickly be able to actually see what it is. Photorealism is one thing also. I feel that games dont have to mimic reality (GPU-intensive realistic shadows, lightning, reflections etc.) in order to feel real. They can look and feel real in their own context - again Half-life 2 being a great example.

[@Porokalja]

+Juho Noro And here I am enjoying Rise of the Tomb Raider with its millions of details. They are not distracting when I'm fully immersed to the game.

[@Barry_Mmm]

I totally get what you're saying. I remember playing the Cannon Fodder demo disc for the Amiga over and over again, setting different challenges for myself.

[@myownsite]

TrackMania is something like this during a normal online match, just sped up, sort of. 5 minutes to get a best time possible on tracks which are usually around 45sec long. You won't learn them perfectly, but then for that there are leagues for which tracks are published beforehand.

[@ajax_all_mighty]

i understand what u mean basically if u have 100 games u wont bother replaying one of em as u can just play other ones but if u are given only one level to work with than imagination kicks in and u find new ways to complete level i noticed this while playing MW3 tht was only game i had on my xbox and i didnt even played online as i didnt have xbox live so i remember playing campaign levels in so many different ways on stealth mission as challenging my self to kill every enemy i saw even than game told you not to in wra missions i played like a crazy man and tactical seal team member. and than ever i started playing on veteran difficulty i had whole new world to me. ways i played on lower difficulties didnt work on veteran os i had to find new approaches to each segment of mission to go through it. times like tat i have spent hour on single check point and was getting disappointed than i died but finally when i found ultimate way to go through a mission i had more proud and pleased by my self than i did completing whole campaign as i was told to

[@MaTtRoSiTy]

very well said. I just don't have the spare time for all the games I have, so tend to not end up finishing the long ones...

[@DeckTested]

Awesome channel.

[@jyk000]

I think the Resident Evil games are VERY good at balancing length and breadth. They're long enough to have an a satisfying amount of content, and good enough to replay at least once, yet short enough for the average player to want to replay them. If they're on the fence, usually the ability to keep your weapons or promise of a shorter game (since you've figured out the puzzles and routes) will usually push you.

[@CossackHD]

Ori and the Blind Forest is one of those shorter games with rich game mechanics and impressive replayability despite not having branching story. It's very well paced and never gets boring even after 10 play throughs. And the game is pretty easy to finish in under three hours when you know how to play it and learned the levels.

[@Teyserback]

Some games give me a great story in which I want to follow the characters (Wolf among Us). In some games I have my ceiling I want to hit and see how far I can go (CSGO). In some games I am invited to explore and adventure (GTA, Fallout, Skyrim). Some games have a great gameplay (Dishonored). But one thing makes me not want to start up something like Dishonored or Deus Ex. We all know the time it takes you to get really into the gameplay when you restarted again. You need like these 30 minutes to completely go into the world of the game and the mechanics it offers to you. I feel like these 30 minutes just break it for me. I always think about a game I could play now (let's use Deus Ex again) and think "I think I wanna play it but like.. meh idk" and if I then start it up, go past these 30 minutes I might go on for a few hours because then I realised "yeah, actually enjoyed these hours" but before I am always like "Nah, idk, not really interested in playing that right now". I don't know how to really describe it well, hope you got my point :D I want to lay this bad habit down though, any ideas?

[@aksimozok4077]

"I can't wait for a game that's just one level long and yet it can be completed in a hundred different ways" Check out The Stanley's Parable mate; I'd like to see a video from you about it.

[@tortillatime401]

or the MGSV demo

[@nephildevil]

You forgot about COD and mp games, which gives new rewards every time you play what is essentially the same, or one of the same maps. Also you can easily play them for 5 mins, or 5 hours, whatever length you feel like.

[@SneakyJoeRu]

Play "Stanley Parable".

[@Cheetah626]

Yep. It's almost exactly what he was describing.

