Ben-DutkaYeah, I know what you're thinking: "Why is there is a picture of Final Fantasy XIII in this article?" Give me a moment, I'll get to that.
Over the years, I've come to realize that the games with which we often spend the most time aren't necessarily the games we deem to be the "best." That's why I've always made the distinction between the "best" games and our "favorite" games because in truth, due to personal preferences and the fact that there is objective quality in this industry untainted by opinion, there is a difference.
Very often, you will get two different answers to the questions, "What do you think is the best game of the generation?" and "What game have you played the most this generation?" This is especially the case for me; if I had to pick a top 5 for this era, I'd have to go with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , Heavy Rain , Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception , and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood , probably in that order (with God of War III , LittleBigPlanet 2 , Red Dead Redemption , Grand Theft Auto IV , and Gran Turismo 5 following).
Of that list, GT5 probably leads with a good 70-75 hours (which isn't even a lot by hardcore racing fan standards). Then maybe RDR, GTAIV, and Brotherhood , coming in at 40-60 hours. Heavy Rain might come in at 40, too, just because I went through it four times. But I never got the chance to replay the Uncharted 's and I didn't really have time to lose myself in LBP2. GoWIII and MGS4 weren't long. So strangely enough, FFXIII actually tops my list…yeah, I can't believe it, either. Because I got bit by the completionist bug, I spent a good 120 hours with that game, and another 85 with FFXIII-2. I'm not really sure how that happened, really…
But please bear in mind that I don't like playing online, and that will obviously come into play for many people. I should also add that smaller, more casual games, maybe even a few guilty pleasures, the ones we keep returning to in order to alleviate stress; those can pile up the hours over the years. Like Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds for me, or Amplitude (last generation; Rock Band Blitz this generation). So how's about you?
My number one game is Demons Souls. I honestly have no idea how many hours i've poured into it considering how many different characters i've made. My second would be resident evil 5. Third is oblivion fourth is FF9. I actually did the chocobo side quest which literally took 40 hours, only for my party to kill Ozma in 12 minutes. Then white knight chronicles 2. WKC2 was a grind fest, but i really enjoyed it.
SAME HERE, Demon Souls is the most addictive game of this gen and I spent about 160 hours with platinum and 8 play through….nothing matches that on PS3 this gen.
Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 9/24/2012 2:30:07 AM
I would have to say Rockband 3 just because that is what I, my wife and my son do as one of our family activities.
I don't play online when I play shooters and I don't get in to RPG's so I usually don't exceed 15 hours on the games that I do play. If I had to guess, I would say GT5 took up most of my time this gen but it still didn't exceed more than 20 hours. I just didn't like the nascar portion and I didn't do the endurance races. Once I beat all the core races, the game pretty much took up space on my shelf so I traded it.
pokemon emerald version (154 hours).
Fallout 3, best world of all time.
^He speaks the truth!! I also thought 3 was much better than new vegas.
You thought so? I thought most of it was like staring at mud… very brown with the exception of the city.
I know right? I loved the atmosphere they created, but most of the land was actually pretty barren…which um, adds to the atmosphere, I guess.
True. I get the post-apocolyptic thing… but it doesn't have to be that bland. Maybe at ground zero, but not everywhere. Look at Enslaved. Was a beautiful post-apocolyptic world.
Anyways, the lack of color was the only thing that I really disliked about the game besides the glitches. I didn't end up finishing it because I just got bored with exploring.
I would have to say Pure for me, not sure how many hours though. It never gets old. I could replay the same level 20 times in a row and I would still enjoy it the same as the first time.
UC3 for MP, GTA4 for SP.
Borderlands, Uncharted 2, Oblivion, and Skyrim.
Back in the day, CoD4. I would skip school.
Warhawk was mine. I'd play Uncharted or Dead Space in between, but always go back to Warhawk.
I forgot about Warhawk. I played at least 50 hours of that. 🙂
No game has really owned me, but I gotta say in terms of sheer hours played it would probably be Starcraft 2. I play a lot of console games, but I don't usually spend any more than 40 hours on one unless I really like it. I guess the Souls games took me a while to plat and really sucked me in, but Starcraft 2 I just keep playing here and there.
Edit: Yah never mind there are a few games that I spent a lot of time on, like FFXIII, XIII-2, Wipeout HD, Catherine, etc. But Starcraft 2 still takes up the most time because I haven't really stopped playing it, and play it at least once a week.
