Games Inbox: How long should Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom be?

Perfect length
The release date of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is getting closer and it got me thinking about how long the game could last. I spent over 150 hours on Breath Of The Wild and I have no idea how long it would take if you only did the minimum of what was necessary. How Long To Beat suggests 50 hours, which probably sounds about right?

Sure, I loved every minute of my time with the game, but if Tears Of The Kingdom will have all of the map that existed before plus everything in the sky, does that mean it’s going to be twice as long, or even more? 100 hours (or 300 if you take your time) is a huge time investment and if it’s a good game that’s great, but where does this end? Will the next 200 hours be?

This is kind of a special case, as they’re building the new game on the bones of the previous one, but it makes me think people who worry about games getting too bloated might have a point. Too much of a good thing is something that can happen.
Rigel

Surprise on the horizon
Is it just me or is the fact that Horizon Call Of The Mountain is a climbing simulator something that comes out of nowhere? I know they didn’t show much, but I thought it was basically the regular games, but in VR, not open world, but otherwise the same kind of combat and puzzles. From what I understand the combat is kind of similar, but that’s just not what you usually do? What a strange choice.

I don’t have a PlayStation VR2 and don’t plan to until there are more and better games, but what a weird choice. Who watches Horizon and thinks the best way to turn that into a Horizon game is to have you climb some mountains and whatever? Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention and everyone already knew this.
The Colt

GC: We didn’t know either until we started playing it.

Strategic developments
I’m very upset to hear about the changes at Firaxis and what this could mean for XCOM 3. Hopefully it still happens, but with the departure of two such great people I don’t know if it will be as good again. And all because Marvel’s Midnight Suns failed. After this, companies won’t be sticking around for Marvel games, especially if EA’s Iron Man game doesn’t do as well. If not, I doubt we’ll see new superhero games for a long time to come, as it’s clearly not a concept that sells well.

I think Jake Solomon suggested that he set up a new studio and work on strategy games from there, which would be great, but it’s a big gamble and he won’t necessarily get the backing of a major publisher. I wish him the best though and hope we hear from him again soon.
Tidus

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Another time
RE: Tiddleydwarf. I always get frustrated when people declare modern gaming good value for money and refer to the cost of games in the 16-bit era.

There are several things to keep in mind in the 16-bit era.

1. Gaming was much less mainstream at the time and so publishers had to sell at a higher cost as they sold fewer units.
2. Nintendo used to charge upwards of £16 for their discount on every cartridge produced for the system (discounts were available depending on quantities, but this could still be over £13 even on the largest quantities).
3. Most modern games are not or only partially present on the disc you buy. So their physical costs are drastically reduced (even more if you buy a digital copy).
4. Gaming is more mainstream and so more people are buying games.

I can’t accept that they had to raise game prices as these huge companies as a whole are already making record profits, they just want to increase that further.
Kiran

GC: Most publishers have seen their profits fall since the pandemic.

Stripe for change
My suggestion for a weekend Hot Topic is as follows:

The Xbox Series X dashboard has been around for a long time and while the dashboard looks good, do you think it’s time for a revamp and what features would you like to see added to it and why?

And how do you think it should look now compared to the current layout and should it look more colorful and have upgraded menus to support newer TVs as well as performance improvements?
be gas rotten (gamertag)

GC: That’s a bit specific to a Hot Topic, but it might be interesting to discuss it and the PlayStation 5 dashboard in the weekday Inbox.

Who’s Afraid?
Am somewhat baffled by Tyler Moon’s Reader’s Feature. After discussing the potential acquisition of Activision, he then suggests that Xbox should sell its console business to Sony. Has it not occurred to him that Sony’s acquisition of Xbox would be significantly more anti-competitive than Activision’s acquisition?

He then suggests that perhaps Microsoft should keep a few studios, presumably as the base for its streaming service. However, to improve Microsoft’s streaming service, do they need to have a decent library of games to work with, or how do they learn how to make improvements that come with handling bulk games?

I am constantly amazed at the way people seem to write Microsoft off, especially since their product is actually still in development. If Starfield turns out to be as great a game as Skyrim, some people might have their doubts. I definitely think Sony is concerned as they seem to be changing their product mix from their traditional single player format to multiplayer, which could prove to be a double-edged sword.
John A

If you don’t succeed at first…
Earlier in the week, I started to get the feeling that people were chasing Microsoft right now and exaggerating some of their problems. But then I saw the story about no disc in the physical edition of Redfall and you know what? I think they’ve lost their way.

If nothing else, I wouldn’t believe a word they ever say about anything, considering how much they’ve been caught lying during the whole Activision Blizzard thing. And that always-online thing? Of course, they would just try again as soon as they thought they could get away with it. It may be unavoidable, but at least let Sony make the first move and then it won’t seem like you were just bidding your time.
Luis

Hard to sell
I enjoyed reading your PlayStation VR2 review. I must say it is a nice package, and I would like to pick one up. I just don’t think there’s enough engaging content for it right now. With the launch lineup consisting mainly of ports of previous PlayStation VR games, some of which you’ll need to repurchase for PlayStation VR2, it’s really disappointing.

I’m really surprised they didn’t have an Astro Bot ready for launch. Astro’s Playroom on PlayStation 5 was a fantastic showcase of what PlayStation 5 and the DualSense controller are capable of, and something like that would have been an ideal showcase for PlayStation VR2.

With the current cost of living crisis and the initially high price, I’m very surprised that Sony only sells the headset through their own website. They don’t offer any way to spread the cost over a few months like other online retailers, which would help alleviate the high price.

I’m sure more gamers would be interested if they could afford it in a few months, rather than spending over £500 in one go, which is just not feasible for many people right now.

I really hope PlayStation VR2 is a success, but they certainly don’t make it easy to sell at launch.
Cu8e5 (gamertag)/Cubes (PSN ID)

GC: The lack of introductory software is very odd, especially considering that Astro Bot: Rescue Mission was the best game on the original PlayStation VR.

Inbox is also running
I hope Star Wars Jedi: Survivor doesn’t turn into a grim, super-serious affair, with all that chewing on limbs. It’s bad enough that it was made at the same time as Obi-Wan Kenobi, before they realized it was horrible, so I hope it’s not too related to that.
Whacker

So we have a how-they-got-Tetris movie, how long before we get a Shigeru Miyamoto movie biography? (I know, probably never.)
The bishop

Hot topic this week
The topic for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader Crombie, who asks are you spending less on video games now than you did before and during the pandemic?

Value for money has been much discussed lately, but has your spending habits changed since the end of the pandemic and the start of the current economic crisis? Do you generally spend less on games and has that led to you playing them less – or has that not changed?

Do you currently have a set budget for what you want to spend on games and how does that account for new hardware purchases and things like microtransactions?

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The fine print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes on weekends. Reader letters are used on merit and are editable in length and content.

You can also submit your own Reader’s Feature of 500 to 600 words at any time via email or submit our Stuff page, which, if used, will appear in the next available weekend slot.