[@mishanya2077]

You are just one type of player then. I have friends who play the same dota or csgo or some small stupid game for thousands of hours. I personally can't do that, I consider it boring. I play for content, and the moment I complete the main storyline the game becomes dead to me, all the achievents and collectibles in the world won't give you this awesome feeling you had during the first few levels that you loved the most. You know why? Because the first levels are new, you see the game for the first time, you discover gameplay mechanics, you see new characters and a new game world that you haven't seen before.... and then after some time it becomes familliar and boring and you can't wait to finish it. This is the time when I quickly finish it and switch to the next game, so I could experience that feeling again. And the best part is that games will never end, there are more games in the world that you could ever play and new ones are constantly being created, so no need to waste 2k hours on CSGO for me ;D

[@CheekyChan]

+Миша Шевченко You're right, not everyone is this way which is why some people find it weird that I have hundreds of hours in quite a few multiplayer only games. But for me, it's not the content, it's that every match is different, no match is ever the same and I love out smarting or out skilling people and when they do the same to me because I get to learn from it and work on that aspect of my skill and I can sit down and play for an hour and be done whenever I feel like it without any penalties like most games have now with their XP systems and other shit. For me, I do like playing a lot of really good short games, some games that I absolutely love are pretty long, Sleeping Dogs for example is one of my favorite story driven games simply for the fact of it's story and I can play through it multiple times, each play through, beginning to end is about 26-32 hours on average if you take your time like you normally would and I feel the same amount of love through every second of the game aside from the very last mission which was rushed and you can blatantly see that when you play through it. I feel a lot of games these are rushed out as quick as possible, which is why the later levels and missions aren't as good. I think quite a few games are too long for their own good and it's just the same boring thing over and over again or they use it as artificial filler to make the game seem longer and a lot of sandbox games are guilty of this. I wish we had more games without artificial filler, if I wanted to do the same thing over and over, I'd just play that mission again and again. As I get older I have less and less time for games and can never really sit down and enjoy them in a single somewhat long session due to responsibilities so I wouldn't mind if the game was a little shorter just so I can get it over with, specially since I have over 500 Steam games. I used to play RPG's like there was no tomorrow when I was younger, I thought they were amazing and now? I play maybe one or two RPG's every year and while I still love and enjoy them, it's hard to find the time to get into them.

[@wierdspanner]

I'm kind of torn between these really in depth games and just no brainer easy to understand and play games. I do think it would be really cool to get a game in which you're stuck in some kind of time warp where you're forced to play the same X minutes over until you manage to complete a mission inside the space of the time warp (before it resets the level). I feel like it would be pretty cool and you slowly work out the objective each time the level resets by talking to characters ect. But I'm a shitter at coding so I can only dream.

[@wierdspanner]

David Redford I do really like portal tbh. If I made a game it would definitely have some kind of puzzle focus since (I'd assume) that doesn't require loads of difficult coding and it makes people think.

[@aerius6427]

I know this comment is five years old but your dream game is coming. It's called deathloop and it's being made by Arkane (The same people who made dishonored and prey.)

[@zakstephens2579]

You know, this is actually a particularly good idea for indies I'd never considered before. *rubs hands*

[@goofboy413]

The new hitman that was announced may possibly give you what you're looking for, at least in each level. They're going back to the older design of having non-linear, open levels in which you can take out the target in dozens of ways. However this time the scale they seem to be doing it is much grander than any other hitman game so far. We'll have to wait and see.

[@ClassicPassionProject]

This is really true. I replayed spend so much time on Hitman Blood Money compared to Absolution, even though absolution is a far longer game.

[@ai-bino]

I shed a tearvwhen I saw Spyro.... That game... Was my childhood.

[@FleeForce]

I see rhythm games dominating in the future. its already happened once, and with all these long form serious games coming out, guitar hero and the like will be a breath of fresh air

[@zarodgaming1844]

Prey Mooncrash is an exellent attempt :D 2:50 Nabbed it on sale 12 euros. Best game ever! (as in, proud to have it in my small but curated collection).

[@Tanilazation]

At 3:00 you described "The Stanley Parable". If you have never played it then it sounds like that game is right up your ally.