Last edited by ZenChichiri on 9/23/2012 11:00:26 PM
well strictly for pure hours it's GTA IV for me. it was my first next gen game and also the first game i ever played online. it was pretty much all i played my first year with PS3. to date i've played though the campaign 4 times and a good chunk of time online. all in all i'd say 200+ hours. but if you factor in the Lost & Damned And Gay tony probably 300.
after that Uncharted 2. MGS4. Red Dead Redemption. And assassin's creed 2. are the only other games i've pumped 100 plus hours into this gen.
I think I've spent more time playing White Knight Chronicles than any other game this gen. It's not my favorite game, although I did like it. It took up a lot of time with the story, setting up the georama and playing online.
lol, I'm still hooked…
for me it was Dead Space 1 and 2, borderlands 1 and so far 2 and bioshock 1, and then darksiders 2
Star Ocean The Last Hope….
It is either kingdom of amalur reckoning or dragon's dogma, but with the expansion coming for dd. It will most likely out stretch amalur. If I didn't get stuck on Record of Agarest War 2, then it would probably be up there too in the game that "Owned Your Life This Generation."
Speaking of record of agarest war, I'm surprised you don't like that game Ben. Did you even give a review on it? Solid turn based jrpg. It obviously isn't a AAA title when it comes to the graphics or the fact you don't get english dubb, but the gameplay, length, and music sure is. If only they didn't use those damn weird character models. I forget what they call them. I always preferred full sized ones. Even pokemon drives me crazy when they do that.
For me it is,
Sacred 2 have put in around a 1,000 hours maybe more I'd have to go check.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope just passed the 400 hour mark and have only started the Seven Stars Dungeon, and I still need to beat it on the 2 hardest difficulties, so I'll probably end up around 1,000 hours.
MAG put in well over a 1,500 hours.
And last but certainly not least are the Yakuza games 3, 4, & Dead Souls. I have put probably around 800 hours into these and have yet to finish 4 or start Dead Souls. It is so easy and fun to get sidetracked in these games that I can never seem to finish them in an orderly fashion.
Yeah, Sacred 2 is fun as hell
Oh MAG, what a glorious game that was.
Call of Duty 4. It changed my life drastically.
Hmmm, based on time spent in games right off the top of my head, I'd have to say…
GTA4 – 87 hours
FarCry2 – 58 hours
Borderlands 1, – Three playthroughs, plus all the bought DLC.
inFamous 1, 2, and Festival of Blood –
Two play-through's each.
AC1, 2, Brotherhood, & Relevations Two play-through's each.
Fear3- Five play-through's(3 as Pointman, & 2 as Fettel).
BTW, there's actually a lot more than these few I just mentioned, but I'm feeling brain-dead ATM & this all I could think of.
*Edit*
Oh, I have to also factor in Killzone 3 also –
3 playthrough's, plus I lost days & nights playing the hell out of KZ3's multi-player for 3 weeks straight(3 times were for 30+ hour marathons too), till my old 1st Phat Princess dropped dead of massive fatigue on me……R.I.P.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 9/24/2012 12:09:40 AM
Rock Band 3. Gives me some structure for playing the keyboard, which I've been doing for many, many years already. I've even adapted RB3 keyboard charts to be memorized (chord progressions and solos mostly) and played solo by me. Other than that, I would have to say GTA IV + Episodes from Liberty City. So many hours to just get lost and explore Liberty City.
Burnout Paradise and Skyrim each have over 225 hrs from my life. My wife is not proud of that, but both those games really got me. Many a day I'd find myself thinking, "I can't wait to get home and play those later." And that's one of the things I love about video games.
Stay Classy PSX…
Oh yeah! Forgot about Burnout Paradise. I remember thinking how cool it was to have that right on my hdd. Now it's commonplace. Crazy. Good game! I believe it was my first platinum (not that I have many. Only a few)
Spent 100s of hours playing fallout 3 and Demon's Souls respectively. All else really pales in comparison.
Really nothing. There are alot of great games this gen but nothing I've gone back to more than twice. Maybe its because I'm getting older and have less time to spend revisiting past games unless its for an easy platinum.
socom confrontation – basically the only good clan based 3rd person tactical shooter out there. Aside from GRFS, I always keep coming back to socom confrontation.
