As the years go by I find myself drifting further and further away from my formerly beloved JRPGs. I used to play every one I could get my hands on, but now I simply don't have the time to pour into a longer game unless it absolutely floors me. In ten hours with FFXIII, I've barely scratched the surface. Ten hours with God of War III, and I've finished one of the most consistently absorbing and exciting games I've ever played!

Because there are weeks where I only get one day to play, I like to make sure that the session is filled with as many memorable moments as possible. With only a few exceptions, back in the PS1 days I found RPGs to be the only genre with interesting storytelling. Now, games like Uncharted 2 and GoWIII floor me with their storytelling in a fraction of the time, and end up being much more fulfilling as a result.

This isn't to say that I don't enjoy a long game. In the past couple of years I've spent 60 hours with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, 108 hours with Okami, and a whopping 386 hours with Final Fantasy XII. But those rare and brilliant gems are the exception, and not the rule.

As an aside, it should be noted that FFXII probably killed its entire genre for me. This is meant as the highest possible compliment.