[@f0xyLuv]

Replayability is something I really value, but most games are boring after the first time you complete them, because you would need to take a break long enough to forget the story, forget the game mechanics and lose your gained skills. The length of the game really doesn't matter to me this much, but if I wanted to play one level/mission that is somewhere in the half of the game, and I would need to replay the ENTIRE 5 hours of gameplay before it, I would probably give up and play something else. Rogue-like games (and randomly generated ones generally) last longer, but I haven't seen one that's good enough to keep me entertained for as long as the fully scripted (or whatever you would call games, which have the exact same levels everytime).

[@RobertCharlesW]

I wholeheartedly agree. something I can help you for in MMORPGs is the ability to play as a villain. I would like to be the evil force in the shadow that creates Mysteries to be solved by the Hero characters. They do not know that I am the villain they believe me to be a hero like themselves. [Insert villainous laughter.]

[@justkris97]

Do you think a game like Stanley Parable fits into your description? I played that game countless times with so many variations... I am just wondering if you know about it.

[@forden9125]

"I can't wait for a game that is one level long, and yet can be completed in 100 different ways, each with their own end story". Stanly Parable in a nutshell (Close enough anyway)

[@rubykdc9829]

0:27 what game is that

[@SkukS]

"I can't wait for a game that's just one level long and yet can be completed in a hundred different ways" - Dota 2

[@HotCupOfEarlGray]

well its not really singleplayer

[@CiraxMusic]

3D platformers in the ps2 xbox era, are so good till this day. I hope they make a come back for gaming.

[@Disthron]

While I agree that shorter games aren't necessarily bad, companies need to price there games accordingly. Like with The Order 1886, if it had been a $25 game instead of a $60 game, people probably would have been a lot more accepting of it. A lot of people complain about games that have stuff in them that is just there to artificially elongate the gameplay, but the reason they feel the need to do that is because publishers refuse to budge on the $60 price point. Thankfully there are plenty of Indie Developers who are willing to make leaner games at a more varied price point.

[@casualgamer1728]

1:30 OMG PYRO DUDE THE NOSTALGICS

[@wizardsbane]

Spyro 2 is my favorite as well. Just so good.

[@toncek333able]

Mine too, i played it like 10 times from the beginning on the Playatation 1 and it never got boring. I had likeva few of those old ps1 memory cards all filled with spyro saves.

[@toncek333able]

Mine too! I had several memory cards for the old ps1 filled with diffrent Spyro saves (spyro 1,2 and 3). It never got boring and i play it on an emulator every now and then.

[@TheTrueFirefox]

That's a new way to look at things. You sure do know your games

[@Osclala]

Holy shit....... Phillip this makes sence.... l4d is like my favorite game, and there isnt much too it. To this day ive spent over a 1000 hours perfecting my skills and yet the game only get more enjoyable.... mindblown.... there is only a few games that can manage this though some games are better when they are longer...

[@WindowsApples]

I would say Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes is exactly what your talking about. It only features a few levels all on the same map but there are many, MANY different ways to complete them.

[@mluminoth6379]

Shorter, more repayable games have a very important place but i think the best games can balance these characteristics. I like Shadowrun because of the options that can be taken in the story and your character. And the paths to completion.

[@WilsonBrew]

The Uncharted Series are all great to replay / speedrun on multiple difficulties because of the level of polish the game has while being contained within around 10-12 hours or 6-8 if you master it.

[@watsyurdeal]

So if I made a sandbox game that's 6 hours long but had multiple endings and maybe even climaxes, who do you think would play it?

[@thecool192]

Everyone. If people like youtubers find it interesting different youtubers will try the game to get different endings then their viewers will buy the game to see what ending they get

[@pilouuuu]

I would like an RPG that instead of being in a big open world would be in a small villa and each NPC would have their own routines, motivations, personalities, skills and backstories. It should have a lot of dialogue options with very different outcomes and consequences. It should not be focused on violence, but on experimentation. For example, there could be only one house in the villa where a person has a gun in a drawer. If you sneak into that NPCs' room you can steal his gun and then you can go an kill that NPC you dislike because he slept with your wife or something. If you do it well then the detective will not find out you're the killer. Maybe you can go postal and star killing everyone. If you want. But it's not something forced on you. You can simply do your job as a baker everyday if you want and visit your friends during the weekends, discovering new secrets about them. You could have all the interactions of adventure games and The Sims games together, with OPTIONAL violence and also the interactions in houses like in something like Go Home and you could solve quests like in a regular RPG, finding the best solution among many possibilities. I hope developers start making their games smaller and deeper, instead of all the filler and soulless content they are giving us. I think the only games that managed to do open world well are GTA V and The Witcher 3, but even so I wonder what they would be able to create focusing on smaller worlds.