Uncharted 2 multiplayer gave me loads of fun memories and an actual friends list. Since this year however it's been Soul Calibur V and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, just love the customization to increase the fighting fun.
fallout 3 and NV both over 300 hours a piece, rdr mUst be close to 100… but for the purposes of this article, the game that had topped all that and certainly not a AAA game was way of the samurai 3, last count it was well over 400 hours. i just hope in time no.4 can do the same… well i need to get back to it, but I've been distracted by borderlands 2!
…nice distraction though.
For me it's FFXIII, spent 140 hrs, playing the ending from time to time just to see the cinematic and listen to the Japanese ending song. Then XIII-2, about 110 hrs for completing all the fragments just so I can watch the mocking secret ending. "Despite all of your efforts to save the world, In the end I Caius Ballad still the one who is victorious for I have planned for all of this to happen. Muawahaha!" Just kidding. Still playing GT5 from time to time. I did 3 play through on Uncharted 1, Uncharted 2 and 3 only 2 play through. I spent 60 hrs on Disgaea 3, I also spend a lot of time in MGS4. Right now my time played in Mass Effect 2 is about 50 hrs I think. Other games just about 8-15 hrs.
MP: Killzone 2
SP: AC: Brotherhood, Uncharted 2, inFamous, LBP and many more
Guild Wars 2. Even with a job and a decent social life I've managed 150hrs so far and the game hasn't even been out for a month.
What server are you on man? I too have pumped in a ridiculous amount of hours into GW2. I'm on Blackgate, but I am willing to switch as my friends are more casual and don't play often.
Borlis Pass
You can even join my guild! The Bucakie Boys (misspelled so they don't get too pissy about it, hehe)
Omg what a name! Is your server any good at WvWvW?
I will think about switching over, whats your in game name so I can message you if I do? I will write it down 😀
We started out great in WvWvW but now we're ranked third to last. I've honestly not played much wvw (only did for a day in order to get the monthly achievement) but from what I can see we require a lot more leadership.
Oh and my name is Pixystyx It's been my standard MP name for a decade now 🙂
Nice, yeah we were doing amazing, and now were doing a bit better, but we fell victim to a server that had people switching to our server and spying on us then reporting it to their guilds O_o; People are hardcore man, but in my honest opinion…it was pretty wicked that they did that. Thats some serious art of war stuff lol.
Alright I'll keep it in mind your server was high when I checked earlier I will see if I can drag some of my friends over too.
I don't really play much WvWvW but I want to play it with a good group of people and just clobber people.
I hardly play a game more than once, so for me the amount of time spent is very related to the length of the game itself.
Offline: Fallout 3
Online : Burnout Paradise
But if we instead talk about "impact on my life" I'd say that Mass Effect 2 is probably the game I'll remember first when sometime in the future I think back to this gen. Man, those hours were fantastic.
Last edited by Beamboom on 9/24/2012 1:06:35 PM
I have to agree with you on ME2 Beamer, that game was something else. I actually felt like shite when one of my characters died in the game & for a game to bring that sort of attachment to the characters is something pretty special & rare in video games imo.
Sadly, i didn't get that same impact in ME3.
Me neither, Kevin. ME3 were just the grand finale, as it were intended to be but still… Just the last chapter.
Everything that mattered happened in ME2.
White Knight Chronicles (1 & 2) by a long margin, followed by Burnout Paradise, then the Uncharteds, Gran Turismo and perhaps Valkyria Chronicles.
Cod4 – seminal title – nuff said
As far as hours go Skyrim takes the cake. Most time ive put into any game at 160 hours, funny thing is I didn't even beat the story, and I also only made it to 4/9 of the main cities. Man is that game huge. its not quite my favorite but it is in the top few titles.
RDR, Infamous 1/2, Demons souls, Dark souls, Fo3 are my top 5 in no particular order. I also really liked ac2, and I finally got into mgs this gen, I actually started at mgs4 but since playing the others mgs4 is my still fav, if for nothing else then the modern control scheme.
Inc combined playthrough hours, ive beat rdr 4 times @30 hours apiece so 120 hours, fo3(not goty, goty is much longer) 3 times at 40 hours for another 120.
~Wrote
Burnout Paradise or Oblivion. Both went over a hundred hours due to multiple playthroughs, then probably Fallout 3, Skyrim, Valkyria Chronicles, with roughly 30 for each of them on a single playthrough. Probably about 60 for inFamous across four playthroughs. I seem to be losing interest in returning to games after they're finished. Or maybe it's just that I seem to have so little time that I just want to play the latest… I dunno.