[@scratchyoshi]

I have advanced knowledge of the level "First Sumeragi" in Azure Striker Gunvolt. I have completed it perfectly, with both Dullahan and Naga pistols. Good times.

[@RoyalBizbud]

Was this video all leading up to you hinting at making a sandbox game?

[@4pmvim]

Dude, I disagree with the point you end making around 2:28, for me, I engage with the game more and more as I get to the later levels. Because by then, not only do I understand the mechanics well enough to have fun with them, but also, at times, because I'm more proficient at finding the 'hidden' paths, I'll explore them just for the sake of prolonging the inevitably finite campaign. As an example, I'd mention Mankind Divided, but not illustrate it so as to not give away any spoilers/save the ppl who want to read it, but don't want spoilers a dilemma.

[@Qaosbringer]

1 demo level = $60, for extra level = season pass. great idea philip!

[@SeRoAnthem]

What about people like me who enjoy longer stories (of varying levels of quality) and to whom even playing a demo disc back in the day was tedious repetition? I guess we're shafted if this comes true?

[@Fizzlepop72]

Ecksy Dee He said that he would like both

[@shantanubhatia7873]

Hey man, would love to see you revisit this topic and your wishes/predictions now, four years later

[@saulmoses8698]

When you have the witcher, gta, skyrim, oblivion, dragon age inquisition, dark souls 2, dark souls 3 to finish, you get so overwhelmed it hurts

[@Lonnh]

zelda breath of the wild story is actually really short and can be completed really fast, but there's so much more to do in the vast world that i haven't even bothered to take on the last boss yet

[@ClayMann]

I have to totally agree with the message from the video here. Younger me wanted longer games because I didn't have many but old fart me has way too many. It's crippling to look at 700 games in Steam. Those bloody bundles and sales, I spend more time buying games than I do playing them. Still that's not the point I want to make. I do think there's this underlying wish from the video wanting more realism from characters minds rather than how well they're rendered on screen with motion capture and all that high tech stuff that really just ends up making cut scenes that look slightly disturbing but are still enjoyable. You get used to characters having dead eyes and the limits of the rigs for the models. What I'm thinking 2kliksphilip really wants is the depth of possibilities you can get from dealing with human beings and their ideas. NPC's who don't just go through a scripted routine that fakes a pretty good likeness to what a person might do physically in a day but really in depth scripting and AI that can understand you better and offer more choice. Imagine for a moment you run up to a character in a tavern in this super new game were talking about. You'd want the character to freak out. I mean jesus, this guy just ran at me! But if you walked up to him, he'd deal with you differently. We don't get this level of detail right now in games or very rarely. We just don't expect that doing the SHIFT run to get somewhere quicker would unnerve an NPC. I think that's what 2kliksphilip is talking about and I'd love that too. I used to think I wanted bigger open worlds but now I think what I really wanted all along was smaller denser places that offer more, so much that you never see a repeat of anything. I hope a developer see the video and gets inspired.

[@cubeninjagaming80]

Hey, what do you record with? Me and my friend have been having a lot of trouble with OBS and are looking for something else. (NOT FRAPS!) Any help?

[@RajivKC]

why are the thumbnail and the title opposite?

[@randfur]

You've basically described Outer Wilds to a T.

[@johnythefox100]

That Hitman sniper challenge looks like a 3D Party Hard.

[@Trifungen]

ohhh that hitman sniper level is one of the levels i spent more than 6-7 hours playing and it was tottaly worth it